Bombers Moon

The first old friend Chuck goes to meet is the beloved B17 bomber.The behemoth painted with abstract lions was still parked where Chuck had last seen it.Jody, who was cleaning the machine gun, yelled when he saw Chuck, and rushed down the ladder, making everyone else in the hangar look over.The little machine gunner was so menacing that for a few seconds Chuck thought he was going to get punched, and Jody hugged him and slapped him hard on the back, claiming that Chuck owed him two weeks' worth of beer.

"That's blackmail," Chuck protested, but laughed anyway.

"This is an apology. You disappeared for a century. Leo and I have asked everywhere, but no one knows where you went."

"Where is Leo now?"

"With Natalie, of course."

"Who is that?"

"Are you still going to buy me a drink?"

They went to the ground staff's bar, it was still early, and there were not many people inside.Jody is like a jukebox that's been fed a lot of coins and keeps babbling away as long as no one comes to unplug it. "This Natalie," he told Chuck, wiping the beer froth off her mouth with his thumb, "is a dispatcher, in the radio department, with curly hair and a good laugh, forget about it, you never met her. She and Leigh Ao has been secretly in love for two months. Never thought, right, why would a girl like a rigid guy like that? I never figured it out."

Chuck wanted to point out that he had a bit of experience liking rigid guys, but that wasn't the right subject, and he took a bite of the fried fish, trying to look very surprised, mostly to suit Jody.

"What about you? Where did you disappear during this time?"

Drinking, having sex, playing the part of a fully-dressed monkey, trapped in a disillusioned illusion.Chuck pointed to the scar at the corner of his eye: "Recuperate, you know, I was injured, do some logistical work."

"What logistics? Where?"

"Bristol base." He casually mentioned an airport far away from London, hoping that Jody would not actually check it out. "Answer the phone, help sort out the attendance record and so on, very boring, nothing Something worth mentioning."

"Second Lieutenant Linden also came back today." Jody narrowed his eyes, "Are you all in Bristol?"

"What? No."

Jody let out a short laugh. "The privileged class."

"Yes. God knows what they are thinking." Chuck wiped the coarse salt on his hands and changed the subject, "You didn't go to Dieppe, did you?"

"No, Brits need light bombers, not our big ones. One Hurricane caught fire when it landed, and the ground forcefully pulled the pilot out. His name is Bud. Do you remember? I think I saw it in a bar He was sent several times. He was transferred to the hospital in London quickly. After four or five days, he still passed away. His poor father came to collect the relics a few days ago, but there were not many things left, a few books, a stack of letters, Some clothes." Jody frowned at the beer, "do me a favor, okay, if I accidentally go for a drink and burn all my magazines, don't send them to my mom, she's going to have a heart attack .”

"Don't be stupid, once you die, Leo and I will immediately divide up your property."

Jody threw a chip in his face.

Getting used to the rhythm of the Big Gun Mountain base is not difficult, like putting on an old pair of gloves that wear down just right.Several bases along the coast are still licking their wounds, slowly repairing the losses caused by the Battle of Dieppe.The U.S. Eighth Air Force's regular bombing missions continued uninterrupted, continuing to destroy German radar installations and shipyards.Chuck didn't see Louie again. At first he thought it was simply because the time was wrong. After all, the arrangement of the Spitfire team was very different from that of the bomber team. However, after another week, it became obvious that Louie was avoiding him.

The first time was in the bar, the officer's bar, which was quieter than other nights because no one was playing the piano, and even a little gloomy, it seemed to Chuck.He came with Leo and Jody, and when he entered the door, he saw Louis sitting by the bar, another person.Just when Chuck was hesitating whether to go over to talk to him, Louis glanced in his general direction, but his gaze didn't stay on Chuck, and he picked up his coat and left after a few minutes.He hasn't been seen at the bar since.

Probably because he didn't see me, Chuck was lying on the hard camp bed in the dormitory, arguing against the dark ceiling. We are not enemies, so we wouldn't hide on purpose.

There was no doubt the second time, it was in the lounge of the pilot on duty, Louis was listening to the phone, writing something hastily in a notebook with the cover peeled off.Hearing the sound of the door opening, the second lieutenant looked over subconsciously. When his eyes met, he obviously froze for a moment. He quickly looked away, continued to whisper a few words into the microphone, hung up, and tore a page from his notebook. Nodding at Chuck, he squeezed sideways past him, as if trying to run away at full speed.

Chuck grabbed Louie's arm and kept him from going out: "What's going on?"

Louie glanced down the corridor, then back again. "I don't know what you're referring to, Sergeant."

"Of course you understand, you hide from me like an infectious disease."

"I do not have."

