Chapter 91: |
00091 <-- #Night by the Lakeside -->
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#Night by the Lakeside (10), Santa Margarita Lake
The battle continued.
Half the enemy resisted. The rest were dead or would soon be. It was difficult to find camaraderie among the criminals. They were retreating from the bodies and wounded. Eastward, towards Captain Harris's main force. The decision itself was rational. Gyeoul was to the west, and the squad members were to the north. To hold them off at the same time, they would have to be driven in one direction.
But it didn't go that way. Gyeoul kept making detours, never losing the flanks. His actions defied common sense. If you draw a large circle around the criminals, Gyeoul's path was outside the circle. If you run ten steps, it's hard to catch up with one step. But he did it.
As Gyeoul ran from tree to tree while a paroxysm of shots rained down on him.
Dadadadat! Dadadat!
Most of them were random. But one had a menacing rhythm. The trajectory of the bullet, the successive splashes of dirt, was getting closer. It seemed like it would hit before he reached the next cover. Gyeoul knelt as if collapsing. Thud! In the sway of his weight stamping the ground, a split second to align his aim, he fired an instinctive shot.
The loud noise struck his eardrums. The boy's vision turned sharply. His ears felt stuffy. There was ringing in his ears and the shaking of his eardrums. Gyeoul moved forward cautiously, leaning against a tree trunk. He touched his bulletproof helmet. Even with gloves on, he could feel the impact. It seemed like the bullet had hit the side.
'Should I call it bad luck...?'
Gyeoul's three-point shot hit the opponent. At that moment, the opponent's muzzle jumped, and the trajectory hit the bulletproof helmet. It was a random variable beyond the [Insight] and [Combat sense]. He almost died. His ears throbbed in the aftermath. This was why projectile weapons were dangerous.
Still, his heart was calm, but not his body. The trembling of his hand was imposed by situational analysis. Gyeoul focused and calmed himself. Five deep breaths for every second wasted. The radio rang.
[David Actual! David Actual! This is David One! Engaging with the enemy right now! Break!]
Jeffrey was calling Gyeoul. There was a lot of noise. Gyeoul immediately grabbed the radio.
"Keep going, Jeffrey!"
[Enemy strength, about fifty infantry! The enemy is receiving artillery support! Unable to determine the position of the artillery! Lost the frontline position! Moving to the second line! Confirm if you can support our position, over!]
"Just wait a bit! I'll be there soon!"
After ending the radio transmission, Gyeoul rushed out. The enemy's response was slow. Six of them had survived, and their positions were scattered, thanks to Gyeoul disrupting their formation.
Meanwhile, his squad members pressed on from the front. Thanks to them, Gyeoul covered a much greater distance than before. Finally, he spotted the enemy's rear on a diagonal. Now, the enemy had no way to escape in any direction. Terrified enemies filled Gyeoul's scope. The trigger was pulled.
Tududududuk!
Empty casings scattered erratically. The magazine emptied in less than a second. That one second cost two lives. Gyeoul quickly released the magazine catch and twisted the rifle. The empty magazine bounced off with momentum. He inserted a new magazine in one fluid motion. Then, he resumed full-auto fire.
Click!
On the fifth shot, there was a metallic sound. Just like paper being crumpled in a photocopier, the cartridge was jammed in the chamber. Gyeoul pulled back and released the charging handle repeatedly. It didn't budge. He forced his finger into the chamber to scrape it out with sheer strength, until deformed cartridge was thrown out.
Hastily aiming again, the cry that had been absent when they waited earlier suddenly erupted.
"Uwaaa! Surrender! I surrender! Don't shoot! Please spare us!"
It was a chaotic scene, but the continuous gunfire from the front remained unchanged. The platoon members were using suppressors, so the noise of wood fragments flying was louder than the gunshots. Gyeoul pressed the radio.
"David Three! Cease fire, cease fire! The enemy is surrendering!"
The fierce noise subsided. However, one of the surrendering enemies kept repeating 'surrender', another one was sobbing, and the remaining two were silent somewhere out of sight.
There was no time to wait for the platoon members. Distant gunshots continued faintly. Gyeoul charged in alone, alternately scanning left and right, at a pace close to a sprint.
The number of surviving enemies was one less than Gyeoul's count. A decapitated man with a torn throat lay sprawled on top of tree roots, blood pooling in his wide-open mouth. Onen surrendered, one cried, and the last one looked desperate from where he had fallen. He was holding a grenade.
