∞ 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄∞
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"Squad One, marksman Cho Jang-Su. Assistant marksman Kook Young-Su. Squad Two, marksman Kim Yu-Jung. Assistant marksman Wang Tae-Man. Search Team, Cho Young-Sin, Know Il-Ha. Snipper Lee Na-Ra, spotter Do Su-Chul. When we arrive at our destination, the raiding party will put the guard up. The two people in the search party will take the lead and request troops."
"Yes, sir," everyone said in a chorus. Chun-Ho and Won-Bin handed Yu-Jung and Jang-Su some devices.
"This is a sphere detector."
"What? A sphere detector? Is it a prototype?"
"Yes, it isn't perfect yet, so don't rely on it too much."
"What's its radius?"
"It's 1 km in open areas. In the cities of villages, it'll only be 500 to 700 m. So always be alert."
"Yes, sir."
"That's it."
Chae-Yeong followed Chun-Ho and Won-Bin to the cars, leaving the kids to look at the device. She didn't know such thing existed until that morning, so it was something new to her too. They would have been so helpful in the recent weeks, but, unfortunately, only the military men had access to them.
"They seem fine to me," Won-Bin said. "Maybe a little nervous, but that's all. I think we'll do good today."
"Let's hope so," Chun-Ho said. "We don't know the situation out there yet, we're blindly following orders."
"We'll come back. All of us. I have a feeling," Chae-Yeong said more to herself. The two of them nodded, as if agreeing with her.
"We leave in three minutes," Chun-Ho turned back to the kids. "Divide into your squads and get in the vehicles."
"Yes, sir!" The kids made their ways to the vehicles, guns in their hands. Chae-Yeong nodded to Won-Bin before he got in the second car. She made her way to the passenger's seat as Chun-Ho turned on the engine.
"Ready?" he asked her. She just nodded before they started moving.
They travelled on the highway until they reached the first city. Chae-Yeong could see the ivy-covered buildings in the background, a sign that no one took care of them for a long time. Every city was abandoned when the emergency protocol was installed and everyone was sent to the refuges. The government promised the citizens they would be back in a few weeks, but it's already been more than a month and they were still not back at their homes, now shelter for the spheres. Chae-Yeong became more alert when they arrived in the city, looking for any sign of spheres that could attack them. So far, it was good, the streets were as empty as they could ever be. After a few minutes, they were forced to stop, cars crowding the road. They got off, looking for a solution.
"Darn it. Lieutenant, we'll need equipment to move this," Won-Bin said. Chun-Ho looked around, calculating his next move.
"Let's search the area first."
The kids got out of the vehicles as they started making their way inside the city. it was quiet, too quiet. It made Chae-Yeong feel uneasy and she could tell Chun-Ho felt the same as he looked at her. No spheres, no threats. She caught a glimpse of Il-Ha's detector and there was no sign of anything around. They sent them to clear out the area, but so far, nothing had to be cleaned. Won-Bin walked behind the group as Chun-Ho and her led them through the city. She was about to say something when she heard a yell from behind. Her and Chun-Ho turned behind, guns aimed and ready to fire when they saw Hee-Rak run toward a vending machine. They ran to him, asking what happened and he responded with a simple "Nothing." Won-Bin stepped aside with Chun-Ho as she remained to look after the kids. A loud thud was heard as he punched the vending machine and a can of soda fell.
"Ah! Look what I got!" he said as he pick it up.
"Unbelievable! Give me some!" two girls said as they clung to him.
"I'm going to save it for later."
"Don't be cheap. Share with us," they yelled at him. This was starting to annoy Chae-Yeong. She stepped closer and grabbed the can out of his hand.
"Shut up. You want to attract the spheres because you found some soda? Pay attention to the mission." She put the can in one of her bulletproof vest.
"That's mine!"
"Not anymore. Now shut up." She huffed as Young-Sin's device started beeping.
"Lieutenant!" he said and him and Won-Bin made their way to the kids, who gathered around, anxiously looking at the screen. Il-Ha put his detector next to the other one, comparing them.
"What's its location?" Chae-Yeong asked.
"It's 300 m to the southwest."
