Chapter 79 - Fucking Gas Chamber Training (Part 2)

Thud.

Jae-yoon stumbled out and began to take off her gas mask. Well, she tried to anyway. She was in such a hurry that she couldn’t do it properly, making her struggle even more. None of the instructors even helped her. How cruel.

“You may not take off your mask!”

“Get up!”

“Go back into the chamber!”

The instructor kept shouting at her, but Jae-yoon wasn’t listening. She finally managed to take the mask off and threw it to the ground. She took a few deep breaths and then, immediately started to cry.

“Sniff…sniff…waaahaaaa….haaaa….waaahh…!”

Snot and tears continued to run down Jae-yoon’s face as she sobbed. Her hair was tangled, and snot was everywhere. It was quite shocking to see.

“Is that what’s going to happen to me…sniff sniff…” Heejin whispered next to me. By the look on her face, it was clear that she was imagining herself in Jae-yoon’s position.

“Maybe.”

“What?”

I reached over and gave her a pat on the head, before looking at Jae-yoon again. She was still sobbing as she continued to shake her head. Was it really that bad? Of course, it’s always those who simply act tough that are truly the weakest. But all of a sudden, Soomin also ran out of the chamber, pushing the instructors out of the way. She threw her rifle to the ground and began to cry, just like Jae-yoon. It was like watching a movie. Joo-ran, on the other hand, seemed to be handling it just well. She came out with her head held high after about five minutes.

“Wow…Joo-ran is so cool!” Heejin said, clapping.

“She sure is.”

Hyunjoo cheered for Joo-ran as well.

“Nice,” I said, pretending to be impressed as I clapped along.

Joo-ran took off her gas mask and poured the water from her canteen all over her face to wash off the gas particles. She stuck out her arms and jumped up and down to get them off her clothes.

Jae-yoon and Soomin hung off to the side, their heads down and still crying. Very pitiful. The instructor approached them, his face dark as he got closer.

“As you two were unable to finish in the gas chamber, you will go in again for a second time. Do you understand?”

“What?”

They both gasped. I’ve never seen faces so shocked before...or angry.

“Are…are you really…we have to go in again?” Soomin exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yes. You will go in after Team 2,” the instructor said mercilessly. Jae-yoon didn’t say anything. She looked like she had aged ten years.

Well anyways, now, it was Team 2’s turn.

“Put your masks on!”

“Yes, sir!”

We put on our masks and lined up in front of the door.

“When you go in, there will be another instructor waiting. Simply do as he tells you and you will be able to do just fine, just like Joo-ran did.”

“Yes, sir!” we all answered.

“Enter!”

The door opened, with Hyunjoo walking in first. Then me. And then Heejin. I couldn’t feel the gas, but maybe that was because we were wearing our masks. Surprisingly, Heejin already looked like she was struggling. Understandable considering that the gas masks made it somewhat hard to breathe. But, Hyunjoo didn’t look so good either. What was happening…soon, the door closed and the instructor inside spoke to us.

“Welcome, Team 2.”

“Good morning.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“Good morning!”

“I said I can’t hear you! Louder!”

“Good morning!”

“Better. Now, the gas pellets will be sprayed. Your eyes may burn. But do not, whatever you do, rub your eyes. Do not touch your face. Period. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

Ugh, I really wanted to stop this whole ‘Yes, sir’ thing. This was so beneath me.

Anyways, soon enough, the gas was released and it began to fill the chamber.

‘Is it starting now?’

I’ll admit, my heart was pumping. How bad was it going to be? I’ve dealt with farts and all sorts of toxic smells alike. I’ve had feces shoved into my face and had the fumes of dog shit thrown at my face as well. Is there really something worse than that? I didn’t think so. So, I secretly lifted the gas mask just a tad bit. The gas suddenly came in and I instinctively took in a deep breath, breathing in the fumes. I began to curse.

“Fuck! Ugh…urgh…!”

This was something else. I couldn’t breathe as my eyes began to burn. My eyes immediately began to tear up, and my nose began to run.

“What’s wrong, Officer Lee?”

“Nothing,” I said, pretending that nothing was wrong. The gas had already seeped in, but you know what? After the initial shock, once you’ve calmed down and gathered yourself, it wasn’t that terrible. In fact, it soon got much better. Compared to the toxic fumes of the past, this gas was…how should I put it? Almost pure. Yeah. I’ve had worse. With human gas, it follows you around like it’s trying to annoy you since it’s also hard to avoid. So yeah, it was definitely worse. Anyways, the instructor was talking again.

“And now, separate the filter.”

At that, we all pulled off the filter, allowing the gas to seep in. Heejin was the first to react.

“Eeeh! Mmm! Mmmm!”

