I Am Extraordinary Alone
Chapter 449 - 447 The Thrill of Killing

Chapter 449: Chapter 447 The Thrill of Killing

Cha Na ran down the streets of the city ruins, his path marked by a series of water splashes.

This street had once been the busiest in the city. On his fifth birthday, his frail mother and weary father had brought him here to the second-hand market to buy him a pair of sneakers.

Now, the second-hand market had become a charred shell, with only three walls still standing.

Childhood memories weren’t so distant for him; it all seemed so clear, and yet now this once-familiar street was reminding him, in another form, just what he had lost.

Cha Na ran on, unaware that he was sobbing.

"Cha Na, be strong, my brother," Eternity said.

"Whoo, whoo, whoo..." Cha Na kept on crying.

"Wei Tianyang is watching over us. He doesn’t like cowards," Eternity said.

"Why doesn’t he come and end this war..." Cha Na said.

"He doesn’t like cowards," Eternity repeated.

"I don’t know what else I can do," Cha Na sobbed.

"We have always done well," Eternity said.

"I haven’t done anything," Cha Na said.

"We are witnessing this war, we are remembering it, the world has abandoned us, but we cannot abandon ourselves," Eternity said.

"That’s a line from a book..." Cha Na said.

"Yes, Dad read it to us," Eternity said.

"Dad... Mom, I miss them a bit," Cha Na said.

"They are always here, everyone is," Eternity said.

"Where are they?" Cha Na said.

"They are watching us, just as I am watching you," Eternity said.

"Then... where are you?" Cha Na asked.

"After you fall asleep, I will cover you with a blanket like Dad did, kiss your forehead like Mom did, and when you can’t bear it, I am you," Eternity said.

Cha Na ran all the way to the small square in front of the shopping mall, which was very empty, but the square was full of mortar craters. The sandbags piled up by the guerillas at the entrance had been blasted open, and the building had suffered severe structural damage due to three large holes created by tank fire, leaving the right half in ruins.

Cha Na climbed over the sandbags and ran into the pitch-black mall, filled with the smell of blood and slippery floors.

But Cha Na wasn’t afraid; this place had once been a temporary hospital for the guerillas, where Radna served as the head nurse. Despite her family’s objections, she gave up the chance to study abroad, joined the guerillas, and came here to treat the wounded.

She had treated Nick here, and although they had developed feelings for each other, they never entirely broke through the final barrier.

Cha Na knew Radna was always busy on the second floor, so he groped in the darkness for the stairs.

Occasionally his foot would touch a corpse on the ground, but Cha Na felt no fear, only endless sadness.

Those who died here were his former comrades-in-arms; he was the youngest in the guerilla team, so those in their early twenties often called him Little Pea or little sparrow. Now, these people lay here forever.

They might never be able to take back White City.

Cha Na found the stairwell and squeezed up through the cracks in the ruins to reach the second floor. Most of the walls of the mall’s hall had collapsed, and heavy rain poured in through the gaping holes left by tank rounds and the fallen walls, mixing rainwater with blood on the floor.

In the hall turned into a sickbay, the bodies of the wounded were piled up in mounds, forming a small hillock of people.

He walked over to that pile of bodies and silently sat down.

He could imagine that after the tank barrages ended, the enemy flooded the building, executed the wounded one by one, and then dragged them together neatly onto the pile.

Eternal said, "Sister Radna is over there."

Cha Na had already seen it, but he didn’t want to confirm; instead, Eternal urged in his mind.

"Cha Na, don’t let Nick down," Eternal said.

Cha Na took a deep breath. He walked over to the corner opposite the pile of corpses, where several more female bodies lay stacked in the corner.

These women were nurses. They had been stripped of their clothing, piled up in the corner like department store mannequins discarded carelessly, their bodies twisted into grotesque shapes.

Radna’s body lay to one side, her left arm deformed and broken, a blood hole punctured by a dagger in her right leg, and several vicious stabs in her abdomen and chest. Her once delicate and beautiful face was now marred with several gashes.

Cha Na pulled out a silver ring and a note from Nick’s wallet. The note bore a brief love poem.

Cha Na slid the ring onto Radna’s left middle finger.

"I hope you can live happily together in heaven," said Cha Na.

He sneezed and walked silently toward the direction of the stairs. When he reached the tank shell hole, he spotted a squad of infantry crossing the plaza in front of the mall, heading toward the rubble-strewn streets.

"Avenge us."

The last words of two guerrilla fighters echoed in his ears once again.

He quickly hid next to the hole, his heart pounding rapidly.

Cha Na looked down. There were only six people in the squad, completely unaware of his presence in the ruins of the mall.

They were laughing and talking, about to head to another area for their mission, which made Cha Na even more furious.

Anger and excitement made Cha Na’s hands tremble. He propped the gun against the wall and aimed downwards at the group.

"Don’t rush, Cha Na," said Eternal.

Cha Na took a deep breath and aimed the gun at the last man in the group.

"Breathe deeply, Cha Na, don’t be nervous," Eternal gradually took over the body.

His hands steadied, and the crosshair was now aimed at the man’s back.

"Bang!"

Cha Na fired the gun. As the gunshot rang out, the man’s body shuddered, then he fell to the ground.

The shot also exposed Cha Na’s position.

The soldiers below shouted his location, and simultaneously scattered in all directions. Cha Na didn’t know who to aim at when their gunfire started to cover the area.

He darted into the dark staircase, his heart thumping violently, a tinge of joy and excitement filling his body; he had just killed for the first time.

Killing could bring a thrill.

"They will come inside looking for us," said Eternal at this moment.

"Then let them come!" Cha Na said.

In the midst of speaking, footsteps could already be heard from downstairs. Cha Na held his position at the top of the staircase, aiming at the lower stairs.

Like a young leopard on its first solo hunt, he gripped the handle of the AK47 tightly, his index finger rigid, his muscles taut.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed at the stairwell entrance. Cha Na quickly pulled the trigger, the muzzle flash illuminating the dark corridor. The shadow screamed and fell, a string of curses echoing back and forth.

Cha Na, expressionless, moved position with a mix of surprise and tension; behind him, there was the sound of something falling.

"It’s a hand grenade," said Eternal.

"I know," said Cha Na.