Looking around for the spheres, they made their way toward the location showed on the screen, tension building up in the air. In a few minutes they reached an intersection. Chae-Yeong tensed up as she saw a man in military uniform dead on the ground. Chun-Ho raised a hand, a silent order to stop, as the beeping continued. He made a few other signs, telling the kids to go to their positions and fire when he tells them to. They ran in the middle of the intersection, fingers on the triggers as they waited for the spheres. She fell on one knee as Chun-Ho picked up a toy machine and pushed a button, launching it across the street. It drifted a few meters before loud police sirens filled the air. He was trying to attract the spheres to them, leading them in a deathly trap. Chae-Yeong adjusted her grip on the gun as she saw the first sphere crawl to them. And another one. And soon, they were surrounded, the kids started panicking as they demanded an order from Chun-Ho, but he only told them to hold the fire. She steadied her hands before the next order came.
"Open fire!"
Gunshots erupted as the spheres dissipated in front of them. Chae-Yeong looked at Chun-Ho as he slowly nodded before they both got up and advanced, splitting up to cover more of the area. Windows shattered as she pointed her gun at the dozens of spheres that made their way toward her. Her ears rang as her ammunition finished. She changed opened up a pocket to change it, but as soon as she did, she noticed something weird. The spheres were running away, turning around and going back to where they came from. She made her way back to the others, looking just as confused as she did. The device was still detecting the spheres, but there was nothing around.
"Behind you!" someone shouted. She didn't have the chance to turn around before the kids opened fire, shooting at the sphere that was crawling toward them, faster than she has ever seen. She frowned when it jumped over them, landing in the middle of the intersection. Her heart started beating faster. She climbed up on a car as the sphere entered it and shot it through the windshield, glass shattering as it dissipated. She looked around, looking for other spheres, but they all left. She jumped on the ground as Chun-Ho came beside her.
"What are you doing?" he asked the kids. "Take your positions and search your surroundings."
"Back to your positions," Won-Bin ordered.
"Yes, sir," the kids said as they split up. Chae-Yeong stopped Young-Sin before leaving and took the beeping device from him. She looked at the screen, seeing dozens of purple dots on the screen.
"Darn it," Won-Bin said, addressing Chun-Ho. "What should we do now?"
"We'll find every one of them and eliminate them all."
"Yes, sir."
The three of them decided to split up, Won-Bin going north, Chae-Yeong southeast and Chun-Ho west. She closed her eyes as she put the device in her pocket, ignoring the bleeping as a hand landed on her arm.
"Are you ok?" Chun-Ho asked her.
"Yes. What the hell just happened?"
"I don't know. I've never seen this."
"Well then, let's go find out." He nodded. "Take care."
"You too," he said and he let her go as she made her way around the corner.
Chae-Yeong roamed through the streets as she looked for the spheres. She heard a screech when she turned around, gun pointed and ready to shoot, but she saw nothing there. She made her way toward the sound when something swept her off her feet. She got up fast, looking around to see a sphere running toward her. She pulled the trigger and shoot it before another one came from that direction. She gut up and stepped back when too many of them appeared in front of her face. She needed backup and she needed it fast. There were too many and they were already too close. She pulled the trigger as one flew in her face and passed by, leaving her cheek stinging. She turned around, shooting it when she heard gunshots from behind. The spheres started disappearing as Chae-Yeong looked up and saw Na-Ra. She made a mental note to thank her later for that before she pointed her gun back at them again and started shooting. When there were no other left, she lowered her gun and let out a relieved breath. That one was close. She searched the area some more before going back to the meeting point, finding the kids already there.
"It's ok now. All the spheres have been killed." Won-Bin was crunched over something. Chae-Yeong stepped closer and noticed that it wasn't something. It was someone. A girl, shaking and covered in blood, wearing military uniform.
"What happened?" Yu-Jung asked her.
"Is this... a dream?" the girl simply asked. Won-Bin looked at her before his gaze shifted somewhere behind her. She looked in that direction, seeing Chun-Ho come with the rest of the kids.
"Looks like they have survivors too," Duk-Jung said and made his way toward them. Chae-Yeong wanted to go with him and help before she heard the girl talk again.
"Don't step on her. Don't step on her. "The girl was breathing hard as she got up, going in the direction of a corpse. "Don't step on my friend," she kept repeating until she started screaming, hands covering her ears.
