[Side Story] Boiled Life (3)
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When is a person most obsessed with life?
When you set a grand life goal?
When trying to save someone?
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no. I assure you that when people face a hail of enemy bullets, they become more obsessed with life than anyone else.
‘I want to live.’
This was the first thought I had when I was watching my son-in-law shine as the sun rose, and tears welled up without me realizing it.
Sunlight was pouring in as a thin beam of light through dozens of holes in the barracks. These are all new holes that opened yesterday.
“….roll call.”
“There is no need to do it. “Palmer and Doris’ seats are empty.”
“I know, you fucking bastards! “I want to hear the voices of those who survived, so shut up and call the roll!”
“…Sergeant Liam Olsen”
“Samuel Macherti.”
“Do it right, lady. Sergeant Doris Lischach”
“Sergeant-”
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“Private First Class Professor Park…”
With my official rank statement at the end, a heavy silence lingered in the barracks.
A gunshot cut through the dawn.
The enemy was rushing through the double and triple booby traps and guard posts.
Without military boots, uniforms, or personal firearms, I carried a radio on my back and ran through the bullet-riddled jungle following platoon leader John. The military boots I inherited instead of mine were torn off on the front and back and had been remodeled to look like sandals, and my toes were all torn and scratched from running around the jungle wearing them.
“…Fuck. Everyone worked hard to save their lives. In particular, MJ, you were good at detonating grenades. “Half of the kids here survived because of his control, which was as good as that of the fucking Red Sox.”
“Puhuhuh, this is also the last time. “There are no grenades left in our platoon.”
“Urajil. Doris and Palmer will just have to wait a bit. I think we’ll be joining soon. hey! Everyone, take out your things!”
The platoon members, exhausted by Platoon Commander John’s orders, were sprawled out on their beds, swearing and pulling out miscellaneous things from their personal treasure chests. Some people have underwear that is still usable and others have half-dried pens. A bulletproof bullet with a hole in it.
The items that the platoon members took out one by one were gathered together and became supplies for the two people.
Liam, a middle-aged man with impressive blond hair and blue eyes, took out a Bible the size of his palm instead of his belongings. A small mass was held for the comrades who went first under the light pouring in through the hole where the bullet passed.
“Father in heaven. Please guide those who are tired and weak. The world is filled with war and tribulation. Please take pity on our brothers who have been immersed in blood and murder and do not cast them out….’
‘It cannot continue like this.’
The professor quietly closed his eyes, and thoughts other than mourning were floating in his mind.
Things that caught John’s eyes as he ran after him.
Guard posts and trenches built for each direction. It was built as a machine gun emplacement, but it had long since run out of ammunition and was used as a trench. If only two well-built machine gun positions on high ground had functioned properly, the enemy could have been pushed back without casualties.
The condition of the unit members was also a problem. Starving soldiers survive the day with just one can of canned food. Even though he could see at a glance that he was much more disciplined than himself, he quickly got tired and had a hard time. Since I can’t eat anything, I have no stamina left. There was a reason for being lazy during the day.
‘If this continues, everyone will die.’
The professor thought about what he, who had less physical strength and shooting skills than them, could do.
Unlike those who were on the verge of starvation, he still had strength left.
The front is the enemy. At the rear is the 14th Special Operations Forces, surrounded by allies who are nothing more than poisonous war officers.
If you wanted to live, you had to save them.
The professor’s thoughts did not end until the prayer was over and Platoon Leader John went to distribute the two men’s supplies to the people they had bet on when they first came here.
****
15 minutes later.
John, who went to distribute supplies, had more supplies in his arms. This is because four members of the 3rd platoon, who were the first to be ambushed by the enemy, and one person from the 1st platoon, were killed.
‘I guess I’m not good at gambling.’
This was what Ruwil said as he burned the ‘new recruit survival bet’ list he had made when the dead platoon member had just arrived.
“Oh, the helmet size is not very good. “Doris’s helmet was perfect because his head size was similar to mine.”
When I returned to the platoon with a bad feeling and handed out the belongings of other platoon members, the gloomy platoon members began to giggle and share the supplies as if they had never done that before.
“No matter how many times I have a dead person’s things, I always think of them.”
“I wasn’t that close to him?”
“Marty was close.”
John pointed to Marty, who was still dabbing tears with a handkerchief he had made. Originally, I kept thinking of the dead person’s belongings, so for the sake of my close platoon members, I passed the dead person’s belongings to another platoon so they wouldn’t be seen, and it became a tradition in the form of a bet. Most of his belongings, including the military uniform, bandana, and boots he uses now, belong to deceased members of another platoon. The 14th Special Operations Division worked that way.
