PART 1: SORI
"Ma.."
"..."
"Mama..."
"..."
	Ma unresponsively trotted onwards as if she was deaf. The disorganized rumble of a hundred footsteps probably drowned out my voice. I felt an uneasiness in the atmosphere, but also a nerve-racking hint of familiarity. This smell of stale concrete, this stiffness of my mother's back, these echoes of silent marching; an ominous wave of nostalgia cascaded down my spine. I could hear it. That distinct metallic clattering. I could smell it. That flagrant smoky omen. I could feel it. That notorious tension in the air. I clung harder on my mother's jacket.
	It has to be old man Hwan-Jeok this time. Sometimes, I couldn't pick up his obnoxious snoring during bedtime, and one time he even was absent during the weekly congregation. Either he skipped out, or he managed to visit a functional sanitation center, because his putrid smell wasn't present. Also, whenever Ma and I were on our way to find some food, we always passed by the abandoned clinic. There were times where I could make out the mumbled voices of the old geezer and a distraught stranger, but Ma would always pull me hard and pick up the pace. Then, she'd scold me and say that I should be minding my own business.
	Just then, I noticed the echoes dying down, and a chilly winter breeze told me the tunnel ended. Last time, all I could hear were the sirens of dozens of cicadas, so this place is still rather mysterious. On my left, I listened as water gushed and churned, and to my right were the chirping of birds and crickets, and the occasional croaks of frogs. As I was listening and gathering my surroundings, a flock of crows suddenly swarmed above us, cawing; and that was immediately followed up by a loud gunshot between the sound of the river and animals. Ma got startled and took a step back on a rock she didn't see, lost her balance a bit, and loss her grip on my left thigh, so I fell a bit. We both unconditionally agreed that I walk beside her instead, so I latched onto her right hand, cold yet comforting. Afterwards, I listened keenly for other people's reactions to the gunshot, but I was only met with a speaker-phone enhanced, "KEEP MOVING!! MARCH!!".
	All these croaks and churns and chirps eased my shuddering a bit; but the loud GANGTA were too frightening, so I covered my ears with my hands. I don't cover my ears often because then I get reminded me of Shin. Shin would convince all the younger children to close their eyes, and then, he would grab their ankles, and swing them topsy-turvy, so all their coins and scraps of food fell out. When he found me lost once, he promised me some beans and told me to cover my ears. Ma wasn't around and I was scared and hungry, so I naively believed him. He, of course, did what he did to all the other kids, but the thing is, Ma keeps all the scavenged food and stuff, and takes me along only, so I don't run into walls or bad guys like Shin. I could tell he got mad because his breathing was heavier and he cursed me, saying I was a gaesaekki. Then, he socked me in my gut, and shoved me into a pile of sour, urinated snow, and left me gasping for breath for a while. As I remembered all this, I felt my stomach knot and decided that those gunshots weren't as bad as that memory, and besides Ma always said that we should never lose touch with each other.
	Like always, I raised my left arm and said, "Ma. Hand."
	I listened. Many footsteps, couple chirps of a bird, one croak of a frog, lots of buzzing of some bugs, a loud gunshot, but she didn't reply. This happens sometimes like when she's sleeping, but she's never not within an arm's length away.
	"Maaaaaaa!" I called out. "Ma, I am here!"
	More footsteps, more animals, a jeep jerking on the rocky road, the river got quieter, but still no answer. The only time this happened was when Shin beat me. Eventually, my cries turned into sobs which turned into wails. Desperate, I couldn't stand still any longer and began look for her in the crowd. I brought my arms up and followed the vroom of the car which must be where we are going.
	"M-ma..." I murmured, sniveling in between words. "Maaa... w-where are y-you?"
	Suddenly, I heard the car steadily screech to a halt, and someone began walking towards me. Instinctively, I leaned back and reached for Ma whom was obviously gone, and I ended up trusting the air to support me, so I fell on my bottom.
	"Are you lost, child?" His voice seemed tangible as it rattled me. "Stand up."
	I stood up.
	"Where is your mother?"
	"I do not know."
	"Look at me."
	"I can't."
	"LOOK! AT! ME!"
	I heard him loudly crush the grass beneath him as he came towards me, and he roughly snatched my arm so I wouldn't run, although I was too scared to move. Immediately, I felt his large, gloved hands clamp onto the sides of my head as I trembled, and he savagely straddled it, as if he was trying to break my neck. Then, he turned my head and locked it into position, and I could smell his cigarette breath on me.
	"Open your eyes."
	I opened my eyes.
