Li Nannan pulled open the window, resting the muzzle of her gun on the windowsill in a relaxed posture of vigilance.
The rescue vehicle had penetrated eight intersections into the city's interior.
The entire city was a scene of devastation. Jiang Ye saw many low-rise buildings destroyed by explosions and fires. Almost no shops were intact, and the entire street had been looted. The rescue vehicle frequently jolted violently, either driving over bomb craters and rubble or over corpses.
As they passed the third intersection, they went through a street that was likely a market. Many elderly people were picking up spoiled vegetables from the ground. People were also rummaging through trash cans along the street.
Jiang Ye drove the vehicle over, honked the horn at maximum volume, and played the recorded content from the car radio:
"Citizens of Hexing, this is a military rescue vehicle. Please board and follow us to evacuate. The military will provide food, water, medical care, and housing on another planet. Hexing has entered a state of societal collapse and will take a long time to recover. Please accept our rescue..."
But strangely, many of the elderly people did not come forward. They either continued picking up rotten vegetable leaves from the ground or turned and walked away.
In the end, only two elderly couples hesitantly boarded the vehicle.
"Sit wherever you like," Li Nannan waved her hand. "Once the car is full, we'll take you."
Jiang Ye started the rescue vehicle and continued towards the hospital. He asked Li Nannan in a low voice, "Why didn't anyone want to get on?"
"Nonsense, who wants to leave their homeland? Especially the elderly, they feel they don't have much time left, so they just won't bother," Li Nannan stared out the window. "I hear gunfire, be careful."
Jiang Ye glanced at the map and then looked back at the two elderly couples in the back seat. "The car windows are bulletproof, but I still recommend you recline your seats and lie down. We're about to enter the hospital to pick up people, and there's fighting near the hospital."
The two elderly couples were startled. Instead of reclining their seats, they crawled under them, covering their heads with their hands.
Li Nannan took out two packs of compressed biscuits and two bottles of water from her backpack and tossed them over from a distance. "Have something to eat first!"
The elderly couples, huddled under the seats, immediately grabbed the biscuits, tore them open, and began to eat.
The gunfire ahead grew louder, almost at their doorstep. The sounds of various caliber automatic weapons could be heard. White smoke filled the air, like a dense fog had descended.
Li Nannan saw several assault rifles extended from windows along the roadside, firing at the hospital. She patted Jiang Ye's shoulder without saying a word, but Jiang Ye understood and stopped the car, holding his assault rifle as he followed Li Nannan out.
The two of them advanced in a crouch, finally reaching the window from which the firing was originating.
Li Nannan peeked inside the window, and her gun immediately opened fire, sweeping the room. Jiang Ye immediately jumped forward, pouring suppressing fire into the room. The four thugs, all wearing blue scarves on their faces, were shot dead before they could react, their bodies riddled with bullet holes.
Jiang Ye and Li Nannan acted in unison, jumping in to grab their weapons. They each slung two guns on their backs and then efficiently searched the bodies for anything of value – several magazines and small bags of snacks. Jiang Ye noticed that each thug wore a bulletproof vest, but he didn't know if the vests were of poor quality or if his gun was more powerful, as the bullets passed through them as if they were paper targets.
After reloading, Li Nannan, still bent over, advanced towards the source of the nearby gunfire.
Jiang Ye followed behind her, surprisingly feeling no acceleration of his heartbeat. Perhaps it was because he was a dummy and had nothing to fear from death.
Turning a corner, they saw a bomb crater about three meters away on the street. Four thugs with blue faces were crouched in the crater. As soon as they spotted each other, they glared and fumbled to aim their guns, but Li Nannan was incredibly fast. A burst of fire swept them all, and after emptying her magazine, she reloaded with one hand. Before the spent magazine even hit the ground, her gun roared again, and she fired another burst without a word. The four thugs were completely turned into sieves, their blood spraying all over the crater.
Jiang Ye was inwardly shocked. Li Nannan's shooting style was too brutal, emptying two magazines at anyone she saw, her hands not even trembling. Truly a war machine trained through years of experience.
The two of them jumped into the crater again to search the bodies.
"Their weapons are the same caliber as ours, just pick up the magazines," Li Nannan said. "Two spare guns are more than enough."
"Okay," Jiang Ye busied himself, retrieving magazines from the bodies.
Li Nannan scanned the surroundings with her gun, her muzzle sweeping across the entire street.
Jiang Ye inserted the full magazines into the magazine pouches on her waist, acting as her ammunition carrier.
Three shots rang out. Across the street, in the direction Li Nannan was aiming, a man with a blue scarf fell from the rooftop, hitting the ground heavily and kicking up a large cloud of dust.
Jiang Ye clicked his tongue, impressed by the accuracy. "Finished searching, shall we go?"
"I'll go to the other side of the street, you cover me," Li Nannan said. "We need to clear out the thugs at this intersection so we can drive the car into the hospital."
Jiang Ye quickly set up his gun.
Li Nannan glanced left and right, then jumped up and ran towards the other side.
Suddenly, a person emerged from a bomb crater across the street, their face covered by a blue scarf.
Jiang Ye's gun and Li Nannan's gun fired simultaneously. The thug's head exploded, and he fell back.
Li Nannan leaped forward and disappeared into the bomb crater on the other side of the street. Almost simultaneously, rapid gunfire erupted, and people were hidden in many of the craters, bullets flying wildly. Jiang Ye couldn't see the enemy and rushed forward to provide support. As soon as he jumped to the other side of the street, he saw Li Nannan calmly reloading her magazine. Six newly killed thugs lay in the nearby craters. She herself was unharmed.
"Why did you come over here?" Li Nannan asked. "Go back and drive the car. I'll watch this intersection, there won't be any problems."
"Alright," Jiang Ye was relieved. The commander's skills were like a cheat code. With Li Nannan guarding, this area was absolutely safe.
Jiang Ye panted as he jogged back to the rescue vehicle and found two children in the car. Like the elderly couples earlier, they were huddled under the seats, trembling.
He tossed a pack of biscuits and a bottle of water to them. Jiang Ye started the car and accelerated towards the intersection.
He braked sharply as he reached Li Nannan's position. Li Nannan immediately jumped into the car. "Let's go, let's go!"
Accelerating, the rescue vehicle roared forward. There was some gunfire ahead, and bullets pinged off the car body, leaving trails of sparks. Li Nannan kicked open the car door and fired a few bursts, silencing the area ahead. She ejected the empty magazine into the wind and slammed the car door shut with her hand.
The rescue vehicle drove into the hospital, where medical staff and stretchers were already waiting. Li Nannan kicked open the car door, and the medical staff began loading people onto the stretchers without a word. Jiang Ye stared at the stretchers; they were all infected with the happy flu virus, foaming at the mouth, their faces flushed red, twitching uncontrollably on the stretchers and emitting ghastly moans.
"The car is full, let's go," Li Nannan patted Jiang Ye's shoulder. "I'll stay here to support them and clear out the thugs on the street. If I die, I'll send you a message via the base broadcast, and you can come to the base to pick me up."
With that, Li Nannan jumped out of the car. Jiang Ye tapped the screen, pushed the speed to maximum, and the vehicle, laden with people, sped away from the hospital, racing down the empty streets.