Survival

Survival

By: Suzie Park

   She coughed and opened her eyes. Wasn’t she dead? The light blinded her and she squinted them so that they could adjust to the brightness. She was inside a base camp of their military base when she was killed. They were under attack. But right now, she isn't in the hospital. It was a place with green grass and clear air.

   Very different from where she was previously.

   Her name was Yoon Seung-ah, a nutritionist at the korean military base. They were sent to a dangerous war-ridden area. Seung-ah was gathering what was left of the food resources when she saw a pistol barely inches away from her nose.

   “Hands up! Do what I say and you will not die. If not, you die.” She didn’t panic because this happened many times in the camp. She was trained to fight so she believed she could take down his man. He had a scarf around his face and both hands on the gun. Seung-ah slowly raised her hands.

   “Let’s hear what you want to say.”

“I want you to poison the food supply.” she jerked her head towards him.

“Then we will all die.”

“Exactly. Then, we'll spare you.”

“What makes you think I would do that?” She rolled her eyeballs. Was he stupid?

“We have our troops surrounding the camp right now. We can attack whenever I give the signal, so your people will be in a pool of unneeded chaos- unless you follow under our orders. Hurry up and choose.” Her furious eyes flared. He was telling her to choose how her people would die- how absurd. As many thoughts ran through her head, she remembered when she vowed to their commander that they would walk through the gates of death before betrayal. Her dark brown eyes stared straight into the intruder’s. She smirked and drew in her last breath.

“No way in heck.” The bullet pierced her heart and she fell to the floor unconscious. Seung-ah noticed the clothes she was wearing. Instead of her military camp clothes, it was a plain, long sleeved shirt that was a shade of faded white and had a bag over her arm. Seung-ah opened the bag and saw multiple empty mason jars. The bag itself was made out of woven straw and the strap was thin over her shoulder.

She suddenly jumped at the bright color that flashed in her eye. She grabbed her hair and twisted her body to get a good look. Instead of her black hair, there were strands of pink running down her shoulder.

Panicked, Seung-ah dashed over the green hill and saw a river flowing in the valley. She stumbled down towards it. Instead of her dark hair and eyes, there were pink curls with beautiful gold orbs. Her skin was much lighter and smoother considering how much it had gotten rough and dark due to a life in a military camp. The base didn’t really have any good living conditions, and especially scarce food. It was hard in the hot climate. Many people had died from dehydration. The water supply dried up and all the nearby rivers were inhabited by the rebels.

She jolted. How could she have forgotten? It didn't matter that she had changed her appearance or the sudden change of scenery. Her people were in danger. What happened? Were her people okay? Did the rebels drag her here? She frantically searched her new body for injuries. There was not even a scar where the bullet had pierced. It was like she was born again.

I can't stay here, I've got to go find my unit, she thought.

Deliberately, Seung-ah ripped off a strip of clothing from her shirt and tied her hair back. There was no way she would just sit around for an answer that would never come. She stood up and walked forward.

When she reached some trees, she felt one of them. Unusual scratches and blood was smeared over the bark. She raised her guard just to realize she did not have anything to protect herself other than her mason jars. Her eyes scanned the forest. Swiftly, she pulled down a vine from a tree and threw one of the jars to the ground. Seung-ah carved a knife out of the larger pieces of glass and wrapped the bottom with the vine so that it was easier to grip. With another vine she made a belt for her to tie around her waist and hung the makeshift knife on it. She walked into the thicket, making a minimum sound. It was quiet, except for the small songbirds out on the branches.

Seung-ah squatted down. For a normal person, this forest was just full of swampy green and brown. But for her, it was full of resources.

Seung-ah was trained to live in a battlefield so she needed to get all the nutrients she could gather. A familiar patch of flowers waved in the wind.

Yarrow. The multipurpose herb. She screwed a jar open and started carefully packing in the flowers one by one.

Suddenly, an arrow flew by her head, grazing her cheek. Seung-ah dropped the jar into her bag and quickly unsheathed her knife which didn’t even have a sheath and pointed it towards the attacker behind the tree. It was a soldier, but not the kind she knew. Seung-ah was taught hand to hand combat to use in dire situations if that happened. She kicked the back of his knees to make them buckle and drove him to the ground with her elbow.

"Who are you and who do you work for?" Seung-ah asked with her glass knife to his Adam's apple. He struggled around, not saying anything.

"Say it."

"Never!" Blood started trickling down his mouth. The man had bit his tongue.

"Wait!" A deep voice yelled. She quickly held up the dying man to a tree, the knife still at his neck. Seung-ah felt a little guilty. It was her job to keep her people alive yet she didn't know if this person was on her side yet.