John picked up useful military uniforms and boots from among the other platoon’s memorabilia that had accumulated quite a bit. This is because the professor’s blood-covered feet, which were covered in blood while running through the jungle together, got stepped on in the snow.
‘hmm?’
But when I left the barracks, I couldn’t see the guy who had been cooped up in his bed.
“…What about the new recruits?”
“I don’t know. “I wonder why a half-baked guy is so busy, so he took his clothes and a knife and headed out.”
“I saw it. “I heard he was running out into the jungle towards guard post C.”
“…Is this desertion? “Shouldn’t you have stopped him, Marty?”
“If I stop you, can you at least lock him up somewhere?”
John could only nod his head at Marty’s words.
‘It’s a shame.’
Still, I could understand. At 17, I am an 8th grade student who barely attends high school in my hometown. A guy who hasn’t even entered society yet has experienced the war, so it’s quite reasonable for him to lose his mind.
Looking at the platoon members, they all seemed to understand. Wouldn’t they have thought of desertion? It’s not that I don’t do it, it’s that I can’t. The 14th Special Operations Unit was treated like a cheap alarm or breakwater using waste materials by the main unit that assigned them here.
The main unit reported that they would respond with fire to any aircraft that moved beyond their defense lines. The 14th Special Forces barracks protruded far forward from the defense line, so it was virtually as if they were going to kill you if you came.
“I was hoping that we would get out safely. To be honest, Kid must have been so shocked that he crouched down and closed his eyes for a long time even after the prayer. It hurts so much to think about what that little thing is thinking right now, doesn’t it? “I tried to hug him once, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye.”
“Fortunately, the direction of guard post C is where all the traps were disarmed as the enemy came in. “He took advantage of his opportunity.”
“I know. “At least we don’t have to remove the body with our own hands.”
By passing it off like a joke, the platoon members quickly forgot about the child soldier who had briefly become their new family member.
Until the professor came back with swollen lips and holding something that looked like strange grass in his arms.
That evening, as usual, the members of the special forces who had gathered at the 1st Platoon barracks and heard the news of the professor’s desertion were about to shove a warm can of beans into their mouths.
“Post mine too, John.”
Someone broke into the barracks tent and plopped down on the empty seat of the 3rd platoon.
His complexion was pale and his lips were swollen, but anyone could tell he was a young recruit who had just heard from his platoon commander that he had deserted.
“Kid! “Didn’t you… desert?”
“Pooh! You’re sounding like desertion. Medici, how could that idiot just let me desert? “It’s obvious that he was pushed to his death in some way.”
“Then why suddenly…”
“Why?”
Patter!
The professor grumbled and put down the pile of grass he was holding in his arms by the fire.
“I went to get some food for dinner. “Is it even possible to starve to death after living and dying?”
In front of the troops who were staring at him blankly like monkeys at a zoo, the professor took a big spoonful of John’s canned food and stuffed it into his mouth along with the grass roots he had brought.
“I ate it!”
“Damn it! Hey Kid! Spit it out! I don’t think anyone has ever thought of that! Chuck Billy Nelson! “They all died because their faces turned black!”
“You don’t just accept anything you don’t know!”
The professor chewed the grass and beans in his mouth and pushed them down his throat, regardless of whether the platoon members tried to stop him or not.
Gulp-gulp-
The eyes of the platoon members slowly moved along the professor’s trembling neck. By the time the food had completely gone down their throats, they were jumping up from their seats and running towards the professor.
“That bastard! “I swallowed it!”
“Make me throw up! Hey, someone go get some shepherd socks!”
“Ugh ugh! Let go, you humans! Don’t die! “That’s 100% safe to eat!”
“Saying that, four people have already died from eating mushrooms or berries picked in the jungle!”
“Those people didn’t know, but I really knew and brought it!”
No matter how much I explained, the platoon members, who would not listen and were making a fuss about stuffing socks down their throats because it was the Heimlich maneuver, began to leave one by one when they saw that I looked fine as time went by.
The company commander, Lieutenant Colonel King, who had been quietly observing the situation, stood up, picked up a grass root that I had brought, looked at it closely, and then brought it to me, who was fussing from a bout of wrestling, and asked:
“Professor Park, Private. Do you have expert knowledge about jungle plants? Just because you’re okay now doesn’t mean you’ll be okay later. “If we distribute poisonous plants, the entire 14th Special Operations Unit could be wiped out.”
