“But I come in peace,” Hana raised her hands and took half a step back. “And I brought you a peace offering… rice… that you’re obviously not able to get for yourself.”
“LAST WARNING!” Hyuk spat like a rabid dog. “GET OUT! GET OUT… NOW!”
The other boys lined up next to him. I noticed they had also pulled out knives, but they were about three sizes smaller and much less intimidating.
But they’re still deadly…
Hana kept her hands up and started backing away from Hyuk. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, so I just stood there. Facing Hyuk’s blade, my heart raced so fast it was skipping beats. My whole body was covered in sweat.
“Okay, okay,” Hana conceded. “We don’t want any trouble. Please enjoy the rice. As I said… it’s a peace offering.”
Seeing Hana backing away, I also took a step back, but as she passed me, she stopped me by putting her hand against my back.
What is she doing?
“You too, Miss Bodyguard,” Hyuk pointed the knife at me.
I swallowed. Yet again, I didn’t know what to do, but then Hana leaned over and whispered in my ear.
“Now! Take him down!”
My head got dizzy.
So this is why she brought me… to risk my life for her… no wonder she didn’t give me any details in advance…
I tried to take a step back - every part of my being screamed at me to run away… out of the cave… away from all of them - but Hana blocked my way and pressed a hard fist against my back.
“I SAID GET OUT!” Hyuk screamed again and took another step toward us. His confidence was now fully restored, and his people stood behind him.
“NOW!” Hana screamed and gave me a hard push toward Hyuk and his cronies.
At that instant, I knew there was no turning back… and that I would have to wait until later to get back at Hana for this. I rushed forward and kicked the knife right out of Hyuk’s hand with a round kick. The knife only bounced once before Hana, who had thrown herself to the ground, grabbed it in mid-air. The older boys and the girl with the ponytail from Hyuk’s crew were first stunned, but the next moment, they charged at us. Jun Ha took the younger members and ran to the back of the cave, as far away from the battle as possible. Hyuk barged at me with a furious roar and threw a punch backed with all of his might. It was devastating brute force in its purest form, and it would have crushed my face if it had hit me. But it was slow. I evaded it easily and responded with a clean hit directly on his nose. Hyuk screamed, blood gushing from his nostrils, mixing with the tears from his eyes. The girl with a long black ponytail advanced on me, so I quickly spun around, and with a back kick, I thrust her against the cave wall. She collapsed to the ground and dropped her knife, but as the pain of the open wounds on my foot shot through my body, I also lost my balance and fell as the next guy approached.
“ENOUGH!” Hana screamed and jumped to her feet next to me, pointing Hyuk’s enormous knife at our attackers. “BACK OFF… ALL OF YOU!”
Hyuk sank to the ground, holding his bleeding nose with his hand. The others dropped their knives and backed away with their hands raised. Everybody’s eyes were on the glistening hunting knife in Hana’s right hand.
“So this is the welcome you give to your dear old leader when she just comes by for a friendly visit,” Hana panted but still managed to uphold a smirk. “Well, I have to tell you… I don’t care for it.” Hana had everybody’s full attention. Even Hyuk’s, who now had found a piece of cloth he pressed against his nose. “It seems to me like the Dragons… the gang that carries my name… that I built from scratch together with my brother… is not doing so well under the new leadership. So I’m here to save you. You’re welcome!”
Nobody moved - I could hardly even hear anyone breathing - but I was ready to deflect another attack at any moment. My heart still pounded hard, but less than before.
“Hyuk… I recruited you because I saw your potential… I appreciated your drive. But now I see what a big mistake that was. If you haven’t guessed it yet… you’re out. And if you as much as look at one of the Dragons again… I swear to the Great General you will not walk away alive. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?”
Hyuk stared furiously at Hana and his former knife. Without waiting for an answer, Hana turned to the others.
“This gang is mine! I am the only rightful leader of the Dragons. If anybody objects to this, you’re more than welcome to leave together with Hyuk. But if you do… the same will go for you as for Hyuk… you lose the Dragons’ protection and benefits… and you are not to communicate with us in any way, shape, or form ever again. Is that clear?”