"Stop! Don't move!"
Gyeoul groaned heavily. The only reason he didn't shoot and took cover immediately was because of the other two who had surrendered. The approaching platoon members quickly assessed the situation. They scattered aggressively. Their muttered curses reached Gyeoul's ears. The soldier who had said he would surrender was also cowering while tears his flowed. The crying soldier was the only one left in the danger zone. He seemed to have momentarily lost his mind. Gyeoul gently applied pressure on the trigger. He squeezed it slowly, and just when it seemed like it would fire, he finally stopped.
The soldier holding the grenade, however, wasn't being aggressive. His hands were trembling, but at least his face was calm. It was a dark calmness. He stared at Gyeoul silently and let out a disappointed smile.
"I'm sorry."
The sound of a spring snapping was heard. He clutched the grenade and fell forward.
"Emily."
A final word before death. The subsequent explosion was a small twitch. If it weren't for the sound of the explosion, one might have thought he had just flinched. Flesh-mixed blood oozed out in lumps. A reddish tint blurred in the rain.
Despite the urgency, Gyeoul's gaze was momentarily diverted.
Gruk, gruk, thud. The unfortunate soldier didn't die right away. The boy pulled the trigger. The head shattered.
"Restrain them."
Following Gyeoul's command, the platoon members secured the two prisoners.
"Were there any other survivors on the way back?"
When Gyeoul asked, Elliott replied heavily, "There were no hope left. We spared them the suffering."
Well, it was that kind of weather and environment. Survivors with severed limbs or spilled intestines were just delayed deaths. Elliott removed dog tags from the soldier who had committed suicide with a grenade. The other soldiers picked up ammunition and grenades from the area. Since there wasn't much left, it was the more essential. After all, the platoon members had much higher ammunition consumption than Gyeoul.
Gyeoul told the prepared members, "I'm going to run 600 metres from now, grit your teeth and follow me."
"Haah."
Platoon leader Elliot let out a sigh. Everyone was exhausted. Their bodies were trembling. The prisoners were in even worse condition. Moreover, their arms were firmly bound behind their backs. It's unlikely they'd be able to give chase.
'I can't abandon them, the radio is too noisy.'
It was uphill from the beginning.
Nevertheless, Gyeoul started running, and the soldiers followed without a word.
The pace kept slowing down. The partially dazed prisoners kept falling, and the platoon members had a look of imminent death on their faces. Eventually, their pace was almost like walking. Running uphill for 200 meters was something only Gyeoul could do under the current circumstances.
After reaching the top of the hill, the situation improved slightly. An unpaved road with gentle curves appeared. Gyeoul, who had arrived first, observed the battlefield. Captain Harris had not yet breached the defense. Even in this rain, smoke was rising from various places. Gyeoul read the traces of the captain's attack and failures.
Boom! A thunderous roar echoed, imitating thunder. Immediately afterward, an errant shrub was torn apart below the ridge.
'How many shells do they have?'
Seeing them not firing in succession, it seemed they weren't too plentiful. It would have taken a man to carry one in the first place.
The soldiers who had struggled to reach the top caught their breath, clutching their knees.
"Want to take a one-minute break?"
"No...! I can do it, I can do it!"
"Got it."
Gyeoul didn't ask twice.
The squad advanced into the enemy's rear. Following the direction of the explosion, Gyeoul searched for traces. Tracks, highlighted by [Tracks], were everywhere. It was a technique he had use to search for missing persons at another lake last Christmas.
The footprints Gyeoul finally found were surprisingly shallow.
"David One, David One. This is David Actual."
[David... David... David Actual... Hero... brat...]
"David One. Do you copy? This is David Actual."
Gyeoul repeatedly called for Jeffrey, but now the radio was dead. Unless they were close enough to see each other's faces, radio communication was impossible now. Just as he was about to give up on communication, a sudden idea occurred. The boy asked the soldiers for their useless radios.
"Give me two."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"I'll use them as bait."
Gyeoul took out a restraint cord and wound it around the transmission button of the radio. With this, the radio would capture and transmit the surrounding sounds until the battery ran out.
He then connected the remaining radio to the other one. This one was in a state where the button hadn't been pressed.
"Ha! You're rebroadcasting the message that the mutant bastard...... sent!"
