Apocalypse Hunter

As they reached the hideout at the end of the alleyway, they saw the boy sitting on top of the steel container in a black cloak. He was in the same pose as the day before and calmly observing Zin. Leona quietly switched positions and pointed toward Zin.

“As I said yesterday, I brought him here.”

“Are you the hunter?”

“That much is true.”

Seemingly uncomfortable with an adult’s presence in their hideout, the children stared at Zin with hostility. However, it was the boss’ decision, so his cronies couldn’t say anything.

With his head cocked to the side, the boy rested his chin on his interlaced fingers as he watched Zin.

‘Haven’t I seen that guy many times in noir movies?’

Just like Leona had done, Zin had to bite his lip. The scene was funny because the boy was imitating the awkward pose and mood of noir films quite well.

“Are you good? I heard that there are many fake hunters.”

“Well… how about I show you something like this?”

‘Zing!’

Out of thin air, Zin grabbed the anti-aircraft gun NTW-20. The overwhelming size of the gun shocked the children.

“Whoa! It’s magic!” surprised, some kid blurted out unknowingly. The boss, Turian, shot a sidelong glance at the boy who yelled that. The boy became pale and covered his mouth. He would suffer later for having acted like a child during a serious moment.

“It’s so big, it looks more like a toy. But that interesting trick was the real deal. Fine. I’ll trust that you’ve got what it takes.”

The boy didn’t act surprised at all even after seeing Zin pull out a weapon out of thin air. He was a fool, but he sure could keep his composure. Zin put away his anti-aircraft gun, and the children were spellbound as they watched him.

“I’m Turian, the heir of the Skull Family.”

“I’m Zin, the hunter. Nice to meet you.”

The boy nodded without shaking his hand.

“Let me get to the point.”

“What is it?”

“The payment is 1000 chips.”

“That’s quite a sum.”

The amount was more than most jobs.

“I’d like you decide whether you’re going to take this job or not right now. The payment should be good enough.”

“You don’t know how hunters work, do you?” Zin quickly refused and added, “Hunters don’t work like that. We find out what the payment is and the details of the job before we make the decision.”

“…”

“Only gamblers would take a job based only on payment.”

Apparently, he was a hunter and he wouldn’t take a job without knowing what it was just because it paid a lot. Turian nodded in understanding.

“But this is a complicated matter that I can’t just share with an outsider. Try to understand that this is a special case…”

“I’m guessing that you’re going to ask me to kill the leader of the Reavers, no?”

“H-how?!”

Unable to keep his composure this time, the boy’s eyes widened to the point of almost ripping his skin. And because his surprised reaction had already confirmed that Zin’s guess was correct, he grimaced and bit his lip.

“You would need to get rid of the Group in order to rebuild the Family. You wouldn’t dare ask me to kill everyone, and that would be enough to create chaos.”

“…”

The boy’s face was bright red perhaps because his plan was exposed.

“OK. Now that you know, I have no choice. My request is that you kill the City Administrator. The payment is 1000 chips, agreed?”

Monsters were not the only thing that hunters hunted. Just like Zin had obtained a request to destroy the Reavers at the fortress, hunters did many things as long as there was payment. Many hunters would’ve excitedly nodded to this deal since it paid a lot.

“But even if you kill the City Administrator, there are the guards” asked Leona wondering if that was enough. Not happy to be challenged, the boy frowned.

“Would you understand if I were to tell you that we’ve created a temporary harmonious alliance for the grand finale?”

“What are you talking about?” Leona couldn’t understand the boy and tilted her head.

“When the hunter kills the Group`s Administrator, we’re going to take advantage of the confusion and kill all the dirty Reavers remaining and make Shane ours again.”

“With this number of people?” asked Leona as she looked around, somehow feeling a little confused by Turian’s confident reply.

There were about twenty of them, but that was all. On the other hand, there were more than 100 Reavers stationed in the city.

“They don’t know Shane’s geography. We have a chance if we use guerrilla tactics.”

Because they had the home ground advantage, he was predicting a win.

“What do you mean by harmonious alliance?” asked Zin.

“We decided to join hands with the other two gangs. Guess you could say that we’re working together in order to defeat our biggest enemy.”

“Whoa, this is a historical moment.”

Zin brushed his chin and nodded in admiration. Just as Turian was the successor to the Skull family, the two other successors’ groups were playing street lords. The adults had accepted reality out of fear, but the children were still wishing to rebuild. They were being naive, but what they were planning wasn’t very naive, and it had the potential to bring deadly results.

“What are you going to do when they come after you?” Turian smiled at Zin’s question.

“I won’t put down my weapon without a fight like last time, at least.”

“Do you think the Group would accept surrender like last time?”

“No, I’d probably get killed, but I would rather die than lose my honor. The adults gave up their honor for tomorrow’s bread. That’s why they’re living like dogs and pigs and shooting up the drugs they had hidden. When the gangs take possession of this land again, I’m going to rid the city of the despicable men who laid down their weapons.”

