Chapter 33: Territory

Animals have territory. Or you could call it range. Areas they prowl for food, areas they move between avoiding heat and cold. The distance they travel to survive.

Humans, being animals, were the same. Each had their active territory centered around a base.

And when territories overlapped, competition for survival began.

In a city fighting over scarce resources, survival competition started between zombies and humans, zombies and zombies, humans and humans. Each honing their own weapons.

I stood at the window looking down at the street. People wandered searching for food as usual, but something felt different.

The numbers were larger. Over 50 maybe? Either way, seeing so many people moving together was incredibly intimidating. Just their footsteps sounded like waves.

“Let’s work hard today too!”

“Our residents’ association head is so energetic!”

Rattle-

People dragging shopping carts probably stolen from supermarkets started breaking into nearby convenience stores through broken windows. They piled everything indiscriminately into the carts – not just remaining food but cigarettes and clothes too.

I drummed on the window frame, lost in thought. What kind of people were these?

‘Apartment residents?’

Given the mention of a residents’ association head, probably people from the apartment complex near our villa street. Only apartments could mobilize that many people.

In a way, it was power only apartments could have. Homes packed like chicken coops, unity under the name of fellow apartment residents. Essentially a factory for producing manpower.

And large numbers themselves became power.

“Grr.”

Several zombies wandering the street saw the apartment people and immediately turned to flee. The group of over 50 seemed frightening to them.

The apartment people, apparently used to zombies fleeing, naturally ignored them while checking their haul.

“Not much food here.”

The residents’ association head frowned at the carts.

Food was scarce, with more expensive clothes, wallets and bags instead. With most food already looted, it felt like individual greed taking priority.

“Unnie, this bag would look great on you!”

They held up clothes to each other like shopping at a clothing store.

I was about to lose interest at that point.

Taking things from other homes? Fine. Just temporary relocation. I could reclaim it whenever I wanted. It was all mine ultimately. They were just storing it for me.

But the situation took a strange turn.

The residents’ association head slung a bag over her shoulder and clapped, gesturing to a security guard.

“Brought the ladder? Let’s check the second floor homes too!”

“What if people are there?”

The gray-haired security guard hunched his shoulders as the association head’s eyes flashed.

“Not going to help? Want to starve?”

“Well, not that…”

Finally the guard mumbled timidly while pushing the heavy cart. It rattled with not just ladders but all sorts of tools packed precariously.

Then as people worked together setting up ladders, they chose my villa of all places.

The same second floor unit where I’d driven off that robber before.

Instinctive antipathy rose. Touching my territory, my building? Though that second floor unit only held corpses, I still didn’t like it.

My hands automatically reached for weapons.

‘Gun? Zombie water gun? Molotov? No, wait.’

The enemy numbered 50. If killing them, do it thoroughly. Without revealing myself. So they wouldn’t know who attacked them or why. Like a sudden accident.

As I was memorizing their faces, a man burst out of the neighboring villa. A man wearing a leather jacket, work gloves, holding a steel pipe.

“What do you think you’re doing in our neighborhood, you bastards!”

“What’s this?”

Fifty people surrounded the man. Voices and gazes full of annoyance and contempt pressed down on him all at once.

The association head glared at him sharply and shouted:

“Who are you? Is this your house? No, right? Why interfere?”

“I’m from this neighborhood! What right do you have breaking into others’ homes!”

“Ugh…”

Though the man faced them squarely, the situation wasn’t good. The apartment people moved closer, pushing him around.

“We’re just taking things from empty houses. What’s your problem, huh?”

“Mind your own business. You must survive off stolen goods too.”

“Or are you mad we’re stealing what you wanted to steal?”

I nodded to myself.

Survival competition. Fighting over the villa district’s resources. Like beasts with overlapping territories.

Just that the man was weak compared to the many apartment people. No gun, no zombie water gun. Seemed he’d get hurt badly…

That’s when it happened. The man being pushed around suddenly dropped and rolled on the ground.

“Help! Neighbors! These evil apartment people are killing us! They’re trying to kill all the locals and loot everything!”

“What, we never-!”

The man’s booming shouts and the apartment people’s flustered denials.

Shadows appeared in windows throughout the villa district. Even people who’d been ignoring the commotion now looked out with interest.

Uncountable gazes. Eyes looking down at the apartment people from higher floors.

