I'm still alive

You're alive.….’

The first person to open his mouth was Detective Kang, who put the revolver in his arms. He found me, seemed surprised, and soon hardened his expression. Then, he makes a gesture to come inside the warehouse and claps his hand. I slowly went into the warehouse by his beckoning.

There was a pile of bottled water and food in the warehouse, and several candles lit up the area. And in one corner was a collection of blankets and newspapers, probably evacuated here after it happened. Detective Kang took out a gas burner from one side as soon as I came in.

It was the warm fire that I was most desperate for. He turned on the burner in front of me, brought a pot he didn't know where he got it from, and began to boil water with a gas burner. I hurried up to him, stretched out my palms, and began to melt my frozen feet and hands.

As the water heated up completely, I began to melt the frozen filling, drinking it little by little. The sound of grain came out of the mouth by itself, and the sick body and head slowly melted away. Then I took off my dirty clothes and slowly put them down in one place.

'......I'm sorry.'

Detective Kang, who was watching the scene, suddenly bowed his head and muttered. I stared at Detective Kang at the apple I heard while taking off my shoes.

Sorry?

Everything was meaningless. I didn't have the strength to be angry, nor did I have the reason to receive an apology. They only embraced the risks they were prepared for because things went wrong. Some have paid off the debt with death, and others with terrible pain, and we are just lucky to survive.

Of course, if Eom was in front of her, she would have been beating her bamboo barrel hard. However, Detective Kang, who in a way can be regarded as a victim, was not the target. I had no intention of blaming him for being in the same pack as Eom.

But he repeatedly bowed his head with a pale face to see if he felt guilty. At the sight, I rubbed my hands against the fire, smashing my bitter taste again. Do you think they'really? After taking care of the most urgent group, I remembered the rest of the people who had been rescued from the squad.

What was the last thing you saw?’

I asked Detective Kang. "Then he bowed his head, ready to dig into the ground, and soon answered in a voice of weeping."

'......they're all dead. Running away, shivering, and then......... like minced meat...….’

He muttered like that and tore his head like a madman. His hands and his head were shaking as if the horrible scene of people being torn to death had become traumatized. I understood him in pain, but I didn't mean to indulge in sad feelings.

It was sad. But it wasn't more painful. When you cross the death ridge endlessly, your emotions wear out, and your grief accumulates. Death was so familiar, and I don't even feel emotional pain anymore. I thought of a line to comfort him, but soon gave up and tore off a second chocolate bar.

After crying for a long time, he lifted a bottle of soju that he thought had been brought from a convenience store. Looking at the figure, I rolled him an empty bottle of water I was holding, stopping him from moving. And warned in a small way without hesitation.

'If you drink it, I'll leave it here thinking it's dead.’

I couldn't get a nice word out of my mouth.

I understood his difficulties. No matter how tough a detective is, he is a man. The average person had no immunity to fear or guilt coming from these dramatic situations. I understand detective Kang, who is crying because I have been doing the same.

But there is clearly a Maginot Line to protect.

Many people look for alcohol when they are having a hard time or want to forget something. And Detective Kang was one of those many people, and he is still looking for alcohol to forget the pain.

But there was one thing Detective Kang was forgetting. It is that we are one of the people living in this end.

Today can be sad and frustrating. But tomorrow was not supposed to be. Sadness does not spare the dead, and frustration does not lift us out of the swamp of despair. In a world where darkness and fear have turned into life, despair is nothing more than a foolish young man.

Drinking lowers your body temperature and makes you feel bad. Drinking, which obscures judgment at a time when all nerves and physical strength are not enough to be poured into the surroundings, was like an act of suicide.

I was going to accompany him to Eden. But if he makes a foolish choice that interferes with my steps, I will cancel the trip without hesitation.

He may have noticed that there was no hesitation in my warning, but his hands that held the bottle began to shake lightly, and soon he closed his eyes and put the bottle down on the floor. And once again the cry comes out of his mouth. I used the cry as a lullaby to close my eyes and slowly lean against the wall.

Let's just let him cry.

* * *

After about two hours, I woke up at noon. The body still shrieks to rest, but I slowly rose from my seat, ignoring the scream. Even if we didn't arrive today, we had to move little by little to get as close to Eden as possible.

Detective Kang was asleep in tears as if he had been drinking. I was going to wake him up, but soon shook my head and stepped out of the warehouse for a while. We don't know how long it will take to Eden without maps and equipment. I had to prepare as much as I could and start.

Don't you have a suitable bag? After looking around for a long time, I began to search the counter, and soon found a shabby shopping basket. There was the hassle of carrying it around, but it was better than nothing.

I basically put in the most important bottled water. And I started focusing on foods that are high in calories and small in volume, and now I'm fed up with chocolate and energy bars. And I packed all the hot packs. I didn't pack much, but the shopping basket was full.

Are you going to Eden?’

As I looked around in case there was no weapon available, I turned my head to the voice from the warehouse. Then there was Detective Kang, whose eyes were swollen, looking at me and talking. I nodded thoughtlessly, and Detective Kang asked in a slightly quivering voice.

