Chapter 29: REWIND 6 <<<<<< [--:--am]

The wind blew so harshly that Byunghee thought it should have extinguished the flames, but no, instead it was fanning them to even greater heights. Fire - greedy, greedy fire - was going to swallow whole the mid-levels and all the people with it.

It was a purge. A punishment.

It had begun with his father who had defied the government and in doing struck a match and sparked the flames. These were flames his father had wanted to be warm, something to light the hearts of the mid-levers and give them something to fight for, to live for. But instead they had ignited an uncontrollable titan. One that was going to consume them all.

And it was all being controlled by the government.

They were going to extinguish any possible coup d’états to ash and dust before they even had the chance to take form. They wanted to give the mid-levers a taste of their own medicine; they were going to fight fire with fire. Literally.

But not if Byunghee could help it.

 “FIRE!” Byunghee screamed in a hoarse, adolescent voice. Pitched with fear, it was easily lost in the wind. “FIRE! GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSES!”

He hammered on every door he passed, threw open the ones that he could, barely noticing the blinking eyes in the gloom and the startled yelps before he ran onwards to the next house.

 “FIRE!” he screamed again and again till his voice trembled from over-use.

As he ran he tried to concentrate on getting home, but the unnatural movement of the fire caught his attention. It weaved and twined amongst the building like a dragon, crumbling rooftops under the weight of its heavy feet and smashing down walls with every lash of its vicious tail.

As much as Byunghee wanted to stop and stare and puzzle over it, there were two significantly more important things to worry about – his family. And Changsun.

***

Changsun woke to the sound of screams. It wasn’t the yelling or pitched tones that particularly woke him up. No, it was the thickness of the air that suffocated him into wakefulness. It was the screams woven together into a mesh so heavy he struggle in its vice and the pure undulated fear that formed a heavy weight on his chest.

Changsun eyes flew open and he lay there for a moment, blinking and gasping and wondering what this cold chill down his back and heavy mass on his chest meant. And then as if a block had suddenly been removed from his ears, the screams reached him.

Pitched. Off-kilter. Blood-tinged.

Changsun threw himself out of bed before he even processed his thoughts. He was just in time to see an explosion of red and white out of the corner of his eyes. Fire, he thought and twisted on bare feet.

“Umma!” he yelled. “Ji-su noona!” Without ceremony he threw open the door and was shaking awake the two. They stared at him, all bleary-eyed and wide yawning mouths but snapped instantly awake at the sight of the fear glittering in Changsun’s eyes.

 “What’s wrong?” Ji-su asked immediately, throwing on a jacket and pulling on her shoes as Changsun pulled their mother out of her bed. “What’s happening?”

She could hear the screams now; they were practically deafening. So much so that they felt like some horror movie background sound track. But beyond that was an eerie crackle, like booted feet crunching a bed of bark. She shivered.

 “Fire,” Changsun replied shortly in answer to both his sister and his mother’s questioning gaze.

“An accident…?” his mother gave him a sharp glance. “Or…?”

Changsun nodded grimly. “It’s no accident. No fire could have started that fast.”

“We need to go,” Ji-su said firmly. Her mother threw her a despairing look.

“We can’t!” she cried. “What if your father returns and we’re not here!”

“That doesn’t matter umma!” Changsun said. “What matters is that we survive. If we don’t then appa will have nothing to return to at all.”

“But!” she protested.

“But nothing,” Changsun growled and grabbed her bodily, pulling her upwards. “We need to go.”

“Ji-su!” their mother turned to her, her eyes wide and pleading.

Ji-su simply shook her head. “Sorry umma,” she said shortly, “but I agree with Changsun. Father’s not an idiot. He’ll find us. We have to go.”

She ignored her mother’s wailing and took her other arm. Ji-su gave her little brother a pointed look. “Let’s hurr-“

Her eyes widened and Changsun spun to see what was bothering her. His mouth fell wide open as he saw the fire coil like a snake about to strike. Without them realizing it had snuck up on them, consuming the next door neighbor’s house in one gulp and was now rising up high like a tidal wave. Changsun felt his mother’s fingers dig deep into his arm and heard a sharp gasp from his sister. But as if he was in a tunnel, the only thing Changsun could see was the incoming wave of fire as it tumbled down and swallowed them whole.

***

Byunghee stared at the crumbling ruins in front of him. Memories surged: dinner over at the Lee’s, sleepovers, sneaking out with Changsun from the back window; all of that was gone with the house that had held them. All that was left was a pile of smoldering metal and crumbling concrete.

Slowly Byunghee staggered forwards, unwilling to believe that Changsun’s bones lay amongst the ruins. He took slow steps closer, forcing the bile that rose in his throat down as he nudged aside rubble and half-metal sheets with one booted foot.

One heart-stopping moment threw him off as he caught the glinting light of something white, but it was only the metal frame of a window burnished bright in the wake of the flames.

Byunghee let out a sigh of relief as he completed a round of the house.  But it didn’t mean they were out of the danger zone just yet. He stared at the rise and fall of fire in the distance, shivering at its somehow bestial movements. It scared him just how much control the government had. And just how little they had.

