Chapter 51 – Facing Death

“You guys leave first!” said Tang Can unexpectedly.

Mazha almost couldn’t believe his own ears. He raised his voice and demanded that the young officer explain his thoughts.

“Those of you who can go should leave right now!” exhorted Tang Can again, a brilliant and bright smile on his face. He took his canteen off and threw it at Mazha. “There’s still some water in this, bring it along when you go back.”

Mazha no longer cared about Tang Can’s rank or background. He punched his commanding officer in the stomach and yelled, “I need to hit some sense into you, you crazy bastard! Why are you throwing your life away for a shitty woman? I need to slap your head back around…”

Like an ox driven into a frenzy, Mazha pummeled Tang Can with his fists. Had the other soldiers not intervened, he might have killed the Tang Can!

“We don’t have any food left among us. The only thing that could save your lives is having enough water to get out. Instead of all of us dying here, it’s better if at least some of us survive!” Tang Can did his best to explain his reasoning to Mazha. He was the commanding officer. He should sacrifice himself so his beloved soldiers could survive. It was the right thing for him to do, and he didn’t mind dying here along with his other comrades.

“You’re doing this because of that woman!” snarled Mazha as he stared at Tang Can with red-rimmed eyes. Never had he thought that someone as incredible as his commanding officer would be willing to die such an ignoble death. Dying at the hands of an enemy, that was heroic. But choosing to throw away his life for an unrelated woman? That made absolutely no sense! The fact that a man would have a weakness for a beautiful woman was not uncommon, but this woman was dead! Why did he persist despite that? Mazha couldn’t wrap his mind around it.

Other than the food that the Desert Fox stole earlier, the rest of the edibles were buried under mounds of sand. Water was the only lifesaving resource they had left. It was their only treasure.

One of the youngest surviving soldiers couldn’t take it anymore. After seeing his best friend getting blown away by the storm and other comrades getting buried alive under the sand, he desperately wanted to survive this journey. He blurted out, “I can’t die here…I’m the only son in my family…I’ve never dated anyone…I haven’t had a taste of the good life…I just can’t die here!” He bent over to grab the canteen that Tang Can threw down earlier and bolted away.

Mazha yelled after the deserting soldier, commanding him to come back, but it was too late. The young man ran too fast and, before long, he disappeared into the distance behind some sand dunes.

After witnessing the example of one of the soldiers, the others started to get the same idea. No one wanted to die a slow death from starvation or dehydration in the desert. At this point, they didn’t care about the team anymore. It was every man for himself.

Mazha screamed profanities at the deserters until his voice gave out, but it was of no use. Facing death, many of the surviving people lost their courage and wanted to save their own skins. The draw of comradeship was not enough for them.

“Stop wasting your breath!” commanded Tang Can. “You can’t blame any of them for what they’re doing. You should leave yourself!” The young officer looked Mazha in the eye. After their many years together, just thinking about parting forever sent a twinge to his heart but he persisted in his plan.

Mazha’s throat was dry and scratchy after his attempts to bring the others back. He stepped back a couple of steps and held out his arm for balance before he fell heavily onto a sand dune. Sitting there helped him recover a bit of his strength.

He then laid back on the sand and commented, “F*ck it, I can’t leave. Inside here are so many of my fellow soldiers. There’s no way that I could just abandon them!” Finishing that thought, he reclined back and raised his two legs up in the air.

“Officer Tang, you should bury Reporter Shen!” A voice suddenly sounded, causing both Tang Can and Mazha to twitch in fright. Mazha actually jumped up from the sand dune and ran a bit away.

At the side, Guo Pingan wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve. The sleeve had a lot of sand sticking to it, so the soldier ended up with a large smear of dirt on his face.

Tang Can suddenly noticed that the other soldier had dug a hole a ways off. It was in preparation for Shen Yu! The young officer felt overwhelmed for a second and reached out to hug Shen Yu’s body closer to him. His actions reminded the others of a lost child searching for comfort.

