By Zephyria 
The two quietly dealt with the Zombies shambling around the stairwell, following Pie’s signal. Eden, who easily reached the 5th floor where the lab was located, looked up beyond the stairs with a thoughtful expression.
He turned to Ha-jin and Pie and whispered quietly.
“It would be better to take care of the Zombies on the stairs in advance. We might have to run all the way to the rooftop in an emergency.”
“Then, should we take Pie to the rooftop while we’re at it? If intruders have come this far, it means it’s really dangerous.”
“Good idea. Let’s go and check the situation on the rooftop as well.”
While carefully climbing the stairs with the dog, they encountered a total of six Zombies. They hid and waited for the right timing, then created a path by strangling the Aberrants with ropes and smashing their heads with axes the moment they turned their backs.
After many twists and turns, Eden, who reached the rooftop, opened the iron door first. Sweat trickled down the faces of the two as they walked towards the helipad, passing through a garden with messy landscaping.
After confirming the quiet rooftop, Ha-jin called Pie to a bench in the shade. He put down the snacks and water he had packed in his bag and met Pie’s eyes affectionately.
“Wait a little bit. Hyungs will be back soon.”
He felt bad thinking about the dog who would be waiting here until they came back.
“Let’s go. We don’t have much time.”
At Eden’s urging, Ha-jin, who had been looking up at the cloudless sky, turned around. He habitually fiddled with the brooch hanging on his chest and walked down the stairs. Just thinking of Jun-seok seemed to calm his unstable breathing.
After arriving on the 5th floor and opening the stair door, a long corridor blocked by a glass door greeted them.
After confirming the absence of Zombies, Eden swiped Chun-beom’s Employee ID hanging around his neck on the reader.
―Welcome.
After the stiff announcement, the glass door slid open. The two, lowering their posture, slowly began to crawl towards Lab 6, where Tune was. Eden stopped in place when he reached the lab.
He turned to Ha-jin and put his index finger to his lips as if to tell him to be quiet. Ha-jin’s mouth was already tightly shut anyway. It was because of someone’s voice that had been heard since a while ago.
The two, lying on the floor, craned their necks to observe the situation inside the glass door. Familiar faces were seen on either side of a middle-aged man wearing a white gown.
A long-haired man with eyes slit like a snake and a short man grinning with buck teeth. The two were some of the rapists who had failed to assault the female doctor and the looters who had burned down the campsite. Eden chuckled inwardly at the situation that had not deviated from his expectations.
“So, you’re saying that with just this thick phone, you can contact anyone, right?”
“Well, it’s not a phone, it’s a radio. It’s a Communicator made for military purposes. Only channels with specific frequencies can…”
“Damn it, that’s different from what you said earlier. You said you could contact anyone with just this! You’re just saying it’s a radio?”
“No, what I mean is, it’s a radio, but it’s…!”
A bespectacled researcher, caught between the constantly scolding men, trembled. It was called a radio because it could receive signals without electricity, but Tune was closer to a military-use cell phone that could be used anywhere in the mountains.
Directly transmitting radio waves to the other side of the Earth was theoretically impossible due to the curvature of the Earth and line-of-sight issues, but SAR satellites developed by Jinwha Tech made it possible to exchange signals anywhere in the world.
Long hair spat out curses with a frustrated face at the researcher’s lengthy explanation.
“You’re just making it so damn hard to understand because you’re an educated bastard. So, can you make a call or not.”
“Y-yes, you can.”
“Damn it, you should have said that sooner.”
Long hair grinned, showing his teeth, as if he was in a good mood after hearing the answer he wanted.
“You know how to speak English, right? You seem like you’d be good at it since you’re so educated.”
“W-well, I’m not very good…”
“Call the number written on this memo and recite the address here. If you do well, I’ll help you escape too.”
The researcher nodded hastily and received the memo and Tune. The call was connected immediately. He squeezed out his poor English skills to request rescue from someone on the other side of the radio and called out the address of the research center.
Eden listened intently with a focused face. He could hear Hugo’s familiar voice.
―Is Eden Jung, CTO, there?
