Outside the cave that was about to be abandoned, Wei Ran and the three of them stood side by side, letting Habibullah hold up a Minolta X700 camera that he found out from somewhere and take a group photo of them.
When Wei Ran's small request was met, the three of them also changed into the robes prepared for them at Mahbubu's urging, and wrapped their heads with headscarves.
Immediately afterwards, Ruslan, whose thigh was injured, rode on a donkey with the help of Hakim, while Weiran and Kirill lifted Ayana who was lying on the stretcher. And her two children,
The two little girls Soraya and Qiaoya were responsible for holding them respectively.
"If you are willing to trust me, let me hold those two babies." Ruslan said proactively.
"No need"
Habibullah said, "You take care of it..."
"I am a father too"
Ruslan said, "My daughters are not as old as the two of them."
"Then how can you bear to fly a helicopter and drop a bomb?" Hakim said sarcastically.
"I am a soldier"
Ruslan said seriously, "I have to obey orders. In addition, I am a mechanic. The main mission of our armed helicopter is rescue, and the pilot and gunner have been killed by you."
"Stop making noise"
With the help of Habibullah, Mahboub struggled to mount a donkey and said, "Let him hold Ayana's two children. Comrade Ruslan, this is our war and it has nothing to do with the children."
"I have no objection on this point. This war has nothing to do with children." Ruslan said seriously.
"But many of our children have been killed by your aerial bombs and bullets..."
"Joya, Soraya, let him hold the child."
Before Hakim could say all the sarcasm, Mahbub said, "You two are riding a donkey. Multaza, you are responsible for leading the Soviet donkey."
"We can hug you"
Soraya, who didn't understand Russian, said quickly. Qiaoya next to her even subconsciously held the baby in her arms and moved away from Ruslan.
"We have a long way to go," Mahbub said slightly tiredly.
"Joya, Soraya, let that Soviet man hold my child."
Lying on the stretcher, Ayana said feebly, "I believe that even if he is a Soviet, he will protect my child."
After a slight hesitation, the little sisters Qiaoya and Soraya looked at each other and reluctantly handed the baby they were holding to Ruslan who was riding on the donkey. The latter also took the baby from Habibullah.
A blanket came and he hugged the two children to his chest very skillfully.
Even a doting smile couldn't help but appear on his bearded face, "Don't worry, I will protect these two little guys."
"let's go"
Mahbub said, "Habibullah, you drive the sheep in front. Comrades Victor and Kirill, you walk behind the donkey. Hakim, you go to the back."
Under his arrangement, everyone set off and left the cave one after another.
Compared with Murtaza who helped lead the donkey, Ruslan who was riding the donkey seemed to have forgotten his identity and was teasing the two babies in his arms all the way.
In particular, these two little ones who were just born were particularly generous. Not only did they not cry or fuss in his arms, they would even hum and smile from time to time.
This slightly contradictory warmth also somewhat diluted the tense emotions on both sides, and even made Hakim, who was walking at the end, relax a little and finally put down the gun he had been pointing at Ruslan.
"You two don't have children, right?"
Lying on the stretcher, Ayana suddenly asked in Farsi, and added a directional title - "Soviet".
"No"
Kirill, who was walking in front carrying the stretcher, replied in Farsi without looking back, "Also, my name is Kirill and his name is Victor. You don't have to call us Soviets."
"What about you? Victor?" Ayana raised her head and glanced at Wei Ran, who was also responsible for carrying the stretcher.
"Me neither," Wei Ran replied, while adjusting the straps on his shoulders that held the stretcher.
"So are you married?"
Ayana seemed to have unlimited curiosity, but Wei Ran knew that the young mother was trying to ease the relationship through small talk, just like Ruslan and her two sons were doing.
"No"
Kirill was still the first to answer, "Victor, what about you? Are you married?"
"No"
Wei Ran answered truthfully, "But I already have a girlfriend, and we may get married at any time."
"Kirill doesn't have a girlfriend?" Ayana asked.
This time, Kirill was silent for a while before replying, "There was once, before I came to Afhan."
"Are you separated?" Ayana continued to ask.
"yes"
Kirill seemed to be aware of Ayana's thoughts, so although he was reluctant, he still answered frankly, "She is my adoptive father's daughter, four years younger than me. I separated from her to join the army.
"
"You should go back"
Ayana regained her strength and said, "You all should go back, why would you abandon the woman you like for the war?"