	His heated breathing lowered and he exhaled a bit. It wasn't a sigh; it was more like a gasp.
	"...Ah, I see."
	He eased his grip on me and gently placed his hands onto my shoulders.
	"Come with me."
	His hands clasped onto my abdomen, and I was lifted into the air and planted into the car's seat. The thumping footsteps of the crowd began to soften as they took custody of me, but worked up again when the guard with speakerphone shouted, "MAARRRRRCH!"
	We had been travelling for several minutes before I began to stop worrying for myself, and back to Ma. I could tell the official did not wish for me to speak based on his disposition, and I didn't want to risk any incitation, so I stayed quiet. Come to think of it, the last time I was in a car was in the back of a truck with Ma and a bunch of other people, hitchhiking out of our famine struck home.
	When Ma would let go, I went stationary and did nothing. She would say, "Don't move, I will be back soon." and I would sit and listen to her distinct footsteps casually fade away. Ma usually returns soon as she says, but when she doesn't, I begin to start thinking that she has left me, alone to rot and waste away; that I am nothing more than a heavy leach ready to challenge her food and love, but I decided that these thoughts don't help so I try to not think, which I got pretty good at. Later on, she started to forgo when she would return, and now, she would say nothing and simply let go, and my world would stand still.
	"Do you know where we are going?" The official abruptly asked, his voice surprisingly light.
	I felt his lanky arm around my shoulder, and I squirmed, "Y-yes."
	"Were you born blind?"
	You see, during the worst part of the Great Famine, Ma and I hadn't eaten for a few weeks, and one day I collapsed from exhaustion, as Ma described. When I came to, everything was dark, so I thought it was pitch black, until the fire burnt me.
	"No."
	He chuckled slightly and gave a big cough, and I could sense a nefarious strain in his voice.

	"Then, I'm sure you can still visualize."
	I could hear him shuffling around, a pause of silence, and then the clicks of his lighter.
	 Tnk. Chk. Thnk.
	"Well," he said blowing out a billow of smoke, "first we set up the grounds. We get a large wooden stake and root it on the top of a hill. Afterwards, we prepare the convicted by stuffing their mouths full of pebbles and masking their face with a bag. Next, we fasten them on the stake with ropes around their chest, stomach, and legs. Lastly, we-"
	"Sir, we have arrived."
	I heard the official breathe out one last cloud of smoke, and his cigarette sizzle, and again, felt his hand on my shoulder. "We'll continue this conversation soon," he said as he seized me and hauled me with him.
	The hundreds of footsteps dwindled down to just only us two, as he dragged me up a steep incline which most likely is the hill he was talking about. Up on this hill, the river was silent and the only animals here were crows and jays, cawing. We came to a stop and he placed one hand on my shoulder and the other on my head.
	"Directly below you," he said turning my head, "are your fellow villagers, maybe around a hundred or so. Directly in front of you is the big wooden stake. It's about three meters high and sixty centimeters wide. Directly behind you is the firing squad. Oh, the convicted are here."
	The speakerphone equipped guard began to passionately and voraciously shout out the sentences of the convicted. His voice was so enthralling that the air felt infused with dramatic tension.
	"CHUNG, HWAN-JEOK! AGE 61! FOUND GUILTY OF ILLEGALLY SMUGGLING PROPAGANDA FROM THE HERETICAL GAESAEKKI SOUTH! PENALTY: DEATH!"
	"Old man Hwan-Jeok?"
	"Ah, you know him! We've been chasing him for a very long time, and finally caught up to him," the official enthusiastically replied.
	"CHAE, SHIN-SOO! AGE 20! FOUND GUILTY OF GRAND LARCENY, RAPE, AND MURDER! PENALTY: DEATH!"
	"Shin... he k-killed people?"
	"Stole and raped people too. Is that how you know him?"
	As if filled with excitement, I felt his hands begin to jitter, and voice begin to tremble, and it was subsequently causing me to panic and shiver.
	"JEONG, SOON-HI! AGE 34! FOUND GUILTY OF TREASON FOR CONSPIRING TO DEFECT OUR GLORIOUS NATION! PENALTY: DEATH!"
	"M-ma?"
	"Yes!  Your mother!" he blurted barely containing his laughter. "Jeong, Soon-hi has a child whom is blind, which must be you! Is that not right, So-ri?"
	I could feel it. That notorious tension in the air
	"READY!"
	I could hear it. That distinct metallic clattering.
	"FIRE!"
	 I could smell it. That flagrant smoky omen.
	"SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOOOOT!!!"
Gangta