Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 66: Letter

The keys collected from killing the villa people were in my hand. I checked the stickers on each key while opening the villa door.

People crowded the narrow stairs as my voice echoed softly explaining the building.

"Obviously can't use the first floor or semi-basement. This one's unusable with broken windows."

"Only five units available? That's tight... What about the roof? Looks like four people could stay up there."

The hiking club leader in black hiking clothes looked up while dropping his heavy bag on the stairs with a thud. With quite a few hikers, they seemed short on space.

Maybe they were preparing escape routes since they could cross between roofs. Or they might want to manage the water tanks directly.

My head hurt for a moment.

'Wanted to trap and kill them, but there are so many escape routes.'

Besides the roof, they could escape down gas pipes like Park Yang-gun. Couldn't just block the entrance and starve them to death.

I nodded casually for now.

"Do as you like. The roof door is open."

"Good, good. Need to check how much water's left in the tanks."

I calmly watched the hiking club leader smile in relief. Various scenarios played through my mind.

'Arson? Fire spreading would be dangerous. Zombie wave? They can't open the entrance.'

No good ideas came. At times like this, the first idea was best. Trap and starve them. Break the water tanks, gift them three days without water.

Outside, Park Yang-gun was talking with his family. They leaned or sat on the car hood casually, but kept an awkward distance. More like meeting old acquaintances than family.

Park Yang-gun tried to speak kindly to his daughter:

"You've grown so much. You were this tall last time I saw you."

"Must take after mom."

"Better than taking after me."

The conversation died. Neither Park Yang-gun's daughter nor ex-wife spoke. Either too much to say that words failed, or nothing to say at all.

Finally Park Yang-gun looked them over while making meaningless small talk:

"Rough with the zombies. And still not dead."

"Just glad we're alive... So how've you been? Heard you left the church. Get caught stealing again and get kicked out?"

Park Yang-gun's ex-wife spoke flatly. He started to snap angrily while drumming the car, then sighed.

"Group living just wasn't for me."

True enough. He'd helped me kill the pastor. He'd also ruined Hope Community's atmosphere with suspicion and distrust. A marauder group probably suited him better than that kind of community.

After quietly observing the awkward family, I cleared my throat and approached them.

"Mr. Park Yang-gun. Let's talk for a moment."

Talk - meaning help block their escape routes and kill them.

Though it wasn't his fault they came, he was the cause. Right for Park Yang-gun to take initiative in handling it.

Park Yang-gun looked around at his family before slowly turning.

"Rest for now. I've got something to do."

So Park Yang-gun and I returned to my house in the farm villa. I sat down casually and got straight to the point:

"Can you block those people from escaping when we trap and kill them? Keep them from climbing down gas pipes."

"...Not sure. Can we cut the gas pipes? That'd be pretty noisy."

Park Yang-gun muttered with interest despite seeming troubled.

From a thief's perspective, blocking escape probably seemed fun. Like a hacker pointing out security vulnerabilities.

"Could probably block them decently by coating the gas pipes with grease or wax. Wax should work since gas pipes have some heat resistance."

As expected, Park Yang-gun didn't disappoint. This could definitely work. I jangled my key ring. The roof door key was in my hand.

Only one thing left.

Block the door at night, make gas pipes slippery, quietly kill people staying on the roof, and wait.

I glanced at Park Yang-gun.

"Get your family out tonight then. If you say you'll sleep as a family, you can naturally get your wife and daughter out. Once everyone's asleep, put wax on the gas pipes."

"Sleeping as a family would be harder actually. But alright."

Park Yang-gun muttered before returning to his family. I repeatedly took deep breaths while handling my hammer.

***

Late at night. From the roof of the hikers' villa, I looked at the blood soaking my gloves. Looking around showed four corpses and torn tents.

People keeping watch on the roof. Setting up tents to sleep, taking turns watching surroundings one at a time. I'd bashed one's head while pretending friendly greetings, slit the other three's throats while they slept.

Water from the forcibly broken tank mixed with blood.

Park Yang-gun suddenly climbed over the railing, arms trembling as he struggled to get his body over. Then he pointed at the gas burner in front of me.

A gesture saying no need to melt wax anymore. He whispered quietly:

"Coated all the window-side pipes. They were all sleeping, must've been tired."

"Probably trusted the guards."

Perfect. Lucky for once. Just then the roof door opened and Sa Gi-hyeok and Do-hyung struggled in too. Their movements showed exhaustion from heavy lifting. Arms hung limp, steps staggered.

"Moving stuff quietly made it even harder."

"Really can't handle physical work."

Seems they'd worked hard moving chairs, boxes and folding tables. I patted their shoulders before taking out the roof key.

"Let's go then."

Lock the door and head down. My marauder companions followed quietly while catching their breath. Various items were barely visible in the darkness.

The entrance space packed tight so doors couldn't open.

From now this wasn't a home but a prison. Only escape was jumping from windows.

Stopping at the prison villa's entrance, I spoke lightly in passing. A request to Park Yang-gun:

"Make sure no one opens this for any reason."

"Of course."

"Better take turns keeping watch too, just in case. Need to monitor them... I've got energy left, so I'll watch for now."

I'd easily killed four people. Then handled melting wax to give to Park Yang-gun. Made sense for me to watch since I had energy left.

My companions waved tiredly and headed home. Their steps hurried like they wanted to sleep quickly. Their figures gradually disappeared into darkness.

I climbed to the fourth floor and sat on the stairs.

"Hope this ends here."

My soft muttering echoed in the silent space. I had concerns. They still had phones. They could contact others. Mercenaries linked to fire stations might come, or delivery vigilantes.

From the second floor they could jump even risking injury.

***

Tap tap tap, I drummed the stairs lost in thought.

How long passed? Time flowed as the moon set and sun rose. Pale dawn light shone through the narrow stair windows.

Movement started beyond the closed entrance. Living in mountains must have made them habit of waking at sunrise.

I slowly got up and went to the rattling door. Confused voices came through:

"Door broken? Won't open."

"Hey, no water either!"

Seems they hadn't grasped the situation. Instead of realizing they were trapped, they just thought something was wrong.

I stayed silent and listened to their voices. How long until they realized? How would they react?

I'd also used phones unlocked with fingerprints from dying roof guards to spy on their chat. They must've woken at similar times - the chat was active.

Did headcount. Who's missing? Why can't we reach guard team?

Park Yang-gun? His family's gone.

This is guard team. Everyone, we're trapped.

I idly typed on the phone:

What? How are we trapped? Hey, help us!

Don't want to. Throw your gun out the window and I'll open up.

...Who are you?

Failed to copy their writing style? I approached the entrance where the club leader's voice came from and raised my voice:

"Guard team here."

"..."

"Can't hear me? Guard team here. Everyone, you're trapped. Broke the water tanks too. Throw all weapons and resources out the window if you want to live."

Rough footsteps approached. A voice holding back rage came through the cold entrance:

"Why are you doing this? We were talking fine."

"Why'd you nervously settle in someone else's territory? I'll open up if you hand over weapons and resources, so choose carefully. Three days without water? Plenty of time."

Bang, pounding on the door. I smirked.

Time was on my side. Good if they wasted time discussing and worrying about fake threats. Fine if they didn't fall for threats too. Just waiting would dry them to death.

"Don't think about escaping with ropes or cords. Someone's waiting to throw desks from the roof."

"Think I'm stupid? Wait. I'm calling people."

As expected, requesting rescue? But meaningless. I'd stayed up all night preparing to convince anyone who came.

I headed up to the roof.