Chapter 3.1
Chapter 3.1
She hurried down the stairs and ducked behind the stage.
Bang! Bang bang!
The gunfire that had once sounded distant now struck her ears clearly and violently.
“Miss! We need to move to the vehicle now!”
Surrounded by soldiers assigned as her security detail, Ian was rushed toward the official vehicle.
It was parked not far from the stage.
The problem was the terrorists.
Pickup trucks had already closed in on the parking area.
Ian tried to run, but a soldier grabbed her arm and pulled her back behind a wall.
She had barely moved, yet her heart pounded so hard she feared the sound might give her away.
The emergence of Absolumens had given humanity both hope and despair at the same time.
Beyond the wall, contaminated entities were not the only threat. Awakened individuals who had joined anarchist terrorist groups ensured that even inside the wall, war never truly ceased. Public order was especially fragile in areas outside the capital, where security had all but collapsed.
“Where do we go now?”
“There’s a staff vehicle from the campaign nearby. We need to head into that building first and go down to the basement. Let’s move.”
Although the event was outdoors, the stage faced the entrance of a nearby building where people could take shelter. At the mention of the basement, Ian followed the soldiers protecting her without protest.
This was not the time for unnecessary questions. Anything she said would only slow their escape and disrupt their focus.
They were moving toward the building, surrounded by soldiers, when it happened.
“Gah!”
The soldier to her immediate left was shot. He clutched his bleeding side, yet continued to move, shielding Ian from further exposure. Still, an injured body could not help but slow and lose balance.
For someone who was not Awakened, this was the inevitable result of being shot.
“Ugh…”
He finally collapsed.
Ian saw it clearly. The bullet had not only struck his side, but pierced the center of his spine.
The sight did not last long.
The remaining soldiers closed in tighter around her, filling the gap and blocking her view.
“Just like that…”
Are we leaving him behind?
The question never left her lips. She already knew the answer.
They were abandoning a comrade to protect her.
After being shielded by their sacrifices, she could not pretend to take the moral high ground.
Leaving the wounded soldier behind, they barely made it into the building.
But the terrorists, who had planned this attack knowing Ian’s schedule in advance, would not have failed to anticipate their escape route.
Bang!
Another shot rang out.
This one was different. It was not meant to wound.
The bullet punched straight through the temple of the sturdy soldier standing in front of her.
A single shot delivered a painless death.
“Protect the young lady!”
A firefight erupted. Most of the remaining soldiers exchanged fire with terrorists hidden along upper railings and corners.
“I’ll escort you.”
Only two soldiers remained at Ian’s side now.
Taking the elevator in a situation like this would have been suicidal. The emergency stairs were not truly safe either, but there was no better choice.
They moved down the stairs in silence, careful with every step, alert for enemies lying in wait.
It was too quiet.
There were only two routes leading down to the underground parking garage.
The elevator and the emergency stairwell.
Gunfire had broken out in the elevator hall, so they had come down the emergency stairs, even knowing they were cornered. Yet there was no sign of anyone. Not a single sound.
Ian knew nothing about combat, but even she could sense how unnatural the silence was. The soldiers beside her were surely aware of it too.
“Miss.”
Just before they reached the underground parking level, one of the two soldiers spoke. He was the one who had stayed with her the longest, and his voice sounded oddly subdued.
“It seems today will be the last time you and I meet.”
“What… what are you saying?”
Ian could not understand his words at all. The other soldier, however, seemed to grasp his meaning and exchanged a brief look with him.
When they reached the parking level, the soldier opened the stairwell door and took a long breath.
“I hope you make it out safely.”
He placed a set of keys in Ian’s hand. They belonged to the staff vehicle that had been parked here.
Those words, spoken like a final farewell, were followed by the door swinging open.
“No…!”
Only then did Ian understand what his last words had meant.
Armed terrorists were already waiting at the stairwell entrance, their guns raised.
The soldier threw himself forward, turning his own body into a living shield as he opened fire.
As his body was about to collapse into a corpse, the remaining soldier grabbed him. Using his fallen comrade as cover, he pushed ahead, firing through the gap beneath his arm. But at this rate, it was only a matter of time before they were all killed.
“Run!”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart, which had felt tightly wound, began to pound violently again.
“Go! Now! Hurry!”
Because of me.
Because of me, me, me…
How many had already fallen?
“Miss!”
The shout sounded like a final scream.
Before she realized it, Ian’s legs were carrying her deeper into the parking garage.
Was this cowardly instinct, or a desperate attempt to give meaning to the deaths of those who had sacrificed themselves for her?
She wanted to believe it was the latter. But Ian knew her own cowardice too well.
She simply wanted to live.
In case the official vehicle could not be used, the locations of staff vehicles assigned to support the president and his family were always fixed. From the facing direction, to the right. Positioned for a quick escape, yet not so visible as to stand out.
Beep.
When she pressed the door lock button on the key, a soft beep sounded and the headlights flashed.
Ian hurried into the driver’s seat. She did not even think to fasten her seat belt.
The moment the engine started, she slammed her foot down on the accelerator. A bullet shattered through the driver’s side window and sliced past her vision. She jerked the steering wheel without thinking.
“Ah!”
Despite the many sacrifices that had bought her this chance, she did not even reach the parking exit. The hood slammed into a pillar.
Two soldiers had given their lives to hold back five or six terrorists and buy her time. But two people could not kill a fully armed group.
“There she is! Found her!”
“Hah. Our precious princess runs pretty fast, doesn’t she?”
Three men surrounded the car in seconds.