She ran up to the cab as Cho stopped with a screech that hinted at badly needed brake work. As he climbed down, she said “Three? How…”
“There was almost nobody there. Ja”—Cho pointed to a young man getting out of the second cab—”was the senior person at the motor pool. The city government is in chaos. They’ve received orders that Sinan is to become a ‘fortress against the counterrevolutionaries,’ whoever they are.”
“Most of the city officials have fled.” The different but familiar voice belonged to Sergeant Choi, getting out of the passenger’s side of the second truck. He ignored her surprised expression. “I’m glad to see you’re finally taking my advice, Kary Fowler- seonsaengnim.”
Dumbstruck, Kary could only nod, and Choi continued. “Song Kwang-sik,” the sergeant almost spat out the mayor’s name, “has taken his family and six of the militia as an escort and headed for the Chinese border. Most of the town officials are following his example.” Kary noted that Choi hadn’t used the customary “ dongji “ title when referring to the mayor, which made the use of his name almost an insult.
People had come out of the clinic and the other buildings to look at the new arrivals, and Choi said, “Military units are en route to occupy the town and set up defensive works. We don’t have any time to spare. Any civilians left here will be drafted either as militia or laborers. Come on, I’ll help you get loaded.”
The patients and supplies were put on first, split between the three vehicles, and then the others began to board, to find the trucks already had some passengers. Choi explained, “My niece and her husband and children are on the last truck. Other citizens of Sinan also want to go with you. You should have enough space for everyone; in fact you have to, because as far as I know, these are the last three working vehicles in town.”
He saw her start to ask a question, and held out a hand, forestalling her. “I’m not coming. I have family here that can’t be moved, and with the mayor and the others gone, I’m now the senior official. I’ll do what I can to keep everyone still here safe. But I have a parting gift.”
He handed Kary an official-looking form. “One of the mayor’s last official acts was to issue himself travel orders allowing him and his companions to travel freely anywhere in the country.” He smiled. “My niece’s husband was in charge of drafting the document and accidentally made a second copy, which, in his haste, the mayor also signed.”
Almost in tears, Kary reached to hug Choi but he stepped quickly back. “The mayor and I have been trying to get you to leave since the day you arrived. I’m sure he’d approve. Now get out of here, as quickly as you can.”
The convoy pulled out, heading west, away from both Sinan and Pyongyang. Cho drove the lead truck with Kary on the passenger’s side, and she leaned as far as she could out the window, keeping the now-empty mission in sight for as long as she could. As familiar as it had been to her, she was now terrified of forgetting what it looked like, and she studied and memorized everything she could, until it passed behind a hill and out of sight. Once it was gone, she finally let the tears come.
Chapter 10 — Nightmare
They’d barely set up the command post, but Operation Backstop was in full swing, with Kevin letting his new deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Shin Sung-mo, manage the handover of the six existing camps from the ROK Army to American units. That part was going smoothly, but problems were already cropping up.
Some of the refugees refused to believe that they couldn’t bribe the personnel that managed the camps, for one. They could not imagine a system where one couldn’t buy a place at the head of the line.
That was almost comic compared to the biggest problem: the difficulty of getting the civilians properly immunized. Most didn’t trust the government to give them good health care (unless they could buy it through graft), and Kevin was spending more time than he’d like organizing classes in basic health practices, with a minor in civics.
And Southern civilians were becoming a problem as well. The camp administrators were recording names and other personal data on the Northern refugees as fast as they could, but the South Koreans weren’t waiting patiently, and even if they did wait, it wasn’t at home. Excited and hopeful civilians pestered the staff or tried to get into the camp by any means possible to search for northern relatives or northerners who might be from the same place as their relatives.
Some civilians had received word by various means that their relatives were coming, and sometimes even where they were headed. Many were convinced that their relations were inside the camp, waiting for a happy reunion. When they didn’t get an immediate answer from Kevin’s staff, they simply found a spot nearby and waited, creating a second “camp” outside the first.
Kevin was supposed to verbally report to General Tracy once a day. He had planned to make his first call this evening, so when one of the staff told him the general was calling, he knew it had to be news.
“Kevin, turn to CNN.” Like any headquarters, a TV screen was always on, with the volume muted. Theirs was set to a Korean news station, and Kevin told his staff to switch the channel.
He didn’t even need to hear the announcer. A red banner across the bottom edge flashed, “Chemical Weapons Used in North Korean Civil War.” Most of the staff came over to watch the report, and Kevin stepped away from the crowd. “Then it’s been confirmed?”
Tracy sighed. “Yes. We’ve gotten scattered but consistent cell phone and Internet traffic out of Pyongyang — or more correctly, from the outskirts of Pyongyang — that someone’s using what looks like nerve gas. It was likely artillery or rockets, since we haven’t seen much air activity, or, thank heaven, missile launches. There are reports of heavy casualties, but no numbers.” His tone changed, and he ordered, “Effective immediately, screen everyone coming out of the North for traces of any chemical agent.”
Kevin automatically answered, “Yes, sir.” They’d already been watching for symptoms and doing spot checks with detection strips, just in case, but this changed everything. They’d have to set up decontamination stations…
“And make sure all your people have their gear handy and are properly briefed, Colonel. You’re still getting organized, but we can’t discount the threat of a missile attack with a chemical warhead.”
“Understood, sir,” Kevin agreed emphatically. “And we will have to teach the civilians what to do. The medics have plenty of atropine.”
“Then what are your first impressions, Colonel?”
“Major Kae took me on a tour. He commands the infantry company taking care of the refugees here. He needs a battalion. I’ll need at least that. A lot of the civilians are still celebrating that they’re out of North Korea and not dead. And they’re getting decent meals. But there’s some serious culture shock. There are problems to solve, but we can make it work. But my prediction about the number of refugees was off, sir.”
“How far off?” Tracy asked.
“By a factor of two or three, at the very least,” Kevin answered. “It’s not just those who make it across the border on their own anymore. The South Korean army is sending empty supply trucks back loaded with refugees and prisoners. Whole villages and KPA units are being transported south. Major Kae says the army’s policy is to remove anyone along their route of advance so they don’t pose a security threat to the army’s rear, but that’s a pretty flimsy excuse.”