By Zephyria 
To think he was doing something so crazy as jumping into a burning building to save someone who had coldly rejected his request, someone whose life or death he didn’t even know. How great would it be if he could be as cold as Jeong Tae-geon?
As he gasped for breath, the hospital engulfed in black smoke reappeared. And surrounding the roads around it was an enormous horde of….
The foot Ha-jin had on the accelerator momentarily lost its strength. Even at a glance, a considerable number of zombies were rushing towards the hospital from afar. The flashing flames along with the explosions must have instantly caught their attention.
“Hey, Mi-so. This isn’t good.”
It was when Ha-jin, who had abruptly changed his stance, turned the steering wheel again.
“Byeol!!”
Mi-so shouted as she hurriedly unbuckled her seatbelt. Startled, Ha-jin focused on the front. Sure enough, familiar figures were running out from inside the building, which was on the verge of collapse.
“They got out over there!”
Mi-so, sitting in the seat next to the door, waved her hand at Ha-jin.
“Do Ha-jin, I’m going to open the door now, so stick to the right lane!!”
There was no time to rationally assess the situation and think. Ha-jin quickly changed direction as Mi-so said. Mi-so, who had rolled down the window first, shouted outside.
“Get in here─!! Get in this!!”
Jeffrey, who had been flustered, widened his eyes when he spotted Mi-so. He hugged Byeol and started running towards the car along with Park Chun-beom.
At the moment the door opened in perfect timing, a zombie with a severed arm suddenly thrust its face in.
“Ugh! Shit, get lost!!”
“Keuh!”
Behind the zombie that had been kicked in the jaw by Mi-so, the group’s figures were visible. Ha-jin slowed down.
Mi-so quickly stepped back. Jeffrey, holding Byeol, jumped into the open door, followed by Park Chun-beom, who was covered in tears, boarding the vehicle.
“Door! Door!!”
Someone shouted. The stiff sliding door that had been wide open closed with a kurung! sound. It was a moment where life and death had been decided by a single second. Hasty breaths gathered and echoed in the cramped space.
“Hwaaa, Uncle Tae-geon…!!”
Starting with Byeol’s cries, Jeffrey burst into curses.
“Fuck─!! Shit!”
Ha-jin turned his head this way and that, seemingly flustered. Even as he hurriedly turned the steering wheel, Jeong Tae-geon was nowhere to be seen. Could he be dead? The face of the man wiping the blood from his cheek with sensitive eyes lingered in his mind. Somehow, it was hard to believe.
Mi-so calmly comforted the crying group and tapped Ha-jin’s shoulder.
“Ha-jin, let’s go back. We really have to go now.”
The horde of zombies was gradually getting closer to the building and the vehicle. Ha-jin, biting his lip, turned his head. At the same time, someone popped out of the entrance of the black hospital building as if they had been flung out.
Ha-jin’s eyes widened as he spotted Eden in his field of vision. Before he could even open his mouth, Park Chun-beom, who was panting and crying, clung to the window and shouted.
“D-, Director is out!”
Ha-jin hurriedly put his foot on the brake pedal. The figure of the man clutching near his ribs as he came out from afar was visible. He was covered in blood and barely walking; his condition was terrible.
‘Crazy. He’s not bitten, is he?’
While Ha-jin was at a loss and circling in place, Eden, frowning, raised his head. It shouldn’t have been possible, but it felt like their eyes met.
“Uncle! Hwaaa─!”
The child, along with Park Chun-beom, clung to the window and cried out. Ah, whatever. Ha-jin turned the steering wheel. Just in time, two zombies were running towards the man.
“Everyone buckle up and sit down!”
There was no time to hesitate. Ha-jin steered off the road and onto the sidewalk. A collision was imminent. Just as everyone frantically found their seats, kuuung!! A heavy burst of sound poured over the front windshield. The two zombies that had been flung away were simultaneously crushed under the front wheels.
Ha-jin hurriedly unbuckled his seatbelt. Leaning towards the passenger seat, he reached out and opened the door.
“Jeong Tae-geon, over here!!”
Eden threw himself into the open door as if he was flying. A wave of hot air rushed in. Just as he landed, an old zombie in a patient gown clung to the passenger seat door.
“Kyageugeug!”
Ha-jin, quickly returning to the driver’s seat, changed gears. As the vehicle reversed without hesitation, the zombie that had been clinging on fell off with a sound like a pig being slaughtered.
Eden hooked the seatbelt around his right hand and leaned out, holding the open door. Ha-jin, having changed gears, put his foot back on the accelerator. Kung! The passenger seat door closed.
