People were more afraid of dying right now than of some lawsuit later on. Rather than let the one terrorist hidden among the twelve go free, it was decided that all of them would be left bound for about a day.
The next problem was the wounded in the auditorium. In a brief shootout that had lasted less than two or three minutes, there were as many as fourteen injured. Eight were terrorists who had been shot by Baek Aeyeong or brought down by my gun, and the rest were hostages who had been lying on the floor. Five of the hostages had been hit by bullets fired by the Infinite Church believers; in particular, one believer had gone down and, while dying, fired indiscriminately toward the floor, so the hostages tied up around him had suffered badly.
One person lost consciousness as soon as he was shot, and two, having been hit in the arm or leg while still conscious, realized they were wounded and screamed in pain. The remaining two said they had not even known they had been shot. One only realized after someone nearby pointed out that his left arm was bleeding, and another only discovered he had been shot in the calf after his bindings were cut but he still could not stand and fell over twice. Perhaps because adrenaline was coursing through their bodies from the tension, quite a few people did not feel pain even when injured.
There were also many minor injuries. Some had been beaten with rifle stocks or gun barrels by the Infinite Church believers for talking with the person next to them while their arms and legs were bound, bleeding after being told they were too loud. Others had been struck for protesting, asking why they had to be tied up.
There were people who slipped and hurt themselves while running away from the Infinite Church believers, and people whose forearms or the backs of their hands were cut by unfamiliar knives while someone was trying to untie the ropes around their wrists. There were more injured people than expected: those who broke their legs while trying to flee the auditorium in a hurry, those who sprained their toes, those whose skin had been torn by bullets, and so on. None of the wounds were life-threatening, but there were many of them.
Painful screams, anxiety, and terror swept through the auditorium, but those whose arms and legs had been freed took off the vests, scarves, beanies, long socks, and the like they were wearing and did their best to stop the wounded from bleeding.
Some people blindly fled the auditorium, but a few brave ones risked the danger and headed to the dormitory to call the nearby Medic. The terrorists, dead or dying, received first aid from the very hostages who had been tied up until moments ago.
From dawn until morning, among the people tied to the auditorium floor, conversations had gone back and forth: did they really have to give first aid to terrorists, couldn’t they just leave them be and toss them into the seawater if they croaked, was there even any need to wait, shouldn’t they just throw them into the sea right now, and so on. Fortunately, more people were in favor of treating them, so they were not buried at sea while still alive.
Jamal watched calmly while sitting with his back against the auditorium wall. Then, as his hands and feet were bound, he said,
“The believers who were searching Daehan-do for the Savior will come rushing in.”
Baek Aeyeong threw the jet-black hat she had been wearing far away. The shark-shaped cap went flying and crashed into a corner. The hair she had hidden beneath it was revealed.
“We’ll see. The believers on Daehan-do won’t come to the auditorium; they’ll head for the elevator going down to the undersea base. They only have two choices. Either they all come up to Daehan-do and fight, or they return to the undersea base they’ve seized.”
Those who had gone to call the Medic arrived at the auditorium together with the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It’s the Medic! People cheered at the sight of a Medic unit confidently entering the auditorium. The Medic moved around, helping with first aid and loading the critical patients onto its body.
While helping the Medic hastily secure a terrorist who seemed to have a hole in his stomach onto itself, I thought about it and felt bleak. In this pandemonium, who knew how many hours it would take before my finger, which was not in any serious danger, could get treated?
The injured among the freed hostages wanted to go straight to Daehan-do Hospital, which was located up on the hill. But Baek Aeyeong immediately opposed that idea.
She said every route from the auditorium to the hospital was completely exposed to the outside, so if even one decent sniper were positioned properly, the number of wounded could double. She also insisted that, for now, only the minimum number of people should remain in the auditorium, while the area around Daehan-do was searched and the danger eliminated.
A small number of people agreed with Baek Aeyeong’s argument, but they did not readily follow her. It was because they were reluctant to risk danger by moving around Daehan-do and fighting the terrorists.
At that moment, a brown-haired man pointed at Baek Aeyeong and said,
“Why can’t we go to the hospital? If people die because they can’t get to the hospital right now because of you, are you going to take responsibility?”
“What did you say? The reason people here are dying is because of the terrorists.”
“Baek! You’re really suspicious. Who are you? Aren’t you with the terrorists? Those bastards said on the broadcast that they were looking for a Korean. You’re Korean too!”
The man openly looked Baek Aeyeong up and down, taking in her outfit. Judging by Baek Aeyeong’s expression, she looked as if she wanted to shoot the man dead on the spot but was holding herself back. I quickly stepped forward to defend Baek Aeyeong and said,
“The person the terrorists were looking for on the broadcast was me. Aeyeong disguised herself and rushed into the auditorium to save you.”
“How are we supposed to believe that? I overheard the terrorists talking, and they said Asians had joined hands with these terrorists. How do we know whether terrorists fought each other because they couldn’t agree, or whether you fought to save us?”
