War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1948 The Bad Kids Outside of School
"Pfft!"

At the alley entrance, a tail that had followed into the alley hadn't even had time to adjust to the darkness, let alone turn on its flashlight, when a long Mauser bayonet was plunged into its neck. It eventually lost its strength and collapsed to the ground against the wall.

A moment later, Wei Ran grabbed the corpse by the feet and dragged it outside the alley, throwing it into the shadow of a building across the street.

He had no way of discerning or judging whether the other person was guilty, whether he was following him, or whether he just happened to be going the same way, and he didn't even want to guess whether he had family to support.

If he wants to protect the children in that school, cleaning up all the mess is his only option.

Almost at the same time he settled the body, Thomas and the others returned with their "Orient Express".

Without any communication, Wei Ran simply glanced at her before stepping forward with his gun in hand.

He had clearly seen it in that fleeting glance: the sniper rifle on Klaus's shoulder and the PKM machine gun in his hand were gone, and the weapons on the Orient Express were also gone.

Soon after, Thomas caught up with Wei Ran. They formed a defensive formation, guns drawn, to provide cover for each other.

"What's going on inside?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice in French.

“Old Man Mikhail and a few older boys blocked the entrances and exits with guns. They were all equipped with night vision goggles that they had brought with them.”

Thomas replied in a low voice, "And Klaus even helped them install two directional mines at the entrance."

"Let's speed up," Wei Ran said, quickening his pace.

If some people coveted the supplies they might have when they arrived, far fewer people had that thought when they left. It even seemed that there were fewer people standing on the street and more lying down.

Is it Dragan?

Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He could almost guess that, just as he had to shoot and kill those tails to ensure the children's safety, Dragan had probably already cleared the street in advance—by using the method of sucking silk.

With a silent sigh, Wei Ran and Thomas led their team into Dragan's firing range, and then into the first floor of the hotel.

"How's the situation here?"

As Wei Ran entered, he asked, "Something went wrong?"

Sofia immediately said, "Someone just came to sell goods."

"Where is he?" Wei Ran asked immediately.

"On the second floor"

Dragan answered the question, "Mr. T, you can add two more carriages to your Orient Express."

“This is great news”

As Wei Ran spoke, he quickly went upstairs and saw a boy and a girl who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, as well as two middle-aged men with bruises on their faces.

"I want to participate in the cargo delivery too!"

The girl who stayed behind to operate the directional mines said, "I've already taught them."

We haven't learned it.

The two young people said in unison, "But we can carry things, so let us help transport some things too. We know that school, and we even know Teacher Ivana."

“It’s me, kids. It’s so good to see you two still alive.”

Mrs. Ivana, who arrived a little later, had already embraced the two children as she spoke.

Are they your students?

While distributing water to everyone with Sophia, Wei Ran asked.

“I didn’t teach them, but they are the children of a teacher at the school, and they are twins.”

Ivana explained as if she had found a lost treasure, "Children, where did you go? I thought..."

“After our parents died, our maternal grandfather took us away.”

The little boy, speaking as if accusing a man with a bruised and swollen face, said, "It was my good uncle who sold us here!"

They will receive some minor punishment.

As Wei Ran spoke, Dragan skillfully covered the "uncle's" mouth, allowing Wei Ran to pry open his elbows, wrists, and even shoulder joints. Then, he wrapped a Russian-style defensive grenade around his back with duct tape.

"Who's the other one?"

While Dragan was controlling the second seller, Wei Ran pried open the uncle's jaw joint and forcefully stuffed a towel inside while asking questions.

He was my grandfather's neighbor.

The little boy exclaimed in terror, "He eats people! I've seen him eat babies! He ate my uncle's child!"

I will take special care of you.

As Wei Ran spoke, he walked to the neighbor's side and slowly loosened all the joints in his hands.

In the midst of the intense pain and futile struggle, he uncontrollably wet his pants in fear.

They also removed his chin, stuffed it with a towel, and wrapped it with tape.

