Magic on the Dead Chapter 13

“Kiyaaaaaak—!!!”

Quickly readjusting his grip on the longsword, Eden struck down the lunging zombies and shouted.

【Jeffry!! Take Jungbyul and get inside the emergency exit first!】

【Give it up, Eden!! Their numbers keep increasing!!】

From the rear, which they had failed to notice, a growing number of zombies were pouring out. Zombies in patient gowns stained with bright red blood began to crawl on the floor, twist their arms, and fold their torsos as they surrounded the helicopter and Eden.

The speed of the disfigured ghouls was not particularly threatening. In the meantime, Jeffry took Park Chunbeom and Byul and quickly evacuated inside the emergency exit.

The transport, having hastily prepared for departure, created a fierce gust of wind and lifted into the air.

While Eden furiously yelled at the helicopter to wait, a soldier-turned-zombie clung grotesquely to the helicopter’s wheel as it rose about 3 meters into the air. Following him, several more zombies reached out and lunged. The helicopter, with ghouls dangling from it, rose precariously into the sky.

“Shit—!!”

Eden, having missed his chance to escape, spat out a curse. As if to vent his anger, he smashed the heads of the lunging zombies, his chest heaving for a short while. The zombies, whose attention had been drawn to the noisy helicopter, slowly began to flock toward Eden.

Just then, the helicopter, which had been rising into the sky, tilted and turned its body in an odd direction. Eden raised his head again at the unusual sound.

A zombie in a tattered patient gown lunged at his chest.

“Ugh!”

Barely managing to snatch the zombie’s hair, he swung his hand irritably. Crack! The zombie’s neck snapped as if it were torn off. Panting for breath, Eden flung the ghoul to the floor and glared fiercely at the underside of the helicopter.

The Surion was lowering its altitude and rushing toward the rooftop again. To be precise, the helicopter’s body, tilted at a 45-degree angle, was falling toward the building with menacing force.

“Well, I’ll be d….”

There was no more time to delay. Eden threw down the longsword and ran full speed toward the emergency door.

🃏

“Where did all these monster bastards hide?”

Miso whispered softly as she followed behind Hajin. Hajin, with a heavy duffel bag slung over his shoulder, glanced around. They had just exited the building after confirming that Eden’s group had left the warehouse safely.

The two walked with cautious steps as they crossed the dark back alley where not a single point of light could be seen.

“No way, did they go to sleep too because it’s dawn? This is ridiculous.”

Miso kept whispering, pressing down the excitement that was bubbling up. As if to say one couldn’t be so sure, Hajin placed his index finger to his lips. It meant it was too early to make a fuss.

Hajin, who had quickly run toward the lobby entrance, faltered in his steps. Far off on the main road, a familiar figure flickered. Six feet, heading for the hospital building on the opposite side, moved quickly and cautiously. It was Eden’s group.

While they were stopped, Byul, held in Eden’s arms, waved.

‘Bye.’ 

The greeting sent through the curtain of rain felt strangely poignant.

“Byul is cute to the very end.”

Miso nudged Hajin’s shoulder. A sense of lingering regret welled up, as if they had grown attached in just one night.

Hajin, who had waved back at the final farewell, turned again. Hiding under a large fir tree, they cautiously advanced toward their destination, scanning their surroundings.

The parking tower next to the atrium. Despite the relatively short distance between the buildings, Hajin’s and Miso’s heads were soaked by the mercilessly pouring rain.

The two passed an empty guard post and entered the tower to find the gray van parked on the first floor. This place, too, seemed to have been through chaos, as bluish-black blood was spread on the floor like water. The foul smell made Hajin cover his nose and breathe through his mouth.

“Looks like everyone ran away. There aren’t many cars either.”

Muttering as if to herself, Miso patted the shoulder of Hajin, who was pinching his nose, and walked ahead.

Most of the parking spaces, which had been packed with cars of all kinds, were empty. Finding the van parked vacantly, she lowered her posture and ran to the back of the vehicle. It took less than 10 seconds to load the luggage she was carrying into the back seat and start the engine.

Instead of the passenger seat, Miso sat in the back and reached for the trunk. After checking the spare water bottles and box of snacks she had brought just in case, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Want a sip of water?”

The tense Hajin didn’t hear her and slowly turned the steering wheel. The parking barrier had long been smashed, so they were able to exit the building easily without much effort.

Looking up through the car window at the grayish-brown sky where the rain had stopped, Hajin narrowed his brow.

“…This is strange….”

“What is?”

“It’s too easy.”

Miso took a sip of water to wet her dry mouth and raised her eyebrows as if in agreement.

