winter in greenland

Northeast Greenland, Gustersvi camp area.

Dan was lying in the sleeping bag with his hands behind his head. The curtain of the tent was not drawn tight, and the outside wind came in through the gap of half a person's height. Dan turned a blind eye.

Outside, August could be vaguely heard feeding the dog, and his thoughts drifted to a month ago.

He didn't think the conflict between him and August could be called a quarrel. In his view, the quarrel involved interaction between the two sides, and according to August's logic that night, they obviously didn't even have the prerequisites for the quarrel. Do not have.

That would be a confrontation at best.That's right, standoff.

After returning to the base that night, he reported to Heath, and moved out of August's dormitory the next day. Heath approved a single room for him with a wave of his hand. After all, 4 people left before, The base has vacated 2 dormitories.He didn't notice Dan's abnormality at all, and even clicked his tongue when helping him carry his luggage: "If you didn't mention it, I almost forgot about it, but it's really embarrassing for you to live with August for the past few months gone."

The expression on Dan's face remained the same, even with a slight smile: "Whether as a leader or simply as a soldier, Major Field is excellent."

Heath patted him on the shoulder half-jokingly: "Why are you called such a life suddenly? You can be regarded as comrades in arms who have experienced life and death together."

Dan just smiled at this and didn't answer.

August did not return to base that night.

He didn't expect August to show such obvious reluctance—after he returned to the base the next day, he didn't ask a word about the half-empty dormitory. In the following week, his brows didn't open, no matter what. Whether in training or in private.The others seemed to have gotten used to his occasional low pressure. After all, there was nothing unusual about him other than frowning. Heath also joked that this had become August's exclusive expression.

He didn't expect that the first person to come to him would be Newman.

That day was a week before the patrol started. The team members who participated in the patrol this year had a regular meeting, emphasizing all the details and problems that need to be paid attention to.After the end, August took the lead to leave the meeting room with the documents in his arms. Dan was left behind. When he walked to the door, he found Newman leaning outside the door. He seemed to be waiting for someone. He wanted to leave after saying hello, but Called by Newman.

"Lieutenant Smithton."

Dan looked back with some doubts: "Sergeant?"

Newman smiled: "There is no training today, can we talk?"

Dan was still at a loss until he followed Newman to the dining bar in the cafeteria of the base.

Newman seemed to have been here many times. He walked behind the bar and poured a glass of water, and threw two slices of dried lemon into it.

"Generally few people come here. Although it is called a restaurant, it doesn't offer any specific things. It's a good place to talk."

Dan looked at him cautiously, without answering.

Newman didn't take it seriously, sat on a bar chair, and pointed to his side: "Sit down, relax a little bit. Want to drink lemonade?"

Dan sat down on the chair, put his arm on the bar, and shook his head: "No, thank you."

Newman stared at him for a few seconds, and suddenly said without warning: "August has been in a very bad state recently."

Dan shrugged. "Really? I didn't notice."

"You...something happened, I guess?"

A habitual smile appeared on Dan's face: "Why do you think so?"

Newman sighed: "I think August should have told you about my relationship with Ian at the Jensen Glacier. There are many things Heath didn't notice, and you didn't even notice it yourself."

"What do you mean?" Dan's voice sharpened.

"I don't mean any offense, I just want to say that the connection between people is a subtle and magical thing. Maybe you think this person hates you at this moment, but that's not the case."

Dan raised his eyebrows, but didn't answer.

"August was not like this before." Newman was a little dazed: "The vice-captain back then was Arthur, and Heath hadn't come yet. August and Arthur have always been called 'golden partners' by everyone in the base. ’, maybe Arthur has some shortcomings in physical fitness, but it is enough for the base, the important thing is that he has a good brain. We were all young at that time, and thinking about it now, it is really a memory full of vitality.”

Dan's face sank a little when Newman mentioned "Arthur": "And then? I heard that there was an accident." There was a tension in his voice that he didn't realize.

Newman shook his head: "We don't know the specific situation. That time, as usual, August and Arthur led the team on a mission to assist the local police in Nuuk to catch a group of polar bear poachers. We heard Speaking of the accident, Arthur was sent to the local hospital in Nuuk, and he died before the headquarters dispatched a plane."

Dan was silent.

"Although I don't know what happened that year, I can be sure that August and Arthur are not lovers."

Dan looked at Newman with some surprise.

Newman seemed to be amused by the expression on his face: "Why, is it strange?" After a pause, he continued: "I don't know what August thinks, after Arthur's accident, he forbids any of us Speaking of that accident, gradually no one mentioned Arthur."

