Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 334



Only Krnovel

Episode 334 135. Generation (1)

I remember reading a satirical cartoon about social issues that was in the bestseller corner before the war.

The book touched on a wide range of social issues that were problematic at the time, including conglomerates, vested interests, historical issues, regionalism, excessive competition, and materialism, but it did not mention topics that everyone was aware of and that were actually problematic.

It’s a story about generations.

If the conflict were a conflict due to culture or the times, it would not be much different from the common generational conflict that has existed since the time of Socrates, but the conflict at that time went beyond culture or experience of the times and touched on money, an area directly related to survival.

I don’t think the writer is unaware of this problem.

Maybe he’s getting older.

Even if they are not elderly, at least they are not young people, and yet they want to attract the attention of young people.

Because being able to socialize freely with young people is a privilege granted only to a few old people.

On a high mountaintop to the east of my territory there is a community of elderly people.

When I visited that area at the time, my impression was not good.

Wounded and closed-minded, they were not much different from barbarian tribes who displayed fierce hostility toward outsiders.

It was on an autumn day when the mercury first dropped below 10 degrees that they, who had been forgotten for a while, appeared before me again.

*

Bang! Bang!

Late in the evening, gunshots rang out.

It’s the east side.

The distance is at least 5km.

I tried to gauge the distance and location with the light, but the light was not visible even though gunshots rang out.

The gunfight appeared to be taking place in an area lined with abandoned apartments and factories.

Since it wasn’t a serious enough situation to warrant an emergency declaration, they continued with their normal routine.

The gunfire continued intermittently, stopping around 10 o’clock.

It was rare to hear gunfire lately, but there was too much to worry about.

The work of building a winter house is in full swing right now, and just gathering firewood and food for the winter is overwhelming.

The hunt began in earnest when Rebecca joined our territory in earnest.

I also go hunting sometimes, but I am not very familiar with hunting wild animals, which does not suit the name “hunter.”

Sometimes, all I can do is shoot a guy who gets caught, but I never learned the skill of proactively tracking down and suffocating my prey in school, and I’ve never felt interested in trying it.

Today’s prey is soda.

When Cheon Yeong-jae went to work in our territory, he reported seeing a herd of cows mixed with dairy cows wandering around, and so he and Rebecca went hunting.

The value of cattle is far higher than that of deer or wild boar.

As the saying goes, there is nothing to throw away, as everything from the meat and bones to even the internal organs can be eaten, and the skin is strong and elastic, making it very useful.

The meat would probably taste good too.

At least I’m happier than the pork or goral I’ve had.

It is questionable how the cattle, which are nothing more than livestock, survived at this point, four years after the war began, but Rebecca and I plan to hunt as many cattle as possible and bring them back to our territory.

“Let’s have barbecue.”

Rebecca said, pretending to cut out her tongue.

Are you saying we should roast our tongues and eat them?

Rebecca’s grand plan, however, went down the drain before she could even find the cow.

Found a person.

It’s a corpse.

He also crawled a long distance, bleeding profusely after being shot, and died after losing all his strength.

The gun was found 50 metres behind a trail of blood.

There are no other colleagues around and no footprints are visible.

The body was identified.

He is a boy in his mid-teens.

Although he tried to hide his young age with dark beard marks and tattoos all over his face, his skin, which had not aged yet, was not much different from that of a boy.

“Gang.”

As soon as Rebecca saw the boy, she said one thing.

I agree with you.

They are organized looters.

But there are no groups of marauders nearby.

Probably from somewhere else.

The body was searched, but no information regarding its location was found.

Judging by the goblin needles stuck to his old military trousers like tumors, other miscellaneous forest debris, and torn clothes, it seemed certain that he had wandered through the mountainous region before he died.

I exchanged a glance with Rebecca.

An agreement was reached without dialogue.

In other words, it means stepping back like this.

There’s no need to loiter around when armed looters show up.

The firearm was not recovered.

It was a North Korean-made pistol, and was in very poor condition as it was close to being scrap to begin with and had not been properly maintained.

We judged that the risk of our fellow looters noticing our presence by seeing their guns missing was greater than the benefit we would gain from recovery.

New information was waiting for us at home.

“I think I had a showdown with the old men up on that mountain.”

Cheon Yeong-jae knew the detailed circumstances.

