Extra, Chapter 439: A Better Life Than Now (1)

Creak. Creak.

The soldiers kicked up dust with every step they took on the dried mud path that led to the hills. James and another soldier walked about ten meters ahead, followed by their sniper, seven women, and eleven children.

The rest flanked the natives, with Smithen taking up the left and Kang Chan walking ahead of him. Maxon and one other soldier brought up the rear.

It was maddening. Walking like this knowing armed rebels could just jump out of nowhere was undeniably nerve-wracking for inexperienced combatants like them.

The women swayed as they walked, while the children had a spring to their steps. By the time the toddling children reached the age of the women holding their hands, they too would have dry skin and a sway to their walk.

Creak. Creak.

The path itself made Kang Chan tense up far more than walking with the soldiers. Sighing, he kept a sharp eye around him and the women walking ahead.

He learned early on that the woman walking behind him was only seventeen and that her daughter was five. In this cursed land, that could be life and culture. At the very least, it was clear that a five-year-old was too horrifyingly young to be hiding in a cave and fearing the brutal slaughter of rebels.

He wanted to save them—to send them to a place where they wouldn’t have to worry about the rebels.

The standard step taught in the training center was about a meter and ten centimeters. Every morning and evening, they walked until they became accustomed to the step.

Hence, when walking like this, they could roughly estimate the distance they had traveled based on the hours walked. So far, they had already covered a kilometer, which was usually when children would look up at their mothers to show their struggle.

Kang Chan thought of the soldier who had asked for water. They could easily endure it if they were only a kilometer away from their destination, but they still had five kilometers left to cover.

“Stop!” Kang Chan ordered. The soldier to his right loudly repeated the command.

Creak. Creak.

While Kang Chan moved left and right to survey their surroundings, dust billowed up around the women and children.

“We'll rest for ten minutes! Sniper! Go up there! James! Move up thirty meters to the left side and secure the perimeter!” he exclaimed, then turned around. “Maxon! Find a good vantage point thirty meters behind us!”

“Oui!”

The soldiers’ equipment clanked as they moved. The man carrying the injured moved to the left side of the hill and laid the injured person down in the shade. With a hand gesture from Kang Chan, the women moved with their children near the injured.

The women shaded their eyes with their hands and looked at Kang Chan. The most striking sight was their dust-covered feet. Both the women and children were barefoot.

One child had a bleeding, cracked foot, but no one seemed to pay it any mind.

“Distribute water and C-rations.”

At Kang Chan's command, a soldier handed the women a C-ration and a bottle of water each.

“We'll eat here before we set off again. Keep two extra bottles of water just in case.”

Kang Chan gestured toward their injured, and the soldier currently in charge of him gave a brief reply before moving.

Meanwhile, Kang Chan turned his head to the natives, finding a woman who seemed to be a mother sprinkling water from her hands onto her child's face.

Funny. Although we’ve got a limited supply of water, they still pour it into their hands to drink. Their hands aren't even clean, yet it doesn’t seem to matter. Even now, in this situation, they still somehow found the strength to sprinkle water at each other and laugh together.

C-rations similar to the ones they had in the cave were distributed. Kang Chan leaned against the hill opposite the injured person and opened his.

Crunch. Crunch.

There were seven women and eleven children. Only then did he realize that the woman with two children could definitely run out of food.

Damn it! I've never had my lunch, school meals, or even a piece of bread taken from me!

Kang Chan looked at a child staring intently at his C-ration and then offered the meal to him. The child gazed at him, turned to his mother, and then hesitantly approached him.

“

Ngiyabonga

[1].”

Kang Chan handed over the C-ration with a faint smile. The child accepted it timidly before turning back and running to his mother.

You know, you’re the first person I've ever given my food to. Some kids in Korea only brought chopsticks to school, but even they never touched my food. Well, maybe that was because the side dishes weren’t worth it, but that's beside the point. No one ever dared eat in front of me, not even during recess.

Anyway, eat that, grow stronger, and strive to have a better life, kid. At least better than one where you’re forced to eat C-rations on the road.

Kang Chan took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

Click! Sizzle!

“

Hoooo.”

He desperately craved a sweet cup of coffee. Just one sip, followed by a puff of his cigarette while the sweet taste still lingered, and he'd have no complaints in the world.

Kang Chan smirked. Even though he had always lived with less, watching the women and children made his previous life seem luxurious if not for the battles he had fought.

Time flowed with the precision of an obsessive miser. They were already halfway there, but they still had a really long trek ahead of them.

Kang Chan got up.

"Get ready to move!"

As commanded, Smithen and the other soldiers stood up.

That bastard acted like he was dying earlier, yet he doesn’t seem to have any problems gobbling up C-rations with his unmoving mouth.

As the saying goes, when you dislike someone, even watching them eat becomes the most annoying thing. I should observe that bastard every now and then to build patience.

Kang Chan walked over to the injured soldier.

"We're halfway there. It won't take much longer, so hang in there. You've done well so far."

The man, whose face had turned pale, nodded weakly. When Kang Chan crouched down, Smithen and another soldier lifted the injured man onto his back.

Creak. Creak. Plod. Plod.

The women and children instinctively moved to the middle of the path. Curious children turned their heads to look at Kang Chan, but it was hard to know why.

***

The Sohee’s Noodles Banquet Hall had been closed for about a month now. In the dark store, Yang So-Mi lay in the cold room to the left of the kitchen at the back, taking labored breaths and thinking of the one person who always showed up just to leave behind an apology.

How can someone so clueless think they could be a soldier?

Since being kicked out, he had been bouncing from one manual labor job to another.

Despite everything, though, she wanted to see him just once.

If she had let him eat a bowl of jajangmyeon before he left the last time, it wouldn’t have weighed so heavily on her heart.

I wanted to leave him some money, at least a deposit for monthly rent...

Rattle.

Hearing the door open made Yang So-Mi's heart pound with fear. She had nothing left to give, and if they demanded more, all she could offer was her life.

“Is anyone here?”

Yang So-Mi felt her ears perk up.

“No one?”

She had desperately wanted to see him and call him Dad, but now that she heard his voice, all her pent-up resentment blocked her feelings again. As her emotions surged, her breathing became wheezy, like the sound of wind through a slightly open window.

“So-Mi?”

Rattle.

The door opened.

Yang Dong-Sik peeked inside with a dazed and foolish expression.

Whoosh!

He threw off his shoes and stepped inside.

“So-Mi! What's wrong? What happened?” Yang Dong-Sik asked.

“What are you doing here?”

No! That’s not what I wanted to say! Just this once, I wanted to accept him calmly.

“Are you sick? What’s wrong?”

“Haaa. Haaa.”

Yang So-Mi looked at the wallpaper peeling from the ceiling. She then burst into tears.

“Don't cry, So-Mi.” Yang Dong-Sik reached out but hesitated to wipe her tears.

“Why did you have me?

Haa, haa.

You couldn’t even take responsibility, so why?!”

“I'm... sorry.”

That's not what I wanted to say. I’m acting no differently from before.

“Are you really okay?”

“I’m fine! Just go.”

This isn’t right! This could be the last time I see him. No matter how much I hate him, I have to call him Dad just once...

“Look at your face... What happened?”

Yang Dong-Sik caressed her sunken cheek.

Yang So-Mi didn’t expect his rough hand to be so warm. Having never imagined anyone would cry for her, her own tears began to fall more freely. She never thought she’d cry so much in front of Yang Dong-Sik either.

***

Creak. Creak.

The sun had dipped behind their heads, slathering them with hot rays as they struggled onward.

Having walked another kilometer, Kang Chan decided to have his men and the civilians take another break.

A living person’s rotting body had an overwhelming stench. When mixed with sweat, it became even more nauseating. However, just like the first time he had this cursed experience, the truly horrible part was the weight of the soldier on his back. As the soldier's strength waned and his body sagged, his remaining life became lighter. This truth was far harder to bear than walking an extra kilometer with him on his back.

"Stop!" Kang Chan shouted, and the soldiers immediately stopped and passed the command along. "Sniper! Secure a vantage point! Give James and Maxon the same orders I issued earlier!"

“Oui!”

As the sniper moved, Kang Chan walked over to a half-shaded area. Smithen and another soldier approached and laid the injured man on the ground. He was barely conscious now, and his face was completely drained of color.

"Give him some water."

The soldier opened a water bottle and slowly dribbled some into the injured man’s mouth, but he couldn’t seem to swallow it. It was a ridiculous thought, but he wished the water was at least cool.

It sounded insane, but the dying soldier, the children sagging in the shade, and the weary women looking at him made Kang Chan wish he could sit down and spend the next twenty minutes eating frozen red bean ice cream from a Korean supermarket. However, if he could only get one wish, then he’d use it to get to their destination.

I’d willingly forget about the ice cream.

Kang Chan stood beside the soldier and looked around, finding the sniper climbing up diligently. He also saw James ahead and Maxon behind climbing hills. They had to be sick of climbing hills too.

His mouth was dry and tasted the dirt. At times like these, there was nothing like a cigarette.

As Kang Chan took out a cigarette and rummaged through his other pocket, his heart suddenly started pounding.

Thump. Thump.

He quickly turned his head, startling Smithen so much that he straightened up.

Thump. Thump.

What now? What’s coming this time?

Kang Chan turned to where the sniper was. The sniper was still climbing.

"Sniper! Get down! Now!"

Click!

Kang Chan threw away his cigarette and raised his rifle.

"Stay alert! James! Maxon! We’ve got enemies inbound—!”

A chilling gunshot rang out, cutting off Kang Chan.

Bang!

The sniper's head exploded, and his body tumbled down the slope.

“

Aaaah

!”

The next gunshots came from Maxon's direction. It seemed there was a sniper positioned on the hill on the left side of the road ahead. If so, then their safest bet right now was to climb halfway into the hill to their left.

"Take cover! Get to that hill! Hurry!"

Bang!

A bullet hit the dirt near James.

Tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat!

James was slightly better off. He seemed to have found some cover and was returning fire, temporarily stopping the sniper's aggression. The women and children had crouched down about ten meters up.

"Smithen! Guard the front!"

Tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat!

"You, follow me!"

Kang Chan, along with the remaining soldiers, climbed up the hill.

Creak. Creak.

They seemed to be waiting just beyond the curve to the left.

Ratatatatat! Ratatat! Thud thud thud! Bang!

Gunfire from automatic rifles and a sniper rifle rang out simultaneously. They seemed to have launched an attack out of fear of being spotted by the soldiers who would have climbed the opposite hill.

Creak. Creak.

Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!

His breath grew heavier, but the seemingly neverending gunshots urged them to hurry.

Ratatatat! Woosh! Thud thud! Ratatatat! Bang!

He had to keep moving. If James fell, they would all be trapped and finished.

1. Ngiyabonga means thank you ☜