War Photographer's Notebook

When Wei Ran woke up from the hangover and the nightmare of being chased by the penguin army, the stove was still warm in the cave that provided the only light source, and was filled with the strong smell of alcohol and vomit, and one after another snoring.

Sitting up dizzy, Wei Ran took out the lighter from the metal book and lit the kerosene lamp placed on the airdrop box beside the bed.

When the oil lamp began to emit dim light, he also saw the code book placed beside the bed.

After being stunned, Wei Ran subconsciously glanced at the radio system at the entrance of the cave, and then looked at Hanno and Dr. Cross who were still sleeping soundly not far away.

But soon, he realized something was wrong. Doctor Yog seemed not to be in the cave!

"Doctor Yog? Yog?"

Wei Ran stood up with the oil lamp in hand, and then found that the rifle he was leaning on the end of the bed was gone!

"Yog?"

Wei Ran raised his voice slightly, suppressing the anxiety in his heart and looking around.

But the cave is not that big in total, and the distance between all the beds is only about one meter. So he soon realized something was wrong, Dr. Yoger was missing, and so were his sleeping bag and some personal belongings!

"Wake up! Hanno! Cross! Wake up!"

Wei Ran yelled and tried to wake up Hanno and Dr. Cross who were still sleeping. At the same time, he bent down and put down the kerosene lamp, and then picked up the code book that should never be on his bedside.

"what happened?"

Before he could open the code book, Hanno turned over and sat up vigilantly.

"Dr. Yog seems to be missing."

Before Wei Ran finished speaking, he had already turned the code book to the page with the pencil, "He also left a letter."

"Yog is missing?"

Hannuo, who was still drunk, reacted immediately, walked over in vain and asked, "What did he say?"

"let me see"

As Wei Ran spoke, he raised the brightness of the oil lamp, and then brought the code book closer to him.

"My friends Dr. Cross, Hanno, and Victor."

Wei Ran read the beginning, "It's written to us."

"Read on quickly"

Hannuo urged while sitting on Wei Ran's bed.

"My friends Dr. Cross, Hanno, and Victor"

Wei Ran cleared his throat and saw that Dr. Cross was also awake next to him, so he continued reading, "I'm sorry to leave without saying goodbye, but I plan to leave here. I may go to the coastline, to a whaling station, to Anywhere where there might still be people.

I've had enough of the long winters and dark nights and never-ending storms and snowstorms, and I'm planning to leave Antarctica if I can survive.

Don't waste your energy risking your life to find me. I am different from you. I have no family to worry about, and there is no need to return to Germany.

But friends, please don't worry, I swear that I will keep all the secrets here, and will not attract anyone's attention to you, nor will I reveal anything here.

Finally, as compensation for taking half of the sled dogs and the only rifle, I will find a way to establish radio contact with you after I leave here, if I can survive. "

"This bastard!" Hannuo gritted his teeth and cursed when he saw Wei Ran closing the code book.

"Yog ran away?"

Dr. Cross didn't react belatedly until this moment, and said in an unbelievable tone, "He left us and ran away?!"

"He's not running away"

Hanno clenched his fists and said angrily, "That bastard is committing suicide!"

"he"

"He is indeed committing suicide," Wei Ran sighed. "Listen to the rumors outside, I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to survive."

"But. But"

Dr. Cross opened his mouth slowly, and finally asked, "Hanno, Victor, are we going to save him?"

Seeing Wei Ran looking at him, Hannuo picked up the cigarette case on the bedside box, took out a cigarette from it, lit it, and took a few puffs. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Go, let's rescue him, but we have to wait." The storm needs to stop."

"But then."

"I know where he went"

Wei Ran and Han Nuo said in unison, then they looked at each other and said in unison again, "The ice cave where penguin meat is stored!"

"That's right!"

Hanno nodded and said firmly, "He will definitely go there, and he must go there. He must get enough food, and if I remember correctly, Victor, keep the barrel of oil you got as well." Is it there?"

"And use some remaining coal and a barrel of kerosene."

Wei Ran also analyzed calmly, "It's okay to rush to the ice cave from us, but as long as Yog wants to survive, he will definitely pick a good day to rush to the coastline, and then he will definitely find a place to rest. I can't think of it. There’s no better place than that ice cave.”

"That's also a good place to set up a radio."

Hanno followed and said, "We can take the radio there and try there to see if we can restore communication."

"Wait a moment"

There was a hint of panic in Dr. Cross's tone, "I, Hanno, Victor, I have a question."

"What's the problem?" Hanno turned around and asked.

"If, I mean if."

