A Girl Out of Place

Chapter 10: Echos of Gunfire

Our procession slowed their pace. The four around Ryn and I paused yards from the bridge. Whereas Tarin's group pushed him, at riffle point, out across the black stone path. Water splashed and slick patches threatened their progress. Tarin's arrogant protests were drowned out by the sound of water as they pressed forward.

"This isn't it, right?" I sputtered my heart pounding so hard it basically rattled my ribs. "We can still find our way home." Pleadingly, I looked to Ryn but her eyes were focused on the trees around us.

More orders were barked and suddenly one soldier reached for me.

I saw his hand coming but never felt his touch. Ryn's right hand slipped around my waist, gently moving me out of the way as she slid into my place.

The soldier wrapped his arm around her neck and shoulders. Surprise painted its way across his stony expression, but one prisoner was just as good as the other. However, that was not the case for his superior.

Kim-Young's vertically challenged but imposing posture approached Ryn's capture. His face stopping close enough he spat on her as he spoke. Through tense jaws the two North Koreans argued in their native language. Until, red faced Kim-Young grabbed a rope and roughly tied Ryn's wrists together.

Through her own clenched teeth Ryn swore. "Seriously?" Spitefully he tightened the knot before he released Ryn and reached for me. His rough callused fingers dug into the back of my neck as he shoved me toward the riverbank.

"Margaret! Don't fall into the current! Stay on solid ground!" Ryn's voice sounded desperate. Then the soldier holding her pulled so hard on her roped hands that Ryn promptly switched back to bickering in Korean. Her accent mirroring their own North Korean style.

They forced me to the edge of the stone. The glacier cold water splashed against my boots and my new vantage point showed me the drop off on the other side. It was more threatening than I first anticipated. I watched as an arm length branch tumbled down the falls. Hitting the calm swirling pool, the under current funneled it below the surface. I half expected it to be gone forever until suddenly the branch was forced back to the top, seconds before it shattered against one of the many towering boulders.

Fearfully, my feet shuffled backward. The soldier behind me shoved the long barrel of his riffle into my lower back, reminding me he was armed. The soldier I was supposed to follow was already ankle deep in the water. My own feet wouldn't move, luckily they didn't have to.

A shot echoed across the valley and one of Tarin's guards fell to the ground. Instinctively knees bent and heads swiveled but no one could tell from where the shot had originated. An enemy soldier grabbed Tarin and threw him under the bed of the truck. The others ran for cover, but another shot echoed and a second guard dropped to the ground.

Startled, blood rushed to my head and my breathing became shallow. My mind replayed the moment the body hit the ground. My usual instinct is to run toward the injured, but this time my ears recognized something else. There was a sound delay between bullet hitting the body and the sound of the shot reaching my ears. The only way that made sense was if the shooter was on the enemy's side of the river.

Apparently, my two North Korean's guards had come to the same conclusion. They took aim, using their barrels to scan the rock-speckled river. A light flare caught my eye. It was far enough I had to squint but close enough I was able to see him. His locks of brown hair, tossed by the wind. His cheek resting on his rifle as he took aim again. My guard muttered something, and I knew he'd seen him too. He calked his weapon and I lunged forward into the water.

With both my hand I shoved him, so hard his gun went off and he fell forward splashing face first into the water. His hand desperately grabbed for rock but failed and he rolled over the edge of the falls.