War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1558 Always Taking Risks

"Click"

On the street filled with the smell of blood and a faint stench of corpses, Wei Ran once again pressed the shutter of his Nikon SP camera and took pictures of the corpses being shoveled up by a bulldozer not far away.

This place is not far from the gate of the refugee camp, and naturally it is also the place that has been cleaned out the most by the Phalange Party - both living people and corpses.

"Go up and take a look," the hot air balloon whispered, pointing at a three-story building on the side of the road.

Hearing this, Wei Ran automatically walked in front. As he entered the room, he put the AKM in his hand on his shoulder and replaced it with a silenced Makarov pistol.

Before he even found the stairs, he saw tortured corpses all over the floor, scalps scattered everywhere, and clothes stripped from women.

I walked up the stairs carefully. Apart from the bloodstains everywhere, it seemed that all the bodies had been dragged downstairs.

"crash"

Just when Wei Ran was about to go up to the second floor, he heard a noise of rummaging through drawers and cabinets coming from the direction of the third floor.

After looking at the sewing machine behind him and the hot air balloon at the end, Wei Ran carefully took off the rifle from his shoulder and handed it to the sewing machine to hold, then made a gesture to keep quiet.

The sewing machine nodded and checked the safety of the gun.

Without further delay, Wei Ran walked up to the second floor. While the hot air balloon and the sewing machine were aimed at the upstairs and downstairs respectively, he quickly checked the second floor.

Gently shaking his head at the two of them, Wei Ran continued to walk towards the third floor. Soon, he saw a soldier with a Galil rifle rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for something.

"What are you doing?" Wei Ran asked in Arabic.

"what!"

The soldier, who looked to be in his early 20s, was startled by the sound behind him and subconsciously tried to pick up the rifle on his shoulder.

Wei Ran pressed the other person's shoulder first and said, "Don't shoot, buddy. I thought you were a refugee."

"Why are you walking without making any sound?" the young soldier complained in Hebrew.

“I thought there were still living refugees here”

Wei Ran shook the silenced pistol in his hand and continued in Hebrew, "I almost shot."

"Do you speak Hebrew?" the soldier asked unexpectedly.

"Of course, my cousin is a bitch."

Wei Ran said, "Her name is Daniela. You may have seen her. She often goes to the Red Eagle Bar."

"I'll go to the Red Eagle Bar if I get a chance."

The young soldier looked at the hot air balloon and sewing machine that came up one after another and asked in confusion, "Hasn't this place been cleaned up? Why are you here?"

"We came up here to take a look after hearing some noise. We were planning to find a place to rest nearby.

You know, there is a very skilled sniper in the refugee camp, and this area is the only place that is a little safer."

Wei Ran made a perfunctory remark and then asked, "What about you? Did you find anything interesting?"

"No, these refugees are poor. What did you gain?"

The soldier said this with disdain, and at the same time generously showed off a few pieces of jewelry he had found that were probably worth only a small amount of money.

"certainly"

Wei Ran pretended to be proud and said, "We found a lot of good things. My name is Etia, what's your name?"

"Tal"

The young Israeli soldier pointed to the entrance of the refugee camp outside the window and said, "I am a gatekeeper and I just got off work."

After shaking hands with the other party, Wei Ran casually took out two blood-stained gold necklaces and threw them to the other party, "For you, my friend."

"Oh! You are so generous!" Young Tal took the necklace in surprise.

“I am always generous to my friends”

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and gave one to Tal, the hot air balloon, and the sewing machine. He also walked to the window sill and lit a cigarette. He glanced at the entrance of the refugee camp in the distance outside the window, turned around and introduced, "This is my partner, Joseph."

"Hey!"

The hot air balloon greeted enthusiastically, "I can speak Hebrew, but I'm not very good. After all, I don't have a cousin. What about you, Tal? Do you speak Arabic?"

“I don’t speak Arabic,” Tal replied, fist bumping with the hot air balloon.

"This is Kamil. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak Hebrew."

Wei Ran patted the sewing machine's shoulder and enthusiastically lent it the vest he had used before.

"Hi!"

Although the sewing machine could not understand Hebrew, it could understand the current situation, so as soon as Wei Ran finished speaking, he took the initiative to shake hands with the young Tal.

"Did you see any pretty girls in there?" Tal asked, taking a long puff of his cigarette.

"Of course, there are quite a few." Hot Air Balloon deliberately followed the other party's words.

"Can you help me catch one?"

Tal asked impatiently, "I want someone younger and prettier. I won't let you help me for nothing."

"Why don't you go yourself?"

Wei Ran deliberately said, "There are many beautiful girls in the refugee camp. The ones we find may not meet your aesthetic standards."

