Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 80: Injury

The typhoon arrived, and the wind and rain began to rage. I went up to the roof to collect water in the tank, but staggered and collapsed.

"No, the wind! No!"

The rain poured down relentlessly, and the wind was so strong I could barely keep my balance. It felt like my body would take flight if I lifted a foot to walk.

Even the raindrops flew almost horizontally, striking my face and making it difficult to keep my eyes open. After repeatedly wiping moisture from my eyes, some black plastic-like garbage plastered itself to my face.

I flailed my arms, grabbed the trash stuck to my face, and tore it off to finally clear my vision.

The rain was coming down so hard the world looked hazy, the villa rooftop had become practically a swimming pool because the drainage wasn't working, and the plastic trash I'd irritably thrown was flowing with the water current, blocking the drain.

"Is the world trying to end or something..."

When I forced myself to look beyond the rooftop, I saw pigeons unable to fly properly, crashing to the ground. That's how strong the wind was.

The terrible rain and wind had the momentum to destroy the world. In streets with many signs or near construction sites, people were probably dying from objects falling in the strong winds.

The wind stopped momentarily. Now was my chance. I quickly got up and opened the water tank lid.

Then the wind began blowing fiercely again. I lost my grip on the lid I was holding. It flew away with a whoosh on the wind.

I stared blankly at the scene, then sighed.

"Let's just stay inside..."

With the wind and rain raging like this, why bother doing anything now? So I returned to my home, wiped my body with a towel, and stared blankly out the window.

***

Today's meal was ramen again. Do-hyung, who was on meal and dishwashing duty, showed off his camping skills by making delicious ramen.

It was hard to get the water right for four servings of ramen, but he adjusted the seasoning perfectly. Do-hyung smiled cheerfully as he stuffed a bunch of noodles into his mouth and swallowed.

"All this rain reminds me of camping, and I like it. Cooking ramen under a tent while listening to the rain is so delicious."

"Isn't this actual real-life camping?"

Sa Gi-hyeok looked out the window while drinking the broth. The rattling window and raindrops that seemed determined to break through it.

"We disinfect and use rainwater, loot ramen, eat things in expiration date order. The world is wild."

"No, camping isn't about survival! It's about romance and emotions."

I just quietly ate my ramen. In a few months, ramen would become something we couldn't eat anymore. The expiration dates would pass after summer ended.

Of course, the consumption period was eight months, but that was only a two-month difference. Even stretching it, this was food we wouldn't be able to eat next year.

Park Yang-gun, who was downing soju alone, shook the bottle.

"Aren't we going to steal anything? I'm running out of alcohol."

"How can we go out with all this rain? Have you looked outside? It's turned into a river out there."

That was true. We couldn't do anything in this state. The roads were completely submerged, and the semi-basements were underwater. The water overflowed so much that not only was the garbage and corpses scattered on the streets invisible, but even cars were barely visible.

Unless we'd run out of food and been starving for days, we really couldn't go outside.

I swallowed my ramen and shook my head.

"Going into the streets now would be suicide. You could fall into an open manhole, get hit by a fallen sign, or be swept away by the current and drown. And the dirty water is also a problem."

"But I'm out of alcohol... No, I should hold back."

For a moment, the only sound was the quiet noise of eating.

Gloomy weather affected people's moods. Rather than taking a positive view like Do-hyung thinking about camping, it was easier to feel depressed. Especially given our situation.

With no electricity, there was nothing to pass leisure time with, only zombies and corpses outside the window, and having to be wary of people or zombies wherever you went.

It was as if people's minds were slowly rotting.

But like fermentation, even as the mind rotted, it could produce something useful. Like raiding. Planning to raid after the typhoon passed would guide their minds in a positive direction.

"Are we short on any resources?"

"Alcohol."

"Besides alcohol."

Do-hyung and Sa Gi-hyeok blinked and tilted their heads. Do-hyung spoke first.

"Electricity is what we lack most."

