Chapter 45
At half past five in the afternoon, the sun was still hanging in the western sky. The trees outside the window cast shadows inside the house.
The walls of the room are very thick and the windows are small, making it cool and sheltered from the sun.
It's mid-December now, and the temperature has dropped a bit in the evening, so there's no need to turn on the fan.
Song Ran had been running around all day, but he didn't want to rest. After returning to this country, she was not at peace and wanted to go out for a walk.
She quickly packed her luggage, put on her backpack and went out.
Just as the door was locked, someone came out from the dormitory opposite. She was an Asian woman, 28 or 9 years old, with a cigarette in her mouth. The two looked at each other and gave each other a friendly smile.
Although she is Asian, she has thick eyebrows, big eyes, high cheekbones, and a very European and American look. Wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, she has a plump and sexy figure.
Song Ran judged that her appearance was not Korean or Japanese, so she asked: "Chinese?"
"Hmm." She took off the cigarette from her mouth and smiled, "Are you new here?"
"Yes. I just arrived today." Song Ran's face lit up when he met his colleague, and asked, "Which TV station are you from?"
The other party's eyebrows flew up and he chuckled: "Are you a reporter? I am Doctors Without Borders. - Pei Xiaonan."
"Ah, my name is Song Ran. Yes, reporter."
The two of them walked through the cool corridor and went down the stairs together.
Out of professional habit, Song Ran observed her inadvertently. Pei Xiaonan breathed out a puff of cigarette, her posture was charming and cheerful, walked around the corner, pressed the cigarette she had only taken two or three puffs into the sand on the top of the trash can, and said, "As a doctor, I won't let you smoke second-hand smoke. "
Song Ran smiled: "It's okay."
Pei Xiaonan waved to herself, disrupting the smoke floating in the air, and said, "You look very young. It takes courage to be a war reporter."
Song Ran said: "You are also very powerful, come here to be a doctor."
"Doctors are still safer than reporters. Aren't there coefficient rankings circulating here?" Pei Xiaonan laughed.
"What?"
"Volunteers, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, peacekeepers, journalists, Cook Armed Forces."
When Song Ran heard the last four words, his smile faded and he asked, "Do you know anything about Cook's armed forces?"
Pei Xiaonan said: "I know a little bit about them and have been in contact with the wounded. They are an armed army that specializes in fighting extremist organizations."
Song Ran asked: "Where did the weapons come from?"
"They are backed by patriots. Many Dongguo people who fled overseas, especially wealthy people and consortiums, gave them a lot of money and arms. The government also supported them, and a lot of military intelligence was shared with them. Moreover, the anti-government forces We are not enemies with them either.”
Song Ran nodded to express understanding and asked, "Where is your hospital?"
"Do you want to interview me?" Pei Xiaonan smiled.
"May I?"
"What's wrong with that? I'm bored. Do you want to go to the hospital now?"
"Not yet, the sun has not set yet, I want to look around first. You tell me the address, and I will find you later?"
"Okay. But it's hard to find the road. There are no street signs on the street."
Song Ran laughed: "I have stayed here for several months before, so I am very familiar with it."
"That's fine. Over there at the old fire station."
"Okay. Thank you." Song Ran asked, "I'm just about to drive out, do you want me to see you off?"
"No need. I'm going with my colleagues."
The two said goodbye downstairs.
Song Ran started the car, drove out of the campus, and headed east of the city.
The concrete floor was bumpy and bumpy, and she slowly walked to the area of the city where she used to spend most of her time.
Now, everything is devastated.
The hotel she stayed in before leaving last year, an old building with a history of more than 300 years, was in ruins.
She still remembers the day the war started. She stood on the roof of the hotel and looked at the battlefield, but she only saw the blue sky and the bright sun.
Song Ran stopped the car on the deserted street and identified the locations of the breakfast shop, mobile phone store, clothing store, and motorcycle repair shop. Looking far away, she seemed to see a bus stopping in front of the stop sign. Primary school students carrying schoolbags jumped off the bus and ran to school chattering.
However, the elementary school at the end of the road has been razed to the ground in reality. The school gate, courtyard walls, and teaching buildings have long since disappeared.
Song Ran recorded the surrounding ruins, recalled the original shooting angle, and took several comparison photos.
After taking the photo, I realized that she came at the right time. The sun is setting in the west and is about to set. The blending of sunset and twilight adds a strong sense of sadness to this silent and decaying city.
She drove her car and stopped while walking in the city to take photos and records. The red sunset is shrouded in the sun, which is the best time of day for shooting.
She captured scavengers, wanderers, old people who were still running shops, and clerks who were still commuting... Many people still survived in the cracks of war, like grass growing with difficulty in the cracks of stones.
There are also some soldiers sitting on the roadside to rest.
The place where Song Ran was walking was an area recovered by government troops, so the soldiers he encountered along the way were equipped with government troops. But she also saw some soldiers whose military uniforms were somewhat similar to those of the government troops but not quite the same. They were usually in groups of seven or eight, with a few small groups leaning against the wall and smoking.
Being able to hang out here openly, Song Ran speculated that they were the Cook Armed Forces. Otherwise, there would not be so many foreign faces mixed among the Dongguo soldiers.
Even with just a few hasty glances, Song Ran clearly noticed that their temperament was different from that of the current government troops.
The war lasted for more than a year and the manpower was exhausted. Nowadays, the new forces of all forces on the battlefield are not professional soldiers. Most of them are civilians from various professions who have been trained for ten and a half months before going to the battlefield.
But Cook’s armed forces are all former special forces from various countries, and their combat capabilities are frightening.
Just looking at his temperament, it is obviously very chilling.
She was still looking curiously, and a white mercenary on the roadside noticed her.
When their eyes met, his cold expression gradually warmed up and turned into a smile. He tilted his chin towards her and said: "Hey~~beauty~~"
His companion also looked over and whistled lightly.
Naked. Naked teasing.
But in such an environment, Song Ran didn't feel dissatisfied. He lightly curled his lips and continued driving.
I heard another shout from behind: "STAY! I LOVE YOU!"
Song Ran couldn't help but laugh out loud. She didn't know what to think, but she unconsciously imitated Li Zan.
She stretched her left hand out of the car window, raised it high, and gave her middle finger.
"WOW!" The Cook soldiers cheered and laughed.
Song Ran looked at the rearview mirror. The mercenary who shouted bent his knees and raised his head, covering his heart that had been hit by the arrow with his hand, which was already petrified. The others slapped him and laughed at him, while giving Song Ran a thumbs up.
Song Ran's smile widened and the car was still moving forward.
This is very close to the old fire station, just in front of the corner street.
But at this moment, a gunshot suddenly sounded diagonally ahead. Exactly the direction of the corner.
Song Ran looked back at the sound, but had not yet reacted. The group of laughing special forces soldiers had already rushed away in an instant. Song Ran drove around the corner but was not much faster than them.
The car stopped at the entrance of the field hospital and saw a wounded man with bandages on his head and hands holding a female doctor in a white coat at gunpoint, who turned out to be Pei Xiaonan.
Pei Xiaonan was held tightly by the injured man's throat and dragged back, his face turned blood red.
Song Ran quickly slipped out of the car, hid behind the car as a cover, and quickly set up the camera to zoom in.
The injured man's clothes were instantly clearly enlarged. It's a terrorist.
An hour ago, the Cook soldiers fought with the terrorists in the west of the city. They were afraid that they had moved to the wrong hospital during battlefield rescue.
Pedestrians and patients on the street took cover and fled. The nurses and doctors who were carrying the injured at the entrance of the hospital also immediately retreated and fled into the hospital.
Only one soldier went against the flow of people, quickly jumped down the steps and rushed to the middle of the street, pursued him, pointed his gun at the terrorist, and warned every word: "LET HER GO!"
Pedestrians quickly cleared away, leaving only the hijackers and soldiers confronting each other on the empty street.
Song Ran stared at his back blankly, feeling that familiar feeling coming to her face.
It's him?
The Cook soldiers just now were chasing after them, and they stepped forward with their guns drawn, shouting: "Put the gun down!"
When the kidnapper saw this, he suddenly became violent. He put the gun directly to Pei Xiaonan's throat, and shouted with bulging eyes: "Back off! You all back off, or I will kill her!"
"Let her go!"
"Back off!"
"Let her go!"
"You guys stand back!"
Both sides refused to give an inch and yelled at each other in the street.
The kidnappers couldn't defeat their momentum. They were panicked and frightened. They dragged Pei Xiaonan back and forth, trying to find an escape vehicle.
The soldier pressed forward step by step, following him forward, trying to shorten the shooting range.
The Cook soldiers who surrounded him also wanted to follow. The kidnapper became more and more panicked and excited, shouting: "Back off!" Suddenly he shot Pei Xiaonan in the foot threateningly.
"Ah!!!" Pei Xiaonan screamed, blood flowing freely.
The leading soldier made a gesture. Everyone else stopped and stopped following.
He was the only one who followed up with a gun.
Song Ran raised her head from the camera's aiming frame. The soldier's back was turned to her. His figure looked thinner than that of the European and American soldiers, but he was very tall. She was sure it was him. The sun had already sunk more than half of his head, and the setting sun shone from the front, shrouding his tall figure in reverse light, turning it into a halo.
He calmly and steadily stepped forward; the kidnapper retreated step by step in panic and fear.
The two quickly distanced themselves from the hospital.
Song Ran carefully lurked up and hid behind a porch to take the photo. Even with the light, his face could not be seen.
I could only hear him making conditions to the hostage in English: "If you let her go, I promise to let you go."
The kidnapper was in deep fear and shouted: "Give me the car! I will let her go after I leave safely!"
Pei Xiaonan dragged his bleeding injured leg and shouted: "No. No! Li Zan, save me! Don't listen to him!"
Song Ran took a breath and finally heard his name. She looked at him just as he walked into the shadow of a building under the backlit sunset. Song Ran's eyes were dazzled by the sunlight, and she blinked desperately several times before she could distinguish the familiar profile.
She thought it was not clear enough, so she quickly pointed the camera at him and zoomed in -
Isn’t that exactly him?
His jaw was tense, his eyes were stern, he was highly concentrated, and he was aiming his gun at the kidnapper.
Li Zan did not relent, and said in a very cold tone: "Friend. I don't accept the terms."
"I won't accept any terms either!" the kidnapper roared manically, pressing the gun against Pei Xiaonan's temple. "Give me the car! Give me the car! Otherwise I will kill her and we will die together!"
"I said it before," Li Zan waited for the opportunity to get closer. This time his tone was very calm, word for word, "Let her go, and I will keep you safe."
"Stop stalling for time! I'll count to 10. I really know how to shoot. At worst, we both die!" The other party was almost crazy and tightened Pei Xiaonan's neck.
Pei Xiaonan shouted: "Li Zan - save me! Save me!"
"9! 8! 7——"
Li Zan held the gun and slowly approached, saying, "Okay. I'll find a car for you. How about the one next to you?"
The other party stopped the countdown. He was very alert and did not turn his head, but his eyes hesitated slightly.
enough.
"Bang!" There was a gunshot.
Song Ran was startled. The kidnapper had a hole in his head and fell backwards.
Pei Xiaonan's face was splashed with blood, her beauty turned pale, she fell to the ground, dragged her injured foot, rolled and kicked the deceased away, and distanced herself.
Li Zan put the gun back, strode up to Pei Xiaonan, and asked, "How are you?"
"My feet! It hurts so much!" There was a hole in her shoe and blood was pouring out.
