The Last Exiles by Ann Shin

Author:Ann Shin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Park Row Books
Published: 2021-01-15T16:26:55+00:00

SEVENTEEN

He was a dozen yards from the road when he finally saw it, a knee-high boulder planted next to a wooden fence post at the corner of the field. He loped sideways toward it like a coyote with its eyes on its prey, hind legs aimed elsewhere. You’ll find the tunnel by the rock, the farmer’s wife had said as she handed him a dish towel bundled up with rice and soybean sprouts. Look for a big rock next to a fence post. Jin climbed the fence, pushing aside the dry brush as he hiked into the thicket, wandering a dozen steps or so when he saw some scraggly grasses hanging over a dark opening. He approached closer, and as he advanced, the opening broadened into a clearing in front of a tunnel. He wondered if this was the tunnel that Hyuk had mentioned.

Jin entered tentatively, holding his hands up in front of him as he walked in, for it was so dark he couldn’t tell if he was about to hit a wall or if he had a hundred yards of clearance. He listened carefully, his nostrils quivering at the unseen current of air that wafted past him, carrying with it the dank, mossy green scent of the earth, and piss. He heard foot scuffs in the dirt, some mumbling, and the faint sound of snoring that ended abruptly with a snort. He carefully extended a foot, tap-tapping as he went forward, taking several steps until he heard a yelp and his right foot slid out from underneath him. He had stepped on something soft, an arm or a leg that felt rubbery and pliant. Jin recoiled, trying to see whom he had stepped on, but he couldn’t see a thing; he could only hear the sound of shifting bodies. How many people were camped out here, piled atop one another, sleeping and breathing in effluences in this permanent night?

‘Hello?’ he called out and waited for a response. There was no reply, but he listened keenly, trying to guess where the sounds of rustling came from. There were other noises coming from farther down the tunnel, clarifying into the sound of footsteps that approached rapidly until suddenly the people were upon him, one of them walking straight into him so that his head collided into Jin’s chest.

‘Watch it!’ Jin shouted, squinting into the darkness to see who had walked into him. Two people jostled each other until one of them finally spoke up.

‘Why’re you standing there?’ It was the voice of a boy not yet fully developed as a man.

‘I couldn’t—I didn’t see you,’ Jin said, trying to gauge how old the boy was.

‘This guy’s new,’ said another boy, standing to the left of the one who walked into him. ‘I don’t recognize his voice.’

‘I just got here,’ Jin said. ‘Who are you?’

‘We’re brothers, he’s Wonho and I’m Minho, and we’re headed out to get work,’ the boy said, then added, ‘So you’re new here, huh? You have any

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