War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 996 The life-saving catch and the dead moose

Wei Ran, who was hiding under the umbrella cloth, touched the ribs protruding from hunger at the tail of the traffic boat that was blown forward by the sea breeze, and then touched the sunken cheeks and shaking teeth, and then trembled Reluctantly, he took out the British army kettle with grease, dug out a piece of grease the size of a thumb belly with the temple of the sunglasses, and put it into his mouth. While carefully sipping the grease, he also used the grease to moisten the cracked and bursting skin. leather lips.

Before the greasy, slightly salty grease completely melted, he took out the camera bag, and amidst the sound of snoring, he replaced it with a new film with difficulty with trembling hands.

He no longer remembered that this was the first few days after boarding the ship, he only remembered that this was the second time he had replaced the film, and there were still two unused films in his camera bag.

I want to eat braised pork when I go back!Eat ribs!Eat pancakes and steamed buns!
Wei Ran swallowed his saliva to set up a greedy hope for himself, then carefully lifted the umbrella cloth, and took a photo against the fiery red morning glow.

In this photo, Hawkes and the young pilot are sitting at the two ends of the life raft, with a 1911 pistol tightly tied to their respective hands with a parachute.

Sitting on the bow of the traffic boat were Akira and Captain Evans.As for the stern, it is naturally Wei Ran, the deputy captain Sterling and the sailor moose.

He no longer remembers that this was a compromise reached by the two sides a few days ago, and the reason for doing this was because he, a medical soldier, was too hungry and didn't have enough strength to swim from this boat to the lifeboat six or seven meters away and climb up again. went up.

Because of this, Hawkes, who did not need treatment, was simply replaced by Captain Evans.

But even so, what Wei Ran can do now is to distribute the remaining oral medicine to them regularly and quantitatively, or to replace the wound with gauze that has been washed with sea water and dried in the sun.

"It's pointless to kill him"

Hawkes and the young pilot exchanged glances, and supported the rafters to float to the side of the traffic boat little by little, allowing Evans and Akira to pull them onto the traffic boat respectively.

"us."

"I'll do it"

At almost the same time, Wei Ran and Sterling, with the help of the sailor moose, struggled to pull up their only catch in the past half a month—it was a bomb fish, a fish with a body length of 70 centimeters. Bomb fish!

"Akira! Come and help!" Evans turned his head and shouted, but the hoarse voice was not even as loud as the splash.

Hearing this, Hawks opened his mouth, nodded silently, and swam back to the traffic boat alone.

"How many days is this?" Evans asked hoarsely as he took a sip of water and returned the kettle to Wei Ran.

"Binney Muse"

"You win, Mr. Akira"

"It's him"

When Wei Ran patiently ate his fish and drank half a glass of water in a leisurely manner, everyone on the other boat had already lit their cigarettes and sat in the bow or stern in tacit agreement, separated from each other. Holding the bulging triangle sail in the middle, watching the sunset in the distance, secretly dazed.

Wei Ran shouted in a hoarse voice, while stepping on the side of the boat with both feet, relying on his own weight to prevent the fishing line from loosening.

Wei Ran shook his head and looked at the other person's swollen feet, "Take another sip, you are already dehydrated. Wet your legs with sea water later, and then wet them after they are dry. It will help."

"He actually has a really nice voice"

Evans looked at the left hand missing two fingers, and joked hoarsely, "If I can go back alive this time, I will put an iron hook on my left hand, just like the pirates in the 16th century. "

More importantly, Evans and the others are not Chinese after all. There is absolutely no need for them to remain hostile to the two pilots. They can use this rare catch to become friends.

"Quick! Come up!"

Captain Evans with blank eyes said in a hoarse voice, "He said, he is very grateful for the jug of beer you gave him earlier, and also very grateful for being able to fill his stomach with fresh fish yesterday, he is already satisfied, He finally doesn't have to go hungry to meet God."

Fortunately, the two captains at the bow and stern are in good condition, and because of Wei Ran's artificial medical accident, Akila's acute dysentery, which should have been cured a long time ago, has been delayed to chronic dysentery.

As for the dressing and the all-important sulfa powder, he had long since forgotten that he had run out of them a few days ago.

