War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1536: Gunshots at the Refugee Camp Gate

“The war has never stopped”

After speaking, the sewing machine holding the lunch box quickly shoveled a few mouthfuls of rice into her mouth, and then urged, "Anyway, these have nothing to do with us. While there is still time, everyone should eat their fill. If nothing unexpected happens, I'm afraid that the wounded will be sent here soon."

After this reminder, everyone quickened their eating pace, and the young translator Rama even trotted out Wei Ran's lunch box and tableware.

"The explosion just happened in the direction of the Falange headquarters."

While eating, Cradle asked again, "So, will the people who are sent here later all be members of the Long Spear Party?"

"So what if it's them?" Edelweiss asked nonchalantly.

“They will monopolize medical resources”

Wei Ran answered this while shoveling food into his mouth, "Just like the major sent by the Phalange last time, they will drive away other wounded, especially Palestinians."

"I don't think a bomb that big would injure more than one or two majors."

As the sewing machine spoke, it closed the empty lunch box. "And do you remember? So many medical staff were transferred here just yesterday. I can even smell a conspiracy here."

"So what should we do?" Cradle asked subconsciously.

"At least hide our ambulance"

After the sewing machine finished speaking, it glanced at Wei Ran, and after a moment of thought, it said, "It's best not to conflict with them. How about this, Cradle and Edelweiss, you take the children to the garage for a while."

"No, we need to go to the operating room."

"If this place is really requisitioned by the Falange Party"

Before Edelweiss could finish, Sewing Machine spoke up, "You can then continue your medical relief work with the help of the hot air balloon and the children."

"Are you sure they can get away with hiding in the garage?"

Wei Ran had to remind them, “If the Long Spear Party really intends to requisition this place, they will not just surround the operating room.”

"This is indeed a problem," the sewing machine couldn't help but frowned.

“And there is another, more important issue.”

Wei Ran saw that Metal Book did not stop him, so he continued to remind him, "Even if they took the children and the ambulance to avoid the requisition of the Long Gun Party, and even if they still have the hot air balloon, do you think they will not be discovered by the Long Gun Party if they carry out medical work in another place?

If armed conflict breaks out again, do you think the Falangists will let you provide medical assistance to their enemies?"

"Do you have any better suggestions?" the sewing machine asked.

“I suggest you do it right away.”

Before Wei Ran could finish his suggestion, a raging motorcycle engine came closer and closer, sweeping up a trail of dust and smoke, and then stopped with a tailspin.

"Get out of here with me!"

The hot air balloon lifted the goggles of his helmet and said, "Drive your cars and take all the children! Hurry!"

"What happened?" Edelweiss and Cradle asked in unison.

“Just now”

The hot air balloon turned around and pointed in the direction behind him. "The explosion just now happened at the headquarters of the Falange Party. It is said that Mr. General was killed in the explosion."

"What did you say? The main barrel was blown up?" The sewing machine's eyes widened.

“Now is not the time to talk about this.”

The sewing machine urged, "Hurry up and drive your car and take the children away from here. This place will definitely be requisitioned by them next."

"Where to go from here?" asked the sewing machine.

"Leave Beirut, of course!"

The hot air balloon said hurriedly, "The president is dead, and the civil war is inevitable. It is no longer suitable for Doctors Without Borders to continue to carry out humanitarian relief. You must leave Beirut and leave Beirut immediately."

"What are you still hesitating about?!"

The hot air balloon patted the gas tank hard and said, "Hurry up and drive your car and follow me!"

"Sir, we"

"You guys leave too!"

The balloon did not give Rama a chance to finish his words, and switched to Arabic and said, "After leaving Lebanon, I will send you to France, where you can study and choose to become a doctor, or join the lawless like me, or become a businessman.

No matter what, when you have enough ability, if you are still willing to return to Beirut, you will always come back, and at that time you will play a greater role than now. "

"Stop wasting time!" the hot air balloon urged anxiously, "If you delay any longer, I'll have to ask all of you to pick up your guns!"

After trying to open his mouth several times but no sound came out, Wei Ran dropped the lunch box in his hand, picked up Rama, and then pulled Edelweiss towards the garage.

Seeing this, the sewing machine and the cradle reacted one after another. One grabbed Hanward's wrist, and the other grabbed Dalal. They followed Wei Ran and ran towards the garage.

Seeing this, Hot Air Balloon breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ran into the operating room. After picking up his own bag, he got back on his motorcycle and rode to the garage door, which had already opened. He got off the motorcycle and ran inside while reminding loudly, "Just take the necessary things with you. We have to hurry!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already passed through the gap between the car and the wall and ran into the small courtyard at the back. When he came out, he had a body bag with weapons in it, as well as the washed Falange uniforms that Wei Ran had picked up earlier.

