It's Shen Bei.
Song Ran felt that he had sobered up all of a sudden.
Shen Bei laughed in surprise: "Song Ran, you went out to drink? I can't tell you are quite brave in a place like this."
“With local friends.”
Song Ran didn't know that Shen Bei was here before and was a little confused. Shen Bei said that there was a routine rotation of frontline reporters in Taiwan, and she signed up.
Today is September 15th. Song Ran has stayed in Dongguo for exactly two months, and it’s time for a rotation.
"No one even said a word to me when you came."
"The plan for Taili is next week, but I want to come early to adapt to the environment with you. I was so excited when I set off that I forgot to tell you. I will call you when I get to Gamma, but there is no signal again."
"Are you tired from the journey?"
"The turnaround is so torturous." Shen Bei hit her sore lower back, and Song Ran noticed that she was wearing a very delicate silk nightgown.
"You should rest early."
"Um."
After Song Ran returned to the room, he leaned against the door and was in a daze for a while. His mind was empty and he couldn't think of anything, so he went to bed early.
I woke up early the next morning and saw Xiaoqiu's message: "Ms. Shen went to your place early?"
Song Ran lay on the bed and replied: "Yes."
"That's right. If you don't go, you will steal all the limelight."
Song Ran didn't know what to say and gave a blank expression.
Xiaoqiu: "Touch your head. Don't worry, she can't reach the height of that photo."
While still chatting, Song Ran heard the sound of the door opening outside and got up to look. Shen Bei was wearing short T-tight jeans and carrying a bag to leave.
Song Ran was surprised: "You got up so early?"
"jet lag."
"But, where are you going?" Song Ran is going to visit the refugee gathering area on the outskirts of the city with Saxin today, and plans to take Shen Bei with him.
Shen Bei smiled: "Oh. I want to take pictures of the government troops and peacekeepers here."
"...Oh." Song Ran responded and said, "But you just came here alone and you haven't adapted to the environment yet."
"Don't worry. Shencheng TV has reporters here and they are friends with me. I'm with them."
"... Oh." Seeing that she was about to leave, Song Ran added, "Wear a coat, it's a desert climate here. You will be short of water if you wear it like this. ... Also, it's best to change into a pair of loose jeans, otherwise you will feeling bad."
"Ah, thank you." Shen Bei returned to the room to change clothes.
Song Ran closed the door, raised his head, and hit the door panel hard with the back of his head.
At nine o'clock in the morning, Song Ran and Saxin drove to the government army garrison in the northeastern suburbs of Hapo City. Recently, more and more refugees have gathered nearby.
Sasin drove, and Song Ran sat in the passenger seat and looked out the window.
Halfway through, Sasin asked: "Are you in a bad mood?"
"Ah? No." Song Ran turned around, "Why do you say that?"
"You talk very little today. Although you are not a particularly enthusiastic girl, you usually always say a few words."
"Maybe it's because I didn't sleep well." She rubbed her eyes.
"Really?" Sahin suddenly smiled, "Is it because of the peacekeeping soldier in the bar yesterday?"
Song Ran said nothing.
"That soldier is handsome," Sahin said. "I guess he likes you."
Song Ran was surprised: "Don't talk nonsense."
"Song, I'm a man." Saxin patted his chest, his big eyes that were characteristic of Eastern people flickering, and said, "Believe me. I can't understand Chinese like a heavenly book, but I can see that you Everything you say can make him laugh, and he can't stop laughing. But my dear Song, you are not a humorous girl. Sorry, you are a good girl, but believe me, you have nothing to do with the word "humor". The distance between them is as far as Hapo to Garo.”
“…”
Song Ran wanted to believe it, but couldn't believe it, so he said, "Maybe it's because of drinking. Didn't alcohol also contribute to your affair with the girl yesterday?"
This time, Sahin stopped talking. He thought for a moment and shrugged: "However, I still think there must be something in the look in her eyes when she looks at you. Otherwise, it means that I was drunk yesterday."
"I think you are drunk." Song Ran looked out the window, put on the mask and helmet again, and said, "Let's not talk about this for now and concentrate on work."
Sasin didn't argue with her and put on his helmet.
…
The military camp where the joint special operations team lives is in a government military garrison on the northeastern outskirts of Hapo. Benjamin went on a date with a girl the night before and didn't come back until three in the morning. But this morning he woke up at seven as usual and was very energetic.
