By Zephyria 
Mason and his group stopped at the back door awning of the hangar to avoid the blazing sun.
[The back door is locked, so we have to go through the main gate. Let’s catch our breath before that.]
Mason smiled brightly, tying back his long, winding blonde hair. His damp armpits were revealed. Jeffrey made a gagging gesture.
[Mason, you son of a bitch, you still sweat a lot. Even if you lose weight, can’t you do something about that sweat?]
[What, you bastard? Did you even wash your clothes?]
Mason, who had been exchanging childish jokes with Jeffrey, turned to Eden with a flushed face.
[Executive Director, you must have suffered a lot traveling with Jeffrey, right? He doesn’t even wash and is quite dirty.]
[I’ll pass on commenting.]
At the sarcastic reply, Mason burst into a hearty laugh. Eden shielded his face from the scorching sun by raising his hand to his forehead. The passenger plane, fully loaded with guests, was already ready for takeoff. Eden, frowning deeply at the heat, asked Mason.
[What happened? What about the other engineers?]
Mason’s towering lips froze. Rolling his eyes and hesitating with a gloomy expression, he opened his mouth with difficulty.
[I’m the only one who survived from the engineering team. On the day the incident happened, everyone else went back to the dormitory for lunch… I was stuck in the hangar trying to finish my work.]
[…….]
[Since then, I haven’t left this fence even once.]
[You must have had a hard time.]
Even at the casual consolation, the tip of Mason’s nose turned red. Eden immediately got to the point with his head bowed subordinate.
[How many Transport planes are left in the hangar? Are they preserved as they are, disassembled?]
He felt Ha-jin’s gaze reaching the side of his cheek and stared at Mason. Jeffrey swallowed hard.
[The Transport planes are….]
Everyone stared intently at the man’s lips with nervous eyes.
[All the Transport planes are left, but only two helicopters can move. The military personnel messed with the gearboxes and ruined them all.]
Eden, who had swallowed his breath, grabbed Mason’s shoulder as if snatching it.
[Two are left?]
Mason, surprised by the sudden grip, widened his eyes and nodded.
[Yes? Yes, two are left…. Ah, but one is scheduled to leave tonight, and the remaining one will probably need maintenance for a few days before it can take off.]
As an unexpected answer came back, Eden’s brow furrowed.
[One is scheduled to leave tonight… Who is moving the Transport plane at will?]
The atmosphere turned grim in an instant. Mason, with a frightened expression, looked at his superior and stammered.
[Well, there are still people waiting inside the hangar. People who couldn’t get on that passenger plane because they didn’t have enough money. I’m also planning to leave on that Transport plane tonight. I got a seat in exchange for Maintenance Depot work…. Of course, Your Highness can escape too. Just in case, I’ve worked on about half of the last remaining helicopter.]
As the words grew longer, Jeffrey, who was chewing his fingernails, looked at Eden.
[If you check the air intake and main rotor a little more safely, and put the power system back in, you can escape within three days….]
Eden ignored Mason’s words and slowly turned his gaze to the sky. At that moment, he let out a hollow laugh between his teeth and muttered.
[The government must have done a good job as a matchmaker.]
Come to think of it, the aircraft here were government-owned assets that the Defense Acquisition Program Administration of the Republic of Korea had purchased from Blue Works for nearly 2 trillion won. Even if the government had arranged escape matchmaking for the rich, there would be no problem at all.
Then the only question remaining is.
[Is it true that we can take the remaining helicopter?]
When Eden asked, Mason nodded quickly as if he had been waiting.
[Of course! Hugo did some work on it.]
[Hugo?]
[Immediately after the Zombie situation broke out, the Blue Works situation room sent a message here. Open the door and give them a Transport plane immediately when the CTO visits. They said they could pay any amount in dollars. At that time, the army and air force had already rushed into the Maintenance Depot, so it was a bit difficult to communicate, but fortunately, it worked out well.]
