episode_0279

I couldn’t find anything particularly unusual on such a street. And it remained the same until I reached the intersection in front of the fake house. Just in case, I thoroughly searched around the nearby apartment complex, but it was the same. On the desolate, eerily quiet street, there were no elements that could pose a threat. It was so quiet that even the zombies’ cries weren’t heard, rendering the recent commotion and fires meaningless. Considering that a high schooler had culled them all while luring the zombies, it might not be surprising.

However, one thing had changed. The barricade that had blocked the apartment entrance, which I had seen before, was breached. Seeing about half of it pushed aside, it seemed the people inside had escaped.

‘…This much is fine…’

I took out a cigarette and lit it to catch my breath for a moment.

“Oh, right.”

As soon as I lit it, I opened my inventory. I decided to deal with what I’d forgotten in this moment. What I pulled out was a minigun. The barrel of the minigun, gently set on the ground, was still glowing bright red. Perhaps because it was already humid and cold, steam billowed from the barrel as if water were boiling.

“Is this okay?”

It would be very troublesome if it broke after barely being used. Its impressive firepower was already very much to my liking, so I was worried. As I stared at it and smoked, the fully heated barrel slowly began to regain its original color.

‘I guess there’s nothing I can do about the downsides.’

Despite its excellent firepower, it’s tricky to use. Even though I’d solved the issues of weight, recoil, and feeding, limitations remained. But there was no easy solution. It was simply a matter I had to handle well myself. I decided to deal with this as I gradually got used to it… I waited a little longer, checked that the barrel had returned to black, and put it back into my inventory.

After a short break, I started moving again, heading towards Sagajeong Station. Passing through the still quiet streets, I stopped for a moment when I reached the entrance of Sagajeong Market.

‘……’

There was a change in the quiet street. Markings. Large red ‘X’ marks were drawn with spray paint on buildings everywhere. There were markings on the entrance of Director Jang’s hospital building and on the 10-story building across the street. It was as if they were saying, ‘There’s nothing here.’ More such markings were visible nearby. Someone had been here. Someone had passed through the empty streets after I cleared out the zombies and the survivors left for Konkuk University.

I slowly turned my gaze to the left.

【⇧Jungnang Citizen Hall】

If there was anything suspicious, it was over there. I hadn’t thoroughly explored that area yet. Both Taesung’s personnel and the quick-witted survivors had been encountered there. Without hesitation, I moved forward. As I walked along the narrow road between the densely packed buildings, I could clearly tell. Survivors were definitely present, and they had been rummaging through the streets. Most of the shop windows were broken, and X marks were invariably drawn on the walls. There were signs of disturbance everywhere, from restaurants and clothing stores to pubs. It was as if a swarm of locusts had passed through. The already desolate street was overlaid with an air of bleakness, creating a grim atmosphere. I clicked my tongue in dissatisfaction, feeling as if I was walking through a development area slated for demolition.

Walking a little further along the road, I found an alley leading to a market. It appeared to be similar in size to Sagajeong Market, but the atmosphere was completely different. The blue tarp stretched between buildings, acting as a makeshift ceiling, evoked a dark den. The entrance to that market was a mess at a glance. I didn’t approach, just scanned it from a distance. I didn’t want to get closer because of a strangely foul odor. The faint stench was that of various things rotting together. It was similar to the smell of decaying food. And there was definitely the smell of corpses mixed in. I passed straight through the alley, which looked abandoned and far from clean.

The scenes I saw as I walked past were largely similar. The street, lined with low-rise buildings crammed together, had been thoroughly ransacked. And the markings remained. I don’t know what kind of group it was, but they seemed to have put in a considerable effort. If they were operating so openly, their numbers must be considerable. It also seemed they were quite clever. I just didn’t know because I’d only been roaming around Sagajeong. Just as we moved around to acquire supplies, survivors must have done the same. Rummaging around for supplies is understandable. It’s also understandable that they crawled all the way to Sagajeong, where the zombies were gone, though they might not have known that. And seeing the corpses finally appearing, I could understand that the survivors had fought hard.

“……”

The corpses, presumed to be those of zombies, were left neglected. More precisely, they were pushed to one side. The number of corpses piled on both sides of the narrow two-lane road was considerable. In some sections, they were piled as high as a person. Such mounds of corpses were visible here and there. And contents charred black. The mounds were without exception reduced to burnt charcoal. It seemed they had even taken care of the cleanup in their own way.

After a moment of following the traces of the survivors’ struggle, I jumped onto the roof of a low, two-story building and crouched down. Soon after, I peeked out with only my eyes and quietly surveyed what was ahead.

‘Is that the Citizen Hall?’

I found a building situated next to a small intersection and a steep hill. With its neat rectangular design and considerably large size, the building stood out remarkably. It wasn’t just its appearance that was striking. Barricades were installed in front of the stairs leading up to the building’s entrance. The barricades, spread out along the narrow road and sidewalk, surrounding the building, were crude but numerous. The sharply pointed obstacles were covered in what looked like filth. Blackened bloodstains, dried flesh, clothing fragments, and more. The barricades seemed to have served their purpose, as the area around them was quite dirty.

Beyond those obstacles, living humans were stationed here and there. They looked exhausted and gaunt. Some had cigarettes in their mouths or were chattering with people nearby. I narrowed my eyes, hearing their coarse, cackling laughter faintly. It wasn’t out of disregard for them. My gaze followed their weapons. Each had a knife or axe ready at their waist.

And…

‘…Guns…’

I didn’t know how they got them, but they possessed guns. However, unlike rifles, the long, slender ones appeared to be shotguns. There were 8 people outside the building alone, and all of them had guns. It seemed they had raided a police station or something. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to acquire such shotguns. Seeing this, they seemed a bit dangerous. They were a group with more initiative than I expected. They were clearly armed, consistently acquiring supplies, and defending their base. And they had defeated the zombies and burned them. At that level, it wouldn’t be surprising if they survived this chaos. Although they seemed somewhat suspicious, who wouldn’t look suspicious in the current situation? If they saw me, I might look incredibly suspicious to them. There was no need to stir up trouble unnecessarily.

Just as I was about to quietly retreat, thinking we should all just get along…

*Vroom-*

A few cars approached from ahead. I fixed my gaze on the lead car.

“…Were those them?”

A Starex leading the way. I got the feeling that those were the guys who had been loitering around my house. Behind it, several very dirty cargo trucks were carrying some amount of cargo. It seemed they had acquired supplies, but the problem was the third car.

“Those are definitely them.”

The cargo of the third car was living people. People stripped naked, bound, and bleeding. Though it was a distance, their terror was palpable even from here. People were dragged down with brutal hands, screaming as they were pulled along. Most of those being dragged were women. Hearing their shrill screams, it was clear. Seeing them grope and harass the women, it was clear those bastards were exactly that. I thought they were a group trying to survive honorably, but I was greatly mistaken. Watching those being dragged like cattle to a slaughterhouse, I quietly pulled back. If scumbags like them loitered around my house, property values would plummet. The thought of such filth roaming the streets I had painstakingly cleared by sacrificing myself made my anger surge.

‘…For now…’

Just as I jumped to an adjacent building to observe a bit more, and then jumped to another…

“?” “?” “?”

Two men on the rooftop, met at the moment of my landing. The two in front of me and I just blinked silently.

“…Who?” “…”

That’s what I wanted to ask.