Operation Minnow

"Min-Ji OK?"

She nodded. "Ho-kay."

I smiled, and she slowly breathed through the pressure.

Then, I felt her hand on my hip. She pushed and pulled twice.

Clutching a breast, I drew my cock back and gently pushed inside of her again.

She gasped, but it was me having the stronger reaction.

My mind felt like it exploded. Grasping that fat breast, with its abundance of feminine sexuality, exhilarated me. But it was her pussy. Her pussy was a fucking pleasure outlet, and my cock was plugged into it. The shaft throbbed reflexively.

Min-Ji urged me on, and I thrust into her again, muttering, "Oh, fuck that's good."

Our eyes met, and it seemed that when she saw how much pleasure her body gave mine, Min-Ji forgot about any lingering pain and suddenly soared to new heights of ecstasy.

We kissed to hide our vocalizations, but we kept fucking.

Every undulation together seemed better than the previous. Her body channeled more sweetness, more pleasure, and more life into mine with each thrust.

We broke the kiss, and she caught a cry in her throat. I put my finger to my lips. She nodded, raising her arm and biting down upon her wrist.

I could see on her face the satisfaction reaching its crescendo. She wailed into her arm as I drove inside of her with ever-mounting energy.

I covered my own mouth, grunting into it.

Instantly, I felt her body throb on my cock. Her eyes closed. Her head tilted back, and she sang into her arm.

I gritted my teeth and let go, squashing my body against hers and feeling my cock sling barrages of cum into her very guts.

No climax of mine had ever climbed to such heights. My mind was pure fire. I froze against her, the only part of me moving was the throbbing of my shaft as it finished emptying all of that sweetness back into her.

Our bodies slumped, and we gasped for air. My erection flagged and slid from her body as if it had died giving its life.

We were like two catatonics. I have no idea how long we laid motionless but for breathing.

Gradually, my energy returned. I drew her long hair aside and kissed her neck.

She turned to me, grinning as I'd never before seen. Her face seemed robust and alive with joy. She began whispering to me. Her words didn't sound urgent or excited. Happy, I would say. Adoring and affectionate. She kissed me tenderly. She giggled and caressed my stubble.

At some point, she quit speaking as if waiting for me to say something.

I kissed her lips and whispered, "I want to stay in this shelter with you, Min-Ji, and I never want to leave."

She murmured my name and grinned. Before long, she slept.

I admired her for a time, remembering how after we first met I decided that the man she decided to love was going to be extraordinarily lucky.

I was right.

***

My thoughts had to return to the present situation in North Korea, so I pushed thoughts of Min-Ji aside.

We had to leave tonight; there was no question. One energy bar each remained. It would carry us through the night, but no further, and I couldn't just go hunting. Sure, there were certain edible shrubs, nuts, and berries here, but I couldn't go scouting during the day, and doing it at night would be impossible.

With my filter, water would be no problem as long as we could find a source—didn't matter whether it was from a river or a muddy boot print. I could make it potable.

But without food, my energy would sap, and I wouldn't be able to carry her.

Tonight was the night of nights.

My original plan for breaching the fences still applied, so long as one decisive factor did not change. Since the place of my exit had already changed by necessity, the major concern now was the status of the fences in this new location.

The DPRK had been updating sections of their fence line to a new system that prevented power outages from disabling the electrical circuitry at one central point. It was a computer-based system that also kept the cameras running; the lighting was on a separate system.

Electrified fencing generally emits pulses of current as a warning. North Korea's fences did that, too. At least, one of them did.

Both the inner, DMZ fence and the outer, Civilian Control fence were double fences with a few feet in between. The first fence one encountered would give a powerful shock. The second would emit lethal current—the kind that made fingers unable to let go, the kind that set fire to clothing and skin. Lethal.

The Civilian Control fence was a mere 200 meters southeast of us.

Here was my problem. I knew the fences had been updated at my original breach position. At this new location, however, I was unsure, and I needed both the Civilian Control and the DMZ fences to be updated to the new system.

Yes, the newer, computer-based system was the easier one for me to pass through. In fact, with the gear I had, I would not be able to breach the old-style fencing on the North Korea side.

I mean, sure, if I had a few nights to work on it, then I could get through, but with one night and an injured fellow traveler? No. Not an option.

