Chapter 219.2: Let’s Send Them Off First (1)
“You definitely are the best in the world at raising a storm,” Gérard joked in greeting.
“You son of a bitch!” Kang Chan swore with a grin.
“Stop cursing in Korean, sir,” Gérard shot back.
“What’s the punk going on about?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
By the time Gérard arrived, the scene was beyond chaotic. What made Kang Chan the most glad was that their wounded now received the treatment that they needed. Moreover, they finally had food and water.
Click! Click!
The sniper of the French special forces team set down an M200 Cheytac next to Lee Doo-Hee, making Kang Chan’s heart feel a lot lighter.
One of the soldiers distributed water and C-rations to the hostages. At the same time, another gently laid the two girls next to them.
“Oh my goodness! Lila!” a female hostage shrieked in surprise upon seeing one of the children.
A member of the French special forces team examined the girl, then shook his head at Kang Chan with a grim expression. He then began to work on the other child.
The back of the girl’s head was a bloodied mess, and her back had visibly caved in. It was hard to imagine her surviving given her poor state. Even the female hostage who screamed her name earlier seemed too shocked by her gruesome condition to approach her.
“Did you give these children food or something to wear?” Kang Chan asked.
The female hostage nodded with a bewildered expression, not knowing why he was asking. However, it now made sense to Kang Chan why the bomb-strapped woman had walked over with the children earlier.
In the midst of the situation, a few hostages dry-heaved upon seeing the young girl. The smell of blood would probably be staying with them for a while.
“Something went wrong, didn’t it?” the tearful female hostage asked Kang Chan after seemingly mustering the courage to speak up.
How could he explain everything behind what had happened? He and the hostages had different ways and outlooks of living life—would it even make sense to them?
Kang Chan lifted the dead child and set her down away from where the enemy’s bodies were. He thought this poor little girl wouldn’t be able to rest in peace given how bad her wounds were.
Not long after, a soldier walked out carrying the other girl. In the end, both of the girls he put his life on the line for to rescue died.
The girl’s face under her long eyelashes was already pale, and she had blood splattered all over her. However, her limp arms hanging lifelessly what was wrenched Kang Chan’s heart the most. When she should’ve been holding snacks and dolls at her age, her tiny hands were a mess instead, covered in blood and dirt.
An innocent child succumbed to hunger and was forced to walk alongside her bomb-strapped mom all because she accepted a stranger’s food.
Kang Chan approached the little girl that the soldier had set down and took her hand, brushing off the dirt. Although it didn’t fully come off, he also wiped off the blood with his sleeve.
From inside, he could hear the hostages saying grace for the food they were given.
Pft.
He supposed they were also prepared to risk their lives when they came here as well. It was just a difference of what they risked their lives for.
When Kang Chan stood up and walked back inside, a masked member of the French special forces team approached him.
“Do you remember this mask, sir?” the soldier asked.
Kang Chan grinned and tapped the soldier’s helmet. However, they were interrupted before they could continue their conversation.
“Captain, the injured are in critical condition. They require blood transfusions stat. For now, we will all contribute a little bit of our own blood.”
The soldiers all knew each other’s blood types. It was like common knowledge to them. It did not matter if they didn’t record anything else for as long as they recorded their blood types.
“Gérard,” Kang Chan said, gesturing to Gérard to go to the side so they could speak in private. He felt a bit lighter knowing that the French special forces team was guarding the perimeter.
“Take some of my blood and distribute it to the severely injured team members,” Kang Chan said.
“There’s no need to go that far,” Gérard refused.
“Just to be safe, do it discreetly so that the others don’t notice,” Kang Chan ordered.
Gérard met Kang Chan’s eyes and tilted his head. There was a brief moment of silence before he replied.
“There’s really no stopping you,” Gérard said so low that it was almost like a growl. He then headed back inside.
As instructed, Gérard took some of Kang Chan’s blood first.
“Excuse me!” the same female hostage talking to Kang Chan earlier exclaimed. “Please allow us to help the injured soldiers.”
She was quite observant.
Meanwhile, the soldier who had drawn a pack of blood glanced at Kang Chan and then approached the wounded.
“Here. Let’s get some food in us first before handling the rest,” Seok Kang-Ho said, noticing the soldier’s hesitation. He brought over a C-ration and tore it open.
Kang Chan gulped some water down, making him feel as if he could finally breathe again. The two then plopped down on the floor and ate.
