War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1556 The Only Option

"Conductor, I have a friend who used to play with women in the street next door."

After a long enough chat, Hot Air Balloon rolled up his sleeves to show off and glanced at the watches on his wrists. "It's almost noon now, should we go over and take a look? They have captured several young and beautiful girls, and they also found a lot of red wine.

We can take a break there, have a bite to eat, and have the photographer take some special photos of us, which he is the best at taking.”

"Is there such a thing?" asked the new machine gunner in surprise.

"How do you think he got his nickname, Photographer?" the hot air balloon hinted with a wink.

"Photographer, let's go to the next street!" the ticket seller shouted excitedly.

"I don't have much film left, so remember to help me find some." Wei Ran complained and slightly increased the speed of the car.

Guided by the hot air balloon, Wei Ran drove the car to the alley where the ambulance was still hidden, and parked the car at the gate of the yard on the other side of the alley.

Under Wei Ran's deliberate operation, the front and rear of the armored vehicle almost perfectly covered the courtyard gate and the entrance to the alley next to it.

"Why are you here again?"

An armed man dressed as a Falangist asked impatiently as he opened the half-open gate without waiting for the people in the armored vehicle to get off.

The man was only about 1.7 meters tall, and the yellow scarf with black stripes that covered his face could not hide his thick beard at all.

Behind him, not only could he see a stinking corpse lying on the ground, but in the house farther away, he could also hear the crying and pleading of a child.

“I brought some friends to play.”

The hot air balloon said, generously stuffing a stack of shekels into the other party's hands, "Assign a brother to help us watch over the armored vehicles, and also help us get some food."

After carefully counting the banknotes in his hand, the man finally opened the door and waved at them, "Come in."

"Come with me!"

Hot Air Balloon had already jumped off the armored vehicle while he was talking, and asked impatiently, "Did you catch a new one?"

"You're lucky. You just caught two."

  The person who opened the door pointed to the courtyard while speaking. The ticket seller, Wei Ran and others also looked over subconsciously, and then

Then Wei Ran saw Hanward and Dalal with their hands tied and mouths gagged. The two little guys were huddled in the corner in fear.

"That little girl is mine." Wei Ran was the first to jump off the armored vehicle before the ticket seller and others could react.

Someone took the lead, and the rest, including the ticket seller, jumped off the armored vehicle for fear of being robbed first - and took the stolen property in the process.

"Have fun," said the bearded man who had just opened the door as he closed the gate from the outside, got into the armored vehicle, and sat in the machine gun tower.

"who's that person?"

The ticket seller, who had become familiar with the hot air balloon along the way, asked as he walked in.

“I’m a good friend”

Hot Air Balloon explained as he beckoned the ticket seller, Wei Ran and the others to go into the room, "His nickname is Bat, and he used to serve in the Extralegal Forces. Do you know the Extralegal Forces?"

"Bat? Outlaw? Why didn't I hear that?"

The ticket seller who had just walked into the room had not yet finished his words when an AK rifle was extended from behind the door and pressed against his temple.

At the same time, Wei Ran also pulled out the Makarov silenced pistol and the titanium alloy pistol from the metal notebook, and used them to hold off the other two Falange members who were walking ahead of him.

The last member of the Falange Party was stunned and was about to reach for his gun, but Hot Air Balloon also pointed a silent Makarov at his lower back.

Almost at the same time as the four of them were controlled, the wailing and screaming in the room stopped as if a switch was pressed.

Under the dull gaze of the ticket seller and others, two little girls who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old walked out from the inner room hand in hand.

Following closely, Hanward and Dalal, who had been tied up in the yard before, also came up from behind and deftly took off the weapons from the ticket seller and others.

"What are you going to do?" the ticket seller asked angrily.

"Mr. Dongfeng, are you going to do it or should I?"

While the hot air balloon was asking Wei Ran, the man with a gun pointed at the ticket seller came out from behind the door. He was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his 40s or 50s, and was a little shorter than the bearded man outside. He also smelled strongly of tobacco.

"Let's go together. We're in a hurry."

As Wei Ran spoke, he kicked the conductor on the knee. When the conductor knelt down on one leg uncontrollably, he had already put away the weapon in his hand and reached out to grab the conductor's elbow.

Amidst the continuous screams, Wei Ran pinched the elbows of the ticket seller and others one after another, and then kicked their knees roughly.

Without any discussion, adults and children worked together to strip the ticket seller and others, leaving only their inner shirts. Wei Ran immediately twisted the ticket seller's dislocated arm and walked into a bedroom and closed the door.

“Don’t waste my time”

Wei Ran pushed the conductor onto the bed, pulled a sheet over and tore it open, then tied the conductor, who dared not resist, to the bed and said, "So you'd better answer whatever I ask."

"Let me go, let me go."

The obviously frightened conductor begged with tears in his eyes, "My daughter is only seven years old, please let me go, I..."

“Start with your family.”

Wei Ran asked casually, "What's your wife's name, what's your daughter's name, and where is your home?"

"What are you going to do, what are you going to do?"