The British soldier in the team joked: "I have been doing physical work all night, but I still have so much energy."
Benjamin said: "Believe it or not, I still have the energy to fuck you now."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Benjamin turned back and asked Li Zan: "What time did you return yesterday?"
Li Zan didn't answer, and the British soldier answered: "He came back with us during normal time."
Benjamin clicked his tongue: "I told you last night at the bar, as long as you take the initiative to kiss her, that girl will definitely follow you home. I can see it... ow!"
Li Zan passed by with a toothbrush and toothpaste, and kicked Benjamin's knee. Benjamin's leg buckled and he knelt down.
"Lee, I'm here for your happiness!" Benjamin said unjustly.
At 7:30 in the morning, the team members packed up and gathered in the government army war room to analyze the latest battle map and divide the day's march area.
Fifteen minutes later, the strategic deployment was completed. Everyone broke up and a bunch of reporters gathered around the war room.
Li Zan and the others have long been used to it. The government forces have cooperation agreements with many international media, and they let some reporters in for interviews every day. They have nothing to do with their combat teams.
Li Zan and the others still have fifteen minutes to prepare various equipment and ammunition and set off on time at eight o'clock.
After coming out of the war room, he and his team members left directly. Unexpectedly, one of the reporters ran over: "Li Zan!"
It was Shen Bei.
She ran towards him, smiling. The government soldiers on the side prepared to stop her, but saw that they seemed to know each other, so they gave up.
Li Zan was a little surprised and asked, "Why are you here?"
"I'm a reporter, so of course I will come to the front line." Shen Bei looked him up and down and said with a smile, "You look really good in your military uniform."
Li Zan didn't respond and asked simply: "Didn't you say that your station won't send female reporters to the front line?"
Shen Beixiao: "My dad didn't want me to come, so he was deceived. But I convinced him later and insisted on participating in the training."
"Oh." Li Zan said, "Then you should be careful. I have other things to do, so I'll leave first."
"Hey!" Shen Bei stopped him, "Can I follow you for an interview? I want to report on the peacekeeping special forces."
"The special operations team does not accept interviews from non-national media and needs official instructions from the joint operations headquarters."
Shen Bei was stunned: "So strict?...Can't you be a little more accommodating?"
"Journalists who do not have the ability to protect themselves or have dedicated personnel to protect them will cause us great trouble and drag."
Shen Bei said nothing, biting her lip slightly and looking at him.
But Li Zan just nodded his head as a farewell, turned around and left.
Not a single word.
After Li Zan checked the equipment in the car, he walked to the passenger side, opened the door and got in the car. Only then did she realize that Shen Bei was still standing not far away, looking here.
On the side, Benjamin laughed: "You are so popular."
Li Zan said calmly: "Don't talk nonsense."
"Zip!" Benjamin moved his finger to his mouth, making a zipper and shutting up gesture. After a few seconds, he said, "But I choose song song."
…
Song Ran and Saxin drove away from the city center.
The city outside the window began to show more traces of the devastation of the war, with broken walls and ruins everywhere, and the ruined buildings and monuments quickly fading in the rearview mirror. Wanderers abound.
Entering the suburbs, the bodies of civilians were randomly dumped on the roadside, and no one had collected them. Some died in the war, while others had no external injuries and were probably caused by disease or starvation.
After passing through hell on earth, they finally reached their destination. It was a refugee gathering area less than one kilometer away from the government army station. Because it is close to government troops and relatively safe, many people come here to take refuge.
Since most of the houses in the suburbs are empty, the resettlement problem of the refugees is not difficult to solve. Just occupy the magpie's nest; only food needs to be provided through relief.
There is a children's house in the area, which houses children who were separated from their parents during the war. This is the purpose of Sa Xin and Song Ran today.
The two parked the car on the side of the road. Children of all sizes were playing on the street. Some were chasing empty cans as balls, some were sitting on the side of the road playing with mud that fell from the wall, and some were playing in the street. Digging bullet casings out of bullet holes in the wall.
Most of the children are dark, thin and half-clothed.
Song Ran got out of the car and took some photos.
Seeing someone coming, a group of dark children came close to them, but they were a little shy and not too presumptuous. They gathered together, chatting and whispering, while smiling sheepishly at Song Ran.
