By Zephyria 
“Let’s load about that much. Let’s go now.”
Eden sat Ha-jin in the driver’s seat.
“No matter what I do, don’t be surprised, just look ahead and drive.”
Ha-jin, who suddenly had the steering wheel in his hands, looked at Eden with a bewildered expression. He pounded the glove box a couple of times with his fist, as if he didn’t have enough time to explain.
The radio was constantly broadcasting conversations about finding the murderer who killed the Lieutenant Colonel and the Sergeant.
“I’m starting.”
It was the moment when Ha-jin, who had calmed his trembling breath, put his foot on the accelerator. Suddenly, a black shadow jumped out from behind the trees. Eden quickly cocked his gun at the appearance of the two unexpected figures.
Click!
“Wait a minute!”
Ha-jin hurriedly stopped Eden and looked at the uninvited guests blocking the car. One person in a police uniform and someone with rounded shoulders, shedding tears… It was Chief Kim and the Cult Leader’s son.
Chief Kim placed the crying boy behind him. Then, he raised both arms as if to reassure Eden and Ha-jin, taking a surrender posture.
“Jeong Tae-geon, Do Ha-jin, it’s me!”
Eden frowned fiercely at the sudden appearance of the two. Chief Kim patted the child who was holding onto his waist tightly and shouted to Eden and Ha-jin.
“I thought the situation seemed chaotic, so I came out, and I happened to see you two coming this way. I’m sorry if I startled you!”
“……”
“If you’re thinking of going outside the Ranch now, please take us with you!”
Ha-jin bit his lip with a bewildered expression. He wanted to get in the car and run away from this place right away, but Eden was not someone who would be swayed by personal pity. He was not someone who would make companions in the first place, so there would be even less reason to take them with him.
But if he left just the child and the Chief here, there was no guarantee what would happen to them at the hands of the soldiers.
“What’s your reason for wanting to go together?”
Eden still didn’t lower the gun pointed at the Chief and asked.
“We’re on our way back from confirming with our own eyes that this child’s father has become a zombie. The last time he was seen was when the soldiers took him, so he must have been murdered! We have to save the child, at least!”
At Chief Kim’s cry, the child’s body finally collapsed to the ground. The sorrow of losing his family erupted into a mournful cry.
Ha-jin felt a burning pain in one corner of his heart at the fact that the child had also faced the tragedy he had witnessed. He was wondering how to persuade Eden when he turned around to look at him, having put down his gun.
“Let’s just give them a ride on the way out. What do you think, Do Ha-jin?”
Ha-jin’s shoulders twitched at the unexpected choice.
“I think it’s right to get out of here together first. I don’t know what will happen if we stay here.”
As soon as he answered without hesitation, Eden gestured to Chief Kim and the child.
Chief Kim quickly picked up the child who was kneeling and sobbing. The two people who had run panting got into the trunk full of weapons.
“Haa, thank you!”
After confirming that they were seated, Ha-jin stepped on the accelerator without hesitation.
“Search separately!”
“Search all the huts, too!”
Loud shouts were heard nearby. Eden, who turned his head back, handed a .38 caliber pistol to Chief Kim, who was holding the child.
“You know how to shoot a gun, right? Please provide cover fire.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Chief Kim roughly wiped the sweat from his forehead and took the revolver. He gently pressed down on the back of the child, who was sobbing, to make him bend over.
“Don’t ever get up until Hyung tells you to.”
Then, a tearful voice followed, “Yes.” Ha-jin watched Chief Kim and the child’s condition through the rearview mirror. The two were very nervous and busy guarding their surroundings.
Thump! After leaving the colony, they finally reached the promenade with the restaurant and the store. Ha-jin’s palms, which were gripping the steering wheel, were wet with sweat. He felt like he would die of a heart attack before being bitten by a zombie.
Just then, a soldier who was stationed in front of the promenade rolled on the ground to avoid the Retona vehicle that was rushing towards him. He hurriedly took out his radio.
“P, Private Im! Th, the criminals are currently trying to e, escape with a Retona vehicle! They’re p, passing the promenade in front of the store!”
Ha-jin quickly turned to look at the soldier with a somewhat familiar voice and face.
‘Still, s, soon the zombies in the metropolitan area w, will be caught, so if you w, wait a little longer, you’ll be able to go and meet them. U, until then, I w, will be loyal to the Battalion Commander’s o, orders.’
