I lit the torch and circled around the fork in the road, looking closely. There must be no omission, and if no mark is found here, we must abandon this direction, and at this moment, we must not allow the slightest mistake to be made.

Unfortunately, nothing was found. After confirming this result, I went back the way I came. During this time, Platoon Commander Zhao got a little rest, I briefly said the search results, and the group entered the passage below. This passage is the direction in which the planned zigzag is heading in a straight line.

Fortunately, Hu Aiguo can walk with his support, otherwise it will be difficult for Platoon Commander Zhao to hold on for a long time, so then the two of us will take turns to carry him forward. It would be much easier to simply help him forward, and I would be freed up to concentrate on leading the way and making marks. After walking a few forks in the road like this, the hunger gradually decreases, and the body enters the stage of burning fat. Although people's hunger will be reduced at this stage, the harm to the human body by consuming fat to replenish calories is self-evident, not to mention that we are not fat-type people. The three fighters are basically muscular men, and I am on the thin side and don't have much fat to burn.

We're moving slower and slower, and we can't walk long without stopping, so we have to take a break every two forks, otherwise it's hard to keep going. After walking so slowly for more than 20 hours, I can't remember how many forks I've crossed, but I'm sure I'm still on the planned route. At this time, the muscles of the limbs first felt pain, and I knew that it was because my own fat was not enough to provide calories, and I began to consume the muscles of the body. At this time, in addition to the food running out, water has become a big problem in front of us. On the road, the water consumption is much higher than the amount of waiting in one place, and we only have a small half pot of water left.

At a fork in the road, we stopped, mentally and physically close to collapse, and instead became less sensitive to fear. In the past, if he rested at the fork in the road, squad leader Liu was resolutely opposed, but now he sat on the ground with his buttocks, leaning on the cave wall ugly, his eyes half-open blankly, and after a while, he snored.

After I finished the mark, I sat down against squad leader Liu, and was directly immune to his snoring, and it didn't take long for me to open my eyes. In a daze, I heard Platoon Commander Zhao muttering something to Hu Aiguo. I was so tired that I didn't have the heart to listen to what they had to say, and rest became the overriding thing. Soon I couldn't hear the sound anymore, and even the snoring of squad leader Liu seemed to have stopped.

I was woken up by Hu Aiguo. He said to me in a panicked voice: "Platoon Leader Zhao has been out for a long time and has not come back yet. What to do? ”

I almost jumped up when I heard this, but I quickly calmed down and leaned quietly against the cave wall. In the past, I insisted that squad leader Liu follow us, and even threatened to scrap one of his arms, because I felt that we still had a chance to survive. But in the current situation, I have no hope at all, and whoever has the ability to find a way out alone can only let him go. I don't have the ability to take them out, so why should I stop them from finding a way out?

I patted Hu Aiguo and said, "Don't panic, where is he going?" What did he tell you? ”

Hu Aiguo said nervously: "On the right, he went to the right passage." He said he would go over there to see if there were any clues and would be back soon. But it's been so long, will something happen? ”

"How long has he been gone?" I asked.

"I lost my watch and don't know the time." Hu Ai said Chinese with anxiety: "But he didn't sleep, and left after talking to me." ”

I looked at my watch, and I slept for seven hours. That platoon leader Zhao went out for at least six hours. It's a rhythm that I don't plan to come back to. I suddenly remembered something, reached out and touched it, and sure enough, the torch was gone.

There was only a little wave in my heart, and after greeting Platoon Commander Zhao and his mother, I said to Hu Aiguo very indifferently: "How much water did Platoon Commander Zhao take away except for torches?" ”

"He didn't take water, he only took an empty jug."

I was stunned, this is not logical. If he wants to survive alone, he can do without torches, and the water must be taken with him. That means he's going to come back. He finished exploring a passage alone, if he followed my method, it wouldn't take too long, and he shouldn't have crossed the fork to explore farther away, so he had to turn back, which was very physically and time-consuming, and it was very uneconomical.

I immediately realized that Platoon Commander Zhao was in trouble. I immediately woke up squad leader Liu, told him about it, and announced: change the plan, we will turn around and look for Platoon Leader Zhao.

Squad Leader Liu was still in a daze, so he was dragged up by me. Hu Aiguo can walk alone, but his speed is too slow, one leg is not flexible, and it seems that thrombosis and tissue avascular necrosis occur under hypothermia. Whether this leg can be saved depends on whether we can find a way out as soon as possible and whether we can get timely treatment.

We had to find Platoon Commander Zhao as soon as possible, and at this time time time was very urgent, so I decided to travel lightly and find Platoon Commander Zhao first, and let the two of them follow the marker behind. After I said my thoughts, squad leader Liu was not satisfied, and asked him to find platoon leader Zhao in front alone and let me take care of Hu Aiguo in the back.

I patted the micro * chong on my chest and said, "Don't fight, you don't have a gun." You can't deal with the problem. ”

With that, I trotted along one side of the cave wall. Maybe there was something on my mind, and I didn't feel too tired so I ran to the first fork in the road. When I turned on the lighter, I could clearly see the lame marks left by Platoon Commander Zhao, and I entered the next passage after identifying the direction.

Platoon Commander Zhao has been away for such a long time, I estimate that he must have passed through several forks, but judging from his performance, he will definitely return, and he will not go too far. I think three or four forks in the road are the limits of his exploration, and no matter how far he goes, it will be a problem for him to return.

I quickly crossed two more forks, and at the fourth fork I found a different mark from the one left by Platoon Commander Zhao. This mark is very simple, but it is very professional, and I know at a glance that it was left by Xiao Guolin. A simple diagram shows a lot of information: two people, one of whom is injured, enter the left-hand passage.

Platoon Commander Zhao's mark also appeared here, and below the mark left by Xiao Guolin, it was just an arrow in the direction of travel. He also entered the left-hand passage.

I was excited that I finally found Xiao Guolin and Cao Mingzhe. I quickly attached one of my markers here and ran briskly into the passage. Soon after entering the passage, I saw a torch light flickering towards me on the opposite side.

I shouted, "Is Platoon Commander Zhao you?" ”

A hoarse voice came from the other side: "Run!" ”

PS: Second update. Hopefully the network will be better today.