By Zephyria 
Ha-jin, belatedly realizing the situation, hurriedly stepped back.
“You could have just asked! Why are you pulling on my pants!”
Eden was now holding the warm portable radio, heated by Ha-jin’s body temperature.
“It’s my heart’s desire.”
Ha-jin’s face flashed with absurdity at the nonsensical answer.
‘Is this bastard doing this on purpose?’
His gaze naturally drifted towards Eden’s disgusting branch. Ha-jin slapped his cheeks with both hands, seemingly unable to believe he was checking for the man’s erection.
[What is it? What are you trying to confirm?]
Eden simply chuckled, watching Ha-jin’s fuss even at Jeffrey’s question. Do Ha-jin, seemingly enraged, fanned himself like a senile old man, muttering repeatedly.
[I stole a radio. I was hoping there might be a command center connected. But seeing the police station in such a mess, I’m not very hopeful.]
Eden lowered the driver’s side window and rested his arm on it. His eyes were cautious as he examined the radio model.
The product in his hand was a Tetra radio for industrial safety, once favored by Blue Works. It was a model with excellent dustproof and waterproof functions, high battery efficiency, and easy operation.
Suddenly! Eden opened the driver’s side door without hesitation and stepped out. Ha-jin and Jeffrey also followed him out of the car. Chun-beom, Mi-so, and Byeol poked their curious faces out from the open back door.
Except for a few ownerless vehicles parked blankly, the road was quite deserted. It was a strange silence, as if all the noise in the world had evaporated.
When he pressed the power button on the radio, it lit up. The battery displayed two-thirds full, but it was useless beyond a 5km visibility range, so now was the only chance.
[Any new messages?]
[It’s password-protected, so I can’t check.]
[Okay. Let’s try changing channels.]
Ha-jin kept a close watch on the situation, holding his hatchet high in preparation for any possible danger. Eden pressed the transmit button and brought his lips close to the bottom of the radio.
Beep—!
“Sangwon District. This is Vehicle 3.”
Beep—!
The radio was silent. Eden pressed the button again and stated his affiliation.
“Sangwon District. This is Vehicle 3. Lee Chang-yeol, a police officer from the Jungbu Police Station. Please respond.”
Ha-jin, surprised, furrowed his brows and looked at Eden. He was the only one startled by the sudden name; Jeffrey, standing close by, and those in the car all looked calm. Ha-jin swallowed a bitter taste.
“This is Lee Chang-yeol, a police officer from the Sangwon Jungbu Police Station. Please respond.”
Eden patiently switched channels, repeating the same words. The sky beyond his shoulder was turning the color of twilight.
Ha-jin turned his body towards the vast rice fields, the use of which was unknown. As if completely unrelated to the muddy world, the ochre-colored sky still wore an indifferent and noble expression.
[Looks like everyone’s really dead…?]
Jeffrey clicked his tongue, looking at the unresponsive radio, and scratched his fluffy brown hair. Eden, who had hoped to obtain some meaningful information, also frowned and rolled the useless radio in his hand.
“Let’s stop here for today. The sun is starting to set, so it will be difficult to move any further. Everyone’s tired too.”
When Eden suggested a rest to the group who had poked their heads out of the car, a light of relief spread across everyone’s faces, as if they had secretly hoped for it.
Breaking zombie heads, running away, escaping the flames, and taking the car out of the police station… It had been an eventful day, even without elaborating. Not only was their physical strength depleted, but the emotional toll was also significant.
“Do Ha-jin, you’ve worked hard too. Let’s move and rest a bit.”
A light tap followed on Ha-jin’s back as he looked at the setting sun.
“Jeong Tae-geon as well.”
Ha-jin responded awkwardly, and Eden lightly shrugged his shoulders, opening the driver’s side door.
❖ ❖ ❖
After searching for a suitable place, the car stopped on the shoulder of a secluded outer road. By the time they had smashed the heads of a few zombies wandering nearby, the sky had already turned a dark navy blue. The plan to light a fire and heat up the solid soup before it got dark had ultimately failed.