He had just finished his work, and the rest of the team had almost finished resting.

"This batch includes food, medicine, fuel, and grenades."

As Dragan spoke, he distributed backpacks to everyone. At the same time, Wei Ran attached the carriage he had just acquired to his Orient Express.

"How is the girl?" Wei Ran asked finally.

“Still alive, but not in good condition,” Sofia replied immediately.

"Alf, think of something."

Wei Ran patted Alf on the back of the head, "If that girl can survive, you can survive too."

"Mmm!" Alf cried out incoherently, his mouth gagged.

"Okay, okay."

As Wei Ran spoke, he carried a fuel drum full of fuel on the other person's back.

After quickly finishing their instant fruit juice, Wei Ran and Thomas led their team off again, this time with two more people and two more "carriages," heading towards the school once more under Dragan's cover.

This time, they moved much faster than on the first trip.

Even so, when they were still a hundred or two meters away from the alley, a gunshot suddenly rang out from the direction of the school!
broken!

Wei Ran and Thomas exchanged a glance, then immediately quickened their pace.

At the same time, Thomas also began to be wary of potential enemies that might appear on his left and right.

"Da da da!"

Just as Wei Ran reached the alley entrance, the distinctive firing of a PPSh submachine gun came from the other end of the alley.

“This is a school, only children are inside. You’d better get out of here, or I won’t hesitate to kill you,” Mikhail shouted from the other end of the alley.

"We just want to pick a few girls to take with us."

In the alley, a voice, filled with the unbridled chaos of a collapsed order, said, "Old man, I only want the prettiest student, otherwise I'll..."

Before the man could finish his threat, Wei Ran, who had run to the alley entrance, opened fire, spraying bullets that engulfed him and his three companions.

“Old Man Mikhail, it is I, Victor, the Victor who was awarded the medal by you.”

As Wei Ran spoke, he turned on his flashlight and shone it on his face before looking at the men he had shot dead.

However, he frowned at just one glance.

Although the four men were dressed like civilians, one of them was carrying a large Soviet-style anti-tank mine on his back!

What's even more dangerous is that this landmine was modified with a grenade pull-ring fuse!

"I see you! Turn off your flashlight!" Old Man Mikhail shouted hurriedly.

Wei Ran did as instructed, but also picked up the large round plate and called to the people who were rushing over behind him to follow immediately.

Once everyone except those on the Orient Express had entered the building, Thomas began asking questions before anyone else.

"He's a Khmer who lives nearby."

Mikhail explained with a hint of helplessness, "His father and I were friends. Before the war started, we often drove together to the river to fish."

"Are they the four brothers?"

Ivana frowned, clearly knowing who Mikhail was referring to.

"So it was just an accident?" Wei Ran pressed.

The four brothers lived in that building not far away.

Mikhail pointed in a direction, "Looking from their building towards us, it's less than a hundred meters at most. I guess they must have seen something before they came over."

"I'll go check it out later."

Wei Ran took the initiative to say, "Thomas, Klaus, you two take the Orient Express and continue transporting goods."

Mrs. Ivana, it seems you'll have to stay and help with the defense for now.

Our shipment tonight may have already attracted attention; our priority now is to hold this position.

"Okay," Thomas was the first to agree.

Without further ado, Wei Ran found out where the four brothers were hiding, grabbed his weapon, and turned to leave, also taking the large round plate with him as he left the alley.

Objectively speaking, he is much more "free" without the "burden" of Thomas.

He was particularly comfortable in such a nighttime environment.

That's why he ran faster and faster through the piles of ruins.

Before the school could even finish unloading the cargo and get the Orient Express going again, Wei Ran had already found the building where the four brothers were hiding.

This was a seven-story residential building. The door on the first floor was locked tightly with an iron chain, and the windows from the first to the third floor were sealed shut with bricks and other materials. *Click*

Wei Ran took out wire cutters and cut the iron chain on the first-floor door, then hid to the side and opened the iron door.

