Straight to the Lion's Den
There's an upside to the first camp: they're rattled. The downside is that now they'll be careful.
Even with overwhelming numbers on their side, those bastards had turned tail and pulled back to regroup — which meant they needed to be hammered with a performance so devastating they'd never forget it.
They were cowards. With drones or whatever else they had, they'd definitely comb the area for traces of their missing men.
Sang-goo brushed the blood off his gloves without much care and headed for the truck bed. After the stunt he'd just pulled, it was no surprise that the bound survivors were frozen stiff with terror, barely daring to breathe.
"It's over. Government rescue team."
He reached out a hand, his voice stripped of every trace of emotion. Somehow, that made it worse. Not one of the hostages dared a peep; they simply went rigid where they lay.
Sang-goo snipped their cable ties one by one with his hand axe.
"Seok-woo. Sweep the market for anyone still inside, then move them to the bus."
"Yes, Hyung!"
With the survivors handed off, Sang-goo turned toward the bus. One camp still remained, and the sun was hanging low and lazy in the western sky.
"No time. We're heading straight for the last camp."
4:35 in the afternoon.
The third camp — a dense block of aging storefronts in Samsan-dong.
"Hyung."
Jang Seok-woo's voice came over the radio, cautious, from inside the bus. Sang-goo killed his bike's engine and glared down the mouth of the shopping alley.
The lane was silent as the grave. No sign of the Ark Camp trucks, either. But bloodstains were clearly visible on the ground here and there.
"Too late."
Sang-goo let out a short breath of a sigh. The blood hadn't even dried yet. Right before — or right after — Gwon Man-deuk's recall order had come down, these bastards had already swept the place, grabbed the people, and withdrawn.
The Ark Camp's retreat had been faster than expected. Sang-goo worked his way down the alley, but all he found were the scars of looting and two or three elderly corpses left where they'd been brutally slaughtered.
No survivors. The young men and women, at least, had surely been dragged off alive.
Sang-goo laid a scrap of cloth over the bodies where it had rolled aside.
"Hyung-nim. Looks like they've already pulled out."
Park Ji-hoon, who had followed him in, spoke carefully.
"Yeah."
Sang-goo rose to his feet. Two of the three camps rescued. The sun still had a good hour left before it set.
He glanced down at his watch, then said, flat and offhand:
"What guns we got on the bus?"
"Guns, sir? Uh... shotgun, rifles, SMGs..."
"Any sniper rifle? Grenade launcher?"
"Yes, Hyung-nim. We've got both."
"Bring them."
Park Ji-hoon's mouth twitched, dying to ask what for. He gave up and just moved fast. Following Sang-goo's gaze, he loaded a single sniper rifle and a six-shot grenade launcher into the sidecar.
"Everyone head back first."
"Sorry?"
Park Ji-hoon's face said he must have misheard.
"There are wounded. Tell everyone to head back."
"Th-then... what about you, Hyung-nim?"
"Hyung?"
It was understandable that both Park Ji-hoon's and Jang Seok-woo's faces went stiff. Cornered rats bite, no matter how badly they're fleeing — and after everything Sang-goo had done, those bastards would be more than a little motivated.
Pushing this hard on the very first day — they couldn't help worrying it was too much.
"I'm not planning anything crazy. I just want one look at their main base, so go on ahead."
"Th-then... I'll come with you."
It was Jang Seok-woo. Squeezing himself into that cramped sidecar was the last thing he wanted, but the thought of Sang-goo — their leader — overextending alone and getting hurt or killed was worse.
Sang-goo smirked.
"No time, so head back the way you came. I'm only going as far as the front gate, I swear."
He said nothing more. He swung onto the bike and fired the engine. Little, of course, hopped into the sidecar.
"Stay safe, sir."
"We'll hold position here."
Leaving the two men's worries behind him, Sang-goo throttled up.
Let's make sure they don't dare crawl back out for a good, long while.
The destination, naturally, was their main base — the Ark, where Gwon Man-deuk was hiding.