Marauder of the Apocalypse
Chapter 153: Winter

Two weeks had passed since Jeon Do-hyung's terrorist attack on me. I spent the first week writing the raiding fundamentals, and the next week wandering the city spreading knowledge. My work was complete.

I had distributed all copies of the raiding fundamentals, and zombies were now sharing lighter usage techniques among themselves. Even if I died and disappeared, my malice would remain in the world.

And so, my final week began.

I hid in a corner on the first floor of a building, staring blankly at the dull concrete ceiling.

"What should I do now..."

One week of life remaining. I had finished all my homework, but what should I do while waiting for the end? No, why should I wait? Why not go seeking my end myself?

My death should rightfully be my choice.

I narrowed my eyes, deep in thought.

'Should I raid the survival zone? With luck, I might be able to kill RiderZero.'

No need to kill people like the police or archers. They were marauders. Left alone, they would naturally kill many people to survive.

But RiderZero was different. Someone who valued connections with people. She was actually the one who conceived and proposed the alliance. Her influence might grow indefinitely.

The chances were slim, but it might be possible. I needed to cut off even that faint hope.

I'd been lost in these thoughts for a while when I heard footsteps nearby, and as if by fate, RiderZero's voice reached my ears.

"He must be somewhere around here. We need to find and kill him quickly."

RiderZero's voice was wrapped in anxiety. Then, another voice seemingly trying to comfort her.

"Can't we just leave him alone? From what people say, he's already infected with the virus. The bastard's doomed anyway, so we could wait until he becomes a zombie to kill him."

"No. I was planning to wait for his downfall before going after him, but look at the situation now."

RiderZero's voice grew closer. I sensed movement approaching the window where I was hiding.

"He set fire to the city, now he's teaching zombies to use lighters, and spreading that horrible document to people. I made a mistake. I shouldn't have waited. I should have cut him off earlier. If I had..."

I grinned as I pointed my pistol and stuck my head out the window.

"If you had, you'd already be dead."

"You!"

RiderZero, not wearing a helmet, and a helmeted rider aimed their pistols at me in shock.

I took a moment to examine RiderZero. Her roughly cut short hair framed eyes that sparkled with hatred and regret as she aimed her pistol at me.

How ironic.

I, who cut connections, had transferred knowledge and malice to both humans and zombies, while RiderZero, who created connections, was now regretting not having eliminated me sooner.

In a way, we had influenced each other.

"It's been a while. Have you been well?"

When I greeted her cordially, RiderZero ground her teeth.

"Well? After what you've done, you ask if I've been well?"

"You haven't been well? That's good."

Though we had maintained a somewhat formal tone with each other until now, we'd now abandoned all pretense.

"Why are you doing all this? If the snow hadn't fallen when it did, the entire city would have burned. No, even now zombies are starting fires everywhere! Survivors are trying to hunt us down!"

"Is a reason necessary?"

I blinked innocently. Does one need a reason to hate and despise others? Furthermore, does one need a reason to wish for the world's destruction? It's just my nature.

Suddenly, cold killing intent and hatred froze in RiderZero's eyes.

"Right. This is who you are."

I fell into thought for a moment. Maybe I didn't need to kill RiderZero after all. Perhaps I could even turn her into a malicious person if I played my cards right.

I quickly opened my mouth before RiderZero could pull the trigger, grinning as I spoke.

"I'm grateful to you. I learned a lot from you."

"What?"

I poured venomous words like a snake releasing its poison.

"Lines, connections. They're truly powerful weapons. I was wondering what to do at the end, and I remembered your words. That's why I gave lighters to zombies, and documents to survivors."

RiderZero stared at me with widely dilated pupils, while I snickered and spread my arms wide.

"Now you can't trust people anymore. How can you approach people to trade? They might have received my raiding fundamentals. Someone like me might be hiding among the people you gather, concealing their true intentions."

What I had spread was doubt and distrust.

While the Chairman had used the virus to create physical distance between people, I had widened mental distance through doubt and distrust.

Satisfaction and accomplishment filled my chest. Feeling euphoric, I continued spilling words.

"Oh, did you know? That fire at the gas station. The police commissioned me to do it. When people connect, they can do worse things than when alone, right?"

RiderZero's eyes sank, becoming damp. They no longer held any trace of romance or goodwill.

"..."

Without saying a word, she pulled the trigger, and a bullet flew into my torso. I let out a scream and quickly ducked behind the wall.

"That hurts!"

Thanks to my bulletproof vest, the bullet didn't penetrate, but it hurt like hell. Like being hit in the stomach with a hammer.

But my voice was drowned by the successive gunshots. It was almost a spray of bullets.

I smiled.

'RiderZero will change too.'

She would become closer to the average apocalypse survivor. Someone who distrusts people and kills them when necessary.

This was a good thing. I had broken RiderZero's potential. The potential that required intense dreams, visions, and beliefs, however unrealistic. The potential to form a large group, to lead many people, similar to the pastor's potential.

I changed positions by crawling, played a brief game of hide-and-seek in the building, then escaped quickly before more alliance members arrived.

***

Perhaps because I had revealed my exact location, all sorts of people swarmed like bees. Dangerous moments came several times.

