Chapter 35: Territory

The neighborhood representatives including the man briefly conferred. Negotiate with the apartment bastards, they said. At least get back the resources those bastards took from our neighborhood.

“Right, can’t go back empty-handed.”

“If things go wrong we can just fight, right? Our numbers aren’t fewer.”

Their eyes flashed with greed, anxiety, and killing intent. They gripped their weapons resolutely and strode boldly out of the management office.

I kept a low profile like someone just caught up in it all. Walked slowly at the back of the crowd.

Outside the management office.

People crowded under the streetlights. The apartment raiders fidgeted nervously, needlessly waving weapons, glancing at the man.

Rising on tiptoes to peek out, I saw the apartment people surrounding us.

‘…Really are a lot.’

People whose home, territory, apartment complex had been invaded showed ominous intent. Vicious killing intent pooled in their eyes, blood already staining some weapons.

We were already losing the momentum.

As the man walked forward, our neighborhood people quickly scattered to make way. Representatives like the residents’ association head and management office director narrowed their eyes sharply.

“Finally coming out. Thieves!”

As the man tried to speak, the office director shoved someone.

The fire team who’d left to make smoke. They’d all been caught. Already beaten with swollen faces. Some had cracked heads dripping blood, some unconscious like corpses.

The residents’ association head kicked an oil drum, displaying the captured fire team like prisoners. Her voice was sharp.

“Going to set fires in the apartments? Trying to kill us all? With children living here? Huh? Say something!”

“What are you talking about, you crazy bastards! You attacked our neighborhood first! Killing people and saying that shit!”

All lies.

Even for arson, they’d only planned to light fires in metal containers for smoke, and the other side must know that. Conversely, the apartment people had never directly harmed neighborhood people either.

It was a battle of momentum, and in a way felt like omens of combat. Looking at old wars, didn’t they argue first? Your leader is this kind of bastard, committed these wrongs. Establishing justification.

And like war has no romance, their arguments grew increasingly childish.

The residents’ association head and the man continued their ugly verbal battle.

“We only checked empty houses! Known since you exaggerated last time! Every word a lie!”

“Hey! Making up things that didn’t happen? Just like sneaky bastards who planted spies!”

Personal attacks. Primitively slandering each other.

“Spy? A voluntary defector! Hey, neighborhood folks. Lots of empty homes here. Why not come over to our side? Should live in good safe homes. When else could you live in apartments like these?”

“Good apartments? Your people seem weak? Starving? Join us instead. What good are lots of people? Just means sharing food with more.”

They tried shaking opposing ranks to induce betrayal.

“Then fight now? Come on! We have more people! And we’ve surrounded you!”

“Yeah! Fight! Same if we get hit and die!”

Sometimes they approached menacingly with raised weapons but.

“Let go! No, what are you doing! They came to burn our apartments! We should fight!”

“Let go! Let! Those conscienceless apartment bastards!”

Though no one tried stopping them, it ended with everyone backing away on their own. Mixed in the crowd, I smacked my forehead.

‘Really pathetic…’

Not even elementary school kids would fight like this. Like children just taking poses from far away yelling “come at me.” This was supposed to be life-or-death survival competition. Was this right?

Apocalyptic group competition should naturally be bloody slaughter. Not even venomous rhetoric, what was this.

I quickly observed the surrounding people. How was the mood? Surprisingly okay. The tension had largely eased from those two’s disgraceful display.

Whispers reached me.

“Don’t think they’ll fight?”

“Better not fight. Whether we win or lose, if people get hurt and die… Only came along for the threats.”

Voices relieved fighting seemed unlikely.

I understood. With this many people colliding, injuries were likely, and injuries could mean death these days. Still didn’t sit right.

I watched people darkly. Villa district, neighboring areas, apartment complex. Potential enemies living nearby. If only their numbers would decrease a bit.

’30 minutes till blackout?’

Checking the time on my phone, I calmly assessed the situation again.

The plan had failed yet hadn’t failed. The arguments wouldn’t end quickly, and everyone had come outside anyway. That was what mattered.

Tick tock, time passed. I kicked at the ground waiting for darkness to come. After circling the management office once, it was boring time.

The childish standoff transformed into negotiations, and though the savage tension disappeared, sharper conflict arose between representatives.

Returning resources stolen from neighborhoods.

“Don’t talk nonsense! When did we take that much food!”

“Didn’t take food? You did!”

The resources neighborhood people wanted back had inflated. Having come to negotiations, greed to get a bit more.

Conversely apartment people argued to give less.

People fiercely fought over food, essential survival resources. Unlike the earlier childish arguments. Desperation, hunger, desperate momentum. They even started to actually grab and swing weapons.

“Just fight! We’ll die anyway if we can’t get food!”

“So we should starve? Already hard feeding apartment people-“

“Hey hey, grab them!”

People urgently grabbing and pulling back. Tension flowing again through the loosened crowd.

‘Well done.’

Tap tap tap-

I wiggled my fingers, frequently checking the time. 8 PM. Just minutes until blackout time, when the pastor would have held service.

Darkness. Sufficient to provoke conflict. Convenient for hiding identity too.