The confrontation between the man and apartment people transformed into one between the entire villa district and apartment people in that moment. That man changed it with just a few words.

‘Not bad response.’

Enemy too dangerous to face alone? Then gather people. Pretty good for an impromptu response.

“What the hell!”

“Let’s go. Plenty of other places.”

Finally the apartment people turned away under the villa residents’ gazes. If they hurt the man here? The villa people would rush out murderously thinking they really meant to kill and loot.

Fighting against murderous intent is hard.

Though another peaceful day seemed to pass, I glared at the apartment people’s retreating backs.

‘This won’t end with just once.’

The city’s dwindling resources. A city where you could only survive by getting food that wasn’t yours.

Conflicts would gradually increase. Unlike now with insufficient resolve to kill or be killed, they’d fight truly betting their lives.

What do people do when war-like fighting is expected? Conscription. Organizing forces based on sociability, one of humanity’s strongest weapons.

Manpower was the quickest and easiest power to gather.

Not long after the apartment people left, bang bang bang, someone pounded roughly on my front door. The man’s voice from earlier came through:

“You all saw how those apartment people acted? If we don’t want to be victims, we neighbors need to unite! If interested, come to the neighboring villa’s roof later!”

“…Yes.”

After my brief answer, the man left without hesitation. Then I sensed him knocking on neighboring units one by one, saying his piece and moving on.

I adjusted my mask.

“Trying to gather people?”

Planning to unite villa district people into a group? Like those apartment people?

Honestly not an excellent idea. Even gathering everyone in the villa district, not as easy to recruit as apartments. Was emphasizing inferior characteristics the right choice?

Wouldn’t becoming more vicious be advantageous? Wasn’t viciousness the easiest and surest choice?

‘Though simple viciousness alone isn’t enough…’

I turned to look at the map spread on my desk. A map with several circles drawn around the villa.

Not amateur humans like the villa district or apartments, but territories of truly vicious and powerfully armed beasts.

Hope Community thriving since we left, the archery club shooting arrows, police stations ruling districts, the gym base with muscle zombies eating protein instead of rice, the territory of muscle zombies who’d learned siege warfare…

Competing with these while happily continuing our raiding life would take much effort.

Need to refine viciousness into my own weapon. Things like more precise scenarios or more lethal schemes.

I drummed my knee thinking.

‘They’ll touch my villa eventually anyway. Might as well clear them out now and gain experience.’

“Then I’ll head out alone.”

I waved to Do-hyung and Park Yang-gun. I’d decided to participate as representative of Peace Villa where I lived.

Park Yang-gun just nodded slightly seeming uninterested, while Do-hyung fidgeted anxiously.

“You’re not planning trouble again, right? Makes me nervous.”

“What trouble?”

Someone might think I only caused trouble. When really I just got swept up in it.

With a hollow laugh I headed to the neighboring villa’s roof. Many people had already gathered.

The surviving specialists. Armed with weapons, they opened and closed doors welcoming street residents, and the man who’d gathered people asked me:

“Where you from?”

“Peace Villa next door.”

“Ah, neighbors! Welcome!”

A brief time passed. No more people came. Everyone who would come had come.

The man cleared his throat looking around, then spoke quietly:

“Everyone. Though the apartment people retreated, this is just the beginning. They may just rob empty homes now, but how long will that last? Eventually they’ll kill people for food.”

He spoke somewhat logically. Not wrong predictions.

People silently agreed, and he continued confidently making eye contact with each person:

“Even if not apartment people, if we stay scattered we’ll fall one by one to other robbers. So what must we do?”

I quickly raised my hand and said:

“Unite and strike first. Take revenge.”

“Huh?”

The man who’d brightened at “unite” turned to me in confusion.

Was he planning to just gather people for defense? But that’s too loose. Not what I wanted either.

I looked around at the people. Some well-fed and prosperous, but many weak from poor eating. Hunger would be their motivation.

“Those evil apartment bastards attacked our neighborhood – why should we just take it? Let’s take food from their apartment too.”

“No, wait. How can we fight that many people? And how would we open apartment doors? That’s impossible and too dangerous-“

The man tried to quickly smooth things over, but too late. Sparks had already ignited in hungry people’s eyes.

I pulled out the taser.

“A gift from police friends. This shock can open door locks. A chance to take all that food in the apartments.”