Magic on the Dead Chapter 61

Overcome by a sudden, intense wave of dizziness, Hajin lost his balance and crumpled to the ground. Through his blurring vision, he could see Eden’s back as he held onto Park Chunbeom’s upper body. Tossing aside his backpack, he was desperately trying to stop the blood that was gushing hotly from where it had pierced Park Chunbeom’s skin.

A terror on par with when he first experienced the zombie outbreak crept into Hajin’s frozen mind.

“Mr. Park Chunbeom! Damn it…!”

Eden’s urgent voice roared in his ears. Barely pulling himself together, Hajin looked beyond the fence. The man in the black raincoat who had been mercilessly firing the gun was limping as he hurriedly ran downhill.

“Ugh…!”

The thought of catching the murderer didn’t even cross his mind. Hajin covered his retching mouth with the back of his hand and practically crawled over to Park Chunbeom.

When he gripped Chunbeom’s shoulder, he felt the cold, stiff body beneath his palm. No matter how soaked he was from the rain, a person’s body temperature couldn’t be this low.

“Mr. Do Hajin. Take the dress pants out of the backpack.”

Eden ordered, glaring fiercely at the man fleeing beyond the fence.

“Hh… hnn.”

Hajin, answering with a foolish groan, fumbled for the pants with trembling hands and handed them over. Eden took the clothes and wrapped them around Park Chunbeom’s upper body, sealing the gunshot wound that had pierced his side. Chunbeom, who had lost consciousness, was shuddering, his eyes rolled back in his head.

After finishing the first aid, Eden shook off his hands, which were dripping with blood, and asked.

“The others.”

“Th-they left. I think they went down. We should hurry and go with Mr. Chunbeom….”

“You go down too, Mr. Do Hajin.”

Startled by the firm command, Hajin shook his head.

“N-no, I don’t want to.”

“Go down.”

While the two were arguing, Chunbeom let out a ragged breath and coughed up blood. Cough.

“Mr. Do Hajin, didn’t you hear me say to go down?”

“No. I can’t leave you alone….”

Hajin couldn’t finish his sentence. Chunbeom had, at some point, half-opened his eyes and was looking up at him.

“Ah…”

He forced his ashen expression into a composed one and wiped the blood from around Chunbeom’s mouth with his hand. His bright voice, hiding his fear, spoke steadily.

“Mr. Chunbeom, does it hurt a lot? Just hold on a little longer, we’ll treat you right away.”

Miso’s messenger bag contained all sorts of medical supplies. Since Eden’s order had been to go back the way they came, it was obvious that she and the rest of the group had all headed for the cave. All he had to do was lay Park Chunbeom down in a safe place and quickly go find Miso.

Yes, what a simple task it was. Move him, treat the wound, and calmly soothe Park Chunbeom, who must have been frightened. It was a perfectly feasible story.

“……”

But why wasn’t Chunbeom reacting at all? He wasn’t furrowing his brow, or groaning in pain, or even so much as blinking his eyes.

The corners of his mouth, which he had forced up, drooped back down. No matter how desperately he tried to hold it in, he couldn’t stop the stinging at the tip of his nose.

Trembling, Hajin carefully placed a finger over Chunbeom’s philtrum. He couldn’t feel even the faintest breath.

“…Ugh.”

A pained groan escaped him at the pain that suddenly constricted his chest.

Without a single complaint of pain, without even a common last word or a farewell, Chunbeom had ended his arduous fight with the ruined world.

He… was dead.

“Haaah…”

Hajin whimpered, at a loss as to what to do in the face of this sudden tragedy.

While he was letting out pained groans, Park Chunbeom’s upper body shifted. When he raised his head with a puzzled look, he saw Eden unwrapping the suit pants he had tied around Chunbeom’s side.

He spread the pant leg wider to cover the part of the wound he hadn’t been able to staunch before. The way he muttered about how to remove the bullet and recited the list of medical supplies Miso had packed felt strangely unfamiliar.

“…Mr. Jung Taegeon?”

Even when he called out in a tear-choked voice, he didn’t look back at Hajin. He just continued to re-bandage the wound with hurried hands, as if being chased by something.

Eden was turning a blind eye to his comrade’s death.

“Mr. Jung Taegeon.”

The moment Hajin parted his lips again to inform him of Chunbeom’s death, a faint noise came from far below the pasture.

