The neighborhood representatives, including the uncle, had a brief discussion. They decided to negotiate with the apartment people. At the very least, they wanted to get back the supplies that those people had taken from the neighborhood.

"Yeah, we can't go back empty-handed."

"If necessary, we can just fight, right? We're not outnumbered either."

Their eyes gleamed with greed, anxiety, and a will to survive. Then, they resolutely gripped their weapons and stepped out of the management office with determination.

I just existed like a person caught up in the situation. I walked slowly behind the group.

Outside the management office.

People were swarming under the streetlights. The apartment attack team members were fidgeting nervously, waving their weapons around, and glancing at the uncle.

Peeking out on my tiptoes, I also saw the apartment people surrounding us.

'...There are a lot of them.'

The people who had their homes, their territory, the apartment complex invaded, showed a grim determination. There was a fierce will to survive in their eyes, and the weapons of some were already stained with blood.

We were already outmatched.

As the uncle walked forward, the neighborhood people quickly scattered and made way for him. The leaders like the women's association president and the management office chief narrowed their eyes sharply.

"So you've finally come out, you thieves!"

The uncle tried to say something, but the management office chief pushed someone.

The arsonists who had gone to smoke were all caught. They were already beaten up, with swollen faces. Someone had a cracked head bleeding, and someone was unconscious like a corpse.

The women's association president, who had the captured arsonists as hostages, kicked the gasoline can hard. Her voice was sharp.

"Were you trying to set the apartment on fire? Trying to kill us all? Even the children living here? Huh? Say something!"

"What are you talking about, you crazy people! You attacked our neighborhood first! Killed people, and now you say this?"

It was full of lies.

Even if it was arson, they had only tried to light a fire in the metal container to create smoke, and the other side must have known that. On the contrary, the apartment people had never directly harmed the neighborhood people.

It was a battle of momentum, and in a way, it seemed like the prelude to a battle. In ancient wars, they didn't start with just fighting, but with verbal disputes first. Their leader was a despicable person, and they had committed some wrongdoing. It was a kind of establishing justification.

And just as there is no romance in war, their verbal dispute also became increasingly childish.

The women's association president and the uncle continued their ugly verbal dispute.

The attacks became personal, with each side trying to undermine the other.

They also tried to sway the opposing side by inducing betrayal.

"Then let's fight right now! Try it! We have more people! We've surrounded you!"

"Yeah! Fight! It's the same whether you get beaten or die!"

Sometimes they would approach menacingly, holding weapons as if they were about to fight right away.

"Let go! No, what are you doing! They're the ones who came to set fire to our apartment! Let's fight!"

"Let go! Let go! Those shameless apartment people!"

Even though no one tried to stop them, they ended up retreating on their own. I slipped into the crowd and lightly slapped my forehead.

'This is really ugly...'

This isn't some childish fight between elementary school students. They were just posturing and shouting at each other from a distance, like little kids. But this is a life-or-death survival competition.

If this is an apocalyptic group competition, it should be a bloody massacre. But their rhetoric wasn't even snake-like, it was just... what is this?

I quickly looked around at the people. Surprisingly, the mood had calmed down a lot. The disgraceful behavior of those two had eased the tension.

Whispers reached my ears.

"Looks like they won't fight."

"It's better not to fight. Whoever wins, getting hurt or killed is bad... They just came to threaten us."

Voices relieved that the fight would be avoided.

I understand. With so many people colliding, it's easy to get hurt, and in today's world, getting hurt can mean death. But I'm still not satisfied.

I looked at the people around me ominously. The villa neighborhood, the neighboring town, the apartment complex. Potential enemies living nearby. It would be better if their numbers decreased a little.

'30 minutes until the blackout?'

I turned on my phone to check the time. The plan seems to have failed, but not completely. The verbal dispute won't end quickly, but at least they're all out here. That's what's important.

***

Tick tock, time passes. I kick the ground a few times, waiting for the darkness to come. After walking around the management office once, the time has become tedious.

The childish confrontation has turned into a negotiation, and the deadly tension has disappeared, but a sharper conflict has arisen between the representatives.

