War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1557: The Ark Not Blessed by God

Driven by Uncle Um, the armored vehicle wandered around the streets full of corpses. From time to time, it had to stop to avoid the bulldozers that were busy demolishing houses and shoveling up corpses, as well as the trucks that were transporting the corpses to an unknown place.

I don't know if it is fortunate or not, but by this point in the massacre, almost all those who could be killed had been killed, and those who could escape or hide had already escaped or hid. So along the way, except for a few ignorant Falangist militants who were picked up every now and then, no one bothered them.

As Wei Ran pressed the shutter again and again, the armored vehicle finally got rid of the fleas all over its body and finally stopped in front of a dilapidated, shaky building.

“Those kids are in the basement”

The hot air balloon said, "There are five children in total, but I don't know how many are still alive."

"Let's go. I'll go down with you." Wei Ran said as he put away the camera.

"Uncle Um, turn around." Hot Air Balloon tapped the car body with the butt of the gun to remind him.

Hearing this, Um immediately controlled the armored vehicle and expressionlessly crushed the bodies of his compatriots who were destined to die on the ground. He controlled the tracked armored vehicle to turn roughly on the spot and took the opportunity to push the rear of the vehicle into the first floor of the dilapidated building.

“Hurry up”

While Bat was giving a loud warning, he also manipulated the machine gun turret to turn and directly blocked one end of the street. At the same time, Uncle Um also got into the car from the cockpit, stuck his head out with a submachine gun, and aimed at the other side of the street.

Without wasting too much time, Wei Ran took the opportunity to pull out the silent MP5 submachine gun with a telescopic stock from his backpack, pushed open the rear hatch, jumped down following the hot air balloon and headed straight for the stairs leading to the basement.

Together they lifted up the broken refrigerator that was blocking the entrance to the basement as well as the bodies of several men and women lying there. Then they turned on their flashlights one after the other and walked in amidst the strong smell of blood and the faint stench of corpses.

“While serving outside the law, I participated in a number of military operations in Djibouti and Somaliland.”

As the hot air balloon walked, he sighed softly, "But I have never seen such a tragic battlefield."

"I've seen it," Wei Ran sighed.

"where?"

Grozny

Wei Ran cleared his throat and said, "I also saw an outlaw sniper there. If I remember correctly, he seemed to be from the Second Parachute Regiment."

"Grozny? The Second Parachute Regiment?"

The hot air balloon muttered something and said uncertainly, "Maybe it's some special operation. I've never heard of it."

“You’ll hear about it later.”

Wei Ran changed the subject in time and asked softly, "Where are those children?"

"Come with me"

As he spoke, Hot Air Balloon took a few quick steps past Wei Ran and took him into the dark basement. He moved away some debris and lifted a torn blanket, revealing several children huddled together.

After checking, Wei Ran sighed silently. One of the children had stopped breathing. There was a cut of more than ten centimeters on his stomach, and his intestines were prevented from flowing out because he had covered them with a not-so-clean dinner plate.

But he still didn't hold on until the hot air balloon came to rescue him - his intestines were also cut with a wound that was not big but fatal enough.

The remaining four survivors were also in a bad condition. One of the boys had a penetrating wound on each of his palms and a long circular cut on his head.

Apparently, before he was rescued, someone had crucified him somewhere like Jesus and tried to scalp him.

There was also a boy who had a cross and a cedar pattern carved on both sides of his face. His throat was cut and all his teeth had been knocked out.

The other two girls had bingo squares and Xs and Os scratched all over their bodies, and seven or eight of her ten fingers had their nails peeled off. In addition, an AK rifle cleaning rod was pierced through each of her thighs.

The skin on the other girl's back had been peeled off, revealing a large area of ​​bright red muscle - there were traces of cigarette burns and cigarette ash on it. In addition, there was an AK bayonet stuck in one of her legs.

Just by looking at these wounds, it is not difficult to imagine what kind of torture they had suffered before. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they are still alive.

"Let's go, let's leave here." Wei Ran said softly, and carefully picked up the two scarred boys.

He quickly returned to the first floor and got into the armored vehicle. Father Um also immediately returned to the driver's seat. Almost at the same time when the hot air balloon closed the rear hatch of the vehicle, he controlled the vehicle to turn around and drove straight towards the hospital.

“Can they survive?”

In the armored vehicle, Hot Air Balloon asked Wei Ran worriedly in French.

"There will be no problem if there are sufficient medical supplies," Wei Ran replied while examining the children.

