Xia of Tumen

Chapter 12

Xia and Chung-Ae laid on the bank, staring at the river; the one thing between them and China. Of course there was much more between them and China, but they had no way to know that.

They watched the flashlights of the guards and watched for a break between the guards where they could cross. Finally they spotted a gap. They watched carefully for it to come again.

No guards were looking, and the path was clear, so with their hearts beating hard, they crawled into the freezing water. Their toes were quickly numb, and they wished they had thought to take off their shoes. Xia quickly realized that the water was much higher than it was yesterday. It had been raining all day long, but Xia hadn't really thought about it. She just thought it would make them harder to see.

They couldn't go back now though, so Xia pushed on. North Korea was behind her forever. There was only one thing she was leaving behind in North Korea that she would miss. That was Dasom. She might not ever see Dasom again! Right then, silently, Xia decided that someday, she would come back, and she would bring Dasom out of North Korea too. She couldn't just abandon Dasom forever.

Then, she took the step that would change the rest of her life. She lost her balance, and stepped down hard, into nothing but water, there was no ground beneath her foot. She couldn't help the little yelp, and the splash from falling into the water. She found the ground at the bottom of the sudden indent, and came up, taking a huge breath, finding her feet on the ground again.

But it wasn't over yet. One of the soldiers pointed their flashlight directly at them, and started yelling at them. Xia and Chung-Ae looked at each other, then at the same time ducked under the water and swam a little. When they looked out again, the soldiers flashlight was still pointing in the same place.

Chung-Ae was relieved to see that the soldiers had not seen where they went. But he was relieved too soon.

BOOM!

A gun went off. Chung-Ae expected to feel a bullet tearing into his side, but instead, he heard a quiet little thud, and looked over to see Xia slowly close her eyes, groan very quietly as she fell to her knees, and then bend over. She was completely under the water.

Xia turned back to look at the guards, she saw a gun pointing at them, someone had seen them! They had to move quickly, or... BANG! Pain flew through her, she took huge breaths, and tried to hold in her yell, she didn't want to give away their location too much, but it still came out as a quiet groan. She fell into the water. The water swirled around her, trying to pull her away with it. Her side throbbed. Slowly the sound of the water, the guards in the background, faded away. Just before the entire world blacked out, she felt someone putting their arms around her and lifting her up...

So many thoughts were running through Chung-Ae's head. Even when Xia was shot in the stomach, she struggled to keep quiet. No scream... She's under water! She'll drown! Or is she already dead? He shook that thought away.

Not knowing whether Xia was dead or alive, Chung-Ae lifted her out of the water, and slowly began the trip to shore. He was not turning back now! Xia might have given up her life for this. He couldn't just turn around and go back.

Chung-Ae made it to the Chinese shore and dragged Xia onto it. He struggled to pick Xia up. She wasn't as small as she used to be, and he was getting older. He continued on, but he didn't make it very far before he came to a barbed wire fence.

Chung-Ae noticed a guard coming towards him, so he tried to hide Xia as well as he could. Then he grabbed a sturdy stick...