Returning the supplies stolen from the neighborhood.

"Don't talk nonsense! When did we take so much food?"

"Didn't you take the food? You did!"

The neighborhood people's desire to get back the resources has been exaggerated. Since they've come this far to negotiate, they want to get as much as possible.

On the other hand, the apartment people argue to give up as little as possible.

People fiercely argue over the essential survival resource of food. It's different from the childish verbal dispute earlier. Desperation, hunger, a desperate spirit.

They even tried to brandish their weapons and fight.

"Let's just fight! If we can't get food, we'll die anyway!"

"Then are you saying we should starve to death? Even if we feed the apartment people-"

"Hey, catch him!"

People hurriedly grab and pull. Tension flows back through the loosened crowd.

'Well done.'

Tick tock tick -

I tap my fingers and constantly check the time. It's 8 o'clock. The time when the pastor was holding the service and the blackout was about to occur.

Darkness. Enough to provoke a confrontation. Easy to hide my identity too.

I quickly search for a direction with fewer people and run straight ahead. The people who spotted me reflexively grabbed their weapons, but I shouted with my hands raised.

"Surrender! Please don't shoot!"

"Hey, what's going on over there-"

As they reach out to grab me, I twist my body and evade them, then continue running towards the villa. I slip away quietly and move with light steps.

Faint screams echo from behind.

This is a world where people kill and are killed over a single piece of food, a world where competition among humans leads to death, a world without compromise or consideration. It was an apocalypse.

***

It was a true apocalypse. A ruthless world. A world that bites at any opening.

Returning to the villa with difficulty, I doubted my ears. I blankly looked at Jeon Do-hyeong and Park Yang-gun.

Jeon Do-hyeong puffed out his chest as if he had done a good deed, but then shrank back when he noticed my gaze. Park Yang-gun shrugged as if helpless.

"I couldn't do what you asked. We were too busy defending the villa. It seems the rumor of the empty streets spread, and all sorts of thieves flocked here."

There were people who thought like me, trying to take advantage of the empty streets. So they were busy protecting our peaceful villa.

In fact, the corpse storage room on the second floor was filled with bodies.

Jeon Do-hyeong averted his gaze and muttered.

"But we did try to do something. Somehow, we ended up fighting off the thieves with the remaining people."

This guy even fought off other thieves along with the remaining elderly and children on the villa's streets.

"No, no."

I stammered. These are not looters, but a vigilante group. They are actually defending the streets.

After hesitating for a while, I nodded.

"I see."

Still, there was a clash. The apartment people and the neighborhood people fought, so it was half a success. Protecting our resources was an important task as well.

That's when-

Thud, thud, thud-

A heavy knocking sound was heard. The weary voice of the ajusshi followed.

"Young man of the Peace Villa, did you get out?"

"Yes. Are you unharmed?"

I opened the door and welcomed the ajusshi. He said he was going around to check on people's safety, then suddenly bowed his head.

"I'm not hurt, but it seems many others are. I didn't know the apartment people had guns. I didn't expect them to shoot at us... I was wrong."

A complex voice of regret, determination, and malice.

He looked up and met my gaze. His eyes seemed empty like someone who had experienced war, yet also burned with a murderous intent.

"I was so stupid. I thought your proposal was too extreme, but it wasn't."

"Uh..."

Was it not just politics? Was he really just shocked by my proposal?

I couldn't continue, but the ajusshi muttered while looking at the blood-stained iron pipe in his hand.

"To avoid a bloodbath, to prioritize negotiation. Joining forces and raising our voices is not enough. I should have thought about killing."

"I guess so."

"Anyway, since I've escaped, it's fine. If I lived, I can do better next time."

The uncle left, walking weakly. He said he was going to check on the other villa residents.

I didn't understand what he meant by doing better next time, so I tilted my head in confusion, and it was only days later that I discovered evidence of the uncle's growth.

A body was hanging from the street trees in the villa neighborhood. A placard was hung on the body's chest, which read:

Prachit.

*I don't know what Prachit is? :)