Die on Mars

Tang Yue passed through the airlock, left Kunlun Station, and closed the heavy hatch behind him.

The black desert spread out in front of his eyes. The Ixi Plain is essentially a huge shallow impact crater. It was formed 3.9 billion years ago. It has existed on Mars for a long time, but it will be destroyed in more than thirty days. Another huge crater covers it.

Looking at the horizon in the distance, Tang Yue once again recalled the time when he and Lao Wang were warming themselves over the fire in the Gobi Desert during the special training, talking about the man named Peng Jiamu.

The desert under the night suddenly had a fatal attraction for Tang Yue. He wanted to walk into the desert like Peng Jiamu and leave everything behind. This would be an exploration with no return. It didn't matter where he went, because he knew There is only one end point for you.

Death may not be a huge wall that stretches up and down, left and right, but an endless wasteland. The so-called death means that on a cold and windy winter night, you turn off the light, open the door to your house, and put up your collar, haha I shrank under the heater and walked towards the distant horizon, never to return.

"Tang Yue!"

The old cat's voice sounded in the earphones, interrupting Tang Yue's thoughts.

"Are you OK?"

"It's okay." Tang Yue came to his senses. He was suddenly worried that he couldn't control his legs and walked into the desert in front of him regardless. This impulse was similar to that of a person standing on the edge of a cliff. Want to jump.

The descent stage of the Eagle lander still stands not far away, like an ancient tower under the starry sky. Another conspicuous thing is the Chelome probe. The old cat dragged the Chelome back last time and took it Staying at the Kunlun Station, this old detector is still working - after the temperature control processor was removed, the detector lost half of its functions, but it still tirelessly sends greetings to the earth every day.

Tang Yue took out a long-handled shovel from the garage, walked around the lander and the Chelome, said goodbye to them, and then found the grave he had dug for himself.

This was a shallow pit, just big enough to accommodate Tang Yue, who was lying flat on his back. He picked up the shovel in his hand and expanded and deepened the pit. The old cat said that the huge impact of the impact might tear him apart completely. In order to let the old cat It was more convenient for cats to collect corpses, but Tang Yue still wanted to keep his corpse as intact as possible.

He revised his suicide note and saved it in the computer at Kunlun Station. On the day of the comet impact, the computer will send the letter to Maidong and Lao Mao.

In his suicide note, Tang Yue said:

"Death is an unavoidable fate for everyone. No matter what kind of person you are, whether you are a rich man, a beggar, a politician, or a prisoner, you are all equal in the face of death, but this does not mean that death is not terrible. , if you ask me if I am afraid of death, there is no doubt that I am afraid of death, and I am scared to death.

But I have no way to explore the source of this fear - apart from the biological instinct of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, living in loneliness on Mars is actually worse than death, but deep down in my heart I am still afraid of death, and I try my best To survive, even though I know that even if I survive the difficulties, there will be no good results.

A long, long time ago, I watched a very classic old movie "Buried Alive". I don't know if you have seen it. There was only one character in the movie, a person who was buried alive underground. He had to survive within a limited time. Inside, overcome panic and despair, and use limited tools to escape.

I was actually a person who was buried alive.

But you can escape from the coffin, but you can never escape from the universe. "

Tang Yue worked hard to dig the grave pit.

“When I was a child, I read The Lord of the Rings, and John Tolkien once said in the book that the reason why we survive is because of the indestructible courage of those little people who resisted powerful fate.

I think courage and fear are not incompatible. A person can be cowardly, shy, greedy for life and afraid of death, but he can also be brave and fearless. In the long history of mankind, countless brave little people have stepped forward one after another to move forward for higher ideals. This is the most glorious and greatest thing about human civilization - courage is born from fear. The brave man is not ignorant of fear, but overcomes fear.

As the last person on this planet, at the last moment of my life, I asked myself, have I become a brave person?

I hope there will be a voice out there to answer:

Yes, you are brave. "

Another shovel was suddenly thrust into the sand in front of Tang Yue. He raised his head and found that the old cat was also coming with the shovel.

