By Zephyria 
Far from the In-San to No-Gwang Expressway, at the foot of Jeongmang Mountain.
To escape the zombies that had descended since morning and the scorching sun, the group had taken refuge under a large rock.
Throughout several near-death experiences, Eden had felt a strange sense of unease. Morning and the night just before falling asleep. The zombies were pouring down at exactly half-day intervals. It was a regular disaster, as if someone had deliberately timed the release of the zombies.
“I… I really can’t walk anymore. I’m thirsty, and I’m gonna, gonna die, Director… sob.”
Park Chun-beom finally burst into tears. Perhaps ashamed that he, a grown adult, was crying before a seven-year-old who had bravely endured the journey without shedding a tear, he buried his face in the ground, his chest heaving.
Everyone, huddled together in a circle, looked at Park Chun-beom with bewildered expressions.
Park Chun-beom continued to sob, but no tears came out, perhaps due to the lack of moisture in his body. He merely shrugged his shoulders with moist eyes.
Eden turned to face the sobbing Park Chun-beom. He then poked Park Chun-beom’s temple and asked.
“Does your head hurt, or not?”
“Hic… huh?”
“Do you have a headache?”
“Yes, yes. I do. I’m, I’m dizzy.”
“What about other places? Tell me everything that’s wrong. Can you see well?”
“I can see fine, but my hands and feet suddenly feel very uncomfortable….”
“Stick out your tongue.”
Watching, Ha-jin flinched at Eden’s command.
Park Chun-beom stuck out his tongue as instructed, tearfully. Eden’s face turned serious as he looked at the parched tongue. Park Chun-beom’s tongue had a deep groove in the middle. It was a severe condition, indicating at least a 5% loss of fluids.
Eden took out the 500ml water bottle, only about a third full, and carefully trickled water into Park Chun-beom’s mouth.
Having already lost two bags in the past three days, and with considerable fluid loss while fleeing from the zombies, most of the water they had brought was already used up. The water going into Park Chun-beom’s mouth was, in fact, the last of their supply.
“Drink slowly.”
Eden clicked his tongue at him, as he eagerly drank, as if not wanting to miss a single drop.
The others watching also swallowed hard. Although they were not as severely dehydrated as Park Chun-beom, everyone was parched, their lips cracked. The lifeless appearance of the group was no different from that of zombies.
“I’m, I’m sorry. I’m sorry….”
Park Chun-beom, still dizzy after drinking the water, rubbed his forehead and muttered apologies.
“Hey, hey. You’re gonna cry again. Are you going to spit out the water you just drank through your eyes?”
Ha-jin, who had playfully comforted Park Chun-beom, turned his gaze to the empty plastic bottle. The water was now completely gone. He couldn’t help but worry, even though he tried not to think about it.
How much longer could they endure?
The group was completely exhausted, and the atmosphere was gloomy. Everyone’s nerves were on edge due to lack of sleep for days. Injuries occurred every other day, and each time, a faint despair gnawed at their minds.
Now, killing zombies was no longer a struggle for survival, but an act of venting frustration. Even when they saw severed limbs or burst heads brutally thrown on the roadside, they only retched at the smell, and no sympathy lingered in their eyes. Even such emotions were now a luxury.
Rumble….
Eden, who had been wiping his dirty forehead, frowned at the faint sound. A horde of zombies? No. This was definitely…. He rose from his seat. Tilting his head upwards, he saw the tall sky beyond the leaves that obscured his view.
It seemed clear and bright at first glance, but the clouds, scattered like mist, fluttered weakly like torn cotton candy in the slightest breeze. It was a flying cloud, a sign of impending bad weather.
“Did it just thunder….”
Byeol muttered.
If it rained, they could solve the water problem with rainwater, but moving immediately would be impossible. The raincoats and boots needed for rainy weather were in the lost backpacks of Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom.
Eden, pondering their next destination, inadvertently turned around. His eyes met those of Ha-jin, who had been watching him with sparkling eyes, he didn’t know for how long. Just as he thought that they had been making eye contact more frequently lately, Ha-jin suddenly stood up and approached Eden.
“This place, where we are, is Jeongmang Mountain, right? There’s a cave about halfway up Jeongmang Mountain.”
Ha-jin continued, his voice somewhat excited.
“If you follow the hiking trail, there should be a sign. I came here with my uncle when I was young.”
❖ ❖ ❖
As Ha-jin had said, the cave was located halfway up Jeongmang Mountain. But halfway meant climbing nearly 1,000 meters up an advanced hiking trail before they could find it.
Even walking on a regular road was difficult, but zombies wearing hiking clothes occasionally appeared, hindering their journey. It was the limit of their physical strength. In the end, they all had to climb the mountain on all fours like animals.
“Uncle, are you okay…?”
Byeol, who had been on Eden’s back the whole time, looked at his face with a worried expression. Eden looked at his nephew, who was unusually concerned about him, and smiled weakly. He must have looked terrible.