"Hey, it's ok, we're here now," Chae-Yeong said as she approached the girl and wrapped her arms around her. She knew what it was like to see all of your friend and you being the only one that survived. She went through it not long ago.
"Don't step on her!" the girl yelled again before she hit Chae-Yeong and she hit the ground, grunting. The next thing she saw was the girl collapse as she tried getting up. She heard footsteps and a second later she felt two strong arms help her stand up.
"Are you ok?" Chun-Ho asked her with worry in his eyes. She nodded and let him help her, but when she was finally on her feet, he still didn't let go of her waist. They both looked at the girl that fainted from the stress. "We found a refuge nearby, a school. Let's go there," he said and the kids nodded.
They made their way to the refuge, Chun-Ho staying close by Chae-Yeong in case something happened. He was exaggerating, she only fell, she didn't even hit her head. But still, she couldn't help but miss the warm of his hand on her back. She saw with the corner of her eye that he was watchin her from time to time, but he didn't say anything. And she didn't want to mention it, not with the kids around.
They soon reached the school, searching the perimeter first. It was abandoned, a few corpses were lying on the ground as they made their way toward the entrance. She couldn't help but think about her dad. She didn't know where he was and she almost forgot to look for him because of all that has happened. When they will go home, she would ask for a favor. She was starting to lose her mind when she imagined all of those corpses with her dad's face on. She pushed the thought aside as she heard the kids talking about the detector. It showed no sphere around, and, if it was correct, then they should be safe here for a while. They entered the school and split up to search all of the floor levels. Chae-Yeong decided to go to the basement with Yu-Jung to look for the electric panel because the lights were not working. As soon as they stepped inside the dark and cold room she felt a hand cling to her sleeve.
"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you," Chae-Yeong told her as she illuminated a spot on the wall. "Besides, I have Young-Sin's detector and it is not beeping, is it? That means there are no spheres nearby."
"I know, but after today, I can't help it but create these scenarios in my head."
"I used to do that too."
"And how did you stop it?"
"I didn't. At least, not entirely," she said when she found the electric panel and put the gun on her shoulder. "A little light here, please," she said and Yu-Jung pointed the flashlight at the wall as Chae-Yeong cracked open the little door. "It started when the spheres appeared. And it got worse when my friends died. I spent a few days locked up in a store, waiting for someone to find me. I had plenty of time to create all these scenarios in my head and ask all these 'what if' questions. And I am still alive. When I start having doubts about everything, I remind myself that. There must be a reason that I am still alive when there are so many dead. Right?" She flipped a switch over and a small buzzing filled the room as the lights turned on. They squinted at the strong light before looking at each other. "I hope this will work, this thing is older than me."
"Thank you," Yu-Jung said as Chae-Yeong closed the door. "And I'm sorry... for your friends."
"Let's go and see if the others found anything."
They made their way up until they reached the last floor. They met with some of the other kids on their way and headed together toward the library where they heard voices. She saw the three girls and the boy they saved earlier standing at a table, Chun-Ho next to them. She leaned back on a bookshelf, arms crossed.
"You kids are the only survivors."
"We were told to deliver the supplies to the shelter. But when we arrived..." the boy said.
"What about the person in charge?" Chun-Ho asked them.
"We don't know," a girl said. "He disappeared."
"Why did you stay here without the commander in charge?"
"We were told to wait. That's why we waited. We did as we were told. So why..." The girl started crying.
"It must be very hard, but please calm down. We'll talk again once things are sorted out." He stood up after a moment. "Yu-Jung, take care of them."
Chae-Yeong followed him as he left the room. "Chun-Ho," she called out and he turned around. "What's going on?"
"We found the soldiers who were in charge of this place. They are all dead, except those four."
"Shit. And what are we going to do now?"
"Come with me."
They headed toward a small office where Won-Bin was waiting, looking at some maps that were plastered on the walls. "This small-sized refuge was devastated as if there was a surprise attack," Chun-Ho said as he entered.
"Refuges were set up in the outskirts of the city where medium spheres don't appear in the first place. Besides, there are no traces of medium spheres falling. I wonder if this place was raided by smaller spheres."
"Spheres looking for prey swarmed in here. How did they know that the refuge was here?"