I backed away, avoiding people settling on the ground with sore legs. Management office. Everyone focused on representative negotiations, no attention behind.

Phone showed 3 minutes to blackout. Cup ramen waiting time. Time full of anticipation. I took deep breaths smelling the subtle chaos brewing and.

–!

Blackout came. Brief confused voices rang out but people stayed calm, having experienced blackouts before.

“What time…”

“The negotiations-“

No. Can’t negotiate. You need to fight.

I immediately drew my gun and shot the management office window I’d spotted earlier.

Bang-!

Gunshot. Glass breaking. For an instant, silence fell in the dark world. Had the gunshot deafened them? People’s breathing, representatives’ talk, movement all stopped.

I took a deep breath and screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Ahhh! Gun! They shot! Run!”

Simultaneously spread both hands wide and shoved people in front of me. Delayed screams erupted. An explosion. In an instant the darkness descended into pandemonium.

“Ahhhhh! We’ll die!”

“Don’t stop me!”

“Ahh! They’re swinging weapons!”

Dizzy screams. Footsteps like the ground shaking. Bang crash sounds of pushing and falling. Weapons swinging. Impact sounds.

Someone’s dropped phone scattered erratic light. Panicked faces flashed past like ghosts.

Of course there were efforts to calm the situation.

The man and residents’ association head’s urgent shouts rang out.

“What’s this, who, surely not you?”

“No! Everyone, calm down! If this-“

“Stop! No, this-“

And gunshots rang out again. Bang bang bang bang bang, continuous shots like spraying bullets. Not me. Someone else.

‘Right, I couldn’t be the only one with guns!’

I ducked in panic. Clearly someone who’d attacked police for guns was shooting wildly in panic.

The situation was unstoppable now. Darkness. Consecutive gunshots. Screams echoing through the apartment complex. Harsh breathing in my ears.

Plus with everyone packed together like that, bodies colliding, weapons grazing – impossible not to lose your mind.

‘Whew, scary. Better run.’

Trembling in fear, I moved opposite the neighborhood people. Instead of running toward the surrounding apartment people, I slipped secretly into the management office.

Taking shelter. Throwing myself right into that chaos would be dangerous for me too. Better to cut through the office and slip out the back where the encirclement was loose.

I opened a window with a rattle and climbed through the frame. Though people were here too, they wavered in confusion waving phone lights.

“Gun, what? What’s happening?”

“112, no, no.”

Quickly finding the direction with fewest people, I ran straight ahead. People who spotted me reflexively gripped weapons, but I raised my hands high shouting:

“I surrender! Don’t shoot!”

“Hey, what’s happening over-“

Though hands reached to grab me, I twisted away and sprinted toward the villas. After smoothly slipping out I walked with light steps.

Screams echoed faintly behind me.

A world where people killed each other over food, where competition between people meant someone had to die, a world without compromise or consideration. The apocalypse.

It really was the apocalypse. A merciless world. A world that bit any weakness shown.

Struggling back to the villa, I doubted my ears. Stared blankly at Do-hyung and Park Yang-gun.

Do-hyung puffed his chest proudly like he’d done good but shrank looking at my expression, while Park Yang-gun waved his hand like it couldn’t be helped.

“Couldn’t do what you asked. Too busy defending the villa. Word spread the street was empty, all sorts of thieves swarmed in.”

Said there were people who’d thought like me about exploiting the empty street. So they were busy protecting our Peace Villa.

Indeed more corpses had accumulated in the second floor storage.

Do-hyung mumbled avoiding my gaze.

“We tried to do what you asked but somehow ended up fighting off thieves with the remaining people.”

This guy even drove off other thieves with old folks and kids left in the villa district.

“No, no.”

I muttered, speechless. These weren’t raiders. They were vigilantes. Actually defending the street.

After opening and closing my mouth for a while, I nodded.

“That could happen.”

Still caused conflict though. Apartment and neighborhood people fought, so half successful. Protecting our resources was important too.

That’s when it happened.

Bang bang bang-

Heavy knocking sounds. The man’s tired voice followed.

“Peace Villa youth. Made it out?”

“Yes. You’re not hurt?”

I opened the door and welcomed the man. He said he was checking who lived and died, then suddenly lowered his head.

“I’m not hurt. But seems many others are. Never knew apartment bastards had guns. Even less they’d shoot us with them… I was wrong.”

A voice complexly mixing regret, some resolve, and killing intent.

He raised his head and met my eyes. His eyes seemed empty like someone who’d been through war, yet also dyed red with killing intent.

“I was too stupid. Thought your suggestion was too brutal. But it wasn’t.”

“Uh…”

Not politics? He’d really been horrified at my suggestion?

I couldn’t continue, but the man mumbled looking at his bloodied steel pipe.

“Avoiding bloodshed, prioritizing negotiation. Raising voices together isn’t enough. Should have thought about killing.”

“Suppose so.”

“Anyway good we got out. If we lived we can do better next time.”

The man left walking weakly like that. Said he was going to check on other villa district people.

I tilted my head not quite understanding how he planned to do better next time, and only discovered evidence of the man’s growth days later.

A corpse hung from a street tree in the villa district. A sign was attached to its chest reading:

Spy.