winter in greenland

Dan had never experienced a winter close to the Arctic before, let alone a sudden snowstorm on the ice sheet.The strong wind is mixed with the sound of snow particles slapping on the walls of the tent, the muffled snoring of the sled dogs nearby, and a little further away is the whistling of the airflow entrained from the top of the mountain.Their little tent looked extremely small and vulnerable on the snowy field of thousands of square miles.

Dan always felt a little uneasy lying in his sleeping bag, but he didn't want August next to him to notice. After maintaining this position for about an hour, he felt a little numbness in his right shoulder. He tried his best to move over carefully. body, let out a suppressed and comfortable sigh from his nose.

August leaned half on the sleeping bag, watching Dan's behavior and couldn't help being a little amused.

This is not the first time he has encountered bad weather while performing patrol duties. Such a snowstorm is normal for him in December in Greenland, and it is not a particularly serious situation, but for the person next to him Not necessarily.

The life of the special forces has always been difficult and monotonous, but compared to Greenland, the training in the headquarters in Denmark can almost be called happiness. When he just graduated from the military academy 7 years ago, he never imagined that he would come to such a place.

……

It was sunny in Copenhagen in June. At that time, they had just completed a mission, and they were asked to give a briefing at the Copenhagen headquarters before sending them back to school.

When the hunter's chief went to their school to pick students, he and Arthur were two of them.

"Hey, August, I heard that if you can get excellent evaluation results at the headquarters after this time, you can have a chance to apply independently when you graduate."

They lived in an internal hotel arranged by the headquarters. There was a small garden in the atrium. When they had just finished lunch, there were hardly any people in the garden.Arthur lay lazily on a bench, squinting at the sun above his head.Unlike other people in the school, his skin was naturally pale, and even the two months of training in the wilderness in summer could not tan him.

"Where do you want to go?" He leaned against the bench with his hands in his trouser pockets.

"I don't have any particular place I want to go. I'm just interested in Greenland recently."

"Greenland?" August raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, you know that my major is communication technology. I have always wanted to know what level the so-called technology can achieve in an extreme environment. Perhaps it is far more fragile than we imagined."

August smiled: "You always think about these weird things."

Arthur protested: "I just contribute to human development, how can I say it's weird."

After a pause, he said, "What about you, you don't have anywhere you want to go?"

August looked into the distance: "I don't know, it doesn't matter where you go."

"Let's apply for Sirius together." Arthur turned back and sat up from the chair, his eyes sparkling.

August was startled: "Sirius?"

"Yes, it is Sirius, who is as famous as hunters and frogmen." Arthur looked at him firmly, his eyes full of expectation.

August hesitated for a while. His mother died of illness when he was in college, and his father devoted his life to scientific research. He separated from his mother a few years ago and passed away in an accident five years ago.The only remaining relatives are my sister and grandfather.Mia went to university in Northern Ireland and would probably stay there in the future. Their grandfather was also in the army and had been stationed overseas for so many years, so the emotional connection with them was not that deep.In a way, he usually doesn't need to consider too many other factors when making these kinds of decisions.

"Come on, come with me. Didn't you say that we are the best partners? I can apply to the school to end the class a year early, and we can go to Sirius together."

Unable to think of a reason to refuse, August finally nodded after pondering for a few seconds.

……

His thoughts suddenly stopped here, and August closed his eyes with a bit of pain: In any case, it is a fresh life, not to mention that he can be called a "gift from God" in the field of communication technology General talent.If he hadn't come to Sirius...if he could have persuaded Arthur to go somewhere else, then the terrible accident would not have happened, Arthur would not have died, maybe...

It's too late to say anything now.

August forced himself to stop his thoughts, and looked at Dan aside.

It is undeniable that Heath was a little surprised when he singled out this person among all the new players at the beginning: From the appearance, in certain angles, Dan is a bit like Arthur, but after getting along for a long time, He found out that these were two completely different people.

Arthur grew up in a happy and complete family, which meant that he had something almost "sweet" in his character - one of the direct effects of this was that his student days were almost all He is the focus of everyone, and he rarely makes enemies even in the military academy. Coupled with his talent, he can almost be called "the proud son of heaven".As long as he wanted to, it would be difficult for anyone to refuse his request.

But Dan was different.Dan feels more like a sharp dagger, which is perfectly hidden in the sheath on weekdays, without attracting attention at all. When necessary, he can even switch the disguise, so that he can perfectly blend into different In the environment, when it is most unexpected, it will give people a fatal blow.