"What are you doing here?" Tang Yue asked.

"Dig the grave," the old cat answered, digging out the loose soil from the bottom of the pit and expanding the edge of the grave.

"Why dig so big?"

"I can't lie down," said the old cat, "it's a bit crowded for two people."

"Go, go, do you want to rob me of the grave? Can't you give me a single dormitory? You don't have to lie here, get out of here."

"But I will come back sooner or later, so of course I have to occupy the pit first." The old cat did not move his position and continued to enlarge the pit. Then he threw away the shovel and jumped in to lie down flat on his back. He also patted the place next to him to signal Tang Yue. Lie down with it.

Tang Yue was a little helpless. It seemed that this damn cat couldn't be driven away. He inserted the shovel into the sand on one side and lay down next to the old cat.

It was really painful to lie on the ground wearing the Mingguang Armor. The life support system behind his back was big and hard. Tang Yue moved so that he could lie down more comfortably.

Before he died, he thought about being more comfortable. Humans are really strange creatures. Tang Yue smiled silently. This is like some people who hang themselves and don't want the rope to get stuck in their hair because it hurts to pull their hair.

He and the old cat stared at the sky with their eyes open.

"Can I see that comet?" Tang Yue asked.

"I can see it," said the old cat, "but you can't because it's not bright enough."

"What's it like?"

"A dim and fuzzy little spot of light." The old cat replied, "It's very, very small."

Tang Yue's body completely relaxed, and he felt like he was one with the earth.

He closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to wander through time.

He saw the blood-drinking Homo sapiens chasing prey on the African grasslands, the craftsmen of the Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt using logs to drag huge stones to build a magnificent pyramid, the scholars of the ancient Greek city-state of Athens walking under the corridors, the Ottoman Turks The soldiers blasted open the walls of Constantinople with giant cannons, Columbus's Santa Maria raised its sails in Port Barros, Spain, and Galileo put away his telescope on the tower and recorded Jupiter's fourth planet on paper. satellite.

Human history flashed back before his eyes.

Tang Yue opened his eyes and saw the old cat's paws resting on his mask.

"What are you doing?" Tang Yue turned around.

"Are you afraid of death?" The old cat opened his arms, "If you are afraid, I will hug you."

"No need." Tang Yue spread its claws, "I don't know if it will hurt when it dies. I'm afraid of pain."

"It should have happened in an instant." Old Cat said, "It was like holding a detonated nuclear bomb."

"You won't turn me into a gas, right?" Tang Yue frowned.

"At such a long distance, it will not be directly vaporized." Old Cat said, "If it fell a few hundred kilometers closer, then you might be directly wiped out in the impact... So this distance is the most suitable. If you are further away, you may not be able to kill with one blow, and you will die painfully due to decompression and suffocation. It seems that you are quite lucky. If this is the death penalty, then your position will be the VIP seat of the execution ground."

Tang Yue nodded.

"Then I have to thank God for giving me such a good position and my ancestors for eight lifetimes."

"You are calmer than I thought. I thought you would burst into tears."

"I originally wanted to cry, but that Maidong girl has already cried for me." Tang Yue said, "I haven't shed as many tears in my life as she shed today."

"We're going to die soon."

"Yeah... we're going to die soon."

"As a materialist atheist, do you have any regrets at this time?"

"What's the regret?"

"It's a pity that I don't have a world to go to after death." Old Cat said, "If you are a Christian, you will probably comfort yourself at this time that this is the road to heaven. If you are a Buddhist, you can still hope for reincarnation. The Taoist priests may take this opportunity to ascend to heaven, but in front of you there is only blank void and darkness."

Tang Yue thought for a moment and shook his head.

He has no need for religion.

Don’t look forward to the next life.

Be worthy of yourself.

Don't be afraid of the dark.

Open-mindedness and indifference in the face of death are probably the last remaining dignity of human beings in this universe.