The three of us started crawling, and I thought I was going crazy after just about 30 seconds. During the gunfight, the fear of being hit by bullets made me feel no pain no matter how much I crawled, but crawling about 5 meters in the darkness made my whole body ache.
I know that infants crawl for about 8 months, but how can they move around like this? Itâs not a joke how much strength it takes in the arms and legs. But the person crawling in front of me must be Baek Ae-young. Was she a lizard in her past life? How can she crawl so well? My forearms were exhausted, and I panted as I pressed my cheek to the floor. I didnât have time to think about dust or anything else.
Suddenly, someone fired a shot. Ah! A scream echoed, and gunshots started ringing out from all directions. I cried and crawled on the floor. When the parachute cord on my wrist tightened, I crawled toward that direction. The gunshots didnât stop. At first, Baek Ae-young and Shin Hae-ryang were shooting, but even after they stopped, the gunshots continued. It seemed that people in the darkness were shooting wildly without distinguishing friend from foe. Screams, heavy breathing, and groans of pain kept coming. The deafening gunshots made my ears ring and my head hurt.
Terrified, I continued to crawl while wondering if I really had to survive this situation. I steadied myself by looking at the parachute cord tied to my wrist. Iâll think about it later. Iâll think about it later. First, I need to escape from here, then Iâll think about it. Iâll think about it when I get home. When I lifted my head, which was exhausted from crawling, a bullet grazed just below my chin. I felt a chill run down my spine. If I hadnât lifted my head, that bullet would have killed me just now. Was it a stray bullet? Or did someone recognize us in the darkness and shoot? When I rubbed my chin with my palm, something slippery came off. I shouted reflexively.
"Someone is shooting at us!"
"Run!"
Shin Hae-ryangâs loud shout echoed with the gunshots, and I realized I was already running madly forward. Every time the parachute cord on my wrist tightened, I ran with all my might to catch up with Baek Ae-young. Was she a cheetah in her past life? Sheâs faster than a horse. No matter how fast I ran, the parachute cord didnât loosen.
Then I slipped and fell, rolling and making a loud thud. The pain was so intense that I felt like I was going to faint. My right side and thigh felt like they were being torn apart, and my body screamed in pain. At that moment, Shin Hae-ryang pulled me with incredible strength. I barely managed to get up, fearing my arm would be pulled out of its socket.
All I wanted was to lie down and faint. Shin Hae-ryang ran up from behind, grabbed my arm, and pulled me forward. Occasionally, he fired shots behind us, but I couldnât understand why he was shooting at something he couldnât see.
Shin Hae-ryang pushed me into a room and felt along the wall to close and lock the door. The room was dimly lit even in the blackout, and I realized it was the cable car platform. We made it! I followed, wrapping the parachute cord around my forearm, and saw that it was tied to a pillar. The same was true for the parachute cord tied to Shin Hae-ryangâs forearm. I approached the pillar to untie the parachute cord to give it to Shin Hae-ryang, but it was soaked in blood. The moment I saw it, my ears started ringing. Where was Baek Ae-young?
Shin Hae-ryang brought chairs from around the platform and stacked them in front of the door. I walked around the platform to find Baek Ae-young, and saw her pressing buttons in the inner control room. Her fingertips were covered in blood, which also stained the buttons. Baek Ae-young had been bleeding all over her body since earlier. I asked, terrified.
"Ms. Ae-young, are you hurt?"
"Yes."
"Where... where are you hurt? Are you badly hurt?"
"Thatâs not important. What about the team leader?"
"Heâs stacking chairs in front of the door."
"It looks like Mr. Mu-hyun is hurt too."
Baek Ae-young pointed to my leg. I thought I had a bruise from falling, but when I touched it, I realized it was the bag, not my leg, that was soaked in blood. I opened the bag on my back. The cat inside was covered in blood and twitched intermittently. The cat made a rasping sound. I was frozen, holding the bag, and Baek Ae-young zipped it up again. She shook her head and said,
"You shouldnât get attached so easily."
"..."
"Living things die quickly, so you shouldnât get attached. It only hurts me."
