War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1543 Veterinary Theory

Outside the operating room, the sounds of artillery and gunfire intertwined, like a large net with leaks everywhere, busy harvesting lives in the refugee camp.

Inside the operating room, the shrill screams almost drowned out the sound of gunfire coming from outside. Wei Ran and others, who were enveloped by the screams, could only suppress their worries about the situation outside and try their best to save the person on the operating table.

As they were busy, as one wounded person after another was pushed in and out, bad news after another came into the operating room.

“Just now”

Nurse Sophia said in French with a pale face, "The Falangists have entered the refugee camp."

"Didn't the people stop them?" Cradle asked subconsciously.

“They let the Falangists in.”

Sophia said angrily, "The most important thing is that those Falangists are killing people. It's a massacre! The same massacre as six years ago in the summer! Many people have been killed near the south entrance street!"

"I knew those idiots were unreliable!" Edelweiss cursed angrily.

"How many Falangists came in?" the sewing machine asked the most important question.

"There are at least more than a hundred people," Sophia said, "all holding weapons and killing people indiscriminately."

"Didn't anyone stop them?" Edelweiss asked in horror.

“Weapons are not allowed into the refugee camps”

Sophia glanced at the anesthesiologists who were also talking in Arabic, and said weakly, "Even if there are weapons, the number is very small, and now there are only broken troops and tanks outside the refugee camp, which are useless."

"So there is no way to leave the refugee camp now?" Wei Ran, who was finally able to speak, asked a question that was enough to make everyone alert.

"no way"

Sofia's tone became increasingly desperate. "Those warts are not trying to protect us at all. They are standing guard for the Falange, making sure that no refugees, no 8th Liberation Army members, can leave the refugee camp."

"Didn't the 8th Liberation Army leave Beirut a long time ago?" Edelweiss asked, "Could they be hiding in..."

“They had indeed left Beirut a long time ago”

Nurse Sophia looked at the wounded on the bed and the anesthesiologists, and said very clearly, "In the eyes of the Phalange Party, as long as we still have a little faith in the Blue Howl and Palestinian blood flowing in our veins, then we are no different from the members of the 8th Liberation Army. We are all targets that they need to kill."

As soon as she finished speaking, a series of gunshots were faintly heard outside the operating room again.

"Keep working," the sewing machine said, "Hold on here, this is all we can do."

"I want to go see Rama and the others."

Edelweiss spoke up, "I'm going to go see if they're safe. I'm going to take them to the hospital. At least they're safe here for the time being."

"Veterinarian, please go with her," the Sewing Machine said. "Take good care of her."

"you."

"The remaining wounded are not seriously injured, we can handle them." The sewing machine said with a smile, and shook his shoulders seemingly inadvertently.

Wei Ran understood the other party's hint and did not waste too much time. He took off his surgical gown and left the operating room with Edelweiss.

"Nothing will happen to them, right?"

Edelweiss let Wei Ran pull her downstairs and asked.

"will not"

Wei Ran asked as he ran, "Do you have your passport with you?"

"Bring it, what's wrong?" Edelweiss asked in confusion.

"Carry it with you. You must carry it with you." Wei Ran warned very seriously.

After a brief silence, Edelweiss nodded vigorously, "Okay, I'll take it with me."

Without saying anything more, Wei Ran pulled Edelweiss and quickened his pace back to the first floor, and climbed directly through the window at the end of the corridor.

"Where is our ambulance?" Edelweiss looked at the place where they had parked the car in surprise. Their ambulance was gone.

"Never mind it, the hot air balloon must have left."

Wei Ran analyzed without stopping, "The car keys are with him. Let's go check on the kids quickly."

Upon hearing this, Edelweiss quickly quickened her pace and let Wei Ran pull her out of the hospital against the flow of people, through the streets filled with panic, and then through the narrow alley that was less than one meter wide.

Although this place is still quite far from the exchange of fire, the sounds of both artillery and gunfire are much clearer. Along the way, there are also people who are terrified but don't know what to do.

They ran back to the rented house along the street. At this time, the iron gate of the courtyard was closed. Wei Ran and Edelweiss knocked for a full five minutes before half of the landlord's head appeared on the wall next to them. What was funny and sad was that he was wearing the pressure cooker on his head as a helmet.

