Chapter 343: Chapter 343:

“Surely, they came with friends or family.”

Jackson Miller looked at the two hands that were weakly whimpering in front of him.

None of the ten fingernails were intact and broken.

Moreover, the blood from the wounds on the fingers had dried up.

Beyond that wall,

There must have been people who had to be rescued until his hands became like this.

He probably lost consciousness because of what I said that triggered him.

“I’m sorry.”

As he was walking, Jackson Miller saw a sign hanging from the ceiling.

‘The nearest exit from here is…’

Phew, Jackson Miller sighed and moved his steps again.

His destination was the closest movie theater in the east.

As he moved his steps, Jackson Miller found people gathered.

He looked at the situation with a sigh as he saw the people who were sitting down with tired faces.

Even when Jackson Miller appeared, the people just glanced at him and said nothing.

“Why are you gathered here?”

Jackson Miller spoke to the person who was closest to him.

The woman was wearing a top that was the uniform of a Galleria Mall guide, but instead of a skirt, she was wearing training pants.

It was easy to talk to her because there was a boy next to her.

Jackson Miller put Lee Hyun-woo down on the floor.

“A bomb went off in the south shopping area and then another bomb went off at the east gate where the broadcasting room is.”

“And then there was another explosion in the west dining area. The only exit left is the north gate.”

The audience was surprised by Cynthia Lindberg’s explanation.

They didn’t know that other gates had exploded because they didn’t show the outside situation at all.

That’s why they seemed more immersed in the survivors.

Song Yu-jung couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.

The crowd roared as Raymond Wish found a passage.

Meanwhile, Ian Weaver held Lee Hyun-woo’s hand tightly.

Lee Hyun-woo, who flinched at the warm and tender body temperature, lifted his heavy eyelids.

A child with pale eyes was looking at Lee Hyun-woo.

The child smiled brightly as he met Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes,

Thud!

Lee Hyun-woo slapped the child’s hand without realizing it.

The child should have been surprised, but Ian Weaver sat quietly next to Lee Hyun-woo as if he was used to it.

Raymond Wish calmed down the people and opened his mouth.

“Let’s take anything that might be useful around here. Food is good and so is something to use as a light. If you have time, take some clothes too.”

The people looked around at his words.

The electricity was still on. Some of the lights flickered.

Cynthia Lindberg noticed that Ian Weaver had a bag and borrowed it for a moment.

“I’ll give it back when I find something to use as a bag. You can have the snacks, Ian.”

“Okay.”

Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg put things that seemed necessary in Ian Weaver’s bag.

There were quite a few things that were intact because there were many shops nearby.

There were also water bottles rolling around from the vending machine.

They filled up the small bag and Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg followed the group of survivors with other things.

***

It was impossible to escape easily.

Kwaaang!!

As Raymond Wish was checking out the situation, the floor collapsed.

The people who were standing on it fell into the dark abyss before they could react.

***

After falling underground, the atmosphere was not good.

The flashlight in Raymond Wish’s hand flickered ominously.

The audience was swept away by the atmosphere on the screen and unknowingly held their breaths.

The floor shook and Lee Hyun-woo collapsed.

Lee Hyun-woo’s groaning sound came out of the speaker.

Raymond Wish’s face was close-upped.

Raymond Wish’s trembling hand and arm were reflected on the screen.

It was uneasy.

Lee Hyun-woo’s groaning sound irritated the audience’s nerves and Raymond Wish’s instability made their hearts beat irregularly.

And then,

“Can’t you be quiet!”

“Shut up! Do you think anyone is fine here?!”

Raymond Wish exploded and grabbed Lee Hyun-woo by the collar.

Lee Hyun-woo’s head shook weakly.

The audience clenched their mouths at Lee Hyun-woo’s dead eyes on the screen.

An uneasy wind blew among the quiet group of survivors.

***

“…This is where we came before.”

Cynthia Lindberg sighed deeply at Jackson Miller’s words as he looked around.

It was impossible to go north with a dark basement, blocked passages, and broken signs.

“Maybe… it’s okay to stay here?”

“Until they come to save us.”

Jackson Miller agreed with Cynthia Lindberg’s words.

“There are four floors above us.”

Cynthia Lindberg handed him a water bottle as Raymond Wish took a sip of water.

They couldn’t recover half of the things they had gathered because of the sudden fall.

They had to save everything.

“If the Galleria Mall collapsed completely, we would have to wait for the people outside to break through the four-story wall. And they would also try to find other survivors, so it wouldn’t be fast.”

Raymond Wish couldn’t estimate how long it would take to rescue the survivors upstairs and come down here.

“What about the north?”

“That’s an amusement park, so there’s only one ceiling. And it’s outdoors, so they can bring machines that are needed for rescue nearby, so I think that’s where the search for survivors would be the fastest.”

Raymond Wish’s words made sense.

Cynthia Lindberg sighed lightly as she took the water bottle from Raymond Wish.

“Then the problem is how to get to the north.”

“It would be nice if we had a compass…”

Ian Weaver looked at his wrist at Jackson Miller’s words.

In his faint memory, a quiet hospital room.

The face of the man who put a watch on his arm passed by.

‘Now Ian has to protect Mom.’

Ian Weaver’s gaze turned to Lee Hyun-woo, who was curled up.

“I have one.”

“Huh?”

“A compass.”

The three adults looked at Ian Weaver with surprised expressions.

Ian Weaver took off the watch on his wrist and handed it to Cynthia Lindberg.

Cynthia Lindberg smiled brightly when she found a small compass in the watch.

***

Peace was short-lived.

The anxiety that he had been holding back finally burst.

“Aaaah!”

Raymond Wish exploded at Lee Hyun-woo’s seizure.

Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg blocked Raymond Wish’s way, who looked terrifying with his imposing aura.

Ian Weaver quickly covered Lee Hyun-woo, who was having a seizure.

“Please… please shut up! It keeps ringing in my head and I’m going crazy!”

“We don’t have time… to be like this…!”

Raymond Wish tore his hair out as if he was having a fit.

He looked nothing like the reliable person he was when they first met.

“I have a family… at the restaurant… I have to go save them…!”

Family.

“So please… please…”

“…Just be quiet…!”

Silence fell.

Only the sobs of Raymond Wish and Lee Hyun-woo could be heard.

“…I’m sorry… I’m sorry… really… I’m sorry… sorry… I’m sorry…”

“I’m sorry… it’s not… my fault… I’m really sorry… I apologize…”

Hoo… hoo…

Someone’s whimper came out of the speaker.

The audience couldn’t move a muscle.

They felt their eyes moisten as they saw Raymond Wish crouching in front of Lee Hyun-woo, who had been angry at him.

They also felt uneasy as they saw Lee Hyun-woo, who had been a hindrance to their escape, apologizing endlessly.

Really.

It was no one’s fault.

***

Kuuung!

‘Thank goodness.’

That Ian was alive.

Lee Hyun-woo leaned on the wall to support his trembling body.

On the other side of the cold wall.

Just like his parents had disappeared, he too.

The black darkness slowly crawled up his feet, grabbing his ankles and legs.

The deep fear swallowed Lee Hyun-woo,

“What are you doing?!”

A loud voice rang out and something suddenly appeared in his sight.

It was a hand.

“Come out here!”

Lee Hyun-woo reached out to the hand without realizing it, as he saw Raymond Wish’s eyes in his blurry vision.

Then.

It was the hand that he wanted to reach out to his parents.

Ugh…

Lee Hyun-woo grabbed Raymond Wish’s hand and climbed over the stone wall. Song Yu-jung let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding.

She felt Lim Ye-na’s movement next to her.

Her eyes were sore from not blinking. But she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen for a moment.

Her palms were already sweaty.

Ian Weaver hugged Lee Hyun-woo, who had collapsed on the floor.

Raymond Wish breathed heavily and moved his stiff shoulders.

Cynthia Lindberg checked Lee Hyun-woo’s bleeding leg and Jackson Miller looked around.

“Can you move?”

“…Yes.”

“Tell me if it’s hard.”

Ian Weaver didn’t want to let go of Lee Hyun-woo.

Jackson Miller lifted Ian Weaver up.

He thought his heart had dropped when he missed this small hand earlier.

“Let’s go.”

Raymond Wish took the lead again.

The survivors followed the narrow path.

Ian Weaver held Jackson Miller’s back and when Jackson Miller got tired, he held Cynthia Lindberg’s hand.

When the road looked a bit dangerous, he was lifted up by Raymond Wish.

Raymond Wish lifted Ian Weaver roughly and walked silently.

Jackson Miller supported Lee Hyun-woo.

The only light they could rely on was a flashlight and a phone light.

The surroundings that were blocked tightly were not good for Lee Hyun-woo, who had suffered a mental shock.

‘He’s not holding on… he seems to have lost his mind.’

Lee Hyun-woo seemed to be half-conscious and only knew how to walk because of the pressure he had endured earlier.

Jackson Miller sighed and squeezed Lee Hyun-woo’s cold hand.

“My family is outside.”

Family.

Jackson Miller deliberately brought up his trigger so that Lee Hyun-woo could find some will to live.

He didn’t know if it would make things worse, but Jackson Miller thought this was the best option right now.

As soon as Jackson Miller opened his mouth, the silent survivors listened carefully.

Lee Hyun-woo also noticed the voice that faintly reached him.

“It’s my daughter’s birthday in a few days. I told her I left my phone behind and secretly came in to buy a present… but I got trapped like this.”

Jackson Miller’s day flashed briefly.

The girl laughed as she saw her dad slap his forehead in surprise at the Galleria Mall parking lot.

The wife also smiled quietly at her husband’s clumsy acting.

“They must be worried sick.”

Cynthia Lindberg opened her mouth.

“I work here. My family must be watching the news at home. My grandmother has a weak heart… I hope she didn’t get too scared.”

Raymond Wish and Jackson Miller looked surprised at Cynthia Lindberg’s words.

There was no mention of Ian Weaver.

“Then… what is your relationship with Ian?”

“I was going to take Ian to the missing center because he was alone. This place is big and there’s always at least one missing person every day. I was going to broadcast it, but…”

“I’m not missing. Mom said she would come if I waited…”

Ian Weaver, who was holding Raymond Wish’s back, opened his mouth.

Raymond Wish frowned and tried to open his mouth as he felt uncomfortable with Ian Weaver’s face buried in his back.

“…But she might not come.”

If it wasn’t for Ian’s words.

The adults closed their mouths.

Lee Hyun-woo, who had regained some consciousness from the word family, also listened to Ian’s voice.

Ian Weaver, who had his face buried in Raymond Wish’s back, continued to speak.

“Mom hates me because I couldn’t protect her from the man. Dad… dad… asked me to protect mom…”

Raymond Wish clenched his teeth.

Yeah.

Why didn’t he realize how strange it was?

That a child who didn’t cry in this situation was good?

Cynthia Lindberg, Jackson Miller, and Lee Hyun-woo realized that too.

Raymond Wish, an adult, and Lee Hyun-woo, who was older than Ian Weaver, couldn’t bear the situation.

How could this little kid endure it?

“I don’t get scared of the dark when I get scolded. I always stay in the closet. Mom is scared of the dark like my brother. She gets hurt by the man every day like my brother.”

Ian Weaver poured out his feelings that he couldn’t tell anyone.

He had a brother who looked like his mom and a man who looked like him, but he had an adult who gave him his back. ‘The man’ couldn’t come to ‘now’, which was tightly blocked, and that gave Ian Weaver a sense of relief.

Lee Hyun-woo stopped walking without realizing it. The adults did the same.

A warm voice filled with warmth sounded in the quiet darkness.

“Mister.”

“…Why.”

“Don’t hit my brother.”

“…I didn’t hit him.”

Raymond Wish felt wronged.

…He had grabbed his collar, but he had never hit Lee Hyun-woo.

“And don’t yell either.”

Raymond Wish obediently shut his mouth.

“I have a bad ear, so I can only hear a little bit, but my brother can hear well, so it must be really scary. I was really scared when I was young too.”

Raymond Wish muttered a curse at the child’s words.

“Let’s take a break and go.”

Raymond Wish, who had lifted him up roughly, gently and carefully put Ian Weaver down on the ground.

Well, even a kind man would be scary to a child.

Ian Weaver ran to Lee Hyun-woo as soon as he got off his back.

He was his brother who looked like his mom.

He pushed him away with a thud and had a pale face like his mom.

He also saved him like his mom.

‘Is Ian happy now?’

Lee Hyun-woo opened his arms a little as he saw Ian Weaver hesitating.

Ian Weaver smiled brightly and hugged Lee Hyun-woo.

He had been in a dark pain for a long time,

Lee Hyun-woo cried at the small but proud warmth.

Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg looked at each other and sighed. They couldn’t say anything to Raymond Wish, who was sitting on the floor with his head down.

They had been through a lot today.

They had survived the explosion, fallen underground, and wandered in the dark.

They had lost many things and people along the way.

They had seen death and despair up close.

They were all exhausted physically and mentally.

But they couldn’t give up.

They had to live.

They had to get out of here.

They had to see their families again.