White Olive Tree

Chapter 18

Chapter 18
Song Ran saw his face clearly, and his tense nerves were torn apart in an instant.  Her hands and feet were suddenly weak, and tears welled up silently.  He supported her with one hand, and she tried her best to stand still.
Gunshots continued to follow in the alley.
Li Zan raised the mask to cover his face again with one hand, and pulled her into another alley quickly with the other hand.
The alleys are narrow and crowded with dwellings on both sides.
Li Zan scanned the houses while running, and saw that the window of a house was closed, so he immediately opened the window, and without any explanation, picked Song Ran up and put him on it.
Song Ran understood, and quickly jumped into the room.  Li Zan propped his hands on the inner layer of the window sill, and jumped into the room without touching the dust outside the window sill.
Song Ran immediately closed the window.
This house is a typical desert dwelling in the Eastern Kingdom. It has small windows, thick walls, and is as dark and shady as a flat-topped bunker.  The valuable furniture and decorations in the house have been evacuated long ago.
As soon as the two of them entered the room, the sound of searchers' footsteps came from outside the window.
Song Ran was afraid and wanted to climb the stairs to escape.  She took a step, but Li Zan pulled her back and pressed her against the wall. He quickly covered her mouth with his big hand, and he also stepped forward, pressing her tightly against the wall.
The next second, a figure flashed past the window beside the two of them.  A dark and narrow shadow slanted into the room, and slowly slid across the light and shadow outlines drawn by the window sills on the floor.
Li Zan gritted his teeth, subconsciously pressing Song Ran even tighter.
Song Ran's heart was beating wildly, and she tried her best to hold her breath.  At this moment, she was afraid to even hear her own breathing.
A few more figures passed by the window, back and forth.
The group of people lost their target and gathered near this window, cursing something in the Eastern language.  Although he couldn't understand the content, he could tell the anger that was crazily gathering inside.
Separated by a wall, Song Ran didn't even dare to breathe, hot and cold sweat poured down his body.  She raised her eyes to look at Li Zan, he was very close to her, his jaw was almost touching her forehead.
His temples were tense; on the mask, only striking eyebrows and eyes were exposed, staring at the window without blinking, his eyes were as sharp as eagles.  A rifle was stuck on the right palm and right arm at two points and one line, and the veins on the back of the hand were bulging.
After the people outside the window scolded angrily.  Suddenly, someone said something in the direction of the window.  A figure approached the window and raised his hand to push the window.
Song Ran stared at Li Zan with wide eyes; but he was staring at that hand, and slowly raised his right hand holding the gun; he exuded a ruthless aura, with a sense of oppression from top to bottom.
Just when the man was about to push the window, someone said something.  The man touched the ashes on the window sill with his hand and replied.  Only then did Song Ran remember that Li Zan had left the dust on the window sill untouched when he entered the room just now.
The people outside judged that there would be no one in the house, so they turned around and wanted to leave.  At this time, there was a sudden gunshot, and a figure on the edge of the window fell to the ground in response.
The anti-government forces came after them and once again fought the terrorist organization.
The people outside immediately raised their guns to meet the enemy, and the two sides fell into a fierce battle, with bullets flying everywhere.  Several of the rounds hit the windows, and the glass shattered and flew.
Li Zan lowered his head towards her shoulder for a moment, covered her with his body, and blocked the glass shards flying at high speed.
The man's cheek was tightly pressed against her side face, and through the not-so-thick mask, his rapid and moist breath seeped out from the cotton cloth, and he plucked her side face into her ears like wet feathers.
But in just a second, he turned his head sideways.  Although still maintaining the posture of bowing his head, his eyes shot out of the window, closely watching the movement outside, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Song Ran stared blankly at her pupils, her heart beating out of control.  She was tightly held in his arms, and she could hear the strong beating of his heartbeat in his chest, and could smell the hot sweat in his collar.  She trembled inexplicably, whether it was from fright or something else.
And his hand was still covering her mouth, smelling of male sweat and gunpowder smoke.
