The Soldier 1

by Donald Ha

  Medication was even more scarce. Even those who could live with the help of antibiotics were dying with fevers and delirium.

  The worst part was the lack of security. Occupation Forces only secured their area of responsibility, and did not pay any attention to the civilian district.

  At night, the city turned into a lawless zone. When the sun set, street gangs, ex-soldiers, and the outlaws went around the streets to find a scapegoat to pour out their anger and resentment on.

  In such a desperate place, there were people who seized opportunities and took actions smartly.

  They were the traders. The classic law of economics, which stated that the scarcer goods, the greater the benefits, motivated them to take actions.

  The traders did business with colorful items such as provisions, favorite food, medications, and even weapons. Sometimes they were able to earn a huge profit. Bartering small amounts of medicine for an equivalent weight of jewelry became a common thing.

  Most of the sale sources of the traders were from the military depot of the Allied forces. Those who did not have any relationship with the depot manager gathered goods by looking through the ruined houses. Traders called their inferior colleagues as hyenas.

  “It reeks.”

  The building was covered in debris and broken glasses, and the sun shone through the holes in the ceiling.

  Two guys were grabbing things that they thought would make money, exploring the ruins with a mountain picket. They were collectors. They carefully searched through the rumbles of the building, usually unable to carry out anything.

  Although they had guessed it, they did not expect another hyena group to have cleaned the place off completely.

  “Hey, Jackal. How about going back? There’s nothing here.”

  Hans Graham called off the search and shouted towards this colleague who stood on the other side, looking somewhere esle.

  The guy called Jackal did not move, standing vacantly.

  “Did you find something?”

  Jackal turned his head to the question.

  Dark brown eyes, black hair, and a thin sharp-lined face. His face was the face of Asians.

  The people in the ruins sarcastically named him after a wild animal that was prowling in the African wilderness.

  Jackal.

  An outsider without a hometown and a name.

  A guy who lived off searching the ruins and the dead bodies.

  A mere part of the useless Berlin crowd, Jackal and his past was only known by a few people.

  No, perhaps no one.

  Not knowing about him meant that they did not know how much reward was offered for his head.

  Chapter 2

  “Look here.”

  Jackal pointed to the front. In the darkness, he was able to see a steel hatch was connected to the floor. Hans stared at it in amazement.

  “…Isn’t that an entrance to a bunker?”

  In preparation for the Allied bombing, numerous shelters and bunkers were built in Berlin. Most of the bunkers were caught by the Allied Forces and were disarmed; however there were a considerable number of bunkers undiscovered.

  Especially the bunkers that were built by the rich were continuously remained undiscovered.

  Great dangers lurked in such bunkers. Toxic air, armed residents, danger of cave ins, and contagious viruses. If you carelessly entered the bunker, there was a great chance that you might not get out alive.

  Nevertheless, unopened bunkers were known as gold mines for ‘the Hyenas.’ Besides the risks that lurk in them, there are expensive pieces of art, food, medicine and precious metal.

  Hans Graham looked at Jackal with a stiff face.

  “Want me to call for more guys?”

  Hans knew that the choice would not be for the better. If the gang gets together, his shares would be reduced. That being said, the threats from the bunker exploration process will significantly reduce as well.

  Because the more the people are gathered, the better they can strongly resist threats. Moreover, the one who leads the way is the one who calls the shots, not the one who found the place. That was the least they could do to receive their share. It was some sort of an unwritten law among them.

  Jackal shook his head.

  “No need.”

  Before he even finished his sentence, Jackal began to open the hatch. The hatch was firmly closed that it wouldn’t budge.

  “Are you gonna just watch or help?”

  “I smell danger.”

  “Hurry!”

  Hans Graham reluctantly helped Jackal.

  Hans, who once was a Greco-Roman wrestler, started to slowly open the hatch with his strong grip.

  When the hatch finally opened, Hans and Jackal felt a strong smell rushing into their nose and quickly stepped back.

  “That’s the smell from medicine. It doesn’t seem to be harmful.”

  Jackal pulled his muffler up to his nose and looked into the hatch.

  The hatch opened its mouth into darkness.

  “I have an uneasy feeling.”

  With uneasy eyes Hans looked inside.

  “How about calling the other guys, huh?”

  Instead of answering Han’s question, Jackal took out of a small flashlight. With a click, the flashlight with an U.S. mark shone and threw light inside a hatch. There was a ladder leading down below.

  Jackal fixed the flashlight onto his hip and took out his pistol. It was a German pistol and the initial A.K. was carved onto its handle.

  "I'll go down first."

  Jackal lightly threw himself forward and climbed down the stairs in a couple of steps. Hans held a submachine gun and watched Jackal climb down with careful eyes.

  *Thud.*

  His feet touched the ground.

  Jackal held the flashlight with his left hand and observed the surroundings cautiously with his other.

  The foggy flashlight shed light on a narrow hallway between the pale, grey walls.

  "No problem here."

  Hans, murmuring, climbed down the ladder as well.

