In the last two days in the rear camp in Guam, Wei Ran, Randy and Will did not have a comfortable life. Or to be more precise, since the early morning of the second day after Marshall left Guam, the three of them were surrounded by several people from before.
The officers whom they had not met were taken to separate tents far away for questioning alone.
As for the content of the inquiry, it was naturally about Marshall.
During this period, Wei Ran didn't know what Randy and Will said. After all, they didn't even have a chance to meet. However, he relied on the anti-torture skills he learned from Gorman to maintain his integrity from beginning to end.
silence.
The soldiers who came to him for questioning naturally did not use torture, but Wei Ran also knew that no matter what he said, there was no way to change history, so the only thing he could do was to respond to the other party's questions with a long silence.
"Victor, I hope you can answer our questions candidly."
The officer sitting opposite said again impatiently, "We are not enemies and will not frame Marshall."
"What time is it now?" Wei Ran, who had not spoken for the past three days, asked suddenly.
The person sitting opposite was stunned for a moment, rolled up his sleeves, looked at his watch and replied, "11:56 pm."
"Give me three minutes, and then I will answer your question." Wei Ran said again, "Can you give me a bottle of Coke first?"
"Of course, of course."
The soldier, who also held the rank of second lieutenant, had already walked out of the tent before he finished speaking. Within two minutes, he brought back a bottle of cold Coke and a bottle opener and handed them to Wei Ran.
Taking the Coke and biting it open with his teeth, Wei Ran raised his neck and took a big gulp, muttering to himself in Chinese, "The Coke of your era is really delicious."
"What did you say?" the second lieutenant asked blankly.
Wei Ran took another swig of Coke, burped and waved his hand, "Nothing, what time is it now?"
"11:58"
The second lieutenant replied with a headache. Compared with the black priest and the young stretcher bearer, the medical soldier with the nickname of veterinarian was like a stone that forgot to have a mouth.
"What question did you just ask?" As Wei Ran spoke, he took the time to take another sip of cold Coke.
The second lieutenant suppressed his emotions and repeated, "I said, we are not enemies and will not frame Marshall, so we hope you can answer our questions candidly."
"You are indeed not the enemy, but where were you when Marshall was fighting those rats? Where were you when his friends were being used as food by those rats? Captain Sean in the Military Police and Chaplain Tom were in my operation
Where were you when he died on stage? I don't care how you decide Marshall's fate, but I think Marshall did the right thing."
After saying this long paragraph, Wei Ran didn't wait for the other party to speak and asked again, "What time is it now?"
Still before the second lieutenant could open his mouth, a fierce white light filled his field of vision. Seeing this, Wei Ran murmured to himself, "I don't care what time it is."
"What did you say?" Before the white light in front of him faded, a familiar voice came to his ears.
Rubbing his eyes hard, Wei Ran realized that he was sitting in a Willys Jeep at this time, and the person driving next to him was the stretcher bearer Randy. Looking behind him again, he saw the person who had just asked him
It was Will, the black man, and next to him, there was a huge wooden box.
He looked down at the newspaper he was holding in his hand. The front page headline was the news that President Truman had recently signed the "Employment Act of 1946." And on his waist, there was a gun holster hanging,
Without even opening it, he could tell just by the exposed pistol grip that it was Tom's sidearm.
Looking around, there are a large number of warships docked at the port not far away. The plants and leisurely pedestrians on both sides of the street are also filled with a strong tropical style.
"Don't look at Victor, we are going to Tom's house soon."
Randy, who was in charge of driving, said a little nervously, "I don't know if that bastard Marshall will be late."
"I think I've seen Marshall"
Will, who was sitting in the back seat, pointed to the roadside, "That bastard must be Marshall! But what's going on with that stroller? Did this bastard come here in a stroller?"
Wei Ran followed the other party's guidance and looked over, and at a glance he recognized the man on the roadside wearing a floral shirt and shorts, sunglasses on his head, and holding a coconut with a straw in his hand. Beside him, there was also
There was indeed a stroller with a sunshade just as Will said.
"I saw him too!" Randy said, already turning the steering wheel slightly and leaning over.
"Marshall!" Randy shouted after slamming on the brakes.
Hearing this, the man standing on the roadside took off the toad glasses on his face and glanced at the people in the car. He threw away the coconut in his hand and happily bumped fists with the people who jumped out of the car. "Randy, Wei."
Hey, and Victor, I'm glad you're both alive!"
"We're glad you're alive too." Will bent down and looked into the stroller, and then discovered that there was actually a little baby here.
"Marshall, weren't you imprisoned?" Randy asked with a ghostly expression on his face, "What's going on with this little guy? A friend you met in prison?"
