Reunion (2)
Thwip!
The suppressed gunshot muffled by the silencer rang out, and about a second later, the gangster in the scope collapsed, spraying red, paint-like blood from his head. Seeing this, the other panicked men immediately dove for cover. It seemed the gangsters assumed their comrade had been taken out by a sniper on the mountain.
'Even better.'
Since the gangsters had stopped in their tracks, Jun-ho felt much more at ease as he began firing at the targets entering his scope.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
One gangster slumped over. However, the other two shots missed. No matter how skilled Jun-ho was, it was impossible to hit every target nearly 300 meters away with subsonic ammunition, which suffered from rapid velocity loss and significant ballistic drop beyond a certain distance. Moreover, only the first shot had been a successful headshot; the subsequent rounds only struck shoulders or torsos. Since they were likely wearing bulletproof vests, the men hit by the bullets only writhed in pain rather than dying. Nevertheless, because two or three out of every five shots were finding their marks, the gangsters were plunged into a state of panic, not knowing what to do.
However, proving Jun-ho’s suspicion that these were no ordinary thugs based on their equipment, the gangsters quickly realized that the fire that had taken out their comrade was coming from a different direction, not from the mountain peak.
Just then, the desperate voice of someone who appeared to be the leader of the gangster group blared from the radio of the bandit-like thug Jun-ho had subdued earlier. The moment he heard that, Jun-ho fired rapidly, emptying his magazine. Although he only landed a few hits due to the rapid-fire, the men gave up on climbing the mountain and began to flee downward in a hurry.
Seeing that, Jun-ho immediately ceased fire. If there was no response on the radio, they would realize their comrades here had been taken out, and his position would be compromised. Jun-ho slung the bandit-like gangster, who was still unconscious from his kick, over his shoulder and quickly left the area. Despite being weighed down by all sorts of equipment and firearms, not to mention a man who looked like he weighed over 70 kilograms, Jun-ho moved as quickly as a wild beast across the slopes and ridges, arriving at the middle of the valley in less than ten minutes.
After dumping the still-unconscious gangster anywhere, Jun-ho immediately launched his drone.
Whirrrr!
The drone shot upward, flying rapidly along the valley and transmitting nearby information to the controller screen. "Found you." Jun-ho, having discovered the group of gangsters that had bypassed them by climbing the valley, locked the drone camera onto them and sprinted up the valley. He covered the narrow ravine, which would have taken the gangsters over 30 minutes of grueling effort to climb, in just five minutes. He soon found footprints in the damp, muddy soil and signs of underbrush being trampled roughly.
Jun-ho kept checking the gangsters' positions through the controller screen mounted on the center of his tactical vest, running up the mountainside while following their tracks. At one point, both he and the gangsters appeared on the controller screen at the same time. That was when they opened fire in his direction.
"……!"
Since that could only mean one thing, Jun-ho disengaged the safety on his AR-15 and, keeping his body low, charged forward at a terrifying speed.
* * *
Click. Click.
When the QCW-05 suppressed submachine gun she had taken from the gangsters acted up again, Yoon Seol-hee removed the magazine and tossed the weapon aside. It was a piece of junk that even the Chinese military would curse, and being a bullpup design, it wasn't something she was used to; besides, the gangsters had maintained the firearms so poorly that it was never going to last long anyway. It was only because she was a former Special Forces NCO that she could even shoot and hit anything with such a gun; the other staff members wouldn't have stood a chance. That was why Yoon Seol-hee had given the other staff proper rifles and taken this gun for herself.
Anyway, the only firearm left was her suppressed pistol. Including the rounds she had salvaged from the submachine gun magazine, she had about 40 rounds of 9mm subsonic ammunition left, but since she only had one pistol magazine, she had to fight with 15 rounds. And the effective range of the pistol was 50 meters; to ensure a lethal effect, she had to shoot from within 30 meters. In other words, from now on, she was in a situation where she had to engage in close-quarters combat against enemies armed with rifles and submachine guns.
