Chapter 26: Wave

Waves leave traces in their wake.

The floor soaked with zombie blood, corpses that never made it back up, the virus the zombie wave brought, and the people swept up in that wave.

This wasn’t the time for a marauder meeting. The elders and I quickly moved to get things under control.

“The hospitals must be overflowing right now. Anyone know first aid for those hit by bricks?”

“Not really, but wouldn’t disinfecting and bandaging be enough?”

“Great. You’re our medic now.”

“No, I really don’t know what I’m-“

Like the military dragging someone into painting murals just because they could draw, we hastily appointed a medic.

“Let’s pile the corpses outside for now! We can’t live with the virus!”

“We’ll wash away all this blood with water and disinfect everything.”

We quickly cleared away the zombie corpses and blood.

“Thank you so much for coming to help.”

The evangelism elder and I bowed to the neighbors who’d helped in this difficult situation. Expressing gratitude was essential.

Of course, my true feelings were different. I examined the rider’s suit, noting the large “ZERO” written on it. Suspicion grew.

‘Could this be RiderZero? The one who rejected my request and blocked me?’

As I watched that helmet with slight resentment, the rider took it off. Surprisingly, revealing a woman’s face.

Short hair. Masked face. Skin glistening with sweat. She smiled cheerfully.

“You’re all potential customers – we have to help each other. We work for hire after all. If customers decrease, we starve.”

“But no one else helps. Only you are so kind.”

Just exchanging pleasantries.

I kept watching the rider with lingering suspicion and resentment, and our eyes met. She tilted her head slightly as if puzzled.

“Who is this?”

“This is Deacon Kwon. He handles security for Hope Church – no, Hope Community. Thanks to his planning, we survived this wave.”

“Wow. You planned all this?”

The rider looked around. The barricade remains, sidewalk blocks scattered on the ground, the traps visible from the entrance including strings.

She smiled and extended her hand.

“Nice to meet you. We could learn from this too.”

“Not at all. I learned a lot too. Like your nomadic style and protective gear.”

Our gloved hands clasped and shook. No need to show my suspicions.

Withdrawing her hand, the rider briefly showed concern in her eyes. She looked around at the people and zombie corpses, then lowered her voice.

“This seems like a really good place… Was this wave perhaps deliberate?”

“More like an accident than deliberate. Why do you ask?”

The evangelism elder blinked. I felt an ominous premonition. Could it be? Was this really RiderZero? Was she going to expose my request?

Indeed she was.

RiderZero said:

“Well. We recently got an anonymous request. Asking us to lead zombies to Hope Church.”

“…The security elder is dead. To think there are more people targeting us.”

The evangelism elder’s eyes went wide.

I calmly swallowed my anxiety. They didn’t know who made the request anyway. Obviously they didn’t know I was the one who sent it.

I slowly spoke, wearing an exhausted expression and using a hoarse voice:

“People are always the problem.”

Yes, people are the problem. Humans who don’t accept requests and don’t keep secrets. How could she think of exposing a request? Isn’t confidentiality basic?

I was already looking for timing to escape while gradually stealing church resources, but this would only make them more suspicious. My slight resentment grew rapidly.

‘You’re marked.’

I carefully memorized RiderZero’s face and suit. Scenarios for revenge without revealing myself flowed through my mind.

A request. Setting an alarm clock to draw zombie attacks when that rider arrives, or removing her motorcycle brakes. Or coating a thank-you gift with zombie saliva.

Plans to make RiderZero truly zero riders.

Around then, the small talk between the evangelism elder and RiderZero ended.

“Well, we should get going!”

“Take some gifts with you. Let’s see, Supply Elder! Give these people some food or masks!”

“You really don’t have to.”

“You risked your lives to help us, please accept.”

The rider stretched and grinned expectantly.

The supply elder, probably wanting to avoid corpse cleanup, quickly ran to the storage room. I watched his retreating figure, forcefully suppressing my disappointment.

‘Not a good situation to mix zombie saliva into water bottles.’

If conditions were right, I would have collected zombie fluids to inject into water bottles.

But it was fine. No need for immediate revenge like some neighborhood snitch. Just remember the grudge and take opportunities to mess with them when they come.

And so as the wave receded, the riders left with armfuls of gifts, those soaked by the wave struggled back to daily life, and deep night arrived.

