Chapter XXV: Scavengers
7 Oct 0916 KST
Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea
A group of ROK Army soldiers walked out in front of a jeep and a beat up sedan going through an abandoned row of boutique shops, convenience stores and night clubs. The soldiers were scouting ahead a path for a number of civilians from the nearby districts that had escaped the initial wave of attacks. They were moving towards what they still believed was the Seongnam safe zone. "Keep your eyes open, people." said Lt. Seo, the company commander. They were all on edge, constant skitter attacks had picked their number down from 29 to 16 over the past day or so. "There's a bug hiding around here somewhere I can feel it." One of the soldiers grumbled. "Stay focused men. Don't let fear get the best of you." Lt. Seo exhorted his troops. A bit of debris came down from a rooftop near the squad's left flank. They all turned to see a skitter run out of their sight on the rooftop. A few short bursts of gunfire followed, hitting nothing but bricks and air. Seconds later a skitter leapt at them from an alleyway in between two of the buildings. The soldiers opened fire, taking down the creature but not before it managed to land several blows on one of their own. The soldier was wounded with cuts across the face and his body armor roughed up but he was still very much alive and in the game. Another skitter darted across the street in front of them. They fired but were unable to hit it. A third came at them from the rear, drawing their fire while the one that had eluded them sprang out of a side street at the head of the column. The soldiers took down the one at the rear of the column while an unseen gunman shot dead the one attacking head on before it closed in on the soldier's formation. A fourth skitter was stumbled out onto the street, impaled under the shoulder and through the neck with pieces of rebar. Afterwards the mystery gunman revealed himself to the soldiers. "Greetings. It looks like you could use a hand." the gunman announced as he walked out of a two story building housing a local bank branch and an accounting firm. Along with him about 8 other men and two women came out from the side streets and abandoned buildings wielding pick axes, shovels, hammers, knives and a few guns. "More survivors." one of the soldiers commented. "Thanks for the assist. We're taking people to a safe place. You're welcome to join us." Lt. Seo told the new group of survivors. "There are no more safe places, Lieutenant." the lead gunman said as his band infiltrated into the soldier's formation. "Not since these things came." he continued as he walked up to the jeep. "We'll come along with you still if that's cool. Strength in numbers right?" the lead gunman said. His men drew closer to the soldiers and mixed in amongst their ranks. The soldiers were still a bit nervous expecting another skitter attack to come at any second. The new arrivals seemed more laid back as if they hadn't been hounded by aliens the past few days. "So where are these people you're taking to this magic place at the end of the rainbow Lieutenant?" asked the lead gunman. "Hiding out with our rearguard. We only move them once we've cleared a path forward." Lt. Seo explained. "Ah, so nowhere around here then." said the lead gunman softly. "Everyone back in the vehicles. Let's get moving again." Lt. Seo said while looking at a few soldiers that had gotten out of the jeep to investigate.
While their leader was talking to Lt. Seo the new group of survivors had gotten really close to the soldiers on patrol. Each one of them shadowed one of the soldiers from within arm's reach, sometimes even two of them on a single soldier. Once everyone was in place the trap was sprung. In a well-rehearsed move the new band of survivors turned on the soldiers, seizing them and their weapons. Some were stabbed and clubbed to death; others were turned into human shields, absorbing a reactionary round of gunfire from the soldiers in the vicinity of the jeep. The driver of the jeep was pulled out of the vehicle and beaten to death by two members of the new gang. One of the two was shot in the upper arm by a wounded soldier on the ground. This only invited another of the gang to stomp on the wounded soldier's head until he was killed. The lead gunman took the weapon from the soldier he had seized and shot the soldier hiding behind the jeep with it. Then he turned and shot Lt. Seo four times in the chest and abdomen as he cast aside the soldier he had seized when he was hit by a burst of friendly fire. The driver and front seat passenger of the sedan were gunned down through the windshield. The other survivors hacked and stabbed the remaining soldiers to death until only one remained a scared private fleeing out of the back seat of the old sedan. The lead gunman dropped the soldier's rifle and took aim with his own weapon and shot the fleeing soldier in the back. "Like I said, there are no safe places anymore." the lead gunman said looking down at Lt. Seo's body. "Alright, gather it up." another member of the renegade band commanded. "Thank you for your contribution gentlemen." the lead gunman said as he pulled the body of the driver out of the sedan and allowed one of his henchmen to get inside. "Go scope out the area and find out where this rearguard is. They're bound to be quite the prize. I'll go see if I can't find this Shangri-La these guys were after." the leader told the new driver of the sedan. Meanwhile the rest of his group took the guns, armor and ammo off the dead soldiers. A few more got into the sedan and drove away. The leader then walked over to the jeep and climbed into the driver's seat. One more of his men joined him in the passenger's seat; the rest of them remained on foot. The jeep and those on foot then resumed the march the soldiers had been on and headed off with their newly acquired bounty.