Tap-tap-tap...!
Yoon Seol-hee climbed toward the mountain peak, avoiding the booby traps she had laid out. It was rough, steep terrain that was difficult for people to traverse, but that wasn't a big problem for her. Of course, there was a mountain path that the villagers usually used, but that was already being guarded by the KW Cops and was the site of a fierce battle, so this was the only route the enemy could take. Yoon Seol-hee had created traps all along this route to disrupt or injure any pursuers.
'Those guys, they’ve definitely been trained.'
Unlike the gangsters she had encountered at first, these opponents had received some level of military training. And it wasn't just at the level of regular reservists; she suspected they were former members of search teams or special forces units skilled in mountain warfare, and they had even deployed drones.
'But where did the drone go?'
It was difficult to hit a small drone flying rapidly outside of its effective range with a gun. The person who could shoot that down would be called a god of marksmanship. Moreover, since she was currently in the middle of a battle, Yoon Seol-hee couldn't do anything about it, even though she knew two drones were appearing alternately to scout her position.
'What the hell are these guys? Are they really gangsters?'
It was absurd, but distracting thoughts were only a hindrance to the battle. She quickly focused her concentration and headed toward the second battlefield she had pre-determined. That was when it happened.
Pew!
Amidst the ceaseless gunfire, a very distinct sound pierced her ears.
"……!"
Feeling the hair on her neck stand on end, Yoon Seol-hee threw her body into a patch of bushes where spring flowers were blooming in abundance.
Thwack! Thwack-thwack! Ping!
Bullets embedded themselves in the spot where she had been just a moment ago. And the last bullet that flew in ricocheted off a rock and lodged itself in her shoulder.
"……!"
A searing pain shot through her, but Yoon Seol-hee bit her lip hard to stifle the moan that threatened to escape. 'Did they hit me...? I think I got hit...! I'm down...!' She heard voices muttering from the direction of the peak, not from below the mountain, and Yoon Seol-hee rolled her body quickly through the bushes. She would leave tracks, but this wasn't the time to worry about that. Judging by the volume of their voices, the men seemed to be only a few dozen meters away. She had to get out of here quickly, no matter what.
After rolling a few more times, Yoon Seol-hee crawled down the side of the slope on her belly.
"This bitch. We're supposed to keep her alive and take her to Brother Woo-jung."
"Fuck that. Did you forget what happened to Seok-ho because of her? Even if she's dead, we should cut off her limbs and throw them to the zombies."
As the pain in her shoulder grew more intense, the conversation of the men who had ambushed her grew closer as they descended the slope. Since her tracks would soon be discovered, Yoon Seol-hee crawled to a tree trunk, hid her body, and aimed her pistol in the direction of the voices. The distance was roughly 40 meters. Because it was a suppressed pistol, they wouldn't be able to pinpoint her location immediately.
"She's around here... where is this bitch?"
"Are you sure she was hit and went down? Wouldn't it be better to call the drone and sweep the area once?"
"I'm telling you, she was hit. I definitely..."
The moment one man's figure appeared through the dense branches, Yoon Seol-hee pulled the trigger.
Tap-tap!
"Argh!"
Whether both shots hit or not, the man went down.
"Fuck!"
With a short curse, the other men instantly hid their bodies beneath the bushes. Tap! Tap-tap! Tap! Yoon Seol-hee fired a few more shots toward where the gangsters were likely hiding and immediately moved to another location. Her left shoulder, hit by the ricocheted bullet, caused even greater pain, but she gritted her teeth, endured the agony with superhuman patience, and moved while keeping her body low.
"There she is!"
Bang! Bang! Bang-bang-bang! Thwip-thwip-thwip! Thwack!
The sound of 5.56mm standard rounds and the gunfire from the suppressed weapon rang out in a chaotic mix. Thwack! Thwack-thwack! However, because Yoon Seol-hee had intentionally moved to an area with many trees, all the bullets either embedded themselves in the wood or grazed the bushes.