Private Gu, who had given a clumsy answer to the question of whether he missed his family and had cleaned the hay warehouse with him all night long, was right in front of his eyes.
‘He pretended to be so innocent, that killer bastard…!’
The moment Ha-jin, enraged, was about to shout something at the fallen Private Gu, Chief Kim, who had been waiting for an opportunity, opened fire.
“Aaaagh!!”
Soldiers began to flock behind Private Gu, who had fallen after being shot in the thigh.
He didn’t feel any pity at all. No matter what the reason, he had no intention of defending their choice to drive innocent residents to their deaths.
Meanwhile, Eden was taking out a grenade from the box at his feet. Ha-jin’s eyes widened when he belatedly discovered it.
“What are you…!”
Before he could even stop him, Eden’s thumb was on the round safety pin of the grenade. He stood up and swung his arm forcefully towards the store and restaurant area.
Kwaaang―!! Soon after, with a tremendous roar, fragments of the building soared into the sky.
“Ugh!”
Surprised, Chief Kim quickly lowered his body and protected the child. Ha-jin, who was holding the steering wheel, also lowered his head deeply.
“Jeong Tae-geon! What’s wrong with you all of a sudden! Please say something, at least…!”
He shouted in horror, but he didn’t care and pointed his finger in a direction.
“As soon as you get out of the entrance, turn right. I’m thinking of blowing up the power plant, too.”
“I know what you mean, but can’t we just escape quietly?! Why are you blowing everything up!”
“Even if Lieutenant Colonel So is dead, as long as the Ranch is still standing, innocent citizens will continue to be exploited. I’d like to cut off the breath of all the bastards here, but I don’t have time, so I have to blow up the main facilities, at least.”
Ha-jin was momentarily speechless and his mouth was half open. Was it possible to make such rational judgments and decisions in such a desperate moment? He couldn’t help but look at Eden with admiration as a fellow male.
Bang! Bang, bang! In the meantime, bullets were constantly flying from behind. To make matters worse, even a police car was following them.
The bullets flying from behind hit the car body, making a loud thudding noise, or were embedded in the front glass, creating dizzying moments.
After leaving the Ranch entrance, Eden grabbed the pin of the grenade once again.
“Drive as far away from the walls as possible.”
From the hand of the man who had ordered Ha-jin, the second grenade flew. Two seconds later, boom―! With a roar, the concrete wall collapsed. Following that, a chain explosion occurred. It seemed that he had hit the power plant properly, as the flames began to soar endlessly as if they didn’t know how high the sky was.
The police car that was following them was also buried under the collapsing wall and stopped in its place.
“That’s it!”
Ha-jin, who had confirmed through the rearview mirror that no one was following them anymore, let out a sigh of relief. Chief Kim, who had been taking a cover fire posture, finally relaxed the tension in his shoulders.
“Haa, thank you for your hard work! Thanks to you, we escaped safely!”
After Chief Kim’s words of gratitude, the child who had been lying on the floor raised his body.
“Hic… Thank you, Hyungs… Hic….”
The child, who was more emaciated than he had been at the rest stop, was so small that he could be mistaken for a middle schooler rather than a high school senior.
Ha-jin swallowed the bitter aftertaste and looked ahead again. The road in the mountain path was quite clear. The Retona was speeding down the one-lane road without hesitation.
Then, Eden threw the rifle he was holding in his arms onto the road.
“Why?”
Ignoring Ha-jin’s anxious expression, he turned his body and silently picked up a new firearm.
“What, why? Wh, why are you doing that? Is there anything else left?”
Ha-jin’s ears were still ringing from the grenade that he had thrown recklessly. Seeing him constantly taking an offensive stance without saying a word, his heart began to pound uneasily.
Soon after, Chief Kim was also seen following Eden and loading bullets into his revolver.
“The ground is shaking in an unusual way. We may have to abandon the car if things go wrong.”
The ground is shaking? Ha-jin, who was tense and turning the steering wheel, finally listened to the subtle noise. Rumble… Rumble…. Like a huge volcano about to erupt, the vibrations on the ground were unusual, as if there was an earthquake.
He turned his head and looked back at the Ranch, where flames and smoke were soaring high.
‘Shit….’
Familiar rumbling, the roar of enraged beasts. If his expectations were correct, it was clearly the presence of zombies swarming in droves.