By Zephyria 
Lee Chang-yeol had explained that he left his car keys in the office, but Ha-jin had already seen through the lie.
He had rummaged through all his pants pockets under the pretense of checking his ID, and he had also bumped his shoulder against his chest as if by accident while crossing the hill. The car keys were exactly above Lee Chang-yeol’s right chest pocket.
“Lee Chang-yeol’s car keys. We should at least salvage this.”
Eden narrowed his eyes and looked down at the key holder that had fallen at his feet.
“Since when have you had this?”
“I took it from him just now in the warehouse when I was trying to calm him down.”
“……”
“I already feel like trash, so don’t look at me like that.”
Ha-jin, who snapped back as if venting his anger, jumped up from his seat.
It was complicated. He felt like he had done something terrible to someone on the verge of death. Although they had only spent half a day together, he seemed to have grown fond of Lee Chang-yeol, who was the same age as his Hyung. The image of him smiling brightly while boasting about his girlfriend’s beauty lingered in his mind like a ghost.
Eden silently watched Ha-jin, who was messing up his innocent hair. Then, turning his gaze, he instructed the group on the necessary medicines.
“Let’s find antibiotics first. Look for medicines labeled oxytetracycline.”
“Oxyte… what?”
“Check what’s written on the memo.”
“Ah, ah.”
Except for Jeffrey, who was still not good at reading Korean, Park Chun-beom and Mi-so quickly moved at Eden’s command. Ocular topical antibiotics, ibuprofen, gauze, antifungal antibiotics, antidiarrheals, etc. There were more types of medicines needed than expected, and it took quite a while to find them.
“I wish I could just sweep them all away.”
Mi-so muttered to herself, looking at the bulging Messenger Bag with regret. Jeong Byeol, who was watching, pointed to his own bag slung over his shoulder and whispered.
“Unni, I’m strong. Put it in my bag.”
“It’s okay. Byeol already has a raincoat, boots, and a doll in his bag.”
“This much is okay, though?”
“When Unni tried to lift Byeol’s bag earlier, it was su~per heavy.”
“Reawwy?”
“Yeah, really. Byeol is doing a good job as it is.”
“…Am I doing a good job?”
“Of course.”
Mi-so gently stroked Byeol’s chubby, white cheeks as if he were admirable. She still couldn’t believe that such an angelic child was related to that cold Eden.
Mi-so and Park Chun-beom, who had gathered the medicines Eden mentioned, gathered back in front of the counter. They had found all the necessary medicines, so all that was left was to check the situation outside and leave. However, no one dared to suggest going outside.
“Krrrr…”
Lee Chang-yeol, who had become a zombie, not a human, was still trapped in that warehouse. Eden scanned Ha-jin’s face, whose eyes were even more bloodshot, and opened his mouth.
“Thanks to you, we got a car, so let’s give him some courtesy.”
What kind of courtesy is he talking about? He added, towards Ha-jin, who was turning around with a questioning expression.
“I mean, let’s kill Lee Chang-yeol and leave.”
“……”
“Do you want to do it, Do Ha-jin?”
Ha-jin’s gray eyes shook violently.
“If you’re going to swing an axe for the first time, it’s better to have some meaning. Think of it as a reward for the car keys.”
Eden said that and pointed to the hand axe in Ha-jin’s hand.
“Nothing will happen to you. I’ll take care of it before that.”
Eden reassured Ha-jin as if to reassure him and moved towards the warehouse. Park Chun-beom and Jeffrey followed Eden, gripping the weapons in their hands tightly. Mi-so, with her quick wit, took Byeol, who was trembling slightly, and moved to a corner far away.
Ha-jin looked at the clean hand axe in his hand and swallowed hard. Can I do it?
For Ha-jin, who had only been busy hitting zombies’ heads with industrial hammers or pliers, direct murder was not an easy task.
“You fastened Lee Chang-yeol’s pants buckle in the warehouse earlier, right?”
Eden gave a quiet piece of advice to Ha-jin, who was stiff.
“What you’re about to do now is no different from that.”
At that moment, Ha-jin strangely felt that Eden was comforting him. It was a ridiculous sentiment.
[Ha-jin, you’re doing a good thing. Don’t think too deeply about it.]
Jeffrey stroked the back of Ha-jin’s head as if patting it. It was strange. He felt like a child on the verge of an important exam. The reality of being cheered on for the act of smashing a human’s head felt like a scene from a black comedy, even a little sad.