With a rough shake of his head, Byunghee snapped out of his fire-induced trance. There was no time for this. He slapped himself lightly on the face with both hands and spun around on hard heels, heading at once for home.

***

Changsun stared at the sight in front of him. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly?

It had only been a matter of minutes ago that the three of them had been running down the street, hearts thudding disconcertingly from the shock of barely escaping the towering fall of flames. It had been Ji-su’s quick actions that had dragged them out of the window and away from certain death. She had then herded them towards the square, deciding they were safer to head towards where the fire had already struck, for there was no reason for the fire to return to where it had already scorched everything to ash.

And then at the T junction they literally ran into their father. He had been thinking the exact same thing. There had been hugs and sobs, all rapidly evaporating in the heat of the greater threat.

A quickly decision from his father, head of the household, was to head towards the harbor. It was far away from the center of the residential area, which his father reasoned was where the government were targeting. They had all agreed with him quietly, thankful that someone else was taking over.

And then it was the four of them, feet pounding past the endless blocks of buildings, screeching around the thousands of turns, the maze-like structure and the shock of the night numbing Changsun’s mind into a plane of whiteness.

As they ran they passed shadows of other fleeing mid-levelers and briefly Changsun thought of Byunghee. He hoped his brother was safe as well but he knew full well that anything and everything could go wrong.

They passed an alley-way that struck a familiar chord. It was then that Changsun realized he knew where they were. This was the alley-way he and Byunghee used to get to their hideout. Perhaps Byunghee would be there. Perhaps he should tell his father-

A scream.

Changsun looked ahead of him to see his father fall to the ground, one hand clutching his shoulder that bled red over white. Just around the corner was an enforcer armed with a black gun. It was pointed at where his father had been standing just seconds ago.

It was his mother who had screamed and then rushed forwards, arms thrown around Changsun’s father. And before Changsun could say a word the enforcer gave a cocky grin and a hailstorm of bullets flew through the air.

It was as if time slowed down, Changun’s mother arced her back, her small mouth opening and the tiniest of gasps echoing out. His father with his pain stricken face had watched with wide eyes as she fell to the ground. His arms reached out and a despairing cry tore itself from his mouth. She was dead before she even hit the ground.

Then suddenly there was the cocked metal sound of a gun raised and ready to fire. The enforcer was pointing his gun straight at Changsun’s father’s head. A small thump reverberated through Changsun’s chest.

“No…” he whispered without realizing it. He couldn’t lose his father as well.

But before he or his sister could move, a second enforcer appeared. He placed one gloved hand on the first enforcer’s gun. “Enough,” he said quietly. “There have been enough deaths today.”

The first enforcer threw him an annoyed gaze, the twist of his mouth evidence enough. “But-“

“I’m your superior,” the second enforcer barked. “And I say stand down.”

There was authority in his voice. Enough so that the first enforcer backed down, but reluctantly so. As he did so he looked down the street and saw Changsun and Ji-su.

“But what about them,” he said and a grin spread across his face. He raised his gun so quickly that the second enforcer could not move fast enough to stop him.

“NO!” Changsun screamed at the same time his father yelled at them to “Run!” Changsun grabbed his sister bodily, twisting the two of them so that the bullet cut right past them.

The enforcer gritted his teeth and turned his gun, but the second enforcer slammed the of his gun into the back of the younger enforcer’s head. “Enough!” he snarled as the younger enforcer fell to his knees, gun clattering to the ground. The second enforcer turned to look for the two children but they had vanished into an alleyway.

He looked down instead at the two figures at his feet.

“Are you going to kill us as well?” the man hissed, tears running down his cheeks furiously. “Well? Go on?”

If it had been any other enforcer than this particular one then Lee Seung Ah would be dead for his audacity. But it was this particular enforcer and he simply sighed. “There’s been enough death tonight,” he said in a strangely mournful tone. “Leave now and go home.”

“Home?” Seung Ah said in a twisted voice. “What home? You’ve burned our homes down!”

The enforcer bit his lip. “You can rebuild-“

“Rebuild stone and concrete yes,” Seung Ah snapped. “But my wife? You can’t rebuild flesh and bones. Even in a world like ours-“

“Enough!” The enforcer had lost his patience. He too doubted the orders from the government but it was too late to regret what they had done. “You have 24 days to say your goodbyes.”

“24 days?” Seung Ah repeated him mockingly. “I was supposed to have a lifetime with my wife. And you and the government took it away from us.”

“You started the fire yourselves,” the enforcer closed his eyes, tired of the argument. “You shouldn’t have rebelled.”

“So what should we have done?” Seung Ah widened his eyes. “Sat down and wagged our tails. Waited for the government to starve us further? No human being would do that willingly.”

“You reap what you sow,” was all the enforcer said quietly.

Seung Ah stared down at his dead wife in his arms, her glassy eyes staring out at her. “If that’s the price we pay for a chance at freedom then this world is more twisted that I ever thought it to be.”