  He was wearing a Soviet metal helmet.

  "I hate doing this."

  Now two sources of light brightened the hallway.

  Jackal and Hans cautiously walked down the hallway, one step at a time.

  The hallway was deep in shadow and the air of silence filled inside.

  The moment he thought, ‘Could anyone live like this?,’ Han's eyes caught a trace of faint light.

  It was not the light from the lantern, it was a light shining from somewhere else.

  Jackal raised a hand to stop him, and then turned the flashlight off. When Hans turned off as well, they quietly walked towards the dim light.

  As they got closer, a nasty odor permeated their nose. Jackal and Hans knew well that it was the smell of rotting corpses.

  The firmly closed door that leaked lights was soon revealed in front of them. The door was made of rosewood, was stylishly engraved and had a quaint handle. Hans and Jackal stood alongside the door, kicked it open and entered.

  What was in front of them was a guy in a military attire, who was sitting with his back turned.

  The two guns pointed simultaneously at the guy.

  But, the guy sitting on the chair did not budge an inch even though there were intruders. Instead, a nasty rotten smell only burned their nostrils.

  “Is he dead?”

  Hans's guess turned out to be true.

  The guy had a gun in his hand.

  Walter 38K. It was the same model as the one in Jackal’s hand, but the gun was customized with ivory handles.

  “He seemed to have commit suicide…shooting his temple.”

  Perhaps, he killed himself at the time of the war.

  The rotten flesh and the dried up maggots on the floor showed the passage of time.

  Jackal seized the Walter 38k with the ivory handle from the dead body, roughly wiped the rotten discharges that was attached to the gun and then placed it in his chest.
<
br />   Hans, watching, grinned.

  “Hey. I had my eyes on that.”

  “I was the lead.”

  “Then, I’ll get the next thing. We good?”

  “Find it.”

  The threats were gone. The two began to search inside the bunker in delight. The first luck was given to Jackal, but Lady Luck soon smiled on Hans.

  “Wow. Look at this. It’s a fountain pen with a gold nib.”

  “....”

  Jackal, on the other hand, was able to retrieve a worthless stamp collection, faded phonograph and a few records.

  “By the way, did you hear the rumor? Remnants of the royal body guards attacked the US Army base.”

  Hans opened his mouth, tucking the loots in his chest.

  “Really?”

  “They said that gunshots rang all night. It was incredible. There was a rumor that all the tanks were prepared and a full-scale attack was done. Maybe the Beowulf, the one we heard in rumors, appeared?

  “Yes.”

  Jackal replied half-heartedly without any interest. The important thing for him was to find things that were worth some money.

  However, the room of the suicide was emptier than he thought. There was nothing to eat and the smell of medicine turned out to be the odor for synthetic petroleum.

  “Should I sell oil?”

  Hans and Jackal sighed after seeing a large lot of drums stacked in the corner of the room.

  After a while, Hans, who collected more goods than Jackal, left the bunker earlier.

  “I'm leaving first. Let’s sell the oil later. When the weather gets cold, we'll manage to sell it for a reasonable price.”

  Jackal left the bunker, feeling as if there was more.

  He explored every corner of the bunker where the dead body laid.

  The bunker was closer to residential rather than it having been built for times of war. It had a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a mechanical room.

  The furniture were good quality items.

  It suddenly occurred to Jackal that he could live here if the dead body was taken care of.

  Generators was operational and this was a secret place that had not been discovered yet. If only the hatch was fastened, it would be a safe hiding place.

  If only the rotting corpse was removed.

  “How can I remove that?”

  Jackal had a weak stomach.

  Looking at the corpse didn’t bother him, but touching and smelling was a different story.

  “How can I handle… the dead body?”

  At that moment, a dull metal sound was heard over the corridor.

  It was the sound of the hatch closing.

  An intruder?

  Jackal took out the gun, aimed it towards the entrance, and listened carefully.

  *drag… drag…*

  it didn’t sound like footsteps but more like something heavy was being dragged. The sound was getting closer.

  “....”

  Jackal did take any chances.

  He learned from the battlefield that if he acted irrationally then he would expose himself and reveal his location.

  Whoever it was, once the figure was visible, he was going to shoot them. It was the simplest and safest solution.

  Jackal’s eyes became ice-cold.

  However, the dragging sound stopped right in front of the entrance as if it seemed to know that Jackal had a gun aimed at it.

  Confrontation lasted for more than five minutes. It is true that there was something over the exit, but the sound had stopped right in front of Jackal, and he had heard nothing else.

  “....”

  Beads of sweat ran down his face. He seemed to be nervous, but it was real drag to aim a gun at the target for five minutes without moving.

  ‘What the hell is he thinking?’

  Another five minutes passed. His arm hurt to the extent that he could no longer aim it.

  Jackal put the gun down and released the tensions in his arms. The knotted muscles loosened and he felt refreshed.

  Then, an unfamiliar voice from the other side reached his ears.

  "Does your arm hurt?"

  Jackal hurriedly aimed the gun toward the entrance again due to the sudden voice.