Dr. Cross thought for a while and said, "If you find Yog, what will you do with him? He. He wants to escape after all, doesn't he? If I remember correctly, you have the right to deal with those who escape. You..."

"Of course bring him back"

Hanno pointed to the code book still in Wei Ran's hand, "Then let him burn the letter himself. No matter what, we all need a doctor to ensure good health, right?"

Hearing this, Dr. Cross immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but then asked nervously, "But he took the rifle away, I'm worried."

"I believe he won't shoot at us." Hanno said firmly, "Definitely not."

"I hope. I hope not." Dr. Cross murmured and sighed, but his face still looked like he was hesitant to speak.

"If Dr. Cross has something to say, why don't you say it now?" asked the question who had been silent just now.

"No, it's nothing." Dr. Cross quickly shook his head, "I'm just worried about whether Yog is still alive."

Hearing this, Wei Ran did not continue to ask, and even avoided Han Nuo's gaze without any trace.

"So next"

Dr. Cross scratched his thinning hair, "So what should we do next? Prepare in advance like we did when we went to save Victor?"

"At least let's see what Yog took with him first."

Hanno let out a long breath and finished the cigarette in his hand. "I hope he takes more things with him, so at least he has a chance to survive."

After he flicked the cigarette butt away, the three people who were still drunk began to rummage through the boxes and cabinets.

After this inspection, they also discovered that Dr. Yog not only took away the only rifle and dozens of rounds of ammunition, but also took away food, a barrel of fuel, and the only gas lamp.

In particular, he also took away three gasoline stoves and two sleeping bags made by Hanno, which was undoubtedly good news—good news that Dr. Jorg might still be alive.

Although they knew that the other party had plenty of supplies, when Wei Ran opened the wooden door of the cave, he found that the wind and snow outside had completely obscured his vision. It was impossible to find Yog at this time. The only thing they could do was Yes, we are just making preparations to the best of our ability.

Or maybe, everyone just wanted to distract themselves from the confusion and anxiety. Dr. Cross resumed kneading dough and baking bread, while Hanno called on Weiran to help him wax the sleds and skis.

"Victor"

Hanno asked in a voice that only he could hear, "Shouldn't we go find Yog?"

"Why do you say that?" Wei Ran asked in the same voice.

"just in case"

Hanno thought for a while, "What if he can really find someone near the coastline, survive or even leave Antarctica? That might be a good ending for him."

"I"

Wei Ran thought for a while and finally replied, "Sorry, I don't know how to answer this question."

"What if it were you?" Hanno seemed not to let Wei Ran go. "Victor, what if it were you? Are you sure you can escape to the coastline?"

"maybe"

Wei Ran said ambiguously, "I'm sure I can escape to the coastline, but I don't think I can survive until I'm rescued. After all, the distance between here and the coastline is only what we speculated. In fact, even if I get to the coastline, I won't be able to escape." I don’t know where to go for help.”

"I hope he can survive."

Hanno sighed, "Whether it's rescued by us or rescued on the coastline."

"I hope so," Wei Ran murmured to himself.

For a moment, the warm cave became quiet again, and the three remaining people seemed to have lost their conversation. They were each busy with the work at hand in silence.

Soon after, the cave began to be filled with an increasingly rich aroma of baked bread.

Dr. Cross, who obviously had some thoughts in his mind, did not stop after the first batch of bread came out of the pan, but immediately stuffed new dough into it.

While he was busy in silence, pieces of bread were thrown into a specially vacated airdrop box.

"When the wind and snow stop, shall we go looking for each other together?"

After stuffing the soft dough into the oven again, Dr. Cross asked Wei Ran and Hanno who had finished their work, "Just like when I went to find Victor."

"No, we don't have that many sled dogs this time."

Hannuo and Wei Ran looked at each other and replied, "Dr. Cross, you stay this time, Victor and I will go find him."

"Okay, okay." Dr. Cross nodded and fell into silence again.

In the next two days, the blizzard showed no signs of abating, and Dr. Cross no longer wielded his geological hammer to knock on the rock walls like he did at the beginning. Instead, he spent all his attention on baking bread. on a job. Because of this, when the wind and snow in the cave finally stopped at about ten o'clock in the middle of the night on the third day, a 100-liter iron flour bucket was filled with the bread baked by Dr. Cross.

"Hanno, take this bread with you."

Dr. Cross handed over a hiking bag filled with bread before Weiyan and Hanno set off.

"us."

"if."

Dr. Cross gritted his teeth and finally expressed the thoughts that had been weighing on his mind these past few days, "Victor, Hanno, just like Yog said in the letter he left behind, he doesn't have any family to worry about.

