South Korea: Onward to Seoul
Kyung had made it about halfway to Seoul. He had decided not to take a straight line path to Seoul. Instead, he drifted further west before banking north. No matter where he went there was destruction. Bombs had exploded cities to oblivion, looting destroyed others. People were terror stricken and in shock. Rubble, ash and smoke filled thriving cities and lowly villages alike. He tried to get information from anyone he could while making his trek across the cratered country. Unfortunately, information had been scarce. He did find out that anyone in Seoul at the time of the attack had been vaporized. His heart broke at this news. Nearly ten million people lived there. It was hard to believe that everyone had been killed. This crushing news didn't deter him. He vowed to make it to Seoul believing there was a chance his kids were still alive.
He arrived in Kunsan after two weeks of nonstop travel. He pulled over and took short naps every few hours but he had been driving for most of two weeks. Kunsan was home to an American Air Force base. He figured this would be a great spot to rest up for a couple of days while trying to get any new information. As he was pulling into the city he noticed immediately that it was largely unscathed. He also noticed the Chinese flag was flying over several of the city buildings. He stopped his car on the outskirts of the city to devise a plan. It was doubtful the Chinese would be friendly.
Kyung decided to skirt the city making his way to the coast. He was hoping to make it to what would, fingers crossed, still be the American Air Force base; assuming it hadn't been overrun. Nearing the base the American flag was still standing but he could hear continuous machine gun fire. It sounded like a never ending bag of popping popcorn. He was within a half mile of the base when a deafening explosion muted out the popcorn like sound of machine gun fire. The resulting fireball launched hundreds of feet into the air. The heat from the blast could be felt through his windshield. He was sweating profusely.
The explosion had been just outside the gates of the base. It appeared the Americans were still in control. Warships flying the American flag surrounded the waters around the base. Thousands of troops streamed off of those ships into inflatable speedboats. Hundreds of those boats carrying thousands of troops gave Kyung some hope. The American flag would hopefully once again stand for victory and freedom. Kyung stood silently for a moment watching the Americans pour onto the shores of Kunsan. After taking it all in for a time he headed cautiously towards the base. If he was going to make it to Seoul still he had to find somewhere he could take shelter for a couple of days. Rest would be important for the last leg of his journey; especially if he found everyone had really been killed there.