It was only then that she remembered that he was the one who fired the two bullets that came from a high place just now.
He saved her again.
They kept close to each other and stood in that cool and dark corner for more than ten minutes.
The fighting outside finally subsided, and the two groups of people seemed to have suffered heavy losses, so they evacuated separately.
It wasn't until the world was quiet, so quiet that no sound could be heard, that Song Ran felt an obvious and slow rise and fall of his chest - he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He slowly raised his head, loosened his hand covering her mouth, and stepped back a step or two to widen the distance between him and her.
Song Ran's face was already blood red, and she didn't dare to look at him after a quick glance. She turned her eyes to look at the shards of glass on the ground.
Li Zan relaxed his stiff right hand. Seeing that she was just in a daze, he asked softly, "Are you scared?"
"Ah?" She raised her head and shook her head, "It's okay."
He looked at her for a second or two, didn't speak, tilted his head slightly, and took off the mask.
Seeing this, Song Ran also took off the mask.
The light in the room was dim, the pupils of the two were bright, and their eyes met each other, staring at each other's face without hindrance, quiet and silent.
Even he may be belatedly aware of the subtlety and embarrassment of what happened just now. He turned his eyes away and wiped his face with the mask, and said in a low voice, "It's hotter than Gallo here."
"Yes." She gently fanned her cheeks, "I kept running just now, and I was too nervous, my face was almost congested."
He seemed to think her words were funny, so he smiled lightly.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Li Zan walked over and opened the door.
A string of bloodstains dragged across the stone road was messy and shocking. This was left over from the chaotic battle just now—both sides dragged away many casualties.
He put on the mask again, and looked back at Song Ran Yiyan.  She understood the meaning and put it on too.  The two walked cautiously in the alley.
He is in front and she is behind.
He walked very slowly, looking back from time to time, making sure to keep her close behind him.
The more times he turned his head, she also became nervous, and said in a low voice, "Don't turn your head all the time, I'm afraid that someone will suddenly appear in front of you."
Li Zan nodded, walked a few steps, and simply stretched the strap of his marching bag and handed it to her.  She grasped it firmly, wrapped two more around her wrists, and tied him behind him like a tail.
At noon in the scorching sun, a deserted ghost town.
She pulled the rope, and followed him slowly and vigilantly through deserted alleys, buildings full of bomb craters, and deep and strange doors and windows.
The anti-government forces and terrorist organizations have already withdrawn.
Li Zan walked into an alley and pushed out a military motorcycle.  Song Ran originally wanted to ask something, but in this small and terrifying town, she was still very panicked, and she didn't dare to speak out for some reason, as if she was afraid that something would be alarmed.
The two returned to the street, where Song Ran's car was still parked.
She loosened the strap on her wrist in circles, and looked at Li Zan before getting into the car: "Can I get up?"
Li Zan checked the inside and bottom of the car, and let her get in the car after making sure there was no problem.  He jumped on the hood and strapped the bike to the roof.
They set off again, neither of them said a word. After walking through a few streets vigilantly, Song Ran began to step on the gas pedal, and the speed became faster and faster. He rushed out of this ghost town at a high speed of 150 yards.
After leaving the city, the roads are empty and the world is quiet.  The vast wilderness stretches as far as the eye can see.  Only then did Song Ran relax a little, and asked Li Zan, "Why are you here?"
Li Zan replied very briefly: "Our combat team has been sent to Hapo."
...
Li Zan did not tell her that when they passed through an unnamed town, the government troops at the checkpoint checked Li Zan's ID and saw that he was Chinese, so he said casually, "A Chinese female reporter passed by just now. I told her  It will be safe to reach Hapo before dark, but now the fighting has changed suddenly. The government forces at the next station have temporarily withdrawn reinforcements from the north, causing the anti-government forces and extremist organizations to fight there in advance in order to grab points. I hope she is lucky  Well, don't run into it."
Li Zan asked: "What's the name of that reporter?"
"I generally can't remember the names of Chinese people." Said the soldier, "but her surname is very strange, it means 'song'. The name is even more strange, it is the past tense of 'run'."