Because sand and gravel store heat quickly and dissipate heat quickly, the temperature difference between day and night in the desert is very large. The temperature difference between noon and early morning can reach more than 30 degrees.
Although I was still under the scorching sun not long ago, I will start to feel cold again at night.
In order to avoid snakes and insects in the desert as much as possible, Zhang Heng chose a relatively high terrain to light a fire. In addition, the light of the fire could also prevent some predators near the top of the food chain from approaching.
But danger doesn't always come from the outside.
Zhang Heng, Jia Lai and Bruno were all sitting around the bonfire. Night should have been the best time to make up for the energy lost during the day, but at this time none of the three dared to close their eyes.
Because this is also the best opportunity to get started.
During the day, people from NASA are staring at them from several kilometers away, so it is difficult to do much. But after nightfall, regardless of whether NASA people also need to sleep, the visibility is greatly reduced, even if the observers are still dedicated, It is also difficult to grasp all the conditions here from a distance.
The flames danced in the night, and the wood crackled in the firelight. Apart from that, there was no other movement around. It was not until a long time later that a voice spoke and whispered.
"Do not go meekly into that good night,
Old age should burn and roar at sunset;
scold, angrily
The dying of light.
Although a wise man on his deathbed knows that darkness has reason,
For their words did not burst out with lightning,
Nor did they go meekly into the good night..."
"Dylan Thomas, this is a poem he wrote to his critically ill father." Zhang Heng said.
"I always thought this poem came from the movie "Interstellar"." Bruno yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He spent a lot of energy during the day, especially after eating. He could feel obvious tiredness after dinner, but he didn't dare to close his eyes at this time.
"I like that movie very much, and I also like this poem very much. It is very close to our current situation, isn't it?" Jialai said, "Every round of the game we participate in, we face the risk of being eliminated and losing the game. I don’t need to say more about the result, everyone knows it, so no matter it’s good times or bad times, we can’t give up until the last moment, after all, we don’t want to be forgotten by the whole world.”
"Well, to be honest, I don't care if anyone remembers me," Bruno shrugged, "I just think about not being able to party in my mansion in Australia or driving my Porsche 911 to date pretty girls in college. Sister, my brother will inherit part of my property, so of course I don’t want to lose... After all, I may not have such good luck in my next reincarnation."
"What about you, what keeps you going through rounds of games?" Jia Lai turned his gaze to Zhang Heng aside, "Since no one is going to rest, let's chat together. After all, There won’t be much time left for us.”
"I don't know. For now, I just want to figure out the reason behind everything." Zhang Heng adjusted the bonfire in front of him with a tree branch and said calmly.
"Yes, we all want to know who is hosting this game, what is its purpose, when will it stop, and how to win the final victory, but sometimes we don't always get the answers to the questions, right?" Jialai His eyes flickered in the night, and no one knew what he was thinking now.
For a moment, Zhang Heng even thought that the other party was about to lose control and prepare to take action.
But the next moment Bruno's nervous voice came from beside him, "Hey, what do you think that is?!"
He just stood up and wanted to go behind the nearby bushes for convenience. However, not long after he took off his pants, he saw something flashing in the darkness in the distance.
No wonder Bruno was nervous, this was a life-and-death moment. After he felt the movement, he didn't care about emptying the inventory in his stomach, and hurriedly ran back while holding up his pants.
Zhang Heng and Jia Lai stood up immediately after hearing this. They looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes. In other words, this sudden situation had nothing to do with the three of them.
Zhang Heng picked up a lit stick from the bonfire on the ground and shined it in the direction Bruno was running from. Sure enough, he saw a few sneaky shadows on the sand dunes not far away.
"What is that?" The fat man narrowed his eyes.
"It looks like it should be a mountain coyote." Zhang Heng observed carefully for a while and said. In the novice copy, he learned a lot of methods of identifying animals from Bell, which came in handy at this time. Mountains flashed in Zhang Heng's mind Coyote related information.
Mountain coyotes are one of the subspecies of coyotes and are native to the North American continent. They are widely distributed in the United States, from the Cascade Mountains in eastern Washington and Oregon to the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada highlands in the south. , all the way to northern Mexico, they can be found.
However, most of the time, these mountain coyotes live in forests, swamps and grasslands, where food and water are abundant. It is rare to see them running into the desert like this, and they look like they are extremely hungry. There was no harvest for several days, otherwise I wouldn't have targeted the three people who were still leaning by the fire.
Zhang Heng didn't know if the NASA observers had noticed the situation on their side, but even if they came over, it would take a while, and the few mountain coyotes had already charged this way.
This creature is not afraid of humans. There are often news of coyotes appearing in suburban areas in the United States, but they are generally more accustomed to hunting alone.
Even Zhang Heng didn't want to deal with four or five coyotes alone. Of course, he could turn around and run away. Although he couldn't outrun the two coyotes at his speed, there was no problem in outrunning Jia Lai and Bruno. However, Zhang Heng Then he seemed to have thought of something, and instead of leaving the bonfire, he kicked two burning sticks as thick as forearms to Jialai and Bruno.
The fat man hesitated for a moment, but finally picked up the wooden stick on the ground. Bruno turned around and wanted to run away, but because he was too anxious, he tripped and took a mouthful of sand. When he raised his head again, a coyote was already charging at him. Pounced over.
Bruno was immediately stunned, but he also knew that he couldn't count on anyone at this time. It would be good if Zhang Heng and Jia Lai didn't play dirty tricks. Fortunately, Bruno was also an old player who had experienced several rounds of games. Although he now had The props were gone, but his skills were still there. At the critical moment, he put his elbow on the coyote's neck to prevent the latter's mouth from biting him. Then he turned over and pinned the coyote under him.
The fat man on the other side was much calmer when faced with the attack of the wolves. He stood there and watched with cold eyes. It was not until the coyote rushed over that he kicked his hind legs to the ground and jumped into the air. Only then did Jia Lai take action, using lightning speed. Speed grabbed the coyote by the neck.