At first, his feelings for Arthur were just like taking care of the younger brother of a neighbor next door. Perhaps it was a certain characteristic of Arthur that reminded him of Mia.Later, it developed into a classmate friendship, but it didn't go any further.After Arthur left, this feeling turned into a kind of guilt, a kind of self-doubt and self-blame—originally Arthur could choose another place, where he could continue to do his research and continue his happy life.

Maybe the accident took not just Arthur, but a part of him.

Dan is the one who is really standing by his side at this moment. He does not need his care or protection. He stands behind him completely as a comrade-in-arms. He knows that he can trust his back to him when necessary. other side.

It's a wonderful feeling.A feeling...he hadn't experienced it in a long time.

When he became the captain of Sirius, he told himself that he could not make mistakes, that he must ensure the normal progress of the patrol, the integrity of this territory, and the safety of Arthur (he knew that Arthur was important to Greenland and to the entire military communication. importance of research).

After Arthur died, the string was stretched to the extreme. He attributed the accident to his own negligence. In order to make up for it and to alert himself, he personally led the patrol team every year and chose the most dangerous one every time. The route, like crazy, goes deep into this ice field and is familiar with this land.

Correspondingly, he is gradually closing himself off.Maybe he didn't realize it himself.

Until that explosion at the Jensen Glacier.

When he found Datta, he had already prepared for the worst. The explosion was so close that he was not sure that he would be able to escape with Datta.

However, Dan came and caught Datta firmly on the mountainside, eliminating his worries.

Knowing that there is someone who is always standing by your side, who can rest assured that you can give your back, and can fight side by side with you-this is actually an addictive and even addictive feeling.

……

The sound of the wind and snow outside seemed to be a little quieter, and Dan turned over again. He had tried to lighten his movements as much as possible, but this sound seemed to be amplified countless times in the tent.

August sighed: "Can't sleep?"

Dan was silent for a long while, his voice muffled: "I'm sorry to disturb you."

August was inexplicably pleased by the subtle frustration in his tone, he tried hard to draw the corners of his lips to prevent his smile from being too obvious, and cleared his throat: "Isn't it the first time you've been so close to the North Pole? "

Dan turned over and took a look at August, and he simply gave up trying to lie flat, staring at the top of the tent: "Yes."

"First time seeing a snowstorm on the ice sheet?"

"Yes."

After a few seconds of silence, Dan turned his head to look at August as if he had noticed something: "I don't think this is something to be funny, Major."

August heard a trace of irritation mixed in his voice, coughed: "No, of course this is not a funny thing. Snowstorms on the ice field can sometimes become very dangerous, especially in the within the Arctic Circle."

"Do you often encounter such weather when you are patrolling?"

August thought for a while: "No, most of the time Greenland's winters are relatively mild, and of course sudden changes in climate cannot be ruled out. I still remember the worst snowstorm I've ever encountered... probably in three years Last winter, I was with Heath, a little further north than we are now, and we were stuck in a tent for 3 full days. When the snowstorm finally stopped, our tent was almost half covered in snow.”

Dan didn't speak, quietly waiting for him to continue.

August paused for a while, then continued: "Actually, the snowstorm is not the scariest thing here, but the strong wind. I remember that looking at the wind chart is a basic skill in special forces training. Of course, it is not necessary to understand every The detailed data of a monsoon, only required to be able to judge the approximate wind direction. The strong winds near the Arctic Circle are not the kind of thing drawn on a rose diagram. In fact, they are far more violent and terrifying than this romantic name. At first , you may just see a little omen on the top of the mountain in the distance, but before you have the opportunity to move the camp, the strong wind has already howled down from the hillside, faster than the rushing waves. If the tent is completely exposed on the plain, it is very It is possible that even people and supplies will be blown away. Under that kind of wind, not to mention it is difficult to move, you may not even be able to stand outside. The safest way is to stay in the tent and wait for the storm to pass. Many times a A snowstorm has passed, and when you come out of your tent, you will find that the surrounding terrain has undergone some wonderful changes. This place seems to be no longer the place where you camped the night before. At this time, you also need to be careful to hide in the accumulation Cracks and cirques under the snow.  …”

Maybe it was because the wind outside was getting quieter, maybe it was because August's deep and magnetic voice gave people a bewitching and calm feeling, but Dan fell asleep in a daze without knowing it.

It wasn't until there was a slight and regular breathing sound in the tent that August slowly stopped talking.Dan's forehead hair looked a little disheveled under the pressure of the hat, and a few strands of hair poked into his eyes, and his eyelids moved uncomfortably.August looked at him for a few seconds, and a sudden impulse rose in his heart, and he raised his hand and brushed the few hairs aside as gently as possible.