By Zephyria 
“The government has abandoned the people!!”
“Abandoned us―!!!”
The voices of the angry crowd drummed against his organs like a drumbeat.
Eden surveyed the faces of his group, who were huddled around him, and reassured them.
He gently embraced Byeol, who was shrinking back from the harrowing, vivid screams, and handed the remaining bottled water to Jeffrey, who was wetting his parched lips with his tongue. Then, he finally turned his gaze to Ha-jin, who was holding Pie.
In the gray eyes that met his, a faint sadness lingered. Eden’s face hardened for a moment, and he patted Ha-jin’s shoulder.
“We won’t know until we get inside.”
He meant that it wasn’t yet certain whether there would be any spare Transport planes left. Ha-jin looked startled and shifted his gaze before nodding. Eden let out an angry sigh, seemingly displeased with Ha-jin’s passive attitude, as if he was already contemplating their separation.
Eden quietly watched the soldiers guarding the entrance to the Maintenance Depot and the jeering crowds in the distance before rising from his spot.
The group looked up at him as he stood up abruptly, their eyes filled with apprehension. Jeffrey, who was crushing the empty water bottle in his hand, asked.
[What are you going to do?]
[We have to go in.]
[I mean, how are you going to get in? Can’t you see the crowd over there? We’ll get trampled to death if we’re not careful.]
[We’ll go through the back gate. Get ready.]
The back gate that Eden mentioned was a back road mainly used by staff, located near the dormitory building. It was about a 12-minute walk from the main gate, and since it was an unofficial entrance known only to a few, the situation would be slightly better than here.
Eden led the group, quickly passing the main gate filled with curses and wails. As they diligently moved along the fence that surrounded the Maintenance Depot site, they saw people desperately boarding passenger planes on the runway.
There, the unchanging law inevitably applied in disaster situations.
‘The weak die, and the strong survive.’
The measure of strength could be the practical means of currency or the invisible, recognized power of authority. In any case, those who could escape the danger zone more easily and quickly than anyone else in a disaster situation were mostly those who held both.
If there was one part of disaster movies with terrible historical accuracy that properly reflected reality, it would be this. So, there was no need to be surprised by the tragedy unfolding before their eyes.
Clang— Eden finally looked up from his thoughts when a heavily armed soldier pointed his gun close to his chest. After walking silently, they had apparently reached the back gate. Unlike the main gate, which was filled with people’s jeers and shouts, this place was quite quiet.
Eden put down his weapon and stepped forward, but the two soldiers guarding the back gate simultaneously blocked his shoulders.
“Go back. This is a civilian control zone.”
The man commanded in a blunt voice, gesturing with his gun. He looked ready to fire at the slightest provocation. Eden stared intently at the branch-shaped insignia on the soldier’s left chest.
A warrant officer, not just a private, was guarding the back gate himself….
“Who’s in charge?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m asking who ordered you to guard the Maintenance Depot. Is it General Lee Soon-young?”
The soldier’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the sudden mention of the Air Force Chief of Staff’s name. Eden muttered to the man, who was silent and choosing his words carefully.
“Well, I guess someone of his stature wouldn’t bother with the site personally… Then it must be Major General Yoo Jun-sang.”
Major General Yoo Jun-sang was a general with a two-star rank who had been in direct communication with Eden on behalf of the Air Force for some time. As a former pilot, he had shown particular interest and affection for the Maintenance Depot, which was created in collaboration with Blue Works.
After a moment of silence, the soldier narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Excuse me, but where are you from?”
“I’m Eden Jeong from Blue Works.”
Upon hearing his identity, another man standing next to him quickly scanned Eden’s appearance. The soldiers slowly lowered their guns and exchanged glances for a moment.
“I’m sorry, but could you please repeat your name?”
“Eden Jeong. My Korean name is Jeong Tae-geon.”
“Please wait here for a moment.”
After confirming Eden’s identity, the soldier instructed his colleague to guard the area and disappeared inside the back gate with a radio.
Jeffrey, who had been watching the series of events with an anxious expression, glanced to the side, feeling a gaze from somewhere. Some of the people sparsely clinging to the nearby fence were staring at the group with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.
[Eden, grab your weapon first.]