"There's nothing we can do about electricity. What about you, Sa Gi-hyeok?"

Electricity was impossible. It was a precious resource that required specialized skills to obtain. Either repairing cars to convert fuel to electricity, acquiring buildings with solar panels, or somehow using generators with electrical expertise.

Sa Gi-hyeok shook his head.

"I still have plenty of cigarettes left. And don't we have enough food? We must have quite a bit of rice and kimchi. I don't see anything essential for survival that we're missing."

Rice and kimchi were such excellent food resources. Rice could last two years if stored properly, and kimchi was essentially good for several years.

The rice and kimchi we'd looted from Peace Villa, the villa streets, and the apartment complex were more than enough.

'We've replaced hand sanitizer with soap for washing hands. Really, besides alcohol and cigarettes, we're not lacking anything. Masks? You can use one for several days anyway. Nothing is critically short.'

I scratched my head.

We had handguns and improvised explosives too. Our firepower wasn't immediately lacking either.

"Then... let's go out once the weather improves. It's good to have alcohol on hand. And let's check on the city situation."

Maybe it was the feeling of being trapped inside due to the weather, but my companions readily nodded and began discussing where to go and who to raid.

***

The typhoon passed quickly. After pouring rain for about three days, it lost its power.

But its destructive force was incomparable to the monsoon. The city was wrecked. When I went up to the roof at night to view the city, there were hardly any bright spots. Not just streetlights, but the light of human habitation itself was nowhere to be seen.

Areas without electricity made up the majority.

The city looked even worse during the day.

On a clear afternoon, my raider companions and I went out to the streets and looked around the unrecognizably transformed villa district.

"Is this even a city anymore?"

"This isn't just ruins... it's a disaster zone."

Streets swept by muddy water. Though water had passed through, there was more dirt than ever. The black asphalt was completely covered with soil. Abandoned cars had turned into complete scrap metal after enduring both the monsoon and typhoon in succession.

I looked at a nearby car. A fallen streetlight lay on top of it.

Turning my gaze, I spotted a bloated corpse. A body swept away by the current. All sorts of insects had gathered on it to feed. Cockroaches, flies, carrion beetles...

At a glance, puddles and damp streets sparkled with reflection. I scanned several villa buildings. They were riddled with holes.

"So many windows have been broken."

"Ours broke too."

Even though we'd tried to prepare, the windows of the house where we'd stockpiled supplies had shattered, causing us trouble. We'd hurriedly moved the rice sacks first and cooked rice every day to eat the wet rice before it spoiled.

Sa Gi-hyeok retched in disgust as he moved away from the drowned corpse.

"Aren't we going to clear away the corpses?"

"You do it."

"I really can't even touch that..."

At that point, I came to my senses. I pressed my cap down firmly and took out my gun, waving it.

"Did everyone bring their guns?"

My companions discreetly showed their handguns. Guns hidden in pockets. After buying them from the police, I'd distributed them to Do-hyung and Sa Gi-hyeok as well.

Do-hyung pulled out his phone first and waved it.

"We should go to the streetlight district first to charge our phones."

"Right. Let's head there."

The typhoon had passed. It was time for people who had been trapped indoors, living without electricity, to gather for charging.

We walked down the street, chatting casually.

Would the streetlight district still be intact after the typhoon, those people aren't stupid so they probably took shelter, even if the solar streetlights were damaged they would have repaired them somehow, let's get alcohol first...

As we walked, we encountered a zombie.

"Isn't that a zombie?"

A zombie with its head buried in a puddle, drinking water then reaching out to grab and eat weeds. The zombie sensed our presence, jumped up, and rushed toward us.

"Kreeeek!"

Its momentum was desperate. Like a beast that had found food after starving for days, it launched into a full-power hunt.

But it looked terrible. Its long hair was filthy, and its face was so emaciated that the bone structure showed. The fingers it stretched toward us were skeletal and covered in dirt.

"Whoa!"