"Flank her! Go around and..."
Thwip!
The moment a sound distinctly different from the gunfire she had just heard rang out, the shouting of the man giving orders was cut short. Unlike the gangsters, Yoon Seol-hee, who had actually fired various firearms during her active duty in the Special Forces, immediately recognized the identity of that strange noise.
'AR-15 subsonic rounds!?'
Thwip! Thwip-thwip!
"Wh-what!? Where..."
"There's another one..."
The two men who had raised their voices couldn't finish their sentences.
Bang-bang! Thwip-thwip-thwip! Bang!
With three of their comrades killed in an instant, the men, beyond flustered and into a state of panic, fired their guns in all directions. And that meant the shooting directed at Yoon Seol-hee had stopped. She stopped her flight, quickly hid her body behind a tree, and peeked her head out in the direction where the gangsters' voices had been heard.
Thwip-thwip!
"Ugh!"
As the suppressed AR-15 fired, the gangster hit by the bullets collapsed and rolled down the slope.
"Argh! Aaaargh!"
Bang-bang! Bang-bang! Bang!
Then, a gangster hiding behind a large tree began firing wildly, just sticking his gun out to the side without even aiming properly. It was a common reaction from those consumed by fear in a firefight. Yoon Seol-hee immediately aimed her pistol at him and pulled the trigger.
Tap-tap!
It was a fairly long distance, but luckily, one of the two shots hit him in the face. The man couldn't even scream; he just slumped over with his head hanging low and collapsed on the spot.
'I fired eight rounds, so seven left.'
And the gangsters who had ambushed her were now likely down to two or three. Grateful to the mysterious ally(?) who had not only saved her from a crisis but also provided a chance for a counterattack, Yoon Seol-hee peeked her head out from behind the tree trunk again to find the remaining gangsters. And at that moment.
"……!?"
She could see a person wearing a multi-cam pattern combat uniform mixed with light green and tan, a bulletproof helmet of the same color, and a black mask, moving rapidly while holding an AR-15 with a C-clamp grip to maximize recoil control, firing at the gangsters hiding in the bushes or behind trees.
Thwip! Thwip-thwip!
With just three shots, another man went down on the spot.
'Crazy...'
The actions were bold, but the terrifyingly accurate shooting gave Yoon Seol-hee a feeling that went beyond admiration and into something fearsome. And if Yoon Seol-hee, who was watching, felt that way, the gangsters facing him were naturally even more terrified than she was, just firing their guns randomly.
"Argh! Argh!"
Bang! Bang-bang! Bang! Bang! Bang-bang!
It was an action that produced the worst possible result in a firefight, but the man, already consumed by fear and in a panic, didn't realize it.
Thwip!
"Ah...!?"
When no bullet came out even after pulling the trigger, the gangster, finally realizing he had emptied his magazine, frantically tried to pull a new one from his pouch. But in a life-or-death firefight, especially when his allies had been wiped out in an instant, changing a magazine calmly was not an easy task.
Thwip!
While he was fumbling, the opponent, who had closed the distance like a ghost, fired a bullet that put a hole in the man's temple, and he collapsed.
Less than a minute after firing his first shot, the man who had dealt with all the gangsters still maintained his firing stance and checked the fallen thugs. After confirming that they were all either dead instantly or in a state where they would die within minutes, he finally lowered his mask and raised his voice toward one direction.
"Manager Yoon Seol-hee, you can come out now. It's me, Lee Jun-ho."
"……!!!"
Yoon Seol-hee, who had still been hiding because she couldn't be sure if the mysterious ally was truly an ally, widened her eyes. Then, without realizing it, she trembled in her shoulders and slowly stepped out from behind the tree.
"It's been a while, Manager."
"Lee... Jun-ho?"
The moment she saw Jun-ho's calm face, Yoon Seol-hee felt the strength drain from her body. A reunion after nearly a year. It was nothing short of an apocalypse miracle.