"Put him on the life raft," Hawkes suggested, "Chief, even if we want to bury the moose, we need to find land."

Difficultly moving the water bottle in his hand toward the young pilot, Aki stretched his hand and pulled the paracord between the two boats, and sent the water bottle over.

"You don't have much water anymore." Sterling waved his hands tremblingly, and refused hoarsely.

It was also because of his insistence that these shipwrecked people returned to their original state at this time - Wei Ran sat alone on the life raft like a bystander, while the rest returned to the transport boat again, sharing food, Share shredded tobacco and try to become friends with each other.

Akira opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and tremblingly took out his cigarette pouch from his pocket, "Then, give me some shredded tobacco, sir."

Unwrapping the gauze and looking at the long-dead wound with stitches removed, Wei Ran nodded and said, "The recovery is not bad, but we still have to be careful not to touch the water, we don't have any medicines that can be used."

Without waiting for Wei Ran to finish speaking, Akila untied the umbrella cloth tied to his hand, and threw the Southern bastard pistol that was originally tied to his hand on the floor between the two of them.

"I don't know." Wei Ran shook off the drops of water on his hand, "If you don't want to change it."

Compared with his side who chewed slowly to prevent indigestion, the people on the traffic boat were much more bold. These people each held a piece of fish the size of a fist, gnawed and sucked the juice from the fish , but at the same time, they tacitly did not touch the half pot of precious fresh water that Wei Ran put down.

"Whoa!"

After filling his stomach with fresh fish, Hawkes, who had had enough rest, took the initiative to divide the rest of the fish as fairly as possible to everyone including Wei Ran, and then exchanged the remaining fish for everyone, including Wei Ran. With the sailor knife that belonged to him in the hands of a young pilot, he chopped up the remaining fish head and viscera to make bait.

Evans glanced at Akila who had been staring at Wei Ran's kettle, and finally took another sip of water, then took Wei Ran's pistol in his hand, and at the same time extended his left hand to Wei Ran.

Although there was no need to confront with weapons this night, the night sky was still as starry as ever, and there was no sign of rain at all.

Wei Ran did not return to the traffic boat, but lay down in the hammock that was still on the life raft.Even the people in the traffic boat held a fishing reel all night, trying to catch some more shareable catches.

Sterling remembered, "He even organized a small choir with his black friends. Before the war, he was already preparing for the Christmas performance two months later, which was promised by the Great Chief. His chance to perform."

Even, apart from knowing that Moose's grandfather and father were rapists, and that he was a mulatto serving as an Indian on the Johnston, he didn't even know his original name!

Wei Ran helped the other party wrap up the wound and said hoarsely, "It's best to have a hidden compartment where food and water can be hidden."

Captain Evans plucked up all his strength and blew the sailor's whistle in his mouth over and over again. His eyes were also fixed on the water, and at the same time, he pressed his hand on the unreliable whistle on his chest. Southern pistols, always ready to fire!

Seeing Akila looking at Wei Ran, Evans also looked at Wei Ran, and after hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Medical soldier, how about we stop the fire first?"

Before he had time to think about it, Wei Ran immediately plunged into the sea, and swam over while holding on to the rafters!

Looking at the Akila on the traffic boat who had already begun to cut up the fish, Wei Ran couldn't help shaking his head, he himself didn't know whether his persistence was meaningful.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ran asked hoarsely, but his eyes subconsciously looked at the sailor moose leaning against Captain Evans' arms!

Hawkes pointed to the pilot sitting across from him with his left hand, which was not tied to a pistol. "My first shot missed it. Yes, it was the fish he hit."

He fastened the lid and turned the oil barrel down as a chopping board, and there was an extra paratrooper gravity knife in his hand.

Accompanied by splashing water, the pilot floated up first, lying exhausted on the rafters made of oars between the two boats.

Captain Evans murmured, "He doesn't want to be buried at sea, he wants to bury himself in the mud, that's his last and only wish."

"Wait a moment"

"Drink, there is really still a pot."

Sterling's voice could hardly make a sound, but he was still holding on to the fishing line board in his hand.

Before the whistle sounded, the two young men on the life raft simultaneously raised the 1911 pistols strapped to their hands and aimed at each other, but their attention turned to the direction of the traffic boat.

