A midwinter mountain covered with pure white snow. A fierce, suffocating wind blew incessantly. The skin, which had already been bruised, tingled.
It was so quiet all around. I could only hear my breathing, gasping like a dying beast. I walked through the shin-deep snow. Every time I forcibly moved my limbs, my knees bent with terrible pain.
Unlike the serene appearance of the mountain in winter, it was terribly harsh. There wasn't even a common hiking trail, so the whole place was full of dry vines and tree trunks. I tripped and stumbled many times, and eventually crawled almost on all fours.
I looked down at the senior I was supporting. He was getting worse every minute. Because the unconscious senior's head was lowered, all I could see was the blood-stained nape and the messy black hair on the top of his head.
“Senior, just a little. little bit more… … .”
I was shot in the calf, and it was hard to die carrying a man taller than me. The nerve-cracking pain gradually dulled, and soon one leg stopped moving below the knee. But I couldn't sit still. He gritted his teeth and squeezed the arm that supported him. I walked with a limp on one leg, dragging my injured leg.
As much as shed blood, she suddenly became cold. I trembled and gave strength to my eyes that kept trying to close. Consciousness was fuzzy. I can't tell if I'm walking through the snow with my seniors, or if I'm struggling in the snow after I collapsed a long time ago.
Without knowing the right direction, I walked aimlessly down the mountain, towards the lower level. It seemed like an instant, but an hour passed. Right before my eyes completely blurred, I found a flat clearing.
The moment I saw the empty lot, my strength was released. I was still far beyond my limits. It was unreasonable to go any further. I wanted to lie down in an empty lot and close my eyes. Even if it never wakes up again.
“Oh, no. no… … . i'm not dying I'll get out alive. Sal, Arthur.”
I put into my mouth the words I had been thinking over and over again. Every time he licked his lips, the wind blew, and his lips throbbed until they were torn apart by hitting a rock. One cheek swelled as if biting a large candy. But I didn't even feel any pain.
“Senior, let’s take a break, let’s go. here… … .”
I took the senior to the middle of the vacant lot covered in snow. I was thinking of taking a break for a while to stop the wounds of my seniors from bleeding again and calming myself down a bit. The moment I lay him in the snow to check for a gunshot wound to his side... … His head was bent weakly.
"senior… … . senior?"
He grabbed the old man's shoulder and shook it. But he didn't respond. He didn't make an impression or even moan. As if, as if... … .
“Senior, calm down.”
Why is the old man doing this? I was conscious until I crossed the fence in front of the main gate earlier. Even though he was suffering from the pain, he talked to me a few words. ah… … . okay. Maybe it was because I tied the padding to the senior's side too tightly, and it was cramped. Then you should release it immediately.
I slumped down in front of him. My hands trembled like a madman, and I unwrapped the bare padded sleeves around the senior's waist. I couldn't do that simple move right away, so I messed with it several times.
“… … ah."
The bloody padding covered the neck, heart, and head, where it is easy to lose body heat. And hastily, he stretched out his hand and covered the senior's wound. It would have been much better than clumsily stopping the bleeding with padding. However, the senior's wounds were too severe. Dark red blood flowed continuously between the tattered knuckles. Red-red puddles spread over the snowy field.
"line… … ship."
The shaking got worse. My eyes flickered like a broken fluorescent light.
“Because I want you to come to your senses… … . please."
At that moment, I felt the slightest movement. I raised my head. The senior's eyes were wide open to the point where you couldn't tell if you weren't looking closely. Just like an abandoned mannequin, with his head bent to the side.
“Are you out of your mind? it's okay?"
"hyeon… … ah."
"Yes Yes. Senior, I am Hohyun.”
"me… … .”
He licked his bluish lips, which had completely lost their color. My body temperature dropped so much that I couldn't even breathe. I listened to him, blocking the fluttering snow with my body. Suddenly, I had a very foreboding feeling.
“Don’t forget me.”
His black eyelashes trembled. Of the body soaked in blood and frozen in the cold, only this part seemed to be alive. Slowly, water welled up in the black eyes that had lost light.
"here… … . Get out, even if it is.”
I lowered my upper body so as not to miss his words. He squeezed the rest of his energy and blinked once, very hard. Tears that had been simmering in her long eyes flowed down.
"me… … forget… … Lizzy... … mind… … .”
His words faded faintly. That was the end of it. The old man did not move any more, with his gaze fixed in the air, which had become cloudy and it was impossible to tell where he was looking.
Even time froze with the cold air. There was no cold or pain anymore. It seemed like it was just the two of us, seniors and me, in a white space with nothing. I looked at the senior without even blinking my eyes. He said again, waiting for at least a blink of an eye. But even after watching for a long time, nothing unusual happened.
He moved his hand that had been pressing on the senior's wound and placed it on his chest. He chewed on his bloody lips, trying to feel his pulse for a long time. However, no matter how much he groped, his heart did not flutter.
“Isn’t it?”
I whispered in a cracked voice. The ice must have stuck to my throat, and I gasped every time I uttered a single syllable.
"no. senior, isn't it? Please say no. How did we come this far, how can I leave my seniors and go out alone? How is the senior here... … . this isn't it... … .”
