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墨書 Inktalez
Keeping Hu Aiguo warm had been the task of Zhao Squad Leader. However, it was Liu Squad Leader and I who took turns performing artificial respiration on him. This was a physically demanding job, and under the circumstances of exhaustion without any replenishment, one person couldn't hold out for long.
Our efforts were not in vain; although Hu Aiguo did not regain consciousness, his body temperature gradually rose, and his muscles became less rigid. Most importantly, his breathing developed a rhythm. This was the most reassuring sign for me; I felt that if we persisted a little longer, he might regain the ability to breathe on his own.
Finally, Hu Aiguo began to breathe independently and evenly. Liu Squad Leader and I were relieved. We sat side by side, too hungry to engage in conversation. I felt drowsy again; sleeping would conserve energy. As I thought this, I closed my eyes.
After a while, I groggily felt something wriggling into my sleeping bag—a long object that felt like a snake, moving around as if searching for an exit. I nearly jumped up, disregarding the possibility of hurting myself, and swung my fist at the intruding object.
Liu Squad Leader exclaimed, "Hey!" I felt that thing escape from my sleeping bag. Terrified, I asked Liu Squad Leader, "Did you notice something crawling into my sleeping bag?"
Liu Squad Leader huffed for a moment before replying, "That was my hand."
I was almost driven mad by this guy. When we were at the Rest Area, he had questioned my orientation; it turned out he was the one with issues—truly the pot calling the kettle black.
Fuming, I snapped back, "Stay away from me and don’t bother me, or I'll take you down first."
"What are you thinking?" Liu Squad Leader raised his voice angrily. "I’m just trying to see if I can find something to eat. Do you think I'm like you?"
Great, now he was dragging me into this. But things weren't as I had imagined; it calmed me down a bit since I didn’t want to be bothered by a man. Hearing Liu Squad Leader made my hunger pangs more pronounced. Since I couldn't sleep anyway, I decided to look for food; if I found something, it would help us last a bit longer.
I told Liu Squad Leader, "You don't need to look; I'll do it myself."
I had already rummaged through this sleeping bag compartment several times; finding that one cigarette was a stroke of luck. I reached in and carefully felt around again but didn’t even find any tobacco crumbs. After thinking for a moment, I pulled the sleeping bag off my head and laid it on the ground in front of me to search from top to bottom thoroughly. This time I searched completely and found two fish meat sticks and a handful of tobacco crumbs.
Liu Squad Leader and I shared this precious food like treasure, our mouths watering as we savored every bite—reluctant to swallow it down. We resembled camels in our state, saliva spilling from our mouths while we continued chewing; in reality, we were just chewing on our own saliva.
As I enjoyed the mixture of tobacco crumbs and fish meat saliva, Liu Squad Leader asked again, "Is that all? Should we search some more?"
I replied, "I just took it off and turned the compartment inside out to shake out those crumbs. If you really can’t stand it anymore, I'll tear a piece of the sleeping bag for you."
"Then there's no need, I have some," Liu Squad Leader said, disappointment evident in his voice.
I then heard the sound of his helmet clanging against the cave wall. It seemed he also planned to conserve energy by sleeping. After a while, I found myself drifting into a daze, and I didn't force myself to wake up; I just fell asleep in that hazy state.
I don't know how long it had been when I felt someone shaking me. Grabbing my gun, I asked, "Who is it? What's wrong?"
Zhao Squad Leader's voice came through, "He has moved."
It took me a moment to realize he was talking about Hu Aiguo. I quickly followed the sound and found Zhao Squad Leader and Hu Aiguo lying on their sides. It seemed that being pinned down by a heavyset person for an extended period had taken its toll on Zhao Squad Leader as well. I felt Hu Aiguo's body; his temperature had noticeably risen, indicating there was hope for him.
I immediately reached into his clothing and began rubbing his chest and abdomen vigorously. Soon, my palms were hot, and the temperature of his torso began to rise as well. Liu Squad Leader used one hand to rub Hu Aiguo's limbs. After a while, Hu Aiguo's body trembled slightly, and he made a gurgling sound from his throat. Moments later, he finally moved his arm on his own.
I let out a sigh of relief and said to Liu Squad Leader, "You give him some water; I'll light the torch."
Liu Squad Leader grunted angrily in response and reached for the water bottle to feed Hu Aiguo. For hypothermia, especially in severe cases, you can only give them warm water. Of course, we didn't have any hot water at the moment; we could only warm it in our mouths before giving it to him.
As I lit the torch, I saw Liu Squad Leader feeding water to Hu Aiguo mouth-to-mouth. Hu Aiguo was still in a semi-conscious state but was no longer deeply unconscious; he showed natural sucking and swallowing responses to the water Liu Squad Leader was giving him. However, his reactions were quite strong, which displeased Liu Squad Leader.
After finishing feeding him water, Liu Squad Leader expressed his dissatisfaction. "Why is it always us doing this dirty work?" He pointed at Zhao Squad Leader. "Let him warm up Hu Aiguo first."
"That's his soldier," I replied seriously. The thought process of a madman is peculiar but doesn't imply high intelligence. In terms of spatial imagination, I would concede defeat before him; however, in other aspects, I wouldn't be intimidated.
"But he's not my soldier! Why should I do this dirty work?" Liu Squad Leader pressed his finger against his nose as he questioned.
"Because he is your comrade," I answered calmly.
Then I walked past him without acknowledging him and approached Hu Aiguo. Liu Squad Leader stood there dumbfounded, searching for words. No matter how he thought about it, he wouldn't have more responsibility than me in this situation.
Under the torchlight, Hu Aiguo's complexion had regained some color. The warm water mixed with Liu Squad Leader's saliva soothed his throat and esophagus, making him feel comfortable. I noticed a satisfied expression appearing on his face.
I shielded the light of the torch with my hand and gently called out to him, "Hu Aiguo."
Hu Aiguo slowly opened his eyes, only to be blinded by the firelight, causing him to quickly shut them again. I moved the torch to the side and said, "It's okay now. Open your eyes facing this way."
Hu Aiguo looked at me, furrowing his brow as he asked, "Who are you?"
Damn it, just as I feared. I hoped it was just temporary amnesia. I pointed to Liu Squad Leader, who was still trying to find the right words, and asked, "Do you remember him?"
Hu Aiguo's eyes lit up for a moment, indicating he recognized him, but after thinking for a while, he shook his head. From his expression, it seemed his memory loss wasn't severe and might even recover soon. I then pointed at Zhao Squad Leader and asked, "You should recognize this person."
Hu Aiguo's motor functions hadn't fully recovered yet; he turned his neck slowly and couldn't rotate it to the maximum angle. Halfway through turning, his neck suddenly stopped, and his entire face froze in place, revealing an expression close to tears.
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