“We were ordered not to enter the refugee camps”

Tal said helplessly, "I was on guard until dawn. At that time, we were allowed to capture some pretty girls nearby to play with, but after dawn, it was my turn to rest. The farthest we could go was here."

"I'll find you a young and pretty girl, but I'm afraid I'll have to wait until after dark."

Without waiting for Tal to speak, the hot air balloon asked, "By the way, how young do you need to be?"

"Over 10 and under 16," Tal replied expectantly, "I haven't tried a girl that young yet."

"We can't help you for nothing," the hot air balloon said bluntly.

"Of course, I won't let you help me for nothing." Tal made a promise without any words, "What reward do you want?"

"How are the horses?" Wei Ran asked. "They are much more stimulating than Chat."

“Not a big problem”

Tal thought for a moment and said, "A few."

“The more the merrier”

The hot air balloon said greedily, “You only need 5 for the first girl, and for every 2 more you get, I can help you find another girl.

If you can get us 20 at once, we can get you as many girls as you want in the next few days."

"That's what you said," Tal said excitedly.

"certainly"

Wei Ran spread his hands, "But you have to hurry up. You know, there are not many people left in the refugee camp. Maybe there won't even be any bodies left by this time tomorrow."

"I'll think of a solution right now!" Tal couldn't wait to go downstairs.

"What channel are you on?"

Wei Ran pointed at the intercom on the other party's belt and asked, "We can't just send the girl to the entrance. If we do that, you probably won't even have a chance to touch her."

"Channel 6, I'm on Channel 6."

Tal quickly replied, "Send the girl here. How about sending her here? We change shifts every four hours. I'm on duty at seven in the afternoon."

"What a coincidence"

Wei Ran muttered secretly, but he remembered that Edelweiss was waiting for his news on Channel 6.

"If I find one, I'll bring the girl here and call you on Channel 6."

The hot air balloon said, "I guess you want to enjoy the girl we found for you alone, so how about we agree on a secret code?"

"That's a good idea!" Tal nodded repeatedly with his mind full of lust.

"Let's use red wine as a secret signal."

Wei Ran said, "How about using red wine instead of the girl? Using cigarettes instead of Ma Fei. No matter which of us gets the entertainment that the other needs, let us know in the channel."

"No problem!" Tal agreed readily.

"Then it's settled. Let's not waste our time."

The hot air balloon waved to Wei Ran and the sewing machine and said, "Since there are no terrorists here, we should leave."

"I'll go find Ma Fei for you right now," Tal quickly promised.

"Let's leave this together," said the hot air balloon, calling the sewing machine to go downstairs.

"Go, go."

Wei Ran also called out and asked Tal to walk behind the sewing machine, while he himself walked at the end.

Meeting such a new recruit was an unexpected surprise for them, but neither Wei Ran nor Hot Air Balloon minded doing something with this new recruit - even if they could trick him into giving them a few much-needed anesthetics.

After saying goodbye to Tal who was running towards the camp entrance, Wei Ran exchanged a glance with the hot air balloon, and walked towards the hospital while speaking in French, "I just saw the armored vehicle driven by Bat and Um leave the refugee camp smoothly."

"I saw it too"

The sewing machine whispered excitedly, "I don't know when they will be back. Also, who should we send out next?"

"How many injured people are there on the basement floor of the hospital?" the hot air balloon asked in a low voice.

"There are about 20 children left."

The sewing machine replied, "There are more adult injured and sick people, and there are also many medical workers."

"We need to get another truck to transport the bodies," Wei Ran and Hot Air Balloon said the same idea in unison.

"The next trip is for the armored vehicles to take those children away."

The hot air balloon whispered, "But we have to wait, at least until the sentry at the door changes his post."

Wei Ran glanced at the POW watch on his wrist, "Tal will be on duty at 4pm. He said that the shift will be every hours, so there will be about two hours before the next shift change."

The hot air balloon quickened its pace and said, “After the armored vehicle comes back, we will tentatively send it out at 4:15 next time.

During this time, we need to find a way to get a truck to transport the bodies. Sewing Machine, when you return to the hospital, immediately discuss the evacuation list and keep us updated."

"Leave it to me!" Sewing Machine patted his chest and said. "Don't forget Hanward and the others," Wei Ran reminded.

“They’ll wait until after dark.”

The hot air balloon sighed, "It will at least be safer after dark. We can't afford to have any more casualties."

"Then after dark."

When Wei Ran said this, he couldn't help but become more alert. In the Metal Book's return mission, Hanward and Dalal had to survive until tomorrow evening.

So he had reason to guess that something unexpected might happen tonight.

Amid their respective worries or expectations, Wei Ran and Hot Air Balloon successfully brought the sewing machine to the vicinity of the hospital, and asked him to find a place to take off his Falangist uniform before entering the hospital.

"You stay to pick up Bat, I'll go get a corpse transporter." The hot air balloon said as it walked away.