"My father disappeared near Kandahar in 1980. He was also a military doctor."
Kirill replied, "I want to find him, I just want to find him, it has nothing to do with the war."
"but..."
"I didn't want her to wait for me like I waited for my father, and then wait for bad news." Kirill smiled, "So I separated from her."
“Go back if possible”
Ayana looked at the desolate sky above her head, "That woman must still be waiting for you. If you can't find your father, you should at least let her wait for her beloved."
"I'm just a medic"
Kirill said without looking back, "None of this can be decided by me."
"yes"
Ayana shook her head feebly, looked at Wei Ran and asked, "What about you? Mr. Victor, no, Comrade Victor, why did you join this war?"
"I..."
Wei Ran was dumbfounded. On the premise of ensuring honesty, he didn't know how to answer this question.
"Does your girlfriend, or your fiancée, support your coming to Afhan?" Ayana asked.
"She didn't know about it"
Wei Ran shook his head, "There are always many helplessness in life, such as me joining this inexplicable war."
"baffling?"
Ayana smiled and said, "Indeed, this is indeed an inexplicable war.
Look at your companion, he likes my two sons so much that he took the initiative to carry them on the journey, but he didn't even ask us if we needed his help."
"Like the Soviet Union?"
"Just like the Soviet Union," Ayana sighed.
"Madam, you may have the potential to become an excellent reporter." Wei Ran said sincerely, "Your perspective is very unique."
"You almost guessed it right"
Hakim, who was walking behind Wei Ran, couldn't help but join in the conversation, "She had the opportunity to become a radio host, but the war changed everything. A woman who had the opportunity to become a radio host became a
Partisans who had to be carried by the Soviets."
Although the other party's words contained both gun and stick, his willingness to join in the chat was a good start. Because of this, Wei Ran did not have a verbal conflict with the other party, but asked pretending to be curious, "What about you?
Mr. Hakim, what would you be without the war?"
"If there was no war..."
Hakim recited the prerequisites for Weiran's offer, and then fell into silence. Perhaps, he had never thought about this issue.
"He might..."
Halfway through, Ayana switched to Pashto, which only Wei Ran among the "Three Soviets" could secretly understand, "Hakim, you will definitely go to Montpellier to study at university, right? Together with Vida
.”
"Probably," Hakim sighed and replied in Pashto as well.
"Then what? Stay in France?" Ayana continued to ask.
"Probably so," Hakim replied again, with some unhidden regret in his vague tone.
"Let's talk about something else." Ayana replaced Kirill and Weiran, who could nominally understand Farsi.
"Can Mr. Hakim take a picture for us?"
Wei Ran asked, "This is a very special scene for the two Soviet military doctors carrying the stretcher and the Afhan female guerrilla lying on the stretcher, isn't it?"
"Is it okay? Hakeem?" Ayana left the decision to Hakeem, who was walking at the end.
"You look less like a military doctor and more like a war photographer."
Although Hakim was reluctant, he still raised the Minolta camera hanging around his neck, walked a few steps quickly and took a photo of them from the side and front.
"Someone once said the same thing to me," Wei Ran sighed. In the previous scene, it was still Hakim who said this.
"Actually, you also have a small camera like that, right?" Hakeem said almost confidently as he returned to the back of the line.
"yes"
Wei Ran replied frankly, "I hid it in my boots. If you like it, I can give it to you."
"never mind"
Hakim was rarely more generous, but the words he said were inevitably still loaded with guns and sticks, "Maybe that is also a gift left to you by your father."
"Where did your camera come from?" Wei Ran once again ignored the other party's ridicule and asked in a gentle tone.
"That was left by a freelance journalist from France a year ago," Ayana answered the question. "He lived with us for a long time."
"he..."
'He didn't survive'
Hakim replied, "He was poisoned by your chemical weapons while moving with the guerrillas, leaving only this camera and some film."
When the topic reached this point, the four people at the end of the team with different positions inevitably fell silent.
But soon, Ayana started a new topic, "Kiril, do you want to go to Kandahar to find your father?"
"Yes," Kirill replied absently, "but I never got the chance to go to Kandahar, let alone his life and death."
"What's his name?"
The person who asked this question in Russian was Mahbubu who was riding a donkey in front, "I mean, what is your father's name?"
"Nineel Polyakov" came out of Kirill's mouth, a name that seemed a bit coincidental to Weiran.
