War Photographer's Notebook

In the not-so-clean church room, even though Dominic had an epileptic seizure, he still couldn't stop the tears rolling from the corners of his eyes.

And beside Qiqi's corpse, Timov, who was soaked all over, used the gauze and hemostatic powder that were not too much on hand, and under Wei Ran's guidance, he helped Wei Ran and Dominic stop the bleeding at the wound as much as possible. Out of the blood.

"Victor, please be patient."

Timov said while wiping the blood on his hands indiscriminately, "I have to deal with the corpse first, otherwise we won't be able to survive."

"Go to the other side of the river." Wei Ran indicated a direction with his eyes, "There is a cave over there, you can hide the corpse in it, remember to block the entrance of the cave."

"You wait for me, you wait for me, I'll be back soon." Timov said and was about to run out.

"wait"

Wei Ran raised his chin with difficulty, "Under the bed next door, there are clothes in the box, put them on first, otherwise you will freeze to death."

"Need not…"

"If you die, Dominic will die." Wei Ran glanced at Qiqi who had stopped breathing beside him, "Go and change clothes, there are still things for you to do later."

Timov opened his mouth, and quickly ran to the next room, took out a few fake wooden boxes from under the bed full of dirt, picked out a few wearable clothes from inside, changed indiscriminately, and then ran to the broken bridge alone He picked up a dead body, crossed the river on the ice in the distance, and easily found the cave that Wei Ran just mentioned.

When he saw the works of art and the luxurious carriage hidden in this cave, Timov, who survived the catastrophe, couldn't help but his heart beat faster, but soon, he carried the body and walked towards the end of the cave. , Throwing it fiercely into the smelly and cold mud.

While he was busy carrying the second corpse, Dominic, whose face was wrapped in gauze, finally overcame his epilepsy again and regained his composure.

"Is it better?" Wei Ran tried to turn his head to look at the gauze wet with tears on Dominic's face and asked.

"Okay," Dominic responded with a cry.

"Qiqi has a pistol in her hand, take it and load the bullet." Wei Ran turned his head to the direction outside the door and said.

"What did you say?" Dominic looked at Wei Ran puzzled.

"Hurry up," Wei Ran urged.Dominique was stunned for a moment, and tremblingly took the Sauer 38H gift pistol from Qiqi's hand.

"Do you know that cave that hides many oil paintings and a carriage?" Wei Ran asked looking out the window.

"Know"

Dominic nodded as he loaded the pistol, "Before you came to the castle, Nadia and I went on a date there."

"Di Moda will stop transporting corpses in that cave now."

Wei Ran calmly explained the current situation of the two, "The four American soldiers we killed just now also chose to kill us to silence us because we discovered the things in that cave.

Dominique, I'm not sure if Timov will... choose to kill us because of what's in that cave.If he behaves abnormally, don't hesitate when I ask you to shoot. "

"At worst, just give him all those things." Dominique couldn't help but said, "We..."

"Man's greed is hard to satisfy"

Wei Ran sighed, "Even if we are willing to give him all those things, whether he is willing to take the risk of believing us will be a question mark, so Dominic, in case I ask you to shoot, don't hesitate to aim Hit the stomach until the magazine is empty."

Dominic glanced at Qiqi with a peaceful face, and finally nodded vigorously, "I won't hesitate."

"Don't be nervous, hide the pistol in your sleeve, we can talk about other things now." Wei Ran tried to make his tone lighter.

"Other things..."

Dominic couldn't help but glanced at the corpse still lying under the icon outside the door. After a moment of silence, he sat down next to Wei Ran and said in a crying voice, "Uncle De Winter is dead, I... I don't know how to deal with Na Dia said this..."

Wei Ran Light

Sighing lightly, "It's not your fault"

"Mr. de Winter used to have three children"

Dominic wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, "His three children were burned to death by the Germans, and his wife was also burned to death by the Germans."

"I know..." Wei Ran tried his best to look at the corpse outside the window, almost raving.

"A month ago, he adopted Jonas."

