“Tell me what you want. If it’s something I can do, I will.”

“What could you do? Do you think the world changes that easily?”

“What do you want to change?”

“The staff here walk past people dying on the streets on their way to work. That’s how my mother died. Do you think you can change that?”

“Yeah! My brother died without even trying to fight.”

“Me too!”

Voices rose from all around. Kyle was startled by the overlapping voices. It wasn’t just one or two.

‘How do I get past this many people?’

As he pondered, the defiant voices began to quiet. Kyle, curious, looked over to see the terrorists looking bewildered.

“You, you!”

Anne was crying.

“Why are you crying? Huh?”

“I… I understand how you feel. It’s not easy to watch lives end without being able to do anything.”

“Hey, hey! Don’t try to gain sympathy here.”

Despite the grave situation, Kyle felt a brief relaxation after seeing Anne cry.

It was just like her.

Anne often spent time alone in the storage room while working at the field hospital.

Whenever there were many soldiers who died as soon as they arrived, she would secretly wipe her tears in the storage room before coming out again.

But even then, she would immediately go back to work, not having time to soothe her swollen eyes and red nose.

For Anne, the stories of these terrorists were also sad, naturally.

But the real reason for her tears was for the patients of the nursing home who had already died, lying around in the chaos.

Everyone held their breath, watching Anne.

“This way of doing things will cause more casualties. So…”

“Shut up.”

“There are mothers, children, siblings, and relatives of someone here. So, please stop this.”

“You b*tch!”

As another gun was pointed at Anne, Evan resisted fiercely and shouted.

“Just kill me instead! Let her go.”

Evan was lying on the floor, holding his breath. He couldn’t speak or move, thinking that if he tried to overpower the man on his back, Anne would be in danger.

“Cough, cough.”

As the smoke grew thicker, everyone present began to experience difficulty breathing. Despite the increasing risk of suffocation, the assailants, with their faces covered by handkerchiefs, casually took control of the situation.

“Idiots. Don’t they realize they’ll die if they keep inhaling the smoke?”

Kyle couldn’t understand what the terrorists were thinking.

If this continues, someone here might suffocate from the smoke.

Growing anxious at the thought that time was running out, Kyle pushed his way forward.

“What do you want?”

When one of the terrorists asked menacingly, Kyle forced a calm expression and replied,

“Let’s talk outside. If we stay here, we’re going to die.”

“What’s this nobody saying? We said we’d stay here until the hospital director wakes up.”

“…You might suffocate from the smoke.”

At these words, one of the men burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. He didn’t seem to take the situation seriously at all.

“Smoke? You’re worried about this little bit of smoke? Hey, don’t you know we left the windows open?”

“If the smoke gets any thicker, we’ll all die!”

Anne spoke loudly as she looked toward the smoke-filled interior of the hospital, but it was of no use.

Kyle discreetly felt for the gun he had hidden, checking it without drawing attention.

In a situation where they were outnumbered, what could he do with just this? But it was better than doing nothing.

“…Let’s talk outside. That woman likely has a concussion. Who knows how long it will take for her to wake up?”

At this, the terrorists exchanged glances. They still didn’t believe the warnings about the smoke.

However, if the woman took too long to wake up, delaying their plans, it wouldn’t be in their favor.

But one of the more suspicious men among them fired a shot at the ceiling, shouting,

“Stop the nonsense! No one leaves. If anyone tries to escape, we all die together.”

Kyle cautiously surveyed his surroundings. Nearby, there were four adults, both men and women. Among them, a woman who wasn’t injured and seemed physically fine was the closest.

However, it was clear at a glance that she had no experience with firearms.

So in the end, it had to be him. Kyle didn’t mind. He didn’t care what their story was. Already, more than a few lives have been lost because of them.

He planned to shoot them with the gun he had hidden at the first opportunity.

Otherwise, everyone would die.

Even if it meant Anne and Evan would be in danger.

Time passed meaninglessly.

The smoke that had been gradually filling the building was now thick enough to obscure their vision.

In her fading consciousness, Anne forced her eyes open, struggling to stay awake.

The assailants, too, seemed to be getting dizzy as they lowered their guns and staggered.

The one aiming his gun at Kyle also seemed disoriented and shook his head. As Kyle remained still, he turned his gun toward someone else.

Kyle then pretended to collapse, lying down on the floor.

Startled, the hospital staff approached Kyle, mindful of the terrorists.

The terrorists didn’t stop the hospital staff from attending to someone who was unwell, so it was fine.

As the staff bent down to check on Kyle, he whispered softly,

“I have a gun. Please distract them for a moment.”