There was a long, tense silence. Finally, Jun Ha emerged from the dark corner and stepped into the light.
“We’re glad to have you back, Hana,” he said, throwing a cautious glance at Hyuk. The teenage boy and girl he had protected stood behind him and nodded. Hana looked over at the three boys who had fought for Hyuk and raised her eyebrows. After a moment’s hesitation, the three boys threw apologetic looks at Hyuk and went over to stand next to Jun Ha.
“NO!” I suddenly heard a scream from my right.
The girl with the long ponytail I had kicked against the cave wall was back on her feet and rushed over to hug her fallen leader.
Hana looked at her and smiled.
“Yo Suk… faithfully standing by your man, I see. Okay… both of you, get out… NOW!”
Yo Suk helped Hyuk to get up, but once firmly on his feet, he furiously pulled back his arm from her and spat on the ground. He turned around and glared at Jun Ha and the other mutineers.
“Traitors,” he growled under his breath. He turned to us, his insanely glaring eyes emphasized by the bloody mess around his nose and mouth. I got ready for another attack - my training had taught me never to let my guard down even if the threat appeared to be neutralized. Hyuk first glared at me, then he took a step closer to Hana. Blood still streamed from his broken nose. Even though there was a huge hunting knife between him and Hana, I was ready to strike him if he tried anything. To my relief, that was not necessary. Hyuk just grunted, “This isn’t over,” and threw another hateful glare at me and all the back-stabbers who had failed him. Then he spat on the ground, shaking his head, and disappeared into the dark tunnel, closely followed by Yo Suk, who kept her head down and didn’t look at anyone.
“Okay then,” Hana concluded once they were gone, theatrically throwing the knife up in the air and in the same motion catching it and putting it under her own belt. The Dragons, however, still kept their hands up as Hana continued talking. “As I said before… if anyone else would like to leave, you are free to leave now… but if you stay… I expect complete and unwavering loyalty and obedience from you.” She waited a moment to see if anybody else would go, but nobody did. “You have made the right choice,” she said contently. She then noticed everybody’s eyes were directed at me. “Oh, yeah… this is Areum, my new right-hand girl. As you could see… she can handle herself, so I would strongly advise you do not get on her wrong side.” She let her gaze sweep over the Dragons once more. Since there were no other reactions, she let out a smile. “Come on… you can relax… let’s celebrate… a new and better era has just begun… and we have rice!”
“YEAH!” Jun Ha screamed from the corner. “Welcome back, Hana… we have missed you!” He then went around the fire and hugged her, which took me completely by surprise. Even more that she hugged him back. The others lowered their hands but didn’t look quite as relaxed. Regardless, they joined in to greet her welcome back.
“Bit Na,” Hana told the teenage girl, who was still sitting on the ground with a scared expression on her face. “Prepare the rice… tonight we feast!”
Bit Na smiled shyly and went over to set up the pot over the fire.
“Jun Ha, go get the rice wine.”
“Are you sure?” he raised his eyebrows. “It’s the last bottle we have.”
“Today is a day of celebration. The next
time we’ll have an occasion to celebrate, I’ll get us another bottle,” she winked.
“Okay, Hana… one bottle of rice wine coming up.”
“Areum, come… sit next to me,” Hana said, and I joined her in front of the fire apart from the others.
My body still trembled from all the adrenaline left in my body, but my breath was slowly calming down. Hana didn’t speak, and neither did I. Bit Na clanked with the rice preparations in front of us. I rested my eyes on the dancing flames underneath. Soon, the air was filled with the heavenly smell of simmering rice. I almost started to feel like myself again. I felt the air fill my lungs. It felt good. I closed my eyes and exhaled. That was a mistake. Without warning, the image of Lieutenant Kim breaking the defenseless baby’s neck in the barn and tossing it on the ground like garbage struck me like a lightning bolt. In a split second, it had consumed my entire existence. I opened my eyes in panic, determined to never close them again. But it didn’t help. Even with my eyes open, the image of the mother’s head exploding into a puddle of blood while holding her baby in her arms replayed in front of me.
