Ratatat.
The muzzle was angled upward.
Fired like that, there was no way it could hit a person.
It was a bluff, exactly what a warning shot was meant to be.
That bought Squad Leader Sam and Sergeant Ryan time to swap magazines.
"Doctor Choi, cloaking!"
"Yes."
Shhk.
Following Squad Leader Sam's order, Taesu hid himself again.
The two who had swapped magazines left no gap in the gunfire and fired aimed shots.
Tatatat!
"Argh!"
Screams came from the other side.
The sound didn't seem to reach Taesu's ears, his expression cold.
He held his rifle tight and kept watch around Himan and the family.
But the engagement didn't end easily.
"Damn it. They've got cover on that side, so we can't hit them!"
"I think it would have been better if we'd made the walls out of straw."
"If we had, we'd already be done for."
"More importantly, if we drag this out, we'll run into the main force."
Squad Leader Sam and Sergeant Ryan's worries deepened.
Then, from somewhere, Korean rang out sharply.
"Mister Choi, support at three o'clock!"
This voice?
It was Factory Manager Naduyeong's voice.
Taesu quickly relayed his instructions in English to Squad Leader Sam and Sergeant Ryan.
"Sam, Ryan, friendlies approaching at three o'clock!"
"Friendlies? Okay then. Ryan, spray them senseless!"
"Sure!"
Tatatatat!
Putting aside their bewilderment, the two fired first.
In between, the enemies' gunfire mixed in.
Tatatat!
Then, the enemies' screams were heard.
"Argh!"
"@$#%! Aagh!"
"$#%. Ugh!"
Now Himan seemed to have adapted to the situation; embracing his son, he interpreted.
"Enemy appearing from the flank, return fire……. That's all I heard."
"Cease fire!"
Taesu ordered immediately.
Squad Leader Sam and Sergeant Ryan stopped firing simultaneously.
Then Factory Manager Naduyeong's voice in English was heard.
"Let's shoot in moderation. If you shoot when it's clear, what else is that but telling me to die?"
"Factory Manager, for real?"
"Hey, Sam. In this country, finding a fake who looks like me would be harder anyway. Situation over, regardless."
The moment he finished speaking, his figure came into view.
Only then did Taesu spot Factory Manager Naduyeong.
He was covered in soot on his face and rifle. The force emanating from him was as sharp and grim as during his active-duty days as a deployed soldier.
He winked at Taesu, who met his gaze, and said.
"I saved you once."
"Are you allowed to move like that?"
"I'm on the verge of dying; is pain important?"
"That's not it. No, let's move first. I'm sick of this place now."
Factory Manager Naduyeong deeply agreed with Taesu's sincerity.
"We've had terrible luck since the moment we arrived, and it's bad luck to the very end. Tch, —?!"
He spat, putting emotion into it as if shaking off bad omens.
But that moment was brief.
Tutututu!
Gunfire began ringing out again from somewhere.
Thud, boom!
The sounds of grenades and grenade launchers were heard too.
Now it seemed both sides were properly clashing.
Squad Leader Sam shouted to everyone.
"Run to the edge of that village!"
"I'll go first!"
Tadadak.
Factory Manager Naduyeong ran out first.
Seeing that his speed wasn't very fast, it seemed the pain was breaking through the morphine's effects.
Then running first was a wise decision for everyone.
Taesu, about to run after him, threw away his rifle first.
Thud!
And spreading both arms, he shouted at Himan.
"Kids, any of them, quickly!"
"#@$%."
Himan shouted something at his son.
The son, who hadn't moved from his embrace, quickly turned around and ran to Taesu.
Thump.
Taesu picked up the son as if merging with him. In the meantime, Himan settled his daughter in his own arms.
They swapped positions in an instant and everyone started running together.
"Let's go. Quickly!"
Tadadak!
Taesu, Himan, and Himan's wife ran first.
Squad Leader Sam and Sergeant Ryan followed behind them while keeping watch.
After crisis upon crisis, an old truck was prepared up ahead.
Vroom.
It was ready to depart at any moment with the engine running.
Corporal Guseupia and Private First Class Anthony stood guard around it with their guns at the ready.
They weren't the only ones.
President Gu Seungheon and Namgung Hyeoncheol were supporting them.
Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu had climbed onto the cargo bed and were watching all directions like radar.
Among them, Jeong Minsu discovered them first and shouted.
"Factory Manager is coming from over there!"
Suddenly.
Brad Kim and Foreman Go Jiyong appeared from the front of the truck and reacted.
"Where's Doctor Choi?"
"What about Himan and the family?"
At those words, Kim Hyeokgwon pointed that way and informed them.
"They're running their legs off over there."
"Then I'll get ready to depart."
"Hurry and get in!"
Rush, rush.
Everyone except Corporal Guseupia and Private First Class Anthony hurriedly moved.
In the meantime, Factory Manager Naduyeong arrived.
"Help me up!"
"Hand here!"
"Huh?!"
While he was climbing up, Taesu and his party arrived.
Factory Manager Naduyeong had moved first, so the timing worked out perfectly.
Taesu lifted Himan's son high first and shouted.
"Kids first, catch him!"
"Got him!"
"My daughter!"
"Okay. Madame, come up……."
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
They boarded in sequence, and finally Squad Leader Sam and the soldiers boarded.