"it is good"

Wei Ran simply responded, "I'll go check out the house I rented before."

"Be careful," the hot air balloon warned, and simply walked in the opposite direction of Wei Ran.

Along the way, Wei Ran actually couldn't see many living refugees. Most of them were dead, a small number were hiding, and an even smaller number might have escaped from the refugee camp.

What he could see were mostly bulldozers roaring as they tore down buildings and shoveled up bodies, trucks loaded with bodies and dripping with blood as they drove to the outside of the refugee camp, and even the burial pits that made him stop and raise his camera time and time again.

When he skillfully crossed the narrow alley and returned to the door of the rented house, he saw a bulldozer that seemed to be preparing to tear down the wall of the yard.

"Hey! Stop!" Wei Ran waved to the driver of the bulldozer.

"What's wrong?" the driver pushed open the car door and shouted.

"Don't move these two buildings yet!"

Wei Ran pointed at the two buildings and then pointed in the direction of the hospital. "Captain Ayiman ordered me to monitor the hospital. I have to have a commanding position!"

"no problem!"

The driver was quite happy and simply drove the bulldozer back a few meters and turned to head towards other buildings.

Behind this bulldozer was a truck loaded with a lot of corpses, and behind the truck were several Falange militiamen who seemed to be specifically responsible for carrying the corpses.

"Trouble"

Wei Ran stood at the entrance of the alley where the ambulance was hidden, lighting a cigarette and sighing secretly. It seemed that it would not be easy to rob a truck, unless he stopped the truck halfway.

  Hopefully hot air balloons can find a solution.

Wei Ran kicked the body of a 269 elite soldier killed by his own hands on the side of the road, and let the militiamen carry it to the cargo bed of the truck to mix it with the bodies of the refugees.

After watching the corpse-moving team leave, Wei Ran turned and walked into the yard, walked into the charred first floor and took a quick look, then walked up the outer stairs to the second floor and took a quick look around, then turned his attention to the direction of the hospital across the road outside the window.

  As he waited patiently but anxiously, an armored vehicle drove over from afar. It was the Ark! Wei Ran recognized the bat in the machine gun tower at a glance, and also recognized the hot air balloon sitting on the roof of the armored vehicle and waving at him!

what happened

Wei Ran suppressed his uneasiness and waited for the car to get closer and closer to the wall. He immediately climbed onto the roof of the armored vehicle through the second-floor window.

"There's good news and there's bad news."

As the armored vehicle started to move, Hot Air Balloon said, "The first carload of children were successfully sent out. This is good news."

"What about the bad news?" Wei Ran asked.

"I stopped a body truck and took it out of the camp."

The hot air balloon continued, "When we left the entrance, someone was responsible for shooting at the bodies in the cargo box, and no vehicle was spared. I had no choice but to follow the armored vehicle back."

"This is indeed bad news," Wei Ran frowned.

"I brought a small gift, I hope it will make you happy." Bat said, patting the armored hatch on the roof.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately opened the heavy armored hatch with the help of a hot air balloon and jumped into the car.

Before he could stand firmly, he saw a tattered Soviet backpack placed near the engine compartment.

After looking at the hot air balloon that had also jumped down behind him, Wei Ran immediately ran over and opened one of the backpacks. Then, his eyes widened.

There was nothing else in this bag except one weapon - the TM62 anti-tank mine produced in the Soviet Union!

"Where did you get it?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"My uncle Um is a genuine 8th level warrior," Bat explained.

"Wasn't he a driver before?"

Wei Ran asked as he rummaged through his backpack. In addition to a huge discus of incredible power, the bag also contained an overly sensitive MVP62 pressure-activated fuse and a safety key to disarm the fuse.

"It was before the war"

Bat retreated back into the carriage and explained with a smile, "But after the war started, he joined the 8th Army and was responsible for transporting weapons and ammunition. These were used for self-defense at his home in the port."

With a twitch of his lips, Wei Ran tied up the backpack again, straightened up and let his upper body lean out of the car, and asked directly, "So what are your plans next?"

"After dark, I still plan to rob a truck," said the hot air balloon, "but I need someone to cooperate with me."

"How to cooperate?" Wei Ran asked.

"Someone needs to use a sniper rifle to kill the person at the door who is responsible for checking the bodies to create chaos."

The hot air balloon expressed an idea that was too dangerous. "We will take advantage of the chaos to drive the car out. We only have one chance, but a truck can hold a lot of people."

"I think this method is too risky," said the bat, frowning.

"Aren't we always taking risks?" the hot air balloon asked back, "Is there a safer way?"

"Children, we have guests."

Before Wei Ran could open his mouth to express his opinion, Uncle Wum, who was driving the armored vehicle, turned around and reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran and the other two immediately popped their heads out, and then saw four Falange militiamen waving at them on the side of the road.

