Chapter 03

It did not take long for North Korean reinforcements to arrive after the hostile forces retreated from the area. They quickly secured the area and began to get status reports from the guards that remained. Of course seeing me, a prisoner free and not in cuffs they immediately held me a gunpoint and shouted for me to put my hands up. I did so without much fuss. It would be counter productive to even try anything. I was never suicidal but at this point I suppose one would have merit to question if I was.

The guards I saved and or fought side by side quickly came to my aid though. They clarified about how if not for me they would be day and this cause tension to die down a bit. Some of the new soldiers that arrived quickly escorted me towards a room I was quite familiar with now, an interrogation room. In all my time here I never was brought here because I never did anything that warranted me to be brought here. After demanding I sit down, which I do, they tell me to wait for a bit. The two soldiers who escorted me here left and one stayed outside the door to guard it where the other went off somewhere else. It did not take me long to realize where he went off to.

Enter a non commissioned officer of the North Korean Army. I was not surprised after all there was always a NCO in any operation. He looked at me and then took a seat across from me. If there was one thing I was glad was different from the last time I was in a room like this it was the fact I could speak nearly perfect North Korean so I will be able to understand him and address him with proper respect. He asked me who I was and I told him the truth. I told him that my name was Chen Li and I had been here in this place for quite sometime. I also explained to him about how that came to be and why I even decided to come in North Korea in the first place.

Upon me getting to the part about how I met Jin and how explaining what how he helped me over the course of my time here the NCO seemed to get slightly more interested. After telling him everything he told me to wait here and he left the room for quite sometime. When he returned he seemed to have a puzzled expression on his face.

"Instead of running and escaping with the rest of the prisoners you stayed and fought. You actively protected the very people that kept you prisoner. By all rights this is what a sane person would not do. So let me ask you this. Are you insane?" The NCO asked me.

"If I am to be honest Great Officer. I do not know. What I do know is that over my time here I began to see this land as my home and if I may be allowed I wish to defend it just as Esteemed Elder Jin died doing. I wish to avenge the death of Esteemed Elder and once again bring peace and security to this land. Those dogs invaded this land. They brought death and destruction and I wish, no yearn to pay them back for ever ounce of blood they spilled on this land I now call home." I told the NCO with a look of utter hatred in my eyes and its fairly obvious that hatred was held for those who attacked my home.

What ever I did it seemed to impress the NCO because he smirked at me then motioned for me to follow him.

"That Old Jin helped me when I was in trouble years ago. I was a bit younger then you at the time. I was young and stupid and did something I should not have. So instead of going to prison he had me drafted into the Military. While normally the very idea of even attempting to draft a foreigner would be laughable the US and it's allies have been getting over confident. This was just one of many covert operations that they have been doing to send a message to us. That being they could end us at anytime. That if they were serious then we wouldn't even stand a chance. But I and many others even our Great Leader refuse to kneel to those dogs. That's why I find it quite poetic. What if a man from there side were to join us and fight for us? You would be a symbol that not everyone blindly agrees with what they are doing and that they certainly are not as United as they make themselves out to be." The NCO said to me as we made our way towards the main entrance of the Concentration Camp.

Once we got there he explained to me that I wouldn't be able to just grab a gun and go fighting. I would have to start from the very beginning and work my way up and prove my loyalty with my actions to the higher ups. This made since to me and I expected no less. He did warn me it will be trying times ahead of me solely for the fact that I am a foreigner. But he said if things were meant to be then they will be and if I didn't pan out then I'll just be another dead foreigner so either way it was a win for the Government.

At this point it would be a lie to say that I was not dealing a bit confused and concerned. At this moment in time I had no idea about would would occur next. After all I was a prisoner and while yes I did something honorable by aiding the guards and helping them survive the fact I was a foreigner remained. I did not need to wait long to find out what would happen next. The NCO motioned for me to follow him and I did so obediently. We reached an armed vehicle and got in. After a few more minutes we started heading off to somewhere. The journey to the next area took about an hour. We arrived to what loo liked an administration office and this had me confused. The NCO got out first but not before telling me to wait in the vehicle. He was gone for a few minutes then he came back with a file that had a lot of documents in his hands.

He told me that we were quite lucky as a new group of recruits were coming in today by bus so they could easily fit me in with that group instead of trying to find me a platoon to be placed in for basic training which could have taken weeks if not months. He instructed me to go through and fill out all the documents to the best of my abilities which I did. It took me quite a bit of time to go through it all and before I knew it two hours had went by while I was just filling out paper work. When I was done I told the NCO and he told me to hold onto it for the time being. I was confused at this but decided to think nothing of it. It was not a big deal that he wanted me to hold onto it I just guessed he probably wanted me to hand it over to someone else.