Like Defender, Cheon Yeong-jae also uses a full-fledged wireless device and uses it to eavesdrop on even the smallest communications taking place far away.

It’s something I could do if I wanted to, but it’s something I don’t necessarily want to do on my own.

I don’t think eavesdropping on random communications happening over 10km away is a very meaningful thing unless it’s an extremely dire situation.

Anyway, Cheon Yeong-jae, who has different thoughts and hobbies than me, briefly reconstructed the situation that happened late last night along with the gunshots heard last night.

“There were two communications going back and forth.”

One side was made up of old people.

It was a group of elderly people living in a nursing home that I had discovered the other day and barely managed to return alive.

The other side was young people.

“One side looked like a gang of kids.”

Given the circumstances, it was assumed that they were the group of marauders that Rebecca and I discovered today.

In a situation where there was no means to secure traditional beliefs such as school ties, blood ties, and regional ties, people mainly preferred to stick together with those of similar age.

People instinctively have a tendency to avoid things that are different from themselves.

Typically, they try to strictly distinguish one another based on differences that arise from language, skin color, appearance, and even religion, region, school, and workplace.

Even before the war, old people played with old people, young people played with young people, and boys played with boys.

The flow that existed before the war does not change after the war.

The elderly did not trust other generations, so they formed their own groups, and the boy-centered gangs also did not trust the adults, so they formed their own groups.

It is very common in today’s world for two disparate groups to clash.

However, Cheon Yeong-jae discovers a strange characteristic in the conflict.

“The strange thing is that even though the battle was going on, the two groups continued to communicate.”

“okay?”

“Yeah. It’s like we’ve known each other for a long time.”

Cheon Yeong-jae recorded part of the communication.

Because of the relative distance and the state of the interception equipment, most of the communication was filled with muffled noise and difficult-to-understand pronunciation, but there were a few salvageable conversations.

“I gave you everything you asked for, didn’t I? I did everything you asked me to do? Why are you going back on your word?”

The voice of an old man with slow speech.

“Get your dicks out of here. You old bastards. You said, ‘Yes, yes’ and bowed down and did everything you were told, and then you hit me in the back of the head? Do we look like your little pawns? Keep your promise. I promised you the medicine!”

A very hoarse, male voice.

Although he has been going through puberty for a long time, he doesn’t look like he’s young, but his vocabulary and speech show his immaturity.

As can be seen from the communication revealed by Cheon Yeong-jae, the two groups that exchanged gunfire last night and suffered casualties appear to have originally been in a trading relationship.

This is not the usual picture of a group of marauders suddenly appearing and attacking a settled group, taking everything away.

Whatever the cause, the two groups began their relationship with mild dealings, but things went south and they fought.

Bang! Tata ta tang!

As night fell, the fighting resumed.

The battle was more intense than the previous day.

The gunfire continued until dawn.

Every time a gunshot rang out, a small light flashed on a distant mountain.

This time, I also tried eavesdropping on the communication.

Chijijik–

“All of them killed!”

Chijijik—

“Don’t kill him. Hang him. Hang him so that other kids can see him!”

Eavesdropping is definitely not my thing.

Among the countless echoes of emotion, there are only one or two meaningful messages at best.

After listening for a while, I took off my headphones and closed my eyes.

The next day, Cheon Yeong-jae came up again.

He always has a smile on his face as if he’s mocking someone, but this time, he entered the area with an unusually sharp face.

“Listen.”

Cheon Yeong-jae played us a recorded communication from last night that was very confusing.

Chijijik–

“There! Ha-pyeong-ri! There’s someone who lives on the hill next to Ha-pyeong-ri, right? Yeah? I know who he is. He carries a gun and drives around in a car. I saw it all! I saw it all. I know who lives there!”

Ha-pyeong-ri is the hometown of Gold, where Cheon Yeong-jae currently lives in hiding, and where Kim No-in, who is now a guest who cannot return, was born and raised his entire life.

That is, it is my territory.

It seems that the old people on the mountaintop were aware of our presence.

It’s the advantage of the highlands.

A person who is high up can see farther and more.

It is also true that the chances of being discovered increase as they form groups.

Moreover, our area is not easily visible from below, but is very easily observed by those who live higher than us.

Just as we knew where the old people were, the old people knew where we were.

And that’s not all.

