Chapter 42: Extreme Danger
Our team's nickname is the Plague, and one of them, looking like a madman, charged forward in a frenzy, hugging the corpse and shaking it. The shouting was earth-shaking, and others couldn't stop him no matter how hard they tried to pull him away. The captain looked at them for a moment, then pulled out his military knife from the madman's body, took off the soldier's tag from his neck, put one of them in the madman's mouth, and collected the other with the knife.
"What is he doing?" I asked the butcher beside me.
"Identify the body! We can't take the corpse away now, we'll find a conspicuous place to bury it later. After some days, when we come back to dig it up, the corpse may have rotted. It's also possible that it won't be us who come to dig it up, only this way can we ensure that when we find the corpse, we can identify it as the madman himself." The butcher explained to me, I only knew that identity tags were used to identify corpses, but I didn't know they were used in such a way.
After a while, Mei Du slowly came to from the pain and silently took out an iron shovel to dig a hole in a relatively flat area on the mountain. The beautiful woman and others also took their shovels and went over to help. Before long, they had dug two holes and buried the madman and the government soldier together. I knew that even if we hadn't come, the madman would have still come to reclaim the corpses.
As I watch the dust slowly cover the face of the dead, I stand at the edge of the pit and look at my first fallen comrade. It is only now that I feel like I have experienced a complete life of combat. Training, deployment, gunfire, slaughter, injury, death - this is what makes up a complete war! For the first time, I realize that even though our pack is strong, we are not invincible, but this has only strengthened my conviction to fight and survive.
Survival is built on the death of the enemy! This is the eternal and unchanging law of the battlefield.
"Whoa!" A rustling sound came from the thicket behind, and a werewolf emerged, followed by a large bear holding a wounded enemy. From his clothes, I could tell he was the one I had hit earlier. The bear tossed him forward, and he fell to the ground. Before we could even ask him any questions, Mei Du, who was covering the soil nearby, turned around and saw the man, letting out a loud cry as he charged towards him. With a round swing of his iron shovel, he brutally slashed at the man's face. The man didn't even have time to moan before his skull was cracked open, with half of his brain flying off from his forehead upwards. The mushy brain matter spilled out without any protection from the meninges, flowing down the bridge of his nose and covering his entire face. Due to the excessive force used, the man remained kneeling for half a minute before finally collapsing forward, his brain spilling out of his skull like a piece of tofu, rolling far away before coming to a stop on the ground.
"Ugh! Ugh!" The nearby Wan'er and several nuns immediately vomited, Yang Jian, who was also by their side, looked pale as he patted Wan'er's back while sneaking a glance at the corpses on the ground.
After chopping off the captive's skull, Mei Du was still not relieved, and he swung his iron shovel at the dead man's remaining half-head, hitting it hard.
"Bang! Bang!" The sound of the iron spade hitting the skull was incessant, with such great force that even the corpse's body jumped up with each blow. Mei Du hit it dozens of times in one breath, until the entire head was smashed flat.
"Don't hit anymore! Don't hit anymore!" Wan'er's voice came over, small like a cat's cry. I turned my head to see her covering her face and kneeling on the ground, crying and shouting. Yang Jian and Li Ming were persuading him on one side while making eye contact with me, signaling me to hurry up and stop Mei Du from further abusing a dead person.
I was wondering if I would be slapped in the face by Mei Du at this time, when the captain shouted: "Stop! Lieutenant Mei Du, you bastard! Stop for me!" The captain went up to pull him away, but was pushed back and fell on his butt.
Mei Du swung the iron shovel again, ready to strike, when Butcher rushed over and punched him in the face, sending him flying more than a meter away. Mei Du got up, swinging his fists, and struck Butcher's face with such force that it sent Butcher's large head flying. The two men exchanged blows, punching each other fiercely, as a group of people tried to pull them apart but couldn't. Suddenly, Mei Du stopped attacking and wrapped his arms around Butcher's waist, burying his head in Butcher's chest and kneeling on the ground, crying out in anguish. His wails were heart-wrenching. Butcher, too, was uncharacteristically gentle, holding Mei Du's head tightly and whispering something in his ear that none of us could hear. Mei Du's cries ceased abruptly, and he slowly stood up, wiping away tears, pulled out a GPS device, locked onto the location, then pulled out the iron shovel, which had become slightly deformed from the dead body, and continued to fill in the hole for the madman.
