North and Lin Heung-won found Kangwon and the others with little difficulty, since the group had decided to follow the rendezvous points now that they no longer had to worry about Kim Mi-ju. They intercepted them just north of the final one, an old boulder perched on the edge of a gully.
Kangwon smiled at him, and North knew it had been his idea to get back on trail.
His chest had still felt tight from the run, but something in it loosened when he saw his provinces again.
He rubbed at it in irritation. It was just from all the exercise.
With Hae attached firmly to his arm again, and Pak Il leaning on the other, North led them back towards Kimhwa, where- to his relief- Ryang Myeong-ae and her unit were waiting.
“Apologies for taking so long, Comrade Korea,” the Chief Gunner said, her face tired. “We lost So Pil-yong.”
A stake pierced North’s chest, and he bit back a curse.
“How?” he demanded, looking to where the body lay covered in someone’s jacket.
The woman’s eyes flashed in grief. “She had been sick for a few days, and we couldn’t risk opening the gates to send her to the hospital. Halfway here she just… collapsed.”
“It’s not your fault,” North reassured her, remembering the way the woman had been swaying as she was sorted into the unit. Ssi-bal, he should have taken her with his group, too.
“I know. It just…” Ryang Myeong-ae ran a hand over her face in exhaustion. “It never gets any easier.”
It did not.
“And it shouldn’t,” he said to her. “The day you stop feeling responsible for the soldiers under your command is the day you have to leave the Korean People’s Army. Just do not let it weigh you down.”
“I won’t, comrade.” The soldier shook her head, sweeping away a tuft of hair that was starting to grow into her eyes. “Did Comrade Kim Mi-ju make it?”
North nodded, glad to give her some good news. That news had better stay good.
“She did. She is already on her way to Pyongyang.”
“Excellent.” Ryang Myeong-ae let out a long breath of air. “That’s something, at least. She’s a good soldier, and a better woman.”
“Make sure you get on the next truck,” North told her. “You’ve done enough, comrade.”
“No, I haven’t.” Ryang Myeong-ae straightened, pushing her broad shoulders back into a line. “I won’t be leaving until all my soldiers are accounted for. With due respect, Comrade General.”
North nodded, unable to deny her that. “I will make sure they are.”
He had sent Lin Heung-won on ahead to look for the other three units, so now he set out alone to do the same.
Before he left, he looked to where China was clustered with those waiting for the truck, now jacketless and walking in circles again, as he had been ever since they had arrived back.
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Chasing Liberty // Countryhumans North Korea fanfiction
FanfictionThe Koreas were victims of Japanese Imperialism for thirty-six years, deprived of freedom in their own country. With the defeat of the Japanese Empire after the second World War, you would think that their problems would be solved. But things rarel...
