The Night Belongs to the Scavengers
The scavenger asked, “How many rounds do we have left?”
“Not many,” Park Yanggun replied, extending his hand toward me. Something that looked like a coin pouch jingled faintly in the dim light. It seemed to be an improvised bag for holding bullets, but it didn’t feel particularly full. Still, they were bullets. Better than nothing.
I accepted the bullet pouch with a pleased grin, then immediately handed it back to him. If I carried it, the pouch would swing around and make that annoying clinking sound every time the rounds knocked together. It was better for Park Yanggun, who could move without making a sound, to keep it.
“Let’s head back quickly.”
In high spirits, I took a brisk step forward, only to be yanked back by something from behind. It was Park Yanggun. He clicked his tongue.
“Take it slow. You trying to advertise that we just pulled off a heist? The more you’re carrying, the more you need to look like you’ve got nothing.”
“Ah.”
I clamped my mouth shut and continued walking with a dejected shuffle. Camouflage was essential. This was the hour when many people moved under the cover of darkness. There would be scavengers like us, and robbers who preyed on those scavengers. It was smarter to blend into the surroundings so we didn’t become targets.
And so we made our way back to Villa Street with extreme caution. We didn’t hurry. We stayed quiet, kept our eyes on our surroundings, and moved like people with nowhere to return to, simply wandering.
But no matter how well we disguised ourselves, an obstacle appeared.
“Hold on. Stop.”
It wasn’t my voice, nor Park Yanggun’s. It came from the ground. A person who had been lying on the road like a corpse or a piece of trash. With a rustling sound, a blurry figure rose up ahead. At the same time, I sensed movement behind us as well. When I turned my head, two more people stood there. Three of them had us surrounded.
Rather than a sense of crisis, I felt pure bewilderment.
What the hell are these guys doing?
From the looks of it, they’d been lying in wait on the street until someone worth robbing came along. Didn’t they have anything better to do? Were they bandits? Just standing guard on the road and jumping out at passersby?
While I hesitated, unable to find the right words, Park Yanggun stepped forward to try and resolve things peacefully.
“We didn’t manage to get much either. Let’s settle this nicely, yeah? All we’ve got is this pack of cigarettes. Take it and let’s call it even.”
“Cigarettes? Just one pack?”
There was a crinkling sound. Park Yanggun was negotiating with the robber blocking our path ahead, handing over the cigarettes. He must have anticipated something like this and prepared accordingly. I, on the other hand, prepared for the worst. I turned slightly and quietly gripped my pistol. Now that we had bullets, it wouldn’t be bad to unload the two rounds left in the chamber.
The two behind us were holding kitchen knives that gleamed faintly. They swung the blades threateningly. The sound of steel slicing through the air rang out.
“One pack of cigarettes isn’t enough. Hand over the weapons you’re carrying, your bags, your clothes—everything. Then you can go.”
These were real robbers. The kind that stripped you of everything you owned. In front of them, the thief began to complain.
“Come on, guys. If you take everything, how are we supposed to get back? There’s no point in fighting. If we make a racket here, zombies will show up. Let’s just let this go.”
At those words, the robbers suddenly fell silent. Then they let out hollow chuckles and readjusted their grips on their weapons.
“Zombies? In this darkness? Don’t you know they don’t come out if they can’t see?”
“Hey, this is perfect. Judging by how clueless you are, you must have a lot of stuff. Hey, mister. If you don’t want to die, lead us to your place.”
…Have night and day switched?
Originally, zombies moved at night and people during the day. Had that reversed because the zombies gained the upper hand? Either way, this was good news. If there was no chance of attracting zombies, there was no need to hesitate.
I loosened my grip on the pistol. I slowly adjusted my aim and gauged the distance. Hitting the torso would be enough.
“There are zombies around.”
“Stop lying. It’s too late to pretend now. How well-off do you have to be to only come out on the streets at night now? Does your house still have running wa—”
“No. I’m the zombie. Krrraaaagh!”
I let out a monstrous roar and drew my gun, firing before the enemy could react. Sparks flew from the muzzle. I immediately twisted my wrist and fired at the next person. Two gunshots rang out in quick succession. Then came the screams.
“Aaaargh—!”
“A gun!”
They were too unharmed. I hadn’t missed at close range, but it looked like I’d hit areas that would kill them slowly, like slow food. They clutched their stomachs and doubled over, or pressed their hands desperately against their bellies.
I immediately switched to my hammer and sidestepped. I couldn’t trust Park Yanggun to handle the remaining one behind us. He didn’t seem like he’d match my rhythm. And sure enough, he was one beat faster than me—he had already fled and was now standing in front of me.
“Let’s go together.”
“What do you mean togeth—”
“It’s a pistol! You’re out of bullets, aren’t you?”
