Twenty Seven Years

  Chapter 515 The Courage to Persevere

  Inside the warehouse

"Comrade Verac, the news has been sent out. Afterwards, nearby comrades will come to meet Comrade Capa and Comrade Bella. In addition, the main station has returned a telegram. Mr. Keating told us not to resist. He will find a way to use government hostages later. Swap us back." Murphy called Veraker to the telegraph and said.

   "What do you think?" Verac didn't quite accept Keating's arrangement in his heart.

  He is aware of his importance to the International League of Equality, but he is better at seeing things from the perspective of ordinary comrades.

   Comrades from the action team were also arrested before, but Keating did not respond to this.

   He was arrested, but Keating wanted to use the government's hostages in exchange.

  Will they feel unequal, will they feel chilled?

   "If we have government hostages that can be exchanged, which means that the captured comrades can go back alive, then I am willing to leave this opportunity to others." Murphy's thoughts are consistent with Veraker's.

   "Hmm..." Verak patted Murphy on the shoulder.

   "I understand what you think, you don't want to be treated this way, right?" Murphy said.

  Verak nodded and admitted: "Yes."

"But I think that although everyone is equal, there must be differences in the power that each person can exert. That is, if only one of two people can survive, rationally speaking, the one that can exert greater power People should live." Murphy added, "And you, in my opinion, and in the eyes of many people, are the one who should live."

   "I can't accept it." Verak shook his head and said with a wry smile, "It feels like they died for me, and I am partly responsible for their death."

   "I can understand this, so I also understand your next decision." Murphy knew that Veraker would reject Keating's hostage exchange proposal, at least on his own behalf.

  Villac took a deep breath: "Actually, there is one more thing that bothers me."

"what?"

"Too many comrades were arrested. If everyone had to be rescued, Mr. Keating couldn't save them. To put it bluntly, it was because of me that Mr. Keating decided to exchange us with hostages afterwards. If I refused With this method, Comrades Connie and the others will have a high probability..." Verak thought a lot.

"You mean, if you refuse, Mr. Keating will not step over you to save other people. In this way, everyone will die, and you will feel that you are partly responsible for everyone's death." Murphy asked .

Verac gave a "hmm": "If I compromise with Mr. Keating, everyone will have hope to live. Now it is a bit difficult to give up such a seemingly good choice and let everyone follow me to another dead end." Decide."

   "It's not difficult." Shirley heard the voice and came over, "I support you."

   "I also support it. So many comrades have been arrested, only we can go back, and I have no face to face others." Connie also said.

   Seeing this, Verak smiled ashamedly: "I'm sorry."

   Not long after, Cyril, Spencer, and Nizan of the combat team learned the telegram from Chairman Keating, and made the same choice as Murphy, Shirley, and Connie.

   They refuse to be part of the special group.

  Even if the price is death.

   "Murphy, return a telegram to Teacher Keating." Verac lit a cigarette, stood beside Murphy, and dictated what was most likely the last thing he could say to Teacher Keating.

   "Understood." Murphy was ready.

"Respected Chairman Keating, after the unanimous decision of all members of the General Liaison Office of the Laizein Wartime Action Team of the International Equality League, we reject your proposal to use hostages to exchange us. We will stick to the warehouse and never compromise with the government forces." Veraker said word by word, "The following... are the last words I said as a comrade, as your former prison mate, and as your student."

   Speaking of this, Verak's mood finally fluctuated a little.

  Everything seemed to come so quickly and urgently that he suspected that he was so calm because he hadn't realized that the government forces had already surrounded the place.

"I-"

   "Comrade Virak! The government army is coming!"

   Just when Veraker wanted to say something in his heart and say goodbye to Mr. Keating, Spencer, who was guarding the warehouse gate, yelled.

   "Everyone is ready!" Veraker didn't care to say more, after loading the gun, he immediately turned and rushed downstairs.

   Shirley and Connie looked at each other and followed.