After a short while, he quickly peeked out, then leaned out again, holding his gun, and walked into the residential building.

The doors to the four rooms on the first floor of this residential building were tightly shut and held in place by logs as thick as a thigh, making it impossible to open them from the inside.

The same thing happened when we went up to the second and third floors.

Up to the fourth floor, a cotton quilt curtain appeared at the top of the stairs.

Gently lifting the curtain, Wei Ran peeked inside using night vision goggles, then shook his head helplessly.

There was someone in the stairwell, which was relatively safer than the room. A thick mattress was laid on the floor, and on the mattress, a girl wrapped in a blanket was handcuffed to the stairwell railing, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Wei Ran walked through the curtain into the stairwell, and the girl didn't even react.

Looking at the security door on the fourth floor, which was also blocked by wooden sticks, Wei Ran squatted down beside the blanket and reached out to check the girl's breath. She was still alive, probably only physically.

After passing through another curtain and continuing upstairs, I found another girl imprisoned on the fifth floor. This girl was even younger, but her belly was noticeably protruding.

Fortunately and unfortunately, she is still alive.

The doors to the four rooms on this floor were not barred with wooden sticks, and the keys were still in the doors.

After listening intently to each of the security doors for a moment, Wei Ran gently turned the key and opened the first security door.

The room wasn't very big, but the living room was piled with coal and firewood, and even various books collected from who-knows-where.

Silently closing the door, I opened the second room, which contained clothes that were clearly taken from dead bodies, some even bearing blood-stained bullet holes.

At the third door, Wei Ran shook his head. He finally understood why Thomas had taken the interviewer.

This room was practically a small clinic, with boxes and boxes of all kinds of medicines piled up inside.

In addition, on a separate table were items such as banknotes, jewelry, and watches. On the floor, there were also a considerable amount of relief supplies that appeared to have been airdropped by the United States.

Upon opening the door to the last room, Wei Ran couldn't help but shake his head. Inside, there were more than a dozen AK rifles, a number of police firearms, a basin full of grenades, and even several anti-tank mines of unknown origin.

Where did they get these codes? Wei Ran shook his head to himself and turned to walk up to the sixth floor.

There were no more girls on this floor, but there was a table and a stove with a charcoal fire burning. In the hallway, besides boxes of various kinds of liquor, there were also packs of cigarettes, some dry batteries, and a radio.

The rooms on this floor were empty and contained nothing of value, except for a few plastic buckets filled with water.

However, after searching, he found a Soviet-made binoculars for the Red Watch Post in a room facing the school.

Looking closer at the mirror, Wei Ran shook his head; the school gate was clearly visible from there.

After temporarily leaving the room, Wei Ran finally went up to the seventh floor.

However, as soon as he arrived on this floor, he smelled a foul odor.

Wei Ran casually pushed open a door, but turned and left immediately. This floor seemed to be used as a toilet.

Going back downstairs, Wei Ran used wire cutters to cut the handcuffs on the two girls.

No matter what he said to them, the two girls, who weren't even dressed, didn't respond at all.

It's already in such a mess, what's the point of fighting anymore!

Wei Ran couldn't help but shake his head. He clearly remembered that in Professor Alexei's history class, when introducing this siege, it was compared side-by-side with the besieged Leningrad and Stalingrad.

But once he was actually in this besieged city, Wei Ran discovered time and again that it was completely different from the two heroic cities that had been besieged half a century ago.

Here
There are too many rats in this dark place; they've become an infestation.

Wei Ran hastily found some clothes for the two young women to wear, then hoisted one of them onto his shoulder and dragged the pregnant woman downstairs, setting up a tripwire at the bottom of the stairs.

After hiding the large round plate he had brought over, Wei Ran picked up the girl who was so light she seemed to weigh less than a cat, and, pulling the other girl along, walked towards the school, nestled in the shadows of the buildings.