Dudududu— Dududu— As they entered the road, a heavy noise reached their ears. They both rolled down their windows at the same time and stuck their heads out. A military transport was lowering its altitude and rapidly approaching the hospital building.

“Looks like they’re really escaping in a helicopter.”

Miso’s mouth fell open as she watched the helicopter, which revealed its magnificent presence.

“I’m jealous. Where do you think they’re going in that thing?”

“Who knows.”

Hajin replied bitterly and rolled up the window again. Except for the cars stopped in strange positions here and there, the road was quite clear. The building in the rearview mirror gradually receded from view.

“Hey, hey, Hajin.”

Just then, Miso urgently tapped Hajin’s shoulder. Hajin reflexively grabbed the hammer he had placed under the passenger seat and replied.

“What, what. Is there a zombie? Where?”

“No, not a zombie. Wasn’t that a gunshot just now? Or did I hear wrong?”

“Huh?”

Hajin, who had been accelerating, slowly took his foot off the gas pedal. Stopping the car for a moment, he rolled down the window again and leaned his upper body out. Far in the distance, the helicopter, now as small as an ant, was shaking abnormally in the sky.

Miso muttered under her breath.

“But that helicopter looks strange? Why… the angle is too… huh?”

The helicopter, which had been rising with something dangling from it like a tail, tilted and changed direction. As if someone had grabbed it by the hair, the cockpit’s direction turned toward the ground, and the transport began to plummet toward the building’s rooftop.

It was the moment Hajin’s eyes widened at the unexpected scene. From somewhere, a chilling howl pierced his ears sharply.

Kyaaaaak-!

They appeared.

Hajin swallowed a curse and squeezed his body back into the driver’s seat.

“Yoon Miso! Sit up straight. We’re about to—”

Before he could finish his sentence, KWAGWAGWANG—!! A tremendous roar poured into his ears.

Miso, who was looking out the window, held her breath and shouted.

“What about Byul!!”

Hajin rolled up the window and immediately stomped on the accelerator. Miso looked at the receding building and tapped Hajin’s shoulder again.

“Hey, Hajin, Hajin. Is it okay to just go like this? Huh?”

“…….”

“Ha, what in the world is this…!”

Hajin was just as confused as Miso. Slowly, the monsters began to appear on the road.

Hajin, breathing heavily, watched the rear through the rearview mirror. The building was no longer visible. The inferno that had soared on the rooftop had disappeared from sight, and only black smoke was rising into the sky.

Byul’s face flickered in the billowing black smoke. The bright smile he wore, showing off the pigtails Miso had braided for him, flashed through his mind.

A sorrowful shock, incomparable to the many deaths he had witnessed yesterday, washed over him. Was he on the helicopter? No, did he escape? At the same time, the faces of Jung Taegeon, who had wiped away blood with arrogant eyes, and Jeffry, who had spoken to him in awkward Korean, surfaced one after another.

‘I like you more, Mister Hajin.’

‘No need for thanks. We needed a place to hide, and just in time, you, the show host….’

‘Take this, me. Hammer.’

“Agh, damn it, this is driving me crazy.”

The deliberation wasn’t long. In the end, Hajin roughly turned the steering wheel. Miso’s body swayed aimlessly as the car suddenly tilted.

“Are you g-going?!”

“Let’s just check, just in case, and come right back.”

Answering with determination, Hajin drove quickly, avoiding the lunging zombies. Kugoong—! Kwang! The side mirror shattered against the body of a ghoul that charged foolishly, and a crack spiderwebbed across the front windshield. Jjeojeojeok—

Hajin fought back the dry heaves that were about to rise up and sped up. It would have been one thing if their faces were grotesquely mangled, but aside from the nosebleeds, the zombies lunging at the car all looked completely clean.

A sense of guilt, as if he had just committed murder, arose. It felt like being trapped in a nightmare from which he could never wake.

“I’m going crazy.”

As the speedometer approached 130 km/h, Miso, who had been clutching Hajin’s shoulder, hastily fastened her seatbelt.

“Hey, hey, Do Hajin. I think you’re going too fast!”

“It’s more dangerous to slow down here!”

He said it bravely, but Hajin’s hands on the steering wheel were trembling just as they had on stage. He raced down the road as if in a race, hitting and dodging zombies that popped out unexpectedly like deer.

“Are we doing the right thing? Huh? Is going to rescue them the right thing to do?”

Even though she had said it first, Miso wavered, wondering if jumping into the inferno was really a wise decision. Hajin squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

“I don’t know, just go!!”