Marauder of the Apocalypse
Chapter 154: Epilogue

"Have you seen people like this? A mother and daughter."

Park Yang-gun spoke while aiming his pistol at the other person's head. He described the appearance of the family he'd been searching for around the city for nearly a month. Details like their eye shape and height.

The other person, also aiming a pistol at Park Yang-gun, listened quietly before responding incredulously:

"No. Mister, how can you find someone with just that vague description?"

"If you don't know, just say so."

Finding separated family during the apocalypse wasn't easy. Especially since they might already be dead.

Park Yang-gun sighed softly in disappointment, and the other person clicked his tongue sympathetically before saying:

"Just give up. If it's just a mother and daughter, they're probably already dead."

"Then I should at least find their bodies and put them to rest. I don't have much time left, so I need to do at least that."

This winter wouldn't be easy to endure. Park Yang-gun would likely die lonely in the cold. That's why he wanted to see his family's faces before dying.

Just then, someone popped out from a window in the adjacent building.

"Mister, I think I know people who match that description."

"..."

He had already sensed their presence. The other person wasn't alone but part of a pair. Park Yang-gun shifted only his eyes to look at the newcomer.

The person he'd been talking with and the newcomer briefly exchanged glances, seemingly communicating something, then spoke:

"I don't know if they're who you're looking for, but I do know of a mother-daughter pair of survivors."

"Ah, those people. Their height seems similar to what you described. Give us a little food and I'll tell you. We'll even guide you there."

Park Yang-gun smiled, his eyes curving with apparent joy.

"Really? That's great. But I don't have much food either. Would this amount be enough?"

He took off the backpack he was wearing and tossed it forward. As both opponents' eyes followed the falling bag to the ground, Park Yang-gun quickly pulled the trigger.

Bang, bang. Two gunshots rang out, and both people collapsed with holes precisely through their heads.

Park Yang-gun sighed again.

"Why lie to me. You wet-behind-the-ears punks."

Their lies were obvious, and they'd planned to lure him in, make him drop his guard, then kill him.

Though obsessed with finding his family, that obsession didn't blind him. Rather, having taken the risk to search for his family, needing to stay alive to see them, he kept his senses and mind razor-sharp.

Because the humans remaining in the city were becoming increasingly cunning.

"Hope there's something useful."

Park Yang-gun routinely searched the corpses for loot. Winter essentials like lighters, cigarettes with just a few remaining.

And a bundle of papers.

After briefly flipping through the papers, he let out a hollow laugh.

"Kim Da-in, you devil."

He had heard about it, but this was his first time actually seeing the raiding fundamentals. Park Yang-gun tucked the papers into his jacket and slipped into a nearby building.

***

Kim Da-in's shadow lurked throughout the city like a ghost. Park Yang-gun, wandering the city, knew this better than anyone.

Zombies burned down buildings daily, marauders began using more sophisticated and sinister methods, and the alliance searched for Kim Da-in, who was likely already a zombie or corpse.

With the raiding fundamentals in front of him, Park Yang-gun recalled an alliance member he'd encountered.

We need to find him, dead or zombie!

How had he responded to that anxious voice?

Why bother with someone who's already fallen?

He had probably wanted to protect Kim Da-in's final moments. To preserve his body intact. Because Kim Da-in had seen his thieving as a talent, viewed him positively. Even given him ample opportunities to steal.

But the alliance member had feared someone who was likely already gone, like a madman.

No! We can't rest easy until we confirm he's dead!

Who knows what he might be plotting in hiding. He's a zombie? That makes him even more dangerous. Why did he teach zombies to use lighters? He was preparing for after his own transformation.

While everyone was busy dealing with zombie-caused fires, zombie Kim Da-in might be hiding in a prepared shelter, learning how to kill people.

He might become the most dangerous zombie! We must find and kill him before he learns more! Before he leads zombie hordes to us!

They spouted nonsense, almost falling into conspiracy theories.

But Park Yang-gun found it surprisingly plausible.

'He's the type who would create havoc even in hell.'

Kim Da-in was the type to mock even demons as mere cogs in an orderly system, comparing them to bureaucrats.

Would someone like that quietly become a zombie?

Like the alliance's conspiracy theory, he might really be somewhere stockpiling food and weapons, growing stronger while studying the learning materials he prepared.

When Kim Da-in returned, he might lead a massive zombie army to kill everyone.

Such absurd thoughts grew stronger with each page of the raiding fundamentals he turned.

Stories of killing people from the first day of the zombie outbreak, luring and killing police for weapons while society was still functioning, and honest accounts of what malicious intentions he harbored and what atrocities he committed during their time together.

Park Yang-gun burst into laughter.

"I knew there was something off about his eyes from the first time I saw him."

Though he hadn't realized just how insane he was. How could anyone harbor such malice without reason?

He understood why the alliance was frantically searching for Kim Da-in. Such a person, who had been teaching zombies even before becoming one himself, had disappeared without a trace—they must fear what he might be plotting.

Park Yang-gun suddenly looked out the window.