“Are you alright?” Hana gave me a worried look.
“Yeah… I’m fine… it’s just… a lot going on… I don’t—”
“Just keep it together, Areum,” she leaned over to me. “My power will remain fragile for a while until it’s completely restored… we can’t afford to show any weakness.”
I nodded, desperate to change the topic and to rid myself of the nightmarish images replaying before me.
“Isn’t it dangerous to have a fire inside a cave?” I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Normally, yes,” she looked at me, surprised at the new direction I took, “but this cave is very deep, and there is a constant draft that takes the smoke away to some other exit… somewhere… so it’s perfectly safe… we have been doing it for years.”
I nodded, terrified of the conversation halting and the images returning.
“You said that the Dragons… that it carries your name. What did you mean by that?”
Hana looked amused as she followed Jun Ha with her eyes as he approached with a large bottle.
“Well… my surname is Ryong… which means dragon… hence, the Dragons,” she chuckled.
“Ah… of course,” I mumbled. I felt stupid for not connecting the dots myself, but I was desperate not to let my distraction end. “Do you think Hyuk will try something?”
“Probably,” Hana nodded. “That little boy is power-hungry… and a sore loser. That’s why I need to make sure I have complete loyalty from all members of the Dragons… especially those who fought for him. And that’s why I need your help.”
“My help?” I looked at her, confused. “The deal was that I help you get rid of Hyuk… that’s it.”
“Areum… don’t be silly,” Hana smirked at me with her big penetrating eyes. “You are part of the Dragons now. That was the plan all along. Just embrace it… your life just got so much better.”
“I’m not sure if—”
“Areum… this is the deal. I need to know I can count on you. If you’re not with me… well, I don’t think you want more problems than you already have, right?”
My insides had started twisting and turning again as Jun Ha passed around tin cups to everybody and poured the rice wine, starting with Hana and me. I recognized the bottle - it was the same kind that I had seen in the officers’ restaurant in the Chrysanthemum Garden when I came looking for Sun Hee.
The night I saw her with the Demon of Yodok…
“And how about Chul?”
“Now we take care of Chul… I gave you my word, didn’t I?” she gave me an inquisitive look. “More importantly… can I count on you to do your part?”
“You can count on me.”
“Great,” she raised her filled cup at me. “Let’s drink to that.” She then lifted her cup to everybody and shouted, “Geonbae! To a bright and prosperous future!”
“Geonbae!” everybody cheered, clinking their cups.
“Geonbae,” Hana whispered once more only to me. “To our bright future.”
Our cups clinked and I took a sip. The bitter taste felt unaccustomed in my mouth, and I remembered the nights spent drinking with Su Mi in the Capital… or to be precise, it was mostly Su Mi who did the drinking.
“Ah… the sweet taste of victory,” Hana smacked her lips.
I nodded, but for me, it tasted like something else.
“You said you created the Dragons with your brother… where is he now?” I asked.
Hana’s face darkened.
“He’s dead,” she said in a low hollow voice. “He was caught during an escape attempt. They tortured him for two weeks and then executed what was left of him in front of the whole camp… just like they did with Namjoo… your predecessor.”
“I’m so sorry… about both of them.”
I remembered the first time I saw Hana… it was like a completely different girl sitting next to me now compared to that hysterically crying girl I had seen after the execution… the one who had been ridiculed and pushed to the ground by Hyuk.
“Yeah, well… bad things happen… and my brother died a long time ago now, so… I just… I guess I blame myself for it.”
“How so?” I looked at her, surprised.
“Look… I don’t want to talk about it. Anyway, today is a day of celebration… so just for today, let’s forget about all the horrible things that happen in this hellhole of a camp.”