[Should I just die here? Does this mean we have to do this for a few more weeks? Huh? Hahaha… Tell me honestly, everyone. This is all a fucking hidden camera! The Truman Show was totally fucked up! Hahaha!]
Jeffrey wailed, almost lying down. He muttered in English as if he had lost his mind, but soon fell silent, as if even that was too much for him. Park Chun-beom and Mi-so, who would usually laugh along, remained silent throughout.
Ha-jin looked around at the group, who were unable to move, sitting in front of the cave, and then struggled to his feet.
“Everyone, stay here. I’ll take a look around first.”
Then, on behalf of the group, he cautiously stepped into the cave, which was surrounded by a sacred rope. A damp smell moistened his nose. He felt as if his whole body had turned into waterlogged cotton.
As he went inside, he saw long stalagmites and straw-shaped stalactites. The cave, which contained layers of accumulated time, was eerie but also felt somewhat cozy. Fortunately, he didn’t sense any signs of life inside.
Ha-jin quickly came out and called the group in. The people, carrying armfuls of dry leaves and branches to use as blankets, stuck close to the wall and settled down.
“This is like a hotel.”
With Mi-so’s soulless mutter, everyone’s mouths were shut.
Rumble….
Just then, heavy rain began to pour from the sky.
❖ ❖ ❖
A full day had passed since they had laid down in the cave. Morning had come again, but black rain clouds covered the sky, making everything dark as if it were late evening.
Eden stood at the entrance of the cave, silently gazing at the rain falling to the ground and the unknown purple flowers blooming next to the tree.
He could hear noisy conversations from behind, as if they were starting a fire and preparing a meal. Among the chattering voices, another voice popped out and tickled his ears.
‘Eden, do you know what happens when it rains in the desert? Hidden flower seeds bloom.’
Whenever it rained, Leo’s hearty laughter and playful eyes inevitably came to mind. It wasn’t a compulsion or trauma. It was just a natural phenomenon, like a dream he had every day.
Leo was a colleague who had died with Eden during an operation in Delta Force, and a 15-year friend who, along with Jeffrey, was known as one of the trio.
“Jeong Tae-geon, can you hear me?”
Swaaa― This time, Do Ha-jin’s voice crashed in through the refreshing sound of the pouring rain. Eden, who had swept his wet bangs up his forehead, slowly turned to the side.
“I just, when I woke up, you weren’t next to me.”
Ha-jin coughed awkwardly, as if he felt embarrassed after calling out to him.
Eden looked at the dark eyes hidden behind his bangs and inadvertently reached out his hand. Ha-jin flinched, reflexively pulling his head back, but Eden didn’t care. His long, neat fingers slowly brushed Ha-jin’s bangs.
His eyes, meeting his, shook aimlessly, as if flustered.
“Wh, what….”
“The only part of Do Ha-jin’s face that’s worth looking at is his eyes.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a waste if they’re covered.”
Ha-jin, who had been stunned for a moment, soon glared. The only part worth looking at, what kind of unheard-of thing was that….
“Do you know that your way of speaking is really weird, Jeong Tae-geon?”
“Way of speaking?”
“I can’t tell if you’re insulting me or complimenting me.”
“For example?”
Eden’s gaze swept over the skin under Ha-jin’s eyes, which were somewhat swollen in the morning. Ha-jin opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for it.
“You say that I’m useless because I’m kind and altruistic, and then you say that you brought me along because there’s nothing to lose. Just now, you said that the only part of me that’s worth looking at is my eyes. The more I think about it, the more I can’t tell if it’s an insult or a compliment….”
“If you can’t tell, I’ll tell you clearly.”
“Huh?”
“What I just said was a compliment.”
“Come on, how is that a compliment?”
“I’m saying that I like Do Ha-jin’s eyes.”
Ha-jin’s mouth quickly closed as he was about to retort.
“Ah, of course, only from the perspective of camaraderie.”
‘Only camaraderie. Camaraderie.’
Eden was once again twisting the words he had said and giving them back to him.
Ha-jin huffed for a while, as if he was angry, and then let out a short sigh. He could feel his ears burning. He fiddled with the back of his neck for no reason, and eventually covered his face with his palm.
No conversation passed between them while he cooled down for a while. Just as they were staring at the pouring rain and Ha-jin was about to turn back into the cave, it happened.
“They say that flowers bloom when it rains in the desert. …Did Do Ha-jin know that?”
His steps stopped at the somewhat sudden question. A questioning gaze briefly swept over Eden’s face. Ha-jin, unable to understand his intention, racked his brain, and suddenly remembered a photo.
“I think I saw it in an article. I don’t remember which desert it was, but it said that there was a heavy rain and flowers bloomed like a park… That’s right. The color of those flowers was similar.”
Ha-jin pointed to the purple peony flowers that were weakly bending their stems in the raindrops.
“Come to think of it, I heard that Dragon Cloud City also has a pretty good botanical garden. I should have gone sooner. I guess it’s all ruined now…?”
The end of his sentence trailed off like a sigh. The end of the slowly thrown question stuck to Eden’s ear like sticky caramel.