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Day 10 of the zombie outbreak.

The world creaked but kept turning, zombies became a common sight, and I planned for the future.

***

We had been wandering the city like nomads, relying on our camping car. Occasionally, we shopped for supplies at convenience stores with broken glass doors, ran over zombies that suddenly appeared, waited in traffic jams caused by zombie accidents, and got startled by the sound of police sirens.

Yet, we steadily prepared for the future.

Today was no different.

We parked by the roadside and researched.

“Indeed, the authorities must collapse.”

Tap-tap-tap—

I drummed my fingers on the table, glaring at my old mobile phone. On it were the role models I had studied: drug cartels, mafia, gangs, terrorists.

Could there be better teachers and seniors than the pillagers already living in an apocalyptic state?

The first lesson from my seniors was simple: the closer the law enforcement is to a vacuum, the better it is for outlaws. Naturally, this applied to the current apocalyptic world.

Think about it—who is the pillager’s greatest enemy? The authorities. Therefore, the authorities must disappear. Starting with the police.

“Of course, it’s a long-term plan.”

The world kept turning.

Even if we couldn’t dismantle the city’s police overnight, it was good to have a scenario ready to accelerate the apocalypse.

I spread the dark wings of my imagination. All sorts of sinister and dirty terrorist methods: zombie-attracting bombs, biological terrorism, luring with small groups and then attacking, subcontracting and coordinating raids.

Could I really think this far? I was surprised by the flood of inspiration.

“Ugh.”

I suddenly rubbed my goosebump-covered skin.

It felt like my mind had gone haywire. I wasn’t like this before. The apocalypse had ruined me. Turning a decent aspiring scenario writer into this.

Just then, Jeondohyeong glanced at me.

“Cold?”

“A bit. Isn’t it spring? The weather’s weird.”

I deflected. He wasn’t a companion I trusted enough to share all my plans.

“Done checking?”

“Yeah, more or less.”

Jeondohyeong, who had been marking maps with red, blue, and black markers, put down his pen.

On one side was his phone, diligently printing out the data he had researched. While sharing data with my old phone via hotspot, he had searched the city’s key zones.

Police stations, outposts, large marts, hospitals—important locations in the apocalypse.

Jeondohyeong spoke slowly.

“I found some outposts and police stations that might have firearms.”

His voice dragged. He pointed at a few spots on the map, gauging my reaction.

“Some seem to have tasers or handguns, some police stations have regional armories with reserve firearms, and some have hunting shotguns… Maybe.”

I could guess what he was hinting at.

As an electric thief, he was suggesting we raid a police station. Even if zombies were scary, he seemed interested in stealing state assets.

His trembling hands even seemed to betray his excitement.

“Maybe, perhaps, that is—”

But I quickly waved my hand to stop him.

“Just the two of us attacking a police station? We can’t even handle an outpost or a precinct.”

I calmed Jeondohyeong down. I had to rein in this bold electric thief before he caused trouble.

To raid a police station, we’d need more zombies, fewer police, and maybe subcontract to a juvenile crime group. We’d need more people in our group.

Jeondohyeong sighed in disappointment, slumping.

“Ah… I guess so.”

It might have sounded like a sigh of relief, but it was probably just my imagination. This guy was a ruthless electric thief, after all.

“Managing one companion is exhausting enough.”

He was a vicious criminal, likely to betray or cause trouble. Just having him around was mentally draining. I rubbed my eyes but stopped, afraid of the virus, and put my hand down.

Then, I mentioned the next target, something to pique the electric thief’s interest.

“Police stations are too much. Let’s rob a cop instead.”

“…Huh?”

Jeondohyeong blinked, as if doubting his ears. His fingers started trembling again.

‘He seems excited.’

He might not be main member material, but he had the makings of a pillager. With a pillager companion like him, I could do things I couldn’t do alone.

I smiled contentedly and mimed shooting a gun with my fingers. Bang.

“We need to get handguns and tasers.”

Zombies are too scary.

Getting too close could mean getting infected by the virus. That was truly terrifying, and we needed safe long-range weapons.

Even if the enemy wasn’t a zombie, they’d still be useful.

***

“…Having firearms would be nice. But no, we can’t attack the police!”

Jeondohyeong suddenly panicked and jumped up. As someone who usually stole electricity, he seemed to have some resistance to outright robbery.

Reason seemed to be overcoming his thieving instincts.

I frowned.