We scattered to the sides and raised our weapons. I held my hammer high and shouted.

"I'll take this one! Cover me!"

I focused on the zombie. Gauging the distance. The head moving up and down. The perfect timing to strike the crown of its head.

One, two, three, I counted and brought down the hammer. The zombie twisted slightly at that moment, taking the blow on its shoulder. I felt a dull sensation in my fingertips, but the zombie pushed forward and knocked me over.

"Kreeek!"

"Aah!"

I fell backward with a crash. There was no time to worry about the pain of my tailbone or back hitting the ground. The zombie gnashed its teeth and tried to bite into my neck, drooling.

I pushed back the zombie's face with my leather-gloved hand and snarled.

"What are you doing! Cover me!"

"You're too tangled up! If I hit wrong, I might hit you instead!" ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

With the blue sky as a backdrop, I could see the zombie's face and my panicking companions. Do-hyung nervously moved his hatchet several times.

Sa Gi-hyeok quickly raised an iron pipe high.

"I'll do it!"

"Sa Gi-hyeok, stay back!"

I couldn't trust that guy. He'd mess up and hit me instead of the zombie.

"Should I shoot then?"

"Don't!"

Meanwhile, Park Yang-gun pulled a string from his pocket. It was the red cord we'd used before to open front door latches.

"Move aside."

The red cord went around the zombie's neck, and as Park Yang-gun tightened and pulled from behind, the zombie's head lifted up.

The zombie let out a choked "Keek!" Its hands that had been grabbing me flailed in the air. I quickly struggled free, then swung my hammer with full force.

A few strikes. The zombie's limbs went limp while its upper body was still lifted. Only then could I catch my breath.

"Seriously... all this trouble for one zombie."

It wasn't easy to handle up close. Distance really was the best weapon. Dropping things from a rooftop or shooting.

Trying to save bullets by swinging a hammer wasn't a good idea.

Do-hyung awkwardly approached.

"Oh, you had string. Or we could have used a choke hold. Everything happened so fast I couldn't think."

"It's fine. Just do better next time."

I roughly wiped the zombie's saliva from my gloves in a nearby puddle, then hurried my pace.

"Let's not spare bullets when we see zombies. It's dangerous to let them get close."

"Handguns are hard to aim with. Best to avoid fighting altogether."

We crossed the typhoon-ravaged city—streets with fallen utility poles, a church steeple collapsed with its cross piercing a car, roads with eroded asphalt, neon signs buried in puddles.

The sky was clear, but the wind was so strong it felt like my baseball cap would fly off. Just as I grabbed the brim of my cap to press it down firmly—

"Ack!"

Suddenly something struck my head hard. A dull pain spread, my vision shook, and my strength drained away.

I collapsed to my knees while drawing my gun first. I thought someone had attacked me.

But that wasn't it.

My companions simultaneously pulled out their guns and looked up at the sky. They lowered their guns in confusion, then shifted their gaze to my feet.

Some unknown fragment. It looked like a building exterior tile, a broken pipe, or a piece of balcony railing. Something too crude to be called a throwing weapon.

"Did something fall in the wind?"

"There doesn't seem to be anyone in the building."

I opened and closed my mouth. My head was spinning. Even with my bad luck, this seemed excessive. I could understand if a companion had betrayed me or other survivors had attacked.

But an injury from an accident? I hadn't been wounded even after fighting zombies and people until now.

I quickly took off my gloves and hat, and felt my head with clean hands. I felt a stinging pain and sticky sensation.

I heard my companions' surprised voices.

"Hey, you're bleeding?"

"Blood?"

I looked at my hand. There was indeed blood on it. All sorts of worries immediately rushed through my mind.

'What if the object was contaminated with bacteria? What if the wound gets infected? Is my brain okay? It doesn't seem like a concussion...'

No, this wasn't the time for such thoughts. I needed treatment. Proper treatment to prevent infection or other complications.

I gritted my teeth and put my cap back on.

"Let's go to Life Tower first."