A perfect night for plotting schemes.

In the church where people exhausted from battle and labor snored in sleep, where even night watchmen nodded off despite fear of sudden zombie transformations, three marauders secretly gathered in the pastor’s office. We sat scattered around the dark office with no lights on.

Finally, a proper marauder meeting.

“Let’s begin the church desertion meeting. Topics are: siphoning church resources and finding the right timing to escape.”

“…Suddenly? Is this necessary?”

“I wondered why you called us at this hour. What exactly is the problem?”

The exhausted thieving elder and Do-hyung grumbled. Of course they kept their voices low, and didn’t righteously oppose the agenda.

A proper marauder attitude prioritizing survival and profit.

The thieving elder yawned widely and tapped the floor.

“More importantly, let’s properly introduce ourselves. We don’t even know each other’s real names or why we’ve gathered.”

“Then start with the elder who brought it up.”

Looking toward where the elder should be in the darkness, he sighed deeply.

“Park Yang-gun. Did some thieving back in the day.”

What kind of thief name is Park Yang-gun[1]? Was he a gentleman? Did he also change his name aspiring to be a thief?

Well, lies were fine. I introduced Do-hyung first.

“This is Jeon Do-hyung. A vicious electricity thief who steals from the nation. I’m-“

“This is Kim Da-in, a deranged murderer. Be careful.”

We enthusiastically introduced each other with disparaging descriptions, and Park Yang-gun elder laughed.

“A murderer, electricity thief, and former thief. Just criminals gathered here.”

“Crime is essential for survival in this world.”

“I’m not quite like that…”

Do-hyung’s grumbling about being unfairly grouped with us was naturally ignored. As marauder members, we were similar people.

Of course there was only one thing that could be called a common goal.

“Surviving the apocalypse by any means necessary. That’s our only purpose.”

“True. But then why do we need to leave the church?”

“Right. Isn’t it better to have more people together?”

That made sense too, but only temporarily. To survive the apocalypse, you need to stay ahead of others.

While others adapt to the current situation by making and defending bases, we need to become post-apocalyptic scavengers and marauders to stay ahead. Abandoning conscience just a bit earlier than others means adapting that much faster.

I explained slowly.

“As you saw from this wave-“

The danger of zombies. Zombies learning siege warfare. Inevitable risks and losses. The danger of bases as breakwaters.

Why avoidance and escape were best.

The two grumbling marauders listened attentively.

“In the end, staying hidden as much as possible and minimizing zombie encounters is best. In that sense, the church isn’t a great base.”

“…True. But where do we go after leaving? What about food?”

Aren’t there plenty of houses? I briefly doubted Park Yang-gun elder’s words, then figured he was testing me.

Whether I truly had proper future plans.

I spoke with confidence, like the pastor:

“This is the apocalypse. A world where destruction approaches, where law and morality are meaningless. We just break into any house, kill the owners and take it.”

No reason to properly buy houses like normal times. No reason to pay for food either.

Then I shared some of my plans.

“Of course we have Do-hyung’s camper van, and the villa building I prepared. Though it still needs some cleaning.”

“Cleaning is fine. As long as there’s no virus, dirt doesn’t matter.”

That’s when Do-hyung sighed deeply.

“When this guy says cleaning… He doesn’t mean that kind of cleaning, he means human cleaning. Says he hasn’t killed all the villa residents yet.”

“Really?”

Park Yang-gun elder raised his voice in slight surprise, then asked curiously:

“How did you break in?”

So that’s what he was more curious about. I silently took out the taser and pulled the trigger. Crackle – blue electricity flashed. The battery seemed almost dead, the spark weak.

“Ah. Old-style door lock?”

“Let’s get back to the meeting now.”

In the darkness, the marauders put their heads together and discussed means of plundering the church’s resources.

The key point was one thing: taking things without anyone knowing who took them. Since being discovered meant becoming enemies, hiding our existence was top priority.

After various ideas were thrown around randomly, a plan was formed.

Do nothing at all.

I proposed infecting the community with the virus to collapse it before taking everything, and Park Yang-gun elder planned to divert supplies through his position as supply elder, but surprisingly Do-hyung hit the key point.

Do-hyung spoke with somewhat righteous determination:

“If it’s going to fall to the wave anyway, can’t we just come take resources after it falls?”