"Help! Victor! Help! Fish!"

After re-fastening the lid, he tied the jug to the rope between the two boats, trembling with all his strength, and blew the sailor's whistle snatched from Captain Sterling.

"Dang bang"

He didn't swallow it until the fish in his mouth was completely chewed, and waited for a while, then took a small sip of water, then cut the second piece and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Gold counts"

Evans opened his mouth, and Akira and Akira looked at each other, and finally each nodded, agreeing to Wei Ran's somewhat stubborn decision.

Wei Ran asked while helping the other party with the wound on his foot, "Akila, we don't have any friendship. To be precise, we are actually enemies, so what do you plan to exchange?"

Letting the revolver that had lost its threat be thrown into the thermos barrel, Wei Ran also flipped off the traffic boat alone, holding the steel cup containing fish in one hand, and climbed onto the life raft with difficulty while holding the rafters.

The moose hoarsely shouted weakly, "Is there water and water?"

"This is the first time you want to break up with me"

Opening the lid, Wei Ran poured all the water from his own kettle into the other's, stared into the other's eyes and took a small step back.

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"

"The moose is dead"

"You too," Wei Ran said, and moved back to the stern little by little.

Almost subconsciously, Wei Ran thought of the only Soviet Konon in the snowstorm-shrouded hunter's hut in Finland.

Amid the successive sounds of falling into the water, Hawks and the young pilot in the life raft also rolled into the sea, gritted their teeth, and swam to the fish that was caught by the hook with the little energy left.

With the help of Hawkes and Sterling, Wei Ran climbed onto the traffic boat, and stumbled to the side of Sailor Moose.

Wei Ran pointed to the two young men on the life raft, "In case your nephew does something impulsive out of desperation."

Wei Ran asked hoarsely. These days, the lack of water and food, the enemy who must be vigilant at all times, and even the hoarseness caused by the injury on the other party's body and thirst, gave them no chance or thought to chat.

"I..." Akira looked at the gold ornaments on the tobacco packet, "Use this piece of gold."

I don't know how long it took, but the knocking sound of "Dang Dang Dang" woke him up.Immediately afterwards, he saw Sterling pulling a fishing reel alone, while the sailor moose next to him was tapping the engine casing with his helmet.

Picking up the water bottle, Akira moved to his mouth tremblingly and took a sip, another sip, and then a third sip.

Evans shook his head, "Whether we survive or not depends on where that spinnaker can take us. Victor, save your energy."

Putting away the camera bag again, he turned his back to the people on the boat, took out the thermos bucket containing rainwater, first filled the empty water bottle at his waist, and luxuriously washed the freshly caught fish.

"Yes," Wei Ran said, and handed over his water bottle.

However, the strength of this fish was surprisingly great. Not only did the two of them fail to pull it up, but even the two boats that were tied together seemed almost to be pulled out of the way!
"We need help!"

"I can't remember how many times I've heard you say that," Sterling said hoarsely.

"It just swam past me, and it hit my pistol by itself."

Gently pulling on the umbrella cloth for the sunshade, Wei Ran took out the camera bag, picked up the camera and tried to be as objective as possible, and secretly pressed the shutter towards the people on the traffic boat.

"Puff! Puff!"

Gently touching the opponent's neck, the sailor moose's skin was still warm, but he had no pulse.

"I just don't want you to die so early"

Upon receiving the signal, the young pilot immediately untied the pistol tied to his hand, shiveringly ejected the bullet and threw it into the thermos bucket, then pulled out the machete on his back and put it into the thermos bucket.

Seeing everyone watching, Wei Ran pulled out the revolver on his chest, ejected the bullets in the chamber one by one, and let them jingle and fall to the bottom of the barrel.

"Dang!"

Seeing the big fish whose head was pierced by bullets, everyone on the boat was stunned, and then subconsciously looked at Hawks and the young pilot who were panting against the side of the boat.

Even, Wei Ran could hear in the night, everyone on the opposite boat, just like himself, chewing the fish he got for the second time.

"Does he have any last wishes?"

"Drink, I still have a pot." Wei Ran said, and forced the pot into the opponent's hand.

It's just that they don't know when they will be able to reach the shore. Naturally, they have to save some water to drink.