"Maybe they are smarter than we thought," Chae-Yeong said. "I don't know, they developed a sixth sense or something. It's just like what happened out there, the spheres just left, like they knew they had no chance against us."
"Lieutenant Lee," they heard a voice say and turned around to see Bo-Ra. "May I speak to you?"
"Is there something wrong?"
"I think there is something you need to know." Chun-Ho looked at Chae-Yeong and Won-Bin before he nodded and left with her. Chae-Yeong exhaled as she sat on the desk, looking at the maps on the walls.
"I'll go and see the kids," Won-Bin said and left the room.
Chae-Yeong's head spun as she looked for something that could help her understand this thing. She hasn't seen this before, she knew the spheres acted as soon as they felt the presence of humans enough. They were attracted by loud sounds and movement and only cared about the prey. They didn't think before attacking, so what changed now?
Maybe nothing changed.
Maybe they weren't thinking before attacking. She remembered what the kids told Chun-Ho when sat at the table.
We did as we were told.
Maybe they were only following orders.
❃❃❃
"You should eat something," Chae-Yeong said as she put the package on the desk. Chun-Ho looked up and smiled. He was tired and she didn't blame him, she felt like a truck hit her too. She leaned on the desk and watched him rub a hand over his face.
"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked her.
"I already ate."
"And are you going to stand there and watch me eat?"
"Yes. I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, but I don't trust you when it comes to taking care of yourself. You're too selfless to be able to do that." He let out a small chuckle and stood up, surrounding the desk until he was in front of her.
"You could never make me uncomfortable."
She gulped as she looked at him in the dark. They tried keeping the most lights off to not attract the spheres, so only a lamp from the other side of the room illuminated the space. He took a step toward her and she took a step back. Was it getting hotter in there or did she imagine it? He took another step forward and she backed off some more. They continued that silent dance until she reached the wall and there was almost no space between them. She could feel his soft breath on her cheek as he exhaled. She closed her eyes, not trusting herself to look at him any longer. After a few seconds, she felt a soft tingling on her face, a hand cupping her cheek. She opened her eyes just as his gaze shifted to her eyes.
"Does it hurt?" he asked her.
"Huh?" What the hell was he talking about?
"The scratch." Oh, that. She almost forgot about it. The sphere that jumped toward her left an ugly trace on her cheek. Nothing that won't heal in a few days, but it could still leave a little scar.
"No, I even forgot about that." She smiled as she leaned into him. "I hope it won't leave a scar, though, it would be a shame for such a pretty face like mine." He tipped his head back as he laughed and then looked back at her, eyes sparkling.
"You're beautiful with or without the scar, Chae-Yeong," he told her as her feet started wobbling. She put a trembling hand on his chest and felt his uneven heartbeat. She saw his Adam's apple move as he gulped.
"Your heart is beating so fast. Why are you so nervous, Lieutenant?" she asked him. She didn't know if it was wise to test his patience, but the idea of getting burned didn't seem too bad to her now.
"Maybe it's for the same reason your hand is trembling." A smile appeared on her face as she saw his eyes travel to her lips. He bobbed his head until their lips were a breath away. She closed her eyes in anticipation, putting the other hand on his chest too and moving them up to his neck.
A gunshot forced her to open her eyes. She locked eyes with Chun-Ho, who looked as startled as she did. They didn't say a thing before they burst through the door, following the kids as they made their way to the library. They pushed past them, yelling at them to move. The girl they saved was standing in front of them, a gun in her hand. On the opposite side of the room, Yu-Jung, looking down at a man laying on the ground. Chae-Yeong approached him as Chun-Ho stayed back, frozen into place. She looked at his face as she heard his name whispered by Chun-Ho.
"Won-Bin."
Won-Bin was lying on his back, eyes closed as blood was leaking through his shirt. Chae-Yeong's eyes widened as she fell to her knees, shaking him as he stood there, not waking up. She put pressure on the wound, her hands painted with the blood of yet another friend of hers. Not this again. Chun-Ho dived in their direction, tears in his eyes, not daring to let them fall.
"Bring me a cloth!" Chae-Yeong screamed and one of the kids threw her a rag. She put it in the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, hands trembling.
"Go get the blood-stopper!" Yu-Jung yelled through sobs. "Quickly!"