Mazha stood back up and pushed at Guo Pingan roughly. “What the hell, man, why didn’t you leave? Why the hell didn’t you leave?” he demanded crossly.

The other soldier stood there and chuckled lightly. Tears rolled down Mazha’s face as he grasped the other man into a deep bear hug. He sobbed quietly, “My comrade, my brother!” This man was an example of a true comrade-in-arms!

The two men laughed and cried while embracing each other. With great difficulty, they finally managed to calm themselves down and exchanged a knowing look. Both of them then walked towards Tang Can and started to take Shen Yu from his arms.

“It’s better to do the difficult things first!” exclaimed Mazha after he steeled his own heart. “When we’re finally out of this horrible desert, I swear I’ll introduce you to some pretty girls back where I live!” He couldn’t let his good friend stay heartbroken over a dead woman. If they buried her, her dead body could no longer torment him. Maybe Tang Can would finally come back to his senses when she was out of sight.

The two soldiers struggled with Tang Can, but, for some reason, they were unable to take Shen Yu away from him. Tang Can himself didn’t know where he got his strength from. He stubbornly held onto her body and refused to let go. All he knew was that he wanted her. Even her dead body.

Guo Pingan pulled with all his might on Shen Yu’s arm. Suddenly, he heard the tell-tale sound of a bone moving. He shouted, “Oh f*ck! I must have dislocated her arm! Does anyone know how to fix that?”

Mazha snorted in laughter and yelled at the other man in exasperation. “She’s dead, idiot! Does it even matter at this point?”

Guo Pingan pondered the other soldier’s words for a bit. At first, he thought Mazha’s reasoning made sense but after thinking a bit more he ultimately rejected the idea, “It’s still better to re-attach it properly. Otherwise, if she goes into the afterlife with a busted arm, how would she be able to get reincarnated properly?

Mazha exploded and mocked the other man for being crackbrained. This was why he didn’t hang out with nerds, they made everything more complicated than it was worth! Despite his irritation, he waved his arms a couple of times and said, “Fine fine, let me try to pop her arm back into her socket. You stand over there and keep quiet. I don’t want to hear any complaints on how I do it.” He grabbed Shen Yu’s arm and examined it a bit. Before he could try to relocate the joint, he detected a quiet moan. It sounded like a woman’s voice groaning in pain!

“Oh shit! The corpse is moving! She’s a zombie!” exclaimed Guo Pingan as he jumped up in fright. He swiftly ran a bit away, his face sallow with shock.

Mazha had also felt cold chills running down his back. In all of his life, he had never seen the dead move. This was the first time he lent credence to those old wives’ tales. Scared to his toes, he dropped Shen Yu’s arm and wanted to run away, but his feet felt like they were stuck to the ground. He couldn’t even move one step!

“It hurts!” Shen Yu’s voice was much more apparent now. Tang Can stared at the woman in his arms, his eyes huge, in astonishment. For a short period of time, it felt like his mind had gone completely blank. After he recovered, he cleared his throat and cried, “Shen Yu, you’re alive aren’t you? You’re alive?”

“Hurts,” sobbed Shen Yu lightly. The young woman barely managed to open her eyes slightly. “What’s wrong with my arm? Did it get blown away from the storm?” She was slightly delirious from all of the pain and wasn’t able to fully understand what was going on.

Thank the heavens and the earth! Tang Can’s heart sang in joy and his head felt hot from a rush of blood. Giddy with joy, the young officer no longer had any control over himself. He covered the young woman’s face with several kisses. There was sand on her face, and she soon had muddy kiss prints plastered all over her face.

Shen Yu was alive! But actually, in truth, she had never been dead in the first place! For a brief moment in time, she was insensate from near suffocation. Only after her arm got dislocated did the pain rouse her from her stupor.

Mazha and Guo Pingan now understood the full situation. Shen Yu was not a zombie who had formed after dying a horrible death. She had actually been alive this entire time! Mazha pointed at the trench that had just been dug. “It’s a pity! All of that work for naught!”

Guo Pingan glared at the other man, “Do you want to rest in there then?”