Dominique said with tears, "He also adopted Jonas' brother Okan, and Nadia, he said he is very happy now, the war will end soon, he has three more children, he even say...

Said that he hoped that my wedding with Nadia would be held on his farm in the future, in his warehouse, and he would clean it up very clean and let everyone taste his own wine.

Victor, he's dead, Uncle de Winter is dead, how should I tell Nadia, Jonas and Okan about this?Nadia has lost her dad again, what should I tell her? "

"I…"

Wei Ran opened his mouth, tried his best to turn his head to look at Qiqi who was sleeping, and finally looked at the ceiling, "I don't know, sorry, Dominique, I don't know, I don't know."

"I do not know either"

Dominique hit the back of his head hard on the rocky wall, sobbing more and more painfully, "We originally agreed that Sister Qiqi would prepare a surprise, and my brothers and sisters are all waiting for Sister Qiqi to go back too. , they even rehearsed the show. But... how could this happen! how could this happen!"

"At least you have to go back alive"

Wei Ran glanced at Timov who had carried away the last corpse, and said with a long breath, "Dominique, help me stand up."

Hearing this, Dominic quickly wiped away the uncontrollable tears from the corners of his eyes, and tried his best to lift up Wei Ran, who had only one leg that could bear the force, and let him stand firmly against the wall.

At the cave entrance on the other side of the moat, Timov covered the cave entrance with stones, and then covered it with mud and moss found from a distance, and then quickly ran back to the room next to the church.

Glancing at Wei Ran who was standing against the wall, Timov looked at Dominique who was sitting against the wall wiping tears, "Victor, you..."

"And the corpses of Mr. De Winter and Chi Chi."

Wei Ran hopped on one leg and moved in the direction of Dominic, raised his chin and said, "Timov, please help me send their bodies into the mezzanine above the head."

Turning his head to look at the roof, Timov nodded, first dragged Mr. De Winter's body into the room, and then found a rope and tied it around De Winter's waist.

After he took the other end of the rope and stepped on the three-legged table to push the ceiling of the roof, he immediately climbed in and dragged Mr. de Winter's body in with all his strength.

In the same way, Qiqi's body was also sent in. When Timov came down, he also took down an American oil stove and a heater modified from a gas mask canister.

"Dominic, don't be dazed."

Timov smashed the three-legged table and said, "Help me help Victor out, we need to find a doctor to treat him as soon as possible."

Dominique glanced at Wei Ran, saw that he didn't respond, immediately supported his body from one side, helped him leave here with Timov, and walked quickly towards the direction of the sluice.

"I'll go ahead, and you'll light him up behind."

As Timov said, he stuffed an American-style L-shaped flashlight into Dominique's hand, then spread a dirty blanket on the ice in the waterway, and helped Wei Ran to sit on it, while he was in front Pulling the blanket while walking, he said, "Victor, Dominic, don't worry, after we separated from you last time, I met a military doctor, and now we are good friends, he will definitely help you heal your wounds .”

"Thank you" Wei Ran replied absent-mindedly, he always felt that he seemed to have forgotten something very important.

"We don't need to say thank you"

Timov stopped for a while, half-kneeled beside Wei Ran, and took out a bag from his pocket, which was obviously found on the corpse.
Camel cigarettes, after a little hesitation, took out three cigarettes and lit them, and then distributed two of them to Wei Ran and Dominique.

"I don't know how to smoke," Dominique, who walked at the end holding a flashlight, subconsciously waved his hand and refused.

"How can a man not smoke"

Timov raised his hand involuntarily, but Dominic gritted his teeth, took the unfiltered cigarette, stuffed it into his mouth, and took a deep breath, then coughed repeatedly.

At the same time, Timov also stuffed another lit cigarette into Wei Ran's mouth, and after he held it firmly, he immediately pulled the blanket again, walked on the ice and said, "I've blocked the cave. Now, the outside is camouflaged with moss, don’t worry, no one will find those things.”

"En." Wei Ran, with a cigarette in his mouth, answered vaguely.

