War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1701 Farewell, My Vida
When Wei Ran woke up again, the sky outside the tent was completely bright. It was a rare sunny morning, but the sunlight and the cold wind that blew away all the clouds caused the snow mixed in the sand on the ground to melt and evaporate much faster, which not only made the ground more slippery, but also made the temperature colder.

Because of the accidents that happened to Habibullah and Murtaza last night, Wei Ran and Kirill did not find an opportunity to change the bandages for the injured. Naturally, this indispensable work could only be done before departure.

"Uncle Habibullah is dead"

Just when Wei Ran was changing the medicine for Murtaza, the young man said sadly.

"Sorry, we couldn't save him." Wei Ran said apologetically.

Murtaza opened his mouth but couldn't say anything, but his eyes were already red.

In silence, the three wounded soldiers were given different dressings one by one. After everyone had a simple breakfast, Mahbub made new arrangements.

"We have to find a safer route. I'll go ahead this time."

As he spoke, Mahbub, who was supported by Hakim and riding on a donkey, was already shouting at the donkey to turn back in the direction they came from. At the same time, he kept saying, "Multaza, you ride the donkey and lead the lead sheep and walk behind me. Soraya and Qiaoya, you walk behind the Soviets. Hakim, you still walk at the end."

"Mahbub Teacher"

Hakim asked, "Do you really know any other safe routes?"

“How many years have I been on this path?”

Mahbub responded as a matter of course, and then urged the donkey to move forward.

Under his leadership, everyone followed his request, and Wei Ran and Kirill also lifted Ayana and her two babies again.

Leaving the valley that had become dangerous along the original route, Mahbub led them over one barren mountain after another, turning back and forth repeatedly. It was not until near noon that he led them into a valley that was even narrower than the previous one.

The width of this valley is only wide enough for two donkeys to walk side by side. The severely weathered rock layers on both sides protrude towards the middle, and the lower part is concave with a residual water level line. Obviously, this is probably the route for mountain torrents during the rainy season.

This does have one advantage. All kinds of firewood that can be used as fuel can be found almost everywhere in this valley, but so too can a lot of skeletons.

These incomplete bodies seemed to have been brought here by the flood and left here, and the remaining clothes on their bodies seemed to be dressed like guerrillas.

“This road is not easy to walk”

Mahbub, who was riding a donkey and walking in front, said in Pashto, which Kirill could not understand, "You can only walk here after winter and before the heavy snow. At other times, the mud and sand in the valley will suck every leg you step into. After the heavy snow, a lot of snow will slide down from the top of your head from time to time."

After a short pause to wait for the echo in the valley to fade away, Mahbub continued, "Abbas had an accident here. He stepped on a landmine washed down by a mountain torrent."

"Where is his body?" Ayana asked while lying on the stretcher.

"Buried outside the valley"

Mahbub replied, "It's on the other side of this valley. We will pass by it when we get out of the valley."

After this brief exchange, Mahbub and the others continued to remain silent and busy on their way. The only sound in the valley was the echoing footsteps.

"Can I take a few pictures?" Wei Ran asked Hakim behind him.

"It's up to you," Hakim answered casually, and then he found that Wei Ran pressed the shutter towards him.

"Help me carry it for a while," Wei Ran said bluntly.

Hakim looked at Wei Ran in surprise, then took the stretcher in a bad mood amid Ayana's laughter.

Wei Ran quickly ran to the front of the team, stood aside with his camera in hand, and took a single photo of every person who passed by in this winding and narrow valley.

Returning to her position next to the stretcher, Ayana said, "Victor, please take a photo of me and my child."

"My pleasure"

Before Wei Ran finished speaking, Kirill had already stopped, and following closely behind him, Hakim and the two little girls who were riding on a donkey behind them also had to stop.

After carefully finding an angle, Wei Ran helped the mother and her two children take a group photo.

After he put away the camera, Kirill started walking again, and Wei Ran returned to the job that Akim had briefly taken over.

“I haven’t left the mountains for a long time.”

Ayana hugged the child tightly in her arms, looked at the narrow sky above her head and said to herself in Pashto, which Kirill could not understand, "I have been fighting guerrillas in the mountains with my husband for these years."

"The war should be over soon," Hakim responded.

"I do not know"

Ayana shook her head. "My radio battery died a long time ago."

“I heard from Teacher Abdul.”

"He guessed the war would be over soon," Hakim said.

“Even if the war will end soon.”