"Who are you, state your name!" The stranger who spoke came forward with a helmet over his face and metal gear over his body. He was on a horse and came forward, revealing several people, ready with spears and swords. She thought it was very odd. They were in the era of guns and bombs. We're they cosplaying? But then, this hiding man was trying to kill her with serious intent- this couldn’t be a simple game.

"We do not wish to harm you. Hand over the man without resisting and we will leave immediately."

"You haven't even told me who you are, but you want me to hand him over?" They looked at each other and the one who seemed like the commander nodded.

"We'll give you anything you want.

"No… don't…" The man whispered, half unconscious as he was losing blood quickly.

"I want to know where the Ottogi units are." It was a very unusual name choice, Ottogi the korean name of a tumbler toy, but the commander insisted on it, to describe how we could get back up even when we're knocked down.

"We don't know of that name."

"You're lying, spit it out." She said, drawing the blade closer to the man's neck.

"We're speaking the truth!"

"If you refuse to answer, I have no choice but to- '' A thin layer of his neck skin was sliced open. Suddenly, an arrow shot just behind her neck. Seung-ah lunged forwards and let go of the man. What she forgot to think about was how many people were outnumbering her. Soon, she was tied up and captured by them.

"Search her bag." The one that had stuck next him like a sidekick snatched the bag away and rummaged through.

"There's a jar filled with grass and flowers. Nothing else that looks dangerous."

"Keep it with you just in case." Seung-ah struggled at the bag, but a sharp edge of a blade made her stop. Her eyes locked onto the one who carried her bag. Beneath the hood, he was also wearing armor like the rest of them and shiny green eyes with milk chocolate hair. 

"Captain, we need to hurry up and return to the camp. The rest will be needing us."

"We shall immediately return; the sun is starting to fall and the day is ending.

"Understood, but what do we do with the girl?"

"Bring her with you. She doesn't seem normal."

"Yes, sire!" They quietly marched back to their campsite where it was in a hidden plane surrounded by trees. When Seung-ah looked up, she was absolutely horrified. They were wounded, front and back and the grass was painted scarlet. Some were bandaged, but it was clumsy as if they used their left hand. Small tents hung around the area, guarding the last of the food source they had left.

"Captain!" A man rushed over the one who just jumped off his horse. His right eye was covered with an eyepatch, but scars peeked out over the edge.

"Did you bring Hilton back?"

"Yes, but he's wounded in the neck, so he needs to be treated immediately."

"We ran out of bandages."

"What?!" His voice was angered and distressed, but he didn't seem that surprised as if he knew this was coming their way.

"Leon, how is Jacob doing?" His expression darkened at the name.

"You better come see her yourself." The people who returned hurried over to a corner with an exceptionally red earth, the people dragging her along forgetting she was still in her hands. Still, her mouth was still in a gag so she could say anything, afraid that she would get killed.

When they got to the place where their comrade laid.

"Jacob!" The captain kneeled down next to the pale body of his comrade and friend.

"Is he dead?" The sidekick dared to whisper.

"No, but he's losing too much blood. At this rate…" They silently stared at the man. He was fairly young, in his late twenties or so. Seung-ah felt bad for him. His wound was still bleeding and kept running down his side…

She jolted and realized what to do. With her hands and feet still tied, she struggled towards the young soldier. People yelled and grabbed onto her, but she ripped out of their grasp and continued to inch forward. When she got close enough, she lurched forward so that she landed on top of him. Now the yelling became even louder as they teared at her hair and the rope tying her arms and legs. Regardless, she held on tightly to his body. She could feel the blood seeping into her clothes and cutting off the circulation in her own body. The man named Leon had mentioned that there were no bandages left, so this was the only way she could stop the bleeding.

Then, her adrenaline started to drain and Seung-ah gave into the hauls that threatened to pull her head off.

"What are you doing, woman?" They were clearly furious at her impulsive behavior.

I mean, I would've thought the same if that was my comrade.

"Jacob!" Someone else bent down and checked the wound.

"Is he alright?"

"The bleeding stopped. We couldn't get the bleeding to stop so we were trying for ages, trying to find a way…" The captain had a serious face, waiting for the person to speak.

"If we just get the right treatment, he'll be able to live!"

Shouts of joy, happiness, relief, and even some crying took place. An older looking soldier kneeled down next to Jacob's head and wept in silence.

"Isn't it great? Graham must’ve worried a lot for his little brother."

"This was Jacob's first expedition so he was pretty unlucky."

"That woman is amazing. How did she manage to save him just like that?"

"It was the god's mercy we came across her, if anything."

"Yeah." Seung-ah panted, watching with wary eyes and wet clothes. Her top was still soaked with Jacob's blood, but she didn’t really pay attention to the stickiness and sharp odor. She couldn’t let her guard down just because they acknowledged her as their comrade's savior. The young man didn't die.