Seeing that it was Wei Ran and Edelweiss knocking on the door, Mr. Salah immediately retracted his head which was holding the pressure cooker.

A moment later, the iron gate was opened with a rustling sound, leaving a gap barely big enough for one to squeeze through.

Let Edelweiss go in first. Wei Ran looked around at the streets filled with chaos and panic, then backed up and squeezed into the crack of the door.

Almost at the same time, the landlord Mr. Salah also closed the door, and then gestured to them to go home.

After just one day of not seeing it, Wei Ran noticed that the car with flat tires in the yard had been moved to the side of the wall near the alley, and the chassis had been lifted up with two jacks and several red bricks. Even the roof of the car was piled with a lot of dirty debris.

The original parking spot is now covered with a dirty, torn carpet, and on that carpet there is a low table.

I suppressed my doubts and followed Mr. Salah into the room on the first floor. His wife hurriedly took out a Polaroid photo and handed it to me.

After taking the photo, Salah handed it to Wei Ran to look at, and pointed at Rama, Hanwad and Dalal who were taking a photo with his son and daughter in the photo. While saying something in Arabic which they could not understand, he pointed in the direction of the courtyard gate and then gestured with his hands above his head.

  Afro?

Was it the hot air balloon that took the three of them away?

Wei Ran and Edelweiss looked at each other, and then saw Mr. Salah pointing in the direction of the alley across the courtyard wall.

Seeing this, Wei Ran and Edelweiss immediately ran towards the gate.

However, before they could touch the iron gate, the landlord, Mr. Salah, stopped them, and with words and gestures, he led them to the side of the car at the foot of the wall, squatted down and pointed at the bottom of the car.

After looking at each other, Edelweiss bent down and looked under the car. Then they found that there seemed to be a hole on the wall on the other side of the car that was barely big enough for a person to get through.

After looking at the landlord who kept gesturing at him to get in, Wei Ran was the first to crawl under the raised car and then through the narrow hole.

The other side of the cave naturally led to the alley, but what Wei Ran did not expect was that when he came out, he found himself under the chassis of another car.

You don't even have to get out. Just look at the six tires and the unique spine-tube frame and you'll know that this is the Pinzgauer ambulance.

When did the hot air balloon park this car here?

After exchanging a glance with Edelweiss who followed in behind him, Wei Ran, who was lying under the ambulance, pushed open the half-closed manhole cover right under the car body, took out a flashlight and shone it inside.

Only one day had passed, and in addition to the barrel of red wine and weapons that Wei Ran had put in the cellar in advance, there was also a wet blue plastic bucket with a plastic water scoop tied to the handle of the bucket.

In addition, there was a small basket in the well, which was filled with large cakes.

But compared to these, there was no one inside, no Rama, no Hanward and Dalal, and no hot air balloon. After covering the manhole cover again, Wei Ran rolled out from under the car. Before he could stand up, he saw bundles of firewood piled up at the front of the car, which were enough to block his view. Even the roof of the car was covered with a layer of wet canvas.

Wei Ran crouched down and walked to the side of the firewood that was like a wall. He stuck his head out and looked outside, but all he could see was the tattered carpet propped up by wooden sticks on the opposite side of the firewood pile, blocking his view.

Obviously, while they were busy treating the wounded during the day, the hot air balloon was not idle either. Not only did they park the car here in advance, but they also camouflaged the place carefully enough.

"But where did they go?"

Edelweiss, who had just imitated Wei Ran and crawled out from under the rolling cart, asked in a low voice.

"do not know"

While Wei Ran responded in a low voice, he bent down and picked up an inconspicuous branch with green leaves on it.

Under Edelweiss's puzzled gaze, he even plucked off a leaf, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and then spat it out with a "puff!"

"What are you doing?" Edelweiss asked in confusion.

"Chat"

Wei Ran spat again and shook the young branch in his hand, "This is Khat, also known as Arabic tea, which is a unique product."

Having said this, Wei Ran had already lifted the wet canvas covering the car body and pulled open the trunk door.

Just as he expected, there was a lot of dirt and thick branches left on the floor at the rear of the car.

"I know where they went," Wei Ran said confidently as he closed the car door again.