"Which one do you use?"

Hot Air Balloon asked Wei Ran, who had just gotten into the passenger seat with a bag, and at the same time threw the pile of clothes in his arms into the car.

"AK"

Before Wei Ran finished speaking, Hot Air Balloon had already taken out the short and powerful AKS74U from the body bag and stuffed it into his hand along with the magazine mounted on the Chinese Type 56 chest mount.

"Gentlemen, let me remind you that we are...

Before Cradle could finish his words, the hot air balloon, who was busy fixing the SVD wrapped in a surgical sheet on the roof of the car, responded, "We are Doctors Without Borders only when we are alive. If we die, our identity is just a corpse. And..."

Hot Air Balloon tied the rifle tightly with the belt on the luggage rack, and then distributed a few grenades to Wei Ran, while continuing to say, "And you are Doctors Without Borders, but I am just an assistant to Doctors Without Borders."

“I’m off work now.”

While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already stuffed the four grenades he had been assigned into the sundries bag on his chest, "So please call me Dongfeng."

"Let's not discuss these meaningless and childish topics for now."

Sewing Machine asked as he threw the luggage from the tent into the car, "Where are we going?"

"The pier! Of course it's the pier!"

The hot air balloon replied very quickly, "I will ride in front of you, you guys need to go faster, the faster the better."

“Let me drive.”

Edelweiss spoke, and then she took out the portable wine flask that Wei Ran had given her as a birthday gift, unscrewed it, and took a big gulp.

"We're leaving now!"

Hot Air Balloon fixed the last strap, then threw his backpack and suitcase onto the stretcher of the ambulance. He took the small Uzi submachine gun and several spare magazines, loaded the bullets into the chamber, and ran towards the off-road motorcycle outside the garage door.

"fasten your seatbelt!"

Wei Ran closed the passenger door and loudly reminded the people in the car behind him. At the same time, Edelweiss, who was sitting in the driver's seat, also pressed the start button.

With the engine roaring, the 6-wheeled off-road vehicle rushed out of the garage in a catapult-start manner, while Wei Ran, who was sitting in the passenger seat, had already loaded the submachine gun in his hand with bullets.

Almost at the very last second before Edelweiss drove the ambulance out of the hospital, Hot Air Balloon passed them on a motorcycle, flashing its hazard lights to lead the way.

So you actually escaped from Beirut?

Wei Ran, who was sitting in the passenger seat, couldn't help but mutter to himself. Of course he knew that this was impossible.

After all, the "scenario restrictions" in the metal book not only require that relevant historical processes cannot be revealed, but also include a requirement that "you must not escape from the refugee camp."

After thinking for a moment, he clamped the submachine gun in his hand between his knees, and then took out his camera under the cover of the backpack he brought with him.

He first pressed the shutter button towards Edelweiss who was driving the car, and then Wei Ran aimed the camera at the sewing machine couple and their three children behind him and pressed the shutter button towards them as well.

"Why didn't you sit in the driver's seat just now?"

Edelweiss, who had almost stepped on the accelerator to the bottom, quickly glanced at Wei Ran and asked, "Is it because my driving skills are better?"

"Not really"

Wei Ran pointed the camera out of the car window and replied, "I can't hold the gun if I'm driving."

"So my driving skills are bad?"

While Edelweiss asked loudly, she also increased the speed of the car in an exceptionally smooth manner by downshifting and adding gas.

Knowing that the girl was trying to relieve her tension, Wei Ran pressed the shutter again and replied loudly, "Compared to your driving skills, I'm more curious about where you learned such a rough driving habit!"

“My grandfather had a Haflinger on his farm!”

Edelweiss answered loudly, "I learned to drive it when I was very young! Whenever my grandfather needed to chase the sheep running up the mountain, or wanted to go hunting in the mountains, or even rescue those skiers, as long as I was there, I would be his driver!"

"This doesn't seem to have anything to do with brutality!" As Wei Ran spoke, he once again pressed the shutter towards the slightly chaotic street scene outside.

“It matters a lot!”

Edelweiss eased off the accelerator a little, "If I don't do it so roughly, that pony won't obey and climb up to where I want it to go!"

When the topic reached this point, they both noticed at the same time that the hot air balloon in front of them actually did a tailspin and turned the front of the motorcycle around.

"Sit tight!"

While Wei Ran was speaking in French, Edelweiss had already stepped on the brakes, crushing the debris on the ground and turning around roughly, catching up with the off-road motorcycle that had started running again. Although it was unclear why the hot air balloon leading the way turned around, everyone became nervous, and Wei Ran, who had been staring at the rearview mirror, also vaguely saw that there seemed to be several pickup trucks following from behind.