Looking at the "corpse segments" on the ground, none of us were interested in collecting the bodies. At this time, several nuns and pastors slowly ran over, vomiting as they picked up the corpses on the ground, dug a shallow pit and buried them. Watching these kind-hearted people, I was really helpless. Others want to kill you, but you still collect their bodies for them. If it were me, I wouldn't bother.
Before long, REDBACK supported the monk and followed up. Unexpectedly, the monk's bulletproof vest saved his life again. No wonder their divine assassins, except for REDBACK, all wore bulletproof vests. It turned out that they often got shot! We all calculated it together, and it seems we should also get one. In the past, wearing this thing looked quite scary, but now it seems that if we're lucky enough to be hit by a bullet or something, it can protect our most important parts from being killed in one shot. Let's go back and find Tiancai to discuss it with him. He's cheated us out of so much money, he should at least contribute something!
After everyone buried the bodies, they slowly began to move down the mountain. Slowly passing through the battlefield from earlier, the tear gas had been blown away by the wind, and on the ground there were still wounded soldiers lying on the ground groaning in pain. Slowly passing by their side, Yang Jian and Li Ming picked up the rocket launchers and PK and PKM machine guns that the army had left behind. Then they dismantled other threatening weapons and took away the small parts to prevent those guys from getting these things to attack us.
When we handed the pistols we had picked up to the clergymen standing by, they refused to take them. I couldn't understand this at all - was there really someone who would rather die without resisting? It's a bit foolish!
In the distant jungle behind us, human figures flashed by, unable to be locked onto with our scopes. They were all out of our firing range, following us like shadows. From time to time, they would make strange noises and occasionally fire two shots at us. Since we had a large group and made for an easy target, several bullets narrowly missed some of the people in our midst. We returned fire, but this harassment from a distance that was neither here nor there made many people very nervous. Some refugees who were in the middle of our group and had no experience with gunfire were scared out of their wits, crying and trembling with fear every time a shot rang out. It wasn't until then that I noticed there were many civilians among us. Watching their fragile behavior, I felt an increasing sense of my own bravery, and at the same time, I pitied these weak creatures even more.
The captain chatted with these refugees as he walked, many of whom were Westerners who had come to dig for gold and fled here when the war broke out. The guy shaking as he spoke was an American businessman who sold medicine and had been in Africa for three years, earning a fortune but still not satisfied. He knew that war was about to break out and wanted to make one last big sale of medicine before it started, but ended up getting stuck here. When the old government was overthrown and the new one took power, he was pursued by rebel forces because he had supplied medical supplies to the new government. The government army then kicked him out as they found a bigger supplier, leaving no one to protect him. He fled everywhere until finally escaping to this place.
In the end, he was taken in by the grace of God and we rescued him from the jaws of death without spending a single penny. Now he understands how fragile paper money is in the face of the butcher's knife. His greatest wish now is to return to America to lie in his large bathtub and enjoy a hot breakfast.
The large group of people, after being harassed non-stop, climbed over the second mountain before nightfall. Originally planning to continue advancing overnight, but because 70% of the entire team was injured, and several elderly nuns and pastors had been running for two days and were extremely exhausted, we decided to rest when we reached the bottom of the valley after crossing a river. The river we just crossed was very wide, and by staying on the opposite side of the river, we could see the situation on the other side at a glance, which would at least reduce one direction that needed to be defended. As long as we can hide for another night, we will arrive at the assembly point tomorrow.
