TWOT Chapter 2

 

The man supported himself with both hands, and jumped to his feet from the ground. He patted the dust off his head and shoulders, sweeping a glance at Song Ran.

 "Are you alright?”
 

“I'm okay." Song Ran slowly sat up. The loud noise of the explosion shocked her, making her confused and slow to react.

He said, "Take it easy for a while, don't be in a rush to get up.”

“En." Song Ran nodded. Her heart was beating so intensely that it felt like it was going to explode out of her chest.

The air on the ground was at a boiling temperature, burning like fire.

It was too hot.

It was near the afternoon and there was not even a gust of wind.

She pulled off her mask, hastily wiping her head and neck which were full of sweat.

He walked to one side to examine the bomb fragments.

Song Ran's heart rate hadn't yet calmed down, her whole face was burning, and she subconsciously wiped the dust off her face again.

Another sergeant came over and asked, "Where do you work as a reporter?”

Song Ran said, "Liangcheng satellite television."

The other party found it very odd, "How could they let a woman go to the front lines alone to work?"

Song Ran said, "I didn't come here for interviews. I came here to find someone."

"The situation has already reached this stage and you're still running north?”

"I came to find my friends. They're taking me to Gamma.”

The other party understood and said, "Be careful along the way. The situation here is unpredictable; there have been small skirmishes outside the city.”
 

Song Ran nodded, "I will. Thank you.”

Standing up, she walked to the side of the motorbike and unconsciously looked back at the man called "Azan". He was currently crouching on one knee, holding a bomb fragment in his hands. Half of his face was exposed above the black mask, revealing a high nose bridge and a pair of tall straight eyebrows.

She felt an inexplicable sense of melancholy, and withdrew her gaze. She had just climbed onto the motorbike and was about to start it up, when she heard a gentle voice. 

"Where is your friend located?

Song Ran looked back, following the sound. It was him.

He was still squatting on the ground. He tilted his head to look up at her, squinting his eyes slightly. His pupils were very bright.

Song Ran's eyes flew to the brim of his hat and said, "Harris Hotel."

Foreign journalists were stationed over there.

He glanced at his watch and asked, "What time is the appointment?”

"Half-past ten.”

"It's too late." He reminded kindly.

Song Ran took out her mobile phone, it was ten twenty-nine.

She muttered to herself, "I'll just have to ride my motorbike to Gamma by myself then."

He threw up the piece of shrapnel in his hand and caught it again. A kind smile flashed in his eyes, "Do you know the direction?”

“……”

There was no signal on her phone so she couldn't look at the map, as for the foreign characters on the landmarks, she couldn't recognise them.

She looked up at the position of the sun and made a rough estimate, "The south is probably over there. If I'm lucky, I might be able to catch up with the fleeing traffic.”

He threw away the fragment in his hand, then patted the dust of his pants and stood up to ask, "Do you have your passport here?”

Song Ran touched the large pocket on the outside of her pants, "It's here.”

"There is a group of overseas businessmen and expatriates in the city who are leaving today. You should go along with them.”

Half an hour later, Song Ran arrived at the Zhongfu industrial area, which was on the south western outskirts of Surui city.

Zhongfu was the largest Chinese-funded company in the central region of Dong Guo. It mainly engaged in scientific research, telecommunications, infrastructure development and other related industries. Now that the situation had worsened and war had broken out, expatriates working and living here had to evacuate and return to their home countries. The Zhongfu industrial area became the assembly point for evacuees in the central region. Since the start of yesterday, Chinese employees and residents from several surrounding cities began to gather there.

When Song Ran arrived at the industrial area, the inside was parked full of buses, while one to two thousand people had gathered in the open space.

Out of occupational habit, she turned on her camera equipment and weaved her way through the cars and crowds of people.

Through the camera lense, she saw men busily loading luggage into the luggage compartments under the buses, as well as women and children, who were presenting their passports for registration while boarding the vehicles. Outside the crowd, middle-aged specialists were communicating urgently with their Dong Guo colleagues. They were holding laptops and written material, talking quickly about work related matters. A large majority of Dong Guo people were either helping to move luggage, or hugging their Chinese colleagues goodbye. Several groups of reporters from different television stations and newspapers were reporting and interviewing in front of cameras.

