I'm still alive

Night fell. As soon as night came, we barricaded the entrance to the officetel, gathered on the floor of the office or in the hallway and prepared to go to bed. Me and the old man checked the equipment and groomed the guns while the party and the residents were sleeping one by one. So the night grew deeper and deeper, and we didn't forget to set a night watch and watch the surroundings.

The party dissuaded me, but I stood on guard for three hours and replaced the next stopover. Then he returned to his hiding place and ate as little as he could, and kept his stamina to move as soon as the sun rose. A cold corridor floor, and a smelly blanket. However, I thought that even this was a great help and fell into a deep sleep by heating up the temperature of my party.

The head and eyes that had been fluttering with the eyes closed become quiet as if they had poured cold water on them. The intense movement and the hard march made me scream, but I tried hard to put up with the pain and sleep even more. And as I lost my mind, I fell into the world of sleep for a while.

The sleep was deep. There was nothing in the dream, no stars and whales that were always seen. A constant stream of unconsciousness, time passes and time passes. My unconscious mind began to pass in a flash, like a heavily pushed hour hand, and I pushed the wind into that hidden sleep I exhaled and swallowed. And I was conscious of the noise I heard I was sleeping.

‘!’

Noise?

‘!’

Awakening? There is no awareness in unconsciousness. Then I'm awake now, and this noise ringing in my ears is the sound of reality in the hallway where I'm sleeping. My eyes open for a moment. And when I opened my eyes, the first thing I could see was the light of dawn, which was gently coming up from the window. Is the sun already rising? No, it seemed like it was still early dawn.

The sound of my ear-ringing was awakening my absent mind. I turned my head in my sleep and looked in the direction of the sound. There was Detective Kang, who grabbed the radio and shouted in a hurry, whose face had turned pale as if anything big had happened. What's wrong? What's wrong? You're holding the radio... ...you're holding on to it?

I felt a throbbing of nerves and heads as if I had been struck by lightning. My hands suddenly trembled, and I sweat as if I were sick. I stood up shivering as if I had a seizure. And when they heard the commotion, the party and the residents began to wake up one by one. I gulped down my saliva. Please, please tell me no, I begged God to make sure the words from Detective Kang's mouth were not what I imagined.

An old man who came down from the third floor with an urgent sound of footsteps shouts to Detective Kang.

Detective Kang! What's wrong!

Detective Kang tried to communicate with the radio even at the moment the old man hurriedly called. Eden, Eden! Is anyone there? Answer me if you can hear me! His voice contained urgency and sorrow, but there was no response from the noisy radio, let alone noise. Detective Kang clenched his teeth, hitting the floor with his fist.

'Communication... ...has been cut off.’

My heart pounded down. The head aches as if someone had been kicked hard, and the limbs that were being tightened are released as they are. The field of vision drops for a moment. I could feel the feel of my hips touching the floor, and Yong-pal and Kim Hye-jung came running towards me in surprise. Brother! Dongyoon! The voices of Yong-pal and Kim Hye-jung resonate in their ears. But the cry soon fades away.

'Four, the office! When did it get cut off?’

I sat on the floor, but I began to judge the situation, keeping my mind as whole as an old man. Detective Kang then turned the radio to the other side to see if he wanted to believe that he was wrong and that the radio was broken. But all I hear is no response and no static noise. All communication from Eden has been cut off. There's not a single one left, there's nothing left....... Detective Kang puts down the radio in a daze.

'I'm sure... ...we got in touch 30 minutes ago, but...….’

30 minutes, 30 minutes. That short time. It's only been a short time, but the communication, which was possible a while ago, has been cut off like a lie. My head is blank. I didn't think of anything. I hit my face on the floor and opened my mouth like a charmed person. I couldn't see anything even though I opened my eyes, and the noise of the party shouting changed to a different name and began to buzz my ears.

Regretful. Guilt and sorrow echoed in my heart. I think it's just in Eden where Chae-yeon is. I'll eat a little less....... Even if it was a little colder, I would have just protected her by Chae-yeon. I was wrong. All this was my fault for not judging. It seemed that the red blood was pouring out of the wound that had been tingling around the eyes, and that had not healed yet. I'm under the illusion that everything in the world is falling apart.

"Kwak Dong-yoon!!!"

Yay!

But it was the old man's scream that blocked my collapsing world. The sound of slapping his cheeks burst through the tinnitus, and the cheeks were burning hot with fire. As my head swivels to the side, I feel deep pain in my cheeks and mouth. What is it? What happened? I clenched my trembling hand and raised my head blankly. And there was an old man holding my shoulder.

'Look around, you bastard!'

The old man yells at me.

The yell slowly restored my vision, starting with the old man's face. As the surrounding area brightens, the surrounding landscape begins to be seen. The residents are terrified and the Yongpal brothers, who were sleeping in that corner, are sitting like me. Kim Hye-jung and Park Da-hye burst into tears, and Detective Kang and Park Dae-bak stamp their feet, not knowing what to do. Everyone was panicking. And even at that moment, precious time was passing.

You idiot.

Confusion came out of my mouth with breath.