Not yet.

He lost so much blood that if he didn't have his human features, he would have looked like a snowman. Jacob barely moved, and it was clear he was most likely going to die soon.

"Here, have some." A pouch with black inked berries slid towards her. The one who offered it smiled, though his now red and wounded face made it less pleasant. Seung-ah took a good look at them.

Almost instantly she recoiled, then leaned forward to smash them to juice.

"Hey, what are you doing!" She ignored the man and stomped down with her shoes that were now dyed in a purplish color.

Pokeberries. A handful of them could be deadly to children, and eventually adults. I've seen a lot of kids in my old neighborhood playing around with these scrumptious-looking berries, but I had to cut them away immediately. My instincts were screaming at me to do it, but my heart felt heavy as I watched myself cut away at the children's joy. This man was innocent as well, but that wasn't an excuse for him to die. 

She tried to speak, but the gag held tightly over her mouth so she would barely say anything decipherable. Seung-ah scooted back further until she was at least 5 feet away from anyone around her. She was determined to stay alive. Her eyelids became heavy, and her mind clouded up. Seung-ah's urge to fight back weakened and she slowly fell asleep.

* * *

Suddenly, a commotion broke out. Bright red flames flashed before her eyes. Shouts of panic flew across the air as people rushed to put the fire out. With a sudden pump of energy she squirmed forward towards the hot air.

This was risky, but she had to do it.

Carefully, she lit the rope on fire and ripped the rope away. The pain stung her arms, but she freed her legs and ungagged her mouth and quickly recoiled.

Seung-ah had to run away. She had to find her unit and commander quickly. What if they were in the same situation? Her eyes flitted to her bag. It was now on the floor, abandoned in the chaos. She took it over her shoulder and was about to go when her eyes met the Captain's blue orbs. It was for a split second, but she could see it was wide in shock. Then, she ran away.

Through the brambles and trees she ran. Her heart felt guilty, leaving them behind. And for some reason, the captain's face lingered inside her head. When she looked up, Seung-ah found herself where she was before. The yarrow patch. Quickly, she treated her wounds using the pulp, but stopped for a moment. Sighing, she stashed yarrow inside the mason jars and ran back, tracing her path to the hideout. She took a peek.

It was totally destroyed. Injured people limped everywhere, using what seemed like less burnt cloth to wrap their wounds.

"Where do you think the woman went?"

"She fled right away."

"Well, it doesn't matter right now."

"And if it does?" They froze when the woman stepped forward. Her knife was hidden on her belt so if they tried to fight, she would defend herself. Soldiers staggered to hold up their weapons.

"I can help you."

"What?" Seung-ah kneeled down, began grinding the herb to pulp, and applied it to the soldiers' burns and other battle wounds they had.

They were in a daze by her skillfulness. The one who previously had her bag leaned towards his Captain.

"Are you sure we can trust her?"

"Well, I wouldn't think that she would come to kill a dying unit." The Captain still had his helmet over his head, covering his face. The man that had given her the pokeberries came up to her. He had purple hair and pink eyes. This place had so many weird appearances, not that she was normal either.

"Hey, it's me."

"You gave me those poisonous berries, right?"

"What?"

"Pokeberries are poisonous so it's better to starve than eat poison."

"Oh okay. I was going to ask you your name."

"Seung-ah."

"Swun-nah? Sung-nga?"

"Just call me Stella."

"Thank you Stella, you have our sincerest thanks."

"No problem."

"I'm Talia." Stella stared at her.

"I know you're probably surprised I'm a woman, but I'm here to serve my home. Over there in the dark red hair is Sarah and in the hazel ponytail is Freesia." They all looked tough with many scars.

"Stella." The Captain stood up shakily.

"You shouldn’t move."

"I must express my greatest gratitude towards you… you are our savior." Then, everyone kneeled down towards her.

“Thank you, but I really need to go find my unit. Do any of you know the Ottogi units?”

“Isn’t that John’s former troop?” She flipped around to see the man named John. He was relatively thin, but still had a strong build.

“I would like to speak to you alone.” Nervously, she followed him into a place out of the hearing range of others. Before she could say anything, he grabbed onto her shoulders and looked down, trembling.

“Are you really… Stella?”

“Yeah…” She flinched as she saw tears dripping down his face.

“It’s me, Yohan.”

“Yohan?!” He didn’t look anything like the sturdy man once in her unit, but a small resemblance lingered on him.

“What happened?” Stella whispered in shock.

“I don’t know… the rebels started attacking… you were dead…”

“Wait, huh?”

“Can’t you see? The Ottogi unit was annihilated. You and I were reincarnated with our memories!” The thought struck her in a place where she had never felt before. Grief overwhelmed her.

They’re… dead?