CHAPTER 29: I STARTED BLASTING

Riku and Miko instinctively lowered themselves down while still peeking over the railings to see who was coming. There’s no mistaking it, they were vehicles, and as for the numbers. One...two...three...four, there are four cars driving along the streets leading to the apartment.

Riku observed closely and followed the cars with his eyes. Moments later, the cars stopped in front of the apartment’s gate.

"Are they survivors?" Miko asked.

"They are," Riku was sure that they were survivors. But what’s bothering him was their purpose. Are they planning on making this apartment as their base? Well, he doesn’t have a problem with it as long as they don’t interfere but still, it carries danger as you don’t know who they are.

In zombie apocalypse or any apocalyptic setting, he had learned from movies, animes, novels, and other types of literary fiction that humans can be dangerous as well.

He hoped that they wouldn’t consider the apartment as their base. But, judging by their idle time, they are seemingly considering it.

Then—one of them stepped out of the vehicle and walked up to the gate. His eyes were scanning, like he was looking for something specific.

"Should we let them know that we are here, Riku-san?" Miko asked softly.

Riku simply shook his head. "We don’t know those peop—"

He paused, as he noticed a familiar figure occupying one of the cars. Seated at the passenger seat, the appearance of the person who confronted them back in the intersection looked the same as the one seating at the front.

"Don’t tell me..." Riku tensed.

It was then that the man in question looked up—straight toward the balcony where Riku and Miko were crouched. Their eyes locked for a second too long, and something changed in his expression. The smirk widened into something nastier, a silent recognition followed by a slow, mocking grin.

Miko stiffened beside him. "Riku... I think they—"

"Yeah," Riku cut her off quietly. "They see us."

The man leaned over to say something to the driver, and almost immediately, the others in the vehicles started turning their heads toward the balcony. A couple of them laughed—dry, ugly chuckles that carried even in the night air. Another one tilted his head, sneering like he’d just been handed free entertainment.

Doors opened one after another. One by one, more of them stepped out into the open. None of them had firearms, but that didn’t make them harmless. In their hands were lengths of rebar, aluminum bats, crowbars, and even a fire axe.

Riku’s gut tightened. He’d seen this type before—in fiction, sure, but also in the news before all this. The kind of people who thrived in chaos. Opportunists who didn’t need the zombies to make them dangerous.

"Go back inside, Miko," Riku said.

She looked at him like she wanted to argue, but saw the seriousness in his eyes and nodded instead. "Okay. Don’t... don’t do anything reckless."

Riku gave a short nod, keeping his gaze fixed on the group below. "Lock the door once you’re in."

The moment she turned to go, Riku shifted his position, bringing the M24 up from where it rested against the ledge. The cool steel of the stock pressed against his cheek as he slid the bolt back just enough to confirm a round was chambered.

The faint glint of the scope caught the streetlight as he settled into a shooting position. Through the glass, the group came into sharp focus. One of the men froze mid-step, his eyes locking on the rifle.

The laughter stopped.

Even from here, Riku could see the ripple of unease pass through them. Weapons that had been held casually now dropped slightly, shoulders hunched just a bit lower. A few exchanged looks, no one willing to take another step forward.

"Boss...that man really has a gun," said one of the men, turning his eyes to the boss, who was standing at six feet tall, lean but athletic build, and had tattoos all over his face.

"Don’t be scared of that thing. That’s not a real gun. I can tell, it’s a BB. The pistol that you have told me earlier might be legit but there’s no way a civilian had access to a sophisticated weapon. We are going to take that pistol and their supplies, and when they resist, we will kill them."

"I see...so they are just fake huh? And he is just one man," replied the man, gaining confidence from their boss’s words.

"We should finish this quickly, we don’t want to attract zombies."

"Yes boss."

The screech of metal echoed faintly as they slid the gate aside.

Riku didn’t hesitate. No warning, no intimidation shot—this wasn’t the time to play games. The moment the man pulling the gate was exposed in his scope, Riku’s finger squeezed the trigger.

Pfft.

The suppressed report was almost underwhelming compared to the sharp, wet crack that followed as the round punched clean through the man’s skull. He collapsed instantly, the gate slipping from his hands and slamming halfway shut with a metallic clang.

For half a second, there was only stunned silence.

Then chaos.

"The hell—?!" one of them shouted, stumbling back. Another cursed loudly, eyes wide and locked on their fallen comrade.

Their leader’s confident grin evaporated, his tattooed face twisting into something between shock and fury.

"That’s... that’s a real rifle," he spat, the realization hitting him like a punch.

"Boss! He—he just dropped Takuya in one shot!" one of the others shouted, panic seeping into his voice.

Riku worked the bolt smoothly, the spent casing flicking out and hitting the concrete beside him with a metallic ting.

Again, these people are a danger to other survivors. They must be eliminated at all costs.

So he started blasting.

Pfft.

The man’s head snapped back, a neat hole appearing right between the eyes before he slumped over the ground.

Shouts erupted. They scattered, some diving behind the cars, others scrambling toward the nearest wall for cover. But the street was open enough that their movements were predictable.

The next round went into a man wielding a crowbar, catching him in the side of the head as he tried to dash for the alley. He crumpled mid-step, the crowbar clattering loudly on the pavement.

A fourth target broke from cover, sprinting toward the SUV at the back of the convoy. Riku tracked him through the scope, let him think he was going to make it, then fired just as he reached for the driver’s side handle. The impact dropped him instantly, his body sliding against the car’s door before collapsing in a heap.

"Boss, we can’t—!" one of them yelled from behind the hood of a sedan, but his words were cut short as Riku’s fifth shot found his neck. He collapsed clutching the wound, blood pooling beneath him.

The leader was shouting now, voice breaking between orders and curses. "Get in the cars! MOVE—!"

Riku swung the scope toward the sound while reloading, spotting the tattooed man as he tried to climb into the passenger seat of the lead vehicle. This time, Riku aimed for the upper chest—not just to kill, but to knock him back. The shot slammed into the man’s sternum, the force throwing him halfway into the car before his body went limp.

By now, the survivors-turned-raiders were in full panic. Two tried to jump into the same backseat of a van, shoving each other in desperation. Riku dropped the first with a headshot before he could close the door, then quickly worked the bolt again to put the second down as he tried to crawl away.

Then he did it again, and again, and again, killing twelve people in total. And their screams were heard by the zombies who rushed into the location, and feasted on their corpses.

He checked the notification and he sighed. There was no reward for killing humans. Well, the good thing is no one is going to bother them for now. The system is really a godsend to him.