Baek Ae-young was holding her side with one hand and firing with the other, shooting two rounds into my bag on the floor. I was in a daze, staring at the bag with bullet holes. Baek Ae-young had taken the most care of this unknown cat. If it wasnât in my bag, she would have carried it up those stairs.
Baek Ae-young pushed the bag with the cat into a corner, leaving a trail of blood. Only now did I notice that the floor was covered in bloodstains. Baek Ae-young looked at the cable car, which was still running, and coughed slightly.
My head hurt. It felt like someone was hammering between my eyebrows. An intense pain shot through my forehead. For a moment, I thought someone had shot me in the head. When Baek Ae-young grabbed my shoulder, I managed to turn my head. She had been shaking my shoulder, as I was kneeling on the floor. I thought the blood wasnât mine, but it turned out to be my nose bleeding. Blood streamed down my nose. Baek Ae-young pointed at my face and asked,
"Why... why is this happening?"
I swallowed the blood or let it drip down, and managed to say,
"Iâm fine. Itâs probably due to stress."
I didnât know if it was really due to stress, some disease, or if a bullet had hit me in an unknown spot. The moment I looked at the catâs bag, my head felt like it was splitting. I couldnât treat it well after bringing it here. But I couldnât let it die in the water either. So, this cat must have been quite happy thanks to you. Did I bring it here just to kill it? I covered my nose with one hand and lifted my head. The cable carâs control panels were all in disarray. I asked, holding my nose tightly,
"Can it still run like that?"
"Yes. I made sure it wouldnât stop. It receives power from both sides."
"Ah."
Shin Hae-ryang was approaching the cable car. I was supporting Baek Ae-young, and we were walking as slowly as zombies. Especially, my nosebleed wouldnât stop, and I was swallowing half of it and letting the other half drip down my hand and arm. When Shin Hae-ryang pushed us into the cable car, I realized someone was shooting. Shin Hae-ryang was firing back, but I couldnât help much, so I covered Baek Ae-young with my body.
"Get up!"
Shin Hae-ryang was shouting. I barely managed to lift my head, and if his shout was correct, he was telling us to get out of here immediately. If I had a wish, it would be to close my eyes and lie down without getting up. But if I had to choose between the person shooting wildly at the approaching fanatics without proper cover and the person lying on the floor, I had no excuse. I shook Baek Ae-young, who was lying on the floor.
"We have to get up!"
"..."
"I donât want to."
"You have to get up, even if you donât want to!"
I put one of Baek Ae-youngâs arms over my neck and grabbed her waist to help her up. I realized for the first time how well she could swear. Her curses were directed at the bullets flying at us, the bullet in her waist, the fanatics, the underwater base, the people with questionable morals we met at the base, the Chinese, Japanese, Canadians, Americans, Australians, New Zealanders, and Koreans. I chuckled at her curses even as I was swallowing blood. It seems there werenât many decent people. I had to swallow blood several times to say that.
When Baek Ae-young and I tumbled out of the cable car, Shin Hae-ryang ran up and told us to get into the cable car in front of us. The speed at which the cable car moved was much faster than the pace at which I was supporting Baek Ae-young. I thought we wouldnât make it, but Shin Hae-ryang, with us under his arms, ran and threw me into the open cable car first. I was slammed inside without making a sound. Then, with Baek Ae-young still under his arm, he jumped into the cable car just before the door closed.
The cable car door closed, and a voice announced that it had been properly sealed. Why does it need to be sealed? I lifted my head while holding my nose tightly and saw a display showing the oxygen and nitrogen levels next to the door. Is this something thatâs usually there? Is it because itâs an underwater cable car? I learned for the first time that bullets fired underwater travel in a straight line. As the cable car submerged completely, the figures of the fanatics, which had been visible in the distance, disappeared.
Only then did I realize that the cable car we initially boarded had been riddled with bullets, and Shin Hae-ryang had made us get off and board the cable car just before it entered the water. No wonder the door closed as soon as we got in. Shin Hae-ryang was leaning against the cable car door, breathing heavily, and I was crumpled inside, looking out the window. It was so dark outside that I thought I had lost my vision for a moment.