CH 12

I awoke to the jolt of falling off the bed. A distant rumble echoed throughout the room. What in the world was that sound? As I stood up and braced myself against the shaking walls, the vibrations were strong enough to make the pen on my desk tremble.

Dazed and confused, I stumbled towards the door. As I opened it, a rush of water flooded into the room, accompanied by the sound of splashing. Why was the hallway flooded? A chill ran down my spine as I realized that all my surroundings were soaked with water.

The temperature of the seawater against my bare feet was freezing. As I took in the salty smell, a shiver ran through my body. I quickly wiped my wet feet on the blanket and put on my woolen socks and sturdy hiking boots that my brother had given me as a job-hunting present. Then, I reached for the waterproof backpack that I had bought for camping but never used, and began stuffing it with whatever was within reach. I grabbed my water bottle, guidebook, and scattered sweets, chocolates, energy bars, and the whale plushie next to the towel I used for washing my face. It suddenly dawned on me that all my clothes were in the laundry room, leaving me with nothing but what I was wearing.

After packing my wallet and the pad that lay on the bed, I zipped up my backpack and gathered the courage to open the door once again. As I pushed the button to unlock it, the door creaked open slowly. Was the door broken or was this the normal speed? As I stepped outside, the water was ankle-deep, and my heart raced as I wondered why the water was seeping in. The underwater station was designed for humans to live in, not for water to flow freely.

I leaned against the wall and asked myself if this was a normal occurrence. Was I the only one unaware of this happening regularly? As I tried to collect my thoughts, the icy water on my ankles brought me back to reality.

The bedroom door could be opened by my fingerprint, or by brushing my wristwatch against the lockpad. I pressed my finger on the pad, hoping it would unlock. I then realized that I had forgotten the wristwatch in my haste. I had to take the central staircase by room 40 to reach the evacuation center. What if the occupants were still asleep? What if they were not aware of the current situation? Or what if this was just my overreaction to something that was normal around here?

The guidebook on how to escape from the underwater station stated that “if any water leakage occurs within the station, it is not a normal situation.” I gritted my teeth as I looked down at the seawater shaking around my ankles. With 80 rooms, I needed to act quickly. I couldn’t go crazy if this was just the norm.

“Wake up! We need to evacuate now! Water is leaking in!” I called out as I knocked on the door next to mine.

No one answered. The room next to mine belonged to a Chinese chef named Wang Wei. I wasn’t sure if he was inside. I tried my fingerprint on his lockpad, but it wouldn’t work. I pressed my wristwatch against the lockpad and waited. To my surprise, the door opened immediately. I couldn’t explain why the door had opened. I glanced around the empty room and made my way to the next door.

“Wake up! We need to escape! The seawater is rising!” I yelled out as I banged on the door.

As I opened about ten rooms, I finally found someone sleeping. He was a giant, wearing headphones and twisted in his blankets like a spring roll, still with his upper body dressed. I jumped in and ripped off his headphones.

“Wake up!”

I shook him as if chasing away a fly with my hand. I forcefully pushed him off the bed and onto the floor. He cursed at me in a language I couldn’t understand. It was probably an insult directed at me, but I didn’t have time to think about that, so I kicked him while he was lying on the floor.

“Get up!”

He stumbled up and cursed at me again, but as soon as he saw the water pouring into the room, his face turned pale.

“Get out now, you bastard!”

He might not have understood the Korean curse I used, but he must have understood the curses he spat at me. As we exchanged some more verbal blows, I left the room and saw the nameplate of Carlos next door. I read it and went to the room. By the time I opened two more doors, Carlos rushed out wearing a shirt and shoes, but water was already rising up to his ankles.

“What’s going on? Why is the base flooding?”

Carlos’s face turned blue. Seeing the fear in his eyes, I realized that something terrible had happened.

“I don’t know! I woke up in this mess. We need to wake up everyone from room 37 to room 1!”

I screamed in front of room 52, but there was no one inside. Carlos tried to open the door with his phone and wristpad.

“Only the room owner, the team leader, or someone in a special job can open the door. I can’t open it.”

Only then did I remember the emergency process and the door-opening process for the bedrooms in the guidebook. As a medical worker, I could open the door.

“Then knock on the door!”

As the 54th door creaked open, I uncovered a person sleeping under the covers. I pulled the sheets back and saw a figure curled up in a fetal position, but as soon as I caught a glimpse of the face, I recognized who it was.

“Miss Yu Geum, wake up!” I exclaimed.

Startled, Yu Geum sat up and screamed upon realizing that two strangers had entered her room. I turned my head slightly and spoke with urgency.

“There’s a leak in the underwater base. Please put on some clothes and come with us.”

The research quarters were located on the opposite side, so why was she sleeping here? I briefly scanned the room and saw the name “Martina” on the door before opening the adjacent room. As I opened the door, Yu Geum came out wearing regular clothes instead of her pajamas and gla*ses. Her face was filled with terror.

“Yu Geum, can you open the bedroom door?”

“I’ll try.”

“I haven’t checked the room numbers below 38 yet,” I said.

As I opened the 60th door with my fingerprint, Yu Geum fidgeted with her smartwatch and phone, looking worried.

“There’s no emergency message, so I’ll activate the alarm,” she said.

Upon opening the 62nd door, a deafening alarm started blaring.

[Emergency Alert! Please evacuate to the escape pod immediately. Emergency Alert! All personnel in Baekho-dong must evacuate to the escape pod immediately.]

It was then that I realized that Carlos was missing, and when I asked Yu Geum, she said that she hadn’t seen him since she left her own room.

As I opened the 64th door, a cat was inside. I found it endearing that Yu Geum and I had both intruded into the room and were amused by the sight of the small creature.

“Meow!” the cat meowed, its cries mixed in with the emergency alert.

“It’s a Russian Blue,” Yu Geum said.

But that wasn’t the issue at hand. Yu Geum was absent-mindedly stating the breed of the cat, and I was dumbfounded at the sight of it. Bringing animals into the underwater base was prohibited. A cat, really?

As I glared at Yu Geum, she took off her cardigan and spoke in a trembling voice, “I’ll catch it.” Then she held the cardigan like a net and raised it up with both hands. Yu Geum gestured with her eyes to the right, and I followed her lead.

“To the left,” I said.

Following my command, I lifted the blanket on the left side with both hands, and lunged towards the cat, which was wailing loudly and flailing its paws. The cat slipped through a hole the size of a fist, as if mocking my attempt to capture it. But Yu Geum, as if knowing that I couldn’t catch it, covered the cat with her cardigan.

“Meow, meow, meow,” the cat wailed, its cries sounding like a growling tiger.

As Yu Geum held the cat in her cardigan, I emptied a random backpack in the room. Then, I stuffed the cardigan-covered cat into the backpack, zipped it up, and slung it over my shoulder.