So if you can find him, if he's still alive by then. Could you please ask his opinion? If he still wants to leave, give him this bread.

You see, no matter what, the three of us must stay here, even if it is just for our family, but Yog is different, and he has told me and Carsten more than once that he wants to leave here.

So. So. Hanno, Victor, if he still wants to try, why not give him a chance? "

After a moment of silence, Hanno reached out and took the mountaineering bag filled with bread and threw it over his shoulder. He turned around and got out of the cave, but he did not give Dr. Cross any guarantee.

Seeing Dr. Cross looking at him for help, Wei Ran sighed and whispered before turning around and leaving, "Dr. Cross, no matter what, no matter how long it takes, wait for us to come back."

"well!"

Dr. Cross nodded quickly and watched as Wei Ran stepped on his skis and disappeared under the surging aurora, pulled by the sleigh controlled by Hanno.

Compared with Dr. Cross, who was worried but put something aside, Wei Ran and Hannuo had to keep a tightrope at all times.

Although they would not lose their way thanks to the surrounding mountains as a reference, none of them knew when the next snowstorm would return, let alone whether Dr. Yog had already set off, and whether they could catch up with him.

What's more, in addition to not many supplies, their sleigh also contained vital but extremely heavy generators and radios.

Because of this, he could only step on his skis and let the sled pull him forward as much as possible to reduce the burden on the dogs, instead of sitting on them as usual.

This would undoubtedly consume more energy, but fortunately, when they saw the ice cave again more than three hours later, although the biting cold wind had already blown around, it still did not obscure their sight.

"Do you think he's here?" Hanno asked, shouting at the top of his voice in the fierce wind.

"Just go and take a look and you'll find out!"

While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already loosened the rope in his hand, used his ski pole with all his strength, and slid into the ice cave with the oil lamp.

Before he could see clearly what was going on here with the cold oil lamp, he heard the barking of a dog coming from inside.

This was undoubtedly good news, and his face, which was covered by a thick mask, couldn't help but reveal a hint of joy.

A tent was set up in the ice cave, and around the tent were the sled dogs that Yog had taken away. Not only were there piles of feces around them, but there was also uneaten penguin meat.

And in the tent with the opening facing the inside of the ice cave, there was still a faint flickering firelight.

"Yog, Dr. Yog?"

While Wei Ran called out to Yog who had not yet left, he dropped the ski poles in his hands and took off the skis on his feet.

But when he carried an oil lamp and got into the tent that was filled with a little smoke, he found that the sleigh parked in the low tent, and even the people lying on the sleigh, were all covered in knots. Got frost!

"Is Yog here? Is he still alive?"

While Wei Ran was stunned, Hannuo, who had parked the sleigh, also ran in.

"he died"

As Wei Ran spoke, he also looked at the small iron bucket containing charcoal ash in the tent and the 100-liter oil drum that was once filled with penguin grease.

At this time, all the coal in the small bucket carried by the hand had been burned out, but there were still two ski poles stuck in the large oil drum, and each of the ski poles was wrapped with a rope that acted as a wick.

There are several other ropes that serve as wicks, the only difference is that they are not fixed with ski poles. The fire he just saw outside was caused by the burning ropes wrapped around the two ski poles.

He didn't know how long these finger-thick "wicks" had been burning, but he could see clearly that several of them seemed to have gone out long ago. Even if the two remaining ones were still burning, they seemed to be burning at any time. There is a possibility of being drowned by melted grease.

But looking at Yog lying on the sled with two layers of sleeping bags covering his whole body, as well as the thin layer of frost on his face and even the black smoke remaining in his nostrils, Wei Ran knew clearly that they had already I'm late.

At this moment, Hannuo also walked around to the tent door and bent down to get in. Then he saw what Wei Ran saw.

"How did he die?" Hanno murmured in disbelief.

"He probably froze to death. I guess he fell asleep because he was drunk and never woke up."

As Wei Ran spoke, he was already squatting beside the sleigh. In addition to a pile of frozen vomit, he could also find some dark red blood-like things in the vomit and a few undigested pills. Come out of the pills.

Looking at the frozen expression of pain on Dr. Yog's frozen face, Wei Ran had already made a guess.

Perhaps, after the drinking party ended, Dr. Yog escaped here with the strength of his drinking.

But the heavy drinking that day also made him drunk. It is even possible that he suffered from gastrointestinal disease due to excessive drinking.

No matter what the reason was, after escaping here, he hurriedly set up a tent and lit the coal left by the sanitary combustion. He even made a heating stove with the grease left by the sanitary burning. Then he got into his sleeping bag and started to refill it. Sleep.

But in the end, he still couldn't wake up.

