WebNovels

Chapter 14 - The signal that wasn't for them

The mountain wasn't steep, but every step felt heavier.

Tae-Jun's leg had swollen again.

Yul didn't say anything, but kept glancing back — checking, waiting.

They moved slower now. Not because they were hunted.

Because they didn't know where they were going.

Freedom without direction is just a different kind of prison.

---

Around midday, the trees thinned.

And through the branches, they saw it:

A watchtower.

Old. Half-collapsed. Metal frame eaten by rust.

But still standing.

And more importantly—connected to something.

At the top: an antenna.

Beside it: a small shack.

Yul climbed first. Tae-Jun followed, slower.

Inside the shack: dust, silence, and a single military radio unit — long dead.

But Yul didn't give up.

He searched drawers. Found a spare battery pack, half-wrapped in plastic.

Old tech. Probably useless.

But Tae-Jun saw his eyes.

> He's not ready to give up.

---

An hour later — it buzzed.

A crackle. Then static. Then—

A voice.

Neither understood the language.

But it was real.

A signal. A transmission.

Someone. Somewhere.

---

Yul looked at Tae-Jun.

No words were needed.

> "We're not alone."

---

> Entry Fourteen.

The radio works.

I don't know what it's saying.

I don't care.

_We're not ghosts.

Someone is out there.

We're not forgotten._

And maybe — just maybe —

we're not lost either._

---

Yul didn't sleep that night.

He stayed by the radio, adjusting knobs, trying to catch the voice again.

Tae-Jun watched him from across the shack, wrapped in a threadbare blanket.

He didn't feel warm.

But for the first time in weeks…

He didn't feel cold either.

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