He also had to enter this period of history because of "Nineel", just like Kirill had to enter this cemetery because of his name.
"We are going to go near Kandahar next."
Mahbub said abruptly, "We will join the guerrillas there. If we can get there alive, I will help you ask if anyone knows about your father's situation."
"Thank you" Kirill replied still absentmindedly.
"Is this considered bribery?" Ruslan, who was riding a donkey alongside Mahbub, asked.
"Whatever you think"
Mahbub replied nonchalantly, "We, like these goats and donkeys, can't make any difference in this war.
But just as you are willing to help hold those two little guys, we are equally willing to do something to help you.
If you think this is bribery, then by helping us hold the baby, are you bribing us?"
"Sorry, I said stupid things that ruined the atmosphere."
Ruslan said after a moment of silence, "If there had been no war, we might have become friends, and these children might have become friends with my daughter."
"Maybe"
Mahbub sighed, "It is difficult to establish friendship, but it is easy to destroy it. All it takes is a war."
"yes"
Ruslan sighed, "I hope that after the war is over, our children will have the opportunity to re-establish friendship."
"If the Soviet Union wanted to dominate the world, it would not have ended the war in Afhan," said Habibullah, who was walking at the front. "Our children would never have the chance to become friends."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "It would be great if the Soviet Union could disappear"
Multaza, who also rode a donkey and was responsible for leading Ruslan's donkey, couldn't help but "fantasy".
"The Soviet Union disappears?"
Ruslan snorted, "The Soviet Union will not disappear. Germany didn't even do this back then."
"It's just the angry words of a child."
Mahbub smiled and said, "His name is Multaza, and he is my little grandson. I used to tell him about my experiences during my short life in Moscow. Everything there is like nothing to us mountain people."
It’s like another world.”
“I’ve only been to Moscow once”
Ruslan said, "I am from Minsk, and my wife used to work in Chicken Fu."
“I have never been to Chicken Fu and Minsk”
Mahbub shook his head and chatted with Ruslan about his experience of living in Moscow.
"Before the War Begins"
Ayana, who was lying on a stretcher, said in Farsi, "My father often told us about what happened when he was working in Moscow. That was also the thing he was most proud of."
"He often talks about his experiences in Moscow in class."
Hakim couldn't help but said, "Teacher Abdul once envied his experience very much. He often said at that time that he would go to Moscow to see the Kremlin, the Red Square, and more if he had the chance.
There are Moscow subway stations and the Bolshoi Theater that he most wants to visit.
He wanted to go to the Bolshoi Theater with his wife to watch a show and then take the Moscow subway. That was his biggest dream."
"Because my father has been to the Bolshoi Theater and taken the Moscow Metro."
Ayana said with an unstoppable smile, "He even had a conflict with a black drunk who tried to harass a Soviet woman in the subway station and beat him up."
"Ayana!"
Mahbub, who was chatting with Ruslan, said in Pashto with a slight embarrassment, "Don't mention that matter again."
"My dad doesn't want me to talk about this anymore."
There was a rare smile in Ayana's tone, "But he was always very proud of what he did at that time."
"At this point, he's really something to be proud of."
Kirill, who had been silent just now, said, "I am a Muscovite, and I have heard many scandals about gorillas from the virgin forest since I was a child."
"But after the war started, I rarely heard them mention it."
Hakim said, "Everything that Teacher Abdul once yearned for has become something he hates."
"My dad too," Ayana sighed with a little pity in her tone.
"Are you from Moscow?" Mahbub asked Kirill curiously.
"right"
Kirill nodded towards the other party, "My home is near Gorky Park. Do you know Gorky Park?"
"I know, of course I know, I even fed pigeons there." Mahbubu said subconsciously, "The pigeons there are not afraid of people at all."
"yes"
Kirill was stunned for a moment, "When I was the age of those children, my father often took me there to feed the pigeons on weekends."
After saying this, everyone in the second half of the team fell silent again. Just like Mahbub said, it is difficult to establish friendship, but it is easy to destroy friendship. All it takes is a war.
Perhaps it was just a coincidence that in this silence, patches of snowflakes began to fall in the already hazy sky.
"Everyone, please pay attention to where you step."
Habibullah, who was walking in front, specifically reminded in Russian, "We have to climb over the mountain ahead along the slope. The next mountain road is very difficult to walk."
Before he could finish his words, Wei Ran and Kirill each adjusted the straps of the stretcher. Ruslan in front also took the blanket from Mahbub and wrapped it around the child he helped hold in his arms. .
