White Olive Tree

Chapter 21

Song Ran held the camera and walked towards the pile of sandbags in the center of the street.  There was a car parked next to the barrier, and the safety seat strapped to the child was removed from the car.
After getting closer, she saw it clearly.  It was Li Zan.
He was wearing thick protective clothing, which must have been for a while, and his forehead and face were covered with sweat.
Perhaps in order not to put pressure on the child, his mask was pulled off and hung on his chin.
At this moment, he was squatting on the ground, dismantling the safety seat and bombs tied to the child.  His expression looked very calm and casual. When he cut a thread, he clicked his tongue and smiled and winked at the child.
The child was pouting a second ago, with tears on his face, and was immediately teased to the point of bursting into laughter.
Song Ran did not disturb him, but when she saw her shadow approaching the sandbag, she quickly moved away.
She is a layman, but she can see that this situation is actually very difficult.
The back of the child's seat was full of bombs, and the front of his body was covered with densely packed colorful glue threads, tangled with the seat straps and safety buckles, making it a mess.
Li Zan has clarified part of this mess and cut off part of it.
Behind the seats, a red countdown showed the time left for them. There were still ten minutes left.
Li Zan knew that the situation was critical and didn't even have time to look at the time behind him. He asked the couple: "How long will it take?"
"Nine minutes and thirty seconds, sir." said the husband.
Li Zan pursed his lower lip slightly and said nothing. His expression did not reveal any emotion. When he saw the child staring at him without blinking, he smiled gently at the child and said, "It's OK."
After he finished speaking, he looked at the line in his hand, his eyes solemn, and he judged carefully.  There was not enough time and it was impossible to stop the bomb. The lines he cut were all concentrated on the left side of the child's body.  Just cut out enough gaps to pull the child out.  Gradually, there are fewer and fewer lines left on the child's left leg and waist, indicating that the risk factor is getting higher and higher.
Before he made his move, he checked again and again for a long time.
His gradually slowing down movements made the parents of the children lying outside the sandbag wall more and more nervous, holding their breath and concentrating.
At this time, Li Zan suddenly said to the couple: "Please leave."
The child's mother immediately choked up: "Is the situation serious, sir?"
Li Zan didn't answer, and just said: "Don't worry, I won't abandon him. Please leave."
The young wife wanted to say something else, but her husband stopped her and shook her head, indicating not to waste time.
The woman wiped her tears and prayed: "Sir, my child, please save him."
Li Zan was adjusting the line without raising his head and said, "Madam, if I live, he will live."
The couple retreated from the outer circle, comforting the child and making him strong while retreating.
When the child saw this, he also knew that the situation was dangerous. His mouth dropped, tears rolled down his big eyes, and he began to shed tears again.
With tears dripping on the seat belt, Li Zan looked up at him and smiled: "Little guy, do me a favor, okay?"
The child was curious, stopped crying, and asked softly: "What can I do for you, sir?"
"Believe me." Li Zan said, "Can you do it?"
"Okay, sir. I believe you." The child stopped crying, wiped his tears with his little hands, and muttered, "I can do it."
Li Zan lowered his head and continued to analyze the wires in his hands.
He was extremely focused from beginning to end, and did not see or notice that Song Ran was always next to him. There was only an explosion-proof wall made of sandbags between her and him.
The time on the timer passed by minute by second, and Li Zan finally rescued the child's left leg and waist, leaving only the chest.
He shook the disconnected wire at the child, who immediately grinned.
There was a sudden "pop" sound.  A bullet penetrated a bag of sandbags on the highest level of the barrier, sending yellow sand flying.
Li Zan instantly hugged the child, moved him towards the direction of the bullet, and hid in the blind corner of the sandbag wall.
Song Ran also fell to the ground for an instant, hiding behind the barrier and raising the camera.
The mother of the child on the roadside burst into tears and was dragged by a soldier and stuffed into a house on the roadside.
All the peacekeepers on the street immediately found the nearest bunker to hide, and fired several shots in the direction of the bullets to respond to the enemy; on the high-rise buildings, snipers urgently searched for the point where the bullets had just come from.
After a few shots, there was silence.
Song Ran slowly poked his head out and looked around. At the end of the straight street was a T-shaped intersection.  The intersection is opposite a six-story building. The upper floor is full of windows. I don't know which window the bullet came from.
Everyone was waiting for the next shot to reveal their position, and the street was deathly silent.
Suddenly, Benjamin rushed forward and shouted: "Get out of the car!"
The next second, a bullet hit a car that was equipped with bombs but had not yet been detonated.  The car exploded immediately, the body of the car burned and jumped half a meter high before crashing to the ground.
The British peacekeepers hiding behind the car reacted promptly and jumped several meters away from the explosion, rolling across the street and hiding towards Song Ran.
Song Ran buried her head and hugged her head. Iron chips and dust fell on her helmet like rain.
Bullets from the other side kept coming, and another car loaded with bombs was detonated, making a loud noise.  The combat team did not show any signs of weakness. The heavy machine gunners fired hard at the building. All the glass windows upstairs were shattered and gravel flew on the walls.  The soldiers quickly began to counterattack and cover, moving closer to the building step by step.
Song Ran's face was covered with dust. She squinted to protect the machine and looked at her watch again. There were only three minutes left.
At this time, through the wall made of sandbags, she suddenly heard Li Zan say something to the child.  A few seconds later, the child sang softly. It was a folk song from the Eastern Kingdom. Song Ran had heard many children sing it, and the fresh tune was a little sad.
The sound of bullets and explosions was heard all around, but the children's singing was clean and melodious.
As the time ticked, Li Zan shouted in English: "Is there anyone here? Check the time for me!"
Song Ran lay on the ground holding her helmet, looking at her watch, and shouted back in Chinese: "Two minutes and eight seconds!"
There was no response from inside.
Only the tender voices of children sang softly amidst the flying artillery fire.
Song Ran lay on the ground, crawling out as much as possible, taking pictures of the battle, and looking at his watch.
She was covered in sweat and shouted again: "One minute and three seconds!"
There was still no response from inside.
Song Ran was a little scared. She stared at the camera screen to distract herself.  But suddenly there was a force behind her, and the British peacekeeper who had just rolled over picked her up and protected her as she ran towards the roadside.
Song Ran turned around hastily and saw Li Zan inside the barrier, with his head lowered and his eyes extremely focused, racing against time to arrange the electrical wiring on the child's chest.  His profile was unusually calm and quiet, with only the large beads of sweat on the upper lip of his nose revealing his nervousness and eagerness.
Song Ran's eyes wet and she opened her mouth, wanting to call out "A-Zan", but she didn't.  Li Zan's side face suddenly disappeared.  She was dragged to the roadside by the soldier and hid behind a car that had been detonated.
The soldier also realized the crisis. He stared at his watch and wanted to shout but didn't dare.  Seeing that there were only ten seconds left, he finally shouted: "LEE!"
Still no response.
“Give up! It’s OK! It’s not your fault!” (Give up! It’s okay! It’s not your fault!)
Song Ran looked at his watch, 13, 12, 11, 10...
"9 seconds!" she shouted!
Li Zan hasn't come out yet, but the children's song has long been finished.
It was quiet inside the fortress, but there were bullets and bullets outside.