The Tells of a Different Childhood

72. A.U: Younger

He let out an impressed whistle, "Wow," it was far off in the distance, but he could see the faint orange glow of a fire miles and miles away from the base," That's a huge fire." Due to the flat land, and his position on top of the roof, he could easily see the forest fire that was going on in the next province. He could even see the smoke until it drifted into the night. It had to be at least 15 miles away, the distance only proving how large the fire was.

Han-Gyeol was standing next to him, a pair of binoculars pressed against his face," Man, it is pretty big," explosions were faint pops with the distance, but they could still recognize the telltale signs of a fight," I guess some idiots accidentally started a fire during battle."

"Ah...what a bunch of fucking idiots." Major Kang's words made Han-Gyeol snort. It was well known that a forest fire in the middle of a battle was certain death. If it wasn't the enemy that killed you, then it was either the fire or the exposure to the fire that got you. "No matter," Major Kang turned on his heel and started to walk back inside, calling over his shoulder as he did so," Tell night watch to keep an eye on it. We might have to evacuate our outposts." And that was going to be a pain if they needed to evacuate their outpost and potentially lose said outpost to a fire.

Han-Gyeol dutifully saluted the man.

"Yes sir!"

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It was one of those mornings when he woke up with an odd feeling in his stomach. it wasn't like the times he woke up with a bad feeling, it was more of a feeling that had him questioning if he was getting sick or if it was his gut feeling.

Regardless, it was enough to put him on guard.

It was completely silent as they drove into the burnt forest.

While the fire hadn't spread to the outpost, it had spread to the rest of the forest. The only saving grace was that it was monsoon season, the heavy rains doing all of the heavy lifting and it put out the fire before it could get any worse.

But the damage had already been done. Everything was charred, their tires bringing up ash and dirt in the air as they traveled further into the forest. The smell of smoke permeated the cabin, the air filters doing nothing to get rid of the smell.

It was somber the further they drove in, even more so when the fire had caused multiple trees to collapse and block the path. Slowly, they rolled to a stop, all of them staring at the downed trees that their Humvee most definitely couldn't drive over.

Major Kang sighed in annoyance," Put on your masks," He ordered firmly, pulling the face cover from his neck, to the bridge of his nose," I don't want anyone to be breathing in dust. Let's see if we can move those trees." There were muttered confirmations as they exited the Humvee, everyone walking out with their faces covered as they took up their positions. The smell of smoke was stronger, and he couldn't help but scrunch up his nose at the smell. The forest that was almost buzzing with plant and animal life was silent, no doubt due to all of the animals fleeing from the fire.

With the others standing guard, Major Kang joined Sung-Ho and Ji-Hoon in inspecting the fallen trees.

"Yesh," He looked at the trees up and down, the two trees weren't longer than 15 feet, but they were thick and dense. It would be difficult to wrap your arms around it and have your hands touch," think we can move these?"

Ji-Hoon gave the tree a solid kick with his heel, breaking away the charred bark, only to see untouched wood underneath," Probably not Sir," He said truthfully, trying to push the log with his heel, only for it to not budge in the slightest.