Die on Mars

The old cat carried the last box and stepped into the sandstorm.

No news from him since.

After more than an hour, Tang Yue couldn't hold it anymore. After such a long time, the old cat should have come back long ago.

According to the agreement between the two, if the old cat does not return to Kunlun Station for an hour and a half, then Tang Yue will take back the safety rope. One and a half hours is a red line. If the old cat does not return safely at this time, it means that it is probably problem occurs.

He decided to bring the old cat back.

Tang Yue started to retract the rope, but after receiving it, he felt more and more something was wrong because there was no tension on the rope. Tang Yue anxiously pulled the rope back. The safety rope wormed its way out of the dark sandstorm outside the cabin like a thin snake. Back, coiled on the airlock floor, but instead of an old cat, the last thing that came back was a loosened latch.

There was nothing on the other end of the cable.

Tang Yue's brain buzzed and went blank.

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"Old cat? Old cat? Please answer if you hear me!" Tang Yue was panting and walked on the sand one step at a time. He finally left Kunlun Station. Tang Yue tied himself to the airlock with a safety rope. On the cabin door of the room, if he couldn't find the old cat, he could follow the safety rope back to Kunlun Station. This was an insurance policy.

The headlights on both sides of the Mingguang armor mask were useless. The white light emitted by the four LED lights could not shine two meters away in the sandstorm. Tang Yue could not tell the difference between east, west and north. He was only a few meters away from Kunlun and could not see behind him. That white building is over three meters high. Looking around, everything you can see is messy sand and dust.

The sandstorms on Mars are completely different from what Tang Yue imagined.

The wind and sand in Tang Yue's imagination: You are the wind and I am the sand, lingering around the world...

Real-life sandstorms: Damn it, where’s the sun? who I am? Where am I? What am I doing?

Most of the dust in sandstorms is not particles one by one, but aerosols in the shape of haze. What is blown up by strong winds are very fine and tiny gravels, which may only be a few microns or tens of microns in diameter. These tiny particles are The sediment spread into the air, turning the atmosphere into a pot of turbid soup.

The sun could not penetrate this layer of turbid fog at all, so it was pitch black under the sandstorm.

"Old Cat——!" Tang Yue yelled at the top of his lungs. He followed his memory in the direction of the Eagle spacecraft. Since the visibility was almost zero, Tang Yue was walking in the dark at night, but he did not have the precise positioning like Old Cat. Ability can only be approximated.

The Mingguang Armor was bulky and heavy, and the joint movements of the limbs were restricted. The life support system behind it was also a huge load, so the center of gravity of the entire Mingguang Armor was very far back. Tang Yue had to lean forward to walk. He felt that he He is a fool who can move mountains.

Tang Yue did not dare to turn around at will, nor did he dare to change direction. The direction he was heading was set when he left the hatch of Kunlun Station. If he followed this direction, he would definitely reach the Eagle spacecraft, but if Tang Yue deviated from the planned direction midway , when his eyesight went dark, he did not have the ability to get himself back on track. Tang Yue was neither a turtle nor a pigeon, and his brain could not sense the geomagnetic field - not to mention that there was no geomagnetic field on Mars.

Tang Yue is now a blind man. This blind man carries a heavy tortoise shell on his back, struggling to walk in the sandstorm, being blown around by the strong wind, and he has to rescue his assistant.

It’s miserable just thinking about it.

"Old cat! Old cat!" Tang Yue gasped. His physical strength was declining rapidly. Tang Yue had been moving supplies all day today and was already exhausted. What's more, he hadn't had dinner yet. , "Please reply if you receive it! Please reply if you receive it..."

There was still no response on the channel. The radio communication conditions in the sandstorm were terrible.

Tang Yue could only hope that the old cat would stay awake and receive his call. He only needed to get close enough, so close that the radio signal could break through the interference of the environment.

It would be even more troublesome if the old cat was unconscious... It was impossible for Tang Yue to find an unconscious person in this kind of visibility. He couldn't even see his own feet when he lowered his head.