So I set there for a few more minutes before I heard what sounded like a bus coming up to the administration building we were at. The bus pulled up right in front of us and a lot of North Koreans came out and started to crowd around under the canopy they ranged from young adults to teenagers. Eventually what I can only describe as a drill sergeant came out of the building and ordered everyone to line up and stated they had 10 seconds to do so. People rushed to form a line. But they were to late.

"Halt! Front leaning rest position, move!" The Drill Sergeant Shouted.

Some of them immediately got into it the others started to realize he meant the push up position and got into it as well. Everyone did this except one girl. The Drill Sergeant quickly noticed this an marched to her with his hands behind his back.

"I said. Front. Leaning. Rest. Position." The Drill Sergeant said to her coldly.

"Uh… Why do I have to do that? I out rank you technically! My Father is-" The girl was saying before she got cut off, permanently.

The Drill Sergeants grabbed her head and twisted it thus ending her life. Her body fell on the ground and a quick look around told me one thing. All the new recruits were terrified.

"That kills to birds with one stone." The Drill Sergeant said before motioning to one of the guards nearby. They quickly came and dragged her body off to somewhere. The Drill Sergeant then turned to the vehicle I was in and motioned with his hand to come. The NCO I was with nodded and turned to me.

"This is where we part ways. As you just saw. Defiance equals death. There is no need for disobedience, cowardice or traitorous thoughts in our military. Do as you are told and you will live. So essentially do as you have been doing and you shall be fine. Trust no one but those over you and treat everyone has forgettable beings." The NCO said to me before telling me to go out and line up quickly.

So I did. I did not waste any time whatsoever and rushed over to line up with the rest.

"Let this serve as an example. Disobedience is not an option. When we give you an order you do as your are instructed. If we tell you to jump you do not ask how high. You just jump and jump and keeping jumping until we tell you otherwise. Your sole duty is to do you understand?" The Drill Sergeant said.

"YES SIR!" We all shouted.

"I can't hear you!" The Drill Sergeant shouted.

"YES SIR!!!!" We all shouted louder.

"Right face!" The Drill Sergeant shouted.

Some of the people were confused but me and a few others knew what he mean so we did a right face. Seeing us do it the others sloppily did the same.

"Forward. Head inside then line up by the wall next to the front counter." The Drill Sergeant said.

One by one we marched into the building and lines up as we were instructed. I did not move or turn my head but with my eyes I looked around and noticed that the other recruits were quite nervous and some were even terrified about what had just occurred and why would they not be? No had probably expected there was a chance they would neutralized if they disobeyed. That was a wake up call and one they had received incredibly early earn. It was not long before the Drill Sergeant led us into an auditorium. There was rows of desks and some had other recruits we haven not seen before already sitting in them. We were ordered to take a sit in a certain order and again all of us did what we were told without any hesitation.

We did not have to wait long before some high ranking officers came out and addressed all of us at the very front. One, a man in a formal uniform stepped out and stood in front of the rest and began addressing us.

"Today, right here and now you are all here for one reason. To serve and obey. Why you chose to do so is insignificant. We expect loyalty and obedience anything else will not be tolerated. I hope that is understood." He said while looking around at each of us slowly.

"Today we will have all of you go through the administration process. Taking blood samples, making sure your all caught up on the latest vaccines, taking document of all things regarding you such as height, weight, age etc. Upon going through all of this you will then be lead to the administrative zone barracks where you will wait to be placed into a battalion which you will be with from now on. From Basic Training to active deployment. That is where you will stay unless modifications to the rosters are needed. It is a very high likelihood that people you are here with today will make up all if not most of your battalion or none of them will. It will all depend on how the roster is. You are placed where your needed it is as simple as that." He said while walking back and forth slowly with his hands behind his backed.

"Is there any questions?" He asked loudly.

"Yes. What do we-" I heard a man say before a gunshot cut him off.

Several people screamed but a few more gun shots and it quite down. This time it seemed like they did not hit anyone. The same can not be said for the first one though. I see an armed guard go over to a desk and begin dragging the body away.

"You do not speak unless we tell you to. You wait until we acknowledge you and tell you to speak. If we never do then you are simply not worth the time." He said.

It seems like the message was further instilled into many that were here or those he have not seen how things worked here yet. He waved his hand and some soldier went around and laid down a dossier in front of us.

"You will hold onto those as if you lives depends on them. These are classified documents that only you and appropriate personal will ever be able to see. DO NOT show this to anyone here. You are not here to make friends you here to be soldiers for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and thus you shall act and conduct yourself in a manner befitting of such a person. I hope I am understood." He said.

He proceeded to walk to a table that was set up at the front and go to the computer on it. After a few minutes of doing something on it the projector behind him and in front of us lit up.