"I still have one anesthetic left," the hot air balloon said hurriedly.

“I hope it’s enough.”

Wei Ran rolled up his sleeves and glanced at the watch on his wrist. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Are you going to let the Sewing Machine couple get in the car later?"

"What do you want to say?" the hot air balloon asked back.

“They will never separate.”

Wei Ran said with certainty, "Either let them leave together, or they will all stay."

"You can do it yourself."

"Yes, but it may take a long time."

Wei Ran said helplessly that the injuries of these four children were very troublesome, and it would take a long time for him to provide even initial treatment.

“Let them decide for themselves”

Hot Air Balloon sighed and did not continue the topic. He just asked Wei Ran to borrow the half-frame camera again and took a photo of each of the four children.

Just as he returned the camera to Wei Ran, the armored vehicle drove into the hospital again amid the panic-stricken expressions of the medical workers.

"Let me go, Bat, just fire a few shots." Wei Ran said as he jumped off the armored vehicle.

After receiving his hint, Bat moved his machine gun and randomly pulled the trigger, firing bursts of shots at a cedar tree in the hospital.

At the same time, Wei Ran, who was holding the AKM in one hand, pulled the trigger several times above his head, then walked into the hospital arrogantly, grabbed a doctor and asked, "Where is the sewing machine?"

"seam"

"It's me, the veterinarian from MSF." Wei Ran lowered his voice slightly, "Hurry up and ask him to bring the surgical kit to see me."

Hearing this, the doctor's eyes immediately lit up, and after Wei Ran let go, he immediately ran away and disappeared.

A moment later, Sewing Machine came running over with a few surgical kits.

"Are the cradle and the others still in the basement?" Wei Ran asked in Greek.

"How come you speak Greek?"

The sewing machine muttered in surprise, then immediately replied, "Still, she and the wounded are still in the basement."

“We got an armored vehicle”

Wei Ran explained succinctly, "There are four injured children in the car who need treatment. I'm afraid I can't handle it alone, so I need help.

After initial treatment, Hot Air Balloon and his friends would risk driving an armored vehicle and try to leave the refugee camp with the injured children.

It was risky, we might survive or we might be discovered and killed, so we decided to take the risk with the wounded.

It's your turn, sewing machine. Make your choice. We are running out of time."

"If it is sent out, will it come back?" the sewing machine asked the key question.

"If they can, they'll drive back for a second batch, a third batch, until they're found."

"How many more people can you fit into your armored vehicle?" Sewing Machine asked the second key question. "Five, at most," Wei Ran answered with difficulty, "We need a treatment space, and after the treatment is over, we need to send them out immediately."

"Give me two minutes," the sewing machine said, and ran towards the entrance to the basement.

Although it was said to be two minutes, in fact the sewing machine wasted a full ten minutes.

During these ten minutes, Uncle Um had already driven the armored vehicle to the end of the corridor where they often climbed through the windows before.

During these ten minutes, Sewing Machine had called several doctors for help, and quietly removed the blockage leading to the basement floor, and helped out eight children with varying degrees of injuries.

"Shall we let them get in the car, too?"

Sewing Machine asked almost pleadingly, "I'll get off the bus and give them room after I finish the treatment."

"You have to know that there are risks in retreating with the armored vehicles," Wei Ran reminded.

“Everyone knows”

The sewing machine said urgently, "But can they really survive if they stay here?"

After taking a look at the underground floor that was about to be blocked again, and the cradle where people were standing at the entrance of the stairs praying devoutly for the injured Mu Silin children in the Orthodox way, Wei Ran finally nodded.

"Get in the car"

Before Wei Ran finished speaking, several male doctors who came to help immediately worked together to lift the eight selected children over the window sill and into the armored vehicle, urging them to squeeze in as much as possible.

Without any delay, Wei Ran and the sewing machine got into the crowded carriage and closed the hatch. At the same time, the hot air balloon left the carriage, climbed onto the roof, and sat next to the machine gun tower with a gun in his arms.

Without waiting for the car to start moving, Wei Ran took out the kerosene lamp from the metal notebook under the cover of his backpack, lit it and hung it above his head.

"Put on this outfit first."

Wei Ran said as he handed a set of Long Gun Party uniforms that Hot Air Balloon had prepared in advance to the sewing machine. Then he explained while doing preoperative preparations, "We don't have much time, so we can only give them preliminary treatment. In addition, I only have one anesthetic here."

“I have three here.”

