Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 306 Disguise
Ouyang really wanted to say that they had caught them and give them a hook to catch them, but his heart instinctively felt that this was not right, and he responded vaguely: "It's too tragic, too tragic, they are devils, they are all devils!"

Well, there are plenty of people with PTSD in the US military, so one more won't make a difference.

Smith's eyes twitched, and he asked, enunciating each word clearly, "Soldier, I'm asking you, what's the status of the target?"

Ou Yang had a headache.

It's unrealistic to say we'll catch them; it would be bad if it aroused their suspicion.

"Target? Oh right, target!" Ouyang simply pretended to be an idiot. "The target's reinforcements have arrived, we can't hold back..."

Smith felt a chill in his heart; the glimmer of hope he had just begun to have vanished in an instant.

Ou Yang dared not say he had killed the target, otherwise the creature would surely escape; but if he said he hadn't caught it, he feared he wouldn't be able to keep it hooked. His mind raced, and in a flash of inspiration, he exclaimed, "Yes, that's right, we've caught the target!"

Smith instantly perked up: "Great, great! Where are you? Bring the target over here right now!"

His mood fluctuated several times, but at this moment he was only focused on being happy and didn't think much about it at all.

Ou Yang adopted a nonchalant tone: "However, the target has been shot several times and has lost too much blood; he's almost dead."

"What?" The ups and downs of his life came too suddenly. Smith felt as if he had been doused with ice water, and he immediately became furious. "Didn't I say not to shoot? Who gave you permission to shoot?"

Ouyang retorted without hesitation: "If we don't shoot, we'll all be dead. You're safe hiding in the back, but we're risking our lives to hold the line!"

"An order is an order..."

"Screw you!" Ou Yang cursed. "Apologize! Apologize to me right now!"

"Soldier, do you know what you're saying?"

Ouyang was already in character, yanking the bolt back with a sharp clang: "I'll make you apologize, or I'll shoot the target right now!"

Smith fell silent instantly, feeling as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a handful of flies: "I apologize!"

Lu Wei couldn't help but laugh: "You're quite pragmatic, aren't you?"

Ou Yang pouted, deliberately making things difficult: "I didn't hear any sincerity!"

I'm so very sorry.

Ouyang still wouldn't let the other party off the hook: "Apologize to my fallen comrades!"

Smith nearly exploded with anger: "I'm so very, very sorry!"

Lu Wei was so happy he couldn't stop smiling. This kid was too funny, and the other party didn't dare to show any anger.

"Very good!" Ou Yang said in a condescending tone, "Listen carefully, you're just someone who talks the talk, we're the ones who actually do the work. If it weren't for us taking the lead, how would you ask the big shots for credit and rewards!"

Smith's face turned pale and then red, suppressing his anger as he questioned, "Where are you located? What's the situation with the target?"

Ou Yang felt a sharp pain in his tooth and gestured to Lu Wei inquiring how much further it was to the city hall.

He wanted to stall for time as much as possible, so he made all sorts of jokes and tried to steer the conversation away from the target.

Ouyang didn't have any particular ideas; he just didn't want to give the other party time to think quietly. As long as Smith hadn't left by the time he arrived at the city hall, he would have already won half the battle.

Surprisingly, this guy wasn't fooled and quickly got back to the main topic.

Lu Wei was completely bewildered: "What?"

Ou Yang rolled his eyes: "How much longer until we get to City Hall?"

They've been through life and death together, how come they haven't developed any chemistry?
“It’s a long way off!” Lu Wei said.

He couldn't say exactly how far it was, only that so far he hadn't even covered a third of the distance.

Ouyang was even more troubled, racking his brains to figure out how to continue leading the way without making a sound.

Receiving no response, Smith's face grew increasingly grim: "Soldiers? Answer me!"

Ouyang simply feigned ignorance: "We're on our way to the city hall, but I don't know where that is!"

Smith suddenly turned around, his gaze landing on Billy: "You!"

Billy was taken aback, pointed to his nose, and looked at him with a face full of questions.

"Yes, it's you, come here!" Smith remained arrogant.

Billy looked at the mayor until the latter nodded slightly before reluctantly approaching Smith.

The mayor also wanted to know what Smith was up to, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered with this jerk.

Smith commanded imperiously, “Find out the location of the armored vehicle!”