The way for me to know if the fence 200 meters in front of me had been updated was simple. Every 50 meters, there would be a six-inch cylindrical housing or junction.

The one beyond that—the DMZ fence?—well, I'd find out when I got there, I guessed.

I broke out my map and began studying it, committing this new locale to memory—every terrain feature, every structure, the course of both the CC and the DMZ fence lines, the route of the river and its little feeder creeks, everything.

One of the things I knew from my study was that every building this close to the border was DPRK military. There were no civilians around here.

My notes described some of the nearby buildings—"barracks," "mess," "ASP," "fuel dump," etc.

There was a barracks to our immediate southwest at 220 meters.

When I finished my studies, I checked the time—1558. Three hours until sunset.

Time enough to get a last bit of sleep before the night of nights.

***

I woke and checked my watch—1830 on the button. Twilight was setting in.

I spent a few minutes listening, and then I grabbed my gear and climbed out of the tunnel. Min-Ji stirred, but remained sleeping.

Geared up and ready, I did a quick 360-degree recon about 15 meters around our shelter. All secure, I moved up the hill a few meters shy of the crest and surveyed the area.

Helicopter to the southwest. Sparse vehicular traffic. Across the river to our west, I saw a fuel tanker roll up and refill at the fuel depot. A couple of other military vehicles rolled along the roads west and north of us.

No dogs, thank goodness.

As true darkness set in, I climbed down the hill to the river bank and refilled our canteens with my filter. Then, I made my way back to the shelter.

Min-Ji was wide awake and nervous. She whispered my name and kissed me with relief.

"Time to go," I told her.

"Go," she said, climbing out. I checked her ankle and spent some time rewrapping it. She tried to walk on it, winced, and shook her head. I helped her dress, and by 1929, we were ready to go.

Tunnel sealed, I told myself, last night in the fucking DPRK.

We moved east, easing into saddle-shaped terrain with high ground all around us except in front where the fence line stood. Bright floodlights turned night into day along the road that ran in front of it.

Two parallel wire fences stood separated by about one meter, both 12 feet high and topped with four coils of concertina wire—razor wire.

Taking a deep breath, I switched my NVGs off, using them strictly as binoculars.

Yes! I found the cylinders. This was the new fencing. Our protected position was almost halfway between two of the little 6-inch housings.

Before getting to work, I needed to see how often this road was patrolled by foot or vehicular traffic.

Min-Ji and I ate and washed down our last 3500-calorie energy bars.

Over a two hour period, we saw one team of four soldiers and two troop-carrier trucks pass us.

Leaving Min-Ji, I took the gear I needed and, remaining outside of the floodlighted area, moved into a firing position.

In my pack was an ASR-19, a short-barreled and very special rifle. I was reasonably familiar with it. I assembled it, finishing with the flash suppressor/silencer, and loaded it with the special rounds.

Assuming the prone position, I sighted in on the first cylinder. Then, I sighted in on the second. Switching back and forth, I rehearsed my shots. Over. And again. And again until I felt perfectly ready.

Placing the weapon down, I scouted down the hill to the south with infrared engaged on my NVGs—clear. Then, I moved to the north—all clear.

Moving back to my shooting position, I took aim at the first cylinder and shot.

Shifting to my next shot, I never even watched the first sink home. I had heard it strike.

The ultra-thin wire coming out of my rifle tugged a bit, but I lined up and took the second shot.

Hit. Got 'em both.

Two wires ran from my rifle to the two separate cylinders.

There would be an interruption to the fencing now, and the North Koreans would know about it.

I had to move like lightning.

Grabbing the two wires with my insulated gloves, I used the trimmers on the rifle barrel to sever them. Twisting the ends together tightly, I pulled out a small remote box and shoved the wires inside. A flick of a switch on the remote box and the connection was restored.

Back at some terminal, an alert North Korean operator would have witnessed a less than eight-second interruption to the CC fence line's power at these junctions. Did he call it in or did he see the power come back on and ignore it?

Easy question for me to answer: assume the worst. With Min-Ji's escape fresh in mind, these guys would be told to report anything, and troops would be ready to roll. DPRK troops were en route. No doubt about it.