I come to my senses. The weak arms and legs began to get stronger, and the spirit torn to pieces by confusion and despair lifted its head as if it had been the case. Again this time I blamed myself. Dong-yoon, you do the same thing over and over again, even though you did something you'd regret. Yeah, stupid. Stupid. But not a cripple to repeat three mistakes.

I squeezed the old man's hand, holding my shoulder. Then he tightened his faltering legs and slowly began to rise from his seat. The rifle that was put up on the wall was still there, and the pistol in the holder screams as if to use me right away. The chaos and fear in my head had been turned into a momentary coolness and cold anger.

When I got up from my seat, the panic-stricken group looked up at me with a rapturous look.

'Yong-pal, Da-hye. Gather all the ammunition and give it to the old man and me."

Detective Kang! Kim Hye Jung! Lead the residents and get ready to move.’

I trudged forward, grabbed by the collar and clothes of the restless party and pulled them up slowly. Then gave stormy instructions, sprinkled boiling water on this cold atmosphere. Once the collapsed pillar stood again, the air current, which had been plunged into the ground, hovered in a harsh tone, and the group began to regain their senses, swallowing their breaths repeatedly.

The first thing to move was the old man who was taking action in advance. The old man had already been to the third floor, so he had brought equipment and ammunition for me to wear, and quickly asked, packing up the necessary luggage.

'Whispering?'

'Two hours on foot.

'What if the two of us go together?'

'One hour ready to die.'

'40 minutes.'

The old man naturally reduces the travel time as if nothing. You'll be late if you take the residents. And it was the same that I was late even if I took my party. If I have to have the best fighting power and the best mobility here, old man and I. The two of us had to start first. I quickly take the bag handed over by the old man, and a dragon-arm walks in from over there.

Brother, brother....’

Yong-pal stammered over me as if he had not yet escaped the shock. But rather than getting angry at him, I slowly raised my hand to hold his shoulders as if I were looking at myself in the past. Over the leather gloves, the feel and tremors of the dragon's arms were passed on. And I whispered quietly, as the old man had done to me, with a force on my fingers.

'Without the old man and me, you're the one who has to lead the party.’

Yong-pal looks at me with a stiff face. His eyes were full of pressure, fear, and fear. Yeah, this situation will be scary. Because he's a dragon-pal who's never been apart from us. But at this critical moment I was believing. The figure of Yong-pal who tried to sacrifice himself that day and the courage. I imprinted the last order on the dragon arm, not on anyone.

'Okay?

Yongpal didn't tremble anymore and nodded. And at that moment, me and the old man kicked the officetel and started to run into the city of snow.

* * *

My heart was about to burst. It was like running in the deep sea full of water, not the road. My breath is blocked and I don't even know if I'm breathing or holding my breath. We pierced through the snow, pierced again and again, and continued our lifeless running. I can only see the eyes and the city in front of me. The vision had changed every time I opened my eyes closed, and the eyes clung to my arms and legs like a monk from hell. It's hard, it's painful, it's like my lungs are about to burst. But he didn't stop for Eden that far away.

The snow flutters and sweat covers the face. Snow, city, snow, road. Sweat, breathing, and tinnitus. The lungs were short of oxygen, and the head stopped thinking. Only roads, buildings, and snow can be seen. What's it been? What point did we arrive at? When I didn't think of anything, I couldn't feel any pain anymore. The sense of time disappeared and the limbs seemed not mine.

Chaeyeon, Chaeyeon, Chaeyeon! I thought over and over again about names that I couldn't call. the vertex at which unconsciousness is directed a rattling bag and rifle I draw a dead line in the meantime. And what made me breathe at that moment was the hand of an old man who grabbed my shoulder from behind. All kinds of questions took over the head, but the oxygen-poor brain blocked the idea. I stopped my legs and looked back.

I can see the old man's face. Oh, right. This is reality. When I realized that I existed, I was suffocated from forgetting.

Kuck, Kuck. Kuck!

I drooled, breathing hard. My vision is blurred and my whole body is already covered with sweat. The old man and I, who were really determined to die, both of us sink into the snow looking no different.

The old man hurriedly took the bottled water out of my bag and poured it on my mouth and face. I take my breath away like it's a lifesaver.

Ha ha ha ha ha.

I repeat that the rough breath escapes from my body and then in. Then the field of vision began to become clear, and it began to come to its senses. I checked the time by lifting my watch. A moving minute hand and a trembling hour hand like mine. It was exactly 40 minutes after we left.

'Tak'

'Tatatat.'

My ears and nerves flickered as I checked time and radio. And when he turned his head toward the old man at the faint sound, the old man was already closing his eyes and concentrating on the sound. Yes, the old man must have heard this sound while running frantically. a dead sound And this periodic and continuous sound! Obviously... ...it was definitely a familiar noise.

Me and the old man stood up at the same time. Then, without saying who first put the ammunition in, pull the trigger to finish the load. The scenery around here is familiar. The street, which used to be in and out of the country, was showing that Eden was not far away, even though it did not check the map. And it was clear that this was a gunshot with a silencer.

The worst-case scenario has come true. However, as if it was a waste of time to frown, we shook off our bodies from our eyes and started running again. As he got closer to Eden, his heart began to tremble frantically, and the fiery anger produced a ringing of ears. The hand holding the gun handle begins to squeeze.