The brain, desperate to avoid despair, created a futile delusion. I have already escaped school with my seniors, and I wonder if this moment is just a nightmare. A nightmare I had while dozing off on the sofa waiting for my senior on a warm spring day.
After holding that hope for a brief moment, I was soon discouraged. The cold blood on his hands and the senior's body, which gradually lost warmth and hardened, were overly realistic.
“… … ah."
My heart sank all the way down. At the end of watching the senior without moving until thick snow piled up on his shoulders and head, and his limbs froze blue, showing signs of frostbite... … . I finally had to accept the truth.
He is dead. Leaving me alone in the snowy forest.
“We promised to go out together alive.”
All of a sudden, the sensation around the mouth disappeared. I couldn't tell if I was actually saying it out loud or just repeating it in my head.
So far, I have witnessed the death of many people. There have been many cases where people who were talking face-to-face a moment ago had their hearts stop in an instant and turned into pieces of meat. Still, I was able to endure somehow because of the promises I made with my seniors.
But now. My senior, who repeated many deaths to save me, finally met the end in front of me. I could see him muttering relievedly that this was the last time and that it was finally over.
Is it really the end like this? Leaving me alone in the world of those who lived, the senior will be locked up in the eternal Christmas and die?
“I’m alone with my seniors… … . I can’t go out.”
A senior once said something like this when he confided about his secret. I was terribly desperate the moment I realized this wasn't game speed movie speed, and wasn't something I could easily reset with the push of a switch.
“I said. There is no ending where only one person lives.”
Then this time I will press the switch. To reset this cruel world. to bring the old man back to life.
I tried to get up and looked around. However, because my body, which had almost lost its function, didn't listen, I immediately collapsed. I crawled through the snow and grabbed the base of a nearby tree. Some of my fingernails were missing from my hands, whether it was from wandering barefoot on the steep mountainside or from the cold. I stuck my fingertips into the trunk of a tree and forcibly stood up.
A black figure moved in the distance. My eyes kept blurring, so I couldn't see clearly. Are they infected, or are they the soldiers who were shooting indiscriminately at us? Either way it doesn't seem to matter. I leaned against a dry tree and looked at it.
The shape got closer and closer. Its true identity was a young soldier with a gun. A private rank insignia with high-quality glasses. He looked about two or three years younger than me.
“Stay still!”
The soldier put a gun to my forehead and shouted. clap. A heavy sound came from the rifle.
"under… … .”
It was a situation where you should feel threatened and fearful, but laughter came out. If I die by that soldier, you will go back to Christmas. In the past I can't remember, I'll be able to meet me again, not me.
"Ooh, if you move, I'll open fire right away!"
Rather, the soldier was startled when he saw my face. It was worth it. A person covered in blood from head to toe is laughing in awe.
“Shoot.”
“Huh!”
"hurry… … Ugh, shoot.”
I don't know much about the mechanism of regression that the senior talked about. If you drag too much time, the senior may not come back to life. The range of accidents driven to the extreme has narrowed. All I could think was that I had to die right now.
“What are you doing, don’t shoot!”
I cried out in anger. However, the soldier flinched greatly and did not pull the trigger right away. The hand holding the gun trembled so much that I could see it.
"buy… … People said no.”
He stuttered and stepped back. Then there was a rustling sound behind him. Another black figure appeared in the distance.
The private in front of me was clumsy, but it showed that he had been trained anyway. When searching the mountain road, I lowered my upper body slightly and walked in a position where I could shoot at any time. But it was not a new form. Her limbs were tied to strings and her movements were messy, like a marionette being dragged around.
“Turn off… … . Whew, ugh.”
A horrifying howl spread through the desolate forest. Dragging a sore and crushed leg, the infected emerged. It was only a few steps behind the soldier's back.
“Zu, I will open fire immediately!”
Preoccupied only with me in the front, the soldier didn't notice the infected approaching from behind. He put his index finger on the trigger and started pulling it slowly.
“Kyaaaagh!”
Then the soldier, who felt strange, stiffened his body and turned his head to look over his shoulder. The moment I met the face of the dead man running towards me, his eyes widened in astonishment beyond the thick spectacles. But it's already too late. The infected person, with his mouth wide open, bit the nape of the neck that was exposed above the collar of the military uniform.
“Aaaaaagh!”
A bullet was fired from the trigger pulled by the soldier. At that moment, a terrible shock struck me. It was as if someone had stabbed him in the chest with a heavy iron rod.
“Ugh… … .”
I staggered back a few steps. The sight of crimson blood gushing out of my chest seemed so slow. His legs, which had barely supported his weight, lost strength.
I grabbed my chest and fell. The view of the snowy mountain was contained in the obliquely slanted view. The old man was still lying with his eyes closed. The soldier had become one with the infected and was rolling on the floor, devouring his whole body alive.
He turned his head stiffly. The old man's face was still facing to the side. I couldn't even close my slightly opened eyes. The snow that fell on his pale cheeks did not melt, but piled up in the shape of snowflakes. He reached out a hand that was losing strength every moment and closed his eyes.
“Stand, sen… … . ship."
I wanted to tell you. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to live together, and I want you to succeed next time. But no screams came out, probably because there was a hole in his lungs. Only the sound of thin breaths leaking through the cracks in your throat.
Before long, like a movie fading out, my eyes were stained black.