Ayana asked, "Hakim, will you go find Vida when the war is over?"

"I do not know"

Hakim paused. "I don't know if I can survive until the end of the war."

"What if we can live to that time?" Ayana asked.

"Yes, probably."

Hakim said ambiguously, and subconsciously pressed the blue whale bone hidden in his arms.

"He must still be waiting for you"

Ayana looked at the line of sky above her head and said, "Let's go find her after the war is over."

"Let's talk about it after the war is over."

Hakim uttered a muffled response and gripped the rifle slung over his shoulder again.

In a new round of silence, the team walked along the valley until noon, and then stopped in a slightly more spacious place to rest.

"How far do we have to go to get out?"

Kirill asked before Mahbub and others started the noon prayer.

“I’ll be out before dark.”

Mahbub explained and then started the Zuhr prayer with his children.

Amid their prayers, Wei Ran and Kirill, who had been carrying the stretcher for the whole morning, sat down exhaustedly on a dead log. They were busy pumping up and pressurizing the oil stove assigned to them and lighting it. They then skillfully placed the leftover broth from last night on the stove.

"Look there"

Kirill put his hands to the oil stove to warm the fire and raised his chin in the direction of the advance. "You know what that is, right?"

"Know"

Wei Ran, who had already noticed the abnormality, replied without even raising his head, "The chemical warheads that have released all the poison."

"A lot of people must have died here, and they died tragically."

Kirill whispered, "In a valley like this, with such high wind speeds, if the warhead is thrown in and explodes, the poison will be blown all the way to the other side by the wind."

"I thought those bodies were washed down from upstream," Wei Ran said in a low voice.

"Have you seen the power of chemical warheads?" Kirill asked in a low voice.

Wei Ran couldn't help but sway his mind, and nodded, "I have seen it, the ring aura and Louis' aura."

"Have we used these poisons?" Kirill asked in surprise.

"Not on the Afkhan battlefield," Wei Ran explained vaguely.

"Our chemical warheads kill very quickly"

Kirill whispered with lingering fear, "Last summer, I followed the troops to a stone fortress where guerrillas were hiding. It was bombed three times by FAB3000 bombs but it didn't completely collapse."

"The chemical warhead worked?"

"Um"

Kirill nodded. "Just one. The poison mist drifted into the tunnel through the cave entrance. Everyone hiding inside died. They all died in an instant. Some still had cigarettes in their mouths, some held weapons in their arms, and some seemed to be smiling the last second before they died."

"Why are you suddenly talking about this?" Wei Ran asked after a moment's silence.

“Perhaps this war was a mistake from the beginning.”

Kirill looked at the remains of chemical warheads that lay across the valley in the distance and said to himself, "From the moment I saw those bodies, I truly realized that I was an invader."

"But you can't change anything," Wei Ran said to himself.

"I hope our reform-loving uncle Zongji can change something."

Kirill sighed and said to himself again, "I want to go home, back to Moscow. If Yelena is waiting for me, I want to marry her immediately."

“You will return”

Wei Ran spoke vaguely, but there was no confidence in his tone.

By this time, the mutton soup in the pot had been boiled, and Mahbub and others had finished their noon prayer.

The task of distributing food was handed over to Hakim, and Wei Ran and Kirill took the opportunity to help Murtaza check his injuries.

Neither of them noticed that Mahbub subconsciously pointed the gun at them again, but after a brief hesitation, he once again put aside the Soviet-made submachine gun in his hand.

Wei Ran and Kirill, who had their backs to him, did not notice the fatal danger, but both Ayana and Hakim saw this scene.

"Dad, what are you hesitating about?" Ayana asked, still speaking Pashto, which Kirill could not understand.

"They are enemies," Hakim could not help but remind him, "If you want to kill them both, just kill them."

"They are the enemy"

Mahbub sighed and said, "But they are not bad people, and Murtaza was just injured and needs their help even more." "Then kill them later," Hakim said nonchalantly.

Mahbub shook his head helplessly, but did not explain anything further.

Wei Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After making sure that Murtaza's physical condition was stable, he pulled Kirill back to his original seat and sat down obediently.

After eating mutton soup and naan bread with their backs to the biting cold wind, everyone set out again, forming the same formation as in the morning and, led by Mahbub, continued walking towards the other end of the valley.

This valley was much longer than Wei Ran had expected. The further they went, the more rugged the terrain became. Various large and small severely weathered stones mixed with dry branches and twigs seriously slowed down their progress.