Those old people are making threats to us disguised as requests.

“Can you help us out? Okay? The young man who showed up with a gun before. You live there, right? I know. You’re listening to our radio right now. Help us out. Help us out. Okay? At least answer me. You’re listening, right? Okay?”

The fact that I live here is probably just an old person’s guess.

It doesn’t matter to them that their guesses are wrong.

Because time has made us dull, and that dullness includes a quality called shamelessness.

“What a bunch of clueless kids.”

Cheon Yeong-jae showed his hostility.

Ha Tae-hoon, who was watching from the side, snickered and glanced at Cheon Young-jae.

As Cheon Yeong-jae looks at him, Ha Tae-hoon asks playfully, watching my expression.

“Can I speak?”

“what.”

“How much you hate old people.”

It is impossible to confirm what Cheon Yeong-jae’s expression was because he didn’t pay attention, but it is certain that some kind of signal was exchanged between the two through gestures.

Ha Tae-hoon kept his mouth shut and Cheon Young-jae moved on to the next topic.

In the uncomfortable atmosphere, Cheon Yeong-jae continued speaking in a tone that seemed genuine.

“······Those old farts seem to know where we are. Well, if you have clean air and a good telescope, you can find us quickly.”

I agree.

The outer wall was built and solar power generators were installed.

Besides, we are currently in the middle of building a winter house.

The chances of our location being discovered are greater than ever.

“······.”

It’s something I’ve been sensitive to.

That’s what it means to be in a group.

As the body grows larger, it becomes easier to stand out.

It was bound to happen someday.

It just happened at an unexpected time and by an unexpected entity.

“So this is how it is. Can I make a suggestion?”

By the way, Cheon Yeong-jae shows rare enthusiasm.

“How about we just kill them all?”

Cheon Yeong-jae is smiling as he speaks, but he is sincere.

He is literally proposing to kill all the old people on that mountain.

Cheon Yeong-jae’s gaze soon turns to me.

“······.”

I know.

The judgment is mine.

Let’s think about it.

There is no particular respect for the elderly, but there is no contempt either.

There were cases of old people causing problems before the war, but I think that too was a personal problem.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to define an entire group as an enemy and deny that entire group.

Well, fanatics are an exception.

The plan to wipe out the elderly population was rejected.

There’s no need to get involved when they’re fighting a group of looters right now.

I don’t mean to gain favor, but is there any reason why I should intervene when people who have nothing to do with me are fighting?

“There’s always a shortage of bullets. Even if you don’t have a shortage now, you will soon.”

However, the communication that Cheon Yeong-jae brought the next day contained content that was difficult to just ignore.

“People from Ha-pyeong-ri over there. Didn’t you listen to our request?”

It’s the voice of an old man with slow speech.

“Do you turn a blind eye when your neighbors are suffering? We have our own thoughts, too.”

The communication ended there, but the message was clear.

The slow-spoken old man is warning us.

Ding- ding- ding- ding-

Soon after, an alarm sounded at the summit observation deck.

A car was coming.

Six.

A convoy of vehicles, barely able to move, spurting black smoke and rickety, was approaching our territory.

Standing upright on top of the open-top vehicle were skinny men whose faces, even at close range, did not appear to be older than their early twenties.

“Should I try to guess?”

Cheon Yeong-jae, who had been particularly hostile to the elderly from the beginning, started to swear.

“That old man sent it. He probably lied and said he had a lot on our side.”

There is no way of knowing what sweet words the old man used to send the looters towards us, who were already gunning for each other, but one thing is certain.

Crunch!

“Prepare for battle.”

After forming a group, this is the first battle within the area.

If you win you don’t gain much, but if you lose you lose everything.

“······.”

I knew that a battle like this would happen someday, but I never imagined it would start like this.

“Let’s kill those guys and the old man too.”

Cheon Yeong-jae is standing up straight today.

What can I say, I feel divine.

His movements are much more violent than usual, perhaps because he is on a high of adrenaline.

Ha Tae-hoon had a look on his face like he had something to say to me.

As our eyes met, he motioned for me to come over.

I approached Ha Tae-hoon while watching Cheon Yeong-jae’s excited expression.

“He was in the Pioneer Corps for a while.”

Ha Tae-hoon whispered with a slightly tired expression.

“He was an ace.”