War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1943 Those who survived, those who stayed, and those who came to us.

On the dimly lit street, Luna and her five companions, carrying captured AK rifles and accompanied by a war correspondent with a bandage wrapped around his head, hurriedly ran along the shadows of the buildings toward the tunnel.

They didn't have much time, and the children who had been abused couldn't run very fast.

Even so, they still supported and pulled each other as they ran wildly through the streets fraught with countless dangers.

Because of the lack of lighting, and because of the debris and even corpses scattered on the streets, young men and women would occasionally slip and fall.

But soon, they were pulled up by their companions, and throughout the entire ordeal, Klaus, who was hiding upstairs, never fired a single bullet at them.

"boom!"

At this critical moment, a gunshot rang out in the distance, and at the same time, one of the people in the running group fell to the ground.

"left!"

Klaus, who had been holding up the binoculars, immediately spotted the target. "What? It's the Daily News building again? Quick! Waist height!"

"Found it!" Dragan shouted, pulling the trigger with renewed vigor.

Before the spent cartridge from the sniper rifle in his hand could even fly out, Wei Ran followed suit and pulled the trigger, accurately hitting the observer holding binoculars next to the sniper who had just fired.

"How could there be a sniper there?" Klaus asked.

"Go downstairs and ask the communications soldier we caught."

As Wei Ran loaded the second bullet into the chamber, he said, "We'll keep an eye on this side."

"Okay," Klaus said decisively, getting up and running out of the area.

"How much longer?" Dragan asked.

Less than five minutes left.

Wei Ran glanced at his digital watch, then, while surveying the dilapidated buildings in his line of sight through binoculars, said, "They're very close now, less than two hundred meters away. They'll definitely make it in time."

"Bang!" Dragan pulled the trigger again at that moment.

“There are snipers inside the Daily News building,” Dragan warned.

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran immediately grabbed his gun and aimed it.

"We need to restart."

"boom!"

Before Dragan could finish speaking, an explosion occurred inside the Daily News building, followed by a billowing fireball.

"That is."

Several booby traps

As Wei Ran spoke, he raised his gun and, against the backdrop of the still-smoldering flames, began sniping at the people inside the building, explaining softly, "A few grenades, some fuel."

I'm becoming increasingly curious about your background.

"I'm tracking those young men through the scope," Dragan said softly, his tone even carrying a hint of pleasure.

The explosion came at a very opportune time. The newspaper building had already attracted enough attention, which was undoubtedly a perfect opportunity for the young people who were still running towards the tunnel.

"You're not just an IM person, are you?"

Wei Ran changed to a spare magazine and continued searching for enemies in the building, saying confidently, "Klaus might be an IM, but you definitely aren't."

Whether it's true or not doesn't matter anymore.

As Dragan spoke, he pulled the trigger, accurately sniping a blurry figure who was trying to stop the young people.

"It's really not important."

Before Wei Ran could finish speaking, an even louder explosion came from a closer location—the explosives in the ruins of the building that had rescued the three reporters had detonated on schedule.

He turned his gun around and glanced in the direction of the tunnel. Fortunately, most of the young men and women had already gone into the building.

"What are they doing? Who are they?"

Dragan pressed on, by which time the two sides were already very far apart. Due to the limitations of their scopes and night vision devices, they could see that someone had left the group, but they couldn't tell who it was.

"Never mind who it is, cover them." Wei Ran suppressed his unease and quickly searched for any possible targets.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Alf, who was being held at gunpoint by Thomas, began responding to radio inquiries about the recent explosion.

After learning that the two journalists who were wanted were killed in the explosion, the person on the other end of the radio station inquired about the bombing of the newspaper office building.

Yalf naturally said he was unaware of this and that he would send someone over to check as soon as possible.

The person on the other end of the radio immediately said they would find a way to kill the "murderer" as soon as possible.

Naturally, Alf immediately agreed and said he would arrange to silence him soon.

After the communication was disconnected, Thomas asked with a smile, "Alf, do you think you'll be silenced in the end?"

"By you?" Alf asked.

"I am a journalist"

Thomas patted the other person's cheek. "Your life is useful to me, but it might not be so useful to Deyang. Think about it carefully."

Ignoring the flustered Alf, Thomas picked up his gun, grabbed the radio, and headed downstairs.

Meanwhile, Klaus, having completed the urgent interrogation, ran upstairs. "That address book doesn't know anything about the Daily News building either. Who are those two people?"

"I don't know yet."

Wei Ran explained, "It was two of the young people who followed the retreat; they came back."

"I knew those newbies were fucking idiots and a burden!"