"And Mr. Letts"

The guilt in Timov's tone became more and more obvious, "I will ask my friends to help you find out what happened here and where Mr. Letts went. I will definitely find them."

"If you can find Uncle Letts, all those things in the cave will be given to you." Dominique, who was smoking a cigarette, couldn't help but said.

"I'm not interested in those things, unless those paintings are painted by Miss Sophie."

Timov couldn't help laughing, "Sophie said that she hired me to rescue Mr. Letts at the price of 200 grams of gold. For Sophie's gold, um, for Sophie's gold, I will also find Mr Letts."

Seeing that Wei Ran and Dominic were silent, Timov said in a panic, "There are also the bodies of Okan and the others. After you settle down, I will go find their bodies and take them..."

"Bury them in the castle"

Dominic threw away the cigarette that dazzled his brain, and said, fighting back his grief, "Timov, if you can find them, bury them in the castle."

"Okay, I promise to find them, I promise." Timov said more and more apologetically.

"Yeah." Dominic nodded.

"Dominique, Victor"

Timov, who was walking in the front with his back to the two of them, took a deep breath, and said in a serious tone, "I'm sorry that this happened, I sent a telegram to invite you to meet, but I swear, those Americans Soldier…"

"All right"

Wei Ran, who had been silent just now, said, "Timov, we never doubted that you found those people. If that's the case, it wouldn't be such a trouble."

"Thank you," Timov responded dumbly, "Thank you."

For a while, the icy waterway fell silent again, only the sound of the blanket rubbing against the ice surface, and the footsteps of Timov and Dominique echoing along the winding and narrow waterway.

Returning to the mill along the frozen waterway, Timov carried Wei Ran onto the carriage with the help of Dominique, and then tied the radiator brought back from the castle firmly to the American oil stove with wire and lit it on the The center of the carriage cargo box.

"You guys sit still"

Timov got into the carriage while speaking, and said nervously, "I don't know how to drive a carriage, so you must sit still."

"Aren't you American?" Wei Ran asked intentionally, "I thought you were a cowboy."

Seeing that Wei Ran was willing to chat, Timov also relaxed a little, "It is indeed an American, but I grew up in Alaska. Have you heard of Alaska? That ghostly place is so cold in winter that you can freeze your nose off."

"heard about it"

Wei Ran, who had already felt his body start to feel cold, paused, and seeing that the carriage was not moving at all, he simply reminded him, "Hold the rein with both hands, and gently pull the rein in whichever direction you want to make them go faster. Just shake the rein and throw it on their buttocks."

"Won't they hit the tree?" Timov tried to shake the reins, and asked nervously after the two draft horses had already taken a step.

"They're horses, not blind horses."

Wei Ran's joke, whose tone became weaker and weaker, not only made Timov relax again, but even Dominic, who was also nervous, couldn't help laughing, but soon, this young man who had experienced too much suffering But the smile stopped abruptly, and that little face was once again covered with sadness.

"Dominic, it wasn't your fault."

Wei Ran sighed, "It's not Timov's fault, we can't bring the dead back to life, all we can do is to live well for them."

"But…"

"At least you survived, at least you helped Qiqi and Mr. De Winter kill that bastard." Wei Ran continued to try to comfort him, "You don't need to blame yourself."

"I…"

Dominic wiped the corners of his eyes, only to find that the gauze wet with tears and blood was almost frozen into a once-cold mask.

"Timov, tell your story."

Wei Ran tried to divert the young man's attention, "How do you know German? Is there anything interesting in Alaska?"

"My mother is from Austria." Timov tried to relax his tone, "Have you ever heard of the Sachsburg in Austria?
"I haven't heard of it." Wei Ran looked at Dominic, "Have you heard of it?"

"heard about it"

Dominique nodded, "It's Mr. Mozart's hometown. When I was young, my father took me and my mother to the music festival there. Sister Sophie also went with us."

"I've never been there actually, I was a miner with my dad before I joined the army."