The arc of Dan's lips gradually became sarcasm, not facing Newman, but facing himself. After a few seconds of silence, he said in a low voice: "I see, thank you, Sergeant." After that, he got up and left up.

Newman sat where he was, with a bewildered expression on his face.

"It seems that you still miss the point as always." Ian's voice came from the stairs on one side.

Newman was taken aback and turned his head: "When did you come?"

Ian casually walked in and leaned against the bar: "I saw you on the playground, so I followed you out of curiosity."

Newman sighed, a little frustrated: "It seems that he didn't understand what I meant."

Ian patted him on the shoulder: "You originally meant well, but no one can tell about feelings. Even if you can see that he is different to August, in the end their own affairs can only be resolved." Handle it yourself."

Newman was silent for a while, and said, "I just don't want to see August go on like this. Arthur may be an important companion to him, but it's been so long, he should learn to accept other people."

Ian raised his hand and snorted on his head: "Don't think so much, the patrol will start next week, maybe they will change after they come back for 5 months?"

Newman shrugged discouragedly: "I can only hope so."

When August opened the curtain of the tent and came in, he had a rare dignified expression on his face: "The wind outside is a bit strange, so be more vigilant tonight."

Dan sat up in his sleeping bag. "Is there going to be a snowstorm?"

August shook his head: "I can't tell. It stands to reason that winter in the north has not officially started at this time, and the temperature shouldn't have dropped so much."

Dan heard the seriousness of the matter from his words, and raised his wrist to look at the time: "Rotation? I'll be on the first shift."

August glanced at him without any objection: "Call me at 1 o'clock."

Dan half leaned on the sleeping bag, writing and drawing in his notebook by the swaying light of the alcohol stove. The pencil rubbed against the thin paper, making a soft rustling sound. August's breathing was very light, mixed with In the sound of his pen tip moving, it suddenly gives people a quiet and comfortable feeling.

A few hours passed like this, and Dan looked up at his watch to see that it was past midnight. He was surprised that he didn't feel sleepy at all.Just as he was thinking about waking August up later, the wind outside the tent suddenly picked up.

The cold air currents rolled up the snow particles on the ground and slapped the thick tent walls, making a crackling sound. The nylon fabric on the four walls was blown up and then fell, like the sea surface on the eve of a storm.The sound of the wind disturbed the sled dogs resting nearby, and a faint whine could be heard.

Dan frowned slowly. He had no experience in dealing with severe weather on the ice field. He didn't know whether such a situation was considered dangerous. He was just about to wake August up, but in the blink of an eye, the other party had already half-sat out of his sleeping bag. stand up.

Years of patrolling in Greenland had carved a kind of intuition that was almost terrifying in August's bones, and he realized something was wrong the moment he woke up.

"got windy?"

Dan nodded: "There seems to be something wrong."

August sat up, listened intently for a few seconds, grabbed the coat on the side and put it on: "I'll go out and have a look, you stay here."

The moment August opened the tent, the cold cyclone wrapped in snow particles rolled in. Dan raised his hand to protect the flame of the alcohol stove, and watched August's back, feeling an ominous premonition in his heart. .

Five minutes later, August opened the tent again, revealing half of his face covered with icicles: "The weather is not good, come out to help?"

Dan had already put his coat back on, and got up immediately after hearing this sentence.

"You check the wedges that fix the tent again, nail two more at the position facing the northeast corner, and I'll go to reinforce the supplies." August's voice was a little blurred in the wind.

Dan responded, took the tool and turned to the other corner of the tent.

The temperature is dropping at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the night sky has completely sunk, unlike those clear autumn nights before, like a piece of black velvet dotted with countless diamonds.As far as the field of vision was, there was a thick darkness, thick clouds weighed heavily on their heads, the cold air flow from the Greenland Sea engulfed the snowflakes, and hit people's heads and faces, and the hot air exhaled from their mouths could almost condense into a solid body.

Dan squinted his eyes half-kneeling in the snow, and found the position of the fixed wedge twice. There were three fulcrums fixed at the northeast corner. He had just finished reinforcing the second point and August came over.

"How about it?"

Dan pointed to the front: "There's only that left."

August walked over, finished his work neatly, and checked around the camp again.Their sleds and supplies had been re-strengthened with nylon ropes to form a solid low wall, and the sled dogs had been moved to shelter behind the supplies.

"Go back to the tent first, the wind is getting stronger." He called to Dan.

Dan felt as if the area below the bridge of his nose was frozen. He nodded to August and ducked back into the tent.