May I accompany you?’

I nodded. The original purpose of leaving the zone was to guide the survivors to Eden. Of course, things went wrong and most of them died, but the original purpose remained unchanged. And once I was in a hurry to go to Eden, there was no reason to refuse to accompany me.

He began to move busily as soon as my permission was given. He looked better than I thought if he had overcome his sadness. I watched him move for a moment and soon began to find my job.

Where did he spill the Great Sword? I pondered over it, but I couldn't remember. I coughed a few dry coughs and went back into the warehouse. Then I opened the cleaning toolbox there and took out a mop.

I break the bottom of the mop with such familiar footwork. Then he took only the wooden harness and went out of the warehouse again, and soon made a crude simple window using kitchen knives and electric tapes.

It felt subtle to have such a crude weapon after always using a bayonet-tipped gun. However, I had to have a window like this to protect myself, so I held my shopping basket in my left hand.

The rustle had vanished before I knew it. I looked back to call Detective Kang, but he was already looking at me after finishing all the preparations. Embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head and beckoned carefully and we were so out of the convenience store.

* * *

Without a map, I was really going crazy. I have been moving my steps depending on my memory, but it's been a long time since I ran away so hectic that my sense of direction has disappeared. We began to go back the way we walked with the utmost care not to bump into them.

About two hours passed? We couldn't even get out of this town trying to avoid them. I breathed a deep sigh, and Detective Kang didn't blame me either because he didn't know the way. We crouched down in the alley for a while, leading our tired bodies to rest.

While shaking the hot pack in the cold air for a long time, Detective Kang, who was next to me, whispered quietly.

Why don't you look for a map?’

It's not that I didn't think of it. But I answered quickly because I couldn't think of a suitable place for a map.

'Where?'

Then Detective Kang closed his eyes for a moment and began tapping his fingers on the floor. But after a long time, he opened his eyes and approached me. And at the same time whispered quietly, pointing to the roads that stretched out on both sides of us.

'Let's look for a licensed real estate agent building.’

Oh, why didn't I think of that? I don't even want the entire map of Seoul. Just a small map to know where this neighborhood is and what the structure is, was enough. Then, the only real estate agent building that had a local branch number and a map was the real estate agent building.

The real estate is quite a lot. Real estate was one of the buildings that you would find common as you walk along the street. And there were definitely many real estate buildings in the memory of moving to this place. I got up quickly because I thought I could get out of this boring neighborhood.

We started walking again, pointing out the path we had passed one by one. Can we get to Eden today? What happened to the rest of the party? Though I had a constant stream of thoughts in my head, I decided to focus on the goals I saw in front of me with the heart of running a marathon.

What's your name, by the way?’

And I see a real estate around there, and at that moment Detective Kang called me up. I was dumbfounded at the sudden attempt to make a statement, but I answered. But the fast-walking pace never slowed down.

I'm Kwak Dong Yoon. And you?'

He followed me closely and did not forget the perimeter. Come to think of it, he had quite an old hand. Late 30s to early 40s? The short hair made it difficult to tell the age, but the sharpness and age on his face resembled an old man.

'Just call me Detective Kang.’

That's what the diary has called it. Of course he doesn't know.

We could arrive in front of the property building in a moment. There weren't any of them around, but there were traces of something passing or staying around. It was also a recent trail, not an old one, and we automatically lowered our posture when we found it.

Shall we go somewhere else? However, there is no sign of popularity or other noise.

I hid behind the car and looked at the real estate building for a long time. The translucent glass door was broken, and the windows were not in normal condition either. And the interior of the property, visible through a broken door gap, was full of fallen furniture and scattered paper.

I chinned and looked at Detective Kang quietly. Once I checked that there was no one inside, there was no reason to go anywhere else. Detective Kang, who checked my signal, pulled out a revolver and quickly headed to a parked car in front of the property, then hid behind it.

As soon as he hid, I ran fast and headed to his side. And quickly went into the real estate building with a cry for cover from him. I put the spear forward and prepared for a surprise attack.

But as expected, there was no attack or attack. The real estate building was smaller than I thought, and there was nothing really to understand why I was in such a mess. I stuck my head out the door and gestured to Detective Kang, who was wary of the surroundings.

The first thing that came into my eyes was a huge map attached to the wall of the desk. After looking at the map of the neighborhood with the land number in detail, I was able to confirm that this real estate building was not far from the one we started from. He wandered around the neighborhood in a stupid way around the neighborhood.

That means it's not far from Eden.….

The neighborhood, which had only felt big and dizzy, began to feel like such a small courtyard the moment I found the map. All right, let's take this big map? Then he reached out his hand to the wall, and Detective Kang called me out in a dumbfounded tone.

'You're not going to take it, are you?

As I turned around, Detective Kang was sticking out a small map to me that he didn't know where he found it. Having been instructed to fold comfortably, I took my stretched hand to the back of my head and scratched it to open the big map.

It was a bit embarrassing.