Billy shrugged: "Aren't you going to say 'please'?"

Smith was immediately stunned: "What did you say?"

Billy retorted without backing down: "Shouldn't you be a little more polite when asking for help?"

He discreetly observed his surroundings and noticed a faint hint of appreciation on the mayor's face. He was overjoyed: He had made the right bet!
Although some members of Congress are on Smith's side, there are many more who dislike him. At this time, clearly stating one's position will surely win a lot of goodwill.

Offending Smith was inevitable, but it's no big deal to offend someone like that.

Even if he simply felt that the other person lacked basic respect for him and asked them to be more polite, this is completely different from refusing to help.

Smith nearly exploded on the spot, but managed to hold back: "Please help me find out the current location of this armored vehicle, thank you!"

He went to great lengths to exonerate himself, even though he lost an entire team. But as long as he caught the target, at the very least, his merits and demerits would cancel each other out.

"Wait a moment!" Billy smiled and walked away, quickly returning with the answer, "The armored vehicle is currently on Charlton Street."

Smith immediately contacted the armored vehicle: "Soldier, what's the situation with the target?"

Knowing he couldn't avoid it, Ouyang said in an extremely cold tone, "He's still breathing."

Smith immediately turned around: "Where is the nearest hospital to Charlton Street?"

“Taylor Clinic, right on Charlton Street!” a voice replied.

Smith breathed a sigh of relief: "226, listen up, stop the car immediately and take the target to Taylor's clinic!"

Ou Yang's eye twitched: "Where is Taylor's clinic?"

"Not far from where you are now..."

"No, it's too chaotic here!" Ou Yang refused flatly. "I didn't see any clinics. Are you sure the place you're talking about is still open?"

Smith was speechless for a moment, then looked at the crowd, but no one could answer the question. Under the pandemic, hospitals and clinics are among the very few places that can still operate normally. Being unable to operate is one thing, but being willing to operate is another.

Once an outbreak occurs, medical institutions are among the first places to be affected. Many doctors in public hospitals would rather lose their jobs than risk infection by going to work. Private clinics are even more affected, with many closing down.

Smith was completely bewildered, feeling like the whole world was against him: "Where are there any medical facilities that are still open? Can anyone tell me where I can find a medical facility that can provide emergency care?"

“The municipal hospital,” Billy said. “But be prepared, it’s already overcrowded.”

Smith made the final decision: "Then send him to the municipal hospital, quick!"

"Did you hear what I said?" Billy reminded him. "The municipal hospital is overcrowded. There are no doctors, no nurses, and even equipment and medicine are in short supply!"

Gunfire echoed throughout the city, with gunfire raging everywhere. Thousands of Americans were killed in the shootings, and even more were wounded.

With so many wounded, both lightly and seriously injured, being sent to public hospitals all at once, the limited medical resources were already overwhelmed, yet they had no choice but to keep operating.

At this moment, all the city's public hospitals are overflowing with wounded people, and the entire medical system is in chaos. The wounded cannot find doctors, doctors cannot find nurses, and nurses are wandering around everywhere, finding pits and valleys full of wounded people, many of whom are seriously injured and need to be taken to the operating room immediately.

But the hospital was already packed with seriously injured people, and all the surgeons were crammed into the operating room to save patients as quickly as possible.

All rescue procedures were streamlined to the extreme, and many injured people were already busy as soon as they were put on the operating table.

Internal organs that could have been repaired had to be removed to save time; limbs that could have been saved had to be amputated to save time; fractures that could have been repositioned had to be put back into place to save time.

Later on, even junior civil servants couldn't get into hospitals and had to stay outside, where nurses would perform simple disinfection procedures, followed by a long and desperate wait.

Many people were shot in non-life-threatening locations. In order to save time, the nurses only performed the most basic hemostasis, bandaged the wounds, and asked the wounded to leave as soon as possible. Countless people were delayed in receiving treatment because of this. Some were crippled when they should have been, and some died when they should have died.

Seriously injured people cannot all receive treatment. Hospitals, doctors, medicines, and equipment are all limited. Priority should be given to treating those with minor injuries and a higher chance of survival.

All lives are equal; who is more precious than whom?
However, rescuing a seriously injured person not only requires a lot of time and resources, but whether they can be saved is also unknown. In order to save more lives, the rescue of seriously injured people with high difficulty can only wait for the time being.