This time our defense wasn't too dense, because this morning when we were setting up camp, they threw a hand grenade into the crowd. If it weren't for the assassin using the refugees who had been shot to death to suppress the grenade, at least half of these people would have died. So this time, all of our combat personnel dispersed in a scattered formation far away from non-combat personnel in the middle, deciding to discover and eliminate them before they could threaten the central troops within a certain distance.
But now there are very few people who are completely unscathed, everyone has some injuries to varying degrees. I didn't sleep well last night and had a battle today, my legs are stiff and sore, the wound on my shoulder also makes my arm feel weak and unable to exert force. The captain arranged for me and Butcher to be on duty tonight, we're facing the Henan side's sentry post. We know the captain is aware that we two have injuries, he wants to give us a relatively easier position.
We didn't say much to each other, because we were both injured and our spirits would be affected. If I forced myself and died, it wouldn't be a big deal, but if I dragged down my teammates, even death would be embarrassing, and I'd have no face to see friends in the underworld.
I'm crouching on a tree with my gun, currently at an altitude of fifteen meters, observing the surroundings with night vision goggles. Our people are scattered all around in the nearby woods, and Butcher is hiding in the grass thicket under the tree opposite me. After we confirmed each other's positions through radio communication, the world began to fall silent. To distract the enemy's attention, we also lit a fire in the middle of the woods. The flames stand out starkly against the dark night sky. Now all we're waiting for is for the moth to fly into the flame.
I pulled the vibrating wireless telephone tube fixed on my throat, this thing is not very convenient and a bit big, tied around my neck like a collar. I'll have to let the genius improve it again and make it smaller. After re-adjusting the mouthpiece and securing it to my throat, I pulled up my collar, put on my hat and camouflage net, dropped my sleeves, and as I approached the riverbank, the gusts of river wind brought a lot of dampness that made me feel a bit chilly.
Chewing on the energy bars in his mouth, occasionally taking two sips of water from his pocket, searching around the treetops for any possible danger.
The wind blows by, and the moisture on my face condenses into water droplets. The temperature is dropping now, and I estimate that it might rain tonight. If that happens, it won't be good for us. The sound of the rain will definitely be advantageous to the attacking side. We, who are hiding in the treetops, will easily expose our position in the rain. On the tree on the left, a python slowly crawled over, its body as thick as a bowl, with an obvious bulge from swallowing a mammal. It looks like it's full and doesn't pose any danger! Slowly, it slid to our side, circled around the trunk of the tree above my head, and then suddenly stopped moving!
Danger! Snakes are heat-sensing animals, darkness is no obstacle for them. Just now when it found me, it was like this, looks like it's going to...
I've spotted another creature. In my position, apart from me and the butcher, the closest teammate is the assassin, but not in that direction. I slowly turned my head to observe that direction, and after a while, through the night vision device, I discovered a pair of eyes staring at Li Ming and the others by the fire pit. Those bloodthirsty pupils reflected the light from the fire pit for a moment, and I caught the trace. I slowly stretched out my right hand and knocked on the tree trunk once. The butcher under the tree lightly knocked back through the wireless radio to indicate that he had heard me. I extended three fingers and then pointed upwards with my index finger, indicating that there was an enemy at the 3 o'clock position in the tree. I'm parallel to that person, so if I move, that guy will discover us, leaving only the butcher under the tree as our option.
The butcher tapped the wireless again, indicating that he had received it. I put my hand on the pistol but didn't dare to move, afraid of startling the guy. The guy observed for a while, then slowly pulled out an M4 with a silencer from behind and aimed at Li Ming by the fire heap.
"How come the butcher hasn't made a move yet, I'm so anxious inside. Li Ming can't get into trouble, I agreed to take on this task with such enthusiasm mainly because there's our Chinese team in it, and Li Ming is the most important person in that team. If he slips up, I'll be too ashamed to return home, too ashamed to face my brother! I'm so anxious inside, my hand holding the gun is all sweaty."