Finally, a little boy with curly hair and big eyes slowly approached and timidly asked from a few meters away: "Madam, do you have candy?" (Madam, do you have candy?)
Song Ran knew that she was not the first reporter to come.
But she and Sasin were prepared and brought a lot of toffee and chocolate. The children all gathered around her, looking at her expectantly with their shining eyes.
Everyone got a piece of candy, and the children took it and ran away happily.
Sasin chatted with the children for a while, then took Song Ran into a residential house to meet the children's "mother".
They were two kind-looking Eastern women, in their thirties and forties, who had both lost relatives in the war. Two women take care of the seventy or eighty unsupervised children on this street. But other refugees on the street also help.
"Mom" said that the children were very obedient and sensible, and never caused any trouble to them. She also said that there were children who got lost from their parents before, and they were picked up one after another, but there have been no more recently.
Everyone knows in their hearts that those who have not come for a long time will never come.
Halfway through the interview, the two "mothers" were going to cook porridge for their children, and Sasin went to help. Song Ran stayed indoors alone.
It was still a little before eight o'clock in the morning, but the sun was shining brightly outside and the temperature was rising.
The house is a traditional residence with Dongguo characteristics, with thick walls, small windows and a very cool atmosphere.
Song Ran heard the laughter and shouts of children outside and went to the window to look.
It turned out that someone found a half-deflated rubber ball. The children had no toys and happily kicked the ball on the street. A group of little girls sat on the roadside, clapping their hands and singing songs.
The song was young and melodious, and sounded familiar. It was actually the song sung by the little boy on the day Li Zan detonated the bomb.
Song Ran was a little moved. He set up the camera with a tripod and took pictures.
In the camera, all the children playing football suddenly ran in one direction - a local man came, whether he was a local reporter or a nearby neighbor.
The man was holding a big bag and was handing out candies. The little children all gathered around him, raising their little heads, eagerly waiting for the candy.
Song Ran smiled and raised the camera, but the moment he pressed the shutter, a nightmare came -
"boom!"
An explosion resounded throughout the sky! Song Ran was so shocked that he shrank back and jumped up.
At that moment, she wished she were blind. because-
She watched helplessly as the man blew himself up, his flesh and blood exploding into fireworks. The small bodies of the children surrounding him exploded like pieces of paper, with blood splattering.
Song Ran was still for a moment, his wide-eyed eyes filled with unprecedented fear and loss of consciousness. She stared at the blue-gray smoke, with her mouth open and her hand still holding the camera. For ten seconds, she remained motionless like a stiff ice sculpture.
Until suddenly, a sharp pain ripped from the depths of his heart, and Song Ran turned around and ran towards the door; but the two "mothers" who came after hearing the sound had already rushed out crying.
"Bang" and "bang" gunshots rang out, and the voices of mothers calling were instantly wiped out from the world.
Song Ran, who ran to the door, suddenly fell to her knees with weak legs and rolled back to the window.
The quiet street suddenly boiled,
Horrible slogans and wild shouts,
The sounds of opening and closing doors, cries, screams, and gunshots from nearby residences resounded throughout the world.
Outside the window, the broken bodies of the children lay quietly. Some children were still moving, but they were completely still under the flying bullets.
Song Ran lowered his head, covered his ears, and burst into tears. It was as if a lifetime of fear and grief had erupted at this moment.
They are crazy! The government army station is less than 1 kilometer away from here!
Be a soldier, please, be a soldier!
With tears in his eyes, he saw Saxin's eyes were blood red and he was holding a gun and rushing out.
Song Ran rushed forward and hugged his leg tightly, lowering her voice and wailing: "please!"
She burst into tears and was about to collapse with fear: "Please! You will die! Please!"
Children outside the house howled, women cried and begged, and several gunshots extinguished everything. Saxin's face was distorted by crying. He broke away from Song Ran and rushed out.
After a series of gunshots, Saxin's side suddenly fell silent.
Song Ran covered her mouth tightly, crying and swallowing the sound in her throat.
She climbed to the window and saw clearly the clothes of the group of people outside. They were a terrorist organization.
They are so arrogant that they don't even pay attention to the nearby government military garrison!
Carrying guns and covering their faces, they walked down the street, kicking the corpses lying on the ground one by one, and shooting if they saw anyone alive. Some people even broke into houses and raided them, and the screams could not be heard.
Song Ran was so frightened that she crawled back to the door. Through the crack in the door, she saw Saxin leaning against the wall with a bullet in his stomach. But people are still alive.
She gently opened the door and took his hand. Sasin slowly opened his eyes, shook his head painfully, and signaled to leave him alone.
Song Ran wiped away her tears and ran to the window to see that all the terrorists on the street had entered the houses.
She immediately rushed back and hugged Sasin's shoulders, dragged him into the house and quickly closed the door.
There were cries, gunshots, and screams nearby.
Song Ran hugged Saxin and huddled in the dark corner, pressing the wound on his stomach with both hands. His blood kept flowing out, warm, sticky, and carrying residual strength, like every struggling life on this land.
He is only twenty years old, he is only a sophomore.
He pushed her hand, his face pale: "Run away..."
Song Ran cried silently, her tears falling like crazy, and she just shook her head.
Where can she go? She has nowhere to run.
The gunshots outside the window were getting closer and closer.
Song Ran raised his head in despair, opened his mouth and howled silently, his face covered with tears.
Come be a soldier! Please, be a soldier!
The door was suddenly kicked open, sunlight poured in, and the tall and terrifying shadows of those people came in. Song Ran was so frightened that she stopped breathing and shrank into the blind corner of the sofa.
She hugged Sasin tightly and stared at the figures on the ground, watching as they were about to cross the threshold—
Suddenly, violent gunshots were heard not far away, and there were people shouting and shouting outside. The figures immediately returned to fight.
In an instant, gunfire, thunder, and cannon fire continued.
Government troops arrived.
It was too close to the base. The terrorists were afraid of reinforcements later and did not dare to fight for a long time, so they quickly retreated.
Song Ran finally burst into tears: "Help! Help!"
Soon, government soldiers came running in. Seeing this, they immediately called in medical soldiers to carry the person away. After Song Ran handed Saxin over to them, he was drained of all his strength and collapsed to the ground.
The outside was filled with all kinds of shouts and calls for rescue. She leaned against the wall, motionless.
After an unknown amount of time, a shadow appeared in the sunlight at the door and someone walked in.
Familiar boots came into view, Song Ran slowly raised his eyes, it was Li Zan.
He frowned deeply, did not speak, and did not ask her if she was okay. He knew exactly what she had been through.
Li Zan walked over slowly and squatted down in front of her.
The skylight outside the window made her skin pale and her eyes dull.
He knelt on one knee in front of her, raised his hand to touch her head, and said softly: "It will be fine."
Her eyes were hollow and stubborn as she stared at him, her mouth was drooped, like a child who had been wronged, and tears were falling like rain.
His eyes were red, he took a deep breath to control his emotions, and gently wiped the tears on her face with his fingers, and was about to say something,
"A-Zan!" Shen Bei jumped in from outside holding a camera.
Song Ran quickly lowered his head, turned away, and wiped his tears.
"Ran Ran, are you here too? Are you okay?" Shen Bei ran over to pull her, "Why is there so much blood on your body?"
"It's not mine. It's someone else's."
"Oh, that's good. It scared me to death." Shen Bei said, looking at Li Zan, "Benjamin is looking for you, there is something urgent."
"Yes." Li Zan looked at Song Ran, a little worried, but now that he was on a mission, he just said, "Let's go first."
Song Ran didn't look at him and nodded.
Li Zan went out quickly.
Shen Bei glanced at the two of them, somewhat silently. Just now outside, Li Zan just saw Dongguo reporter Sasin who was seriously injured on a stretcher, so he immediately stepped forward to ask which house he was taken out from.
When she saw Li Zan rushing into the house quickly, she thought something was important, but...
Song Ran quietly put away the tripod camera and camera by the window.
Shen Bei looked at the bloodstains in the room and said, "War reporters are really not human beings. They are too dangerous. On the first day today, I was almost killed by a bomb. Fortunately, A-Zan was here just now and protected me."
Song Ran acted as if he didn't hear anything, bent down and stuffed the device into his bag, then carried the bag out without saying a word.
There were a bunch of children neatly arranged on the roadside, and the outlines of young bodies were printed under the white cloth; a young government soldier sat on the roadside, covering his eyes, crying so hard that his shoulders shook.
