Under the moonlight

Chapter 153 The Sorrow in the Camera

The road back was already familiar, and the car sped back into the embassy compound. After the car came to a stop, Chen Che stretched and sighed, "Well, luckily we acted quickly. Judging from their expressions, they must be plotting something big."

"Don't you think we were too safe on the way back?" Xu Ao had been wondering to himself on the way back. Even though the mercenaries had reduced their guard over the city roads, they hadn't seen a single mercenary on their round trip, which was quite suspicious.

"Yeah, that's true. But it's also possible that they're focusing their main efforts on monitoring the government. Besides, the route we took bypassed the main urban area, so it's normal that we didn't have any mercenaries," Chen Che analyzed seriously.

Xu Ao leaned back in his chair and sighed softly: "I hope I'm just overthinking it. Dealing with these inhuman guys is driving me crazy. I'm always afraid they have some kind of conspiracy or trap waiting for us."

"Brother, relax. Look, the people in those shantytowns are starting to cheer up after getting the medicine. Don't you think they're like... like..."

"Even a cornered dog will jump over a wall, and a cornered rabbit will bite! They couldn't avoid the previous bombing attacks, and had no choice but to accept the sudden persecution. But this time is different. This time, they have realized that the mercenaries are going to wipe them out in one fell swoop. They can't even rely on the government. It's better to fight desperately than to die for nothing."

"Hmm, that makes sense. Just now in that tent, looking at the men who were leading him, the fierce killing intent in their eyes was not much different from that of the mercenaries outside." Chen Che recalled the eyes of the men he had just seen and couldn't help but sigh.

“At least, they became ruthless for their families and country.” Xu Ao finished speaking, looked at Chen Che with a helpless smile, and then the two got out of the car. The people in the conference room were still anxiously waiting for them. When they saw them return, they asked about the situation and then dispersed to their rooms. The rest was up to time and the truth.

After Xu Ao and the others left, Yuri took his camera and went back to Wala's tent.

"They gave this to me to take some photos of the shantytown so they can send them to the media." Yuri briefly explained Xu Ao and his team's intentions to Vala, holding his camera and waiting for Vala's instructions.

The man he called Vara was also being watched by others. When the plague first broke out, before they were gathered together by the mercenaries, they lived in tents only a few dozen meters apart, or even hundreds of meters apart. At that time, only a few elderly people started to experience diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. At first, people thought it was due to the bombing, constant running, high stress, and malnutrition. But after taking medicine, the symptoms did not improve but became more and more serious. Until someone died, Vara finally realized that this was not an ordinary illness. The symptoms and the speed of the disease's progression were more like the plague he had heard people talk about when he was young.

He was the first to suggest that people should not move between the tents, and he was also the first to warn the government staff who came to distribute food. Unfortunately, the staff did not take his advice seriously and did not take precautions when moving between the tents and handling official business, which led to the spread of the plague in the government building.

Fortunately, the public was very careful and vigilant; otherwise, given the density of the tents, they would have been infected long before the mercenaries arrived to contain the situation. Vala repeatedly asked the government for alcohol and masks, and his persistent pleading, coupled with the government's complete disbelief that an epidemic would occur and their assumption that he was simply suffering from a nervous breakdown after the bombing, led him to repeatedly retrieve his most treasured alcohol and masks from the government coffers.

People trusted him not only because he had been a military officer, but more importantly, because after the government troops took over the city, a great deal of work had to be done by the people themselves, not by the government. For example, it was Wala who led the men to dig out the bodies of their loved ones buried under boulders and rubble, and it was he who risked his life to deliver medicine and masks to each tent. It can be said that, apart from the food and water provided by the government, Wala spearheaded most of the cleanup work, thus earning him immense prestige in the shantytown.

“Just do as he says.” After a long silence, Vara finally spoke. “He wants to spread what’s happening here, to get the world’s attention, which is a good thing for us.” Vara’s voice was hoarse but powerful, and his eyes were firm and bright.

After listening to his words, Yuri nodded and carefully put the camera away.

“What we were talking about earlier…” a man asked, looking at Vara.

"Let's hold off for now. Since they want evidence, we'll prepare more for them. Of course, we can't let those bastards find out, so let's put our plans on hold for now." Vala said seriously to everyone. After speaking, he looked up and pondered for a moment, then added, "As for when to make our move, we need to discuss that with that person. Since they're willing to lend us a helping hand, we should make good use of their strength to help us get out of this predicament."

“Yuri, when they arrive tomorrow, please invite them to our tent,” Vara said to Yuri at the end. Yuri looked at him, then at the others, and nodded heavily.

Yuri was the first to step out of the tent, followed by one after another, at regular intervals. Although the mercenaries wouldn't enter their tents to investigate, it was better to be careful to avoid being discovered by them gathering together.

The next day, Yuri handed the camera to Nasha. Starting from their tent, Nasha took two photos of Yaqin and the children. Then, the camera, which would record the disaster in their shantytown, was passed from one tent to another. Someone put a plastic bag over the camera, leaving only the camera lens exposed.

The camera footage was quickly relayed back to Nasha's tent. Nasha quickly flipped through the photos everyone had taken. Although they depicted scenes he saw every day, scenes from his daily life, the despair in the eyes of those photographs still shocked him. Unable to bear looking at them closely, he quickly skimmed through them before making a bold decision.

"Yaqin, I'm going out for a bit." Nasha left the tent and walked towards the back of the shed area. People passing by stared at him in surprise until Vara stopped him.

"What are you going to film?"

"Since we're going to let the world know what we've been through, let's just lay it all out and let them see," Nasha said excitedly, her eyes red and moist.

“Okay, I’ll go with you.” Vala looked at his sorrowful eyes, then let go of his hand after a moment and walked with him to the back. Many people stopped in front of the tent and watched them. Vala quickly waved for them to go in: “Go in quickly! Don’t attract their attention!” Then, like frightened birds, people quickly ducked into the tent.

Nasha noticed that weak voices could be heard coming from many of the tents. More than a week had passed since the government last delivered food and water. Wala distributed food to each tent daily in fixed portions. The food was nothing more than some compressed biscuits, which were impossible for the children to swallow.

“We can afford to wait, but the children can’t. They are our hope, and we must protect them no matter what,” Vara said heavily, looking down at the ground.

Nasha gave him a deep look, but soon they arrived at the burial ground.