After hearing everything, Battalion Commander Valentino took a step closer.
Step.
Then he lightly pressed his shoulder against Taesu’s and Jeong Minsu’s.
True to his proactive, openhearted nature, he didn’t stand on ceremony.
On top of that, the heat radiating from Battalion Commander Valentino’s body was intense.
Sergeant Gibson’s impression had been right.
Battalion Commander Valentino, too, cherished his men like his own children.
And he seemed deeply grateful to Taesu’s group for saving those children of his.
“I will never forget your hard work.”
“It’s still too early to draw a conclusion.”
“You’re right. Then let’s go. I’ll escort you comfortably to Malnoi.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Of course.”
Battalion Commander Valentino smiled faintly.
A short while later.
Everyone inside the building came outside.
Squad Leader Sam and the other squad members who had continued keeping watch over the surroundings all gathered as well.
Once they were all together like this, their numbers were considerable.
Battalion Commander Valentino raised his voice without the slightest delay.
“We withdraw immediately. Protect the stretchers and move quickly!”
“Sir.”
Clack, clack.
Battalion Commander Valentino took the lead, and the battalion members followed behind him.
After that, keeping a bit of distance from them, Taesu and the others walked at a relaxed pace.
Taesu stretched lightly and said,
“Ugh. I finally feel a bit at ease now.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Worked hard, my foot. Sam, you and everyone else must be exhausted from staying on guard the whole time.”
“We got a bit of rest. But…”
Just as Squad Leader Sam was about to continue.
Whoooosh!
It sounded like a whistle came from somewhere.
“What was that…”
Just as they were rolling their eyes in confusion.
Something flew into the building between the battalion troops and Taesu’s group.
Then it struck the building and exploded.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
“Back!”
“Protect the doctors!”
“Assistant squad leader’s team, assess the situation first, hurry!”
Rustle.
Squad Leader Sam and the squad members quickly protected Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon.
Once they had backed away to a suitable distance, thick dust blocked their view.
Taesu quickly shouted to Squad Leader Sam.
“Sam, are the battalion troops safe?”
Tap.
Instead of answering, Squad Leader Sam lightly raised his thumb.
Taesu nodded and let out a sigh of relief.
Then, just like Assistant Squad Leader Leo and Sergeant Ryan, he focused on his in-ear.
Squad Leader Sam answered on their behalf.
“…Sir. We’ll move that way.”
Lowering the radio, Squad Leader Sam looked around at everyone and said,
“We reorganize into three teams again and scatter using the planned escape route.”
“Sir.”
Before they knew it, the squad members replied with grim expressions.
Squad Leader Sam lowered the ends of his eyebrows toward Taesu and the two others, asking for their understanding.
“That’s how it turned out.”
“They really won’t let us have it easy to the very end.”
“Heh, it seems so.”
“We’ll be in your care once again.”
Taesu spoke on their behalf.
Since they had already experienced it once, Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon showed a little more composure as well.
“I’m not going to end up in danger again, am I?”
“Let’s each take care of ourselves.”
After that brief exchange.
Taesu spoke in a calm voice.
“Let’s get back quickly and show them that this is the strength of the Heli Medical Team.”
“Good idea.”
“See you in a bit.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
As the medical team split up, the squad members who had been waiting moved with them.
And so, at Taesu’s side once again were Squad Leader Sam, Corporal Goospia, and Corporal Alton.
Taesu showed confidence as he suggested,
“Let’s head out.”
“We’ll start moving calmly.”
Squad Leader Sam raised his guard again and moved cautiously.
Taesu was a little different.
‘I already got through a crisis where I nearly died.’
The emergency treatment, which had doubled as emergency surgery, had ended smoothly, and confidence was swelling inside him.
Perhaps because of that, Taesu’s tension was about to loosen slightly.
“At this point, there’s no need to be that sensitive.”
Even his voice grew slightly drawn out.
It couldn’t be helped.
Maintaining a state of tension continuously was an extremely difficult thing to do.
That was when it happened.
A fork in the road appeared up ahead.
It was a three-way intersection where the path split off to one side.
The tension in Squad Leader Sam, who was walking ahead, was clearly different from Taesu’s.
As they approached the fork, he quickly pressed himself to the wall.
Tap!
Then he stuck out only his head slightly and checked the twelve o’clock direction.
Taesu, on the other hand, was walking while looking elsewhere.
‘All the buildings look about the same.’
It was a structure he couldn’t tell was a shop or a house.
Walking thoughtlessly like that, he was about to pass by Squad Leader Sam.
At that instant, Squad Leader Sam quickly reached out his hand.
His palm struck Taesu directly in the face.
Thud.
“Ugh.”
Taesu’s expression stiffened after being hit in the face without warning.
But then.
After carefully looking at twelve o’clock once more, Squad Leader Sam spat out a single irritated word.
“Shh!”
Then he immediately threw himself at Taesu.
Crash.
The two of them tumbled down tangled together.
Taesu’s expression crumpled fiercely after being hit with a body blow out of nowhere.
“Sam, all of a sudden…”
Just as Taesu was about to voice his displeasure.
Tadadadang!
Gunshots rang out loudly.
That wasn’t all.
Peeung, thud, ping!
Bullets struck here and there, and dust scattered.
Seeing that, Taesu’s face went rigid.
“What the hell, enemies?”
Squad Leader Sam, who had already sprung to his feet, shouted openly.
“Alton, take care of Doctor Choi!”
“Sir!”