When he led the two girls to knock on the door guarded by Mikhail, Mrs. Ivana simply sighed wearily, then called for Luna's help and led the two girls into a cubicle made of blankets at the end of the corridor.

Not long after, Luna returned alone. "Both of them must be pregnant, and they have serious gynecological problems."

"I see"

Wei Ran nodded without saying anything more, and quickly went downstairs to Mikhail's side.

"Can you tell me about those four people?" Wei Ran offered the other person a cigarette.

My friend's son is a veterinarian.

Mikhail let Wei Ran light his cigarette and said calmly, "The other three rascals all escaped from prison after the war started."

“They should be sent to the front lines,” Wei Ran said almost subconsciously.

“That’s very Soviet,” Mikhail said with a smile.

“That’s the only way to demonstrate their value,” Wei Ran said after a moment of surprise.

“At first, he was a good kid, and his wife, who was also a doctor, often came to help us.”

Mikhail said, "Shortly after the war began, his wife committed suicide."

"suicide?"

"Yes, suicide."

Mikhail shook his head and sighed, "She was a good girl, but unfortunately she was a Serb. Because she was a Serb, after bandaging the wounds of some idiots, she was invited to treat those bastards."
Then she committed suicide, walked to the crossroads, and waved her white coat. A sniper, also a Serb, fired a shot at her.

"Then."

"Then her husband stopped treating anyone else."

Mikhail said regretfully, "He started out seeking revenge, but after the revenge was over, he began to do evil."

He's long dead.

"Yes, they died a long time ago."

Mikhail pointed behind him, "I recognized those two girls when you brought them in. They are the daughters of two of the men who hurt his wife."

"you know?"

“In the past, we were either neighbors, colleagues, or friends.”

Mikhail gestured with his hands, "Sarajevo is only so big. If you live here long enough, who won't know who?"
Even if they don't know each other, they must know people in common.

I am 76 years old. After World War II, I worked as a teacher, dean of studies, and principal at this school. After retiring, I became a security guard.

Many of those idiots who kill each other are children I've watched grow up.

"Actually, you're the one suffering the most, aren't you?"

Wei Ran abruptly said, "Watching my students, the children I've watched grow up, hurting each other."

"They were just temporarily led astray by bad kids outside of school."

Mikhail, clutching his PPSh submachine gun, muttered through puffs of smoke, "They'll eventually realize what's happening, they'll come to their senses."

"hope so"

Wei Ran sighed, once again wondering who the bad guys were—aside from that troublemaker from outside the school.

During this agonizing wait, Thomas and Klaus "drove" the Orient Express into the alley once again.

"We brought a lot of fuel this time, and we also brought the generator."

While directing everyone to unload the cargo, Thomas asked in a low voice, "Did you find it over there?"

"found it"

Wei Ran nodded. "There are also a lot of supplies there. Let's go and transport the things over there first. Also, where's Alf?"

“Deyang was calling him, so I left him with Dragan.”

Klaus explained from the side, "But I'm not going to open his joints."

I'll teach you when I have the chance.

Wei Ran understood the other person's implication, "Let's go and retrieve what we just found."

"How long can these things sustain these children?" Klaus asked, as if trying to reassure himself.

“That should be enough for them to hold out until this pointless war ends,” Wei Ran replied instinctively.

"When will this war end?" Klaus asked instinctively as well.

"I don't know," Wei Ran shook his head. He knew when the war would end, but he didn't know how long these children would live.

That's not enough.

Klaus said somewhat stubbornly, "I just discussed it with O and Dragan. If those children can't be evacuated, then those supplies probably won't be enough to last until the end of the war."

"So?" Wei Ran pressed.

"We are mercenaries."

Klaus said with a smile, "Although mercenaries are not protected by the Geneva Convention, we also don't need to take sides or have any stance."

"go on"

"Robbing the underground black market"

Klaus had a brilliant idea: "Let's rob those who hoard supplies."

"Mr. T, this is an emergency call."

Just then, Dragan's Russian voice came through the radio that Wei Ran had been carrying on his back.