My remote box had a small spike which I then used to secure the device in the trunk of a tree. Pulling down my NVGs, I engaged infrared and saw the steady glow of the light on the remote. Then, using a small controller, I remotely turned it off and on again to check if it all worked properly. It did.

Power is back on, and I can control it. Good to go.

There were two schools of thought about what to do next. Option one was to wait out the inevitable patrol—let them come, see that all was well, and leave. It assumed the razor-thin wire would not be seen. Option two was to go now, instantly.

I chose option two.

I raced back to Min-Ji, put her on my back, and crawled down to my firing position. From there, I depressed the controller button and checked it with my infrared. Power off.

I ran to the fence, set Min-Ji down, and broke out my diamond-titanium snippers. They had short handles, but I wouldn't need the leverage to cut this fence. The cutting blade on this was diamond. The other side was a titanium-aluminum alloy, exponentially stronger than steel.

But there were a lot of cuts to make.

I laid the back of my bare hand against the fence. No shock.

I began cutting. Each cut took about three seconds.

A minute later, a semi-circle about two feet wide and one foot tall was finished. I went through first, and then I held it down for Min-Ji.

In between the fences, I held Min-Ji tightly and hissed, "Do not touch the fence. No touch." I pointed at the fence, pointed at my hands, and shook my head vigorously.

She shook her head, saying, "No."

I took out a special stake I had made. It was steel with a long, thin piece of fabric tied to one end. Shoving the stake into the ground, I tossed the end of the fabric against the second, inner fence.

I didn't burst into flames.

Good.

I touched the fence with the back of my hand.

Good.

I took out a hand-held scanner and ran it over the ground outside the fence. Back and forth. Back and forth. A wider arch, back and forth. Nothing. No mines.

Putting the device in my thigh pocket, I began snipping.

About halfway around my next semi-circle, I heard the truck coming from the northeast.

It's on the fence line road, I thought, and it's coming with troops to check out this fence.

Min-Ji cried out. I shushed her abruptly. Still cutting, I listened. Half a mile, maybe.

One minute at 30 MPH. Less if my estimate is wrong.

Fuck!

I finished the second breach and waved Min-Ji through, but I remained in the middle.

Min-Ji called for me. I silenced her again, pointing and ordering her into the tree line a few meters east of us. She hopped away.

Fishing in my pack, I pulled out a small tub of gray adhesive goo—we called it cement. I bent the first fence opening back into position. Then, I "glued" about four of the joints together—no time to do them all. The glue set almost instantly on contact with metal—the chemical reaction was intensely hot, so my insulted gloved were critical.

I saw the lights of the truck.

Darting under the second breach, I went back to work with the cement.

The lights were coming up over the hill. Ten seconds.

Two joints. Three. Fuck it. I ran for the tree line, spun around, and engaged the power to the fence with my controller.

Troops were climbing out as I confirmed through infrared that the controller had worked. Power restored. Cameras back on.

I grabbed Min-Ji and put a tree between the two of us and the soldiers on the other side of the fence.

One fence down. One to go.

Hugging her close, I slid down the trunk to a sitting position, breathing deeply.

No time for this! my mind screamed. If they find the breaches, they can practically punch through and you can't outrun them with Min-Ji.

Instantly I laid down, put her on my back, and low-crawled slowly away, scanning every few meters for any mines.

Once we were a good 50 meters from the fence and into the denser foliage, I rose, put Min-Ji on my back, and continued southeast with my mine scanner running continuously.

We had been made aware that the North Koreans put some mines between the CC line and the DMZ, but not many. I was being careful. The real minefields began once you crossed into the DMZ.

We made it to a road and stopped. I felt something. What the hell was that?

The ground trembled.

Vehicles. At high speed. A bunch of 'em.

"Fuck!" I hissed, turning southwest and sprinting with Min-Ji on my back. Mines no longer mattered.

They found the wires. They called it in. They were coming in force from the east.

A helicopter appeared, searchlight scanning the trees all around us.

I had to watch for it and wait, darting from tree to tree.

The vehicles were closing in.

Fuck this. I dropped MIn-Ji and raised my silenced CBQR, sighting in on the helicopter hovering 180 meters in the sky and 200 meters east of us.

Disengaging the safe, I squeezed one. Two. Three. Four rounds. The searchlight vanished with a crash of glass.

