Chapter 30: Conflict Develops

NEWS: August 1st, 2010

Troops and military vehicles enter North Korea

CNN

CNN has witnessed, through a livestream, vehicles and soldiers entering North Korea through the Korean DMZ.

This video was taken on the 29th of July at 5:13 am local time.

Following the attack on Beijing South Korean forces had marshalled their forces at the border, these forces included: soldiers, vehicles, tanks, missiles, artillery pieces, supplies and more.

President Byeol Park spoke this Saturday regarding the invasion:

“We (South Korea) have always condemned the despotic rule of the Kim family. Syngman Rhee, our first president, agreed to abide the armistice but refused to sign it. In the years that followed North Korea has repeatedly announced it’s refusal to abide by this armistice. First: in 1994, then in 1996, followed by 2003, 2006 and finally just last year in 2009. This repeated aggression has lead the South Korean Government to believe abiding by this armistice is no longer in our best interests.”

This declaration of war has led to both widespread concern from some countries and support from others. Russia, in particular, voice their support for the action of South Korea.

Reporters and other witnesses have reported hearing the sound of explosions from the early morning of the invasion that has yet to let up.

Concerns of human rights violations have been raised, but as of yet no sufficient evidence has been provided.

-Eun-Ji POV-

The rocking of the building threatened to tear me off my feet as I raced down the stairs.

Little Eun-Jung was held desperately in my hands as I skidded across the floor, leaping to the next set of stairs.

Had to get out. The building felt like it would collapse at any moment.

Eun-Ji had been the daughter of a single father, their mother having recently passed away. He had been an important man, always a steady rock in Eun-Ji’s life. The entire reason they had been here was because of their father’s work.

Then the explosions had started, strong enough to rock the ground.

It had been chaos. People running about, trampling each other. Then pieces of the ceiling has started coming down. And her father-

Eun-Ji staggered slightly. The memory making her gorge rise. The taste of vomit was thick in her throat.

She swallowed it down again.

Eun-Jung was crying, she could barely hear it over the rumble of the building.

God, it was so loud she couldn’t hear anything else.

The ground rocked again, and she only barely managed to hold on to the railing. The sound of Eun-Jung’s cries rang in her ears. She slowly rocked her in her hands, humming in an attempt to soothe her. But it was no use, her rocking only betrayed the shivers in her own arms and her humming was broken up by sobs.

Once it stopped rocking she started moving again.

The time it took to reach the exit seemed to drag on. Her heart beat in her chest, even faster than her gasping breath.

Then she reached it, and flung it open.

Dusty air greeted her, smoky and acrid.

She gagged, covering her mouth with her hand in an effort to stop the foul air from intruding upon her lungs.

Her eyes narrowed, trying to pierce the kicked up dust and smoke. She couldn’t stay here, whoever was doing this would find her and then she’d end up dead or worse. She hugged the wall, making sure to cover her little sister’s mouth with her blanket as she did.

The little coughs she was making weren’t encouraging.

Eventually she left the cloud of dust and burning petroleum, and could see her surroundings for the first time since she left the building.

The holes were the first things she noticed. Massive and impossible to miss. They seemed to be everywhere. On the road, piercing through buildings, driving themselves through cars. The rubble and damage left in their wake was just as omnipresent. It littered the floors and almost tripped her up several times

And the fires. The terrible fires…

They were somehow worse than everything else put together. They lit the surrounding buildings with an eerie red glow and belch blackened smoke into the air.

It was like hell had come to earth.

That thought, more than anything, got her moving faster.

Yet, she knew she couldn’t keep going.

The artillery barrage had passed her, the strikes were now ahead of her. Whatever invading force was here they were behind her and moving swiftly.

If she kept going they would catch her.

Her only option was to hide.

She looked around, the effort making her head spin. There wasn’t much.

The dumpsters were an option, and if she was alone she may have chosen them. But Eun-Jung was fussy. She would start crying if she was placed in there.

Eun-Ji felt like crying herself.

So she instead stumbled towards an overturned car, and cursed when found the door was locked. That meant she would have to go through the shattered window, and the thought of climbing over those broken shards made her grimace.

She ducked her head, examining the interior of the car.

The glass was everywhere, even the chairs -now upside down- hadn’t been spared. They glistened like razors amidst the black of the cars black roof. But most distressingly was the body hanging limply from the seat belt. Blood -thick and red- poured from his mouth and congealed upon the floor.

She shuddered and hesitantly reached her hand, searching for a pulse.

There was none.

Face pale, she instead reached for the release of the seat belt. With a quick press the body tumbled lifelessly to the floor, the ragdoll collapse of the man making Eun-Ji feel coldly sick.

Nevertheless she dragged the body towards her and climbed on top.

Eun-Jung wordlessly cred out as she was placed atop the man.

“I know sister. I know,” Eun-Ji commiserated. The inside of the dark was dark and damp with blood. The scent of iron and smoke blended heavily.