Timov said regretfully, "As long as I can remember, my mother told me about the Salzburg Festival, no, no, no, according to my mother, it should be called the Mozart Festival.

But in fact, she didn't participate either. She grew up in a small town at the foot of the Alps and never went to a big city, but she always knew that there was a music festival. "

"Are you a miner?" Wei Ran asked in a daze.

"Of course, my father and I both work in gold mines." Before Timov could finish his sentence, Wei Ran's vision went dark and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, he found that he was wrapped in bandages, and he was sitting on a stone in front of the castle church. Not far away, there was a stretcher.

On the other side, Timov and Dominique were busy carrying coffins down from the cargo bed of a carriage.

Directly in front of the line of sight, the entrance to the basement has been opened, and there is even a chirping kerosene lamp hanging at the entrance.

"Houst, Heike, Okan, Bernd, Vest, everyone is here."

Timov put his arms around Dominic's shoulders and asked, "Dominic, Victor, can we just put them in the basement? Do you need to..."

"No need." Dominic shook his head, "Just put them in the basement, just put them in there."

Seeing that Wei Ran nodded, Timov immediately lifted up one end of a small coffin, and Dominic, whose face was still wrapped in gauze, also immediately followed suit and lifted the other end with great effort.

With the cooperation of these two people, a total of five coffins were - sent into the basement, and then the two of them blocked the hole again with broken bricks and tiles that can be seen everywhere.

When everything was done, the sweaty two sat beside Wei Ran, one on the left and the other on the right. Timov skillfully lit a cigarette for each of them, and said in a puffy voice, "I found out about Mr. Letts, and two months ago, probably the day after I saw him, he was detected by the US Army stationed nearby when he was trying to send a telegram over the radio. radio signal."

"He was arrested?" Wei Ran frowned.

"Um"

Timov nodded, "After that, he was sent to the prisoner-of-war camp like most prisoners of war. Next, I'm going to go to the prisoner-of-war camp to see if I can find Mr. Letts."

"I want to go with you" Domini
Ke said subconsciously.

"No, you can't go."

Timov shook his head, "Dominique, you have more important things to do, you have to escort Victor back, and you have to inform your partner, if you have a radio station, you'd better get rid of it immediately, otherwise, I fear they will be arrested too."

Hearing this, Dominic changed his face, nodded after a little hesitation, "I'll take Victor back right now."

"Let's take a photo before then"

Timov took out a film from his pocket and handed it to Dominique, "Didn't you say you have a camera hidden here? Find it and take a photo."

"But..." Dominique pointed to his face
"What's the matter?" Timov spread his hands.

"Come with me," Dominic said, getting up and running to Sophie's room.

After these two people struggled to dig out the camera hidden there from under the floor full of dirt, the camera and film were also handed over to Wei Ran, and the two of them carried Wei Ran out of the moat bridgehead position.

"Let's shoot right here!"

As Timov said, he put the camera on the back of the carriage and turned on the time-lapse photo mode, then ran back as fast as he could and supported Wei Ran, who was standing on one leg, with Dominic on the left and right.

When Wei Ran was facing the camera not far away, he suddenly remembered that before he entered this historical segment, he took a photo with Dominic who was wearing a cloth strip on his face. Yes, isn't it Timov?
But why didn't I remember it, why did I only remember it now?
When he thought of this abnormal problem, he subconsciously glanced at the tattoo on the tiger's mouth on his left hand. It was obvious that he hadn't reached the stage of dementia, so it could only be the ghost of that bad book. .

Looking back, if he had recognized Timov in the first place...

"Victor, look at the camera!" Timov's timely reminder made Wei Ran raise his head subconsciously, and at the same time interrupted his thoughts.

"Click!" Accompanied by a very clear shutter sound in my mind, strong white light also filled the field of vision.

In a trance, Wei Ran seemed to vaguely hear Dominic murmuring "Thank you" softly, and also felt Timov on the other side of his body, as if pressing his back, pushing himself forward slightly, Softly sent a blessing "Good luck, friend."