Shen Bei immediately went over to take pictures of this scene.
Song Ran had no reaction. She stood on the side of the road with a blank expression, looking at the bloody street, not knowing where to go.
A group of soldiers were cleaning up the bodies, rescuing the injured and evacuating survivors.
At this time, shouts came from a residential house, and a group of government soldiers quickly exited. A few seconds later, a woman slowly walked out with tears on her face.
The soldiers raised their guns and shouted at her: "Back off!"
The woman raised her hands and cried, "Help me!"
She was strapped with bombs.
Although they were civilians, the soldiers remained vigilant. They raised their guns ten meters away from her and shouted: "Back off! Back off first!"
The woman cried: "Help me! Help me!"
She stopped on the side of the road, shaking all over and looking miserable. Only then did everyone see clearly that she was a pregnant woman!
frenzied! Several soldiers started to curse, scolding that son-of-a-bitch extremist organization.
A squad leader from the government army came over to discuss with the peacekeeping team. After discussion, Benjamin Li Zan and others decided to go and have a look first.
Li Zan put on his helmet and thick protective clothing, and walked towards the woman carrying the toolbox.
Song Ran shrank her nose, wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and forced herself to adjust the camera.
As soon as Li Zan walked up to the man, the poor woman was so frightened that her legs went limp and she knelt down.
Li Zan knelt down and asked, "Can you speak English?"
"A little bit." The pregnant woman was already a little exhausted.
"You cooperate with me." Li Zan said, "Raise your arms."
The woman raised her hand tremblingly.
Li Zan conducted a preliminary inspection on her. She was covered with rows of detonators and bombs. The detonator showed that there were ten minutes left.
"Who tied you up?"
"The terrorists just broke into my home and tied me up. They also killed my husband and children."
Li Zan was untying the thread on her shoulder. He paused for a second when he heard these words and slowly raised his eyes to look at her. The woman has a typical Eastern face, with brown skin, black stiff hair, high brow bones, and deep eye sockets.
Li Zan watched quietly.
The noon sun caused sweat to condense on people's brows.
The woman's expression stiffened slightly and she asked, "What's wrong?"
Li Zan smiled: "It's okay."
He lowered his eyes, rolled his eyes slightly, glanced at the woman's right hand, and saw a thin callus on the side of her palm near the thumb - caused by using a gun.
The small space where the two faced each other was deathly quiet.
The surrounding soldiers were still cleaning up the scene and making various shouts. They didn't care about the situation here.
Li Zan lowered his eyes and continued to untie the thread on the man's chest. He glanced at the button on the detonator out of the corner of his eye.
And she was watching him.
Suddenly, the woman's hand fell down and reached for the detonator; and Li Zan took out the pistol from his trousers in an instant, aimed at her head, and fired with a bang!
The woman's eyes widened in shock, her head burst with blood, and her finger on the detonator did not press down after all.
She kept her eyes open and slowly fell backwards.
"What happened?" The surrounding soldiers ran towards this side one after another.
Li Zan put the gun back and stood up, but saw that the moment the woman fell to the ground, the detonator was triggered instantly, and the countdown became 5 seconds.
He immediately turned around and shouted: "Let's go!"
The well-trained soldiers immediately ran back.
When Song Ran, who followed the soldiers, saw this scene, he was stunned and unable to react. He only saw everyone scattering and running away like fireworks. And Li Zan rushed towards her.
Behind her, Shen Bei shouted: "A-Zan!"
Song Ran knew that the bomb nine meters away was about to explode. Her whole body was cold and she wanted to run but could no longer take steps. It was as if my mind was knotted at that moment.
Li Zan passed by her and threw himself behind her.
That second seemed to last forever, and she even felt the gust of wind he brought when he rushed behind her, which made her feel sad and cold.
And that second was so short that no one had time to make any move. In an instant, the human bomb exploded.
The strong shock wave hit Song Ran head-on like an invisible wall, mixed with sharp bomb fragments and stabbed at her.
She felt that all her internal organs were shattered, and it felt as if a sharp object had been inserted into her eyes. She wanted to scream in pain, but she didn't. She fell straight down, the back of her head hit the ground, and she lost consciousness instantly.
The author has something to say: The candy incident in this chapter is adapted from the real world.
The attractant is potato chips.
68.