"So he died like this?" Hanno still couldn't accept Dr. Yog's hasty death for a while.

"It's better to freeze to death when you're drunk than to freeze to death when you're sober. It's much better." Wei Ran bent down and stood up as he spoke, "Should we take him back?"

"Bring back"

Hannuo said subconsciously, but immediately after, he glanced at the raging wind and snow outside the ice cave, "No, let's wait a little longer. We can go back when the weather is better. Taking advantage of this period, I want to try Can we establish radio contact?"

“Then give it a try”

While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already reached into the oil drum, stretched out the extinguished ropes, and then lit them one by one.

Soon, as there were more and more flames in the oil drum, more and more black smoke evaporated from the oil drum. Correspondingly, the small tent became a lot warmer. Seeing this, he still dragged the oil drum outside the tent.

At the same time, Hanno also set up the antenna he brought and moved in items such as radios and cipher machines one by one.

When everything was ready, Wei Ran came to the entrance of the ice cave and started the generator by hand. Hannuo, who was hiding in the tent, also started the generator according to the steps. He first operated the cipher machine to complete the telegram encryption, and then started sending the message using the radio.

Hannuo was busy sending the report, and Wei Ran was not idle either. He cooked a large bucket of penguin meat outside the ice cave and fed it to the sled dogs who had been guarding Dr. Yog.

However, until the dogs had filled their bellies with the cooked penguin meat and drank enough warm broth, the receiver remained silent as it shouldn't.

"Still no news," Hanno said disappointedly.

"Is it possible that the receiver is broken?" Weiran raised an unlikely possibility.

"Impossible," Hanno replied firmly, "If it was broken, I would have discovered it long ago."

After a moment of silence, Hanno sighed, "Victor, we may have to wait until summer to reconnect."

"what are you worried about?"

While Wei Ran was talking, he had already lit a small barrel of coal and brought it in. He also pulled out a beef can from Yog's sleigh and placed it on the iron barrel with the charcoal fire burning.

"I'm worried about whether we can survive this winter."

Hannuo took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took out one and lit it, then handed the cigarette case to Wei Ran.

"We have enough supplies"

Wei Ran lit his cigarette and said objectively, "If you hide in that cave and don't go out."

"Do you want to escape?" Hannuo looked at Wei Ran and asked seriously, "Like Yog, escape to the coastline."

Before Wei Ran could say anything, Hanno added, "You have obtained the mountain expert badge. It will not be difficult to escape to the coastline. As long as Cross and I testify that you died in the snowstorm, nothing will happen to your family."

"what do you want to say in the end?"

Wei Ran asked bluntly, "Hannuo, there are only two of us here. As long as those sled dogs don't snitch, no one will know what we said."

"I have nothing to say"

Although Hanno said this, he still added, "I just don't want to see a situation like Yog again. Victor, if you want to escape, or even if Dr. Cross wants to escape, just tell me directly. I will help you prepare supplies, enough supplies for any of you to escape to the coastline alive."

"What about you?" Wei Ran asked, "Aren't you going to run away?"

"I'm not going to run away"

Hanno smiled, "I still like this job, and my wife is about to give birth to our child. If I escape, not only will no one prove that you are dead and not running away, but there will be no way Prove my innocence, so I have to stay.”

"Or should I stay?" Wei Ran tried to give another option.

"Whatever you want, but I won't leave." Hanno said firmly, "I remember telling you that I even want to take my parents and wife over."

"I remember." Wei Ran nodded. Hannuo had indeed said this to him during a certain chat.

"This is really a good job for me." Hanno emphasized again as if he was under self-hypnosis.

"But if Dr. Cross and I leave too, I'm afraid you won't be able to hold on for long."

Wei Ran said truthfully, "Even if Mr. Yog and Mr. Carsten are alive, this will be a very difficult winter."

"yes"

Hanno flicked the cigarette butt and ended this supposedly extremely dangerous topic. He reached for the rifle on the sled and said, "Victor, I have made my attitude clear. No matter who wants to leave, you or Cross." , just tell me directly, I won’t object, and I will really help you, I just don’t want to collect the corpses of my friends anymore, just like Yog.”

"What is this doing?" Wei Ran looked at the rifle handed over and asked in confusion.

"Hunting is your job"

Hannuo made an excuse calmly, but it was clear that he just didn't want Wei Ran to be afraid that he had a weapon in his hand.

"You're just adding weight to my load."

Wei Ran said and put the rifle on Yog's sleigh.

"Maybe, who knows."

Hanno was already sitting on the ground next to the radio while he was talking, and he sent out an encrypted telegram again with no response at all.