The panicked researcher could only repeat “Yes” without knowing what he was saying. He also rattled off the rescue code written on the memo, and Hugo, unable to hide his bewilderment, left the last words.
―We will send a Transport plane from the West Sea aircraft carrier. It is scheduled to arrive in exactly one hour. Please wait on the rooftop in advance without being late.
Eden checked the clock hanging on the lab wall after confirming that the call had been cut off.
Current time is 4:40 PM.
The helicopter was scheduled to arrive here at exactly 5:40 PM.
Long hair asked the crying researcher.
“What did the guy who answered the phone say? Is he coming here to save us?”
“That’s…”
Before an important answer could come out of the researcher’s mouth, Eden and Ha-jin, who had exchanged signals with a glance, got up from their seats. It was the moment the two opened the door of the lab without hesitation. Suddenly, a thunderous sound of footsteps was heard from behind.
And then, a sharp pain landed on the back of his head.
Thwack!
Eden’s knees buckled helplessly as he was hit on the head without even having time to defend himself. At the same time, the voices of the vile thugs echoed faintly in his ears.
“…I was waiting, but I didn’t think they’d really come…”
“Grab them first… just in case.”
He never expected there would be other guys lying in ambush. Eden clenched his fist tightly as if he had made a mistake and fell to the floor. Beyond his fading vision, he could see Ha-jin’s face lying face down with his eyes closed.
❖ ❖ ❖
Eden opened his eyes in the middle of the lab floor. Both hands and feet were tightly bound with ropes. He calmly checked his condition and endured the nauseous feeling as he raised his upper body.
Ha-jin, who had already woken up, was kneeling and holding his upper body upright. There were no particular external injuries, but his pale complexion was not good at all.
Eden turned his head to where Ha-jin’s gaze was directed. Only then did he see the researcher’s corpse lying on the floor bleeding.
The looters were sitting huddled together behind the dead man, taking a break. In the meantime, everything from their eyes, tone, and actions was soaked in madness, giving off a repulsive feeling.
The way they were wearing ill-fitting women’s clothes was enough to evoke unpleasant imaginations. They smelled of human blood. It was hard to believe that they were the same clueless guys he had encountered on the street for the first time.
Eden swallowed a sigh that was about to burst out and quickly checked the clock on the wall. 5:25 PM. There were still 15 minutes left until the helicopter arrived.
“This memo, did you write it?”
Just then, Long hair fluttered a yellow memo and approached Eden. Chun-beom’s stolen Employee ID was hanging around his neck. When Eden simply made eye contact without answering, Long hair grinned, revealing his yellow teeth.
“Let’s not be so stiff. Cooperation is the top priority if you want to escape this shitty Republic of Korea.”
“……”
“Damn it, are you laughing? You don’t seem to know your place.”
Long hair sighed and this time held out a photo in his other hand. It was a Polaroid photo of Ha-jin and Eden taken together at the botanical garden. Eden’s face, which had been wearing a crooked sneer, hardened terribly in an instant.
“If you don’t cooperate, I’m just going to kill you guys and go there. The place looks pretty good? There happens to be a nearby botanical garden. Hmm, where was it… Dragon Cloud Botanical Garden?”
Ha-jin’s body, which had been quietly bowing his head, flinched slightly. Long hair carefully examined the changes in the two men’s expressions and fluttered the photo he was holding in the air.
“Our homo bastards. You took a pretty picture holding hands.”
At those words, a boisterous laugh erupted from behind. Taking advantage of the commotion in the lab, Eden checked the time that was flowing aimlessly.
Current time is 5:30 PM. Now there were only 10 minutes left until the Transport plane arrived.
Assuming it takes 2 minutes to travel from here to the 12th floor, he had to untie the ropes, subdue the men, and leave the lab within 8 minutes.
As the thugs’ dirty taunts continued, Eden’s eyes lingered on the Gas gun stuck in Long hair’s pocket.
At that moment, Ha-jin coughed briefly as if he had choked. When he glanced at him, he saw Ha-jin desperately wiggling his fingers as if he was making a hand signal. The knots that had been tightening Ha-jin’s wrists and ankles were loosened a lot, he didn’t know when he had untied them.