---

There are five stages of accepting death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But in a world where the apocalypse has struck and death is commonplace, the group of hikers skipped the first stage altogether.

They didn’t waste time pointlessly denying it. They jumped straight to the stage of anger and negotiation.

They called for rescue, searched for a way to escape, and threatened me.

I wandered around the rooftop, looking down. A few bodies were already sprawled on the ground. Someone who tried to climb the wall barehanded and slipped, and another who fell after I threw a ladder at them while they were descending on a makeshift rope made of blankets and bricks.

There were so many people scattered like trash. Would they work as cushions if they piled up enough?

“I kinda want to clean that up…”

As I muttered, Jeondohyeong, who had come to relieve me, shook his head vigorously.

“You’ll get shot if you get close.”

“True.”

Those guys have a handgun. They’ve already fired it into the air as if to threaten me. If I went to clean up the bodies, I might end up becoming one.

The answer is clear. Throwing things from the rooftop. Like whack-a-mole, kill whoever sticks their head out.

I tapped Jeondohyeong and yawned loudly.

“I’m sleepy after staying up all night. Keep watch. If someone comes to rescue us, shout.”

“Yes. But… what about Park Yang-gun’s family? They’re trying to save them. Should we tie them up in the room?”

“That…”

Park Yang-gun’s family is definitely a problem. Even if we lock them up, it’s not like a real prison. If we just clear the junk piled in front of the door, it’ll open.

It’s hard to believe Park Yang-gun can control them.

I already heard the commotion. Jeondohyeong and I approached the railing and looked down. Park Yang-gun’s ex-wife was shouting angrily, trying to come out.

“How can you do this! Is this why we were taken in? To kill and steal from people?”

“Stop! No, calm down!”

Park Yang-gun tried to hold her back, but she shook him off. At the same time, the voices of the trapped people shouting from the windows.

“Save us!”

“Just open one door!”

Their voices still had strength. Are they not hot? Is there any water left?

As Park Yang-gun’s ex-wife got closer, I picked up a brick and threw it hard at the ground. *Bang!* It hit a car, and silence fell.

Park Yang-gun quickly approached and tightly grabbed his ex-wife’s hand.

“Let’s not do anything dangerous. You have a daughter.”

“…You’ve changed. I understood that stealing was a mental illness. But not to this extent. You weren’t really a bad person.”

The ex-wife stared at Park Yang-gun. He turned his head as if avoiding her gaze. He seemed to mutter something, but his voice didn’t reach the rooftop.

In the end, only the ex-wife’s near-scream was heard.

“The people who helped us when we thought we’d die without you! When we thought we’d die with our daughter!”

“We’re divorced! How can I stay by your side!”

“You’re the one who wanted the divorce! You said you were ashamed in front of our child! Aren’t you ashamed now?”

“This is the norm in the city! You’ve been living in the mountains, so you don’t know how the world works!”

…The argument was getting more childish.

Then, Jeondohyeong tapped me. He pointed across the street.

“Zombies are coming.”

“Really. …Zombies are coming! Step back! If you want to die, come in quickly! I’ll kill you!”

Park Yang-gun’s ex-wife quickly looked up at me. I shook the brick in my hand.

“Hey, you!”

Park Yang-gun panicked and quickly grabbed his ex-wife, dragging her back into the villa. As if filling the empty street, zombies poured in, awakened from their slumber.

I scratched my head. Is it a bit awkward to go back to my comfortable home and sleep? I slightly lowered my head and looked at the torn tent. Inside was a corpse in eternal sleep.

I’ll sleep there.

“Let’s throw this body outside. Oh, tear the clothes off. We can use them as rags to wipe blood.”

“Uh… are you going to sleep here?”

“It’s awkward to go back, and I need to stay here in case something urgent happens.”

So we threw the body far off the rooftop, cleaned the tent with torn clothes, and I fell into a light sleep in the blazing tent.

