My whole body felt as if it was falling apart. I struggled to get up, limping all the way. Someone was calling me, but I really couldn't hear clearly. My thigh had been scraped by a steel bar earlier, and blood had stained my sandy camouflage pants.
Finally, I could make out what Zhuge was saying in the headset: "Captain, are you okay? Ji Han is..."
A figure dropped from the sky. Instinctively, I stretched out my arms to catch her, and then we both fell to the ground together. Looking into the eyes of the person who had come, I widened my eyes and exclaimed, "Didn't you go down already?"
"Watch out!" Ji Han drew her pistol, and a few seconds later, I heard the sound of something heavy hitting the ground behind me.
"Are you..." Suddenly, I understood something, and the rest of the words got stuck in my throat and I couldn't say them out.
In the end, all my words converged into one sentence: "I'll get you out of here."
"Captain, UU (Zhuge Yu's drone) is above you. Enter the house on the right first!"
"Alright."
With Ji Han's support, I climbed over the windowsill. There was no one inside. The beds were in a mess, the old bedding was curled up on the beds like balls of fluff, and there were bowls of porridge and half-eaten baked flatbread on them. We had arrived too early. No one had started eating yet, and naturally, no one had been affected by the "Advanced Mathematics No.2" (presumably some kind of trap or weapon here).
Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one around, I quickly started to dress my wound on the bed that reeked of sweat. I opened a small bottle of medical alcohol, and the pungent smell rushed straight to my nose from Ji Han's hand. I frowned, with a bit of fear, and held the tactical knife in my mouth.
"Xiao Yao..."
"Hmm?"
"Don't be afraid..." Ji Han pressed her forehead against mine, her voice so gentle that it made one involuntarily get lost in it.
"I'm right here."
The alcohol burned the nerve endings and mixed with the blood. Under the intense and crazy pain, I couldn't help but let out a whimpering sound and started to tremble. Cold sweat and a single lonely tear rolled down my face. After confirming that the wound was cleaned, Ji Han pulled out the bandage and wrapped it around three times.
With a long sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted, I raised my rifle with my almost exhausted arm. I could clearly feel that my hands and feet were a bit weak. I made a "shh" gesture to Ji Han, then tiptoed across the room, walked to the half-hidden door, and peeked through the crack.
Facing the corridor, the men with red headscarves were coming and going, showing a rather valuable sense of order among the rebels. They were lining up and going upstairs in an orderly manner, hardly different from the regular Akria government army, and even surpassed them in terms of morale in some ways.
"This is Gu Xiaoyao," I whispered. "Trapped on the first floor, about five meters from the staircase in the direction we came out earlier."
"We're on the third floor!" The distinctive screeching of Liang Dong's light machine gun could be heard continuously. "We can't rush down for now!"
"Captain," the deputy captain cut into the radio. "Our position at the staircase is blocked. I request to use the rope to descend to the first floor, but this plan is very risky. We'll be easily under fire during the descent and might be wiped out. And if the other side catches on to our idea, I'm afraid Liang Dong won't be able to hold on. As the last person covering the retreat, it'll be hard for him to get out unscathed... Eh, Luo Bing!"
There was a sudden loud explosion above our heads. In the brief moment of thinking time, I hugged Ji Han and hid in the corner. Fine graphite dust fell from the ceiling, reflecting the light like a tiny waterfall made of light particles.
During the explosion, the ceiling was shattered, and rock dust splashed around like shotgun pellets. I hugged Ji Han tightly, and the fragrance on the girl's hair was still noticeable even under the smell of gunpowder, which made me hesitate for a moment.
Something dropped from the sky. I raised my rifle but didn't fire. For just a moment, I didn't know what to say, and my brain instinctively came up with one word:
"Fuck."
In the gray fog, a person stood up, her face like a still pool reflecting the vastness of the world. Flames were burning around her with crackling sounds, as if they were applauding and cheering for her. Her hair fluttered in the surging air current. After thinking for a few moments, Luo Bing said, "Luo Bing, the demolition expert, reporting for duty."
At this moment, this girl was really so cool. Who says women are inferior to men?
One by one, our comrades jumped down through the new passage opened by Luo Bing. Lu Wanqing rushed forward to the front door with her gun: "Are you idiots? This room will be surrounded and we'll all be screwed sooner or later... What the fuck? Why are there so many people?"
The explosion that ran from the third floor to the first floor naturally caught the attention of the Holy War Army. A hail of bullets followed Lu Wanqing, and she rolled back. The wooden door was riddled with holes.
Luo Bing muttered, "Seems like an idiot."
Lu Wanqing got furious: "Who the fuck are you calling an idiot?!"
Jiang Li fired two shots and took out two enemy firepower points. Ji Ling and I charged forward under cover. Bullets were whizzing by our sides with deadly heat. I fired back with a grenade, using the Hellfire tactic to alternate and pour out firepower, and seized the adjacent room. There were only a few frightened women inside. I waved my hand to signal them to leave.
"Repeat report, target point two, no target. Repeat, target point two, no target."
"The firepower unit is trapped. Who can take out that damn tank? Get down!"
"Don't you guys have rocket launchers?"
"The enemy has set up a tank position!"
"Air support is on the way..." The radio was in chaos. The enemy quickly reacted and surrounded us. The only good thing that happened now was that the timed bombs planted by Team Six exploded. The earth trembled, and thick smoke rose into the sky like Jack's beanstalk.
The belated drone glided through the air and dropped two bombs, which played their due roles on the barracks compound and the tank. The short but fierce strike disrupted the enemy's attack rhythm and bought us precious breathing time.
"Gu, how do we get out of here?"
"Does Luo Bing still have wall-breaking charges?" "One left!"
"Enough!" I threw a smoke grenade for cover and pre-aimed. Two seconds later, I turned and ran quickly. "Head for the nearest wall, then break through. You cover her!"
Climbing over the window, plaster splashed onto my face. Another RPG hit the small building, causing new damage. I kept shooting while moving. The shooter was shot dead before he could reload, and my rifle clicked, indicating an empty magazine.
"Reload!" I shouted loudly. Yang Shixiu and Zhuge Yu quickly filled the gap for me.
Luo Bing covered her ears after installing the explosives and curled up into a small ball. With a rumble, the bricks and stones were overturned. Ji Ling moved left and right along the broken wall, then used the butt of his gun to knock away the rubble and clear the way.
Once we got out of the barracks, the firepower decreased a lot. It seemed that even the air wasn't as dirty and murky. After taking care of a few minor enemies, we disappeared into the city. Ji Ling, who was leading the way, was lucky enough to find an empty basement, and we took a break there.
Lying on the damaged furniture to rest, along with the "rustling" sound in the headset, Elsa's call came: "Report the situation, or it will be defined as a high-risk state."
"We're okay, in hiding, taking a break on the spot."
"This is Team Four!" It was Valgina, whom we hadn't seen for a long time. "We've captured the target!"
"We're heading for the evacuation point!"