She seemed terrified, clearly not knowing what to do. So, I squeezed her hand. Alas, it didn’t help. Hyunjoo, on the other hand, seemed fine. Guess it was the mother’s strength in her.

“Raise it up,” the instructor ordered and we raised the filter, but Hyunjoo raised it way too high until it was above her cap.

‘What is she doing?’

She was definitely not in her right mind.

“Officer Kim, that’s way too high. Simply bring it to the top of your head, not above it.”

At that, Hyunjoo lowered it until it was just above her head.

“Do you feel the gas?”

“Yes, sir!” I was the only one who answered. Heejin was moving both of her hands as she began to stomp her feet desperately. Hyunjoo’s feet also began to move.

‘Are they okay…’

I felt like something was about to happen at any second. I began to count.

‘Five…four…three…two...one…”

On cue, Heejin began to run towards the door. Another instructor, who was guarding it, stood in front of her to block her way. Heejin tried to drag him away, silently pleading with him to move. Unfortunately, her strength was no match for a soldier’s. And that’s when it happened. Hyunjoo suddenly threw down her headgear and ran towards the door. Was it to stop Heejin? Nope. It was to join her and move the instructor out of the way.

“Hey, stop it!”

The one who had released the gas went to join his comrade, blocking both Heejin and Hyunjoo.

“Huff…huff…”

It was a struggle for both sides, but eventually, the instructors won. Heejin and Hyunjoo couldn’t overpower them in the end. But in my opinion, if they were struggling that much, they really should be allowed to leave. Suddenly, I saw the tears in Heejin’s eyes. I felt bad for her and right then, I decided to help her. So when the instructor returned to his original position, I took off his mask.

Whoosh!

“Eeek!”

At the sudden loss of the mask, the instructor began to panic. I did the same with the other instructor.

Whoosh.

Eeeek!

Then, we opened the door and ran out.

***

“Who the fuck took off my mask!”

“It was me.”

“Get down, soldier! Get up. Get down. Get up. Lay down. On your stomach. Get into down position without rolling over!”

And that’s how it went with the instructor as he yelled commands at me.

Then, it was back to the gas chamber. Now, it was only those who had failed the first time. Meaning, everyone excluding Joo-ran. I hadn’t failed either, but since I had been the one who took the gas masks off, I was going in again as a punishment.

Anyways, I stood in front of the gas chamber again.

“If you fail this time, you will go in for a third time!” the instructor shouted. We all nodded. This time, I didn’t even put on the mask properly. I was used to the gas by now. Besides, it was pretty nice.

“Now. Enter!”

The door opened and we all walked in again. The other instructor inside was already ready to release the gas.

“Hello, again.”

“Good morning.”

“I hope you all succeed this time. Just a little bit. Just hold on for a little bit.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Fzzz. Fzzzz.

The gas was released and once again, it filled up the chamber. Everyone else immediately began to fidget again. I took Heejin’s hand and squeezed it in mind. That seemed to help…oh, who am I kidding? Heejin was already trying to run out again and I was stopping her. I grabbed her hand, bringing Heejin back to her original place. The instructor spoke up.

“Separate the filter.”

We all took off the filters. The gas began to seep in again and the instructor stood in front of the door. He was ready this time.

“Raise it up.”

We all raised it to our foreheads. Hyunjoo almost made the same mistake twice, but caught herself this time and lowered it.

“Officer Lee,” the instructor suddenly said.

“Yes, sir?” So I replied.

“You will take off your gas mask.”

“What?”

“You will take it off. That is your punishment.”

“Yes, sir.”

So, I took off my mask. The gas immediately hit me in the face. And then, the tears immediately started.

“Officer Lee. It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“No, sir!”

“Why did you take off the instructor’s mask?”

“I’m sorry, Sir!”

“Do you think sorry will fix everything?”

“No, Sir!”

“Do you regret your actions?”

“Yes, sir!”

Ugh. This guy just won’t shut up.

“Officer Lee. You will do jumping jacks!”

I immediately got into position.

“You will count out ten jumping jacks. Starting now!”

“One two three one! One two three two! One two three three! One two three four!....One two three nine! One two three ten.”

“That last one doesn’t count. Again!”

This bastard.

“One two three one! One two three two! One two three three!.....One two three nine! One two three…”

“Good. Everyone, filters back on!”

Everyone attached their filters back. This time, no one had tried to leave. Was it because of me? I was the only one who had to take the mask completely off. I guess it gave everyone else the motivation to keep trying. Now that I look at it, they’re all holding hands. How touching. Anyways, that concluded everyone’s second attempt at the gas chamber and we had all passed. As I walked out, I seriously considered taking the instructor’s mask and locking him in the room…but I didn’t. I had an image to protect after all.

Anyways, that ended the gas chamber training. It was now lunch time.