The ticket seller asked in horror. Obviously, the few questions Wei Ran just casually asked had touched upon what he cared about most.

"It doesn't matter. I will always torture you."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already pulled out the Mauser bayonet that he used for revenge from his sleeve. "If you don't want to talk about your family, let's start with your squad."

Before he finished speaking, Wei Ran had already used the Mauser bayonet to gently cut a wound on the man's hairy thigh. "You'd better satisfy all my curiosity before I peel off all your skin."

"Stop! Stop now! I'll tell you everything!"

The ticket seller shouted in fear. It was obvious that he was not as strong-willed as Wei Ran thought.

While he was busy, the hot air balloon also pulled a member of the Falange Party to another room for interrogation. The only middle-aged man who stayed behind quickly changed into a Falange Party uniform, left the room with a gun on his back, and replaced the "bat" who was guarding the armored vehicle outside.

A moment later, Mr. Bat also dragged an armed man who was guarded by Hanward and his four men into the kitchen.

After more than an hour of repeated interrogation and mutual confirmation, Wei Ran placed the removed mandible, patella, toes of the hands and feet, and even the ticket seller's disobedient penis, ears, nose and most of the scalp on the bedside window sill.

Finally, he sprinkled some dry sand on the conductor's wounds that were still bleeding to stop the bleeding. Wei Ran turned his head slightly towards the window sill and whispered into his broken ear, "Take good care of your precious parts and don't let them be stolen. I will go find your wife and your precious daughter next.

Ticket seller, no, Mr. Arthur, I will do to them all the good things you did in the refugee camp today."

After saying this, the ticket seller, who was almost cut into a stick but still alive, twisted his body tied to the bed in despair.

"Do you know why my code name is Photographer?"

Wei Ran said, straightening up deliberately and raising the camera towards him, pretending to press the shutter button towards him while saying, "I will take a picture of your current horrible appearance and send it to your wife and daughter. They will see you in their nightmares every night. When their longing for you is deep enough, I will go to visit them."

After saying that, Wei Ran put away the camera, covered the ticket seller whose vocal cords were cut with a thick wool blanket, turned around and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"Now it's our turn to talk." When the hot air balloon saw Wei Ran coming out, it immediately took the initiative to speak in French.

"Thank you"

Wei Ran took a Marlboro from the man who called himself Bat, and let the other man help him light it up before sitting down on the sofa.

Seeing this, Hot Air Balloon smiled and introduced, “His code name is indeed Bat, and he was my observer when I was out of the law.

Before joining the army, we were college classmates who went to study in France together. After retiring, he and I both helped MSF, and he was in charge of another medical team. "

"Which extralegal force are you from?" Wei Ran asked inexplicably.

The "13 semi-mixed brigade" hot air balloons and bats gave the answer in unison.

Wei Ran grasped the key point sharply, looked at the hot air balloon and asked, "How did he find you?"

“He is my friend on the freighter”

While taking off the scarf on his head, Hot Air Balloon gave an answer that Wei Ran did not expect, "It was Edelweiss that found him. No, to be precise, he found Rama and Edelweiss."

"Are they still alive?!"

Wei Ran asked immediately, and at the same time he noticed that Hot Air Balloon had cut off his afro and replaced it with a classic American bowl cut with some natural curls.

"Edelweiss and 11 other children are still alive"

Bat also took off his scarf and replied, "I was looking for you in Gaza Hospital. I recognized Rama's body and her Polaroid camera, and also found Edelweiss busy in the operating room." "What did you say?"

Wei Ran looked at each other in surprise, and at the same time couldn't help but secretly glance at Hanward and Dalal who were standing by the window to help keep watch.

"They don't know the bad news yet." Hot Air Balloon obviously guessed Wei Ran's concerns.

“Rama did not survive”

Bat sighed and said again, "She died on the operating table. I knew the bad news even earlier than Edelweiss."

"Is she okay?" Wei Ran asked after a moment of silence, "I mean, is Edelweiss okay?"

"not too good"

Bat shook his head. "She wanted to return to the refugee camp to save you, but I stopped her. Also, before I entered the refugee camp, I received news that the Phalange was about to attack the Gaza Hospital.

So I asked her to take the children and Rama's body and hide in the port first."

"There's more good news," the hot air balloon reminded.

"Yes, there is good news."

Bat took out a walkie-talkie of the same model as the one seized by Wei Ran from his chest, and said, "I left a walkie-talkie for Edelweiss, but it's a military model that is very old, so..."

"The call is likely to be monitored? What channel is she on?"

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out the walkie-talkie he had seized from his pocket and placed it together with the other party's. At the same time, Hot Air Balloon also found a walkie-talkie of the same model from the weapons and equipment left by the ticket seller and placed it on the table.

These three walkie-talkies, including the one that Wei Ran first seized from those 269 elite soldiers and left to the Sewing Machine couple, are all PRC-79 individual radios equipped by the military in 614.

Putting aside the performance of this thing, it is almost certain that every channel is used by someone and is definitely being closely monitored by the military.

"Channel 6, she's been listening the whole time." Bat replied, "The call will definitely be monitored by the Chair Cracking People, so be careful when communicating."