Song Ran's camera accidentally captured a scene: A Chinese girl had gotten into a car and was holding hands with a young man from Dong Guo through the window. He had a high nose and deep eye sockets. The girl said something with a reluctant expression, and the young man kissed the back of her hand deeply, shaking his head gently.

While filming this, someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was the sergeant from awhile ago; a companion of  'Azan'. He had taken off his mask. His appearance looked dignified, with the unique heroic spirit of a soldier.

"I'll take you over there to register.”

"Okay.”

The sergeant took Song Ran to the side of a bus and explained the situation to the inspectors on the side. She had passed the passport inspection. The sergeant then helped move her equipment box into the luggage compartment.

"Thank you." Song Ran said to him before getting on the bus.

The other party waved his hand, then turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

He came and left in such a hurry that Song Ran had only now just remembered that she had forgotten to ask for any of their names. She had also forgotten to thank the person called 'Azan'.

After getting on the bus, her viewpoint was limited. She looked around in every direction, but could only see several figures in camouflage uniforms walking outside the crowd. Soldiers were maintaining order and urging expatriates to get on the buses.

After a few dozen buses were fully loaded, they set off. Song Ran looked out of the window and searched carefully. All of the soldiers were tall in stature, wearing hats and the same uniforms; many of them also had masks on. It was hard for her to distinguish which one of them was him.

When the bus left the industrial area’s gate, she saw several people in camouflage uniforms standing at the entrance. They were crowded together talking. Among them was a man that was slightly taller than the rest of his colleagues. He had a belt tied around his waist, and his back was ramrod straight. When he saw the bus approaching, he turned slightly sideways and saluted the driver. Above the mask, his eyebrows were very eye-catching.

His companions followed suit and saluted.

Some people on the bus cheered, while some shouted thanks at them.

The sight flashed past.

Song Ran's heart tightened, and she opened the window to look. She thought it was him, but before she could make clear judgement, the bus had already driven away.

In the blink of an eye, the figure had turned into a blind spot and was no longer visible.

Song Ran looked outside for a long time before exhaling involuntarily, and leaned her head heavily on the back of her seat.

To escort the group of expatriates south, military vehicles were spaced at regular intervals in the convoy. She wondered if he would be following.

She looked out the window during the journey: The sky was a deep blue, the sunshine dazzling, the sand and thorny shrubbery dry and arid. She wasn't sure whether it was due to the hot weather, but she felt hot and restless.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, the convoy had reached the halfway mark of the journey and had stopped after arriving at a checkpoint.

The traffic was blocked.

The highway was crowded with cars and people from various countries. They were being stopped at checkpoints and prevented from advancing further. Under the scorching sun, the environment was noisy and deafening; the air filled with the languages ​​of more than a dozen countries. Some people were negotiating with the government troops at the checkpoints, while some were arguing and cursing loudly, others were calling to seek mediation channels, or were frowning and staring blankly.

The scene outside looked panic-stricken and chaotic. People on the bus stretched out their heads to look out with unease.

Song Ran unconsciously looked out the window and saw several figures from her home country pass by in camouflage uniforms. She chased after them with her line of sight, but there was no familiar figure among the people passing by.

After negotiations between the two sides, the checkpoint started to allow the Chinese convoy to advance forward. The buses passed through the checkpoints one by one, with all the passengers getting off the bus first, while the government troops checked the luggage stored on the vehicles. Next was customs, passengers were required to verify their identities with their passports in order to board the bus again.

Song Ran's bus was the twelfth in line, and it was only after waiting for over an hour that it was their turn.

Everyone got off the bus to clear customs. The surrounding people from various countries crowded around like a tidal wave, arguing and gesticulating with official documents. Government troops blocked them with guns. In response to seeing Song Ran and the others being pushed and jostled, a small group of Chinese soldiers formed a protective circle at the checkpoint entrance. They were pulling them towards it, in order to prevent anyone from falling behind and being squeezed out.