As I watched him put his finger on the trigger, I couldn't wait any longer. Slowly, I drew out my pistol. As soon as I moved, the snake next to me sensed it and suddenly shook a branch, causing that guy to look over in this direction. Our eyes met, and with my night vision goggles' magnification function, I could clearly see his pupils dilate for an instant - a physiological reaction of human fear. He had discovered me! No longer bothering to wait for the butcher, I lifted off the camouflage net covered in leaves from my body, raised my gun, and prepared to take him out. He too had already turned the muzzle of his M4 around to aim at me.
It's now or never! I didn't have time to think of a plan, my mind was a complete blank. Just as I was thinking of taking him down with me even if it meant getting shot, two hands appeared from behind him. One covered his eyes and the other hand held a knife that stabbed into his neck and then pulled, cutting off his head. Then, I saw the butcher's vicious face emerge from behind him, licking his lips. Damn! He actually had time to do this kind of thing, almost got me killed! But I didn't dare make a sound, could only glare at him fiercely. Unexpectedly, he glared back at me with a fierce expression, damn! Is there no justice in this world? The one who did wrong is still so arrogant!
Just as the two of us were staring at each other, suddenly "Boom! Boom!" Two loud explosions, one tear gas grenade and one smoke bomb hit our team in the middle. This time it was a big explosion, the smoke bomb wasn't a big deal, but the tear gas was unbearable. The people in the middle were choked and couldn't stand it, they instinctively ran outwards. And the smoke bomb blinded our night vision goggles. How sinister! This time, the people under the tree were exposed first, many people were choked and left their positions. People on the trees downwind also couldn't stand the pungent smell of chloroacetophenone and coughed loudly, exposing their targets. Then, gunshots could be heard in several places, and there were cries for help on the radio.
Damn it! Now we're at a disadvantage, they're in the light and we're in the dark. The ones who were secretly calculating others have been secretly calculated themselves. These people are really something else! No wonder they're called the elite of American elites, damn it!
As I gazed at the chaotic scene under the tree, my butcher and I held our breaths, not daring to move. We were upwind near the riverbank, so the tear gas didn't drift in our direction. Just as I was trying to identify friend from foe, "Boom! Bang!" A flashbang grenade and a concussion grenade exploded right in the middle of the tree cluster. The intense flash blinded me, turning my vision white, while the deafening roar of the concussion grenade pierced through the silent night air, its shockwave stabbing into my eardrum like a needle, striking my semicircular canals. I lost my balance and tumbled down from the tree, both blind and deaf.
The feeling of falling from a great height reminds me that I am now 15 meters above the ground, and if I fall directly, I will die. With the instinct of living beings, my hands start to grab around randomly, like a drowning person trying to grab a straw. There are many vines in the jungle, and unintentionally, I grabbed one with all my might, and my body paused in mid-air for a moment. However, the vine was too thin to bear my weight and broke, causing me to fall heavily to the ground again. Fortunately, the vine dissipated most of the impact of my fall, or I would have died directly.
Even so, I almost flipped out, I took off my night vision goggles and rubbed my eyes hard, then looked around, a white sheet! Am I blind?! I panicked! But I didn't dare to shout, bearing the extreme panic in my heart, biting my lip, I stretched out my hand to feel around, soon I touched a tree, I slowly crawled over. The bushes beside me transmitted intense explosions and the feeling of bullets flying by, but there was no sound in my ears, only a humming noise.
I was stunned, I won't be deaf too, will I? I touched my right ear and found that there was blood flowing out, and I couldn't hear anything. I snapped my fingers on the side, and it felt like there was only a little bit of feeling, as if there was a partition door in between.
My heart is filled with unprecedented panic, I don't know what to do. Now that we're both deaf and blind, there are over a dozen ruthless killers closing in on us. My teammates must be in the same state as me. If we've all become deaf and blind, then we can only wait to be slaughtered. Suppressing the intense nausea caused by the stun grenade, I drew my pistol and military knife from my waist, but I didn't know how to use them. I was plunged into the most extreme panic of my life!
Click to view picture link: PK machine gun