After the pilot finished speaking, he first looked at Akila, then at Evans and even Wei Ran and others, and subconsciously raised the 1911 pistol still strapped to his hand.

Taking the kettle with difficulty, the sailor moose took a sip carefully, and then immediately returned the kettle to Wei Ran, but he didn't rush to swallow the water in his mouth, instead he scooped it out of the boat with a steel cup. A very small mouthful of sea water was poured into the stomach together.

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Hearing this, Akila tremblingly picked up the devil officer water bottle beside him and handed it to Wei Ran.

Wei Ran took the water bottle, helped the side of the boat and moved it little by little. Under the gaze of Akila who seemed to be eating people, he pulled out the Colt revolver on his chest and handed the water bottle to Evans .

Captain Evans shook his head helplessly, "We can only hope to reach Palau as soon as possible—if we can find Palau."

"I'll keep an eye out"

"It's your turn." Wei Ran looked at Akila leaning against the bow and said.

"Fix a golden hook"

Picking up the whistle and rinsing it in the sea, Wei Ran handed it and the bastard box to Captain Evans behind him.

"I'll find someone to design it," Evans said, moving his body to the side to make room for Wei Ran.

Wei Ran helped the other party change the gauze, stepped back half a meter, and said while washing his hands outside the boat, "Give me Captain Sterling's sailor's whistle or your pistol, and I will not only give you a pack of shredded tobacco, but also And I'll give you some water."

Evans grabbed Wei Ran and opened the lid of the thermos bucket with his own hands, "I suggest that everyone put all the weapons in the thermos bucket! After we are full, tie the thermos bucket to the middle of the two boats. How about the rafters?"

"He even tattooed a tomahawk on his arm to thank me for helping him." Evans sighed, "How should I tell his mother this sad news."

Akira also reacted for a while, and then crawled over and grabbed Evans' belt.

No matter for Wei Ran or another person on the boat, the bomb fish that was eaten clean really provided everyone with enough life-saving energy.

Evans said, "He's from Louisiana, his last name is Muuss, but his idiot recruit company commander excused his accent and deliberately wrote his last name as Moose, and because of the color of his skin, deliberately used Moose (elk, specifically Asian moose) to call him, but this honest guy happily accepted the nickname."

"do not know"

Almost at the same time that Captain Evans pulled out his pistol with all his strength, Hawkes also emerged from the water in another splash of water.

Sighing silently, Sterling took a sip of water, screwed on the lid tremblingly, and pointed to Captain Evans sitting on the bow with great effort.

As Wei Ran spoke, he even helped the other party move the water bottle to his mouth.He didn't lie, and now he really only has the last pot of water left. As for the oil barrel in the metal book, there is only less than half a barrel left in stock.

"Please, please please"

Unfortunately, Sailor Moose already showed signs of inflammation and low-grade fever, while Wei Ran didn't have much antibiotics in his hands.

Patiently sliced ​​the red fish meat into his mouth, Wei Ran chewed slowly, resisting Yu Wang who swallowed it immediately.

"How much water do we have?" Evans asked weakly.

These days, he was able to let go of one opportunity after another and not kill those two devils, which was already the biggest compromise he had reached with the metal book.

Soon, the feverish moose grabbed Wei Ran's belt from behind, and then, while blowing his whistle, Evans moved over as fast as he could and grabbed the moose's belt tightly.

"What are you going to give in exchange?"

"Pfft! Pfft!"

"You can take a sip too." Wei Ran sighed secretly, and handed the kettle to Captain Sterling.

"Hawks, let me say goodbye to him." Wei Ran wiped off the sea water on his face and said.

"It's day 12"

Evans quickly put the pistol back into the holster on his chest, and stretched out his hand out of the boat in the same order as Akira behind him.

"Give me a bite."

Akila first threw a piece of the drug into his mouth, then made a kneeling posture with difficulty, and put his forehead on the wet floor.

After completing the daily basic work, Wei Ran wrapped the silk umbrella cloth again, and soon fell asleep again.

As Wei Ran said, he took another pot of water from his waist and put it on the thermos bucket, "This is the last water, you can distribute it yourself."