Klaus cursed angrily and meanly, "Just as stupid as that innocent little angel, Dragan."

"Where are you going?" Dragan asked helplessly, caught in the crossfire.

"Where the hell are you going?!"

As Klaus spoke, he ran out of the sniper position, shouting furiously, "I'm going downstairs to meet those two damn rookies!"

"What a kind gentleman."

While searching for any potential threats that might endanger the two newbies, Wei Ran asked jokingly with a hint of inquiry.

"We were previously stationed in Croatia."

After a moment of silence, Dragan replied, "He was in charge of training some new recruits at the time, all of them young lads."

"And then?" Wei Ran asked after a moment of silence.

That was the end of it.

After Dragan pulled the trigger and fired a bullet, he said, "There are a lot of gays in Deyang. A young guy was played to death by a few gays."

After a brief pause, Dragan continued, "Klaus is actually a very simple person. Besides being the instructor of those rookies, he is also a very good friend of theirs."

So he castrated those gay men, and in return, he was sent here.

"You didn't help?"

“If I hadn’t helped, I wouldn’t have come here,” Dragan shook his head helplessly. “How could I not help?”

Let's change the subject.

As Wei Ran spoke, he also pulled the trigger, accurately hitting a figure who rushed out from the roadside, trying to stop the two "newbies".

"What's the problem?" Dragan asked after pulling the trigger and shooting another figure who was trying to kidnap the rookie.

"Are you two married?" Wei Ran asked as he chambered his gun. "Do you have any children?"

"Are we so familiar that we can talk about this kind of topic?" Dragan asked with a smile.

"We might die here soon," Wei Ran said nonchalantly.

"Klaus was married twice, but both marriages ended in divorce. Each of the women left him with a son and a daughter."

Dragan lowered his voice considerably this time, "If it weren't for those two kids, he wouldn't have become a mercenary."

"And you?" Wei Ran pressed.

"I did have a wife before, but we didn't have any children."

Dragan casually remarked, "She's a Stasi, a Stasi who works for the Soviet Union."

"so."

She disappeared before the Soviet Union declared its collapse.

Dragan's tone was flat. "She said her job was done."

"So you work for the Stasi?"

Wei Ran became increasingly certain, "Ordinary IMs are not worth the Soviet swallows landing on." "I refuse to answer," Dragan said after another moment of silence.

"The Soviet Union is gone, and so is the Berlin Wall."

Therefore, I refuse to answer.

Dragan replied, "It's all over. I've lost those two rookies' shooting range."

"Let's go down and see which two idiots they are."

Wei Ran didn't ask any more questions. He followed the other person to get up, slung the SSG69 over his shoulder, and headed towards the stairwell.

By the time the two of them grabbed the rope and slid down to the first floor, the two newbies had already run in.

"Why are there just the two of you?"

Wei Ran frowned as he watched Luna run back. The girl who ran back with her was named Sophia, who was the main target Thomas had hired to attack and rescue.

"I am a doctor."

Luna answered matter-of-factly, "There are plenty of medicines here, and plenty of patients waiting for treatment in Sarajevo."

"I am a nurse."

The young woman named Sofia replied, "I cannot leave at this time."

"You two idiots are only capable of..."

“My brother Emil is dead,” Luna said calmly. “He was shot by a sniper.”

It's him?

Wei Ran was taken aback, and the other "veterans" who were originally about to blame the two girls also fell silent.

Let us stay.

Luna said seriously, "If you find it troublesome, you don't need to worry about whether we live or die. I just hope you can give us some of the medicine here."

This winter is so cold, and many people in Sarajevo are sick. I know this idea is naive in this situation, but I still want to help them.

"At the cost of your bodies or lives?" Klaus asked irritably.

"If you really want to do something"

"It's enough that you yourselves are prepared for what might happen if you stay."

Dragan ended the conversation, saying, "Now that you're back alive, let's think about how to live longer."

"We need to fake our deaths too."

Thomas walked down as he spoke, “Deyang has decided to eliminate the three of you. I will probably become Deyang’s target soon as well.”

"We need to have a proper talk before we can proceed."

As Klaus spoke, he looked at the two reporters who had come down a little later.

"We are certain"

"Bang bang bang!"

Before Thomas could finish speaking, the door to the first floor was banged on from the outside.

"You two go upstairs," Wei Ran said, but before he could finish speaking, he had already slipped into the corner of the wall and was ready.

The others reacted just as quickly. After a brief moment of stunned silence, Luna and the girl named Sophia hurriedly ran upstairs to the second floor.

