Chapter 19 Chapter 19

Li Zan and Song Ran continued to rush.

The road conditions in the back-range road were extremely poor. Many sections of the road were damaged in the war, and the forward speed also dropped rapidly.

Under the high temperature, the road is bumpy, the scorching heat and fatigue test people's endurance.

After walking for several hours, scattered buildings gradually appeared on the wasteland in the distance. The houses were covered with sandy yellow bunkers, the exterior walls were covered with incompleteness, and some were blown off the roof. Continue to move forward, the outline of the big city was outlined in the horizon, accompanied by the vague sound of cannons.

The two looked at each other and knew that Hapo City was ahead.

Li Zan picked up his helmet and hat and held it on Song Ran's head; he subconsciously clasped the gun and said, "Go to the south."

"Um."

Wars were flying in the north and east of the city, and the sound of cannons could be heard from afar. After a while, you could see the thick smoke exploding from the horizon.

Song Ran dared not relax and drove around the south of the city carefully. Along the road, a large number of newly dug tombs gradually appeared, and some of the dead had no place to bury and were exposed to the sun on the side of the road.

As we headed south, the sound of artillery fire was no longer heard. Song Ran could not relax.

No living people were seen on the way, but when the car drove into a street in the southern suburbs, a figure appeared.

Song Ran felt something was wrong, but her hand couldn't help but turn on the camera and put it under the windshield.

The scavengers were ragged in rags, with disheveled hair, wandering on the street like ghosts. The elderly, men, women, and children were all dirty and down, wandering aimlessly, or curling up in the corner.

When the car passed by, the eyes of these people also slowly turned, but there was no trace of glory.

A sad and creepy atmosphere filled the streets deeply.

Song Ran felt distressed and grabbed the steering wheel and slowly moved forward.

A woman holding a child appeared on the road ahead. The long-term hunger made her hands thin into bamboo poles. The child in her arms was over three years old, and her eyes were bulging out, and she was panting hard in her mother's arms.

Song Ran suddenly stepped on the brakes and without saying a word, he picked up a backpack from the back seat.

Li Zan immediately stopped her: "Wait a minute!" But before she could do it, she opened the door and rushed out of the car with her bag in her arms.

Song Ran took out a bag of bread and milk from the bag and handed it to the woman.

The woman hugged her child tightly, her eyes full of vigilance.

Song Ran tried hard to squeeze out a smile, took apart the plastic bag, inserted a straw into the milk, and handed it to her again.

The woman hesitated to take it over and gave the milk to the child in her arms. The child picked it up and sucked it. The woman tore half of the bread to the child and swallowed it voraciously.

Song Ran couldn't bear it, so she took out a bag of bread from her backpack.

"Reporter Song!" Li Zan got out of the car and shouted at her.

Song Ran turned around and saw that the scavengers around him surrounded him at some point. Men, women, young and old were haggard. Their natural deep eye sockets were sunken due to hunger. They stared at the food in Song Ran's hand, stretched out their skinny hands, and slowly approached. Just like the zombies walking in Hollywood blockbusters.

A chill arose in Song Ran's heart. He stood there and did not dare to move. He called out softly: "Officer Li..."

Li Zan quickly ran to her side in two or three steps, held her wrist tightly and pulled her behind her, turning around to face the people who were slowly walking.

But there were people coming around, and no side was safe. Li Zan was afraid of causing chaos, so he did not bring a rifle, and only had a pistol behind his waist. He carefully pressed the stock with his hands and was ready at any time.

Song Ran also handed his back to Li Zan and looked at the crowd slowly surrounding him with caution.

The first one to approach was a middle-aged man, almost the age of Song Ran’s father. He pointed to the backpack in Song Ran’s hand, and a begging expression was squeezed out on his old face, and he begged to her with his hands folded.

Song Ran looked at Li Zan tremblingly and asked for his consent. Li Zan pursed her lips and nodded. Song Ran gave him a bag of bread. The man held the bread, bowed deeply, and walked slowly.

The crowd lined up behind him.

Li Zan let go of Song Ran's wrist. She immediately zipped the backpack to the maximum and took out all the bread inside and sent it to them one by one. The person who received the bread bowed deeply, and an ignorant child was also pressed down by her mother.

Song Ran could not bear their humble gratitude and did not dare to look at them at all.

But her bags are not large, and she only has seven or eight bags. She is empty all at once.

Li Zan said: "I still have some compressed cookies."

He quickly walked towards the car. There were guns and ammunition in the car. He locked the car just now, just now, just now, just now, unlocked it and searched in his marching bag.

Song Ran also opened the trunk and took out a bag of bulk snacks he had taken from the station.

However, the water drops.

When Song Ran held biscuits and was distributing snacks to everyone, her heart felt cold. She didn't dare to face the group of people lined up behind the team.

"Wait a little longer." She ran to the back seat and found a few pieces of melted chocolate, a bag of peanuts, a bag of candy and plums, and sent them all out.