The people around him began to move stealthily, shielding Kyle from view.

Kyle, squinting through the people who had concealed him, carefully aimed his gun at the terrorists. Sweat poured down his forehead.

Holding his breath as much as possible, he was about to pull the trigger with a steady hand. But just as he did, he made eye contact with one of the terrorists through the sight, giving himself away.

“Hey, what the—”

Bang.

The bullet Kyle fired shattered the large window. With a sharp shattering sound, glass fragments scattered everywhere. Everyone was preoccupied with avoiding the glass shards.

The terrorist, who had briefly aimed at someone else, turned his gun back on Kyle.

Fueled by a mix of fear and rage, the terrorist finally pulled the trigger.

Bang.

The moment everyone closed their eyes at the sound of the gunshot, Kyle was shocked to see a familiar, dark black robe standing in front of him.

“…No way.”

“Kyle, you don’t need to worry anymore.”

Kyle turned around. There wasn’t a single trace of a bullet hitting his body.

Which meant that the woman in the robe had been shot.

The harsh reality Kyle didn’t want to believe overwhelmed him. Suddenly, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Just as Kyle was about to step toward the woman in front of him, Carly…

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three gunshots rang out, and the terrorists were instantly killed.

It was a display of exceptional skill.

Though Anne and Evan were held by the terrorists, Carly didn’t hesitate to shoot them.

After seeing the terrorists fall, Carly finally felt the pain in her abdomen and collapsed. Kyle stopped in his tracks.

The acrid smell and the stench of blood mixed in the air.

Soon, the rain started to pour. The heavy rain blew in through the broken windows, soaking the inside of the hospital.

“Rain! It’s raining!”

With the hope that the rain would put out the fire, and thanks to the hooded figure who shot and killed the terrorists, everyone was filled with joy.

“Thank goodness. Everyone, start evacuating the injured first.”

“There’s a patient here! A patient!”

“Take care of the director!”

Everyone moved in perfect coordination. However, no one approached Carly, who had shot the terrorists. They assumed she was already dead, having been shot in the stomach.

They had no interest in the person who, despite being shot, had taken down all the terrorists.

Evan pushed aside the man who had died on top of him and approached Anne. After moving the man who had fallen on her, Evan held Anne tightly, almost crushing her.

“Anne, are you okay?”

“Yes. But what about Carly?”

Evan’s expression hardened. He couldn’t bring himself to look back.

They were closer than anyone else. Carly and him.

Now, he could only imagine how much pain she must have felt seeing him take his own life before the enemy invasion…

Was this how you felt too?

He could almost hear her sharp voice scolding him for being an idiot, but all he could hear from behind him was Kyle’s wailing.

Evan blamed himself for his arrogance in thinking that now that the war was over, no one else would die.

It would happen again.

There would be countless challenges ahead, ones far beyond his expectations, and such a fate might be waiting for him.

He knew that he couldn’t turn back time whenever he wanted.

He couldn’t choose the life he wanted to live.

But if there was a god or any being that governed fate, he could only pray that they wouldn’t take away someone precious.

Sadly, he had no choice but to cling to such superstitions.

Anne gently stroked Evan’s trembling body as she gazed beyond.

This event would be a great shock to everyone.

But there was one fortunate thing…

“Kyle?”

Kyle, who had been trembling as he checked Carly’s pupils while lying on the floor, stopped crying and called out to Anne.

“Anne. Here… Come here for a moment.”

Kyle shone a light into Carly’s eyes once more. Realizing that her pupil reflexes were much better than expected—no, completely normal—he also noticed that the damp, bloody sensation he had felt from the gunshot wound wasn’t there.

Anne quickly removed Carly’s clothing.

When she opened the robe, she saw that two metal plates from the kitchen had been fastened together and hung around her neck. Only then did Kyle let out a sigh of relief.

“Ha, unbelievable.”

In the center of the plate was a bullet mark. When they removed it, they saw that the bullet had only slightly penetrated Carly’s abdomen, causing a minor wound that was slowly oozing blood.

Anne quickly stopped the bleeding and found a clean-looking empty bed.

“Evan, here, lay her down here!”

“All right.”

“I’ll go get the surgical kit.”

Kyle, briefly relieved, brought over some antiseptics and a makeshift surgical kit.

Fortunately, the bullet hadn’t completely penetrated her abdomen, and it appeared to have missed any major organs.

As long as they removed the bullet and stitched the wound properly, she would be fine.

“Thank you for staying alive.”

As Anne hurriedly poured antiseptic to reduce the risk of infection, Evan asked in a shaky voice from behind her.

“Will she survive?”

TL NOTE: Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories