War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1942 Those who shoot living people are all magic absorbers.

"Take it upstairs and let Mr. Alf talk to him."

Wei Ran glanced at the second reporter who had come to him, and reached out to take the other person's camera.

The reporter used the Nikon F4S, the absolute flagship camera of the era, and a niche camera, the Pentax LX.

After patting the other person down, Wei Ran also took off a USP9 pistol and several spare magazines.

Just from the gun he was carrying, he could tell that the other party probably had a close relationship with Deyang.

The reporter, on the other hand, remained completely calm. Instead, he followed along upstairs, asking in English, "I've only been gone a few days, why are there new staff? Where are the previous ones?"

"Turns out they're one of us."

Wei Ran raised his hand. "They were exposed, so we were temporarily replaced yesterday. Are you also the eyes and ears of the Holiday Inn?"

"It seems you are Alf's confidants," the reporter said.

"Your decision doesn't count."

Wei Ran maintained a slight vigilance at the right time, and after leading the other party upstairs, he glanced meaningfully at Alf, who was still sitting at the table.

"Sorry, we had some unexpected issues last night, so we had to change some staff," Alf said warmly. "Please have a seat."

Let's make a long story short.

The reporter said, "This evening, Thomas will be interviewing a Serbian sniper, I overheard that, and his friend will be going with him."

"A Serbian sniper?"

Yalf feigned confusion and asked, "How does he know the Serbian sniper?"

"I don't know that"

The reporter said, "All I know is that he's going to meet that Serbian sniper tonight, and you can send someone to follow him."

"If you catch him, the company will pay you a commission that will satisfy you."

Before Wei Ran and the others could make a move, Alf said, "However, to avoid the news leaking out, why don't we rest here for a while?"

“I have no reason to refuse,” the reporter said. “Give me a boy.”

"no problem"

Alf readily agreed, "Take him upstairs to have some fun. Same as always, leave the camera behind."

"It's not like this is my first time here."

As the reporter spoke, he followed Dragan upstairs, and shortly afterward, a gasp, a muffled groan, and then a sob were heard.

"If no one else comes, let's take a group photo now," Wei Ran suggested again.

“Taking photos is not a good idea,” Klaus muttered.

"At least take one picture of the children," Wei Ran said, settling for second best.

"Let's go up there and take pictures."

Dragan turned and walked downstairs. "I'll go and call Emil and the others up."

"it is good"

As Wei Ran spoke, he picked out an instant camera from the cameras on the table, then picked out a Nikon F4S camera and went upstairs. Halfway up, he also took out his Nikon SP and hung it around his neck.

Soon after, the disheveled children came out one after another. A little later, Klaus, who seemed unwilling to have his picture taken, also carried a lit gas lamp upstairs and hung it above his head.

"Let's take a few group photos first."

Wei Ran held up his F4S camera, which had just been fitted with new film, and said, "Look at me, everyone."

"Shall we go over there too?" Dragan asked.

Just follow my instructions.

As Wei Ran spoke, he raised his camera and snapped a few photos of the young men and women whose faces showed little joy, or rather, were completely numb.

Signaling them to stay still, Wei Ran switched to his Nikon SP and took a few more photos of them.

"You should go over there too."

As Wei Ran spoke, he pulled over a chair and placed his camera and the borrowed camera on the table, aiming them at the still trembling children and the two mercenaries standing somewhat helplessly among the young people.

"Make room for me."

After pressing the shutter of two cameras in succession, Wei Ran said that the children immediately made room for him in the middle.

Wei Ran pressed the selfie button on both cameras and ran to the middle of the children, standing with Dragan and the other person.

As the two cameras finished taking pictures, Luna said with a hint of regret, "It's a pity Mr. Thomas isn't here."

"It's not a good thing that he took a photo with you."

Dragan replied, "It's not good for us either."

"No one will get the photo from me," Wei Ran said, using the act of stuffing the camera into his bag as a cover to retrieve the metal notebook.

It's good that you have that confidence.

Klaus then adopted an indifferent attitude again.

“We’re running out of time”

Dragan urged, "You continue to rest, Mr. T, let's continue clearing the passage."

"We really can't waste any more time."

Wei Ran shook the Polaroid camera he had brought with him. "Luna, take a picture of everyone."

"Okay," Luna quickly agreed and took the Polaroid camera from Wei Ran's hand.

Ignoring Klaus's questioning gaze, Wei Ran carried his weapon up to the 17th floor, chose a pre-set sniper position with corpses lying on the ground, and continued to clear out the snipers hiding along the way to the tunnel.

Amidst the intermittent gunfire, as night gradually fell, the explosions and gunfire that had enveloped Sarajevo finally ceased, and the besieged city, in a sense, awoke once again.

With the help of night vision goggles, he could clearly see the citizens on the surface beginning to go out to find fuel, fresh water, and to conduct any trade they could.

It was at this moment that a call came from the radio, which had been kept on all along: "Mr. WOT, we need to meet."

Come find us!

Soon after, Klaus's voice also appeared on the radio channel.

After this pretentious question and answer session, the radio channel returned to calm.

This brief exchange also served as a coded signal for the operation. Wei Ran immediately released the sniper rifle that was propped up there, stuffed the radio and the silenced submachine gun next to him into his bag, and ran towards the stairwell while carrying them on his back.

Once again, Wei Ran rappelled down to the 4th floor before Dragan could. As he stood firm and released the rope, he saw Klaus, who was all ready to go.

"Those two reporters are hiding in that direction."

Klaus pointed in a direction and said, "You guys cover me."

"I'll go with you; at least we can cover each other."

While making the suggestion, Wei Ran also checked Alf's joint, which was still dislocated.

"Fine," Klaus said nonchalantly as he walked downstairs.

“I will cover you,” Dragan replied in return.

Without much conversation, Wei Ran followed Klaus downstairs and left the building under the cover of night and the building's shadows.

Just like last night, along the way, the citizens have been busy making all sorts of helpless efforts and attempts to survive.

"This city is still alive."

Klaus said in a low voice in Serbian as he walked.

"Yeah, still alive."

Wei Ran, forcing himself to stay awake, replied absentmindedly that he actually wanted to come down and stroll around during the day.

Although that would be more dangerous, it would give him the opportunity to film everything that was happening there.

But now, he can vaguely see the plight of these citizens, yet he cannot record it with his camera.

"Ta-ta! Ta-ta!"

Klaus suddenly opened fire, killing two men who were holding passersby hostage.

Before the last shell casing hit the ground, before the two men fell to the ground, the people they had robbed and those around them scattered and hid in the ruins of the surrounding buildings.

But soon, as the two of them walked further and further away, these people swarmed up again, surrounding the group of roadblocks that Klaus had killed, and in the blink of an eye, they snatched everything except their underwear.

"This city is still alive, but it's dying."

Klaus continued, "The order here has begun to crumble, Mr. T. Do you know about the Siege of Leningrad?"

"Why bring this up?" Wei Ran asked after a moment of surprise.

"This place is definitely not much better than Leningrad back then."

Klaus sighed, “No, it’s even worse.”

"You talk as if you participated in the Siege of Leningrad," Wei Ran said absentmindedly.

My grandfather participated.

Klaus said, "He was a fighter pilot."

"And then?" Wei Ran couldn't help but ask.

"He was shot down and then captured."

Klaus said with a self-deprecating laugh, "You probably don't believe it, but he lived as a prisoner of war in besieged Leningrad for a long time and miraculously survived."

"It sounds unbelievable." "It really is unbelievable."

Klaus said, "After the war, he spent a long time in a labor camp before being deported."

"And then?" Wei Ran couldn't help but ask.

"He was very frugal with food until his death."

Klaus added, "I mean, excessive food conservation."

"I know"

"you know?"

"I know," Wei Ran smiled. "Go on."

"When he was alive, he often told me stories about his time in Leningrad and the labor camps."

Klaus sighed, “But this place is far from the Leningrad of my grandfather’s stories. At least there was order there. There is no order here. There has been no order here for a long time.”

"These things are none of our business," Wei Ran reminded them, indicating that she didn't want to discuss the topic.

"Didn't you two swear to be Walter who would save Sarajevo?" Klaus muttered sarcastically as he walked.

"Doing what we can is enough," Wei Ran said with perfect clarity.

“I’m glad you’re at least not as stupid as Dragan,” Klaus said noncommittally.

"Is he stupid?"

"Ah"

Klaus snorted. "That idiot has wanted to be a sniper since he was a kid, ah, I mean, a righteous sniper."

"A righteous sniper?"

"Anti-French Wire-Absorbing Sniper"

Klaus said this with a sarcastic tone, but then he added, "Anyway, that idiot really got his dream."

"Who do you think is the 'facilitator' here?" Wei Ran asked a question that was completely useless in the current situation.

"Those who shoot living people are all addicts."

Klaus said with a nonchalant laugh, "Me too, just like my grandfather."

Looks like I am one too.

“Of course,” Klaus said with a smile.

"It's a real honor," Wei Ran said with a self-deprecating laugh.

That's the building over there.

As Klaus spoke, he had already picked up his submachine gun again.

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran also stopped chatting, raised his gun, and, together with Klaus, covered each other as they entered the building.

"Mr. S, the executioner?" Klaus asked in a low voice, hiding behind a load-bearing pillar.

"Mr. W?" Thomas's voice came from the second floor of the mostly collapsed building.

“And Mr. T,” Klaus reminded him.

“Come on up,” Thomas said in a low voice.

He and Wei Ran exchanged a glance, then activated their night vision goggles and climbed the dimly lit stairs to the second floor.

The stairwell on the second floor of the building, which had not yet collapsed, was not a large space. As the fire door closed and locked, Thomas lit an L-shaped flashlight, a U.S. military-issue.
With the help of this flashlight, Wei Ran could see that besides Thomas, there were three other people here—no, five people.

These five people were all dressed as frontline reporters, one of whom had a bandage wrapped around his head.

Compared to the people standing, Wei Ran noticed more the two tied-up men lying in the cramped space, and the plastic explosives scattered around them.

Let's get to the main point first.

Thomas pointed to the two who were tied up, "They were also on the list provided by Yarf, and they have already joined Deyang. The other one was sent in by the Serbs from outside."

"Where are the other three?" Klaus pointed to the other three people who were still standing.

“This is my friend.”

Thomas patted the man with bandages wrapped around his head. "He'll take the children and leave through the tunnel."

Then Thomas pointed to two other people, "They are the people Alf wants to kill through you. You tell me."

"We have been investigating arms smuggling."

One of the men said, "We started our investigation in Croatia and followed it all the way here. We found..."

We don't have time to listen to that right now.

Klaus waved his hand, "Once we survive, we'll have plenty of time to talk."

"Are these two stand-ins for them who faked their deaths? You two should leave some personal belongings behind."

Wei Ran said, "Although this place is besieged, it's hard to guarantee that someone won't come to investigate."

Upon hearing this, the two men being chased by Deyang quickly pulled out some items, including cameras, soldier badges, and camera bags that were clearly prepared in advance.

That's enough.

Wei Ran placed these items under the bodies of the two or three surviving scapegoats, looked around, and then placed a piece of C4, about the size of a cigarette box, around the necks of the two blindfolded men.

"let's go"

Wei Ran clapped his hands and called out, while Thomas connected a homemade timer detonator made from a horseshoe watch to the detonation wire.

The six people passed through the blast door, and Thomas then took out a bicycle lock to lock the remaining fire door. After that, everyone kept their distance and left.

"Only half an hour left in the countdown"

Thomas, walking with Wei Ran and Klaus, said in a low voice in French, "Are the children all ready?"

"Are you sure?"

“Trust me, I’m absolutely certain,” Thomas said. “My friend…”

Nobody cares.

Klaus remained unsparing, saying, "We are mercenaries. We are only responsible for getting them to the tunnel entrance. Whether they can get through the tunnel or not is none of our business."

Thomas opened his mouth in surprise upon hearing this, but then a bright smile appeared on his face. As he walked, he said in a low voice in French, "Mr. W, I've discovered that you are actually kinder than Mr. O and Mr. T."

"If you say another stupid thing, I..."

"Okay, okay, I shut up."

Thomas quickly made his statement before the other party could utter the threat, then, as if joking, bumped fists with Wei Ran next to him.

Klaus shook his head with a hint of helplessness. "Each of us should take a burden with us. We need to get back quickly."

"Listen to you"

Wei Ran and Thomas quietly acknowledged each other's excuse to end the conversation, then separated and quickened their pace, each with a war correspondent.

When they returned to the building they had looted, less than ten minutes had passed.

Along the way, apart from the two robbers that Klaus casually killed, they had no chance to fire a shot and naturally went unnoticed by anyone.

You will depart in five minutes.

After entering the first floor guarded by machine guns, Thomas urged, "We'll go upstairs to cover you, boys. No matter who falls, the rest of you mustn't stop. I know it's cruel."

"We don't have that much time to waste on lecturing."

As Klaus spoke, he began to walk upstairs, saying, "Whoever falls, I will immediately shoot him and give him a quick death."

Whoever tries to help him up, I will give them a quick death.

So your only chance is to run, as fast and quietly as possible, follow that idiot with the bandage on his head toward the tunnel.

“Run to the tunnel and you’ll survive,” Dragan warned. “Don’t waste this opportunity.”

At this point, Thomas and the two wanted reporters they rescued all hurried upstairs, leaving behind only the young men and women, and the reporter with a bandage wrapped around his head and a nervous expression.

"Stay close to me then."

On the first floor of the building, a war correspondent with a bandage wrapped around his head glanced at his watch, and while taking off his extra belongings, reminded them, "Kids, don't waste this precious opportunity."

On the second floor, the two rescued reporters took over the guns and took on the task of guarding the stairwell.

On the fourth floor, Thomas pointed a gun at Alf's back, saying, "You know what to do."

"I know, of course I know," Alf said nervously; he really didn't want to die.

Continuing upwards, on the 16th floor of the building, Wei Ran, Dragan, and Klaus, who had just climbed up, each set up their sniper rifles, panting heavily.

Just like during the day, Wei Ran and Dragan used SSG69 and M76 sniper rifles respectively, both equipped with silencers.

But Klaus was using the M82A1, and he was even aiming at the enemy's mortar positions outside the city.

All three of them knew very well that this anti-materiel weapon was the only means to draw enemy fire and attention when absolutely necessary.

"I hope we don't have a chance to fire," Dragan prayed as he chambered the round.

I hope so too.

As Klaus spoke, he also loaded a bullet into the weapon in his hand.

"Those who shoot living people are all addicts."

Wei Ran muttered to himself as he pushed a bullet into the chamber.