Hana got up and walked over to talk to Jun Ha. I stayed alone apart from the others, taking small sips of my rice wine. It soon gave effect and a wave of warm wellbeing slowly swept over my body, pushing out the last remnants of adrenaline. The image of the sobbing mother hugging her dead baby before being shot in the head continued to try and enter my mind, but the alcohol together with the sweet scent of freshly-boiled rice made it easier to block out… at least temporarily.
At that moment, my eyes met with Jun Ha’s.
He smiled.
I smiled back.
Juche Year 83
-
September
CHAPTER 39
Thanks to the rice bundles I was still receiving from Hana and the double rations I got as a reward for supposedly helping to identify Sang Jun as the rice thief, the following week - at least in my mind - I ate like one of those obscenely wealthy landowners that ruled our country during the dark feudal times… although I supposed their diet didn’t mainly consist of unsalted and moldy cabbage soup. Either way, the hunger pains that had tormented me for so long were before long nothing but a distant memory. Even the wounds on my feet and left hand had healed nicely.
However, with the hunger put at bay and no longer consuming my mind every minute of every day, it was increasingly difficult to block out the horrible scene I had witnessed in the barn. The image of Lieutenant Kim snapping the neck of the defenseless baby was etched in my mind. Most of the time, I could successfully block it out during the day as the hard work under the burning sun kept me busy, but during the day, nothing prevented it from haunting my nightmares until I woke up with a scream all covered in sweat the next morning. It even made me wish to be back in the street of death in Hamhung with the screeching crows soaring above me in the dark sky.
Regardless, life went on and I noticed that life as a Dragon was suspiciously similar to how life had been as a normal prisoner. I still had to work hard from early morning until late at night filling my quota, as well as continuing to fill the bulk part of Nari’s quota. I attended the mandatory self-criticism sessions on Sundays and did the bare minimum in my involuntary job as an informer… only reporting on things I thought wouldn’t get them executed.
So far, Hana had only requested my services twice, and those times entailed standing behind her as she addressed her people. I was her muscle and I was there to strengthen her authority. It worked too. I noticed I made them nervous. Hana didn’t only see it… she visibly relished it. A
ll in all, I was at ease with how things were developing… as much as was possible in Yodok. I was, however, anxiously awaiting her signal to start planning how to take care of Chul. The days went by, and my patience was wearing thin.
Jun Ha was my only company in the fields since Nari still didn’t talk to me. Because both he and I were in the Dragons now, it was almost like we had become brother and sister overnight. He still didn’t fit in my image of a member of the Dragons, and indeed it turned out that he hadn’t been recruited like the others. Hana had taken him in out of pity after his parents were executed, and she has been like an older sister to him ever since.
No wonder he didn’t harbor any loyalty toward Hyuk…
Nari, on the other hand, was rebellious and protested silently against my new affiliations. Not only had she stopped eating the rice we got from Hana, but she also wouldn’t take any of my extra rations of corn and cabbage I received for informing on Sang Jun. I was so angry I ate the entire rice balls in front of her, chewing loudly with my mouth open just to spite her. Luckily, she still obeyed our weakened father, so when he one night threatened to stop eating himself if she didn’t take the food to cure her pellagra, she finally gave in.
Another battle won…
After only a few days on a rice diet, her pellagra was discernibly better. I was relieved. Nari had also more energy when working in the cornfield and could now fill more than half her quota herself. She was still angry and refused to talk to me, but her newfound ability to work made my life a lot easier. What annoyed me more, however, was her double standard. Even though she wouldn’t speak to me, she had no problem continuing to let me do much of her work for her.
Sun Hee had all but disappeared from our lives. She spent most of the nights away from home, no doubt sharing a bed with General Roh in his mansion in the Chrysanthemum Garden. The few times she came home she spent whispering with dad under the hateful glares of Nari and me. I couldn’t believe how our father could let her back into the house at all… let alone talk to her like nothing had happened.
The Weeping Masses: A Young Adult Dystopian Survival Saga (Juche - Part 3) Page 34