Sewing Machine said as she changed her clothes, "Two are from the medical kit you gave me earlier, and the other is from a wounded Falangist militiaman."

"This is probably the only good news," Wei Ran said as he injected the injection into the child who was most seriously injured.

The bumpy carriage, the crowded environment, the dirty temperature constantly heated by gas lamps and children, the tight time and those hideous wounds.

Under so much pressure, Wei Ran and the sewing machine that had changed his clothes began the most basic and crude treatment at the fastest speed and with the lowest requirements.

This may be the last treatment the four children can receive in the short term - even if they can really leave the refugee camp alive.

"bang bang bang"

Before Wei Ran could bandage the wound on the back of the little girl he was responsible for, a dull sound of knocking on the armored hatch was heard from outside.

"puff"

Wei Ran reacted very quickly and turned off the kerosene lamp above his head, then put it back into the metal notebook, and continued to bandage the wound in the dark.

"How long will you take?"

With a bat wrapped around his waist and the blanket covering the gap at the edge of the machine gun tower being lifted by the hot air balloon, his inquiry was carried into the carriage along with the light.

"Two minutes"

"five minutes"

Wei Ran and the hot air balloon gave two answers.

"We only have one minute at most," the hot air balloon urged, "There is a convoy leaving the refugee camp ahead, we are ready to follow it."

"How far is it?" Wei Ran had already increased the speed of his hands while speaking.

"An intersection"

The hot air balloon urged, "Keep the children quiet, and if you don't plan to leave the refugee camp, you'd better get off with me before the next intersection."

"Do you want to leave with me?"

Wei Ran asked as he speeded up the bandaging, then switched to Arabic and asked the children to keep quiet and not make any noise.

"I am going away with the cradle. What about you?" asked the sewing machine.

"Click"

Wei Ran opened the rear hatch of the car and responded, "The sewing machine and I will go back to the alley first. If...if we fail, at least we can send a message back via radio."

"Bat, Channel 4."

The hot air balloon immediately urged, "Get off the car quickly."

"Walk"

Before Wei Ran finished speaking, he was the first to jump down. As he landed, he took out the half-frame camera, aimed it at the sewing machine and hot air balloon that were jumping down, as well as the children huddled together in the cabin door that had not yet been closed, and pressed the shutter.

Driven by the electric motor, with the shutter flashing again and again, the remaining film of this half-frame camera was all used to record the process of the sewing machine from jumping out to landing on the ground, and also recorded the fleeting figures of the children in the car as the rear armored door closed.

"Come with me"

Wei Ran put away the camera under the cover of the chest mount, and together with the hot air balloon, he dragged the sewing machine that was almost falling over and walked towards a building on the side of the road with many bodies of refugees lying at the door.

"From now on we are the Falangists"

Wei Ran checked the intercom in his chest and reminded the sewing machine, "If we encounter the Long Spear Party later, let me communicate with the hot air balloon."

"Know"

As Sewing Machine spoke, he took off the AKM on his shoulder, loaded the bullet into the chamber with a slightly unfamiliar look, and asked, "Are you only going to let the two of them leave with so many children?"

“The two of them are enough”

Hot Air Balloon, who was also checking the guns, said, "If they fail, at least Dongfeng and I can protect you and find other ways to escape from here."

“Hopefully they all get out alive.”

The sewing machine looked at the armored vehicle's receding back and murmured to herself, "I have never hoped so devoutly that God can help those children and that the ark can reach the other side safely."

"If God really wants to help, he'd better take care of his followers who are committing crimes first." The hot air balloon sneered, "But in fact, the only thing God is doing is to forgive all the evil done by his followers again and again without any bottom line, like a hypocrite."

"So God is the biggest terrorist," Wei Ran also muttered, "No matter whose God it is."

"I like what you said"

Hot Air Balloon said as he loaded the weapon in his hand with bullets. "Let's go. We should find a place to hide and wait for Bat and the others to come back in the armored vehicle."

"Where will they send the children?" the sewing machine asked. "There is still a child whose wound has not been bandaged yet. I am worried."

"do not know"

Hot Air Balloon shook his head. "No one knows. We don't have time to think about this right now. Let's go. Let's get back to the hospital as soon as possible. Both your cradle and Hanward are in danger."

Hearing this, Sewing Machine didn't ask any more questions. He quickly wrapped his face with a scarf, held his gun and walked behind Wei Ran and the hot air balloon, stepping over the tortured corpses and leaving a series of intermittent footprints on the blood-soaked street.