Instead, the energy bars Ha-jin had brought and Jeffrey’s jerky were chosen for dinner. Although it wasn’t a filling meal, the high-calorie products were enough to restore their tired bodies.
The group gathered in a circle in the pavilion in the middle of the rice fields and finished a simple wash with bottled water.
The mournful sound of a dog’s cry, which had lost its owner somewhere, could be heard. Ha-jin turned his head in the direction of the sound, looking around. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled, and his body felt chilly.
The night in the suburban city, where even the traffic lights had lost their light and all the lights had disappeared. It was the first time he had camped out after dark since his military days.
“But what if we sleep on the street like this and get eaten by zombies? Or is it that we don’t get eaten, but we become zombies?”
Byeol, sitting on Eden’s lap and playing with his hands, whispered.
“If we get eaten completely, we die, and if we only get eaten a little, we become zombies.”
“I don’t want to be a zombie….”
“If you don’t want to be a zombie, listen well. Don’t cause trouble.”
“You should listen well, Uncle!”
“That won’t do. I’ll have to throw Jeong Byeol to the zombies for dinner tomorrow.”
Instead of offering warm words of sympathy and comfort, Eden was constantly picking fights with Byeol or teasing him. Ha-jin pulled down the corners of his mouth as if he was tired of listening.
The people, who had been chattering away as their tension eased, began to lie down in their places one by one with tired faces. It was quite a dangerous place to sleep, with all sides open, but there was no choice. Byeol had already fallen asleep in Mi-so’s arms, and Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom had also fallen asleep with their heads buried in their backpacks.
Eden, who had volunteered for night watch, sat at the edge of the pavilion. Ha-jin also tried to close his eyes, but he couldn’t fall asleep due to accumulated fatigue. The time was just past 9:30 PM.
“Are Byeol’s parents in America?”
Eden turned his head at the sudden voice. Ha-jin, sitting blankly diagonally, was looking at him.
“Aren’t you sleeping?”
“I’m tired, but I can’t sleep. I’ll keep watch, so you can get some sleep.”
“It’s okay.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jeong Tae-geon sleep.”
“I’m not an iron man; I’ll die if I don’t sleep. I’m sleeping well on my own.”
Even when he was worried… Ha-jin shook his head slightly and was about to pull his knees up and rest his head on them.
“Byeol’s parents are in America right now.”
A belated answer came back. Ha-jin’s head lifted again.
“So you only brought Byeol to Korea?”
“The little guy kept talking about homesickness, so I brought him for a while.”
At Eden’s words, he could finally understand the child’s usual behavior, which he had found a little strange. Such as the fact that he didn’t particularly worry about his parents’ well-being and that he expressed that he ‘missed’ seeing his magic.
“Will America be okay?”
“If they succeeded in the initial defense, the situation won’t be as bad as in Korea.”
He added that they would have dropped bombs on the city to blow away all the zombies and people. Ha-jin nodded with a bitter face.
Soon after, an unexpected soliloquy popped out of Eden’s mouth.
“I’m regretting it. I shouldn’t have brought Jeong Byeol.”
Ha-jin was taken aback. It was because he had felt a moment of human compassion in his regretful appearance. Eden, who was overly rational, seemed unable to ignore the pain of his beloved nephew, even though he knew it wasn’t his fault.
Ha-jin, hesitating, turned his gaze to the sleeping Byeol’s face. His brows were furrowed as if he was having a nightmare.
Instead of offering words of comfort rashly, Ha-jin spoke the best he could.
“I’ll help as much as I can while we’re together. So that Byeol can have more good memories than bad ones.”
Then, a playful voice lightly responded.
“Even so, I don’t think there will be any ‘good memories’ that can overcome zombie trauma.”
“Did you forget? I’m a magician.”
It was quite a cheerful answer. Eden, who had propped his chin with his thumb and was stroking his mouth with his index finger, let out a faint smile.