Jongsuk awoke to the soft patter of rain on his face.  His body ached and his head throbbed with a dull intensity.  Unsure of the situation he was in, he remained still and took in the sounds around him.  Other than the gentle trickling of rainwater, not a single noise could be heard.  He felt suspended as if he was hung in the air, but his limbs didn’t seem to be restrained.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings.  Green foliage surrounded him and rain dropped down from between the treetops.  As he’d suspected, he was suspended in mid-air; his parachute was caught on a flimsy-looking branch and he was hanging a good forty feet in the air.  Putting two and two together, he assumed that he had been ejected by the main pilot.

Jongsuk closed his eyes and tried to think but the only images in his head was of the plane pummelling towards a mountainside.  What happened?  Did the main pilot eject too?  And where was this place?  He looked around again, this time at the ground beneath him. It was damp from the rain and looked like a soft enough landing.  He looked up at a branch only a few feet away from him; if he cut enough of the parachute ropes off, he could swing his way to that branch and climb his way down.

Shifting his weight carefully, Jongsuk reached for the hunting knife strapped to his right leg.  Taking a hold of it, he pulled it from its holster gently and unsheathed it.  Panting slightly as his arms throbbed, he began hacking away at the rope attaching him to his parachute.  They were thick and coarse but the knife cut though it easily enough.  As he cut down to the last two that suspended him, he felt the parachute shift against the trees.  Freezing, he heard the sound of the branch cracking ever so slightly.  Looking up, Jongsuk let out a tense sigh of relief to see that it was still intact.

Putting the hunting knife back into its place, Jongsuk took a deep breath before he began to swing his weight ever so slightly towards the opposite branch.  But he had greatly overestimated the strength of the flimsy branch; with barely one swing, the branch snapped cleanly from the tree and sent him pummelling to the ground in a heap.

Gasping as he impacted the ground, Jongsuk mentally thanked the ground for being so soft.  If it hadn’t been raining, he would have broken his shoulder from the fall.  Groaning, he crawled up onto all fours and tried to catch his breath.  Shrugging off the parachute, he did a damage check.  Nothing seemed to be broken or out of place; despite the dull aches, he was still able to move all of his body parts without too much problem.  There was a small cut just underneath his hairline but it was minor enough to be discounted.  Other than that, he seemed to be fine.

Getting on his feet, Jongsuk wiped the dirt from his face and looked down at his equipment.  He still had all of his gear with him, including a GPS locator that every pilot carried in case of an emergency landing.  Pulling it out, he flicked on the tracker and watched as the tiny red light flickered to life.  It was a risky move, to be turning on any sort of tracking device.  If he had landed behind enemy lines, his location could be known by anyone who was looking for him.  But still, he believed that the Search and Rescue team would reach him first.  Until then, he needed to stay alive and hidden.

But his relief was short-lived.  The red light on the locator began to dim and soon, it went out completely.  Jongsuk smacked the device against his palms, swearing under his breath at his luck, but the device remained dead in his hands.  Turning the device around, he cursed when he spotted a sharp metal fragment piercing the bottom corner of the device.  It looked like debris from the plane that had probably lodged itself in the device as they’d gotten shot down.  Sighing in exasperation, Jongsuk threw the device to the ground and leaned against the tree.  He knew he should be thankful that the fragment hadn’t gone any lower; it would’ve been a nasty wound if it had lodged itself inside his thigh.  Still though, he couldn’t believe his luck. 

Sinking to the ground, Jongsuk considered his options.  He could stay right where he was and pray that the base had seen the GPS signal while it still worked.  There was no guarantee, though, that the locator had sent anything in that short amount of time.  If that was the case, he would be a sitting duck waiting to be caught by whoever crossed his path.  It was a gamble and he wasn’t evenly remotely confident that he could win.

Deciding against waiting, Jongsuk got to his feet and looked around again.  Where could he go?  He was in the middle of a thinly dispersed forest with no visible trails or tracks.  Should he head North?  Jongsuk pulled out his compass and looked at it with a frown.  First, he needed to figure out just whose territory he was in.  He could decide what to do then.  For now… he just had to move.

North it was.  Straightening out his uniform, he began trekking through the shrubbery.  Occasionally, he stopped to catch some rainwater with his mouth to quench his thirst.  It was warm and humid but he was thankful that he could at least have water to drink.  After what felt like hours, he stopped outside a small clearing and leaned against a tree to catch his breath.  The sky had gotten darker and the sun was beginning to set.  Still, he saw no signs of human life.  He vaguely wondered if he was really just walking around in circles; everything looked the same no matter which way he looked.  He felt desperation well up inside his chest as he sat down against the tree and lowered his head.  Now what?  What should he do?  What could he do?

The sudden sound of an engine snapped him out of his daze.  Looking around wildly, he flattened himself against the earth and hid inside some shrubbery.  Quieting his breathing, he watched as an old army vehicle approached the clearing from the left of him.  Aboard the truck were two men dressed in marine uniforms.  Jongsuk’s heart sank as he eyed their clothing; they were not uniforms he was familiar with… which meant he was not in his own territory.  Well, at least one question was answered.

The truck pulled to a stop inside the clearing and the two men jumped out of the truck.

“Aish,” one of the muttered with a distinct accent, “I told you I had to piss!”  Running over to the opposite end of the clearing, he jerked his pants down and positioned himself. 

Jongsuk sighed in relief as he burrowed himself deeper into the ground.  Thankfully, the marine had chosen the farthest shrubbery from him.  He would have been in big trouble if they had decided to pick his shrub.

“Shut your trap,” the driver snapped, joining the other, “We need to get back to base before night falls.”  He sighed as he also relieved himself inside the bush.  “If it weren’t for your stupid sense of direction,” he muttered, “We wouldn’t have gotten so damn lost.”

“You’re the driver,” the other said, giving himself a little shake before pulling up his pants, “Quit your ing and get us back.”

“I doubt we’ll make it,” the driver said, zipping his own pants up, “There should be a town nearby; let’s stay there for the night.  I sure as hell don’t want to be caught out in the woods at night.”

Jongsuk’s heart skipped a beat as he listened to their conversation.  There was a town nearby… it would have to do as a place for him to hide.  Until he figured out a way to communicate with base, he would need a place to lie low.

“Tch,” the other said as he climbed back into the truck, “You’re too scrawny for wolves to feed on, if that’s what you’re worried about.  You’re better suited to be the toothpick than anything else…”

“I’ll gladly let them have you first, ,” the driver retorted as he resumed his seat, “You’re fat enough to feed an entire pack.”

As the two bickered and started the engine, Jongsuk got up into a crouched position.  He would have to follow the truck until they’d reached the town.  Fortunately, the shrubbery could hide him from view and the noise of the engine would drown out the sounds of his movement.  Now the only problem was to keep up with a vehicle…

But he didn’t have to worry.  The truck drove at a pace slow enough that all Jongsuk had to do to keep up was a light crouching jog.  Now he knew why the second marine had been complaining so much; the driver drove like a rookie and kept breaking every time they came across a fallen log or branch.  Jongsuk didn’t complain though; he was only able to keep up because the driver was terrible at driving.

Soon, the skies became completely dark and stars began to emerge.  Sore and starving, Jongsuk followed the truck with every ounce of energy he could muster.  His persistence paid off; in the distance, he could see the edge of the forest followed by soft lights from houses.  Sighing in relief, he stopped his pursuit and sat down beside a particularly dense shrub.  He watched as the two marines rumbled their way through the forest and down the hill towards the town.

Giving himself a moment to catch his breath, Jongsuk leaned against the tree and closed his eyes.  His rain-soaked clothes had become cold against his skin, making him shiver despite the humid heat.  He felt his stomach twist with hunger.  The rain had long since stopped and he was now dying of thirst. 

Getting back onto his feet, he looked down at his clothes.  He clearly looked military, with his green overall and survival gear.  If he wanted to survive long enough for Search and Rescue to find him, he needed to blend in fast.  With this in mind, he discarded his survival gear, opting to keep only the hunting knife on him.  Feeling less burdened, Jongsuk took a deep breath and gave himself a few soft slaps to the face.  Giving himself a mental pep-talk, he quickly made his way downhill in the curtain of darkness and approached the town. 

The marines had been right; the town was indeed small.  The roads were made of dirt and the roads were barely list with sparse and frail-looking streetlights.  This suited Jongsuk just fine too; the lack of light would provide him with better coverage. 

As quietly as he could, Jongsuk crept through the shrubbery and approached a house.  Spotting some hanging laundry in the yard, he made a beeline for them and quickly snatched himself a pair of shabby looking pants and a worn out shirt.  Dashing back to his shrub, he quickly changed into the clothes.  Although a bit short on the arms and legs, it fit him decently enough to pass off as a regular civilian.

Standing up straight and tucking his hunting knife into the waistband of his pants, he pulled the shirt over his waist and wiped the dirt from his face.  Looking down at himself, he sighed when he spotted his boots.  What was he going to do about shoes?  The boots would have to do until he could snatch himself a pair… he prayed that no one would recognize them as military until then.

The rumbling of his stomach reminded him of the next task on his list of things to do.  He needed to find some food and water quickly; becoming too weak to run from the enemy was not an option, especially now that he knew he was definitely in the wrong territory.  And although he could probably hunt some food in the forest, it would take up too much of the strength he didn’t have.  Besides, lighting a fire would be equivalent to telling everyone exactly where he was.

Walking as casually as he could, he moved out onto a deserted street and began to sniff out the air.  To his dismay, not a single whiff of food came wafting his way.  Even as he continued to walk down the dirt road flanked on both sides by aged homes, not a single food stall could be seen.  Not that Jongsuk had a plan anyway; even if he had seen a convenience store of eatery, what could he do?  Steal some food and run?  That would be as good as exposing himself anyway. 

Reaching the end of the road, Jongsuk sighed and turned around.  He could try other streets too;; maybe he could come across something then.  If he could just come across one food stall, he could at least try and figure out a way to sneak away something to eat…

But luck wasn’t on his side.  It was as if the entire town closed up shop and went home for the day.  With no other option, Jongsuk made his way to an abandoned looking shack and opened the rotting wooden doors.  He jumped in surprise as an old man stirred from inside.  Looking up at him with squinty eyes, the old man gestured to an empty spot beside him and laid back down.

Letting out a mental sigh of relief, Jongsuk sat in the empty spot and gazed at the old man.  From the looks of his ragged clothing to his thin frame, Jongsuk guessed that this old man was homeless and had been for a while.  Relieved the old man had offered to share his shack; Jongsuk leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. 

He couldn’t relax now, not when he was knee-deep in enemy territory.  Without any sustenance and any form of communication with base, he was completely on his own.  Surely, Search and Rescue was already looking for him… but what good would it do if they couldn’t pinpoint his location?  How long before they would assume he’s dead and would give up the search?  How long did he have to stay in this foreign place and wait?  And was just waiting even good enough? 

As Jongsuk tried to quell the anxiety stirring in his heart, he remembered back to the brief flicker of life in his GPS locator… and prayed with all his heart that it had sent something to base.  Until then, he would simply have to use any means necessary to survive.

Author's notes:

This is fun!  Never imagined myself writing this kind of story!  This won't be dragged out; it'll likely only be a few chapters before I end it.  I still need to work on my other works too before my loyal readers get too mad!  Thanks for reading and please stay tuned!