A pale Elliott exclaimed and bent over to vomit. It was a side effect of overexertion.
"That's right. Since the jamming signals are strong, everyone is probably not using radios. So this will likely be the only transmitter nearby."
"Even if someone listens... they won't be able to distinguish it from the jamming signals... I mean."
"Is there anyone with explosives?"
Gyeoul grabbed plastic explosives (C4) while he was at it. It was supposed to be cut into suitable portions, but this time, there would be no need for that.
Boom! Another explosion echoed. It sounded different from before, probably because the distance had shortened. Gyeoul and the squad approached quietly.
"If you make noise, I'll kill you."
One of the squad members whispered a threat to the prisoners.
Bodies were scattered all over the place. Gyeoul set a trap using one of them. He made a corpse hold the radio and planted explosives on it. As soon as the Trickster chasing the signal touched it, it would explode. The soldiers wore dark and apprehensive expressions. After all, just a short while ago, they had been comrades.
Elliott hesitated to speak, but still did, "Sir, this, in the past, would have violated international law..."
"I know it's cruel. But if we leave it alone, it's just a meal for those mutants."
"...Now that you mention it, it makes sense."
"Let's move."
They moved a bit farther and finally reached the battlefield. Right in front of them was an artillery position. Around twenty soldiers were crawling up the hill. From their current position, they could see all their backs. Gyeoul assigned a target among the squad members. This was to avoid wasting shots on the same target.
When the preparations were complete, Gyeoul shouted, "Fire!"
---------------------------= Afterword =---------------------------
(This part is machine translated.)
# Hm
Today, there is a bit less content. I apologize... but I'm too tired to write more. Ha ha. Please forgive me while recalling the days when there was more content.
# Q&A
Q. Xedrions: @Here, you get my pure heart! Seven coupons from Joara!
A. Yes, I've received your pure heart. I'll use it to advance the Undersea City's resurgence.
Q. 清流良: @It seems like your spirit isn't in a good condition today. Probably because of the civilian massacre and the audacity of human beings. I've already given you the coupons, so here's a recommendation, rating, and a comment as an offering.
A. Oh... Without my spirit, there won't be anything left in this novel... so it's not in a good condition. To recover my spirit, I think I need a summer vacation.
Q. 마스터칼솔럼: @This is unbreakable mental strength!!!! One spaghetti sauce tip is to use "Pepperoncino," a small chili pepper. It's a small chili pepper that gives a subtle spiciness, similar to the mild spiciness of pepperoni on pizza. When you add it to the spaghetti sauce, it pairs well with the tomato flavor and enhances the appetite with spiciness. You can also put it in stews, mix it with salt for dipping grilled meat, and more. That's all from Calsolum's cooking class (?).
A. My mental strength is like ordinary glass. If something happens, it breaks once and then sticks together again. By the way, does pepperoni pizza have chili peppers in it? I've never tasted spiciness... hehe...
Q. 하늘색연필: @What happened to the people at the space station or the Antarctic base? Can't they come back from the space station?
A. To be honest, I haven't thought about that so far because it's not relevant to the plot. I'm sorry. The author's spirit is really lacking.
Q. 돈까스메냐: @Even the mighty Hannyeour... I think there will be an event that shakes his spirit, right? I'm looking forward to it. And talking about the old thing effect and love... Is this a mortal sin? LOL
A. Well... there is one good event, but I'm worried that it will affect the readers' hearts before Gyeoul's spirit is shaken.
Q. qoewh: @Is it true that you are a veteran of the space war?!
A. That's... A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Q. 도화원: @Carnival is a given! Let's see... Oh, come on, is this even a weak tactic to delay time by shooting your comrades?! Is my spirit overflowing? Or is the youth in Dreamland becoming rare these days?
A. In Dreamland, they charge the electricity bill based on the spirit. I've had enough of the progressive taxation bomb... Haha...
Q. RGZ95: @Thank you for the youth today again. I've already messed up and chose resistance over surrender @[email protected] ;; Dying would probably be better...
A. Thank you for reading every time. Even rolling in a dung field is better than this life.
Q. PAM: @Gyaah! Guaaaah
A. Of course. Since I didn't take a summer vacation, I plan to spend the Chuseok holiday not writing a single letter, just playing, eating, and sleeping. Thank you for your concern about the author.