"My sister Caroline's baby"
Marshall took out the little guy in the stroller and showed it to everyone, and said with regret in his tone, "After learning about the cause of Greg's death, Caroline suffered from depression and committed suicide shortly after giving birth to this guy.
Well, I was still in prison on vacation at that time."
"Hug...sorry"
"it does not matter"
Marshall raised his hand and saluted the little guy in his arms, "This little guy's name is Brown. Greg named him when he was alive. I will take care of him in the future."
"A child of such a young age will definitely learn bad things if he follows you." Will, the black man, said unceremoniously.
“I am now a believer in God too”
Marshall pulled out a silver cross necklace from his neck and shook it, "Although I still look for women as often as before, I am indeed a believer in God, just like I promised Tom."
When Tom was mentioned, everyone fell into silence one after another, and only the little guy named Brown was left babbling in words they couldn't understand.
“Tell me about your experience during this period.”
Marshall put the child in his arms back into the stroller, changed the subject and asked, "How are you doing?"
"Will and I retired after the war ended last year."
Randy wanted to light a cigarette, but after seeing the stroller surrounded by them, he immediately put the cigarette he had just taken out into his pocket, "Before retiring, Will and I had been
The military base in Guam, he was in charge of working for God, and I was in charge of working on the airport that was being built there."
After saying this, Randy couldn't help but smile, "You won't believe it. Since the airport there was built, my job has changed from carrying stretchers to carrying artillery bombs. Those incendiary bombs that were thrown into Tokyo before the end of the war last year.
I helped load many of them onto bombers."
"I can testify to Randy," Will said with a smile, "that bastard even tried to get me to put a curse on those incendiary bombs more than once."
"What about you?" Marshall looked at Wei Ran with interest.
"Yes, what about you?" Randy took over, "You also left Guam not long after Marshall was taken away. Victor, where have you been?"
"I..." Wei Ran paused and replied with a smile, "I retired and returned to Alaska not long after Marshall left. Marshall, what about you? How have you been this past year?"
"I am much more leisurely than you," Marshall said mockingly, "I was kicked out of the army after that incident, and until a month ago I was still basking in the sun in prison."
At this point, Marshall patted his forehead and asked, "I almost forgot about business. Will, Randy, are the things I asked you to keep for me still there?"
“Of course still there”
As Will spoke, he had already walked to the side of the jeep, reached out and opened the large wooden box.
There are quite a few things inside. In addition to a bulging canvas satchel, there are also a set of military uniforms, a steel helmet, as well as a very familiar canvas gun bag and a canvas medical bag.
Will took out the medical bag and pulled out a 1911 pistol with flame marks from it. He turned the handle and handed it to Marshall, "This is Captain Sean's sidearm. I have been keeping it well."
After taking the pistol, Marshall pulled the slide and checked it. Seeing that there was no bullet inside, he put it directly into the stroller bag next to him.
Only then did Will take out the photo of Greg and his wife Caroline from the medical bag and return it to Marshall, and then took out a plastic-sealed Bible.
Although this Bible, which is only the size of a dictionary, has an extra layer of plastic film on the outside, you can still see the two bullets embedded in it, as well as the blood stains that have long since oxidized into black.
"Tom is back again"
Marshall muttered something subconsciously as he took the Bible, and then smiled as if he remembered something and said, "Belief in God is really a painful thing."
"It is indeed painful for you, but as long as you believe in God, our friend Tom will always be there."
Randy said, reaching out and patting the canvas gun bag in the box and the steel helmet next to it, "Do you still remember these things? You personally poked them in front of Tom's grave."
"Have you brought all of these back?" Marshall asked in surprise.
"When the war ended last year, Tom's body had to be sent home. He was also the last fallen person to leave Guam."
Randy sighed, "Will and I dug out his coffin ourselves and brought these things back with us."
Marshall picked up the rusty helmet, looked at it, and put it back casually, "It seems Tom is really back."
"He is indeed back"
Wei Ran, who had been silent just now, pulled out the particularly beautiful-looking 1911 pistol from the holster on his waist, "Even here there are traces left by that bastard Tom."
"He really is a jerk"
Marshall smiled, raised his hand and pointed to a weapons store not far away, more than ten meters away, and said, "Just park the car here, and then we go to Tom's store. To be honest, I arrived yesterday, but there has been no
Have the courage to visit his store."
"Let's go together. I hope that Ms. Laura likes the gift Tom gave him." Will, the black man, looked at the bulging satchel in the wooden box unconfidently, and finally carried it in his hand.
The group of people gathered around the stroller pushed by Marshall and silently walked to the door of the store. They all looked up at the photo of "Ferraro Arms Store" and couldn't help but think of the string of tattoos on Tom's butt.
The four of them looked at each other, and then without any worries, they lined up and walked into the store.