In the end, what awaited them was not rescue, but death.

Life is not a math problem, but doctors are forced to choose between saving one person and saving several.

It's cruel, but there's no other way.

Moreover, the city is so chaotic that only those injured near the hospital have a chance to be sent there, at most a few blocks away; it's very difficult to get them to the hospital from any further away.

It is no exaggeration to say that the most overwhelmed and busiest systems right now are the public security and medical systems.

Due to the critical shortage of medicines and equipment, the Director of Health was just discussing with the Mayor whether a group of personnel could be dispatched to the port to expedite the return of medical supplies from the East.

But the chaos in the city was not over yet. Every area required a lot of manpower to manage, and the mayor was stretched thin, unable to spare any manpower.

There are urgently needed medicines and medical equipment at the port, but there is no way to transport them back. The Director of Health is so eager to lead a group of medical staff into the port and personally bring back the medical equipment left there.

Smith didn't care about anything else and grabbed Billy by the collar: "I don't care what method you use, get me the best doctors and nurses right now, quick!"

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” Billy said calmly. “Mr. Smith, your request is beyond my capabilities.”

He is the mayor's secretary, not the health director.

Smith was going crazy: "Who can decide? Step forward!"

His expression was manic and his tone arrogant. Seeing him like this, the health director quietly hid behind the others.

Everyone tacitly helped him cover for him.

Smith breathed heavily, his sharp gaze sweeping across the faces of the crowd, but received no response.

He rubbed his face vigorously: "Everyone, please believe me. The person in the armored vehicle is extremely, extremely, extremely important to us. He may very well be the key to ending the pandemic. Do you understand what I mean? I'm talking about phantom lung disease. Don't you want to end the pandemic?"

The crowd looked at each other, some wavering, but the vast majority didn't believe Smith's explanation at all.

While Smith was in a state of panic, Lu Wei had already driven the armored vehicle through several streets and into two battlefields, with dozens of irregular dents on the vehicle body caused by stray bullets.

With the journey halfway through, Ouyang became increasingly anxious, fearing that Smith might cause another accident.

Just when you feared it, Smith's voice came through the radio again: "226, turn left ahead, get to the municipal hospital as fast as you can!"

Lu Wei mouthed, "Should we turn?"

Ou Yang smirked: "If I can't go to the mountain, then let the mountain come to me!"

Lu Wei exclaimed in surprise, "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? You've got it backwards!"

"As long as you get the gist of it." Ou Yang peeked out and saw that the street was very quiet, with only a few police officers patrolling. "Old Ya, what do you think would happen if we just rammed into the wall?"

"What the heck?" Lu Wei was completely bewildered. "Why would you bump into a wall like that?"

Ouyang sighed: "I mean, he keeps telling us to go to the hospital. If we insist on going to the city hall, won't he get suspicious?"

"Then you mean..."

Ou Yang thought for a moment and said, "Let's find a random place and crash into it!"

"Are you serious?"

“Yes!” Ouyang said decisively.

Smith was still calling out on the radio: "226, 226, can you hear me?"

“I heard you,” Ouyang said. “We’re adjusting the route!”

The armored vehicle quickly entered a new route and soon found itself in a chaotic neighborhood.

The firefight wasn't intense, but shots were indeed fired.

Lu Wei seized the opportunity, stepped on the gas, and sped toward the roadside. With a muffled thud, the armored vehicle crashed into the wall of a convenience store.

Ouyang immediately yelled into the radio, "WTF!"

Several armed thugs happened to be buying something for free at the convenience store and witnessed this scene, and they were all dumbfounded.

Before they could figure out what was happening, Ou Yang jumped out of the car, grabbed a large pineapple and started firing wildly, yelling into the radio as he fired: "We're under attack! We're under attack!"

In the blink of an eye, several thugs lay dead in pools of blood.

Ouyang threw a thug into the car, leaving a pool of blood, and then dragged the dying thug across the street, firing continuously throughout the process. Before leaving, he threw a grenade into the armored vehicle.

Over the radio, Smith, who had heard gunshots and explosions, went mad, screaming hoarsely, "What happened? What happened? Tell me what happened—"

(End of this chapter)