  Murphy quickly sent out half of what Verak had finished speaking, then burned the translation book and destroyed the telegraph.

   "Comrade Veraker!" Spencer saw Veraker leading someone downstairs, and waved to him.

  Verak stepped forward quickly and looked out through the crack of the warehouse door, and saw a large number of heavily armed government soldiers emerging on the street directly in front of the warehouse, and the soldiers were approaching the warehouse silently and orderly.

   "Not only here, there are government troops on the north, east, and west." Spencer added, clutching his pistol tightly.

   "For the sake of the few of us, they are really responsible for such a big battle." Verak sneered.

   "I'm sure I won't let them down." Spencer was ready for a big fight.

  Verak leaned against the door, took his last puff of cigarette, and slowly exhaled: "Don't rush to do it, wait until they get closer."

   "For sure, with the help of the terrain of the warehouse and limiting the number of them coming in, we can maximize our advantages." Spencer planned very clearly.

   "Okay." Verak patted Spencer, and then settled the others, occupying favorable positions, waiting for the government army to invade.

  —

  Outside the warehouse, Celt and Howard hid behind the large army, observing the situation in the warehouse with binoculars.

"They should have noticed us for a while, and it seems quite calm." Holt Ward has been expecting some reactions from the people inside, but unfortunately, the warehouse has always been quiet. look.

   "It is estimated that the materials are being destroyed, and they are busy contacting their comrades in other places." Selt analyzed.

   "Then should we rush in? Use the data they didn't have time to destroy to catch as many people as possible?"

Celt put down the binoculars: "It will only get them to stop them desperately. If they are all dead, how much use will a pile of broken documents be. Well, the distance is almost the same, let's send someone over to negotiate with them .”

   "Yes." Hot Howard caught up with the troops.

Soon, the government army stopped 50 meters away from the warehouse, and an officer appointed as a negotiator approached the gate of the warehouse alone: ​​"People of the International Equality League Action Team, you are surrounded! "

  Spencer behind the gate cursed and was about to open the door and shoot the other party to death.

   "Don't worry, listen to what he wants to say." Verak stopped Spencer, anyway, it would not be too late to kill him after listening.

   "It doesn't make any sense to hide in the warehouse and resist! Going to the government is your only choice! Now put down your weapons and raise your hands! Otherwise, we will directly burn the warehouse!"

   "Damn, where did you find the trash." Celt almost fainted from anger after hearing this.

   Who doesn't know that the group of people from the International Equality League is very tough. The more they threaten each other in this way, the more fierce resistance will be incurred.

   At that time, everyone will have to fight the government army desperately, how can they catch them alive?

   But what he didn't expect was that the officer's threat really took effect.

  Everyone in the warehouse fell silent.

  They themselves are not afraid of anything, but if the government army is forced to burn the warehouse because of their desperate resistance, what will happen to Comrade Capa and Bella who are hiding?

   "Comrade Veraker, what should we do?" Connie asked.

   "...It seems that we can only go out. Only in this way will we not clash with the government forces and cause the warehouse to be burned. It should also reduce their vigilance to some extent, and they will not search the warehouse too carefully after we leave."

   "Get out? Doesn't that mean you will be arrested by them?" Nizan imagined the torture and various abuses after being arrested, and felt a little uncertain.

  In his opinion, death would be much happier.

  If he was really tortured, he didn't dare to guarantee his willpower.

   "If you stick to the warehouse, Comrade Capa and Comrade Bella will suffer accordingly. We don't need to let them sacrifice with us who could have been alive." Verak decided to take people out.

   "I won't go out." Spencer said abruptly.

  Everyone looked at him.

   "I know what will happen if I get caught by the government army, but I won't reveal anything about it. I'd rather be here..." Spencer pointed the gun at his temple.

   "Comrade Spencer!" Murphy threw the gun away from Spencer's hand.