Taking out a thick jackknife from his survival bag, Hawkes swallowed his saliva, disembowelled the fat cannonball fish, bled it clean, and then cut off a fat, bright red fish with the size of a fist, and packed it Put it into a kettle cup and pass it to Wei Ran.

Hearing this, Evans and Sterling looked at each other, ignored the two silent pilots hiding in the bow, and nodded solemnly.

"No." Wei Ran replied without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, "We don't have much water."

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Ran said, "Give me a piece of meat, and I'll eat it on the life raft."

When the bait was launched into the water with the hook, the thermos bucket full of weapons was also fed, and Hawkes and the young pilot were tied to the rafters in the middle of the two boats and drifted with the current.

Signing a drinking gesture towards the young pilot, Akira took off the sailor whistle around his neck, and threw it on the floor with another "clang".

Helping the moose put on the lifebuoy, Wei Ran and Hawkes re-entered the water, and together they dragged him onto the life raft.

"Eat it"

"Victor."

Akila said abruptly, "We should be closer to Palau than the Philippines now, right?"

"To insist on this matter, how about waiting until we are full?"

Unexpectedly, I also encountered a similar situation.
Wei Ran sighed secretly, he would not sympathize with those two pilots, let alone turn enemies into friends with them.But now it is obvious that everyone on this boat needs a relatively peaceful environment, and more importantly, they need to replenish energy for their depleted bodies as soon as possible.

But his experience in Teng County, Baiyangdian, and Savage Mountain made it impossible for him to accept the possibility of sitting and eating with those two devils.

After two consecutive gunshots from underwater, the sea surface was also stained red with blood.At the same time, Wei Ran and Sterling also clearly felt that the force that was stalemate with them disappeared, and the fishing line could be barely retracted.

Without any hesitation at all, Captain Sterling pulled out the ax belonging to Captain Evans from his waist and put it in the thermos bucket, while Hawkes untied the 1911 pistol strapped to his hand one step ahead, retreated the bullets and threw it into the barrel. Insulated bucket.

Akila glanced at Wei Ran, and after a little hesitation, he winked at his companion.

"He wished he could be buried in the dirt"

Evans used his injured left hand to gently press down the weapon that the opponent was about to raise, but his eyes turned to Akira.

Subconsciously opened his eyes, he had just lifted the umbrella cloth for the sunshade, and immediately saw Sterling on the opposite traffic boat waving wildly at him.

"Not much more." Wei Ran paused, "There is only one pot left."

However, when the time came to the next morning, the deputy captain Sterling blew the silver sailor's whistle that belonged to him before Wei Ran woke up.

After reacting for a while, Wei Ran wrapped the silk umbrella cloth around his hands twice, helped to catch the fishing line and began to pull it up.

"He will be buried in the mud." Wei Ran paused and asked, "Mr. Captain, may I know the moose's full name?"

While speaking, Evans first pulled out the southern pistol on his chest, pulled out the magazine and ejected the bullets in the chamber, and put all the magazine and gun into the thermos bucket.

"Do not worry"

Squinting his eyes, he looked at the scorching sun above his head, looked down at his soaked, wrinkled and festered feet, and even his red and peeling legs and arms, and finally at the bulging triangle sail, Wei Ran Sighing secretly, he untied the kettle and took a sip of the slightly fishy rainwater, then lay down in the cabin again and endured the time.

"Your kettle" Wei Ran said after a moment of silence.

On the life raft, Wei Ran, with his back to them, took out his camera bag silently, and took a photo of the moose to prove his existence under the cover of his body and the constantly flying umbrella cloth.

Putting away the camera bag, he took a soldier badge from the opponent's neck and hung it with his own, then tore off a piece of umbrella cloth, carefully wrapped the moose's body tightly, and tied it to the lifeguard with an umbrella rope. The load-bearing net of the raft.

At the same time he stood up again, Vice Captain Sterling, who was standing under the simple mast of the Johnston traffic boat, also tried to stand upright, holding the bright silver sailor's whistle in a standard posture, drumming Blow out a long bass with full strength.

Amidst the whistle blowing against the sea, Captain Evans and Hawks, who had just climbed onto the ship, also slowly raised their right hands, bidding farewell to the moose, who were also in the navy, in the way of the navy.

(End of this chapter)