The cargo bed was packed full of people with no room to set foot.
That didn't matter at all.
Everything could be thought about after escaping to a safe place.
Thud, thud!
Taesu, positioned at the end of the cargo bed, hit it hard and shouted.
"Go!"
"How's the latecomer so confident. Go!"
Vroom!
Foreman Go Jiyong, gripping the steering wheel, started the car with a rebuke.
The truck quickly left its spot.
At the same time, enormous sounds were heard from the direction of the village.
Ratatatata, kwagwagwang. Boom, boom!
It was the sound of the main forces colliding and full-scale war beginning.
It didn't matter now.
Tap.
Taesu let go of his tension and checked his wristwatch.
"After all that commotion, only this much time has passed."
"That short amount of time changed several fates."
As Jeong Minsu spoke as if brushing by, Taesu paused and looked at him.
"Right. The emergency patient."
"There was a hemostasis expert better than you, so there was no problem."
"Hyeoncheol?"
Taesu raised his head slightly and looked for Namgung Hyeoncheol.
He was seated next to Mo Sangdu, whom he usually got along well with.
But Mo Sangdu seemed to have been injured; bandages were wrapped messily around his shoulder and chest.
It looked like emergency treatment had been done with medicine barely scavenged.
Perhaps because there had been no painkillers among them, Mo Sangdu's face was hideously contorted.
"Unnngh."
"Little brother Sangdu, endure it."
"Hyeoncheol-hyung. It really……. It hurts so much."
"You said you'd go back to college when we get to Korea. Endure it. You have to go to school."
At those words, Taesu gave a bitter smile.
'So that's how it sounds?'
An old drama title overlapped in his mind.
But it seemed it wasn't Taesu's thought alone.
Kim Yeongseon and Bong Yunju were also forcing awkward smiles.
That smile was truly brief.
"……."
The interior of the cargo bed was silent, if not desolate.
Rattle, rattle.
Despite the truck's violent movements, not a single groan leaked out.
The fact that they were alive was incredibly important.
But now that relief was setting in, it seemed the next worries were rushing in.
About that, neither Taesu nor the medical staff had anything to say.
They were in the middle of descending the mountain like that.
Screech.
The truck suddenly hit the brakes.
Everyone in the unprepared cargo bed was thrown forward and screamed.
"Kyaaah!"
"Aaah!"
The moment the truck stopped, complaints poured out toward Foreman Go Jiyong.
"You bastard. You still drive like shit!"
"Say something if you're going to stop!"
"%#@$%."
The locals also shouted at the top of their lungs with expressions burning with anger.
Before the complaints could even fade.
President Gu Seungheon, seated in the passenger seat, leaned halfway out the window and informed the cargo bed of the situation ahead.
"Something is strange up ahead."
"What is it?"
"Something has changed."
"What on earth……. No way?"
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon interpreted into English, and then quickly repeated it in Hindustani.
Everyone was greatly agitated by the news that spread in an instant.
"#$%#$%."
"#%#$%."
Especially the locals, who didn't know what to do with the surging anxiety again.
It was to the point that Kim Hyeokgwon and Himan had to shout simultaneously to suppress them.
In the meantime, Squad Leader Sam and squad members who had dismounted from the cargo bed assessed the surroundings and reported.
"It's true. There's a force concealed approximately 500 meters away."
"Is it the Indian Army?"
"Unable to confirm in detail. The problem is, by the fact that they're waiting, they know well there's no other exit."
"It's fortunate we found out beforehand, but……."
Taesu felt helpless at the fact that there was nothing after that.
When would the PKO arrive?
Without even a moment to wonder, Private First Class Anthony was operating a military radio.
"……Notifying of the situation. When will support arrive!"
Private First Class Anthony, listening intently on the phone-type radio, frowned.
"Is it true that Eagle support is difficult now? Request confirmation! ……You bastards. What other support!"
Private First Class Anthony broke from radio protocol and vented his irritation violently.
If helicopter support wasn't coming, what other support was there?
Everyone who understood Anthony's English hardened their expressions.
They were isolated.
They were in a situation where they couldn't go up or down.
If they delayed here any longer, an encirclement could form.
It was too far to the city to abandon the vehicle and move on foot.
Moreover, since it was in the mountains, they could get lost.
None of them had packed a change of clothes.
They were desperate for even a sip of water; waiting endlessly was too bleak.
Squad Leader Sam made a decision with resolute eyes.
"If it comes to this, we have no choice but to break through."
"Sam, don't do anything reckless."
"Doctor Choi. Is there another way?"
"Support is coming, isn't it?"
Taesu made the most rational choice.
But Squad Leader Sam immediately shook his head.
"They've noticed we've stopped. What will they do now?"
"……They'll come up, I suppose."
"With their damn soldier mentality, they absolutely won't wait."
"Because they need to rack up combat achievements."
Taesu felt bitter, knowing that.
But that guess wasn't unfounded.
"They're moving!"
Sergeant Ryan called out in a low voice.
They had barely escaped, only to face another crisis.
Large trees covered the winding, twisted road, so there was no line of sight for firing immediately.
That was a stroke of luck.
But it was only 500 meters.
Even if the advance was slow because it was a mountain path, it wouldn't take long to approach.