Snow was falling. A heavy snowfall. Snowflakes whirled in the gusting wind. The world was painted white as if doused with white paint, and against this blank canvas, Park Yang-gun recalled people's faces.

Kim Da-in.

"I still don't know if that's your real name."

He couldn't believe it. Names were meaningless to such a person. But the time they spent together was real, and remained a not-so-bad memory for him.

"Anyway, I hope we never meet again."

He had become a myth, conspiracy theory, or legend wandering this apocalyptic world.

The faces of others also flashed by—Jeon Do-hyung, Sa Gi-hyeok, the pastor, and church members.

Park Yang-gun closed his eyes. Eventually, his reminiscence worked its way back through the past and returned to his family.

"I must find them..."

***

Though Park Yang-gun was also wanted by the alliance, he hadn't been caught. Since he usually completely covered his face with a bucket hat and mask, changing even minor accessories completely altered his appearance.

He just needed to avoid meeting anyone from Hope Community who knew him.

Plus, as a thief, he had the talent for moving stealthily.

So Park Yang-gun traversed the snowy city.

Sometimes meeting survivors for conversation, sometimes sneaking into survivor bases to steal resources, sometimes engaging in shootouts.

"It's getting harder."

Hidden in a nearby building, Park Yang-gun frowned as he applied pressure to his forehead, torn by a grazing bullet.

His age made his stamina insufficient. The experience gained while staying with Kim Da-in and the raiding fundamentals helped, but even those were gradually becoming inadequate.

Because the seeds Kim Da-in had sown were rapidly blooming.

'Even I can't handle these real marauders now.'

Marauder natures had been stained with terrible malice and venom. Every word they spoke was bait concealing malicious intent, and each action was a disguise hiding murderous intentions.

Though still clumsy, even that clumsiness seemed like deception, as distrust and suspicion had taken root between people.

"Kim Da-in. What was really going through your mind?"

Park Yang-gun took out a lighter from his pocket and stared at it.

Having observed from the sidelines and read the raiding fundamentals, he understood well. Kim Da-in didn't use simple plans. He concealed his true intentions behind disguises and bait.

So what intention lay behind Kim Da-in's final actions? What was his real goal?

'Is he really learning somewhere?'

Was the alliance's conspiracy theory correct?

Park Yang-gun had thought it was just a political move to create an external enemy, but Kim Da-in's actions made the conspiracy theory seem real.

Had he scattered bait to buy time for his zombified self to learn and grow quietly? Was it a means to ruin the world even if he failed?

The absence of Kim Da-in's body or traces made it oddly compelling.

Park Yang-gun suddenly let out a hollow laugh.

"Am I getting old? Thinking such stupid thoughts."

This was just a conspiracy theory, an external enemy created by the alliance. They used Kim Da-in's shadow as a threat to unite the alliance.

No matter how plausible, that was reality. Even if Kim Da-in returned as a zombie, zombie intelligence had limits. With guns still around, zombies couldn't effectively threaten humans.

So Park Yang-gun dismissed these stray thoughts and continued searching for his family.

***

"I heard the alliance captured the people you mentioned."

"What? Why?"

Park Yang-gun blinked at the survivor before him. He looked genuinely confused, as if he'd heard something preposterous, even rubbing his ears as if he'd heard wrong.

The survivor talking with him observed Park Yang-gun carefully as he continued.

"People matching the description you gave. The alliance said they're family of a wanted criminal. Your name is Park Yang-gun, right?"

No matter how carefully Park Yang-gun moved, he'd been wandering this city for over a month. It made sense that he'd get caught in the alliance's information network and attract suspicion.

Park Yang-gun instantly realized.

'Bait.'

This was bait to catch him. Bait he couldn't ignore even if he recognized it.

But Park Yang-gun responded with complete bewilderment. The lies came naturally.

"My surname is Park, but not such a thief-like name."

"Huh? Why is Yang-gun a thief-like name?"

The survivor continued the conversation naturally while still watching Park Yang-gun, who answered calmly:

"Don't you know 'gentlemanly and upright'? Tsk, young people these days don't know Chinese characters."

"So what's your name then?"

"My parents named me 'Honest Person,' hoping I'd become an honest man."

Lies flowed as naturally as breathing. Without any of the typical reactions of someone lying. The survivor gestured dismissively, inwardly disappointed.

With a backpack as his only value, this was a signal to kill him.

"Then I don't know either. What I know is..."

"Ambushes don't work on me."

Before the opponent could properly attack, Park Yang-gun rapidly fired bullets. One shot at the person in front of him, and three covering shots where he sensed presence.

The person in front died, and the hidden opponent momentarily froze. Time to escape.

Park Yang-gun instantly fled. Like a parkour athlete, he leaped over the windowsill of a nearby building and raced along the optimal escape route like a true thief.

"Kill him!"

The opponent belatedly emerged from hiding, but Park Yang-gun had long since lost them.

Leaping from building to building to avoid leaving footprints in the snow, a panting Park Yang-gun looked in one direction of the city.

The survival zone.

"I have to go."

He couldn't ignore this bait. Whether the alliance's words were true or false, it was his only lead.