I had to escape from police meticulously searching buildings where I hid, sometimes my position was revealed by drones flying overhead, and random gunfire occasionally grazed my face.

Nevertheless, I continued playing hide-and-seek with them, grinning all the while.

I descended into subway stations where zombies lurked, using them as meat shields, taking advantage of marauders trying to steal police weapons, sometimes hiding among corpses despite risking frostbite, and occasionally setting buildings on fire.

It felt similar to escaping after being locked in a holding cell.

I ran around excitedly, feeling like I had returned to my roots, until finally, the time came.

Three weeks since infection.

"At last..."

I returned to the villa district after evading my pursuers. They probably wouldn't expect me to return to my original residence.

I looked around my ruined home. It had become a true ruin from lack of maintenance, and alliance members or other survivors had apparently ransacked it, leaving it in complete disarray.

Snow had piled up through broken windows, and furniture lay smashed and scattered randomly.

A deserted ruin where no one lived. A cold that penetrated to the bone. But it was the house I had lived in. The house where I had dreamed of being a screenplay writer.

I walked around, unnecessarily indulging in nostalgia.

"It's fitting to end things here."

The zombie transformation period usually occurs between three to four weeks after infection. I calmly checked my bag.

I had distributed all the raiding fundamentals and lighters. Only a little food remained. More than enough for the end.

I sat on the mattress, which looked like it had been thrown carelessly, and reflected on the past year.

So much had happened. I had met so many people. The events I experienced and the people I encountered had influenced me knowingly or unknowingly, creating who I was now.

Professor Kim who shared materials with me, the Hope Church pastor, the Japanese restaurant owner, the man with paranoia. The many leaders of the alliance and the criminal companions I had gathered.

What I had learned from them, what I had lost, and the destination I had reached after racing like a car with broken brakes.

'I really ran without stopping.'

Various scenes flashed by like scenery viewed from a speeding car window. My memory paused on the farewell scenes with my criminal companions.

Jeon Do-hyung died by my hand. Park Yang-gun might be wandering the city looking for his family. Sa Gi-hyeok had walked away, leaving the city. So had the thug mercenary.

It hadn't been a bad life.

I had even accomplished all my final goals. I had made this city harder to live in. I had made winter more severe.

Days passed one after another.

"There's nothing left here, right?"

"Just move on. Last time I checked, the alliance took everything. It was that madman's base."

Scavenger-like survivors passed by.

"How long do we have to search for this guy? He's had more than enough time to turn into a zombie by now."

"Don't know. They want us to find him even if he's a zombie. Or at least his corpse. Probably for propaganda purposes."

Alliance members searching for me also passed by.

"Kraaak!"

Wandering zombie groups settled in nearby villa buildings.

"What's going on?"

I blinked in confusion. It's been almost four weeks now. Why haven't I turned into a zombie yet? Am I immune?

Rationally speaking, the symptom manifestation period wasn't completely over yet. But groundless hope and rational doubt surged within me.

'Is it antibodies or immunity? Or was Jeon Do-hyung bluffing? Was I infected when I had contact with zombies? What's happening?'

The desire to live filled my mind, but then memories of how I had lived resurfaced.

I had lived faithfully as a marauder during the apocalypse. As RiderZero said, I had lived by cutting connections. I had killed those who lived well. I had killed people regardless of age or gender. I had attacked a church and alliance that might have succeeded.

I couldn't betray this life.

I smiled, remembering Sa Gi-hyeok's parting words.

"Maybe it's possible..."

Maybe I was immune or had antibodies. Maybe I was the hope that could end the apocalypse.

That's precisely why I needed to die now. I couldn't leave even the slightest possibility. No, the very existence of that possibility needed to be eliminated.

Just then, a commotion erupted outside.

"Kraaaaaak!"

"Kieaak!"

Zombies screamed as they rushed out. Glancing out, I saw the building was on fire. They must have misused the lighters and set the building ablaze.

Those flickering flames strangely expanded to fill my vision.

I stood up and left the villa.

"Kieaak..."

Zombies looked up at the villa with disappointment. They sensed my presence and observed me, but since I wasn't wearing a mask, they ignored me. Instead, they stomped their feet while watching the burning building.

But one zombie looked at me with a strange smile.

"Krhihik."

It was the cross zombie. The one I had used as a virus generator, tied like a cross, who had been tormented by children and then took revenge. That zombie.

The cross zombie approached me with a knife, as if pleased by the situation, but I ignored it and continued walking one step at a time. Toward the building spewing flames and smoke.

The cross zombie couldn't bring itself to follow me.

Under the zombies' gaze, I climbed the stairs one by one, and finally faced the raging flames.

A marauder's life is like fire. Leaving only ashes and corpses in its wake, and dying when there's no more firewood to consume.

I paused briefly, then smiled as I threw myself into the flames.

'It was a life without regrets.'

No lingering attachments. I had done everything I could. Any possibility of antibodies, if they existed, would disappear before being confirmed. This death, too, was my choice.

My vision, stained red like blood, gradually darkened as consciousness faded away. I smiled until the end, and at some point, death came like sleep.