“Goospia, return fire!”
“Damn bastards, we were just trying to pass by quietly!”
Click.
Corporal Goospia chambered a round with hands full of irritation.
Then Squad Leader Sam and Corporal Goospia put their backs to the building and returned fire together.
Tutududu!
“Goospia, how many?”
“One, two… Hup!”
Whoosh!
Corporal Goospia quickly turned his body back inside the corner.
At the same time.
Tadadang, thud, thud!
Along with the sound of gunfire, part of the corner was shattered by bullets striking it directly.
If Corporal Goospia’s reaction had been even a little late, it could have been extremely dangerous.
Squad Leader Sam stuck only the muzzle of his gun out past the corner and fired.
Tadang, tadadang!
“Goospia, you okay?”
“Yes. I confirmed two, and there seem to be at least one more, maybe as many as three.”
“With two of us shooting from one side, we’re not flexible enough.”
“I’ll cross over.”
Their opinions moved back and forth rapidly.
Standing a little back from the three-way intersection, Taesu doubted his ears for a moment.
“Cross over? Cross over what!”
No one answered.
They were in a standoff with the enemy, so they couldn’t answer every question one by one.
Corporal Alton, despite the radio on his back, approached the soldiers with a nimbleness that made the burden seem irrelevant.
Squad Leader Sam immediately gave Corporal Alton an order.
“Alton, get down and shoot.”
“Sir.”
Rustle!
Corporal Alton nimbly lay flat on the ground.
Considering the radio, it looked terribly uncomfortable for him to get into position. However, once he was down, there was the advantage that he wouldn’t have to change posture often.
Squad Leader Sam leaned his back against the wall and drew in deep breaths.
“Hoo, hoo. Ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good… Now!”
Tadadadadang!
Squad Leader Sam and Corporal Alton sprayed bullets at the same time.
At that instant, Corporal Goospia threw himself forward, moving with agility that belied his large body.
Roll.
Using a breakfall, he increased his rolling speed and reached the opposite side.
Bullets struck all around where he had passed.
Tadang, tutudu!
The moment of crossing was instantaneous.
It didn’t even take a second.
It showed just about the reflexes of an ordinary person.
Fortunately, Corporal Goospia’s physical abilities were superior to an ordinary person’s, so there was no problem.
“I’m across!”
“Two, three, let ’em have it!”
“Sir. Die, you rotten bastards!”
Tudada, tudadada!
The soldiers returned fire at the same time.
As expected, when they concentrated their fire all at once, their firepower increased.
Taesu couldn’t close his mouth at what was unfolding before his eyes.
If he put it very positively, it was like watching a war movie right before his eyes, vividly not in 4D but in 10D.
But that vividness was the drawback.
Fragments of bullets striking the walls and floor scattered in every direction.
No one could predict their angles.
Ping! Pshh, thud!
Even now, bullets were ricocheting here and there around Taesu.
One of them grazed Taesu’s thigh.
Slash!
“Ghk!”
At the burning pain, Taesu’s face twisted sharply.
Looking down, he saw that around the middle of his right thigh, the fabric was slightly cut, and the skin had swollen red.
It seemed the bullet hadn’t directly touched his flesh but had grazed past.
Even so, he had been burned.
‘How did a bullet fly over here when I’m standing here?’
Taesu’s position was about five meters back from the three-way intersection.
And he was pressed against the wall, too.
By common sense, there was no way he could be hit by a bullet.
But because the firefight was happening at a three-way intersection, it was possible.
Only now did he truly understand the saying that bullets had no eyes.
Taesu’s gaze turned to the soldiers.
Tutududu.
“Alton, reload!”
“Hurry. Those bastards are hiding themselves craftily.”
Click!
Squad Leader Sam quickly changed magazines as well, grumbling in irritation.
Corporal Goospia was the same.
Then suddenly, Corporal Goospia let out a low cry.
“Urgh!”
“You hit?”
“A ricochet put a hole in my uniform!”
“Avenge your uniform!”
“Of course. You enemies of my uniform!”
Tadang, tadadang!
Corporal Goospia truly treated them as enemies.
The uniform was just an excuse.
Kill or be killed.
They were standing at that crossroads.
As they exchanged fire a few more times like that.
Corporal Alton urgently pulled his body back and shouted,
“Incoming!”
“What’s coming!”
“Grenade, take cover!”
At the shout, Squad Leader Sam and Corporal Goospia each reacted.
“Holy—?!”
Corporal Goospia’s rough voice sounded a little farther away.
At that instant, Squad Leader Sam and Corporal Alton flew toward Taesu at the same time.
“Get down!”
Crash!
Without giving him time to act, the soldiers threw themselves over Taesu.
Pinned to the ground, Taesu let out a heavy groan of pain.
Right then.
Kwaang!
The grenade exploded, and a fierce wind rushed over them.
The tremor created by the explosion shook the ground and the buildings.
Fortunately, since the grenade hadn’t reached the three-way intersection, there was no direct damage.
Taesu wasn’t so timid that the sound of a grenade would frighten him.
He quickly gathered his wits and checked on the soldiers first.
“Sam, Alton, are you all right?”
“Ghh. My back is burning.”
“My back’s fine because of the radio, but it’s ridiculously heavy.”
“That Korean Army radio operator said it before. They don’t call it the PRC-77 for nothing. More importantly, Doctor Choi, are you all right?”
At Squad Leader Sam’s question, Taesu said something completely out of the blue.