Magic on the Dead Chapter 11

“What exactly are you asking?”

“The opening. Whether you found it fun, or maybe boring or predictable. Any impression at all.”

Eden stared blankly at Hajin’s face as he asked for a review, then let out a listless laugh.

Hajin kept his eyes on the dimple that formed on Eden’s right cheek and quietly waited for an answer.

“Well. I didn’t really see much of it. But does asking that right now even have any great meaning?”

In other words, he was saying, what damn good is some magic show opening in a situation where every second counts?

Ah, just as I thought. The man was the type who wouldn’t utter a single pleasantry even with a knife to his throat. Confirming this trait of his yet again seemed to lessen the disappointment of not being able to follow him. What a cold bastard….

“Ah, yes. It has quite a bit of meaning to me.”

Smiling slyly, Hajin turned around again.

🃏

“What were you talking about so seriously? Did he have something on you? You looked like you were fumbling the whole time.”

Miso asked, as if she had been waiting for the chance, as soon as the child with the pigtails ran back to Eden.

“…You could see that from here?”

“Yep. I thought you’d turned into a fly. You were rubbing your hands together so fast I couldn’t even see them.”

“Seeing you joke around, I guess you’re back to your old self.”

Heh, Miso let out a short laugh and jabbed Hajin in the side again.

“So what did you talk about? You asked him to go together, right?”

Hajin swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and nodded his head.

“Yeah. But in the end, we can’t go together… and it seems like it’s time we started making a plan of our own.”

“Ah….”

Miso nodded as if to say it was a shame.

“Can’t be helped. When should we time our move? It doesn’t seem like anyone’s coming to rescue us if we just sit here twiddling our thumbs. I could hear screams earlier, but now it’s completely quiet.”

Miso lifted her head and looked at the window near the ceiling. The small, handspan-sized rectangular window was level with the ground outside.

“Well… if we knew a little about the zombies’ characteristics, it would be easier to move. In movies, they all hide or something at night, right?”

“Whoa, that’s right.”

Snapping her thumb and middle finger, Miso leaned her face in.

“The sun’s set, so should we head out soon? I don’t think I can wait until tomorrow night.”

“Now? No, no. If we just go out now, we’ll be the walking dead in no time.”

Hajin barely managed to stop Miso, who was getting ready to leave right away, and shook his head.

“We need to pack all the necessary weapons, and find some things we can use as protective gear.”

“…What’s gotten into you, Do Hajin? You were trembling in fear just a while ago.”

Perhaps because he had just finished a conversation with an overly rational man, Hajin’s mind felt clearer than ever.

Although the desperate screams and faces of the people who had been bitten and died right before his eyes were still vivid… it was clear that these were things he would have to endure continuously until his safety was guaranteed. If his mental state collapsed now, he wouldn’t even be able to ensure his own survival, let alone rescue Junseok.

Miso brought Hajin’s attention, lost in thought, back to her.

“Anyway, like you said before, we’re heading straight for Yong-un City, right?”

“Yeah.”

Fortunately, Miso’s hometown was on the way to Yong-un City. They would part ways at some point, but just having a companion seemed to give Hajin a little room to breathe.

“Let’s pack some things in our bags and get some sleep now.”

Just as he had on stage, Hajin rummaged through the magic props stored away in the warehouse. There was plenty of rope, and more than enough tools he had brought in case of an emergency. He picked up a heavier industrial hammer, and Miso took a pair of pliers that fit in one hand.

Eden, who had been talking with Jeffry, lifted his head and watched the two of them moving about busily. As if he felt the gaze, Hajin’s eyes met his. The sharp longsword he had given him earlier was lying next to Eden.

“You can take that with you.”

As Hajin spoke magnanimously, Eden’s eyes narrowed. He showed no reaction for a moment, as if trying to analyze the other’s intentions. His eyes were filled with distrust, like someone who had never once in his life received a favor without a motive.

“It doesn’t mean anything. I’m just saying you can take it. I have enough weapons here.”

What a difficult man. As Hajin shook his head, Eden, who had been watching him suspiciously until then, reluctantly nodded.

“Thank you.”

An unexpected word of thanks came flying at him again. Since he was showing all the proper courtesies, Hajin let out a silly chuckle without realizing it.

When they were talking, he had seemed like such a difficult person, but thinking that he would never see him again, he felt like he was a spiteful wildcat character from a children’s cartoon….