Just as Habibullah reminded me, the road ahead was indeed not easy to walk. Not to mention the people riding the donkeys almost lying on the backs of the donkeys. Wei Ran, who was carrying the stretcher behind, was trying not to let go. Ayana slid off the stretcher and had to lift the stretcher to almost the same height as her chest.
At this point, they walked back and forth diagonally across the mountain.
"Do we have to climb over this mountain from here?" Wei Ran asked through gritted teeth. Ayana on the stretcher was not heavy, but the angle at which the stretcher was lifted was too tricky.
“Only from here”
Habibullah, who was walking at the front, explained while dragging the sheep ahead, "If you continue along the valley, you will have planted butterfly mines in a large area. Only this road is safe. And there is a water source on the other side of the mountain, where we can take a rest."
"Can't those bastards scatter landmines here?" Weiran complained angrily.
“The slope here is too big”
Ruslan answered his complaint, "Even if it is sprinkled, it will roll to the bottom of the mountain."
"So you better pray you don't fall."
Habibullah said, "When we came here, a goat accidentally slipped down and it was blown away with almost no intact bones."
“It would be great if prayers were useful at this time.”
Ruslan grunted, and at the same time subconsciously tightened the donkey's belly, and held the two children and lowered her body again to lower her center of gravity.
"Can I ask a question?"
Wei Ran almost lifted the stretcher onto his shoulders and said through gritted teeth.
"What's the problem?"
Hakim behind him had already caught up as he spoke, walked between Wei Ran and Hakim, and held the stretcher from the outside.
"After crossing this mountain, how far are we from Kandahar?" Wei Ran asked as he walked cautiously.
"one week"
It was Mahbub who answered this question, "We will have to walk for at least a week..."
"Stop! Stop!" Ruslan suddenly shouted, "A plane is coming! It's a bomber!"
Before he finished speaking, everyone heard a huge roar from far to near, as well as the unique whistle sound when an aerial bomb falls at high speed!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! It’s the Figure 22M3 bomber!
Wei Ran, who subconsciously raised his head, recognized the monster flying above his head from the huge, slender shadow and roaring sound!
"Get off the donkey! Get off the donkey!"
Ruslan and Wei Ran reminded them almost at the same time, and the latter even shouted to remind Kirill and Hakim to put down the stretcher quickly.
However, before Habibullah could help Ruslan untie the blanket tied around his waist and take the two babies, there was a series of deafening sounds from the other side of the mountain, which could even be close at hand.
explode!
Amidst the loud rumbling noise, the mountain began to tremble, and large and small rocks began to fall from the top of the head!
At this time, Wei Ran didn't care about anyone else. He, Kirill and Hakim almost simultaneously used their bodies to protect Ayana who was lying on the stretcher in a push-up position. At the same time, they also used one of their legs in tacit agreement.
His knees pressed against Ayana's body to prevent her from sliding down!
Amidst the continuous screams, large and small stones were either hit on the shoulders or on the back.
But the only thing Wei Ran and the other three could do was to bury their heads under their arms and scream while enduring it.
At this time, a donkey screamed, and Wei Ran was horrified to see that the donkey Ruslan was riding was hit in the head by a stone the size of a shoe box!
Under this heavy blow, the donkey's two front hooves knelt directly on the slope of the mountain. But at this time, Ruslan had just stepped off one leg from the donkey with the support of Habibullah and Multaza.
Come down!
However, before he could step firmly, the donkey hit by the boulder softened and began to spin and roll out at the foot of the mountain. Along with it, the donkey also knocked down Habibullah and Multa.
He stabbed the two of them, and Ruslan, who was holding two babies in her arms and injured one of her legs, rolled down the mountain!
"Ruslan!"
Wei Ran and Kirill exclaimed, watching helplessly as Ruslan hugged the child tightly in his arms and adjusted his posture with difficulty. Finally, before rolling to the bottom of the mountain, he turned into a posture with his feet down, head up, and his back.
Backer's face-up posture!
But at the same time, he held the two babies tightly in his arms, and worked hard to sit up, using his shoulders and his head to protect the children in his arms, and also block the large animals chasing after him from behind.
Big and small rocks!
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Amidst a series of weak explosions, Ruslan's screams were heard at the foot of the mountain. Halfway up the mountain, Wei Ran and Kirill's exclamations were also heard, as well as Ayana's cries!