***

“Wake up. Firefighters or something are here. Hey! Wake up!”

*Slap!*

A sharp pain drove away my sleepiness. My cheek stung. I blinked, confused, rubbing my cheek. What’s going on?

Jeondohyeong in front of me quickly pointed beyond the rooftop railing.

“Firefighters or something are here to rescue us.”

“Uh… Wait, did someone just hit me?”

“I did. It was urgent, and you wouldn’t wake up. Uh, they’re almost at the villa!”

“Oh…”

Well, it’s right to wake me up even if it means hitting me. But my cheek really hurts…

I struggled to get up. It was bright daylight, and the heat made it hard to sleep properly. I had no energy.

After barely putting on my clothes and arming myself, my body felt heavy. I trudged to the railing and looked down at the street.

There, fully armed firefighters were sweeping through the zombies, approaching. Thick fire suits, sturdy helmets, fire axes that could easily split people. They were better at killing zombies than soldiers.

“Stay calm, don’t fall!”

With one swing of the axe, a zombie fell. The zombies’ attacks were blocked by the thick fire suits.

Occasionally, when a wave of zombies surged, they used cars as walls to prevent falling and diligently swung their axes. The red fire axes were stained with fresh blood.

They had a decent formation and had learned their own strategies.

Firefighters were as formidable as police officers. I couldn’t even imagine how to deal with them.

‘How do I kill them? Fire suits mean Molotovs won’t work, right? Will a handgun work? But they’re firefighters. They can treat gunshot wounds themselves, right?’

Are they human tanks? Close combat is hopeless. Maybe they’ve survived this long because of that firepower.

Jeondohyeong stared at them, then suddenly tapped me.

“What are you going to do? Uh, what’s this? Hikers? It seems like these people called them.”

“…We should talk.”

I’m not scared. Look at those zombies. They’re excitedly attacking but retreating. They’re avoiding them because they’re disgusting. It’s not worth fighting fully armed firefighters. Unless it’s a fair fight with no armor and just weapons.

“You stay on the rooftop.”

I stretched and opened the rooftop door, heading inside. It’s a bit cooler in the shaded interior.

Suddenly, the voice of the hiking club chairman came from beyond the entrance.

“Let’s go out and see.”

The firefighters who came for the rescue sounded triumphant. I awkwardly smiled and slowly sat on the second-floor stairs, waiting for the firefighters to come up.

A muffled voice and heavy footsteps were heard.

“Is this the right address? Let’s finish this quickly and get the food. It’s too hot to stay in this suit.”

“Yes, senior. But if they’re being held captive, the captor…”

The firefighters, holding fire axes, stopped as they climbed the stairs. Through the transparent visor of the fire helmet, our eyes met.

Their momentum was terrifying. The axe stained with zombie blood and the fire suit. The numbers filling the stairs. The pressure was intense.

I waved my handgun as if welcoming them.

“I’m the captor. Why are you here?”

“…”

The narrow stairs of the old villa. The firefighters, bulky in their suits, could only come up one at a time. It’s an environment favorable to me.

Of course, if it’s a life-or-death fight, I’d lose, but I had to imply that I wasn’t to be underestimated.

If one side is too weak, if the power isn’t balanced, no dialogue can happen.

The firefighter at the front stared at my handgun, then slowly adjusted his grip on the fire axe.

“The people trapped here requested our help. They asked to be rescued.”

“You’ve made a wasted trip on a hot day. So, are you going to rescue them? Think carefully.”

I playfully swung my handgun, pointing it at the entrance where the people were trapped. Then I pointed at myself with my other hand.

“Save people who are going to die and fight me, who’s fine. Or leave the dying to die and don’t create unnecessary grudges. You know what to choose, right?”

It’s a simple cost-benefit analysis. The trapped people are as good as dead. At least, that’s how I see it.

If they try to save them, they’ll conflict with a survivor armed with a gun. Even if they’re firefighters who save people, they’re survivors worn down by the apocalypse, so they should be able to make that calculation.