The crowd was so packed that it was difficult to even move forward an inch. Song Ran wrist was grabbed by a soldier and was pulled to the checkpoint. The passport in her hand became wrinkled. After the government officer inspected it, he handed it back to her and made a free-to-go gesture.

Song Ran finally passed through, and thankfully did not lose a layer of skin in the process.

She was sweating again as she got onto the bus. Just as she sat down, she heard one of the passengers say, "It will be safe after passing this check point. We still have one and a half hours to get to Gamma.”

“Apparently all flights have been suspended, but a special fleet of planes have been approved to fly back to China. “

"There are so many people, are there enough seats?”

"Don't worry, I just asked an officer and he said that a navy fleet is coming to pick us up.”

"Really? That's great." Everyone looked excited and relieved.

Suddenly someone said, "But the group of soldiers that escorted us here just now aren't going to Gamma."

"Ah? Why?”

"They mentioned that they still have other escort missions. There are still several groups that have not been evacuated yet.”

After a second of silence, someone on the bus rushed to the window and shouted outside, "Thank you!”

Everyone shouted out, "Thank you!”

Outside the checkpoint, a group of soldiers were struggling to maintain order and did not hear them; however inside the checkpoint, several soldiers who were holding documents and negotiating with the Dong Guo government forces had heard them. They looked back and waved their hands in greeting.

It was also at that point in time that Song Ran saw him.

Her heart rate suddenly accelerated, and she almost jumped out of her seat.

He was also looking in this direction, but did not raise his hand in greeting. He then turned around and continued communicating with the government troops. Soon, several of them walked towards the convoy, gesturing and saying something to the drivers of each vehicle. The group of buses in the convoy that had cleared customs started to move.

Song Ran stared at him anxiously. He had a mask covering his face, and was wearing a camouflage combat uniform with a tightly tied belt. His trouser legs were straight and long, tightly tucked into his military boots.

He signaled to the drivers of several buses with a forward gesture, and did a standard military salute. Later, he walked back toward the checkpoint.

Song Ran's bus started to move slowly as she watched him walk over; however he wasn't looking at the bus, but was staring in the direction of the checkpoint, his brows were slightly twisted with a thin layer of sweat, and his black eyes were bright and sharp.

At that moment when the people and cars were passing by each other, Song Ran suddenly shouted, "Hey!”

Her voice was drowned out by the noisy sounds of people speaking in various languages ​​at the checkpoint. Neither he nor his companions looked back.

"Hey!" She called out again, but he still wasn't able to hear her.

She was so anxious that she stretched her head out of the window and shouted fiercely

"A-zan!”

This time around, he turned back, feeling a little puzzled.

As if the heavens was helping her, the bus suddenly stopped temporarily. He was only a few steps away from her.

She quickly took off her mask and headscarf, stretched out her hand toward him, and shouted, "A-zan!”

He looked at her in confusion for two seconds, but still smiled slightly, and took two steps forward, stretching out his hand towards her.

She immediately grabbed onto it tightly. He was wearing black half-finger combat gloves on his hands. The leather material was soft, and his palms were hot and sweaty.

He shook her hand briefly and then let go. At that moment, the bus suddenly started moving, but she was still unwilling to part. She grabbed his wrist reflexively, only to pull a red rope from his hand.

He was stunned for a moment and wanted to step forward to snatch the rope back, but the bus had already separated the two of them and passed the second internal checkpoint.

Song Ran was also stunned. When she came to her senses, his figure could no longer be seen. Only a red rope bracelet used for safety and peace, lay quietly in her palm; it still carried the residual heat of his hand.

It was June the 3rd, ten past three in the afternoon.

Looking back on it later, the day she met Li Zan was a very ordinary day.

That day seemed very mundane. The weather was stifling hot and oppressive. At that point in time, she thought it was one of the most ordinary days in her life.