winter in greenland

When Dan returned to the base, it was exactly 10 minutes before ten o'clock. Heath was guarding the guard's hut at the gate. Seeing Dan showing his head, he greeted him leisurely: "Hey, how are you doing?"

Dan smiled politely: "Very good."

Heath raised his eyebrows: "I thought you would find it boring."

"No," Dan shook his head, and the smile in his eyes deepened: "I like this place very much."

Heath didn't continue to ask, but waved his hand: "Go to bed earlier."

When Dan returned to the dormitory, August hadn't come back yet, and he went to bed first after a simple grooming.

In the middle of the night, he was awakened by a slight rustling sound. In almost a second, his body reacted subconsciously - he lifted the quilt and made a standard shot on the bed board Posture, clear eyes.

August was taken aback by him, and stood at the door for a second before realizing that he had an extra roommate: "Sorry, I woke you up."

As if awakened by someone else's voice, Dan's whole body relaxed, and the clarity in his eyes faded like a tide.He lay back on the bed and muttered, "Scared me. It's fine. Wake me up when the shift changes at 2 o'clock."

It took August another two seconds to realize that Dan probably mistook himself for someone else. He sighed secretly in his heart. He didn't turn on the light, and he tried his best to lighten his movements when washing and changing clothes.There was no further movement from Dan.

One month after the training camp started, Greenland ushered in the polar day of summer.

The new players gradually began to appreciate what Heath said, "I promise you will miss the beer here when the training starts."

The life at the base is very boring, which is different from the life in the army in the past. Although Greenland is the largest island in the world, more than 80% of the land on the entire island is covered by ice and snow all the year round. Although Southwest is close to the capital, Nuuk, it is only a port in and out, with only a few hundred permanent residents.They are accompanied only by their teammates, the ice and snow that never melts all year round, the cold wind blowing from the Arctic Ocean, and the long days that seem to have no end in sight.

Dan was the one who adapted best among the new team members. During the half-hour break after dinner every day, he could always be seen taking out a harmonica and playing it while sitting on the edge of the playground.The sun cast a soft halo on him. Seen from the backlight, he almost became a silhouette inlaid under the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

When Heath heard it for the first time, he happened to come out of the restaurant with August, and he heard the faint melody coming from a distance. He took a step and walked towards the direction of the sound.

He was stunned for a second, then rushed up, grabbed his old friend's shoulders: "I said August, when did you become interested in this?"

August glanced at his hand lightly: "You think I'm you?"

Heath laughed: "What's wrong with being like me? I received my 15th love letter from this year yesterday. It seems that my charm has almost spread all over the island."

August snorted and didn't bother to talk to him at all.

"Hey, am I right? It's Dan? What is he playing with?" When they came to the outer circle of the playground, Heath saw the people in front of him clearly and stopped in surprise.

August also stopped, stood still and listened quietly for a while, and said, "He's playing the harmonica, "Irish Thrush."

Heath whistled: "Can't you see that you are still studying this?"

August paused: "I heard my sister play it before. Let's go, go back."

"Go back? Why don't you go up and say hello?"

August turned around and glanced at him: "It's disturbing others."

Heath snorted: "Don't be so boring all the time. Dan is your roommate after all. You haven't talked much after living together for a month, right?"

August did not answer.

"Isn't it? I hit it? My God, August, only Dan can stand you."

"He's on my team. If he stays until September this year, I'm responsible for his life on the ice. That's the end of our relationship. What else do you think we need to say?"

Heath raised his hands in surrender: "Okay, okay, change the subject. Is your sister still in Ireland?"

August slowed down a bit, and the light in his eyes softened: "I don't know, the last time I received a letter from her was half a year ago, and she said that she wanted to go somewhere else."

Heath didn't know what to answer, so he just patted him on the shoulder.

"It's actually not a bad thing. At least I know someone is helping me protect her, and she's safe." August stopped in front of the office building and turned to look at Heath: "I still have something to deal with on my computer , tonight's weight-bearing long-distance running?"

Heath nodded: "Well, you go. By the way, I have already contacted Gbagbo, and the dog will probably be delivered in a few days."

August simply nodded to show he understood, then turned and went upstairs.

Gbagbo is the base's dog trainer and veterinarian. Every year after the winter patrol, all the huskies are sent to his dog farm for a comprehensive inspection, and the dogs are sent to the base when the summer training begins.From the day they arrive at the base, all training and life of the team members must be with them.

Although theoretically they need to be familiar with the dozens of dogs they send, in fact, all team members will be screened at the beginning of July every year, and the members of the three patrol teams this winter will be preliminarily determined. There are 7 to 3 alternatives to avoid any accidents during the patrol.Generally speaking, each team is a free combination. If two players have a good personal relationship, it is completely possible to apply to be assigned to the same team.And for those members who don't care much and can form a team with anyone, the captain will organize a lottery, and whoever is drawn counts.

