chapter three

Eunjung didn’t stop running until she was out of breath and her head started hurting again, and even then, she continued walking, too scared to stop in case the man from before caught up with her.

Finally, unable to go on any longer, she slipped behind a building, found a corner that was hidden from the path, and sat down, wheezing, as she pulled her legs to her chest and tried to catch her breath. The adrenaline had died down, and, trying to keep her breathing light, Eunjung reached for the gun she’d stolen from the boy from before.

She opened the chamber. He was right—there was only one bullet left—which didn’t mean much, especially if the only exit to the camp was through the gate where nearby, a huge group of soldiers were gathered. A fully loaded gun wouldn’t have been enough for that, much less something with only one shot left.

Eunjung sat in the same spot for a while longer. The area she was in was quiet, still a fair distance where the gates were. The man was right in saying that going through was a suicide mission, and if she was caught, death was probably the more merciful of options. On the other hand, night was only going to last for so long, and she needed to either find a safe place to hide in the daytime or leave right away. The latter was a more preferable option, but for once, she was lost. The guild was huge, there were guards everywhere, the walls were too high for her to climb.

Gnawing on her lip, she allowed herself a couple of moments of rest before pushing herself to her feet again. Maybe it wasn’t the best option heading towards where the firelight was coming from, but it was also true that she didn’t have any better choices.

The moon had just started it’s ascent into the sky. Night was still young, but if whatever feat she was trying to accomplish was impossible, then the time she had to do it really didn’t matter.

Eunjung couldn’t help but think back to the boy she’d stolen the gun from, too. He had been vicious when she first attacked him, but either he was trying to convince her to let down her guard in the end or something had actually happened. She could still see his eyes, burning with clear contempt when she forced him to the ground. She’d thought then that it was a clear sign of a deal with a deity—there wasn’t another explanation why he’d look so angry, nor could she think of any other way for him to be so brash to attack her when she’d been pointing the gun at him—but it was still odd.

She shook her head. There was no time in worrying about something so insignificant. She’d most likely never see him again, and it was also a possibility that he’d report her, which meant there’d be people on the active lookout. It virtually left her with no choice but figure out a way out, and soon.

For at least another two minutes, Eunjung walked in silence. No one passed her—there weren’t any soldiers around the area, thankfully. The firelight was printed against a larger building in the distance—she suspected it was the barracks—and behind it, the same, concrete wall that circled the whole camp.

She came across a group of guards patrolling not long after. Eunjung barely had time to duck behind the corner of another building before the group came marching by with flashlights, talking to each other in low voices. They continued down the path, apparently having missed her presence, and she waited in nervous anticipation in her hiding spot until their voices and the light had faded.

Eunjung allowed herself a deep breath of relief to sooth the one she’d been holding before, got up, and started moving again, weaving around the buildings and staying out of the light that the occasional lamp cast.

It wasn’t long after that she the chatter of voices rose again, close enough for her to hear that there seemed to be two people, and that the reply, much fainter, was female.

She froze.

It came from around the corner. The buildings, which she was pretty sure were used for storing supplies, the occasional one a home to a higher ranking soldier, were beginning to lapse into larger ones, most of which housed larger vehicles. There was a short runway for what might’ve been a plane, but the gates of the building was closed, and Eunjung couldn’t see beyond it.

She turned towards the noise. It was coming around a building, which was right down the path that Eunjung had drawn for herself to get closer to the place where the fire was burning. She couldn’t afford going around the building from the other way because there was the main path and there was virtually no place to hide near there, but there actually being someone in the area meant that she’d also risk getting spotted.

It wasn’t probably the best idea, but, taking a deep breath, Eunjung crept towards the direction of the sound.

A couple things were for certain when she got closer—firstly, the location of where the voices were coming from, which should’ve been right around the corner, and secondly, she woman was half-begging the other person to back off.

It was probably best not to interfere. Whatever happened in the guild was none of her problem because she could barely get herself out of the situation, but before Eunjung could stop herself, she was already pulling out the gun from her pocket and inching towards the source of the talking.

She peered around the corner cautiously. It was enough for her to see in the dark the faint silhouette of a woman, then the familiar uniform that all of the soldiers of the guild wore. The man was holding something—a metal baton, Eunjung realized belatedly—and then the second realization hit her that the girl was the one who had answered her questions back when they’d been locked up.

There was one shot left. She was no match against the man with only a knife otherwise, and, as he raised the baton again, Eunjung briefly wondered if it was worth all the trouble.

“Wait!” The girl shrieked right before he brought the metal rod down again, and he faltered for a moment. Eunjung couldn’t make out his expression in the dim light, but it wasn’t anything pleasant. She could also see something darker on her face—blood, contrasted against paler skin. Eunjung swallowed thickly. “There’s someone there,” she began, then faltered. “Please help me, I don’t—”

One shot’s not going to help me anyway, she thought grimly, and then there was another second of, great, another terrible decision before she stepped out from behind the wall with the gun pointed at the guard who was still standing over the other girl.

Confusion flitted across his face for a second, which then morphed to anger, then finally fear. Eunjung took another step out of the shadows, keeping her gun pointed at his head. “Get up,” she said to the girl. “Run.”

She stared at her with eyes with fright for a couple more seconds. “Run,” Eunjung grit out again.

The girl scrambled to her feet a couple of seconds later. She stumbled once, unsteady, before turning the other way and bolting. Fifteen seconds of tense silence later, she had disappeared into the dark, and Eunjung was left with the gun still aimed at the man. Her arms were shaking, she realized, though she wasn’t sure at that point if it were out of fright or because she’d really been pushing herself to the limit and the concussion was just making things worse. Either way, she couldn’t afford to show fright or let down her guard, especially since she was so dangerously close to the path, and any passing soldier would be able to see her.

“Hands up,” she snapped at the man. “Put down the weapon and stand up.”

He glared at her, anger evident in his expression, but slowly, set the metal baton down on the ground before rising to his feet slowly. She took a step forward when he lifted his hands to his head.

“Where’d you come from?” he growled. “Are you one of the prisoners of Chuseon village?”

She gestured at him to step back, and, unable to do anything else, he followed her actions even though she could see he was itching to hurt. The rage burned in his eyes, and his gaze travelled from her face and the gun in her hands to his own weapon on the floor. Eunjung watched his movements carefully, nervous and still trying to figure a way out of the place. The soldier wasn’t exactly acting normal, and, like the last man she’d met, she was pretty sure that he’d made a deal with a deity, not matter how deep into the decline he was in. Someone with powers was the least predictable, especially if she was specifically triggering the emotion that set him off the most.

“Back off,” Eunjung repeated. “I won’t hesitate to shoot if you don’t follow my instructions.”

The last glare he cast her was so full of hatred that she was nearly certain that he’d made a deal with the deity of anger. Still, she forced herself to keep calm as she moved forward.

The man followed her steps, hands still hell behind his head. There didn’t seem like there was anyone else in the area, but Eunjung couldn’t be sure. She also wasn’t sure there was anyway to run away from him and get far enough without worrying about him—there was already the last man to worry about, and she worried that staying in the same spot meant that he could possibly catch up.

She definitely couldn’t afford it. “Hurry,” she told him.

For another half-minute, they walked in complete silence. They turned, straying a bit further from where the fire was—she couldn’t afford getting nearer to fellow soldiers in such a predicament—and then the first thing went wrong.

The man stopped. Eunjung halted too, fr