Ha-jin, who had been standing blankly, dragged his legs, which wouldn’t move, closer to the warehouse.
“Opening it.”
With Eden’s dry voice, the lock was released with a click. Ha-jin desperately hoped that Lee Chang-yeol would jump out and threaten him.
Sweat soaked the palm of his hand holding the axe.
❖ ❖ ❖
“You worked hard, Do Ha-jin. Lee Chang-yeol will be grateful too.”
Mi-so patted Ha-jin’s back as if comforting him, who was holding a blood-dripping axe. Ha-jin’s mouth was tightly shut as he cleaned the bloody axe blade without answering.
Lee Chang-yeol, whose forehead was pierced by the axe, died without even making a sound. While he couldn’t bring himself to pull out the axe that was firmly embedded in his skull and turned around to swallow his retching, Eden silently approached and quietly handed it back to him.
Ha-jin was just dazed. His wrist bones still throbbed as if a gong had rung, from how hard he had swung it. The acrid smell of blood stung his nasal passages.
Turning his head, he saw Lee Chang-yeol lying neatly on the floor. Jeffrey’s short-sleeved shirt covered his face, which was too gruesome to look at, and was brutally broken.
Had life and death ever been so close?
He realizes now, after taking a person’s breath away, that he can never return to the same life as before.
Even a handful of breath felt burdensome. Ha-jin wanted to burst into tears for the first time.
“Let’s go when you’re done cleaning up. Check again to see if there are any missing medicines.”
Eden encouraged the group, clearing the somber atmosphere. Instead of raising the shutter he had lowered, he moved to the back door of the counter.
When he unlocked the lock, a quiet alleyway appeared where not a single leaf was rolling around. Everyone moved in unison according to the hand signals. The slowest of them was Ha-jin. He was still looking at Lee Chang-yeol’s dark red blood flowing along the floor to the back door.
“Let’s go around and exit through the front door.”
Eden walked in step with Ha-jin, who was the last to come out. He didn’t comfort the dazed Ha-jin, nor did he say he had worked hard.
Nevertheless, Ha-jin couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being considerate of him. If he wasn’t crazy, how could he feel such absurd kindness from that cold-blooded bastard…?
Ha-jin stopped thinking before it got more complicated. He felt a little better than he had been feeling on the floor.
They wandered through the cars stuck on the road. It seemed that Lee Chang-yeol’s death was a shock to others as well as Ha-jin, and not a single trivial joke came out in the frozen atmosphere. They were just silently moving forward.
Before long, Sangwon Central Police Station came into view in the distance. The rectangular gray building revealed its majesty and stood firmly, with a gray-red wall and wire mesh surrounding the sidewalk.
The group approached the wide-open entrance.
“I don’t think there’s anyone in the information booth?”
“It’s not a person, it’s a corpse.”
As Mi-so said, an figure was seen slumped on the desk with his forehead against the closed window. Judging by the motionless appearance, he was clearly already dead.
Eden, who was looking at the information desk, turned his gaze to the three-story building near the booth this time. It was the General Civil Service Office and the Traffic Investigation Department building right next to the main building. Zombies were swarming nearby.
Eden turned around and made eye contact with each member of the group.
“Crouch down and follow me.”
Following Eden, people lined up like dried fish, crouching down and crossing over.
Only then did the blind spot that had not been visible come into view. Unlike the parking lot on the right, the parking lot on the left was quite large, with an area that could not be estimated.
There were at least 70 cars parked, and the number of zombies wandering strangely between them was greater than the number of zombies on the left.
At this rate, would they even be able to find Lee Chang-yeol’s car? If they pressed the door opening button, there would definitely be a signal sound, and if that happened, zombies would swarm to the car like bees. As sufficient difficulties were expected, it seemed impossible to go inside the main building and find a living person in charge.
“I think we should just take the car and get out of here.”
Mi-so frowned as if she was disappointed when Eden said that with a click of his tongue.
“Why? Aren’t we going inside the building? It would be nice to have another gun.”
“There are a lot of parked cars, and the number of zombies wandering outside is excessively high. The inside of the building will also be annihilated. If we continue like this, it may be difficult to even find Lee Chang-yeol’s car.”
At that time, Ha-jin tapped Eden’s back with his index finger.
“Come to think of it, there was a car on Lee Chang-yeol’s phone background. I’m not sure if it’s his, but it was a white sedan with a somewhat fierce look. It looked like he took it himself.”
At the ticklish voice that reached his ear, Eden tilted his head towards Ha-jin.