Just then, Jeffry, who was sitting next to Eden, spoke to Hajin.

“Take this, me. Hammer.”

He brandished the hammer he had used to smash the zombie’s head earlier, as if to show Hajin.

“Yes, you can have that too. I have one myself anyway.”

“Thanks. But my hand, you knew? Why?”

“Pardon?”

What does he mean. As Hajin’s eyes darted around, unable to understand properly, Jeffry added.

“Heart A!”

Realizing the meaning of the question belatedly, Hajin let out a short, “Ah.” He meant he was curious about the trick shown in the video recording earlier.

Hajin replied to Jeffry in a sincere tone.

“That’s a trade secret. If we happen to meet again, I’ll tell you then.”

“What, secret word no know.”

Eden, who was watching their conversation from the side, turned his head and snorted through his nose. It was clearly a scoff.

The electricity went out that night. It was around that time that the laughter of the people, who had been clinging desperately to their ruined minds and whispering of hope while making escape plans, ceased. Anxiety once again found its way into the eyes of everyone lying on the dusty warehouse floor.

What woke Hajin, who had drifted off into a light sleep, was the sound of rain hitting the ground beyond the window. A drizzling rain was falling beyond the tiny rectangular glass pane, which could hardly be called a window.

A half-moon, swollen on its right side, was reflected on the pooled rainwater. Hajin stared blankly at the four silhouettes moving cautiously in the dim moonlight.

Soon, the warehouse door opened. Screeeak— The rusty hinges made a chilling, metallic sound as the door closed again.

Now, all that remained in the warehouse were him and Miso, and the married couple sleeping in each other’s arms.

🃏

The sky, shrouded in rain clouds, and the desolate city were a terrible nightmare in themselves. The ominous silence, the pattering of the fishy raindrops, the bloodstains scattered on the asphalt road, and the crushed lumps that were probably flesh… everything was a murky blue-black, like a scene from a black-and-white film.

In a city where all electricity had been cut off, the only light to rely on was the waning moonlight from beyond the gray clouds.

‘Eden, do you know what happens when it rains in the desert? The hidden flower seeds bloom.’

Leo’s gruff laughter replayed like an auditory hallucination.

This was the first time he had experienced such a dark dawn since the nights in the Iraqi desert. The difference was that instead of the musty smell of blood dried on the sand, the air was thick with the sour stench of blood crusted onto the asphalt, and instead of an endless horizon, wide roads and buildings sprouting up like mushrooms blocked his view.

As his eyes swept over the chilling desolation, Eden checked the watch on his wrist. 4:30 AM. Considering the transport plane was scheduled to arrive at 5, they needed to get to the rooftop of the hospital across the street, not too late, not too early.

“Uncle, the monsters… why are they gone?”

Jungbyul, who had been trembling with his face buried in Eden’s shoulder, asked in a cautious voice. The same question was dawning on the faces of the men, who had their arms tightly bound with rope.

When they first left the warehouse, they had exited without difficulty through the back door Hajin had shown them. No strange creatures appeared while they walked with bated breath, and they were currently standing under the eaves of the small theater’s back door, assessing the situation.

“Maybe after a certain amount of time, they just die on their own… or something like that?”

When Park Chun-beom asked in a hopeful voice, Eden shook his head without mercy. Recalling the Sudanese civil war, where he first became aware of the existence of the cannibal virus… it was unlikely they would self-destruct so easily. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have reappeared like a sucker punch on the other side of the globe.

Then where had all those creatures hidden themselves? Were they affected by light and dark? Or temperature? The only things he’d learned after yesterday’s chaos were that the eyes of the virus-infected zombies were all gray, and they dripped black nosebleeds. They were the exact same characteristics he had seen and heard about during the Sudan virus incident.

As he quietly racked his brain, Jeffry urged them to get going.

【Since the damn zombie bastards are gone, how about we start moving.】

It was simple. All they had to do was go around the back door and run to the rooftop of the five-story hospital located across the four-lane road. Yet, for some reason, Eden couldn’t bring himself to take a step.

“Let’s get going, Director Jeong.”

Park Chun-beom, who had been chewing his fingernails, whispered slyly.

“…Yes, let’s go.”

Finally making up his mind, Eden hitched up the child in his arms once more.