“We want to give our blood too!” the woman said in a raised voice. Perhaps she thought she was being ignored, or maybe she had lost all sense of fear given the situation.
Crunch. Crunch.
Instead of responding, Kang Chan just took a bite of his biscuit.
I really do need to do something about my stubborn personality. I can’t hate people just based on my first impression of them…
While they ate, the French special forces team took turns drawing blood to give to the soldiers in critical condition. After giving them orders, Gérard came over to Kang Chan.
“It’s too dangerous to stay here any longer than this. We should take three of the trucks over there.”
Kang Chan stood up and looked at the trucks that Gérard was pointing at. There were five of them in total, each one driven around the back and abandoned by their enemies earlier.
“Those bastards seem to have have Iglas,” Kang Chan mused.
“How about loading the hostages and injured soldiers into one truck and making the other two trucks provide cover? If we use the M60 again, this plan will most likely work,” Gérard suggested.
“We’re running low on ammo.”
“Well, considering the ignorant Daye was the one who had his finger on the trigger, that does make sense.”
When Kang Chan grinned, Gérard shrugged.
“This punk just said my name, didn’t he?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
Sheesh!
It wasn’t like Kang Chan could beat these two up either. He shook his head and scanned their surroundings again.
“Gérard. I was informed earlier that the United States is supposedly sending Apache helicopters. Have you heard anything about that?” Kang Chan asked.
“I don’t think you should look forward to it. If those bastards were going to come, they would have already been here long ago. And that over there?” Gérard pointed up at the sky with his index finger. “I don’t think they had good intentions when they started broadcasting your battle.”
“Probably not. Let me talk this over with Daye a bit,” Kang Chan said.
“Got it,” Gérard replied. He then moved further inside the room, the rifle in his hand rattling.
“Gérard says he doesn’t think the United States will be sending help. He suggested putting the hostages and our wounded in one truck and using two other trucks to provide cover,” Kang Chan told Seok Kang-Ho.
“If our enemies pull out an Igla, at least one of those trucks will explode if the enemies use an Igla,” Seok Kang-Ho warned.
Kang Chan nodded.
The blood on his mask had dried, making the cloth feel quite rigid.
“Wait! Doesn’t that mean the enemies can see us talking while looking at the trucks?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
That sounded about right.
Is this punk really getting smarter?
“The problem is the Igla. Maybe the plan would work if a sniper stays behind to cover us since it’s hard to shoot accurately in a moving car. If we travel by truck, we’ll also get closer to the enemies,” Kang Chan thought out loud.
“Why don’t we drive on that open field instead? I don’t see any reason why we should stick to the roads. It looks like those bastards are thinking the same thing, considering they have been staying near that ridge for an opportunity to attack.”
“Right!” Kang Chan exclaimed.
“Hey! What’s with that shocked look?” Seok Kang-Ho grumbled.
The two chortled together over Seok Kang-Ho’s complaint.
This was the same in Africa too.
However, when Kang Chan pulled out a map and looked at the area, he shook his head.
“The road will eventually loop around the ridge. If we go that way, we’ll end up getting blocked and forced to turn back.”
“So if we want to get out, we really do have to be prepared for one of the trucks to explode,” Seok Kang-Ho said disappointedly.
“Daye.”
“Yes, Cap.”
The change in Kang Chan’s tone made Seok Kang-Ho respond with a sharp gaze.
“Let’s send them off first.”
“So the two of us will be staying behind, huh?”
“I doubt a certain someone is going to listen to me, though.”
“Phuhuhu,” Seok Kang-Ho laughed.
“We only need to stop the Igla. Since the other group will have Kwak Cheol-Ho, he can take charge and issue the orders. We need to find their location with a satellite phone and send the injured soldiers back quickly,” Kang Chan said.
Seok Kang-Ho nodded in agreement.
“It took us about ten minutes to get here, so if we drive for about an hour, we should get somewhere close to Sanggar. As long as we get out of this area, I think the rest should be manageable.”
“Got it, Cap.”
“Alright. Let’s plan it out and bring the trucks here, then,” Kang Chan said.
“What would we have done if those bastards hadn’t abandoned their trucks?” Seok Kang-Ho asked with a grin.
“You and I would’ve gone to steal them, obviously.”
“Phuhuhu,” Seok Kang-Ho chuckled.
The hostages exchanged wary glances when Seok Kang-Ho turned around with a smile.
“Urrm! Urrrrm!”
One of the female hostages vomited what she had eaten just moments ago.
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