Marauder of the Apocalypse

Chapter 15: Hope [1]

A disaster occurred at only one broadcasting station. But the aftermath was considerable.

The public service announcement originally prepared by the government was properly aired on other broadcasting stations, but the muddy water scattered by a single lunatic covered and ruined everything.

"The internet is in an uproar..."

Jeon Do-hyeong muttered as he tapped his phone

The miraculous speed of the development of self-diagnostic kits, the reorganization of the military force to select only the uninfected, the government agency management system for suspected cases using automated response phones, and the quarantine measures using soldiers in protective gear.

These hopeful news had been tainted by distrust.

"Even though the quarantine facility had already banned visits, this video has made the families and various groups almost ready to raid it."

It's understandable.

They had lived without even seeing the faces of their zombie-like family members, but upon hearing that they were in such a pigsty-like quarantine facility, they would want to go and find them.

Of course, the result would lead to the acceleration of the apocalypse...

I suddenly felt my fingers itching.

'No, I can't lose to those bastards.'

I can't fall behind the lunatics of the apocalypse. The moment I fall behind, I'll be swept away by the waves created by others. Right now, the whole world is frantically responding to the virus spread by our CEO, aren't they?

I can't just sit still. I have to create the flow myself.

I tapped my phone, the one with the USIM card I had stolen from a cafe, borrowing someone else's Wi-Fi, and turning on a VPN, and then I wrote the posts.

- How to easily obtain firearms

- The police are treasure goblins

- The era has come where we can only trust our own power...

The essence of the posts, with slightly different titles and content, was simple.

Attack the police in groups of 2 or 4. You can obtain tasers, pistols, and bulletproof vests. Even traffic police are armed these days. Just run them over with your car and take them...

Fortunately, some of the posts became popular. Of course, there were comments cursing the author, but I didn't care.

I was simply sketching the old police collapse scenario in my mind.

'Jeon Do-hyeong and I alone can't even touch a police station. I need to create an atmosphere where people start moving by generating a sense of benefit or justification for attacking the police.'

Fortunately, thanks to a certain PD, the appropriate atmosphere had been formed.

I glanced at Jeon Do-hyeong's phone. The aftermath of that crazy public service announcement.

The government hastily explained that the place was only a temporary quarantine facility and that it was only the illegal acts of some temporary quarantine facilities, not the official quarantine facilities, but no one believed them.

And this fundamental distrust will ruin all quarantine measures.

I smiled faintly and welcomed the apocalypse.

***

30 days after the zombie outbreak.

The rolling blackouts have started, and many people have come out onto the streets, and the number of infected has skyrocketed.

And I sensed the danger.

***

No matter how the world turns upside down, there's no problem if you just hole up at home. When you watch apocalypse movies, the people who just stay at home and do nothing often live surprisingly long, don't they?

There's plenty of food, the water is fine, and the electricity is still supplied, so it's a real paradise.

But I seriously considered going out.

'Those people are dangerous.'

Standing at the window, I saw the cult members who have recently been increasing their power.

The lone shouters had now become two, three, and groups shouting loudly and grabbing people. They said to believe in our pastor, that he is a chosen one of God, and that there is salvation under him.

One of the seized citizens waved his hand.

"Hey, shut up!"

"You! The unbeliever will become a zombie!"

"No, really!"

Even though the citizen raised a baseball bat, the cult members did not back down. They just glared with madness in their eyes.

In the end, the citizen turned his back and fled.

That infectiousness, that blind faith.

"Are they really fools? Why do they believe in that?"

Jeon Do-hyeong clicked his tongue. I glanced at him. To me, this electric thief seemed the most vulnerable to conversion.

He's the kind of guy who gets tossed around by other people's opinions.

Above all, that overconfidence in not being swayed is dangerous. I decided to give a warning that those guys are a very threatening force.

"It's possible to believe. That's why it's dangerous."

"Do you have a religion? Like the Apocalypse? Seems like they believe in the end of the world."

"No."

No, I don't believe in that. I just see religion as one of the components of society. If I had to find something akin to an object of faith, it would be the CEO.

But I didn't fail to understand.

"In my opinion, those cults are a mental virus."

"...Huh?"

Jeon Do-hyeong looked at me with a puzzled expression, as if this guy was saying something else again.

"Like the common cold or the I-virus. When mental health is weakened, they invade and infect. Some viruses can even penetrate the immune system and invade."

I turned my head and looked down on the cult members like an enemy. They are mental zombies. That's why they're dangerous.

"Given time, those church people will take over this whole neighborhood."

They will expand like a virus.

The I-virus disaster, the government's loss of trust due to the recent broadcasting incident, the blackouts every 3 hours, the surge in crime in society.

If the mind also has health, this is a season when it is easily sick, so these cult viruses will actively invade.

Maybe if I just hole up at home, at some point the whole area might be filled with those church people. That means I'll be the one isolated. My villa might even be ransacked. This is not good.

'Nip it in the bud. The sooner the better...'

*Knock knock knock-*

I ponder while knocking on the window. Scenarios to deal with the church, the pastor.

'Report to the police? No, it won't work. Even if I report the illegal activities, they don't have enough manpower to handle this kind of thing.'

Zombie luring terror? Or are there sprinklers in the church too? If I put a few zombies in the fire water tank and set it on fire during the service, it might cause a mass infection.