“…I don’t have any professional knowledge, though. At least it’s something you can absolutely eat.”
Ah!
I took the small piece of root that the colonel was holding and chewed it proudly.
“I’m going to change that. Reed shoots and roots are not found only in the jungle, but can be found everywhere in wetlands around the world. “That’s what I scraped together.”
“Reed?”
“Reed noodles… the one that was near my hometown?”
“There was a lot of it at the park, but was it possible to eat it?”
Murmur, whisper, whisper!
At a time when the members of the unit, who were looking suspiciously at the sound of reeds, were becoming more and more noisy
,
John, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between the lieutenant colonel and the professor, quietly got up and pulled the reed shoots and roots that had fallen by the fire towards him.
gulp.
The bright blue and soft sprouts and reed roots the color of sweet potato flesh seem so harmless on the outside.
A can of beans was empty after eating a spoonful or two. The terrible hunger that would come back in just enough time to drink a glass of water.
The idea that it was edible began to dominate John’s thoughts, and he unconsciously grabbed a handful of grass and said, ”
Wow!”
I poured everything I had in my hand into my mouth.
Wag-jak, wag-jak, wag-jak!
gulp-
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ate.
It had an earthy smell, a slightly bitter taste, and a bit of a watery smell mixed in, but…
“It’s worth eating.”
It had a sweet taste and the more I chewed it, the more powder-like material came out and I could feel it filling my stomach.
“It’s worth eating…?”
“There was a time when my girlfriend bought a bunch of strange root vegetables for health reasons or something, and it felt similar to what I ate back then. It’s like eating flour mixed with water…”
“So, it’s not something to eat, it’s actually food to eat? “The reed root is called by names such as Nogeun or Nosun, and is a food ingredient that is also used as medicine in Korea.”
An herbal medicine that my mother obtained from somewhere during the exam period before the war broke out, saying it contained all the good things for the body.
There was a time when I had to look up what was put in it because it wasn’t tasty enough for people to eat.
Noh Sun. Reed roots.
As I ran into the jungle and wandered among the strange-looking mushrooms and the soap-smelling grass, I was so happy to see a familiar-looking reed.
I shouted with joy as I dug into the soft wetlands with my bare hands, and found roots that looked very similar to the ones I had found on the Internet.
“Well, thanks to that experience, I was convinced that this was edible and brought it. I only brought this because I was in a hurry, but there were a few similar edible plants I saw in books or on the internet. Later, when I have time, I will bring them one by one and test them.”
The noisy unit members gradually began to quiet down. Rather than calming down his excitement, he began to focus on his target like a wild animal stalking its prey.
Professional-looking knowledge coming from the mouth of a young Asian boy. As the empty canned food and hungry stomachs came together, the fear of poison gradually began to disappear from the minds of the members of the 14th Special Operations Unit, whose survival instincts were at their peak.
I was confident enough to see that John, who had chewed a mouthful of reeds after everyone had left, was pulled towards him and slowly retreated with the reeds in his arms.
You can eat it.
I’m going to eat it.
Something to eat! rice!
“Hey Shepherd… put that down.”
“Let’s not do this with people in the same unit… huh?”
Slowly, quietly,
quietly!
“Holy shit!”
“The shepherd jumped out with the food!”
Instead of answering, the dark-skinned platoon leader chose to disappear into the darkness of the night with the food in his arms.
“catch!
“Shoot it!”
The members of the unit, blinded by hunger, all turned around and ran out of the barracks, following Shepard. In an instant, only Lieutenant Colonel Luwil and I were left in the deserted 1st Platoon barracks.
Wow!
Ruwil took a bite of the long reed root and asked me when he got it, looking at the root as if it was okay.
“Kid. “Have you had a lot of this?”
“I looked around a bit. “It’s harder to find a place where there aren’t any wetlands.”
“okay?”
In response to my answer, Ruwil threw a reed root he was holding to the lieutenant colonel and said,
“Then we can share. Colonel King, I think we can buy a little more?”
Instead of answering, the lieutenant colonel took a big bite of the root he had grabbed.
It was the first taste of fresh food in almost two months.
About 30 minutes later, the lieutenant colonel had no choice but to agree with Ruwil’s words when he saw the members of the unit who had disappeared following John covered in mud and singing a song, each holding an armful of reeds that had been pulled whole without being cut.
****