The enforcer turned around, unsure of what to say or even where his morals stood. “I-“ he began and then bit down whatever he was about to say. Nothing he was about to say would console the man with his dead wife in his arms any longer. “Go home,” was all he said in the end. “It’s over. We’ve been issued an order to return to base. The purge is over.”

He tossed the unconscious younger enforcer over one shoulder and walked away.

Behind him Seung Ah let out a fresh sob of grief and clutched his wife closer. The purge may have ended, but the nightmares never would.  

***

Byunghee stared at the sight in front of him. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly?

It had only been a matter of minutes ago that he had been pelting down the streets, desperately trying to find his way home. The burnt remains of the streets and the unfamiliar choke of smoke had confused him. And when he had finally found a familiar road, he was greeted with ruins. Burnt and crumbled was all that was left of his family home.

But it wasn’t abandoned as Changsun’s was. Byunghee’s face whitened as he heard a keening wail echo from within its remains. He swallowed hard and stepped over what remained of the door to look beyond a semi-standing wall.

His mother crouched over two bodies, and burned beyond recognition. Their eyes were closed and their hands lay limply on the floor. It if wasn’t for the white sheen of bones gleaming through sagging skin and the way the wisps of black hair crumbled under his mother’s gentle touch, Byunghee could have almost believed his two sisters to be asleep.

But what was worse was the wail that echoed from within its remains.

Byunghee staggered forwards, knees buckling as the smell of burnt meat filled his nostrils. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from the sight of his eldest noona’s body. Even though he knew he shouldn’t, Byunghee reached out to touch her face. The sensation of slick skin giving way beneath his fingers nauseated him and before he couldn’t even think, Byunghee turned around and threw up nosily in the corner.

He came up heaving, wiping his mouth and in dire need of a drink. Byunghee turned around to look at his mother, but it was a mistake and his stomach heaved again. But before he could throw up again his mother said something. It was so quiet that at first Byunghee thought he had misheard her. But then she said it again, louder, more venomous.

“Unforgiveable,” she spat.

“Um…ma…?” Byunghee turned to look at her. He doubled back at the gleam of white in her eyes.  

“We cannot forgive then Byunghee,” she said. “Unforgiveable. The government is unforgivable. First they take your father, then my two daughters. Unforgivable!”

“Umma…?” Byunghee said. He didn’t like the sound of her voice. Or the look in her eyes. “Listen to me-“

“No, you listen to me Byunghee,” his mother cut him off. “You’re all I have left. You have to promise me something. As my only son. As my only remaining child.”

A wild look came into her eyes and in a flash Byunghee’s mother was in front of him, her hand gripping his so hard that he could see the bones of her knuckles pulling skin taut.

“W-what is it umma?” he gulped and then regretted it as he tasted vomit.

“Promise me you’ll get revenge for them.”

“Umma!” Byunghee shook his head hard. “Are you listening to yourself-“

“You will get revenge for them Byunghee,” she hissed, gripping his hand even tighter. “You will make the government pay in blood and tears for what they have done. You will make them learn the cost of what they have wrought today. You will make them fall to their knees and beg and plead and realize they are not god. You will promise me this Byunghee.”

“I-“ Byunghee stared at his mother, her madness surrounding her like a shroud, the gleam in her eyes so feral that he felt like he was staring at some cornered beast rather than his own flesh and blood. “I…”

“Promise me!” she snarled. “For your father. Your sisters. Would you let their deaths go unanswered? Would you!”

“No umma!” he was startled into a reply. “Their deaths weren’t right, but to exact revenge is…”

“Is just what they deserve. For years the government has thought us pawns, but enough is enough.”

“But umma, shouldn’t we just be glad we’re alive?”

“Alive?” his mother spat, derision twisting into something close to contempt. “My son, we won’t be alive for much longer if this government goes on. So while we can we should show them we are not mere chess pieces.”

She drew a deep breath and Byunghee flinched, ready for more poison drenched words. But then suddenly she adopted the softer poises of her old self. She raised one hand and gently cupped Byunghee’s cheek. “Byunghee, my son, please,” she said softly. “Please do this for me. For them.” She looked down at his sisters lying together, dark hair overlaying one another.

Byunghee swallowed hard. Finally he said quietly, “I understand umma. I’ll do it.” And his mother smiled and let go of his hands. She turned back to his sisters, smoothening their hair back and pressing kisses to their foreheads.

“Did you hear that?” she crooned to them. “Byunghee will make sure you didn’t die for nothing. You should be proud of your little brother.”

Byunghee tore his eyes away from the scene, sickened to the core. He turned his attention to the far distance, wincing as he heard the screams still echoing, the embers lurking and the gunfire still rattling. And here in front of him his mother was kissing his two sisters on the forehead as if just another tiring day had passed and nothing had changed.

Byunghee stared at his hands and hoped the promise his mother had wrung out of him wasn’t one he was going to regret. He turned around to see his mother push back a matt of black hair, revealing his younger noona’s skull. Byunghee’s hand flew to his mouth and he turned, just in time, to throw up again in the corner.