"Are you really going to play dumb?"

"This is not a good time to talk about it."

"When can we talk then?"

Louie tried to pull his arm back, but Chuck tightened his grip, and Louie sighed, "Sergeant—"

The two pilots walked down the stairs. The sound of footsteps and chatter was heard clearly, and Chuck let go.The two officers didn't seem to notice this movement, they stood at attention and saluted Louis, the second lieutenant nodded perfunctorily and left in a hurry.A door slams shut, echoing in the hallway.

I do not understand.Chuck complained to the ceiling again that night that Jody was snoring on the other side of the room and Leo wasn't there and went to the country dance with Natalie, which was against the rules, but as long as no one brought it up to the superior officers, everyone They are willing to turn a blind eye.Chuck rolls over to face the wall, not forgetting what he promised in the glade, but Chuck imagines the "end" to be low-key rather than retreating straight into "stranger" territory.Louis had no reason to treat him like this, he thought that the two of them could at least maintain the state they had before Xia Tian,

What was your state before summer?A small voice mocked in his head.

Chuck couldn't answer that question himself.

He woke up very early the next day.He tiptoed out of the dormitory and walked to the officer's quarters.It was a cold morning, and a heavy freezing fog flowed over the runway like whipped milk, reducing visibility to twenty or thirty feet, and the hangar was a blurred shadow as Chuck approached. Appeared slowly, and then slowly disappeared in the mist.

He knocked on the door lightly, not wanting anyone to hear him.There was a sound in the room, the door lock slammed open, and Louis looked at him without looking surprised, and turned his head slightly to signal Chuck to go in.

It was hard to tell whether Louie had gone to bed too late or woke up early, since he was still wearing his shirt and uniform trousers, but judging by his ripped tie, it was the former.The ensign sat down on the bed and pulled the blankets on.Chuck leaned against the desk, moving the teacup casually so as not to overturn it.The small picture frame with William's picture was gone, and Chuck pretended not to notice.The silence stretched inch by inch, vibrating dangerously like taut wire.Both waited for the other to speak.

"You promised, Charles." Louis took the lead to take a step on the fragile ice floe, "It's only a holiday, we... entertain each other, but don't take this," he thought about his words and gave up, " Don't bring this kind of thing to the base, it's not safe."

"This stuff?" Chuck couldn't help but ask back. "Is that how you see us? 'This stuff'?"

Louis stood up, walked to the desk, and took Chuck's hand: "Sorry, you know I didn't mean it, I just don't know how to describe it."

"That's not why you suddenly treat me like a stranger."

"It's the best way. If anyone finds out, we'll all be fired and thrown in jail."

"No one will find out."

Louie let go of his hand and wrapped the blanket tightly. "Someone will find out."

Chuck clenched his hands tightly to keep them from shaking, "Is this what you planned from the beginning? Just 'pastime'?"

Louis pursed his lips tightly, but did not answer.

"Okay." Chuck cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound normal, "I thought you, I thought we were."

"No, Charles," Louie whispered, answering the question he hadn't asked. "We're not lovers, sorry."

Chuck lowered his head, looked at the toe of his shoe, and nodded his head after a long time, standing up straight: "Thank you for speaking clearly, sir."

"Charles—"

The sergeant strode out of the room, slamming the door.

He doesn't know where he wants to go.The Beacon Hill base had already woken up, and the road was full of mechanics or pilots in twos and threes. He bumped into several people, apologized vaguely, and didn't even bother to look up to see who they were.Jody was eating bacon wrapped in newspaper when he got back to the dorm, and when he saw Chuck he jumped up and crumpled up the greasy newspaper.

"I stole it from the officer's dining room, don't tell anyone." The machine gunner noticed Chuck's face and frowned, "What's wrong with you? It looks like you ate something wrong."

"I'm fine." Chuck muttered, curled up on the bed, sat up suddenly after a few seconds, pointed to the paper bag in Jody's hand, "give it to me."

"Listen, if you want to eat, steal it yourself—"

"Not meat, give me the newspaper."

Jody stared at him like he was a lunatic, then stuffed the last piece of bacon into his mouth and handed Chuck the newspaper.The oil stains have soaked through the thin fibers, and the ink has melted away, but there is a familiar photo published in the lower left corner, probably cut out from a group photo, it is not clear, but there is no doubt that it is "Frogman" billy.The report was very brief, praising the "extraordinary courage" of the Army private who successfully covered the retreat of a transport convoy in the Philippine Islands, but unfortunately died under Japanese sniper fire.Chuck glanced at the date, May 1942, 5, more than four months ago.

Chuck punched the wall, ignoring Jody's confused stare.