“…Is that so?”

I tilted my head then objected.

“But then the church becomes a zombie den. How can we fight zombies to- Ah. Right. We don’t have to go ourselves.”

RiderZero.

Could we request the delivery vigilantes to retrieve supplies? Share the storage resources as payment.

Of course the delivery vigilantes might just take everything, but then we could attack and raid them instead. Humans were easier to kill than zombies.

The important thing was knowing resources existed. Regardless of whose hands they were in.

And so the first marauder meeting concluded.

“Then let’s just escape separately. Since me and Do-hyung can leave easily, Elder Park Yang-gun just needs to find a way to slip out well.”

“What’s there to slip out from? This isn’t the military.”

We marauders scuttled back to our bedrooms like cockroaches to make up for lost sleep. Back to rooms where several people lay together.

People snoring in sleep, sobbing under blankets, moaning as if having nightmares.

Despite all the disturbances, I eagerly imagined the future until drowsily falling asleep.

Morning came. People scattered with ramen cooked on gas burners or instant rice heated in microwaves, and I approached the evangelism and administrative elders wearing my mask.

“Deacon Kwon! Aren’t you eating breakfast?”

“You need food for energy. Eat at least a little. We have lots of work today, clearing corpses and all.”

I shook my head. Then spoke lightly as usual:

“Do-hyung and I are leaving the community now.”

The two elders who had been busy with chopsticks and spoons were startled. They stared at me with wide eyes.

“But why?”

“Deacon Kwon. Were you uncomfortable with something?”

Deep questioning as if they couldn’t understand the reason at all.

I explained slowly. A plausible reason.

“Seeing how you blocked the wave, there’s nothing more I can help with. I’d rather join other vigilante groups to help them. To save more people, this seems better.”

The two elders gaped before letting out faint admiration. They looked at me as if briefly seeing the pastor.

“Really… Thanks to you, Deacon Kwon, many people lived. We’re truly grateful, and hope you’ll spread hope to others too.”

“You’re not thinking of leaving empty-handed, right? Take something! Where’s the supply elder? Is he sleeping?”

No reason to refuse when they’re offering. Whether I get it now or later is just a matter of timing.

I decided to take prevention supplies. Also the vigilante group list the evangelism elder would have.

“I’ll just take some disinfectant.”

“Sure, take it.”

“And Evangelism Elder, could I get contact info for other vigilante groups? I want to research and contact them before visiting.”

“Of course. Let me see.”

The evangelism elder quickly took out his phone, and I spoke briefly:

“You can message it to Do-hyung after you finish eating.”

“No. I’ll send it now. Deacon Kwon. If things get hard, come back anytime.”

“Right. We set up all the church defenses based on your suggestions.”

I just smiled silently and bowed my head.

Why would I return to a doomed community? I’m even outsourcing resource collection.

Anyway, this ended my coincidental connection with the church. Whether some of them died didn’t matter to me. Rather, it would be troublesome if they didn’t die. Wouldn’t I have to act directly then?

I gathered disinfectant and lastly looked for Do-hyung. He was talking with Na Yeji.

“If it seems dangerous just run away. Or hide. In the room at the end of third floor-“

“Do-hyung! Let’s go!”

“Ah, yes!”

Do-hyung quickly ran over. And Na Yeji followed. She looked up at me with a pale face.

“Can’t I come too?”

“No, you can’t. We don’t have food.”

Na Yeji pouted as if disappointed.

Failed marauder candidate. No way I’d accept someone unsuited for our elite few. Unless they were experts in electricity, mechanics or medicine, I wouldn’t take someone only useful as zombie bait.

Do-hyung exchanged final greetings.

“I’ll visit sometimes! See you later!”

“Visit often! See you later too, Deacon Kwon.”

Won’t be seeing you. Unless maybe as a corpse later.

And so I quit the group life that never suited me and returned to being an unencumbered marauder. Moving without anything to protect really is better.

Free of the restraints and brakes of community. I passed the pile of zombie corpses with a refreshing smile.

‘Zombies, do your best to destroy the community.’

I’ll attack former church members from the visitor log. In this apocalyptic world where humans and zombies each had their roles.

—

[1. raei: Park Yang-gun (박양군) sounds similar to “yangbanggun” (양반군) which has connotations of nobility or gentlemanly behavior in Korean]