I picked up Min-Ji and ran southwest.

A road appeared. I darted across it without even stopping to look. But, it told me where I was. I could see it on the map in my mind. More southwest. More. More.

My NVGs were on continuously, but every few seconds I switched between night vision and infrared.

A troop bunkhouse approached on my left about 100 meters away.

Don't care, I told myself. No heat signatures. Fuck 'em. I ran right past it.

Another 300 meters on, I began to see headlights north and south of me on the two fence line roads.

All the way to the river, I realized. They had the fence lines covered all the way to the river. I was trapped between the CC line, the DMZ fence, and the Imjin River.

But, this was life or death. I had to try something.

Flipping to infrared, I could see the heat silhouettes of dismounted troops forming picket lines and moving toward me from both directions.

I kept running. My legs were on fire. My heart battered. My lungs pumped air.

Veering slightly north of due west. I ran straight for the river, remembering a small bend where it narrowed into two channels with an island in between.

I had run almost two kilometers with Min-Ji on my back when we emerged from the trees and found the river. The narrows were a bit more to the north. We ran along the bank, and I waded into the surging stream without stopping.

How I stayed on my feet, I don't know. The rains had made this river run fast.

Onto the island, I ran across it and waded the rest of the way across bent double to hold onto the submerged rocks. Water plowed into my face. I was sopping, but Min-Ji was mostly dry.

No time to rest now. The nearest cover was a tree line 500 meters across an open field.

I ran for it, hoping like hell my pursuers were focused on their side of the river.

About 300 meters into my final sprint, I came upon a creek—about six feet wide, but with good banks. I dropped into the bank and set down MIn-Ji, panting.

I knew this creek. It ran right back into the Imjin about 800 meters downstream of where we crossed.

At both the CC line and the DMZ, the river had been dammed. Impassable above or below the surface. This creek joined up with the Imjin below the second dam.

But.

But, it had to pass under the DMZ fence line first, and it would be protected. Wire. Grates. It wasn't really an option.

I rose and scanned 360 degrees on night vision and on infrared.

They might, I thought, be learning right now that we crossed the river.

Then, I heard the trucks. I began seeing the heat signatures. They were closing in on this side of the river, too.

I looked at Min-Ji. She looked terrified.

I smiled. "We're okay," I whispered.

"Ho-kay," she responded, and she seemed to calm.

I liked how she trusted me.

That thought helped me make my decision.

I waded into the creek. It was as fast as the river. The deepest it went was about four feet. I signaled for Min-Ji to join me. Laying on my back, she climbed on top of me between my legs, facing me. I let go of the root I was holding onto, and the current swept us downstream.

This creek wound erratically, back and forth. Now east, now north, now south, now west. The longest straight patch we hit lasted about 25 meters.

I hadn't noticed it while running from the river, but now I did: the water was incredibly cold. I could feel it sapping my strength. With her tiny frame, Min-Ji would not last much longer.

The DMZ road was approaching. At one point, the creek ran parallel to it a mere 40 meters away. Trucks and troops were arriving. We heard the yelling of what had to have been a sergeant. NCOs all sound the same when they holler at troops.

As we continued winding through, I caught a glimpse of the place where the creek went under the DMZ road. Two minutes, maybe. If they see us, we're dead.

How wide was the culvert underneath? Narrow enough to capture and drown us, buried alive in a tunnel of rushing water? Or, would we be caught up in submerged razor wire first?

Can maybe I get lucky here one time? Please?

I heard the sound of rushing water. The bright lights illuminating the DMZ fence and its road splashed upon my face, blinding me. I heard soldiers running and leaders yelling. We crossed back into shadow, and when I opened my eyes the creek disappeared from view.

We plummeted down a man-made falls. Landing in a pool, I sunk and hit hard on corrugated steel. The current swept us into a culvert about four feet wide. There was no way out. None.

The power of the current would hold us here until we died.

Min-Ji hollered, but the rushing water was so noisy even I could barely hear her.

My feet slammed up against a rebar grate. Min-Ji slipped from my grasp, spun, and got pinned with her back to the steel mesh, barely keeping her mouth and nose above the waterline.

She gasped for air. I held her hand, saying, "We're okay."