Someone left with food. The remaining hungry people were still standing in place with hope, looking at them quietly, looking at them quietly, full of desolation.

Li Zan's voice was low, and he could hardly raise his head, saying, "I'm sorry, there is no more."

"I'd better look for it again." Song Ran ran to the side of the car again and found the trunk backpack from the back seat from the luggage bag in the back seat. All the luggage was turned upside down.

"No more. Sorry." She suddenly choked up, and tears came out as soon as she spoke. Tears fell down. She lowered her head and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I'm really gone. Sorry."

God knew how much she hoped that all the clothes in her bag would turn into bread at this moment. But there was nothing, and even the bag compartment was turned over. Even if she gave her another bag of potato chips.

"I'm sorry, it's really gone." She didn't dare to look at them, but just lowered her head and stubbornly flipped over the bag, tears falling down.

The scavengers knew there was no hope and walked away slowly with their weak legs in silence.

Song Ran didn't look at them, and was still rummaging through the bag, as if he couldn't stop after getting the clockwork.

"Stop looking for it." Li Zan walked forward and pulled her away from the front of the trunk. Her head was tucked low and she didn't say anything. He pulled her to the front of the car and stuffed it into the co-pilot.

Li Zan returned to the trunk and his eyes were red. He lowered his head and wiped his nose hard, put away the bag inside, covered the lid, and walked into the driver's seat.

He sat for half a minute and turned his head to look; Song Ran stopped crying, and looked out the car window with an empty expression.

Li Zan started the car silently.

After several streets were opened, Song Ran suddenly asked: "Do you remember the day the explosion in Garo City?"

Li Zan said: "Remember."

"At that time, you were in the hospital, and you asked me why I cried?" Song Ran said, "because I felt it hurts."

Li Zan was very quiet and waited for her to say.

"I saw a girl's hand breaking and her bones were exposed. I felt that my hand was broken in the same position, and the bones were all cold. I saw a hole in my chest, and I felt that my chest was also cramping and still leaking. Do you know that feeling?"

"I understand." Li Zan said, "What I don't understand is... why some people don't feel pain."

...

The city of Hapo is well planned, with wide and flat streets and grand buildings. However, the buildings are damaged from time to time, and waste materials such as cement, sand and soil are covered with the sidewalks.

There were roads everywhere. Li Zan took a detour on the street and had to wait a long time to reach his destination.

Song Ran’s office and residence are in a hotel in the center of Hapo City. This was originally a four-star hotel with an international chain brand. After the war broke out, the hotel was given to the locals at a low price. The boss was no longer open to business, the employees were removed, valuable things, including carpets, and rooms were rented to foreign journalists and various borderless organizations.

Li Zan parked his car in the parking lot inside the hotel and unloaded the motorcycle from the roof.

Song Ran took out large bags of luggage from the trunk. She didn't have many things, but she had a lot of equipment and equipment.

Li Zan remembered something and suddenly asked: "You gave away everything just now, what did you eat?"

Song Ran said: "There are people here who are responsible for their diet."

"That's good."

Li Zan helped Song Ran carry things up. When he entered the lobby to register, he looked around and saw a few militia patrolling with guns on the first floor, and he felt a little relieved.

Walking into the stairwell, Song Ran, who was not very energetic all the way, had his eyes slightly lit up: "Is this an elevator?"

On the top five floors of the hotel, there is only an old-fashioned elevator, which should be a product of the last century - an iron gate that shranks horizontally outside and a pink and yellow wooden box elevator car inside.

Song Ran stretched her neck curiously and looked inside. Through the gate, she saw several thick cables hanging up and down from the box. She said, "The first time I saw such an elevator."

"This guy is probably older than us in total." Li Zan said, pushing the iron bars outside horizontally, and remembering something halfway through the push, looking back at her: "Do you want to take a picture?"

Song Ran hesitated for a moment: "...Let's forget it."

Li Zan smiled slightly: "I'm not in a hurry."

"Then I want to take a photo." Song Ran smiled embarrassedly and took out the camera from her bag. Just turned on,

"Oh, I forgot to pat the olive tree." She became frustrated.

Li Zan said: "It's okay, just remember it in your mind. You may not always look it out after taking pictures, but you can recall it at any time."

Song Ran was comforted in an instant and said, "But it's really magical. The mirage should be the original color of the scenery. Is there really a white olive grove in some place?"

"Maybe there is really, who knows?" Li Zan dragged the boxes big and small back and gave way to her.

After she finished taking the photo, he pushed open the door and opened the wooden door on the inner floor. The space inside was small, and a few luggage occupied half of the space. He pulled up the iron gate, closed the wooden door, and then pressed the button: "What floor?"

“Fourth floor.”

He looked at her: "When you take the elevator, remember that the iron gate outside must be closed, otherwise the elevator will not move."

"Yeah." She nodded, after a while, and whispered, "Why do you know everything?"

Li Zan was stunned, and was a little embarrassed, and said with a smile: "I have seen such an elevator."

“Eh? Where?”
To be continued...