Arson during the blackout wouldn't be too bad either...

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"It's ambiguous."

All the scenarios are well-written until they stop. They are not completed. It's due to the lack of data.

The building structure of the church, emergency power, personnel, security system, all the missing data have poked holes in the scenarios.

"I can't do this. I have to go out and check."

"Are you to attack the church?"

Do-hyeong quickly realized my intention. But it's not enough. Too hasty.

I carefully observed the face of one of the cult members. My habit of observing people around me to incorporate into the scenarios paid off.

Even though he's wearing a mask, I can tell. He's a resident of this villa. I also remember his voice.

I pointed at him.

"That person. Looks like he lives on the first floor. Let's go in tonight and get some information about the church."

***

The deep night has come. Rotating blackouts. The 1-hour blackouts that come every 3 hours make the night even darker. That darkness is the best friend of the looters.

I wore a mask, pressed my cap down to cover my eyes, and covered my skin with gloves, then glanced at Do-hyeong. Do-hyeong, relying on the phone's light, was also wearing the looter's uniform.

"Let's go."

Our weapons are a hammer, a hatchet, and a taser with little battery left.

Do-hyeong silently nodded, and we quietly went down to the first floor. It's deep night, so there's little movement.

I briefly saw a human shadow passing by the front door, but I didn't pay attention to it. The city is shrouded in silence and darkness due to the blackout. The people wandering around at this time are either zombies, future zombies, or human thieves.

"..."

I take a deep breath and nudge Do-hyeong. Open the door.

Creak-

A blue lightning bolt flashed in the darkness. The pale glow faded, and the door lock slid open.

Thud-

"...?"

The door doesn't budge at all. Even when I push harder and pull, it just slightly sways.

"It's locked."

Do-hyeong whispers, stomping his feet. Just as he said, there's a key lock in addition to the door lock.

I felt deep regret. A thief. One who can open the door, unlock the door lock, and even steal the remaining fuel from the car. I really want to recruit him as a core member, but the connection is still not there.

But even without that, I have to improvise to survive the apocalypse.

"Through the window."

If the door is closed, we can enter through the window.

We carefully left the front door. The moonlight is faint, and the visibility is extremely reduced in this world. The streetlights that would normally illuminate the streets are all turned off.

*Growl, the sound of a zombie's cry is heard from somewhere.

We crept along the villa and saw a window at a slightly higher position. The window was broken by a juvenile delinquent gang.

"Lift me up. I'll open the door for you after I get in."

"...Okay."

That's how we succeeded in the invasion.

Slowly opening the insect screen, climbing over the window frame, and avoiding the sleeping person, we opened the front door and stood at the bedside of the resident with a weapon in hand.

I gently tapped his head with a hammer. The cold metal touch woke the man up.

"Wh-what? Huh?"

The drowsiness quickly disappeared from his voice. I quickly spoke before he could shout.

"That pastor. Are you the real one? If so, I want to repent and join you."

From now on, I am not a burglar. I am someone who needs the pastor's teachings, or a target to be drawn into religion and converted.

This change of position worked well with the religious person.

The faint moonlight shone on the man's eyes as he slowly got up, and a glimmer seemed to appear. He opened his mouth.

"He has shown us miracles."

The story of the Hope Church begins.

When the zombie crisis broke out, the pastor and other clergy one by one became zombies, and the congregants who were collectively infected also turned into zombies.

The Hope Church, where people had disappeared, seemed to be ruined, but a miraculous thing happened.

There were survivors who had escaped the collective infection and the onset of symptoms. One evangelist and a few believers. Even as the clergy and the majority of the believers became zombies, there were still those who had not been infected.

I spoke in a bright voice.

"Then that evangelist is..."

"No, he is now the pastor, no, the saint. He has shown the miracle of warding off the virus like casting out the devil. If we believe in him, we can be saved!"

Miracle, my ass. They just got lucky and didn't get infected.

The evangelist seized the opportunity and claimed to be the pastor, taking over the church.

I looked at this fanatic coldly.

"If you pray to him, the virus will pass you by, and you can even save your family who have already become zombies."

"Really?"

My head turned sharply. He's a convert. He's already been seduced by this nonsense. He grabbed my sleeve with a sense of unease.

"Since there's this unbelievable virus, I guess miracles like that are possible too... I should at least confirm-"

"Yes! You should also meet him directly! There's a service in the evening!"

"What time is it in the evening?"

"During the blackout!"

I've heard all the information I need. Now it's time to return to being a burglar. I can't let the convert get any more entangled. I gripped the hammer tightly.

"Unfortunately, you're seriously infected."

"But I'm not infected?"

"No. With a mental virus."

Physical treatment is the answer. I brought the hammer down. Crunch, I felt the same sensation as when I had once beaten a zombie at the mart. It didn't die with one blow, so I mechanically moved my hand a few more times.

"Th-this is how you kill him?"

"Of course. He lived in this villa. I had to kill him if I wanted to take over the villa. ...Let's just dispose of the body."

I had already looted the couple's house and moved the supplies to my own place. It would be fine to leave the body in the house that I had cleared out to use as a storage.

I searched the body of the man who had just become a corpse and found his wallet. I checked his ID, so that if anyone asked when I went to the service, I could say I was recommended by this person.

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