CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Savage

She had the newspaper-wrapped knife and electric cables wedged in and the hammer in her left hand. Taeyeon grabbed the package with her free hand, wiping on her sleeve. And then she started running. The guards here wouldn't rotate out much because there simply wasn't manpower to waste on guarding prisoners who couldn't escape. This was prison, after all. The location security was already tight. So, odds were she'd meet the crooked nosed guard here.

There were four levels in the building. The top level was administration and guard bunkers. The second level comprised of normal holding cells. The first level housed the isolation cells. Basement level was for interrogation and other fun activities.

Her approach was brute force. The first guard housing unit, she kicked down the door to the room. If he wasn't in here, she'd just have to momentarily put the occupants, if any, out of commission. If he was, let the party ing begin.

The first room was empty. No matter. She went to the second room and kicked in its door.

Jackpot. She had hoped to find the crooked nosed er in bed. He wasn't, but he was in his room, shooting the with two other guards she didn't recognize. They started when she stormed in, but reacted too slowly.

The first guard she fell on had the least time to prepare. She rammed her elbow into his temple, and he was out like a light. The second guard was already lunging at her. He plowed into her and they fell onto the ground. She dropped the newspaper package and tapped him on the head with the hammer to stun him. She kicked him off her and rolled backwards and up onto her feet. Crooked nose was already swinging a baton at her.

She caught it on the shoulder. Stung like a . He pulled back the baton again, but as he brought it back down, she stepped into his swing, grabbed his arm, and twisted it as she threw him over her shoulder into the wall.

Taeyeon turned back to the other two, who were trying to stand up. She flipped the hammer in her hand so that she was holding the head, and cracked the handle over their heads. Just hard enough to get them out of the way.

Crooked nose was on his feet again, gripping one arm. She took one look at his face, and snapped.

She chucked the hammer to the side, and ran up to him. She pulled her hand back and struck him with all her strength, base of her palm to his temple. With the same force, she could have blown his skull apart with the hammer. But she wanted to keep him alive. He fell to his knees, then on all fours.

"Stand up," she said. She imagined punching him in the face, repeatedly, tearing up bloody knuckles and crunching bone. But she had to do this first. "Take off your shirt."

He took off his shirt. He didn't want to be hit anymore. His lower lip was trembling and his pupils were dilated. He was sweating and yellow liquid was leaking out of his nose and ears.

"Take off your pants."

Fumbling now, he ripped off his belt buckle and yanked down his trousers. He was now in his undershirt, boxers and boots.

"Take off your shoes."

He bent down to do so, and then keeled over. She swiped the discarded shirt and pants to the side with her foot and nudged him in the back of the head. He didn't move. She flipped him over. His eyes were half open. Dark brown liquid was seeping out of his nose and ears now. White foam was bubbling at the corner of his mouth.

She couldn't believe it. She felt his pulse. Faint. And fading. She scrambled for the newspaper package and tore it open. She grabbed the knife and went back to him. She grabbed his crotch. She could feel his and balls under his damp boxers. She poised the tip of the blade over it.

" you," she whispered. "Nobody s with me. Let's see how you like the taste of your own , ."

His eyes rolled to the back of his head. She felt sick, clutching his . She gripped the knife harder. "Come on, you ing ."

Somehow, the handle felt as if it was wedged tight in mid-air. She couldn't pull it down. She was going to regret it if she didn't do what she came to do. "Why you gotta be such a ... Stop ing around."

She needed to break through this and return the courtesy he'd done to her. It was the only way she was going to move on. She plunged the knife in. Still-warm blood immediately soaked his boxers. The crooked nosed guard started foaming even more, gurgling.

She couldn't bring herself to fish out his , so she'd do the next step  first. She put the knife down and wrenched his mouth open. The motion made her gag.

She coughed. was tight. She coughed again, trying to in more air. Her vision was dimming out and the room was spinning. She backed up and started moving to the door. The way she was pulling herself to the doorway reminded her of how she had been a ing worm, crawling away from puke and , two floors down.

She made it to the open doorway. loosened. The air was sweet and cold. She panted hard. 

She needed to move. If she was going to be such a girl, she might as well get a move on. Before the two guards woke up again. Before others came upon the scene. "..." 

She walked back into the room, not looking at the fallen bodies. She picked up on the uniform on the floor and pulled it on. The pants were oversized for her. She cinched the belt tight. There was an army cap on the bed. She pulled the bill down, shading her eyes. The boots... there was no time. She just hoped no one was looking too closely at her shoes.

She shoved the electric cables in her pant pockets and took the baton that Crooked nose had dropped and hooked it onto the belt. The hammer and knife, she left, because there was no inconspicuous way to lug it around base.

She left the room quickly, eyes forward. She descended two flights of stairs and walked out of the prison unit into the open field. The air was even sweeter and fresher out here. It was late and very few soldiers were milling around. Any that were had things to do. They didn't look too carefully at the other soldiers around them. Not even at the puny soldier in a too-big uniform. She walked confidently, as if she belonged.