She took a deep breath and began dragging the body along the roof of the car using her foot to provide the momentum. It was difficult. The weight of both the man and the two girls riding him made every inch of movement feel like a mile. The almost imperceptible sound of wet rips -from the body being dragged along shards of glass- and more viscous red covering the car only made the effort worse.

But eventually the had made it to the centre of the car. They would be no chance of being spotted, provided nobody stuck their head down to check.

It was a cold comfort.

Eun-Ji rocked her sister, whose cries had quieted to incoherent murmurs.

Finally she couldn’t take it anymore.

The tears flowed freely down her chest as shudders wracked her body. Just yesterday she had been a normal girl! She had a father and a good life! Now it was all gone!

Eun-Jung shifted in her arms, taking a finger in her tiny hand.

…Almost all gone.

A shift of stone quieted her sobs and a chill went down her spine.

There was something wrong.

She didn’t know how she knew, but she didn’t question it. Some antediluvian instinct was clawing at her brain, begging her to run – to escape.

And then came the footsteps.

THUNK THUNK THUNK

Heavy and metallic, they almost didn’t sound like the steps of a man at all.

THUNK THUNK THUNK

They were coming closer now. Eun-Ji froze up at that realisation. Even little Eun-Jung had stopped squirming, her small mind also picking up on the danger.

THUNK SQUISH THUNK

It was almost close enough to see, but the angle of her sight wouldn’t allow her.

THUNK THUNK THUNK

And then it stopped, just out of reach of her sight.

Eun-Ji’s breaths came shorter now, her heart pounded in her ears.

It knew she was there.

The urge to look was almost overwhelming, almost perverse in the sheer need.

She shifted as slowly as she could, craning her neck.

She caught only the barest glimpse of a metallic boot covered in gore before it stepped away.

THUNK THUNK THUNK

The noise of the boots started to grow distant. It was moving away from them.

Eun-Ji almost let out a sigh of relief, but didn’t dare.

THUNK THUNK THUNK

Finally the sound became imperceptible and disappeared, but the girl waited for another ten minutes before daring to move, shivering and sobbing once again.

Desperately thankful that she was alive.

-General Joon POV-

“All resistance eliminated from the designated area. Only civilians present.”

“Understood. Move to the next zone of deployment,” He replied.

“Confirmed.”

General Joon sighed as he leaned back. The parahuman assets they had been lent from the KPD had been useful so far. But many of them were little better than hounds let off their leashes.

It was no secret to any government agency that parahumans were broken messes. Back in the early days -when parahumans first started to emerge- there was a push to integrate the superpowered individuals into the existing structures.

It was a complete disaster.

Parahumans were neurotic wrecks who could be set off by almost anything and were always horrifically dangerous. No parahumans didn’t adapt well to existing structures. Structures had to be built around them.

Much like the Americans South Korea had handed control of it’s parahumans to a separate, and newly founded, agency designed to handle those unstable maniacs.

Unlike the American’s PRT the KPD was not designed to help integrate parahumans, or to help put civilians at ease around them. The closeness of the C.U.I. and the Night of Screams made that an impossibility. Instead the KPD acted as a separate military division of sorts.

Typically they focused on domestic issues. Criminal organisations, terrorist parahumans, insurgents, etc.

But for the very first time they were being used to great effect to devastate resistance in North Korea. They were effective at it. Perhaps too effective.

Their neighbouring country had few parahumans despite the horrible conditions they live in. The reason for this was the C.U.I. They took great pleasure in taking any parahuman they found in their vassal state.

Usually this wouldn’t matter, as that same country would typically help defend North Korea if it was ever invaded.

But with the recent attack on their capital, the invasion from Russia and the current civil war China was in no position to lend any aid.

It should be perfect.

‘Except those fucking parahumans keep killing too many people!”

General Joon fumed silently in his seat.

Admittedly the parahumans weren’t the only ones. His own soldiers were also overly enthusiastic and not too concerned with surrenders after the recent waves of suicide bombers.

But the parahumans put the regular soldiers to shame in their brutality.

The man he had just spoken to, a tinker specialised in power armour, was one of the most conscientious of the parahumans sent in, and he was still a silent butcher who showed very little remorse and only spared civilians. Never surrendering soldiers.

Yes, the comparison between parahumans and wild dogs was an apt one.

General Joon was just thankful no proof of this had been allowed to circulate, ironically because of the parahumans leaving nothing behind to allow for such proof.

His phone rang, and he sighed as he wondered what fresh new horror awaited him.

AN: The war continues! Uhh, South Korea may be getting a little too war crimey. Maybe someone should stop them. In other news next chapter should cover events in Japan, and how they’re doing, and then we’ll be starting the Endbringer battle of India!

I hope you’re excited for it, because I sure am! So much juicy drama and horror to be had

Also I may or may not be increasing my rate of writing soon, assuming I can properly kick my ass into shape and stop procrastinating on that.

Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment!