Chapter 160

Between Extermination and Annihilation (3)

“Hey hey. Let’s not waste both our time.”

“You there! Stop that and get over here.”

Black and the other officers boxed them in and placed them all under arrest. Wang Ong-Gu just stood there, continuing to show us his empty hands, as though he was willing to accept his arrest. We stood face-to-face with each other and looked into the other’s eyes.

“Go look for the kid.”

“Roger that.”

Following Team Leader’s order, I started searching the rooms inside the factory. There was a storeroom filled with trash and an office that held plenty of miscellaneous items. Then, on the third door I picked, I found it.

As the door swung open slowly and the operating theatre unfolded in front of me, it felt as if I was entering another world. A wind blew in from out of nowhere and raised goosebumps on the back of my neck. My body shivered as I wondered just how many people had taken their last breaths here.

“So-Yeon-ah?”

So-Yeon was lying down on a bed beside a boy who looked to be of similar age. A red line had been drawn straight down her stomach. It undulated up and down slowly, following the rhythm of her gentle breaths.

“So-Yeon-ah. Wake up.”

I held So-Yeon’s shoulder and gently shook her, but there was no reaction. The drug appeared to have put her into a deep sleep. Mong-Doo, who followed me into the room, checked the other child’s condition as well, before sighing in relief.

“Thank God. We arrived just in time.”

“What’s happening outside?”

“They’ve almost finished wrapping things up.”

I found some loose surgical gowns and wrapped them around the children’s bodies before we carried them back outside. Following Team Leader’s orders, the other officers had brought the scene under control and were keeping the suspects moving along.

Wang Ong-Gu was still standing in the same position as before, with a strange expression on his face. Since the abducted child had been rescued and the scene was secured, a police officer approached him while holding out handcuffs.

“Pardon me, Detective Wang. You have the right to remain silent-”

Right at that moment.

Bam-!

Clasping his hands together, Wang Ong-Gu struck the police officer in the chin. It happened so quickly that the officer couldn’t help but be caught off balance and he staggered backwards.

“Ugh!”

“Wang Ong-Gu! Stop right there!”

We had our guns aimed at him, but because he was so close to the other cop, we couldn’t get a clear shot. Next, Wang Ong-Gu quickly wrapped one arm around the policeman’s neck. In his other hand, he was holding onto a small jackknife. The sharp tip of the knife jerked upwards, as if it was about to be thrust into the officer’s neck.

Wang Ong-Gu gestured upward slightly with his chin. He was telling all of us to take a step back.

“Everyone. Let’s just relax a little.”

Despite saying this, Wang Ong-Gu’s expression looked tenser than ever. In an instant, the air inside the factory had frozen still. I tightened my hold on So-Yeon.

Wang Ong-Gu carefully stepped backwards while dragging the police officer along with him. Slowly, ever so slowly… he was edging his body over to the office that had been piled up with various things.

His fellow detectives started shouting at him.

“Don’t turn this into a bigger mess!”

“Since these guys here have been arrested, everything is over anyway, so why make things even harder for yourself?”

Wang Ong-Gu’s back was soon pressed against the office door. With a bitter smile, he shook his head.

“Detective Wang!”

“Shut up. Who says that everything will just end with this?”

Then he stabbed the knife up into the policeman’s neck.

“Aaargh!”

Accompanying the policeman’s scream, a thick stream of blood sprayed everywhere.

“Shit!”

Bang!

Bang!

The detectives who had their guns raised at him fired their blank rounds2. However Wang Ong-Gu refused to let go of the officer’s body until the very end.

While everyone else was still hesitating to fire their live rounds, I shouted, “Shoot now!”

Wang Ong-Gu also happened to have a gun on him. Things would become even more messier than they already were if he managed to hole up inside the office.

Bang-!

Bang-!

Several gunshots rang out. Bullets struck Wang Ong-Gu in the shoulder and arm, as well as the captured policeman’s thigh. The officer, who had by this point lost consciousness, fell to the floor without a sound. Leaving him behind, Wang Ong-Gu turned and rushed into the office. He had already been shot several times, but that didn’t stop him. He was moving like a man possessed.

Entrusting So-Yeon to a police officer beside me, I ran at him while shouting, “You crazy bastard! I told you to stop!”

“Halt right there!”

However Wang Ong-Gu quickly locked the door behind him and we were plunged into a stalemate. I pounded on the door.

“You son of a bitch-” Bam! “-what are you-” Bam! “-planning!” Bam!

Footnote:

2 The first shot in the officers’ gun’s are blank. It’s meant to serve as a warning shot, or a non-lethal shot.