Even so, when the sun was gradually blocked by the distant mountains, they walked out of the valley.

“Abbas is buried over there”

Mahbub raised his hand and pointed to a small hill in the distance that was made of stones and said, "Let's rest here tonight and set off again tomorrow morning."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Kirill offered in Farsi. "Like fetching water or gathering firewood."

"Let's go collect some firewood alone."

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Mahbub said, "There is no water source nearby. We have to wait until tomorrow noon to find a new water source."

"I'll go," Kirill offered.

"If you dare to escape."

"You just kill him"

Kirill raised his finger and pointed at Wei Ran, then picked up an axe and a rope, turned around and walked in the direction he came from.

“Let me help you put up the tent.”

Wei Ran smiled and helped to untie a bundle of felt from the donkey. They built a shack around a protruding rock at the entrance of the valley that was strong enough to block the cold wind.

"You don't seem worried that he will run away?" asked Hakim, who was also setting up the tent with them.

"Maybe he has already run away."

Wei Ran made a joke that was not funny, then turned his head and looked behind him.

At this time, Ayana was pointing a gun at Wei Ran, Soraya and Qiao Ya were busy coaxing the two crying babies, and Murtaza was busy milking the goat.

It was Mahbub, however, who was walking alone, leaning on a wooden stick and carrying a blanket, and walking towards the small hill in the distance with difficulty.

"Is anyone buried there?" Wei Ran asked, retracting his gaze.

"A guerrilla named Abbas"

Hakim explained, "He was Mr. Mahbub's best student and Malalai's only son."

Hearing this, Wei Ran looked in the direction of Mahbub again. At this time, the old man had already limped up the hill, spread a blanket he brought beside the small, simple grave, knelt on it, and began a pious wedding ceremony with his hands clasped in the last ray of sunset.

Almost at the same time when Wei Ran and Hakim built the shack, Kirill also pulled back a large bundle of firewood with a rope, and then took the initiative to pick up the engineer shovel and dug two bonfire piles at the door of the shack that were large enough for them to keep a safe distance.

However, until the bonfires were lit one after another, Mahbub still knelt on the hillock, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Soon, an enamel pot containing the remaining mutton was filled with water and placed on the lit campfire. A small can of goat milk that Murtaza had just squeezed was also placed on the charcoal fire waiting to boil.

"Hakim, please bring my dad back."

Ayana said that although she had been traveling for the past two days, her body had recovered quite well, and at least she had more strength to speak.

After looking at Wei Ran and Kirill who were warming themselves by another bonfire, Hakim stood up and walked towards the small hill in the distance.

“I just picked this up.”

Kirill said in a low voice, and quickly showed Wei Ran what he had in his hand. It was an outdated Webley revolver.

Without waiting for him to say anything, Kirill made a gesture to keep quiet, then buried the pistol in the sand beside the campfire, and then moved his butt to press down the pistol.

Without Wei Ran asking, he took the initiative to explain in a low voice, "I was paying attention to the corpses along the way just now. Many of them still had weapons on them."

"But after being soaked in water, it no longer makes any sound."

Wei Ran reminded in a low voice that he had also noticed those weapons along the way, but in such a valley with seasonal floods, even if there were bullets in those weapons, they would have definitely been damp.

What's more, Kirill could have picked up any other weapon, but he chose to pick up this British piece of junk. It would be difficult for him to find suitable ammunition from other people.

“Better than nothing”

Kirill had just finished speaking when Mahbub limped back with the help of Hakim.

Without any communication, Soraya and Qiaoya served everyone a portion of mutton soup and half a dry and hard naan.

Wei Ran and Kirill became more and more skilled in tearing the naan and throwing it into the boiling soup. They ate their dinner in silence, while also listening to the Pashto chatter of Mahbub and others not far away.

"Can you understand?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"I don't understand," Kirill shook his head, then wrote in the sand with the handle of his fork, "Don't rush to bed tonight."

After looking at the words written by the other party, Wei Ran looked at Kirill again, and then nodded slightly.

"Have you changed your mind?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"I dreamed of Yelena last night. She was in my dreams all night." Kirill took a deep breath. "I want to go back as soon as possible. I can't wait."

"Tonight then."

Wei Ran responded vaguely. He had no expectation of what would happen that night. It would just be that some people would survive and some would die.