Li Zan took one look at her, quickly picked her up, and walked quickly to the hospital.
Pei Xiaonan quickly put her arms around his neck.
Song Ran stood up and followed him.
She chased into the hospital to see how Pei Xiaonan was injured, but as soon as she entered the hospital, her sight was disrupted by the busy crowd. Soon there was no trace of them.
This field hospital was renovated from a school. Song Ran passed through several teaching buildings and glanced at the operating room, but could not find Pei Xiaonan.
But now the sun had set. She thought about it. She was injured, so she might as well come back tomorrow. Now go out and see more.
Just as he was about to pull away, he looked up and saw Li Zan.
Wearing a military uniform, he stood on the steps of a classroom door ten meters away, talking to Benjamin with his pockets in his pockets.
There was also the British soldier George, who seemed to have said something funny. Benjamin laughed so much that he put his hand on Li Zan's shoulder and couldn't straighten up.
Li Zan gently touched the corner of his mouth and smiled lightly.
Doctors, nurses, and figures shuttled back and forth.
He seemed to notice something, the curve of his mouth dropped slightly, and he turned his head to look this way.
Song Ran was stunned, her heartbeat accelerated instantly, and she felt that the blood vessels in her ears were bulging.
But at that moment, a group of doctors and nurses carrying seriously injured people passed by, blocking their sight.
Li Zan glanced at the busy crowd and turned back.
Song Ran stood on tiptoe and looked in his direction. Another group of people passed by. She was afraid of blocking the road, so she backed away four or five meters. Wait for others to pass and take another look——
There is no one on the steps anymore.
Only the last remaining faint glow of the sky remains.
……
Song Ran held the camera and walked around the hospital aimlessly, but couldn't see it.
After leaving the hospital, the group of Cook soldiers teasing her at the door had long since disappeared.
She walked slowly back to the car, leaned on the driver's seat and was stunned for a while. In this moment, the sunset glow completely dissipated, and the color of the sky gradually deepened, and soon turned into blue-gray.
The temperature also dropped rapidly.
Song Ran was sitting in the car. She originally felt that her schedule was full, but now she felt a little at a loss.
At this time, the phone rang. It was Jose, reminding her that there was a curfew at night and not to run around. He will come to her tomorrow morning.
Song Ran said yes and asked one more question: "Why are there Kuk soldiers in Alara City? Are they going to help the government troops recover Alara City?"
"No." Jose said, "The main reason is that there is a stronghold of the extremist organization in Aare City, which has been occupying the northwest suburbs. This time the government forces are gathering strength to fight a general offensive against the rebels. The Cook Army headquarters has also assembled When the troops come, we might as well seize the stronghold together at that time. Clean it up."
"When will the battle take place?"
"It's only been two or three days. The southern armies have already gathered towards the city of Aare."
Song Ran had a general understanding and would wait to discuss more details after meeting Jose.
She drove the car back to the university, and when she entered the dormitory building, she bought a Dongguo-style pancake for dinner from the housekeeper's aunt.
She walked up the dark and heavy corridor, and saw soldiers coming downstairs and passing through.
She went up the corridor and vaguely heard strange noises.
Song Ran didn't pay too much attention. It wasn't until I returned to the dormitory and closed the door that I heard the sounds next door clearly, the sounds of making love, like intermittent threads, mixed with the sounds of bed calls in English.
The bed board shook and hit the wall.
Song Ran: "..."
She had thought that the people living in the building were all reporters, but when she arrived, she discovered that it was a girls' dormitory, and that it was filled with female doctors, nurses, and volunteers from various countries.
Soldiers come and go from time to time.
In the battlefield, you are faced with killing, fleeing, and despair all day long; at this time, ambiguity, impulse, and desire can easily breed.
Maybe I can make a note in the book,
Just as she was thinking about it, she suddenly remembered a scene - Pei Xiaonan put her arms around Li Zan's neck.
Isn't that how she was attracted to Li Zan in the first place?