  ‘Woman?’

  It was a woman’s voice. It was the voice of a young woman.

  “Who are you?”

  Since it has come to this, it wasn’t necessary to hide himself any longer.

  “I had no idea there was a guest. I am the niece of the uncle over there.”

  “Uncle….?”

  Was she talking about the dead man who killed himself?

  “What are you doing here?”

  Jackal raised his voice. A shadow of mistrust strongly seeped into his voice.

  “I couldn’t endure severe violence of the Russian military, so I had to run for safety and I’ve gotten here. As you know, the Russian military attempts to rape German women whenever they see us. A German woman as beautiful as me easily gets into trouble.”

  “......”

  She was a strange person, considering that she could talk so confidently in a beautiful voice to a person who could shoot her at any time.

  "Doesn’t your arm hurt? I am unarmed.”

  “How do you know I am armed?”

  “There, I can see your shadow.”

  Only when she said that, Jackal was able to see his shadow being faintly reflected on the side of the open door. It was a very faint shadow that could have gone unnoticed in the darkness.

  Jackal bit back a small laugh.

  ‘It hasn’t been long since the war ended and I am already losing my senses being idle in this neighborhood.’

  Then he heard the voice again from the corner interrupting his thoughts.

  “Anyway, I, a beautiful woman, am unarmed and I have no strength to resist. If you do not have any intentions to rape me, I will not do anything. Really.”

  “Put your hands up and show yourself.”

  “I am sorry but I cannot put my hands up as I have injured my leg. I have to crawl ungracefully at the moment.”

  That must have been the strange sound.

  If she crawled with such a wound, it would be a deep one. But he did not hear any groans or rough breathing.

  He had no idea who she was, but the woman who introduced herself as beautiful must own an extremely strong mentality, or must have been born with a disability in her leg.

  “Then come out slowly. Slowly.”

  “Please don’t be surprised at my beautiful appearance. OK?”

  “I got it!”

  At Jackal's loud voice, something appeared in front of the entrance.

  It gradually peaked an identifiable form, and Jackal’s eyes widened in horror.

  “What...What’s that!”

  It was a monster covered in blood with only its two eyes shining eyes.

  “Aargh…M…Monster!’

  At the terrible appearance, Jackal, without meaning to, spat out his long forgotten native language and started to shoot at the creature.

  *Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

  In a blink of an eye, there more no more bullets. Jackal retreated hastily, reloaded quickly, and aimed towards the entrance.

  Only darkness remained where the monster once was.

  However, the bloodstain left by the monster remained far in the faint dark distance.

  “Argh...”

  Is this a nightmare? Jackal looked at the other side with fearful eyes.

  Soon, he heard her voice.

  “Well, I told you not to be surprised!”

  Even though the bullets aimed at the head were fired brilliantly, like a lightning, the monster seemed to have simply avoided the bullets.

  “I was just involved in something shameful and was injured a little bit.”

  “That’s a little bit?”

  “Oh, you mean this blood? This is not my blood. It doesn't make sense that my beautiful body would contain any of this bad-smelling b
lood."

  “....”

  “Anyway, can I show myself to you? This time, please do not be surprised.”

  She spoke politely as ghost. Her voice was calm. Jackal, who recovered his peace of mind, allowed the monster to show itself.

  “Less talk and come on out!”

  She is not a ghost. She is not a ghost.

  Chanting the Lord’s Prayer in his mind, Jackal watched the strange woman reveal herself again.

  Soon, a woman covered in blood came forward. At a closer view, she was not a monster, but human.

  Her body was just covered in blood.

  It seemed to be true that she injured her leg.

  Messy, bloody hair, face and clothes and her crawling appearance with her four legs was scary enough to those who looked at her.

  “Why did you come here?”

  Jackal aimed his gun at her, and questioned her as though she was being interrogated.

  “I already told you. Wait, I just need a place to shelter myself. By the way, my uncle seemed to be dead. May I look at him closely for a while?

  “….Whatever.”

  Jackal stepped back, aiming a gun at her.

  The woman covered with blood crawled towards the dead man sitting on the chair and then looked up.

  Amidst the messy, bloody hair, the face of a young girl faintly appeared.

  She crossed herself, bowing her head down and paid a silent tribute for a while. Meanwhile, Jackal saw her ankle. Seeing her black and blue swollen ankle, it seemed to be broken or have gotten injured.

  Jackal's eyes gleamed in amazement.

  ‘She did not moan even though she got such a wound.’

  As far as he knew, it was impossible unless she got morphine.

  Nevertheless, despite her young age, the woman’s breath did not waver.

  “My wounds?”

  Suddenly, her eyes were focused on Jackal's face.

  Now that he looked at her under the light, her eyes were vivid green, like emeralds. It contained a bright light, like the stars.

  “I think it was broken. I'm glad that it's only broken."

  “How…”

  “Pardon me?”

  “How could you be so calm with such a wound?

  At Jackal’s close questioning, the girl covered in blood replied with a bittersweet smile.