I don't know how long I had been sitting between Yujin and Seoji-hyuk. Someone shook my shoulder, and only then did I lift my head. The front was so dark that I had to shake my head to see the person in front of me, who turned out to be Baek Ae-young. Baek Ae-young was covered in blood from head to toe. I tried to say something, but no words came out.
"Uh... uh... uh... ugh."
"Get up. We need to go."
At first, I couldn't stand up immediately. After falling once and crawling on the floor, I finally managed to stand on my feet, leaning on Baek Ae-young's hand and arm while wiping away my tears and snot. The rifle Seoji-hyuk gave me was incredibly heavy. (I only learned it was a rifle from Baek Ae-young) I couldn't tell if it was because I was having trouble standing and walking properly or if it was just that heavy. My body felt limp. I wanted to faint on the spot and sleep for about ten hours.
If I hadn't tied the rifle to my body with a rope, I wouldn't have been able to carry it at all. Until now, I had only used a pistol that I held with both hands. If it had been this rifle, I probably wouldn't have been able to shoot because of its weight.
As Baek Ae-young walked, blood droplets fell around her. If all this blood was hers, she couldn't possibly still be alive. That thought made me wonder if I was really alive. I staggered like a newborn calf, trying not to lose sight of the person in front of me, and asked Baek Ae-young,
"Are you hurt?"
Baek Ae-young shook her head firmly. She wiped the blood from her forehead and cheeks with the back of her hand and replied,
"This isn't my blood."
I would have nodded and believed her if she had said all this blood was from her injuries and that we were already dead. I nodded absentmindedly, still hearing the ringing in my ears. I rubbed my eyes several times with my dirty hand because everything was blurry.
"Mr. Shin Hae-ryang, what about the elevator? I heard they stopped all the elevators at the second underwater base."
Shin Hae-ryang didn't ask where Yujin and Seoji-hyuk were. He didn't ask how they died or why. He only talked about the current situation. So, all the elevators are stopped at this level because it's the second underwater base? I wondered where all this information was coming from, but a few seconds later, I realized it must have been obtained from the enemy. But, could he really have had time to talk to the enemy during the gunfire? I asked Shin Hae-ryang blankly,
"Then, is there no way to get to the first underwater base?"
"Like I said before, the cable car is the most likely option. They said they moved all these jewels using the cable car."
"Oh. Team Leader, you don't seem to like the cable car."
"I don't like the cable car. Mr. Muhyeon, are you hurt anywhere?"
Shin Hae-ryang changed the magazine without looking at me. Baek Ae-young was checking a knife tied to her left thigh (where did she get it?) and her spare magazines. We had never obtained such things, so she must have taken them from someone else. I shook my head blankly, not wanting to be asked about my bruised legs from climbing the stairs, my scraped palms, forearms, and knees, my numb trigger finger, or my shock state where my brain felt like a broken blender.
"I'm not hurt."
"If there are about 22 cult members stationed on this floor, there should be only 4 to 5 left in the central square."
"Why?"
"Because all the hostages lying in the central square fought back against the cult members."
As soon as he said that, I imagined the scene: the ten people lying down heard the gunfire from the exhibition hall and all rose up to attack the armed cult members with their bare hands. So, the occasional screams and cries I heard weren't just in my head; they were real sounds from outside the exhibition hall. What about Kim Ga-young, Henry, and Jennifer? My head spun. I felt dizzy and closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead. I asked, holding my head as if it would explode,
"Are any of the hostages still alive?"
"I don't know."
It didn't take long to realize he was lying. There were probably bodies scattered in the central square. Then, I suddenly realized something. Shin Hae-ryang doesn't like wasting time. He was the one who urged us to climb the stairs after Baek Ae-young, making us climb four flights. It was strange that he was calmly answering my questions and checking on my condition in the middle of a gunfight. Is there really time for such a calm conversation while shooting and hiding?
"Why... why are we here instead of going to where the cable car is?"
"We're waiting."
"For what?"
Baek Ae-young smiled for the first time since we arrived at the second underwater base. Looking into her eyes felt like dunking my head in ice water.
"They think Team Leader Shin is dead and will come here to check."
How did they know Shin Hae-ryang was dead? Because he wasn't shooting? Oh, he must have stopped shooting to pretend he was dying from their bullets. But what if they throw a grenade or something at our hiding spot? Baek Ae-young shook her head. A grenade in an underwater base? It would be safer to throw a grenade inside an airplane, she said. I felt a strange sensation when I heard that.
Survival? Do these cult members really think about survival while doing this? If they want to live forever, doesn't it make sense that they wouldn't hijack a place like this? I have no idea why these crazy people are doing this. They claim they want to live forever, yet they are dying from tiny bullets. I want to know the reason before I die. I don't want to die without knowing why.
‘We live with the immortal shark! We survive any danger and hardship!’
‘I'm not sure, but for the Infinite Day ritual, many people need to be in the building, and some people must die. They used to use fish, but on Infinite Day, it has to be people.’
‘But the idea of infinite life is a bit strange. Live forever? How long is forever? Lifespan is determined by time. Even the Earth has a lifespan.’
Why did they destroy the submarines at the second underwater base? Wouldn't that make it difficult for the cult members here to escape? Would the cult members stationed here restart the stopped elevators to go to the first underwater base? Or would they all take the cable car to the surface like they did with the jewels? What about the cult members stationed at the third underwater base? How would they get to the surface?
It would be better to station all the cult members at the first underwater base. Why did they station cult members at the third and second underwater bases? If I were the leader of a cult, I would station members around the first underwater base and the island, kill everyone coming up the elevators, and shoot at the submarines and escape boats on the surface. Why make it so difficult for even their own members to escape?
'Think they will all be killed.'
Suddenly, everything went dark. For a moment, I thought my vision had blurred from stress or that I had been shot. I realized it was a power outage when someone grabbed my wrist.
When the power went out, I couldn't see anything. Then, someone suddenly and gently grabbed my wrist in the darkness, making me jump. I almost leaped in place and swung my arm, but the person lightly tripped my leg and pushed my shoulder back, causing me to slip and lie down on the floor. Only when my back touched the ground did I realize I was lying down. Baek Ae-young's voice came from beside me, low and calm.
"You scared me. You almost hit my face."
"I'm sorry. I was too startled."
Suddenly, a voice came from my right side. It was Shin Hae-ryang's voice, and it was so close that I was startled.
"We will crawl on our bellies. Even if you hear gunfire or if the person next to you stops, you must keep crawling."
"Understood."
Shin Hae-ryang kept making a rustling sound, and then I felt something being wrapped around my wrist. I heard the sound of it being tied to something else. Only when I touched my wrist did I realize it was a parachute cord. Shin Hae-ryang must have untied the cord from his arm and connected us all. Ah, right. In the darkness, if the three of us crawl, we might lose each other, so this is a smart way to stay connected.