"Chun-Ho," Chae-Yeong told the man that stood beside her, not hearing her. "Chun-Ho!" she yelled and he finally looked at her. He looked so vulnerable. "Gather yourself. Bring me some bandages and..." She didn't get to finish before he burst through the door, leaving her and Yu-Jung with the man on the ground, gathered by the other kids. "Yu-Jung, I need you to put pressure on the wound, ok? Can you do that for me?" She nodded. "Good, I'll take my hands off and then you'll replace them with yours, ok?" She nodded again. "3, 2, 1... Now." Chae-Yeong took her hands off Won-Bin as Yu-Jung took her place. She started taking off his shirt, ripping off the buttons as she tried calming herself down.
"Is he... Is he going to die?" Yu-Jung asked. Chae-Yeong managed to undress him as she looked at the position of the wound and let out a relieved breath. "No, he's not going to die." Yu-Jung started crying even harder. "Where is that blood-stopper?" Chae-Yeong yelled as Duk-Jung entered the room with a syringe.
"Here!" She grabbed it from his hand and ripped the package open, taking the needle out and putting it on. She injected the liquid near his wound and waited patiently for the bleeding to stop.
"Ok, kids, the bleeding will stop soon, until then I need something like a tarpaulin to move him to a bed. Find me something." They nodded and left the room, searching for what she asked. She looked at her bloodied hands and then at Won-Bin's face. Her gaze shifted then to the girl who now was cowered in a corner of the room, whispering something as she looked at nothing. Chae-Yeong got up and debated whether going to her and not before Chun-Ho came.
"I brought everything they had," he said as he dropped a drape full of medical utensils. "How is he?"
"Ok, Yu-Jung, I think you can lift your hands now." The girl took her hands off Won-Bin's chest as slowly as she could. Chae-Yeong lifted the white cloth that was now red and sighed when she saw the bleeding has stopped. She took a clean bandage and put it on the wound to protect it until they took him somewhere else. "He's going to be fine," she said as she looked at Chun-Ho. "The bleeding has stopped and the bullet is not life-threatening. Although, he won't be able to use his arm for some time."
The kids soon came and they picked him up, moving him to the school's infirmary. She asked the kids to leave while she was closing his wound, but Chun-Ho decided to remain. He stood there as she took out the bullet and sutured his wound, silently watching her work. She didn't say anything, didn't feel like it was her place to destroy the silence for him. He could've lost his friend today, if the bullet was a few centimeters away. She bandaged him and gave him an injection for the pain before she went to the sink and washed her hands, water red from the blood that hardened on her hands.
"I'll get going then, give you some privacy," she said as she made her way to the door.
"Chae-Yeong," he said and she turned around. He got up from his chair and crossed the room. She didn't back off this time as he opened his arms and threw them around her shoulders. "Thank you," he told her as she wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you," he said again and she realized he was crying. She tightened her grip, reassuring him that she was there, that she cared, that he was not alone. They stood like that for a few minutes until his sobs stopped. He let her go and she saw the tears sparkling in his red eyes. She raised her hands and wiped his cheeks with her thumbs.
"If Won-Bin would see you like this he would think you were abducted by the aliens or something," he tried holding back his laugh and failed. "Stop crying, the kids are going to barge in as soon as they see me out this door and you don't want them to see you like this, do you?" She offered him a last smile before she made her way out of the room.
As soon as she entered the hallway, the kids came toward her and started talking over each other. She tried following what they were saying, but it was provoking her a headache. "Stop." She raised a hand and they stopped talking. "He'll be fine, you can go see him later. Give the Lieutenant some time alone." They started talking again all at once. She lifted her hand one more time, stopping them. "And give me some time alone. I'm going to sleep, if anyone dares to wake me up unless it's an emergency, you're dead." She turned around and walked to the room where the beds were installed.
Her head was still rumbling and her hands were still shaking as she put her head on the pillow, looking for a few minutes at the ceiling. A day passed since the operation started, and it was already a mess. She then closed her eyes, hoping that the next time she opened them, it would turn out it was all a dream.
But Chae-Yeong stopped believing into fairytales a long time ago.
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𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇'𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝑒:
𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝒾 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹, 𝓈𝑜 𝒾 𝓈𝓅𝓁𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓊𝓅 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝓌𝑜.
𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔!