“Two days ago,” Colonel Wan started, “one of you committed a heinous crime. Food was stolen. Food that belonged to all of you.”
I raised my eyebrows.
What is he talking about… since when do prisoners get rice?
“Since this is a crime that was committed against all of us, we waited patiently the whole day yesterday, naively expecting at least one of you Great General-forsaken traitors to step up and do your duty according to Sacred Rule number five - Report all and any suspicious behavior. But none of you did. I would like to be able to say this disappointed me, but in fact… it only reminded me that you - the Strayed - are nothing more than worthless, treasonous vermin who only care about yourselves and who take joy in the suffering of others. In fact… I’m anything but surprised that you are covering for this despicable thief.”
Colonel Wan walked along the first line of people, eyeballing each person as to see if they would crack on the spot and confess.
No one did.
“Since not reporting a theft is an equal offense to the theft itself, as I see it, you are all guilty. Therefore… until the thief has been exposed, I have no choice but to cut the food rations for everybody by fifty percent, effective immediately.”
A loud gasp went through the crowd. Even dad woke up from his slumber and put a hand over his mouth, panic written on face. I knew what he was thinking. Today was the last day of our half-ration punishment… from tomorrow we were going to get full rations again. In his mind, this was a death sentence. Nari gasped as well, but Sun Hee and I didn’t. She knew she would be taken care of by General Roh. And since I finally had caved to Hana, and she had promised we wouldn’t have any more food problems, this statement didn’t worry me as much as it would have just a couple of days ago… and not as much as being forced to do Hana’s bidding, whatever it would be.
“And…” Colonel Wan continued, pausing until he again had attained complete silence from the crowd, “I will also execute one random person every morning until the thief has been named.”
Another gasp went through the crowd, and this time I was just as affected as the rest.
Colonel Wan continued pacing in front of the first row before coming to a halt.
“And today… that random person is… you!”
He pointed at a middle-aged woman standing right in front of him. She was immediately grabbed by two guards and dragged screaming away from the crowd to the poles in front of the large mural.
“NO! PLEASE! IT WASN’T ME… I PROMISE, IT WASN’T ME! AND I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING… I SWEAR! PLEASE!” the woman wailed as the guards tied her head, chest, and waist to one of the middle poles.
Colonel Wan signaled to the guards to gag her, which made her screams muffled and distorted, but it didn’t make them stop. A little girl suddenly broke out from the masses and ran over to her, crying and screaming. It must have been her daughter. But before she had reached her mother, one of the guards hit her over the head with the heel of his machine gun. She collapsed on the ground, blood streaming down her forehead. Some men - I guessed one of them was her father - ran forward and quickly dragged her back into the crowd before the guards would decide to tie her up as well next to her mother. I half-expected Colonel Wan to order the guards to seize the men saving the little girl, but he just waited patiently until they had been swallowed up by the sea of people.
While this was happening, the firing squad had formed in front of the poles. I recognized the same faces from the mourning ceremonies in honor of the passing of our Father - the Great General. Chang Min was there. Chul as well. Also this time, there was no trace of any nervous flickering of his eyes or trembling of his body. He just stood there, holding his rifle. Numb. I noticed Chang Min gave him a look that was somewhere in between proud and concerned.
“READY!”
“AIM!”
“SHOOT!”
The woman’s head exploded in front of us, once more desecrating the face of infinite kindness of our Father - the Great General with a pray of stark red blood and shiny gray substance. The familiar pain of loss and abandonment shot through my heart, overriding the shock of seeing that poor woman lose her life in this gruesome way.
Colonel Wan repeated his commands once more, and the rope holding her chest was shredded by the next round of shots. The final round severed the ropes holding her waist, and her lifeless body fell to the ground in front of the stage with a thump, as so many had before her.
There was not much commotion in the crowd, apart from the woman’s daughter who had regained consciousness, and whose muffled screams emerged from somewhere deep in the masses. Looking at this scene, I was suddenly horrified by the realization that after all the executions we had witnessed… seeing yet another had become a normal part of life here. Not even Nari, who was still standing next to me, cried this time. There was, however, another feeling creeping up on me. It was a familiar feeling. It was the feeling I felt whenever I looked at Mina.
It was guilt.
This woman was executed for what I did… I’m the reason she’s dead. Just like Ki Ha…
On the other side of the yard, I suddenly noticed Jun Ha standing with crossed arms. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I felt he was looking right at me. His face was grave and serious… judgmental.
I averted my eyes.
Areum… it’s just in your head! Nobody knows! Nobody except for—
“Now,” Colonel Wan re-entered the scene, almost stepping on the poor woman’s bloody corpse on the ground. “I sincerely hope… for your sake… that you will do your duty and provide us with the name of the thief before sundown. If you don’t… we will have another gathering like this tomorrow morning. And remember… you don’t have to stand in the front row to be picked.” His gaze scanned all of us standing in the back with a malignant smile. I once more hid behind the tall prisoner as if that would keep me safe. “That’s all… DISMISSED!”
Just like that, he turned around and marched back into the Oversight, followed by the group of faceless officers. Chang Min and some other guards brought out the usual wagon to load the body. I wanted to turn around and escape the scene I knew would come, but just then, I noticed Lucky had wandered up to the poles and was touching the blood with his finger. Now, I couldn’t look away. The guards noticed him too and exchanged meaningful looks and smirks. In the blink of an eye, they rushed over and grabbed him. Laughingly they dragged him back and threw him onto the wagon on top of the bloody corpse of the executed woman. Lucky wailed in horror - even his damaged brain seemed to be able to appreciate what was happening to him - but the guards were practically bursting with laughter. He tried to get off, but the guards just pushed him back down again.
“Take him up to Cemetery Hill,” one of them laughed so hard he almost choked.
Chang Min and another guard took the wagon and sprinted past us, making the terrified prisoners in their way jump to the right and left not to be run over, and headed off in the direction of the hill of death. Lucky was not trying to get out anymore. He was holding on for dear life. The rest of the guards ran after them, never ceasing to laugh. I looked at Nari. She was just as shocked as I was. The other prisoners around us exchanged similar looks. Even though I avoided Lucky like the plague, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
At least, they wouldn’t kill him. That was the unwritten rule.
“It’s like the mourning period all over again,” Nari whispered to me shortly after as we commenced working in the cornfield. “It’s like they are trying to find excuses to kill us.”
“That’s probably not far from the truth,” I said.
“Do you think they will find the thief?”
“Don’t know… but I’m sure they will find someone.”
Nari looked at me.
“You mean… you think they will just throw some innocent person in front of the firing squad?”
“There is not a doubt in my mind, Nari. Anyway… it’s better that one more random guy dies a
nd ends all of this than that ten more random people dying… or more.”
Nari stopped what she was doing and stared at me with her mouth open.
“You can’t honestly believe that,” she said. “You can’t trade a life for a life.”
“Nari… in here, we have to be smart… we have to survive. Yes, it’s horrible, but in here you have to look out for yourself and your family… and sometimes that means sacrificing someone before they have the chance to sacrifice you.”
Nari’s eyes darkened under her thick glasses.
“I will never do that. If I did… I would never be able to live with myself. Then it’s better I die.”
Now, I was the one staring at Nari with my mouth wide open.
“Nari… you’d better stop with this nonsense right now. What is the point of me going out of my way to protect you if you don’t even have an ounce of self-preservation yourself? Nari… in here, we need to do difficult things… things that may seem wrong, in order to survive. We need to be on the same page about this.”
“Never,” Nari spat with disgust. “I will never let anyone die just so I can live.”
“That’s rid—”
“Hey, you two!” Mr. Ma barked. “Stop yapping and get back to work!”
This was the first time he had spoken to us since the fight. Sang Jun and Dong Suk stood next to him, glaring at us menacingly.
Nari gave me an angry look before turning around to work with her back toward me.
Great General… how can she be so stupid? All I do for her, and she doesn’t even care about herself.
We didn’t talk for the rest of the workday… even though I again had to fill the greater part of her quota. As we walked home in a pressing silence, Hana again appeared by the School of Juche. Nari just continued marching home, ignoring the rule of always walking together.
“Trouble in paradise?” Hana asked as she handed me the bundle of steaming rice.
I answered with an annoyed glare and hurried home.
Once inside, I slammed the door and threw the rice on Nari’s quilt in front of her.
“Here,” I grunted.
She looked at it and then gave me an accusing stare.
“Areum, what exactly did you have to do to get this?”
“Nari… I promise you… I haven’t hurt anyone to get you this,” I lied.
Nari continued staring at me, searching my eyes for the truth.
“Nobody got hurt?” she asked.
“Nobody got hurt,” I repeated.
She bit her lip.
“Okay, Areum… if you promise, I believe you,” she said, but there was no real conviction in her voice.
“I promise,” I repeated one more time, feeling I was at the point of exploding if she accused me again.
Even if I did lie… I’m her sister and she has to believe me. And I’m only doing this for her own good! She doesn’t know the sacrifices I make and the danger I put myself in for her sake… she’s so ungrateful!
I turned away and started heating the half ration of corn sludge and cabbage Nari had picked up on the way home.
“How about a thank you!” I muttered under my breath.
Nari didn’t hear. Or chose not to react.
We didn’t talk during dinner. Dad came home late and continued the silence. He looked more and more like a walking corpse and only spoke when absolutely necessary. Nari lay down and the light from the fire fell on the flaky rash around her neck. Maybe it was my imagination, but it looked like it was healing. A cautious sense of relief spread through my body.
Before going to sleep, we only exchanged a tense goodnight. Sun Hee had not come home yet, and I shuddered on my hard bed imagining what she might be doing with the Demon of Yodok at this very moment. With that unpleasant image engraved in my mind, I squeezed the Great General pin hard until my exhaustion got the best of me. Sadly, there was no refuge to be found in my dreams and until the early morning hours, I was tormented by two dimly lit unclothed figures doing unspeakable things on the other side of the window.
CHAPTER 35
The next day was a Saturday. Chul once again woke us up before the break of dawn and told us to hurry to the courtyard. This time, however, Sun Hee and dad had already left for their respective work details, so Nari and I walked through the chilly morning air alone, surrounded by a sea of people. The silence between us was tense. Still, it would have been even tenser with our parents around. I looked up at the starlit sky. The moon was full and there was not a cloud in sight. I knew what that meant.
Today will be hot…
The yard smelled of death and sweat as the thousands of prisoners formed around the mural of the smiling Great General, creating a warm buffer against the coldness of the morning. Standing still made my feet ache more, but they were in better shape than before. The cut on my hand was also healing. I forced myself up on my toes and scanned the yard. Unlike yesterday, there was already a person tied to one of the poles. It looked like a man, but the bag over his head prevented me from seeing who it was.
Another stab of guilt pierced my heart.
But no one must ever know I’m the Acrobat Thief… Nari needs me too much!
General Roh was also today nowhere to be seen. Colonel Wan raised his hand to silence us.
“The food thief has been caught,” Colonel Wan announced victoriously. “I’m pleased to see that at least some of you take our Sacred Rules seriously. But that said… it’s an outrage that it took two whole days for this matter to be resolved. For this you deserve to be further punished… but for now, we’ll settle for punishing the thief himself.”
Colonel Wan went over and removed the bag from the tied man’s head.
I gasped. This was not a stranger losing his life. This was a person I knew. This was a person I hated. It was Sang Jun from my work unit. One of Mr. Ma’s thugs… the one who beat up Nari the day we hadn’t filled our quota. I remembered his constant hateful glares ever since. And now, he was tied to a pole facing a firing squad for the crime I had committed. His face was swollen and bruised, just like all the men and women before him. I felt strange inside… conflicted. This had already happened in my fantasies, only there, Mr. Ma and Dong Suk were tied to the poles next to him. Those fantasies had made me feel good, as if they let me regain some of my dignity and control. But seeing him there for real, his face so swollen he couldn’t open his eyes, several toes missing… I felt horrible. I felt guilty. This man - deserving or not - would die for something I had done… same as that poor woman had yesterday. I clenched my whole body to stop the guilt from spreading… but it was too late.
No… this is not my fault! I was not the one who informed on him. I may have committed the crime he will pay for… but his blood will not be on my hands.
I looked down at my hands.
They were trembling.
I looked back up at Sang Jun. I saw his blurred contour over my sister that day in the field, hitting her face again and again without a trace of remorse. The hatred seeped back into my heart.
If anyone deserves to be up there, it’s him! He might not have stolen the rice… but he’s anything but innocent!
Those thoughts helped, but the guilt didn’t disappear. And I couldn’t figure out who would have named him the Acrobat Thief, especially since he was in a privileged position with Mr. Ma. Maybe it was someone from our work unit with a grudge. Maybe. But there was another thing as well…
How could the guards believe this large troll of a man could be the small and limber ‘Acrobat Thief’? It doesn’t make any sense…
“READY!”
“AIM!”
“SHOOT!”
Colonel Wan’s orders pierced the air three times, immediately followed by the rounds of rapid shots from the firing squad. Sang Jun’s face, chest, and stomach exploded, just like the poor woman’s had yesterday. The next moment, his bloody corpse lay on the ground before the blood-sprayed face of our Father - the Great General. I looked around the crowd and s
uddenly saw Mr. Ma and Dong Suk standing not too far from us. I half-expected them to be crying for their fallen comrade. But instead, their faces were grim and full of hatred.
If they ever find out he died because of me, I’m dead… and Nari too…
Colonel Wan re-entered the stage. He looked down at the unnaturally positioned body in the growing puddle of blood on the ground and kicked away a piece of Sang Jun’s head that had come apart from the rest. He raised his hand to call us to silence.
“Today… is a good day,” he said. His eerie smile was back. “You are all here to be re-educated… to atone for your treason against Choson and the Great General… but the fact of the matter is that some of you are simply beyond redemption… and those we need to weed out and exterminate. Today… this camp is a little better than it was yesterday because we have one less unredeemable vermin among us. One less!” His eerie smile turned into a terrifying glare. “BUT THAT IS NOT ENOUGH! There is not a doubt in my mind that there are many more like him among you. You know who you are, and soon, we will too. And I promise you this… I will exterminate every last one of you… for the sake of our great nation… and for Juche - the sacred legacy of our Father - the Great General.” He paused to let his gaze sweep over the masses before him, savoring our terrified reactions. “That is all… DISMISSED!”
The crowd dispersed in an instant, and we followed the stream of people out from the Bloodyard. I thought we would continue our silence, but as the crowd around us started to thin out, Nari leaned over to me with shock written on her face.
“That was Sang Jun,” she whispered. “I can’t believe he was the thief… he was so close with Mr. Ma and the guards. I always thought guys like him must have plenty of food.”
The Weeping Masses: A Young Adult Dystopian Survival Saga (Juche - Part 3) Page 30