A voice came from behind. The robber who hadn’t been shot was breathing raggedly like he’d won the lottery. He charged forward with rapid footsteps.
“Just selling the pistol would—”
He didn’t care at all about his wounded comrade. His eyes were blinded by the thought of obtaining my pistol. Were pistols that expensive? And were there actually people buying them?
Should I kill that guy first and think later?
I reached out and gave Park Yanggun’s back a light tap.
“Let’s kill that bastard and go.”
“Why would I fight someone with a kitchen knife? It’s hard enough to find a doctor. What if you get scratched and infected?”
“We can’t exactly drag him all the way home.”
If a fight broke out, you had to kill them to feel safe living afterward. Park Yanggun muttered a small curse, then abruptly changed direction at a right angle. I caught a glimpse of him pulling something from his pocket.
“I learned this from Jeon Dohyeong. It’s a hangman’s knot. You draw their attention from the front, and I’ll choke them from behind.”
A hangman’s knot? Had Jeon Dohyeong studied various knots while camping? Anyway, if I could get it around the neck, it should kill them. I could strike while they tried to cut the cord with the knife.
I nodded and ran a few steps in the opposite direction from Park Yanggun, then raised my hammer.
“You really want to fight? If you get hurt, there’s no fixing it.”
“Same goes for you. Just leave the pistol and go. Then there won’t be any need to fight.”
“You know that’s not going to happen.”
The robber glanced around. He seemed to be looking for the missing Park Yanggun.
“Where’d the other guy go? Where is he? Come out.”
I suddenly grew anxious too. What if Park Yanggun had only said that and then actually ran away? I started looking around as well. My legs were shaking.
The robber noticed my movements and let out a snickering laugh.
“What? Did he abandon you?”
“No. No way. That can’t be.”
My voice carried undeniable suspicion. I really was starting to doubt him. The master of escape. The human who ran away when no one even considered betrayal or flight. The thief whose every word was at least half a lie. No way.
I slowly backed away, and the robber followed, closing in. His voice had regained some composure.
“It’s a pistol with no bullets. It’s lighter than your life, isn’t it?”
“That’s exactly what I was going to say. There’s no need for us to fight like this, is there?”
Fighting alone was really not ideal. I’d count to three, and if Park Yanggun didn’t move, I’d have to run. I pulled out the flashlight I’d brought as a substitute for a flashbang from my pocket. In this darkness, a sudden burst of bright light would blur their vision. I could escape in that gap.
Three, two, one.
Click. I flipped the switch. A powerful beam shot straight into their eyes. The pure white light stretched out like a lightsaber, striking the robber’s pupils. It also hit Park Yanggun, who had silently taken position behind the robber.
“Argh!”
“Why the hell did you use a flashlight!”
Both men instinctively raised their hands to cover their eyes, but a shoelace was already looped around the robber’s neck. Park Yanggun grumbled as he quickly stepped back. The robber staggered, his vision impaired. The knot tightened, strangling him.
“Kkrrk!”
The robber swung his knife backward. He was trying to cut the cord with the sharp blade. There was no time to hesitate. I kept the flashlight fixed on his eyes and charged, swinging my hammer. He noticed me too late and flailed with his knife, but it was too slow. My hammer struck his crown with a satisfying crack, and the blade harmlessly scraped against my leather jacket.
He collapsed backward. Because Park Yanggun was dragging him, he was pulled along the ground. Park Yanggun returned, panting.
“Is he dead?”
“He’d better be.”
I kicked the kitchen knife far away and smashed his head a few more times with a dull thunk thunk. That should rule out any chance of him playing dead. Click. I turned off the flashlight and let out a breath. A fair fight always left me tense.
“Let’s go back.”
“Wait a second.”
My eyes, which had adjusted to the bright flashlight, struggled to distinguish the darkness again, but my vision gradually returned. Park Yanggun was squatting in front of the corpse, rummaging through it. He seemed to be checking every single pocket.
“I need to take back the cigarettes I gave him. …There’s nothing else but my cigarettes. Tsk. Let’s go.”
“Yeah. The blackout should be ending soon, so let’s hurry.”
We quickened our pace and returned to the villa. Perhaps because the power was about to come back on, there were fewer signs of people than when we had left the villa. I let out a sigh.
It really was a world where you had to struggle every single day just to survive. A world where if you couldn’t kill others, you would be killed. There wasn’t a single person who hadn’t adapted to this brutal world. Everything was simply becoming more dangerous.
I feel like I’m falling behind. I don’t know the situation on the streets well, and I don’t understand the trends among individual survivors or looters. I need to study up.
While I was thinking that, we arrived back at Villa Street. Park Yanggun, who had casually turned on his phone, handed me my share of the loot.
“We’re here. Take it.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
“You too.”
A pouch of bullets, one pistol, and a police vest. After gathering the weapons, I entered my house and hid them in the corner.