Verak let out a breath, scattered the remaining cigarettes one by one, then lit one in his mouth, sat on the stairs and smoked: "The current situation is nothing more than insisting on resistance. The government army has been on guard for a long time. Under the circumstances, they were burned to death in the warehouse, or they were arrested when they went out, and they provided cover for Comrade Capa and Comrade Bella."

   "I'm really not reconciled." Cyril's eyes were red, "I was caught so aggrieved..."

   "Don't be aggrieved, let Comrade Capa and Comrade Bella live, what we have done is worthwhile, and it is much more cost-effective than killing a few government soldiers." Shirley said.

   "But the government forces have captured us, and they won't keep us there for nothing. They will definitely try their best to pry useful information from us. I'm not afraid of death, it's just a shot, but..." Nizan was a little embarrassed.

  No one seems to be afraid of torture, but I am hesitant to face it.

   "Understood, torture after being arrested is much more painful than death directly." Veraker has experienced it, and he doesn't think it is such a spineless thing for comrades to be afraid of torture.

   "So I thought, it's better to have a good time for myself." Spencer smiled bluntly.

   "It's no big deal." Nizan closed his eyes, with a determined expression on his face, and pointed the gun at his chest, "Better die than surrender, the result is the same."

Verak frowned and took a deep breath: "You should all know that I was once arrested in Damans Prison, where I suffered inhuman torture. I can be sure that the torture I experienced at that time will be worse than what I experienced later. much more ruthless."

   As he spoke, he tore off his clothes, revealing the scars on his body.

  Nizan didn't pull the trigger. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the part of the scar exposed by Verak.

   It is hard for anyone to imagine how Veraker was treated and how he persisted.

   "Do you know why I survived?" Verak scanned the crowd.

  No one spoke, everyone watched him quietly.

"Because I know that only by persevering can I hope to leave the prison." Verak said, "It's the same now, death is indeed an easy thing, but do we have to do this? Why can't we try to persevere? Even if we are being tortured and tortured, what if we can persevere until the day when the revolution wins? I think everyone will be like me, very grateful for my persistence.”

  Nizan and Spencer were shaken.

Verak rearranged his clothes again: "Of course, I also know that it is difficult, and it cannot be achieved by just saying a few words and insisting. Perhaps, none of us will survive the revolution." The day of victory. But just this persistence, this little hope, should be more worthwhile than shooting yourself?"

"You're right." Shirley was the first to say, "The arrest doesn't mean we've compromised. By doing so, we can protect Comrade Capa and Comrade Bella in the warehouse, and we can also show our strength to the government forces." Faith can bring hope to oneself. No one wants to see the day of the victory of the revolution, and does not want to live in the new world we have built with our own hands. We still have a choice.”

   "I'm not afraid of that, I will stick to it like you." Murphy said, looking directly at Veraker.

  Verak smiled at Murphy.

  He didn't have much doubt about this, Murphy was much tougher than he was back then.

   "...Just do what you say." After a while, Spencer agreed with Veraker's words.

   "Try it." Nizan was not very confident yet, but Verak's mention of persevering until the victory of the revolution still gave him a lot of strength.

  Finally, the seven people reached an agreement and decided to leave the warehouse voluntarily and were arrested by government forces.

Outside the warehouse, Selt approached Hot Ward aggressively, yelled at him, and ordered the officer to be replaced immediately to re-communicate with the action team, make sure the other party came out, captured them alive in the most peaceful way, and then At worst, it was necessary to ensure that Verak was alive.

  But before the officer standing in front was called back, the door of the warehouse actually opened amidst warning threats.

   Immediately afterwards, seven comrades from the general liaison office of the action team headed by Verak raised their hands high and walked out in a line.

   "Wh, what's the situation?" This scene surprised Holt Ward.

   This group of people who have always been indomitable actually resisted and did not resist. They really surrendered? Could it be that he was really frightened by the words of burning the warehouse?

  Selter didn't care about guessing all kinds of possibilities, and quickly sent someone to check, and confirmed that none of the seven people were carrying weapons, and handcuffed one of them without hesitation, and took them to the prison.

  (end of this chapter)