"Is there any room on the bus?" one of them asked, "Can we get on and sit down?"

"Let them come up"

The hot air balloon whispered, then greeted enthusiastically, "Of course, come on up!"

Before he finished speaking, Wum slowed down the car. Immediately afterwards, Wei Ran also retreated into the car and opened the hatch at the rear of the car.

Although there was no discussion, both Wei Ran and Bat could guess Hot Air Balloon's plan. He was going to use these four lucky guys to camouflage the armored vehicle.

Without waiting for the car to stop, the four Falange militiamen got into the car, shook off the mud on their feet and complained, "This road is full of mud from crushed corpses. The smell is really disgusting."

"Welcome aboard the Ark"

The hot air balloon said enthusiastically, "I'm the train captain Joseph. I should have asked you to take off your shoes before entering."

"Hello, I'm Levin." The militiaman who got on the bus first shook hands with the hot air balloon and asked curiously, "Why are there so few people in your bus?"

"A small team just got off the bus, and then you got on."

The hot air balloon gave a thumbs up to the outside and said, "Although the car is comfortable, there are no treasures to be found."

"That's right, we know the rules."

Before the militiaman who called himself Levin finished speaking, he had already taken out a string of gold rings strung together with shoelaces from his bag. He generously counted out four and handed them to the hot air balloon, "This is our fare."

"I like passengers like you. Please sit wherever you like."

As the hot air balloon spoke, he first picked out the largest ring from the four rings and stuffed it into his bag, then gave the second largest one to the bat, and then handed the remaining two to Wei Ran and Uncle Wum.

"Do you have a special mission?" Levin asked at a random location.

"No, I'm just circling around to see where we need support." The hot air balloon yawned and said, "There's no resistance now."

"When we came in this morning, we thought there were terrorists here."

A passenger who looked to be in his twenties said, "Although we encountered some resistance at the beginning, it seems that all their weapons were taken from the first group of idiots who came in."

"I heard that there was a powerful sniper who killed a lot of people," said another militiaman.

“We heard that too.”

Wei Ran took over the conversation, "We also supported the team that was targeted by the sniper."

"Did you kill the sniper?" Levin asked.

"unclear"

Bat replied, "I almost demolished the second floor of the house where he was hiding with a machine gun, and I really didn't receive any related requests for help after that."

"Then he must have been beaten to death." Levin and others immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Taking advantage of this topic to chat along the way, the armored vehicle also circled around in the not-so-large refugee camp.

In a blink of an eye, it was 4:10. The bat gave his seat to a passenger who had become his friend. He, Wei Ran and the hot air balloon retreated back into the carriage, sharing the khat grass, which had begun to wilt but was still popular, with Levin and the others.

At the same time, Uncle Um turned the armored vehicle around and drove towards the hospital again.

“It’s almost time”

The bat glanced at the electronic watch on his hand, and spat out the chewed grass stalks with a "puff".

"Are you guys going to change shifts?" Levin, who had chewed a lot of khat, asked reluctantly. They had just had a very interesting conversation.

"No, no, no, we're just going to pick up another group of passengers. We have an appointment."

Before Hot Air Balloon finished speaking, he, Wei Ran, and Bat had already pulled out a silenced Makarov pistol, pointed it at the three people in the car and pulled the trigger at the same time.

Before the shell hit the ground, Bat had already grabbed the machine gunner's belt and pulled him down.

"Snapped"

Wei Ran put the gun to the back of his ear and shot him in time, muffling the scream that was about to come out of his throat.

“This time I left with the armored vehicle”

While Hot Air Balloon was busy stripping the corpse of clothes with Wei Ran and Bat, he said, "I'll borrow a truck outside the refugee camp."

"If there are more gifts like this, remember to bring back a few more." Wei Ran cut off the scalp of the corpse at hand and raised his chin towards the anti-tank mine in the corner of the carriage.

“That’s the only one.”

Before Bat finished speaking, he had already opened the rear hatch of the armored vehicle, and skillfully used the opportunity of the armored vehicle to turn around on the spot to push down the body, which had been stripped of its clothes, had its scalp peeled off, and had a pool of blood on its face.

Before the car turned around, Wei Ran also jumped off the armored vehicle carrying the heavy mine, "Hot Air Balloon, where is the SVD?"

"In the kitchen cabinet, upstairs from where we found the four children," said the hot air balloon. "No booby traps, zero at 200 meters."

"I'll be there watching you guys leave"

Before Wei Ran finished his words, he had already thrown the bag containing the mine over his shoulder and walked step by step towards the alley where the ambulance was hidden. After hiding the anti-tank mine in the trunk of the shabby car in the yard, he quickly left here and ran in the direction where he had rescued the child.