Almost at the same time when he saw the front of those cars, Edelweiss also maneuvered the car to turn right following the motorcycle and stepped on the accelerator to the bottom again.

After repeatedly speeding up, slowing down, turning and speeding up again, as well as experiencing violent bumps, the hot air balloon leading the way in front suddenly stopped his motorcycle.

Seeing this, Edelweiss immediately reduced the throttle and stepped on the brakes, stopping the car next to the motorcycle.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ran asked the hot air balloon outside the car window.

“The road to the pier is blocked.”

The hot air balloon said in panic, "And there's an extra checkpoint ahead. It wasn't there half an hour ago. I guess they won't let us pass."

Hearing this, Wei Ran pushed open the car door, stood up on the passenger seat and looked forward.

Sure enough, a pickup truck equipped with an anti-aircraft machine gun was parked on the road leading to the dock. Around the vehicle, seven or eight armed men belonging to the Falange Party were pushing some people who were trying to pass through the checkpoint.

“We can’t get through”

The hot air balloon reminded Wei Ran, "We only have a few guns. Once the machine guns on the opposite side open fire, we will have no way to fight back. Moreover, at this time, there will definitely be a large number of militants coming to support us."

"What about wearing Falangist clothes?" the sewing machine asked loudly.

"The Falange Party doesn't want child soldiers, and they must recognize your ambulance." The hot air balloon said desperately, "We might..."

"Let's go back"

Edelweiss said abruptly before the hot air balloon finished speaking, "Let's go back. I know where it's safe."

"where?"

The hot air balloon asked subconsciously, and Wei Ran, who had realized something and was about to open his mouth to stop it, was once again deprived of the right to speak or even make any action by the metal book.

The "refugee camp" sewing machine, cradle and Edelweiss answered this question almost at the same time.

“Yes, the refugee camp.”

Edelweiss said, "It's a non-war zone. Whether there's a civil war or not, no one will attack the refugee camp."

“You’re right”

Cradle also spoke up, "In fact, we have long wanted to carry out medical work in the refugee camps. The medical conditions there are very poor. I think this may be an opportunity."

"But."

The hot air balloon looked straight ahead, then looked behind him, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go back! Let's go to the refugee camp, follow me closely!"

As they spoke, the hot air balloon and Edelweiss each manipulated their cars to turn around and head in the direction they wanted to escape.

Compared to the time when they were easily let through, they were blocked by the armed elements when they tried to pass through the previous checkpoint again.

“They won’t let us pass”

The hot air balloon anxiously asked the people in the car, "Do you have money? I need to bribe them again, which requires at least $1000. I only have the last $."

“We still have $50.”

Before the cradle finished speaking, he and the sewing machine had each taken out a few banknotes and handed them over.

"I have a hundred dollars"

As Edelweiss spoke, she took out a few dollars from the back pocket of her jeans and handed them to Wei Ran.

"I have it too"

As Wei Ran spoke, under the stunned gazes of Edelweiss and the hot air balloon, he dug out scattered banknotes from every corner of the co-pilot's seat, and easily gathered a thousand dollars and handed it to the hot air balloon.

"Where did you get so much money?" Edelweiss asked in German.

"I picked it up," Wei Ran answered as a matter of course, "Mr. Dongfeng picked it up."

"Mr. Dongfeng is so lucky," Edelweiss muttered vaguely amid the noise of the engine.

Wei Ran tried several times to remind the other party not to go to the refugee camp, but was ruthlessly silenced by that living ancestor before he could open his mouth.

As everyone waited anxiously, after paying a thousand dollars, the hot air balloon finally bribed the Falange sentinels and got the chance to return to the encirclement area.

Still under his leadership, the ambulance, operated by Edelweiss, drove through the streets and alleys and finally stopped at the ruins, one intersection away from the entrance of the refugee camp.

"Give me the weapon," the hot air balloon said to Wei Ran.

"There's no way to bring it in?" While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already handed the submachine gun in his hand to the other party, and then took off the chest pendant of the same nationality as himself and handed it to the other party.

“That’s a refugee camp.”

Hot Air Balloon said this, but he climbed onto the roof again and stuffed the two men's weapons and ammunition into the gaps between the large and small bags of supplies on the luggage rack.

"Throw away all the Falangist clothes"

The hot air balloon jumped down and said, "In the refugee camp, those clothes are the real trouble."

Hearing this, Cradle and Sewing Machine threw the clothes they had just folded out of the car window without thinking.

"Rama, you and Dalal both lie down on the stretcher."

