Soon, a military jeep came into view.
It came racing frantically toward them.
Only then did a thin smile form on Taesu’s stiff face.
“Always cutting it close.”
Thududududu.
His mutter was swallowed by the helicopter rotors, now even louder.
The helicopter, which had drawn that much closer to the ground, soon touched down.
At the same time, on the opposite side, Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon could be seen getting out of the military jeep.
They each had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder.
The moment they confirmed one another’s presence,
Taesu and Squad Leader Sam ran quickly toward the helicopter.
From the opposite side, Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon came running to meet them.
Closing the distance rapidly from both sides, they boarded the helicopter at the same time.
Pudadadada.
The helicopter had already soared back into the sky.
The four people aboard quickly put on the helmets provided.
The defining feature of air force helmets was, of course, that they had built-in communications.
Taesu immediately asked Jeong Minsu,
“How much did you bring?”
“I swept up a ton.”
“They handed it over quietly?”
“Right now, there’s an angry lion rampaging in the military hospital ER.”
At Jeong Minsu’s absurd reply, Taesu immediately shot him a glare.
“Say it so I can understand.”
“The military hospital ER said they’d never received any official document, so they couldn’t cooperate.”
“Then who called Colonel Clark?”
As if Taesu’s guess was correct, Jeong Minsu answered loudly.
“Yeah. Apparently he happened to be passing nearby.”
“His expression must’ve been something to see.”
“He protested with the most wronged look in the world, but it seems someone forgot to pass the message along. Then things got even crazier.”
After Jeong Minsu answered,
Kim Hyeokgwon’s voice immediately came through.
“Forget other people’s circumstances. What happened with Doctor Choi?”
“I swept up everything that was in the quarters.”
“That’s not something to be proud of after ransacking a house.”
“At least I didn’t ransack someone else’s house.”
When Taesu answered glibly, Kim Hyeokgwon also smiled faintly.
“I’m glad you ransacked the house properly.”
“We’ll check the spoils after we land. Taesu, is everything you said earlier all there is to the situation?”
Jeong Minsu suddenly cut in.
Before, he had stuck to the position of listening, but now he asked whatever he was curious about then and there.
That made things easier and better for everyone.
Taesu was one of those people.
“Yeah. I didn’t hear anything more.”
“There’s no way only three people were injured.”
“We don’t even know how many people were on the tour bus.”
“Since we don’t know the scene, we can’t even plan our movements. This is driving me insane.”
Jeong Minsu shouted in frustration.
Just as the Korean conversation was rapidly going back and forth,
during a brief break in the radio, a familiar English voice came through.
“Shouldn’t I know the details to some extent as well?”
Swoosh.
At the question, the pilot turned his head and showed his face.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu, seeing who it was, were startled.
“Hm?”
“Huh?”
Kim Hyeokgwon’s expression also changed to one of surprise as he called the pilot’s name.
“It’s Pilot Austin.”
“Good to see you.”
Snap.
Squad Leader Sam showed his respect with a salute.
Perhaps pleased that everyone remembered him, Pilot Austin’s bland joke came through.
“I didn’t think we’d meet again this soon.”
“Will the coordination go more smoothly this time?”
“It’s our second meeting, so shouldn’t it be a little easier?”
Pilot Austin asked back with a smile.
There was definitely no sharp edge to him.
Rather, he had a much more easygoing air.
Trusting his intuition, Taesu treated him plainly.
“But what happened to the emergency transport helicopter? Why did you switch to this?”
“That helicopter is under maintenance.”
“What about this one?”
“I was on a test run when I got the call and came.”
“At this point, it’s hard to call it a coincidence. In any case, we’ll be in your care.”
Taesu ended the greeting simply.
It was an abrupt finish, as if several conversations had been cut clean off.
No one reacted sensitively to it.
They were on their way to the scene.
Now it was time to bring tension to the forefront rather than leisure.
As if Pilot Austin agreed, his subdued voice soon came through the helmet.
“Increasing speed.”
Pudadadada.
The helicopter left PKO and swiftly flew south.
The four people sitting side by side all closed their eyes in the same way.
It was to conserve even a little strength while they were moving.
It also carried the meaning of calming their minds.
As the interior remained quiet, the helicopter gradually increased its speed.
Roughly eight minutes passed.
Pilot Austin’s voice came through the helmet.
“One minute to arrival.”
At the same time as those words,
Flash.
Everyone opened the eyes they had closed in unison.
Then, at the same time, they rechecked the rappelling gear they were wearing.
Click, tap.
Their hands were far too familiar and natural.
The countless times they had worn it throughout the past were fully ingrained in their movements.
After their swift preparations were complete,
Snap.
The four of them each held a coiled rope.
And their gazes were fixed straight ahead.
A fairly large city spread out below, and somewhere near its center, black smoke was still rising.
It was immediately clear that firefighting was still underway.
Everyone’s expressions hardened.
It had been over twenty minutes since the terror attack occurred.
That was more than enough time for the injured to be wearing down from pain.
That fact weighed heavily on their hearts.
Meanwhile, the helicopter drew close to the center of the black smoke.
Thududududu.
Soon, it maintained altitude and began hovering, and Pilot Austin’s voice came through.
“Ten seconds to descent.”
“Open the door.”
Grrrk.
The sliding doors on the left and right of the helicopter opened at the same time.
Below, they could see a minibus that had been badly burned.
A great many people had gathered around it.
Because the local police were controlling the surrounding area, there was space between the bus and the people.
That open area was the target point for their rappel descent.
“Release the ropes.”
Shrrrrk.
Four ropes dropped down long from both sides of the helicopter at once.
Taesu and the three others each fastened their safety devices to the ropes and slung their duffel packs over their shoulders.
Having finished preparing, Taesu looked down at the place where they would descend.
“Hooo.”
A low breath flowed out at length.
He was neither tense nor frightened. If anything, if this were rappel practice, he could still enjoy it as much as he wanted.
But the reason Taesu exhaled so deeply was because of the dreadful sight of the scene.
Several injured people were already visible.
It was impossible to make out their detailed expressions or complexions.
But red blood could be recognized instinctively.
Red blood meant patients.
Once he saw the patients with his own eyes, his heart grew even more urgent.
It was then.
Whoooosh.
The wind direction changed, and black smoke blew toward the helicopter.
The moment he sensed the acrid air, Pilot Austin’s thunderous voice rang in their ears.
“Good luck. Everyone descend.”
“Jump.”
Thwack.
The four of them threw themselves out of the helicopter in unison.
The results of their training were, as expected, considerable.
Squad Leader Sam went without saying.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon headed rapidly toward the ground in identical posture.
Shrrrrk.
The descent time was not very long.
Ten meters… seven meters…
As they gauged the distance to the ground closing in an instant, they measured the timing to brake.
And a few seconds later,
Squad Leader Sam’s shout came through the helmet.
“Braking.”
Chk-chk-chk.
They moved their carabiners in the same way and applied the brakes.
True to the results of their training, even their landings were clean and without waste.
They were by-the-book postures worthy of applause.
The people themselves, however, had no interest in admiration and quickly released their rope fastenings first.
Sasak.
“Clear.”
In order, Squad Leader Sam, Taesu, Kim Hyeokgwon, and finally Jeong Minsu detached from the ropes.
After confirming it, Squad Leader Sam waved a hand above his head and shouted.
Whoosh, whoosh.
“All personnel safe.”
“I wish you all success.”
“Sir.”
“I plan to bring in one more load, so be aware. Moving out.”
Thududududu.
The helicopter rapidly left the scene and turned back.
Pilot Austin’s voice was the last thing they heard over the helmet radio.
At that moment, Taesu opened his duffel bag.
“This first.”
“What is it?”
Snap, snap.
He took out rolled-up white cloth from inside and threw them while calling their names.
“Minsu.”
“Hm?”
“Hyeokgwon.”
“Me too?”
The two accepted them with puzzled faces and unfolded them.
They were white doctor’s coats.
Coats with the NGO’s mark clearly emblazoned on them.
As if that wasn’t the end, Taesu rummaged through the duffel bag with his hand and shouted,
“Hand over the helmets and switch to these.”
And as soon as Kim Hyeokgwon saw what he took out, he recognized them.
“Radios and in-ears?”
“Take them first… Minsu, you too… Sam.”
Snap, snap.
Taesu quickly handed them out one by one.
Everyone swiftly took off their helmets, put them into the duffel bag, and put on the radios.
They hooked the in-ears over their ears and turned on the radios.
Beep.
“Can you hear me?”
Taesu said quietly.
At the same time,
Snap, snap, snap.
Kim Hyeokgwon, Jeong Minsu, and Squad Leader Sam all gave the same “OK” sign.
Taesu slung the duffel bag back over his shoulder and shouted,
“Then run.”
Tat-tat-tat.
The four of them rushed toward the burning bus in unison.
Now it was time to go find the patients.
As they ran, a bus stop caught his eye.
It was built of brick, like a bus stop on the outskirts of a rural area in Korea.
That bus stop, too, had collapsed, apparently from the impact of the explosion.
“Tsk.”
As he gauged the considerable explosive force, bitterness filled his mouth.
There was no one around it now.
Still, one never knew.
Since they had arrived at an emergency scene, Taesu gave Squad Leader Sam an order.
“Sam, the area is chaotic.”
“I’ll secure control of the scene first.”
Tatadak.
Squad Leader Sam immediately changed direction and headed toward the police.
In that brief moment, the patients they had seen from the helicopter came into view up ahead.
It was a place slightly away from the accident scene.
They were leaning against the wall of a low building.
They were white men who appeared to be around their thirties.
One of them was covering his forehead with his hand. The trail of blood running long down his face made a head injury instinctively obvious.
Another patient, apparently injured in the leg, was clutching his right leg.
“Huu, huu…”
“Ughhh.”
It wasn’t that their groans could be heard all the way over here.
But their faces, twisted as much as they could be, were enough to make the pain easy to imagine.