Only after their figures disappeared at the top of the stairs did Thomas quietly walk to the wooden door, hide behind the door frame, and ask in Serbian, "Who is it?"

“We’re here to sell some gifts,” the person outside the door replied in a low voice, suppressing their nervousness.

"Who introduced you?" Thomas continued to ask.

“We were here a week ago,” the person outside the door quickly said.

"Stand with your back to the door and raise your hands." After Thomas finished speaking, he quietly tied a paracord to the door guard.

Once Klaus, who was hiding behind the sandbags, gripped the PKM machine gun and placed his finger on the trigger, Thomas, who was hiding behind the load-bearing wall, pulled the parachute rope to open the door.

At the same time, Dragan, who was hiding behind the load-bearing pillar, shone a beam of light from his flashlight, enveloping the two people at the door.

With the help of this beam of light, everyone could clearly see that there were four people standing outside the door with their hands raised, their backs to them.

They could also see that at the feet of these four people, there was a small body lying on each of them, with a canvas hood over its head. The rope around their necks not only tightened around the thick canvas hoods, but was also firmly stepped on by the four people.

Thomas, who had already taken cover, reminded him to "turn around."

Before he could finish speaking, the four men immediately turned around and, unusually, opened their cotton-padded coats to show everyone the inside of their clothes.

"come in"

After Thomas finished speaking, the four men quickly grabbed the ropes in their hands and pulled the four petite figures inside.

"Crack!"

Thomas closed the door and said with practiced ease, "You know the rules."

"Yes, of course I know."

The four men nodded quickly, completely ignoring the weapons pointed at them, and each untied the ropes around the necks of the "cargo" they had dragged in, and tore off their canvas masks.

As Dragan moved the flashlight in his hand slightly, Wei Ran and the others could see clearly that it was four young girls with terrified expressions.

"Where did you come from?" Thomas asked. "What price are you planning to sell it for today?"

"Their parents were either beaten to death or starved to death."

One of them said cautiously, "We plan to exchange each of these girls for 15 compressed biscuits and a box of anti-inflammatory medicine."

They're not worth that much.

Thomas said, "Besides, you know our rule is that we have to inspect the goods first."

“Of course, of course, we’ve already done many transactions,” one of them quickly replied.

"Mr. T, please take one up first."

Thomas said, "Remember to inspect the goods in front of this gentleman; that's our rule."

“This isn’t the first time I’ve done something like this,” Wei Ran said, beckoning to the person who had just spoken. “Take your goods and come upstairs with me. You go first, and the goods go first.”

Upon hearing this, the man who had just spoken up immediately grabbed the girl who was walking, pulled her up by the collar, and led her up to the second floor under Wei Ran's direction.

"Click!"

Almost as soon as they reached the second floor, Wei Ran snapped the man's neck and covered the young woman's mouth with one hand, whispering in her ear, "Keep quiet, and nod when you hear me."

After a moment of panic, the young girl nodded repeatedly, her gushing tears already dripping onto Wei Ran's hand.

"Don't move here, I'll go rescue the other three."

Wei Ran whispered in the girl's ear again, then nodded slightly to the two war correspondents hiding there with guns in their hands.

Wei Ran carefully released his hand from the girl's mouth. Seeing that she didn't scream, he turned and went downstairs.

"Next"

Wei Ran said with great satisfaction, "The girl who just arrived was much better than the one sent yesterday."

"Let me do it!"

One of the men pulled the girl he was holding onto closer and said, "This girl is still a..."

"What she is, how much she is worth in supplies, is all up to us to decide."

Wei Ran pulled out a captured USP9 pistol and pressed it against the other man's chin as a warning.

“That’s right, that’s right, you guys decide.” The man quickly chimed in.

"You go first."

Wei Ran brandished his pistol, and only after the man started climbing the stairs with his "goods" did he put the pistol back on his waist and follow him up.

This time, Wei Ran did not kill the man. Instead, after their figures were blocked by the corner of the stairs, he pressed the gun against the man's lower back again.

Meanwhile, Dragan and Klaus on the first floor also subdued two other people.

“We just delivered one batch, and now someone is delivering more to our door.”

Klaus muttered irritably, "What is this place? An orphanage?"

"This is a field hospital operated by Deyang."

Thomas sighed softly, "These boarding schools won't disappear before the war ends, and they probably won't even disappear after the war ends."

"Mr. S, or Mr. Executioner, you'll also pay commissions for these unexpected gains, right?" Klaus asked warily as he knocked the prisoner unconscious.

"Of course, I will pay the commission, don't worry," Thomas promised, sounding somewhat helpless.