There were plenty of justifications and reassurances. The apocalypse is here, why worry about the police? We need to weaken them, they’re already busy dealing with zombies and other issues…

But I gave up on all that and slammed the table. Jeondohyeong flinched.

“First, listen to the scenario. You need to hear what we’re going to do.”

“Ah, okay…”

Jeondohyeong replied weakly.

I leaned forward and held up one finger.

“Step 1. First, we prepare a companion.”

“A companion? To attack the police? Is that even possible?”

A reasonable question. As a companion, he was filling in the gaps in the scenario’s completeness. I couldn’t fault him for that.

I nodded and named the reliable companion we’d use to attack the police.

“Zombies.”

Zombies can be companions. They can distract the police, tie them down, and even attack and defend.

I continued speaking to Jeondohyeong, who was just gaping.

“Just find one zombie. Step 2. Report the zombie to the police.”

“…And ambush the police who come to handle it?”

I nodded repeatedly, confirming that was the plan.

Currently, the police were the primary agency handling zombies. They’d dispatch officers based on the number of zombies, use tasers to shoot them, and cuff their wrists and ankles while the zombies were paralyzed.

“From what I’ve seen online, one zombie usually means two police officers. While they’re focused on the zombie, we ambush them.”

“Sounds possible…”

Jeondohyeong looked intrigued. He clenched his fists and leaned forward.

I drove the point home.

“Police usually go out in pairs. One with a handgun, one with a taser. If the ambush succeeds, we get both.”

Weapons to take down virus-ridden zombies from a distance. I couldn’t resist.

Jeondohyeong seemed torn between instinct and reason but finally closed his eyes tightly. The words I had planted spilled from his slightly open mouth.

“The world is doomed… With crazy people like this already appearing, we definitely need weapons…”

Was he insulting me, who had saved his life twice?

I frowned, about to scold him, but Jeondohyeong opened his eyes wide first.

“Let’s do it.”

“…Alright.”

As long as he was motivated. It wasn’t just anything—we were attacking the police. I hid my unease and refined the scenario further. The unspoken Step 4.

Then, like a location scout for a movie, we searched for a suitable spot.

***

A suitable spot meant a place without CCTV. Or somewhere with clever blind spots. Also, no houses or parked cars.

It needed to be a wide or long blank zone where we could park the camping car far away and move in.

Of course, there had to be zombies too.

It was a tough condition to meet in the city, but Jeondohyeong unexpectedly provided the answer. He smiled sheepishly and looked out the window.

“Well, I have a few spots where I usually sneak in to charge. Not sure about zombies, but the rest fits.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

I nodded vigorously.

I made the right call taking in the electric thief as a companion. Who knew he’d be helpful in this way?

Indeed, you can’t judge a person’s potential and abilities just by their appearance. Everyone has their unique strengths.

And so, the camping car roamed the city. Occasionally fast-charging at electric vehicle charging stations.

Jeondohyeong showed me the crime scenes where he had stolen electricity, and each time, I stared in awe and clapped.

“There are places like this in the city?”

“You can find anything if you look.”

At first, Jeondohyeong seemed awkward and embarrassed, but as I reacted strongly and showed enthusiasm, he proudly introduced them.

“This is a good spot for late-night charging—”

He showed me a farming area on the city outskirts, opening an electric meter on a utility pole to reveal an outlet, a public restroom surrounded by construction barriers in a planned construction zone, and an old public restroom at the foot of a mountain.

“Honestly, if you charge for too long, you’ll get caught. Just a quick charge while passing by is fine.”

At this point, I wasn’t even impressed.

The amount of electricity he stole wasn’t much. He just enjoyed the act of stealing.

‘This guy is a real electric thief!’

Enough to make me sick. Even if the infrastructure collapsed and the power went out, he’d find a way to steal electricity.

As I clicked my tongue, Jeondohyeong awkwardly asked,

“So, where are we going to ambush?”

“That’s…”

I snapped back to attention.

The time, of course, would be deep night. The location was fine, as long as there were zombies.

As night fell, we moved around searching for zombies and finally found one in a wide field.

The dark field under the night.

After parking the car far away and crossing the field for a while, I panted and turned on my phone. Checking the time, it was just past midnight. I turned my gaze.

Under an electric lantern, a zombie loitered near a small farm shed with just a roof and floor. I whispered,

“Let’s report it to the police.”

Day 11 of the zombie outbreak.

We took action to obtain the weapons we needed to safely deal with the terrifying zombies.

 

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