This is a very important step, because from the day when the grouping is determined, the team members must not only be familiar with the huskies of their own team, but more importantly, be familiar with their teammates. What awaits them next is the 4-month-long journey of the ice field. trip.Patrol routes may be monotonous day in and day out, but if something unexpected happens, you have to make sure you have people around you who can deliver your life.

On the day when all the team members were conducting the first-stage assessment, Gbagbo happened to send the dog over.

The content of the assessment is not complicated, and there are not many items. The data recording equipment is synchronously connected to the computer terminal in the office.After finishing all the projects in the morning, Heath gave the others half a day off, and squeezed himself into August's office to wait for the computer to analyze the results.The door of his office is usually ajar, and the two of them are talking one after the other (of course, Heath is talking about two-thirds of the time, and August will occasionally answer a sentence or two) ), there was a muffled banging sound on the office door, and before the two of them raised their heads, a gray mixed with black shadow rushed into the room and landed on August.

Heath raised his eyebrows: "Rodgers?"

The expression on August's face was rarely relaxed, and he raised his hand to hold Husky's two front paws: "Hey, old man, long time no see."

Rogers was breathing hot air, and he was about to lick August's face with his tongue.

"Hey, calm down, calm down." There was a smile in August's voice, and he turned his head slightly to avoid it, letting his rough tongue fall on his shoulder, and the short-sleeved T-shirt instantly became dark.

Heath rubbed Rogers' head dissatisfied: "Rodgers, you are not very friendly to me like this. Anyway, I am also your old friend, right?"

As if understanding what he said, Rogers pulled his two front paws out of August's hand, turned his head and threw himself on Heath's knee, and nuzzled him affectionately.

Heath deliberately reached out and rumpled the hair on the top of its head: "Why do I feel that you have gained a little weight again, does Babo feed you nutritious meals every day?"

Rogers snorted out of his throat in dissatisfaction, and stretched out his tongue to lick it forward. Heath didn't avoid it for a while, and was stunned by the saliva.

"Rogers, did you do it on purpose? I just took a shower." Heath complained while reaching for a piece of paper from the table to wipe his face.

Rogers flicked his tail triumphantly, turned around and looked around the office, and finally lay quietly at August's feet.August took out a comb from the low cabinet beside him, squatted down and began to smooth its hair.

Just at this moment, the computer terminal beeped, and the evaluation result came out.Heath turned the chair in front of the computer, roughly scanned the results, and wrote down a few numbers on the paper with a pen. Just as he was about to speak, the server beeped again, and the lower right corner of the screen indicated that there was a new pending process on the intranet.He opened it, and slowly frowned.

August noticed his silence and asked, "What's wrong?"

Heath leaned back heavily in his chair and sighed, "One good news and one bad news, which one should I hear first?"

August glanced back at him, but said nothing.

Knowing that he would not answer, Heath continued by himself: "The good news is that everyone has passed the preliminary assessment, and even half of them are excellent, and one of them has an A+ in all items; the bad news is that the intranet system I received 4 applications for leaving the team, and the results of these 4 assessments happened to be excellent."

August paused for a while before speaking: "Not everyone is like us."

Heath sighed: "I know, but 4... really broke the record of previous years."

August reached out and took a cigarette from the table, lit it, sat back on his chair, and said vaguely: "Even people like us who have lived here for many years, sometimes feel unbearable, What's more, I have only been here for more than a month. The snow field and the sea are very beautiful, but if you face the same scenery for hundreds of hours, that's another matter."

Heath squinted at him, "So you're... comforting me?"

August flicked the cigarette ash: "No."

Heath rushed towards the direction where he was sitting with an exaggerated expression: "I knew you still have such a little friendship with me!"

August stood up, avoiding Heath's movements just right. Rogers at his feet saw him get up suddenly, and also stood up from the ground, hitting Heath's arms.

Heath: "..."

While spitting out the dog hair that he sucked in his mouth, he pretended to be wronged and looked at August: "That's how you treat me."

August sat down on the opposite chair with a calm face: "Who is that person who is A+ in all projects?"

Heath sat up straight and put away his joking face: "You would never have guessed that it was Dan."

August was a little surprised: "Dan?"

"Didn't expect that? I was also very surprised. I can't tell that the boy's thin body is quite suitable for the environment here. I'm printing out a detailed analysis report. Here, look."

Handing the ten pages of paper to August, Heath rolled his eyes and showed a sly smile: "But speaking of it, I don't think he can form a team with other people in advance. If He participates in the lottery, maybe you and he will be in a group."

August gave a noncommittal "huh".