"Where have you been?" Edelweiss asked immediately.

"Go back first"

While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already crawled on the ground and crawled back under the car, then crawled through the hole in the wall next to the car body to the yard opposite.

After he dragged Edelweiss out, he walked quickly towards the iron gate and said, "First of all, we can be sure that neither Hot Air Balloon nor Rama are drug addicts."

"Is that even necessary?" Edelweiss said unhappily.

“Lack of anesthetics in hospitals”

Wei Ran held Edelweiss tightly, ran quickly towards the narrow alley along the street, and analyzed, "I am almost certain that Hot Air Balloon has definitely known that we are short of anesthetics. He is an assistant of MSF, and he must want to help us solve this problem."

"Chat?" Edelweiss was a smart girl. She had actually reacted when Wei Ran mentioned "anesthetic".

"Yes, Chat."

Wei Ran said confidently, "I can't think of any other reason why he would have to take the children on an adventure at this time."

"But why not ask the landlord?" Edelweiss found the answer halfway through her sentence. "Does he believe it? No, is he worried that the landlord will misunderstand him?"

“That’s about it.”

While Wei Ran was talking, he had already dragged Edelweiss into the alley, "Let's hurry up, maybe we can meet them in the hospital."

"Can Chat really be used as an anesthetic?" Edelweiss asked as she followed Wei Ran to the other end of the alley. "Is it addictive?"

"When necessary, alcohol can also be used as an anesthetic. Of course, strong men can also be used." Wei Ran let a young man running over from the opposite side pass and continued, "As for the side effects, that's something you need to consider after you survive."

"Veterinary theory?" Edelweiss uttered a new word.

"Yes, veterinary theory."

Wei Ran responded vaguely. This was not something worth making fun of, because there was too much cruelty and pain behind it.

Running quickly through the alley back to the hospital, the two just climbed over the window at the end of the corridor, and then they saw Rama with a camera hanging around his neck, as well as Hanwad and Dalal, and of course, the hot air balloon trying to pry open the dormitory door.

"Where have you been?"

Wei Ran asked as he brought in the Edelweiss from the window.

"We found some khat, maybe that will help with the pain."

The hot air balloon pointed to the top of his head and said, "I just sent him to the operating room and I'm about to open the door and take a break."

"Why did you bring Rama and the others?" Edelweiss asked unhappily.

"They can prove that I'm not lying." Hot Air Balloon spread his hands, "Where's the key?"

"here"

Wei Ran took out the dormitory key and threw it to the other party, "What's the situation outside now?"

“The Falangists are killing people”

  While Hot Air Balloon was speaking, he had already opened the dormitory door, and then he actually took out the pistol that he once tried to give to Wei Ran from under the bed!

With a click, the bullets were loaded. Hot Air Balloon put the gun on his back and said, "They drove any young and middle-aged men they saw out of their homes, made them kneel in a row on the street, and then opened fire."

After taking a deep breath, the hot air balloon asked, "Do you know? This is a massacre. The last one to do this was the German Nazi."

"The last time was in August of 76, at the Near East Project Refugee Camp. The last time it was done was by the Falangists."

Before he finished speaking, Sewing Machine came in from outside, holding a bundle of Chat grass with water droplets on it in his hand.

"Can't it be used?" asked Hot Air Balloon as he took the Chat that the other party threw over.

"It doesn't work well, and it can even make the pain response more distinct."

The sewing machine walked upstairs while saying, "There are no more wounded people waiting for treatment now. Everyone is thinking about how to escape from the refugee camp, and whether they should escape from the refugee camp."

"What about us?"

As the hot air balloon took the khat, it asked a crucial question, “Are we leaving the refugee camp?”

“If you need to leave the camp”

The sewing machine paused and said, "Then should we consider finding a way to assist the hospital in transferring the injured here?"

"And the children," Edelweiss reminded.

"Yes, and the children."

Sewing Machine sighed, "How many children can we take out? Or, is it possible for us to use our identities to take some children and the wounded away from here?"

"boom!"

Just as the sewing machine asked this question, a series of explosions were heard outside the window, followed by flares slowly falling in the dim sky.

On September 9, the evening in the refugee camp gave way to the glaring daylight.