"The sewing machine is on channel 3, with a five-minute window starting on the hour and half past the hour."

Wei Ran said as he stuffed the intercom back into the bag. "Now let's talk about those two kids. What happened to them?"

"I saved them on my way to find you," Bat explained, "Their family has been killed."

"I also saved a few children," the hot air balloon said suddenly, "They were hiding in the cellar."

"How many?" Wei Ran asked.

"Three"

The hot air balloon gave the correct answer, "One girl and two boys, both about the same age as Rama."

“So we have 7 kids now.”

Wei Ran looked at the pair in front of him, "Is this why you plan to seize the armored vehicle?"

"This is the only chance we can think of to get out alive with the children."

The hot air balloon said, "In addition, there are you and the Sewing Machine couple, as well as all the people who can be packed into the armored vehicle. We will take as many as we can, and we will take as many trips as we can."

"Tell me about your plans"

Wei Ran asked as he rummaged through the weapons and equipment he had just taken from the ticket seller and others.

"I plan to take a risk and try it out after dark," the hot air balloon said. "I plan to take a group of people and leave the refugee camp first."

"Who are you going to take with you in the first batch?"

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out the silenced pistol that the ticket seller had taken from Nurse Sophia.

“We have to save people first.”

The hot air balloon unexpectedly replied, "They are still children. Several injured children. They are not far from my previous sniper position. They need treatment."

“I don’t have any medicines or medical equipment on hand.”

Wei Ran frowned and said, "If I remember correctly, there doesn't seem to be any medicine or medical equipment in our ambulance."

"So we need to pick up one or two doctors from the hospital," said the hot air balloon. "How about the Sewing Machine Couple?"

“Let’s go now.”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already clipped the silenced pistol that once belonged to Nurse Sophia onto his chest mount, picked up the intercom that originally belonged to him, and asked as he walked out, "One more question, who is that old guy outside?"

"My Uncle"

Bat followed and walked out while answering, "His name is Um, and he used to be a truck driver. That was before the war."

"What about Hanward and the others?" Wei Ran stopped at the door and asked, this time he switched to Arabic.

“We’re staying”

Hanward said, "We will hide in the cellar and guard the ambulance until you come back."

"Is there enough room for seven of you in the cellar?" Wei Ran asked.

“It can fit,” Dalal replied. “We tried it and it can fit.”

"Let them stay here," the balloon said, "it won't be any safer for them to follow us, and we will be back soon."

"The bulldozers are already demolishing the house," Wei Ran reminded, "They are hiding in the alley."

"There is no better hiding place in the entire refugee camp now," Bat reminded, "even the hospital is not safe."

"All right"

Wei Ran finally nodded and agreed to this arrangement, but he also reminded them worriedly, "Don't come out yet, hide in the cellar after we leave."

"Don't worry," Hanward assured, patting his chest.

"this is for you"

Before he finished speaking, Wei Ran handed a Makarov rifle to Hanward, "You are here to protect your brothers and sisters. Also, think about the consequences before you shoot."

"I'll be careful!" Hanward quickly took the pistol.

"Will it work?"

"Yes!" Hanward replied hurriedly.

"Let's go." Wei Ran didn't waste any more time and walked out of the room and out of the yard.

"Let Uncle Um drive," said the hot air balloon, "Bat, you take charge of the machine gun."

"no problem"

Bat readily agreed, and the old man named Um also readily left the machine gun turret and went into the cockpit.

A moment later, the real Ark left the courtyard with four "Falange Militia" on board, amid the rumbling noise of the engine and the creaking of tracks covered with remains of limbs and flesh.

After the roar of the armored vehicle faded away, Hanward took Dalal and the two girls around the corpses on the ground, and walked along the wall next to the alley. He pushed away a pile of debris, revealing a hole in the wall that had been drilled by Hot Air Balloon not long ago. He took the three girls into the alley and hid under the canvas-covered ambulance without anyone noticing.

At the same time, in the carriage of the Ark armored vehicle, Hot Air Balloon handed over the half-frame camera that Wei Ran had lent to Hanward before, "I gave him the camera I seized before, I'll give this one back to you, and also all the films we took."

"it is good"

Wei Ran reached out to take the half-frame camera and several rolls of film in sealed tubes, and put them all into the metal notebook under the cover of his backpack.

“We have to be selfish now.”

As Hot Air Balloon spoke, he stood up and leaned his upper body out of the vehicle. He threw the weapons and ammunition in the vehicle to the side of the road and said, "We can only save a small number of people, and we may only have one or two chances at most to sneak across the border using this armored vehicle."

"Do you already have a priority order?"

Wei Ran also stood up, raised his camera and pressed the shutter again and again and asked.

"Let's try this dangerous smuggling route with the wounded first."

The hot air balloon lit a cigarette and said, "If they can leave alive, they can get timely treatment. If..."

"Then let the wounded leave first." Wei Ran said as he pressed the shutter towards the bulldozer in front of him that was loading corpses onto a truck.

Let the injured leave first and let the injured take the risk. Even if this decision is cruel, it is their only option at the moment.