Beee— An ringing sound echoed. Ha-jin paused his breathing for a moment. The inside of his ears felt muffled. Even amidst all this, he avoided the approaching horde of zombies, turned the steering wheel, put strength into the foot that was pressing the accelerator, and didn’t let his gaze wander for even a moment.
Cries,
Curses,
Shouts,
Relief,
Rough breaths….
If they had been even a minute, no, a second late, they would have been helplessly swept away by the horde of zombies and sent to the afterlife. Ha-jin ignored all the noise that was making his ears numb and exhaled the breath he had been holding in. He had driven the car so hard that it seemed like the smell of burning rubber was rising from somewhere.
“Hwaaaa! Uncle! Why are you only coming now!!”
[Shibal, Eden, you son of a bitch! Are you crazy and want to die?!]
“Everyone? It’s okay, it’s okay, everyone calm down. We’re alive, so that’s what matters. Right?”
“Thank you, hic! If it weren’t for Mi-so and the magician, we really would have been done for….”
The noise didn’t stop. Ha-jin, breathing heavily, turned to look at Eden. Eden, as if he couldn’t even hear the curses being hurled at him, was holding his forehead and bowing his head. He seemed to be in a panic, and also seemed to be suspiciously racking his brain.
Because of the tremendous commotion, a horde of zombies was swarming like bees in the direction they had been trying to escape. Ha-jin ended up turning in a new direction, not the way they had come. It was difficult to secure visibility because of the front windshield, which was cracked in places and splattered with blood.
“This is driving me crazy.”
A long-distance drive was out of the question. First, they had to hide in a safe place. The only place that came to mind right now was the 3-star motel where Mi-so and his crew had been staying.
What are they going to do with these people.
“Hey.”
Ha-jin called out to the man. There was no response. Blood was splattered all over the man’s neck and earlobes. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he had been bitten or suffered any major lacerations.
“Hey, Jeong Tae-geon.”
“…….”
“Are you okay?”
He still didn’t say anything.
Ha-jin impulsively reached out and grabbed Eden by the collar. Then, he pulled the man’s damp clothes towards him.
Twitch, at the sudden collar grab, Eden’s head, which had been bowed, slowly lifted. Warm body heat touched through the damp fabric.
Ha-jin whispered as if he had been waiting for this.
“Snap out of it.”
The eyes of Eden, who he was facing, twitched slightly. Ha-jin, having returned the words that the man had first said to him, smiled wryly. A strange sense of satisfaction filled him.
“…you.”
At the belated honorific, Eden’s eyebrows furrowed.
❖ ❖ ❖
The beat-up van had been wandering around the messy roads for 30 minutes. The motel wasn’t that far, but the problem was getting there. Wide open doors, a broken trunk, a 10-car pileup, vehicles left sideways with skid marks….
It was already the tenth time he had changed direction because of the obstacles that appeared whenever he tried to pick up speed. Facing the faces of the rushing corpses head-on was also a tremendous ordeal.
Ha-jin was completely exhausted. His back, stiff from tension, was aching. All he wanted was to get to a safe place and collapse. Even amidst all this, an English listening test was constantly playing in his ears.
[Usually, you’re smart and good at judging situations, but why were you like that earlier, huh? Eden, you could have really died if you messed up like that. You know?]
[Just be quiet. I’m trying to sort things out.]
[You heartless bastard, can’t you see I’m worried about you?]
[I know, so just stop it.]
[Stop it? Stop it?]
“It’s giving me a headache, you crazy bastard.”
[Speak in English, you son of a bitch!]
Eden didn’t respond. Jeffrey, who had been spitting out every kind of curse in English, pressed his forehead and shook his head.
Ha-jin could roughly infer the situation just from the conversation. It was clear that Eden had acted alone just before the escape and had been in a dangerous situation.
Eden, who was pressing between his eyebrows with a tired face, opened his mouth.
“Where are we going now? It seems like we’re just going around in circles.”
He’s asking now? Ha-jin glanced at him and changed direction again.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome.”
Eden’s head, which had been looking straight ahead, tilted crookedly. After a moment of silence, he lowered his voice.
“Let’s talk about it slowly later.”
Ha-jin didn’t respond and shrugged his shoulders. What’s with turning away from saying that one word, thank you for saving me. He was saying thank you and sorry just fine yesterday.
Just in time, Ha-jin barely avoided a zombie crawling on the ground and sighed deeply. Having turned off the navigation system that hadn’t been updated, Ha-jin entered a familiar alleyway after countless detours.