"Old cat——!" Tang Yue's legs swung mechanically alternately. His legs were gradually losing feeling. The soreness had passed, leaving only numbness.

Tang Yue heard that in the polar regions of the earth, for those polar scientific expedition teams, getting lost in a snowstorm is equivalent to death. The sandstorm on Mars is more terrifying than the snowstorm in the Antarctic of the earth, with temperatures of minus 80 degrees Celsius and four times per second. The wind speed of ten meters has exceeded the limit of the earth's climate, and the old cat was lost in this vast dark wind and sand.

God knows if he can find Lao Mao, but Tang Yue doesn't want to give up.

As long as he doesn't give up, there is still a glimmer of hope.

"Old cat——! Old cat——!" Tang Yue's voice was hoarse, his throat was so dry that it was hot, and the sound he made was like sawing wood, "Please answer if you hear me!"

What a doomsday.

The last man in the world was walking alone in the wasteland in the storm. He shouted until his throat was dry and hoarse. No one on the channel responded. If the universe really has an end, it must be like this. For a moment, Tang Yue felt that he was going to die. Here it is.

He didn't know how long he had been walking, but Tang Yue was suddenly pulled back.

He was stunned for a moment, and when he turned around, he realized that the safety rope on his body had been stretched straight. The length of the rope had reached its end... Tang Yue was surprised. The length of the safety rope was almost two hundred meters, but the Eagle spacecraft was not far away. Kunlun Station is only a hundred meters away. Tang Yue left Kunlun Station and walked 200 meters away, but he still hasn't encountered the Eagle spacecraft.

No doubt he veered off course and missed the lander.

In a sandstorm, even if you and the lander pass by only a few dozen centimeters, you may not be able to see each other.

Tang Yue could only turn around helplessly and follow the rope back to Kunlun Station.

Then do it again.

He may have to go back and forth many times until he finds the old cat.

"Old cat... damn old cat, if you can hear me, just reply! Don't fucking torment me, okay... I'm going to be exhausted... I'm really going to be exhausted..."

Tang Yue suddenly stumbled and fell into a sand pit with one foot. He immediately lost his balance and fell down.

Tang Yue couldn't recover from the fall for a long time. He lay on the sand and couldn't even muster the strength to get up.

"Old cat...Old cat, can you hear me?" Tang Yue pressed his face against the glass of the mask and called in a low voice, "Old cat? Old cat? Old cat..."

Tang Yue crawled forward slowly, moving in the storm. It was much easier to lower his body and use his four legs than to walk upright. The center of gravity was lowered and the windward area was also reduced. Tang Yue crawled forward bit by bit. He hoped that he didn't climb in the wrong direction. The fall just now made him dizzy, and he didn't know where he had thrown it in the planned direction.

Human beings are indeed creatures that lack a sense of direction. As long as they blindfold their eyes and turn around twice, they will not be able to tell the difference between north, south and south at all.

Tang Yue groped forward for more than ten meters, but finally he ran out of energy to crawl.

He was lying on the sand, his limbs and bones were sore and weak. The action instructions issued by his brain were refused by the muscles. There was a sharp whistling wind all around. Tang Yue struggled to raise his hand and wiped away the soil on the screen on his wrist. The thermometer showed that at this moment The air temperature was minus 82 degrees Celsius. Tang Yue glanced at the number and then stopped moving.

Lying in the Mingguang Armor, he felt like he was lying in a coffin.

I'm probably going to hang here.

Tang Yue thought silently in his heart.

The temperature on Mars is extremely low and the climate is dry, which is not suitable for microorganisms to survive. After Tang Yue's death, his body could probably be dried naturally and turned into a mummy for long-term preservation.

Thinking that his body might still be kept for a hundred and eighty years, just like those eminent monks in ancient times who became Buddhas in physical form, Tang Yue decided to strike a more meaningful pose to express his inner emotions at the moment.

He raised his middle finger to heaven.