When he turned his head, he saw a white vehicle with a blue stripe leisurely making its way up. It was a police car. Sensing something ominous, Hajin wiped away his tears and grabbed Eden’s shoulder.

“We have to go.”

Regardless of his urging, he put his arms under Park Chunbeom’s armpits. Hajin desperately shook his head, stopping the hand that was about to lift him up.

“I said we have to go. Leave him.”

It was tragic, but they had to leave Chunbeom here. The blood that endlessly poured from his body was running down Eden’s body and soaking the ground.

If they carried him into the forest like this, there would be a trail of blood wherever they went. It would be just like leaving a clue for their pursuers.

“Mr. Chunbeom is already… he’s already dead.”

“We can at least try to treat him.”

“No, it’s too late.”

Though thick tears were falling, Hajin stubbornly held onto Eden’s arm.

Jung Taegeon, who was more rational than anyone, was denying his comrade’s death. Seeing him act so unlike his usual self made his heart race with urgency.

The vehicle scraped against the fence as it slowly approached. The tension was so extreme it made the pit of his stomach ache.

“I said stop it, Jung Taegeon!”

Hajin grabbed Eden’s collar forcefully. His gaze, which had been blankly fixed on Chunbeom, now turned to Hajin. The moment their eyes met, a strange light glinted in his bloodshot eyes.

Eden picked up the stone axe lying on the ground. Straightening up from his bent posture, he swung his arm toward Hajin. Whoosh! Hajin’s face, meeting that demonic gaze, filled with horror.

“……!”

Startled by the axe coming down on the crown of his head, he instinctively covered his head with both hands. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

Thwack!!

There was the loud sound of a skull shattering. Hajin’s eyelids trembled. His whole body grew hot again from the extreme tension. But he didn’t feel any pain, like his forehead or the top of his head had been split open.

“Gasp…!”

The breath he had been holding finally burst out. As he lifted his trembling eyelids, a figure lying at his feet came into view. The area under the collapsed woman’s nose was completely soaked in red. It was a zombie.

“Wh-when…”

“Let’s go.”

Eden, having dealt with the zombie that had attacked Hajin from behind, picked up the backpack that had fallen to the ground. Hajin managed to get his weak legs to stand.

He hadn’t heard the zombie approaching.

No, had it even made a sound?

Park Chunbeom’s sudden death, the armed assailant, the police car crossing the pasture, Eden denying his comrade’s death, the stone axe flying over his head….

He couldn’t get his head straight with all that had happened in such a short time. He felt as if he were wandering the streets in a half-asleep state.

“Kaaack!”

Just as he was dazedly following behind Eden, this time he clearly heard a zombie’s cry.

“Mr. Jung Taegeon, we should go this wa—!”

Hajin couldn’t continue. A sudden, rough shout had come from behind him.

“Hey— you sirs! The rain’s stopped, you should be careful over there—!”

In an instant, his chest went cold, and a cold sweat ran down his forehead.

Hajin stopped walking and slowly turned around.

Bang—!!

At the same time, a familiar gunshot rang out. Following the trajectory of the incoming bullet, he squeezed his eyes shut.

🃏

Waking from a light sleep, Hajin scrunched up his nose at the smell of dry grass stimulating his nasal passages. The musty scent of hay enveloped his entire body.

When he irritably brushed away the blindfold that had slipped down over his philtrum, it caught on the tip of his chin. Thump.

“Are you awake?”

A husky voice, no different than usual, spoke to him. The owner of the voice was sitting on the floor about five steps away.

Relying on the light seeping through the cracks of the crude wooden warehouse, Hajin barely managed to trace his form with his eyes. Unlike himself, whose entire body was tightly bound with rope, Eden’s hands were neatly cuffed.

Hajin blinked slowly, unable to speak for a while. Even after waking up, the reality of being kidnapped remained unchanged.

After Chunbeom’s death, while fleeing from the zombies that had attacked them from behind, they had been helplessly captured by the armed assailant. Then they were thrown into a feed warehouse and blindfolded.

The situation up to now was that he had been rolling around on the soft pile of hay, screaming his head off until he collapsed from exhaustion.

A considerable amount of time must have passed, as the surroundings were dark.

Once again reminded of his predicament, Hajin bit his lower lip with a blank expression.