Eden sighed heavily, recalling Hugo’s last voice on the phone, saying he would consider Plan B. He looked down at the ground and then raised his head. Ha-jin’s innocent face came into view.
“Jeong Tae-geon. I’m okay.”
Ha-jin tried to calm Eden with a forced smile, as if trying to organize his confused feelings.
“I understood how the situation is going. So….”
“Let’s do as I say first.”
Eden, who cut off Ha-jin’s words without hesitation, turned his gaze back to Mason.
[When did people start coming and going to the Maintenance Depot?]
[It’s been about two weeks. Seoul and Incheon airports were all burned down, so this was the only runway left near the metropolitan area. For a while, it was really noisy and chaotic. A lot of people gathered, and accidents happened frequently…. I heard that they blew up the roads in between to prevent civilians from coming to the Maintenance Depot.]
As soon as Mason finished speaking, Eden muttered a small curse. The many hardships he had experienced because the roads were blown up quickly flashed through his mind. All those nightmarish days when he had to detour around the broken bridge….
He rubbed his face with his hands, his face rapidly becoming tired. A strange silence settled at the end of the deep sigh.
Mason, rolling his eyes as if he didn’t know what was going on, belatedly met Ha-jin’s gaze. He awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, then poked Jeffrey in the side and asked.
[By the way, who is this?]
Jeffrey turned to where Ha-jin was, following Mason’s gaze.
[This is Ha-jin, a colleague who joined us in the middle. This little guy is Eden’s nephew, and this guy is Pie.]
[Ah.]
Mason brushed back his fallen bangs and offered Ha-jin a handshake.
[Hello. My name is Mason Miller, an engineer working under the Executive Director. I’m not good at Korean… Please feel free to call me Mason.]
“Ah, hello….”
It was the moment Ha-jin raised his arm to shake hands.
[Stop chatting and let’s move on.]
Eden, who cut off the words at a good timing, pulled Ha-jin’s arm away and strode away.
Mason tilted his head, looking at the back of his superior, who seemed somewhat edgy. Jeffrey, who approached him, patted the top of Mason’s head as if to comfort him.
[Just bear with him.]
[…What?]
[He’s a bit sensitive because there aren’t enough Transport planes.]
The plane was leaving the runway, making a loud roar announcing its takeoff. The voices of people clinging to the fence and wailing echoed faintly, following the receding sound of the plane.
“Jeong Tae-geon.”
Ha-jin looked up at Eden, who was holding his shoulder tightly, and said urgently.
“Let’s talk. Now I’m….”
“Let’s send Jeffrey and Byeol on the Transport plane that leaves tonight.”
“Yes?”
“It will be possible if there are seats left. And you and I will take the remaining helicopter to Neverland.”
“No.”
“So, don’t say things like it’s okay or let’s break up here. I’m already….”
Eden omitted the rest of the words with a face full of annoyance and impatience. The jaw muscles bulged, and blue blood vessels rose near the temples. Ha-jin parted his lips and then closed them tightly.
Time was already heading towards early evening, but the heat on the asphalt did not subside. The plane scratched the runway and slowly rose into the air. The fence was shaking as if it would break.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Asking us to take people who aren’t even on the passenger list… We barely made it here after selling all our assets, what are we, pushovers? Besides, there’s only one seat left, and suddenly you’re adding two more people? One is a child, but still, this is just not right?”
Ha-jin, who wiped the sweat flowing down his chin, looked around. As if he had entered a sauna, the hot air surrounded his body. The hangar was crowded with military personnel and soldiers busily walking around with radios, and survivors gathered to board the helicopter.
“Sir, don’t get too heated. The director said that the seat fee will be paid sufficiently later….”
“So how do we know that? Besides, is money the problem now? If there’s a problem with safety because the number of people is exceeded, will you take responsibility!”
Ha-jin was standing far away from them, but he could clearly hear the sharp voice of the middle-aged woman. In front of her, there was a man who seemed to be in charge, and Eden, who was standing with his arms crossed and his face hardened.