Turian’s words sounded rather noble, and the boys lowered their heads, feeling solemn. They were passionate about the cause. The boys had been feeling ashamed of the adults who had surrendered without a fight. They were willing to give up their lives in the fight to regain this land. Impressed with their passion, Zin was briefly at a loss for words.

In his place, Leona spoke up, “Huh… you stupid bastards, really?…” Leona muttered in a fit of agitation. She was about blow her lid.

“What?!”

Shocked by the sudden curse word, Turian doubted his hearing and looked at Leona as if he wanted her to repeat it. Naturally, Leona wasn’t scared.

“Hey, I didn’t know about this yesterday, but were you guys selling drugs?”

“It was our main source of income.”

“Did you guys lock up the drug addicts, extort money from them, and treat them like slaves?”

“…”

Turian was speechless, and Leona continued through her clenched jaw.

“Oh, isn’t that so freaking honorable of you?”

Everyone got her sarcasm this time.

Leona was getting fed up with the little boss.

“I don’t know what this honor is that you’re talking about, but if it means selling drugs, selling people and extorting money, what’s the use? I wouldn’t want that even if you handed it to me.”

The children’s faces were getting bent-out-of-shape. They looked ready to jump her at any moment. Zin was watching, but did nothing to stop Leona.

“You’ve got quite a mouth. I guess you think the hunter has your back. It was my mistake for discussing honor with someone who doesn’t–

Naturally, Leona didn’t have the patience to listen to the boy’s rebuttal.

“Before you talk about honor, reflect on what you bastards did. You lived off by sucking on someone else’s blood. Is that honor? That’s what mosquitoes do. You don’t have any shame, do you? Now, you want to kill everyone else.

The boy looked pissed because Leona kept going on without giving him a chance to talk.

“You’ll regret having said all that.”

‘Pist’

When they heard the signal, all the children pulled out their knives. Their eyes were full of animosity, as if they were ready to stab her unless she shut up. They surrounded Leona and Zin in a flash, but Zin still didn’t react much.

“You’ve just insulted Turian, the successor to the Skull family.”

Not caring, Leona searched her bag.

“Bitch, there’s a price to pay for insults…”

Then all of a sudden, all of the children became pale when they saw what Leona had pulled out, and Turian was no exception.

‘Click!’

“Well, go on.” Leona held a fully loaded AKM in her arm. “I believe you called me a bitch?!”

Because the boy said she needed the hunter to watch her back, Leona pulled out her assault rifle and watched the children back away slowly.

“…”

“I said go on, you asshole.”

Staring into the opening of the gun barrel, Turian could no longer threaten her.

Zin let out a deep sigh as he watched Leona growling at the frightened children.

“Ha…”

She had trumped twenty or so knives without shooting a single bullet.

Guns were powerful even when they were not fired.

——

Zin couldn’t just stand there and watch all night, so he decided to step in.

“Let’s stop the war of nerves. You put down your gun, too, Leona.”

“Pish.” Leona lowered her gun, and the boys dropped their knives as well. Zin had effortlessly taken the power out of Turian’s hands.

“Fine. I’ll apologize for her harsh words.”

“…”

Turian still looked unhappy. He didn’t want to accept the fact that a single gun was enough to defeat them. His pride was even more hurt by the fact that it wasn’t even the hunter, but a child–a very young girl–who had overpowered him.

“To get right to the point, I’ll not take this job. Killing the leader of the Reavers is not a difficult task, but I’m afraid there would be many lives lost if I were to help you boys.”

“I didn’t know the hunters had morality and ethics.”

“It’s not that. I just don’t take jobs that lead to unnecessary deaths.”

All things considered, he had no choice but to refuse.

“Pretend-play is fun when it stays as pretend-play. I’m telling you this as an adult, not as a hunter.”

“Pretend-play?”

Having been insulted again, Turian’s eyes glinted in anger.

With a stiff expression, Zin continued, “Have you ever sold drugs yourself? Controlled a gang? Kidnapped a drug addict, beat him and locked him up to get money? Stabbed anyone in a turf fight? Or have you ever been stabbed?”

“…”

“You’ve never once lived as a gang member. Why do you think you are one? That’s why I’m saying this is a pretend-play. You’re just imitating what you imagine the adults do. Real gangs are dirty, nasty, and pathetic. They have no honor.”

“Bullshit…”

“They talk about honor because they’re making a living out of doing the least honorable thing. The ones who talk about honor have always been groups of murderers or gang members like your parents.

Turian clenched his jaw. That was the brutal truth.

He had only been exposed to snippets of cool things and not the dirty deeds of the organization. The children here were all relatives of gang members, but none had actually lived that life.

Also, the ones who talk about honor justified themselves by creating stupid rules and regulations. So, honor had always been used as an excuse by the least honorable ones.

In a way, Zin was insulting them even more than Leona by telling them that they were merely imitating what they thought was cool.

“Imitating is not bad. But it becomes a problem when you take it outside. So, just let pretend-play be play if you don’t want any regrets.”

The children’s faces became stiff as Zin drove the point. He turned around to leave, and Leona followed him out to the alleyway. She never looked back.