48 Refugees (1/2)

Chapter 48: Refugees

Translator: _Min_Editor: Rundi

”Damn it! Sh*t!”

The car came to a slow stop as Robert smacked the steering wheel.

Nick quietly walked out of the car as he lifted the front cover.

”The engine is busted.”

”Fu*k! Now we are screwed,” Robert said with a voice of defeat.

”…” Jiang Chen thought if he should go back to the apocalypse for a while and bring back a levitating car.

But it was only wishful thinking; he would not do that unless they were hopeless.

If he did it, that would mean he was prepared to abandon the two of them. Then his gold selloff plan would be deserted, and this Iraq trip would become pointless.

”Can you fix it?” Jiang Chen asked.

”Let me try.” Nick took the toolbox out from the back of the car as he began to work on the engine.

However, the engine didn’t seem to get any better.

Just as they were about to lose hope, Jiang Chen suddenly saw a truck approaching from a distance.

”IS?” He tensed up as he took out the pistol.

Robert also noticed the truck, but his face looked ecstatic.

”Put your gun away, haha, we are saved. Quick! Shout with me! Haha, stop here! Here! Help!” Robert waved his arms as he yelled at the truck to get its attention.

The truck seemed to have noticed the three of them as it slowly drove in their direction.

The truck stopped. Jiang Chen saw that the back of the truck was filled with malnourished refugees. Their clothes were ripped apart and only carried a small amount of luggage. All of them had the same tired and apathetic expression.

Robert walked to the truck driver and spoke with him briefly before he returned full of joy.

”The driver agreed to give us a ride. It is tradition to help each other out in the desert. I promised him that we’ll share the freshwater on our car. Since the car is going to be abandoned, let’s take the fuel out as well. Nick, come help me.”

”Okay, boss.” Nick nodded and ensued.

－

Jiang Chen and Nick sat in the back of the truck while Robert, trying to get close to the driver, sat in the passenger seat.

Since only Robert knew Arabic, the two of them who sat with the refugees could only stare at each other, and couldn’t say a word.

All the women were covered in thick headscarves while the men looked exhausted, the children also lacked the energy people of their age possessed. Everyone was tired. They must have suffered a lot.

The atmosphere felt odd.

A Byelorussian and a Han here sure was weird.

”These people are probably Syrian refugees. Since Turkey shut down its borders, some of them chose to go through the Kurdish Region and then be smuggled into Turkey. It’s a coincidence that we were able to meet up.” At least Jiang Chen knew a little English to be able to chat with Nick.

”Do they know English?” Jiang Chen asked.

”Some probably do, but it doesn’t look like they have the energy to chat.” Nick shrugged his shoulders.

The back of the truck was crowded and bumpy. A child who he couldn’t tell the gender of sat beside Jiang Chen. The dirty face lacked energy and emotion as the messy hair carried a sour odor more pungent than Robert.

Jiang Chen did not care too much about cleanliness as the entire truck was filled with the awful smell, so he didn’t pay attention.

Nick already started to snore as his years of military life had programmed him in such a way to preserve his energy. Except the snoring received a few stares in the truck.

He really could sleep anywhere. Jiang Chen forced a smile as he also adjusted the way he sat to take a nap.

The truck drove for a bit longer.

It was around lunch time as some refugees took out the food they carried and began to force it down with some water. The teen sitting beside Jiang Chen took out a black thing that resembled a piece of bread and began chewing.

Perhaps it was because everyone was eating, Jiang Chen also felt hungry. He reached behind him, and when no one was looking, he took out a box of Oreos from the storage dimension. He opened the package as he started to eat it.

He was prepared for this kind of unexpected situation so he would always store some emergency food and medicine.

Jiang Chen suddenly noticed that a pair of eyes were peeking at him.

Precisely, peeking at him chewing the food.

”Do you want some?” Jiang Chen smiled as he handed the box over.

The pair of eyes quickly fled. However, they seemed to have noticed that Jiang Chen had no ill intentions as that person took over the half box of cookies and only hesitated slightly before devouring them.