The hot air balloon said, "Sewing Machine and Cradle, bandage all three of them. Remember to use some blood to disguise them."

The sewing machine immediately understood his idea and hurriedly took out the gauze, first wrapped it around Rama's head a few times, and then wrapped it around Hanwad and Dalal's chest or face a few times. Cradle had already used a syringe to draw a tube of blood from the blood vessels in his arm, and smeared large or small pieces of blood on the bandages of the three people.

"Mr. Veterinarian, how much money do you have left?"

While the back seat of the car was busy, Hot Air Balloon leaned over to Wei Ran's window and asked, and also handed him a cigarette.

“That’s all I have.”

While Wei Ran took the cigarette, he also handed over the money and other items he had just found to the other party, "All of them were picked up from the Long Spear Party."

"Who is Mr. Dongfeng you mentioned when you set out?" The hot air balloon asked as it put the money and other valuables all over its body.

"My identity after get off work," Wei Ran answered as a matter of course.

"Doing the exact opposite of a veterinarian," Edelweiss next to her couldn't help but add, "I guess."

"I thought we had another helper."

The hot air balloon lit up a cigarette and said this, but there was no disappointment in his tone.

Wei Ran, who originally wanted to say something at this time, was once again deprived of the right to speak. Seeing this, he simply took out the camera again under the cover of his backpack and took a slightly cool photo of the hot air balloon straddling the motorcycle.

After a brief preparation, the three "little wounded" got out of the car and smeared some dust all over their bodies. Cradle and Edelweiss also applied a thick layer of stains on their faces and necks.

Even after they got back in the car, a small bottle of glucose water was hung on the cradle for Hanward.

Everything was ready, and the motorcycles and ambulances set off again, heading for the entrance of the refugee camp one street away.

As the distance got closer, the barbed wire surrounding the refugee camp and the guards outside became clearer and clearer. Wei Ran took a photo of the gate of the refugee camp before the car stopped.

“Hide your camera”

The hot air balloon driving alongside the ambulance reminded, "Otherwise it will soon become someone else's property."

"Thank you for the reminder," Wei Ran said, stuffing the camera into his backpack and then into the metal notebook.

Almost at the same time, the ambulance and motorcycle were stopped by the guards at the gate. The hot air balloon immediately stepped forward to negotiate and handed over some "gifts" prepared in advance to the other party.

“You’re too nervous”

Wei Ran clenched his fists and said to Edelweiss, who was a little fidgety, in German, "Take a deep breath. No matter what happens, don't say anything. Let the hot air balloon negotiate."

"Thank you"

Before Edelweiss had time to take a breath, a Falangist man in full uniform pulled open the hot air balloon and walked to the side of the ambulance.

Although they couldn't understand his Arabic, the people in the car could see clearly that this Christian, who looked more like a bandit, patted the fuel tank of the motorcycle and said something. Then Hot Air Balloon happily took out the car keys and put them in the other's hand.

Satisfied, he weighed the car keys and put them in his pocket. Then he stepped on the tire and looked at the luggage rack on the roof. After getting off the car, he opened the door of the rear compartment and took a quick look. Then he reached out and pinched Dalal's cheek which was wrapped in blood-stained gauze.

Fortunately, whether it was the sewing machine that immediately tried to stop him, or Dalal who started crying loudly because his "wound" was touched, or even the hot air balloon that subconsciously tried to stop the bandit, their acting skills were all very good.

After violently pushing the hot air balloon aside again, the bandit opened the passenger door, snatched Wei Ran's backpack, rummaged through it, took out the radio inside and handed it to his men behind him.

He threw the backpack to Wei Ran, who said something in Arabic after examining it.

"He asked you to get off the car," Hot Air Balloon said, suppressing the tension in his heart.

Hearing this, Wei Ran simply got out of the car to make way, and waited for the bandit to get in the car, then he shook his head slightly at Edelweiss.

Fortunately, the bandit's attention was not on Edelweiss, he only had eyes for the property.

Soon, he proudly took away a gold ring and a mechanical watch that Wei Ran had deliberately hidden in the rag, as well as the $10 in cash that he had just stuck on the inside of the engine hood.

Finally, he pinched the blue eye ornament hanging on the rearview mirror and took a look at it. The bandit snorted in disgust and finally left the passenger seat.

However, what no one expected was that after he stood firm, he actually pulled out a 1911 pistol from the holster at his waist and pointed it into the cab!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  Before anyone could react, amid the screams of Edelweiss and Cradle, the greedy bandit pulled the trigger and fired three bullets!

"Danglanglang!"

When the last shell hit the ground and rolled away, the bandit waved his pistol in a self-important manner, turned around and shouted something in Arabic.