By the time she got to the barracks, most of the initial adrenaline had worn off. She was sweating hard, and her shoulder was throbbing from being hit by the very baton looped on her belt. She went to the rooftop, and as she hoped, Kang Hodong was there, ing to a magazine. She sneaked up behind him, uncoiling the electric cable in both hands, and then strangled him. She did it for four counts of sixty after he passed out so that he would be surely dead.

By the time she made it back to Yuri's apartment, her shoulder was frozen stiff. She leaned heavily against the corner as the elevator jerked and ached up the shaft. She was dry and cold, and completely drained of all energy.

The elevator dinged. She walked down the corridor, step by step. Then she stopped. Jessica stared at her. 

Jessica got off the doorstep. It was dark, but her eyes were wide and fiery. Taeyeon faltered. 

"Where the hell did you go?"

"Jessica, I..."

"I thought you left for good, without saying anything."

I'm not like that. I wouldn't do that. She couldn't say it. She backed off as Jessica approached, but too slowly.

"What the hell happened to you?"

She had dumped the stolen guard uniform as soon as she got out of Seongnam. Her hands were grimy with dried blood. She stared at Jessica, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hey... What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." She forced a grin. "You know... I'm gonna make sure you get home safe. So don't worry about me leaving or whatever. I'll always come back. I'm sorry if you felt betrayed."

"Taeyeon, what's this about?"

"Nothing... Long story short, there was a rat back at base. Sooyoung ordered me to get rid of him. So I did. Another successful mission."

She flinched when Jessica took her arm. She didn't deserve this kindness. She sank to her knees. Jessica was surprised. Jessica didn't know what to do other than to offer a hug. She felt safe despite the dread melting her stomach and sobbed into Jessica's shirt.

The next morning, Taeyeon opened her eyes, expecting to feel sore, but her body had healed. Even after all the gay crying yesterday, her eyes weren't puffy or red. But she did feel completely drained of energy.

Jessica was gone, of course. Early afternoon sun was streaming through the windows. 

She sat up. Her stomach growled painfully. She went to the kitchen and heated up more kimchi fried rice. She forced herself to keep to one measly, normal portion. This constant state of starvation was pissing her off.

Then she went to the clinic. After yesterday, Jessica might feel awkward around her, and she was determined not to let things get that way between them. She offered to help out with the patients, for real, I'll help with anything this time, just give it to me, and Jessica smiled and said nothing about the night before. 

She knew Jessica had a lot of questions. There was no reason to break down after killing a rat. Jessica had seen her kill at least a hundred enemy soldiers without remorse. It hadn't escaped her notice, either, that Jessica hadn't tried to kiss her for such a long time. It was almost as if Jessica knew, even though she surely couldn't have, but she kept her questions to herself.

They worked into the afternoon before going to the kitchen for lunch. It wasn't a real kitchen. There was no stove, but there was a fridge and a sink. They took out a few kimbaps and sat around the table.

"You should take more breaks," Taeyeon said to Jessica. "You look hella tired."

"And you should eat more. You look incredibly hungry. I didn't know people could look hungry before I met you. I mean, there are starving children, but they look malnourished. You... look hungry."

"I should get a medal or something, for not eating babies." Come to think of it, she hadn't actually seen or heard infants in a while. "But I don't wanna take more than they have."

"It might be worthwhile for you to try to find some food outside of Hongdae. You really should be eating more than what you've been having."

"Maybe." She hadn't obtained a gun yet, which made roaming outside more than necessary less pleasant. She could do it for a job, easily, but for a couple cans of spam? Her stomach rumbled like a hyena in the desert. Maybe, it wasn't such a bad idea. "If I do, we should throw a feast in the apartment."

"It's good to share, but I don't know if Yuri and Sunny will understand if they see you eating all that food when they're rationing on a shortage."

Taeyeon smiled. "Okay. Just between us then."

"I'm kind of sick of kimchi fried rice and kimbap. So don't bring that stuff back for me if there's nothing else."

"There's gotta be better in Seoul."

"Well, me, because it sure as hell seems like it." Jessica said, and yawned widely.

"Yo, you gotta be sleeping more. You're here like sixteen hours a day, and as far as I can see, this is your only real break. It's not sustainable."

Jessica laughed. "Tell that to Krystal. She'd have a real riot if anyone said I have to sleep more."

Taeyeon grinned. "Who's Krystal?"

"My sister." Jessica's smile faded and she looked away, blinking. She stood up. "I think... I should go check up on the patients. Could you help me clear this off?"

Taeyeon looked at the table. They just had crumply aluminum foil wrappers to clean up. Seemed like Jessica's sister, older or younger, was a sensitive topic.  "Sure."

Alone in the kitchen, Taeyeon gathered up the trash and dumped it into the bin. The difference between yesterday and today was making her laugh. She was so screwed up.

A/N: Hey againB) Looking forward to SNSD on Running Man. Thanks for the reviews/subs/upvotes last chapter! Always super grateful about every comment cos it's like a different perspective from the way I'm seeing things:)) How was this one?