Jeffrey picked up Eden’s weapon from the ground and handed it to him with an uneasy look. Eden took the weapon and turned his gaze to the unfamiliar eyes that were pouring in his direction. The dark eyes, which looked ready to pounce at any moment, had a lightless gleam. They were not much different from the greedy, gray eyes of the Zombies, who were after human flesh and blood.
“……”
“……”
The silent confrontation ended anticlimactically when the soldier with the rifle slung over his shoulder reappeared outside the gate. Behind him, a blond man with hunched shoulders and a deeply bowed head was walking.
Eden could barely recognize the man until he got closer. That was because his chubby cheeks and the comfortably bulging belly that had been like a honey pot had become surprisingly gaunt.
The blond man was the chief manager representing the engineers of Blue Works, and the most skilled engineer among them.
‘He’s alive.’
Mason must have felt the gaze, as he subtly raised his head. His tired face, with dark circles under his eyes, was revealed.
The moment his eyes met Eden’s, his pupils, which had been as dead as a fish’s, widened. Mason stared at his superior who had appeared before him as if he were a ghost, and stopped in his tracks.
[…Executive Director?]
Soon, his light brown eyes turned to Jeffrey over Eden’s shoulder.
[Huh… Jeffrey?]
The soldier whispered something to him as he stood there blankly with his mouth open. Mason nodded urgently, muttering “Yes, yes…” repeatedly.
While the soldier was reconfirming Eden’s identity with Mason, Jeffrey, who had been standing there dumbfounded, suddenly raised his hand.
[Mason, you son of a bitch!! You’re alive?!]
Mason shouted at Jeffrey with a face that looked like he was about to cry.
[Yes, I’m alive!]
Mason’s jaw trembled as he miraculously encountered his superior and friend. They were people he hadn’t heard from in over a month, and he hadn’t even expected them to be alive.
While Jeffrey and Mason were talking to each other with the soldier between them, Ha-jin quietly watched the unfolding situation, holding the bewildered Byeol.
Then, the soldier stepped back and said.
“Welcome, CTO. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Apparently, he had received prior orders from above, as the man immediately opened the iron gate without any further questions. At the same time, Mason ran up and hugged Eden and Jeffrey tightly. He clung to the two burly men, panting with emotion.
[Damn… I’m so happy I could go crazy!]
Their sticky bodies touched under the hot sun. Eden, feeling uncomfortable despite the joy, quickly broke free from Mason’s embrace.
Before they could even catch up, the soldier with the gun urged the group.
“Hurry inside, it’s dangerous.”
It was the moment they were about to take a step following the escort. The people who had been clinging to the surrounding fence began to shout and rush towards the back gate one by one.
“The gate! The gate’s open!!”
“Those people are going in!”
“Hey! Let me in too! Me too!!”
The group hurriedly entered the Maintenance Depot site to avoid the swarm of people.
Thud…! As the locked iron gate closed, people clung precariously to the center of the fence. They looked ready to climb over at any moment, but they couldn’t get past the barbed wire at the top and screamed.
“I’ll pay if it’s money! I’ll pay too! Please!!”
“Damn it, I was here first! I was here before those people!”
“What’s so special about them! What’s the criteria!!”
Ha-jin forced himself to look away from them and covered Byeol’s ears. His heart was beating fast. It was a moment when human life and death were being divided so futilely by a single tall barbed wire fence.
Then, a firm hand tightly embraced Ha-jin’s shoulder as if to reassure him.
“Now that we’re inside, everything will be alright.”
Ha-jin slowly looked up at Eden. …Is it right to feel relieved in this situation? He wasn’t sure. The sorrowful cries were still pounding fiercely in his ears.
He saw the vast rectangular gray building and the passenger planes on the runway. The people boarding the planes looked as small as fingernails.
Even amidst all that, the back of someone wearing a blue sleeveless dress stood out clearly. Ha-jin suddenly thought of the Zombie who had been chasing him this morning and the woman holding the dead baby. Although they were dirty and tattered, they were also wearing dazzlingly blue clothes.
A faint dizziness struck him for a moment at the stark contrast between the three.
Someone becomes a Zombie, someone survives. While someone hides inside a safe barbed wire fence, someone is pushed out into the cold world.
“……”
Which side will I be on? Is it even possible to save my brother and preserve my life in a world without Jeong Tae-geon?
Ha-jin lowered his head. The ground beneath his feet surged violently like waves.