After finishing his dinner absentmindedly, Wei Ran wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down beside the campfire. As for the tent that had just been set up, it was prepared for Ayana and her children, as well as the two "little nannies" Soraya and Qiaoya.

That night, Mahbub was still responsible for guarding them in the first half of the night. The old man held the PPSh submachine gun in his arms, but one of his hands was always on the trigger guard.

It was midnight, and just when Mahbub woke up Hakim to replace him, Wei Ran and Kirill opened their eyes almost at the same time.

With the help of the embers of the campfire, Wei Ran could vaguely see Kirill slowly reaching his hand into the sand beneath him.

But the next second, he stopped.

Following closely, Hakim came over with a bundle of firewood and pressed it on the embers of the bonfire between the two of them. He even knelt down, tilted his head and blew hard a few times until the firewood was ignited by the embers. Then he stood up, patted the sand on his legs, turned around, picked up another bundle of firewood and walked towards another bonfire at the door of the shack.

Before he could add more firewood to the bonfire, Kirill had already taken out the Weber pistol and hid it under the felt covering his body.

However, before he could find an opportunity, the roar of an airplane suddenly came from the night sky above his head!

In just a moment, no matter whether people were really asleep or dozing off, or just woke up or were about to sleep, they all climbed up very quickly!
"Put out the fire quickly!" Wei Ran and Hakim shouted almost at the same time.

Then, before they could cover the campfire with sand or blankets, a fighter plane roared across the valley at an angle of almost 45 degrees.

"Run! Run!"

Kirill threw the revolver in his hand directly into the blanket and shouted in horror, "It's the Su-25! Run! We have to hide immediately!"

Before he could finish his words, Kirill and Wei Ran had already rushed into the tent at the same time, lifted up Ayana, who was lying on the stretcher and not fully awake yet, and ran towards the direction of the valley they came from!
"Child! My child is still in the tent!" Ayana, who had just reacted, shouted in panic.

"Hurry up and pick up the children!" Wei Ran shouted to the two little girls in the tent.

After realizing what was happening, Qiao Ya and Soraya immediately picked up a child each and ran out.

At the same time, Hakim also carried Murtaza onto the donkey.

But in just a short while, Mahbub had already ignited the blanket that covered him, and then he took the PPSh submachine gun and swiftly rode on a donkey!
"Run to the valley! No matter what happens, don't come out!"

Before Mahbub finished his words, he had already slapped the donkey hard on the butt and put the burning blanket on the donkey's butt.

Stimulated by the pain and fire, the donkey screamed and ran for its life towards the outside of the valley.

"father!"

"grandfather!"

Ayana and Murtaza cried out in despair and panic, but Hakim slapped the donkey that Murtaza was riding on hard on the butt, causing him to run into the valley first!

Hakim looked anxiously at the night sky above his head, then at the flickering fire in the direction of Mahbub. He gritted his teeth, rode his donkey and chased in the direction of Wei Ran and others.

In just a short while, the Su-25 overhead had circled and came back.

"Tu tu tu tu tu—"

Amid the prolonged roar of machine guns, a series of artillery explosions were heard from the direction of Mahbub, and the Su-25 also rushed into the night sky after a dive.

Just at this critical moment, Qiao Ya, who was holding the baby, accidentally fell to the ground, and the baby in her arms also slipped out of her hands and rolled several times on the sandy ground!
"Child! My child!"

Ayana, lying on a stretcher, cried and begged, "Please! Go and save my child!"

"Hakim! Take her and run first!"

Wei Ran and Kirill made the same choice almost in unison. They worked together to lift Ayana from the stretcher and handed her to Hakim who was riding a donkey from behind.

The latter seemed to be prepared and jumped back to give up the donkey, allowing Ayana to ride on it.

"I'll cover you! Go!"

As Hakim spoke, he took something out of his arms and stuffed it into Ayana's hand. Then he took out a bottle of kerosene and poured it on the ground. He took out a lighter and lit it. He then raised the AK74 assault rifle he had picked up!

Inexplicably, Wei Ran in some sense re-understood the courage of trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm.

But at this moment, the only thing he and Kirill could do was to pick up a baby and a helpless little girl respectively, and run desperately towards the depths of the valley, towards the darkness behind them that could not be illuminated by the fire!

“Da da da da—!”

Amid the sound of intensive gunfire, Hakim pulled the trigger towards the night sky above his head.

Amid the intensive gunfire, Wei Ran clearly heard him shout in Pashto, "Farewell, my Vida."