From what Andrew said, it seemed the terrorists had tied the hostages up for a long time and chatted about all sorts of things right next to them. The hostage-takers I knew either did not give proper information to the hostages or fed them false information. But it seemed the hostage-takers here had simply let the hostages hear every bit of information they had.
Baek Aeyeong angrily shouted at the man, who seemed to know that Engineer Natim or Engineer Latim was cooperating with the Infinite Church.
“Andrew. You bastard. This is so pathetic I can’t even watch. You’re doing this because you confessed to me before and I rejected you, aren’t you?”
The brown-haired man called Andrew looked extremely flustered, then shouted in an even louder voice.
“That has nothing to do with this, okay? Baek! What matters is whether or not you’re a terrorist! In the first place, it’s weird for a woman to shoot a gun without any emotion like that!”
······I think you’re saying that because you haven’t seen Anna’s skills. Gender has nothing to do with shooting or getting shot. This man called Andrew seemed to have some strange prejudice.
“I saw you shoot six or seven terrorists without any hesitation. She was practically flying through the air by herself, shooting terrorists dead! Ordinary people can’t shoot other people like that in the first place!”
“I only shot terrorists. Why? Are you scared you’ll get hit? Aren’t you the terrorist?”
“I’m not a terrorist! Baek! You’re the strange one. What the hell are you? You shoot people in the chest, then immediately shoot them in the head. Do you know all the terrorists you shot have fatal wounds and are barely breathing? And you shot a hostage and a terrorist together as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You didn’t even hesitate. What? A sniper? How do you know things like sniper points? Who are you? You’re not an ordinary engineer, are you!”
As Andrew spoke triumphantly, the man beside him also questioned Baek Aeyeong with suspicion.
“True. You’re an engineer on the Korean team, right? How do you shoot so well? I have a friend in Korea, so I know a little. I heard ordinary people can’t own guns there, so unless you’re a soldier or police officer, you’ve never even fired one. Who are you? Are you a Korean soldier?”
“······What are you trying to say? Do people from the other seven countries shoot guns as often as they eat? I killed the terrorists and freed you, and now you’re suspicious of me? I’m just a civilian who’s good with guns.”
It seemed I was the only person in this auditorium who knew Baek Aeyeong was a professional mercenary. And Baek Aeyeong did not want to reveal her identity.
In the minds of the people on Daehan-do, it seemed that when a small Asian woman, the kind who looked as if she had never even held a rifle, suddenly appeared and shot down the terrorists in the auditorium, subduing them, they did not judge her a hero. Instead, they saw her as an object of suspicion.
A man holding a gun said to Baek Aeyeong,
“I know you helped us. You subdued the terrorists and untied us. I’m grateful for that. But I don’t know who in this auditorium I can trust. You said it yourself. There are terrorists hiding among the hostages. Honestly, I can’t trust anyone. Especially Asians. They betrayed the undersea base.”
Baek Aeyeong’s lips slowly moved as if saying, You can just trust me. But no sound came out. Only I could make out the shape of her mouth. Baek Aeyeong closed her lips, and a crease formed between her brows.
My opinion—that Baek Aeyeong’s identity was not what mattered right now, but what we had to do immediately—was completely ignored. When no one except me took Baek Aeyeong’s side, Andrew grew even more triumphant.
“How do we know you won’t suddenly start shooting people just because you don’t like them? Hand your gun over to someone else!”
“Don’t make me laugh! No one is taking my gun.”
Feeling threatened, Baek Aeyeong raised the gun she had been holding lowered at low ready, and all the men who had received guns from Baek Aeyeong began to keep her in check. Fuck. I immediately stepped in front of Baek Aeyeong.
“What are you doing? Everyone lower your guns!”
“You lower yours first.”
The man standing in front of me said this with both hands raised. A woman watching the scene from the side spoke toward Baek Aeyeong’s back.
“Just put the gun down, Aeyeong.”
“No!”
When Baek Aeyeong refused to listen, they now started suspecting me.
“You’re the Savior of this cult, aren’t you? Aren’t you with the terrorists?”
“I said I wasn’t on the broadcast. Lower your guns first!”
“Hey. You. Woman! You know you’re suspicious too! Let’s not shoot each other! We don’t want to shoot you either. We know you helped us.”
Baek Aeyeong moved me aside from where I was blocking her. When Baek Aeyeong pushed me with her left hand, I was immediately thrown to the floor. I think Baek Aeyeong intended to keep me from getting shot, but I rolled across the floor twice.
“Ungrateful bastards.”
At Baek Aeyeong’s words, the man holding a gun spoke as if making excuses.
“You are suspicious, though. We’re just saying don’t be armed. If you hand over the gun, nothing will happen. Really. I promise.”
Andrew, after creating this situation, had retreated far into the back. Baek Aeyeong seemed like she would sooner kill everyone here than let them take her gun. Why did they not think of Baek Aeyeong like a hero? Usually, in movies, didn’t people treat someone who subdued an entire situation like this as a hero? Lying on the floor, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“We’ll leave this place.”