The firefighter didn’t make any moral statements. He sighed after a moment of silence.

“Sir, we need to eat too. We’ll just open the door. After that, it’s up to you.”

“That won’t do. How about this?”

I leaned forward and waved my handgun.

“Work with me? If you kill those guys, I’ll give you almost all the resources. I’ll just take a little.”

“Trust is essential in this line of work. Attacking the client like this makes you a pillager.”

What trust? The reward must be insufficient. Even that Rider Zero said she couldn’t do business if she sold information.

It’s not like this is a world where trust or business will last long anyway.

“Pillager, well said. Why are you siding with the pillagers? This was originally our area, but they invaded and settled here. So.”

I looked at him seriously.

“Just kill them. I don’t want anything else, so take all their resources. Wild vegetables, spears, hiking gear, whatever.”

“What nonsense! When did we invade!”

Apparently, one of the hikers had been eavesdropping on our conversation and shouted from beyond the entrance. I couldn’t back down. I turned to look.

“You brought spears, handguns, and every weapon you could find. What are you talking about? If you wanted to talk, you should’ve come unarmed. Bringing weapons is a threat.”

“How can we move without weapons!”

“Then you shouldn’t have moved. Zombies or you, you’re all just sources of instability. There’s not much water in the tank anyway, why should we share?”

There’s no clear answer to who’s at fault. The dynamic between the captor and the captives has turned into a complex survival struggle. There’s no good or evil here.

The firefighter also seemed to have a headache, tapping his helmet, and they started discussing among themselves.

“What do we do? This is complicated.”

“Killing people is a bit…”

I waited leisurely. They wouldn’t try to kill me here.

The firefighters’ discussion was quite intense. Some argued that killing people is irreversible, while others said there’s hardly any work and scavenging alone can’t sustain them, so they can’t miss this opportunity…

It seemed they were divided between giving up on the request and killing the hikers.

I chimed in occasionally.

Zombies are people too, and you’ve already spilled blood. Some people wander around looking for their zombified family. Everyone has a zombie in their heart. If you pillage, you’ll get a lot of resources.

They gave me murderous looks, but in the end, they decided to kill the hikers for the sake of their families and immediate hunger.

Jeondohyeong and I talked on the phone.

– Okay. We’ll definitely take the resources.

– Just leave us a few headlamps. Oh, there’s a guy with a handgun on the 4th floor. We’ll lock him up and let him die.

Out loud, I said something else to reassure the hikers.

“But a request is a request. If we fight, you’ll definitely die. Step aside.”

“No, uh… But they have to go far. They can’t live here.”

“That’s your problem.”

So I pretended to step back, and the firefighters skillfully cleared the junk. The entrance opened, and a hiker with a spear came out, eyes wide.

“Thank you! The payment is with the chairman. And you, you!”

I hid behind the firefighters and chuckled. It’s not the time to point a spear at me.

*Thud!* The fire axe split the hiker’s head. The same mechanical movement as killing a zombie. The sudden ambush continued.

The hikers’ counterattacks were mostly blocked. What can I say? The difference in experience was clear. They’ve made killing zombies their main job, and their experience fighting zombies with all sorts of weapons showed.

Even the closed entrance door was like that. Other hikers in the house, realizing the situation, locked the door, but the firefighters, experts at breaking doors, almost smashed it open.

And so, except for the house with the hiking club chairman who had a handgun, everything was cleaned up.

“…There’s this much food?”

The firefighters gathered the hikers’ bags and checked them, their pupils constantly shaking.

“One pillage and this much.”

These people, who had survived as moral survivors until now, tasted pillaging. One fight and they had enough food to last for days. Even the firefighters, who had faintly maintained a sense of duty and morality, focused more on the food than the dripping blood.

I also watched their backs with trembling hands.

‘What’s this?’

In a fight without guns, no one can beat these people? Are they going to turn into pillagers?

 

---