Chapter 727
On January 17th, the Turner family people returned to Sapphire City. Sophia accompanied Olivia to register at school. Before Sophia went overseas, Olivia prepared to go home every day and sleep with Sophia in her room at night.
On January 20th, Trevon brought Sophia, Terrell, and the ten bodyguards onto the private plane. They headed to the snow mountain and brought several bags of equipment.
One bag contained tools for cutting down trees, as well as tools just in case. The other bag contained tents, the down sleeping bags, and some warm equipment. There were also some regular medicines and so on. It was very complete.
Indeed, as Trevon said, they were going on a tour, not an adventure.
Before leaving, Sophia asked Jasper and Ruby to choose a good day. To let Sophia recover better, Ruby chose three days for Sophia to choose from. One was May 20th, one was October 1st, and the last was New Year's Day.
Sophia did not want Jasper and Ruby to wait too long, so she chose May 20th. This day was also the day Jasper and Ruby started dating, which was very meaningful. She believed she could let go.
At that time, she would happily attend the wedding. If she could still return to the battlefield...
Looking at the plane taking off, Natalie raised her head and cried. Jasper reached out to hug his mother and said in a low voice, "Mom, I'm here. Don't worry."
Natalie put her arm around Jasper's waist and took a deep breath. "Let's go. You need to go to work with Ruby. I'll go back and tell your grandma and grandpa." Jasper was worried about his mother and prepared to send her back to the Wilson's residence before going to the company. "Okay, I'll send you back."
Seeing that Jasper's tone was firm, Natalie didn't insist. She held Jasper's wrist with one hand and Ruby with the other and walked out.
Trevon did not tell Frank and Hackett that he was leaving today. He did not want it to be too sad when he left.
However, little did they know that the cars of Frank and Hackett were already parked in the parking lot outside the airport. They had also watched the private plane soar into the sky.
Seeing Natalie, Jasper, and Ruby come out, Frank, half bent against the door, put out his cigarette and stood up. He nodded at Natalie.
Hackett went forward and said a few words to Natalie. Natalie nodded. "Got it. If there's anything, I'll call you. Go ahead with your business."
Frank opened the car door and stopped for a few seconds. He held the door frame with one hand and seemed to have thought of something. He handed a phone to Jasper. "I'll leave the mecha team to you. Call me if you need anything."
Jasper held the black phone that Frank had given him. After a few seconds of silence, he stuffed the phone into his pocket and replied, "Got it, Uncle Frank."
Ruby and Jasper sent Natalie back to the Wilson's residence. Hackett and Frank went to the company. Since Trevon was not in Athana, as his good friends, they had to take care of his family often.
A few hours later, the private plane hovered directly at the top of the snow mountain. The cabin door opened. The raging wind made one feel like knives were cutting their faces. Terrell grabbed the rope and landed first. The second person to go down was Sophia. She was also very agile and was not inferior to Terrell in speed. Trevon was the last to come down, followed by ten bodyguards, all carrying backpacks on their backs.
The bodyguards shivered from the cold. They suddenly yawned and shrunk their necks.
Trevon also couldn't help but shiver. His lips trembled as he zipped up his down jacket to the top. He then turned around and zipped Sophia's black down jacket up to the top.
As far as the eye could see, it was endless white. The trees around them were not green at all. They were all white. The trunks were coffee-colored. From the nearby branches, one could see that the bark had cracked from the cold.
The snow had already reached their calves, which showed how thick it was. Trevon looked around and felt this place was nice because it was empty and habitable. He ordered, "Let's do it here. First, deal with the snow on the ground and empty a place to set up our tents."
Terrell skillfully placed his backpack on the ground. Then, he took out a shovel from another large bag. He handed one to Sophia. "Try it. Shoveling snow can help reduce stress." Sophia took it and exhaled for a long time. "Thank you, Terrell."
"It'll be warm when we move. After we set up the tent and start a fire inside, the temperature inside the tent will be 86°F different from the outside. We can even wear short sleeves when we hide inside," Terrell told Sophia what he had experienced while shoveling snow.
"Will there be wolves and wild beasts here tonight?" Sophia held a shovel and shoveled the snow seriously as she chatted with Terrell. Her father was right. Snow seemed to be able to cleanse the soul. At this moment, all she could feel was the coldness.
The thick snow had long buried the grass on the ground. It was white everywhere. With a gentle shake of the withered tree trunk, lots of snow would fall.
The snow had always felt comfortable and peaceful.
And these trees in the snowy mountains gave the impression of perseverance. Even when the wind blew hard, they stood upright.
"Yes. Look at the footprints over there. They belong to the wolf. That should be the bear's," Terrell said. However, Sophia was not afraid. Instead, she found it quite exciting. She was a little excited. "Can we see them tonight?"
"I don't think so. We'll start a fire at the edge of the tent, but your father has a drone that can capture the movements of the wolves. You can take a look then. You'll feel like you're there. It feels pretty good," said Terrell.
When Trevon saw his daughter chatting happily with Terrell with a smile, he knew he had made the right choice. This advice came from Terrell. Trevon instructed the bodyguards to get firewood while he took out his tent to install Sophia and his tent.
He didn't intend to let Sophia sleep in a tent in such extreme weather and environment by herself. She had to be within his line of sight.
Soon, an open space was completed. Two tents could be placed side by side there. The bodyguards were fast. They were already setting up the tents.
Sophia felt that the temperature of the snow mountain was at least minus 68°F. Even with thick gloves, she could feel the cold. Her hands were so cold that she could not feel anything, but this feeling was quite good. "Terrell, have you been here before?"
Terrell knew it too well. He would not have known such details if he had not experienced the difference in temperature inside and outside.
"My situation is the same as yours, but I'm the captain. Because of my misjudgment, my teammates died in another country, Southland." Therefore, Terrell stayed there until Trevon needed him to return. Otherwise, he might not have returned for the rest of his life.
Hearing this, Sophia paused. She didn't know what to say. She never knew that Terrell was once a captain and had such a sad past.
Terrell told Sophia everything about himself without hiding anything. Sophia forgot to shovel the snow, but she could not find any words of comfort because she had not come out of the shadows yet. "So you quit?" she asked.
Terrell smiled. It was relief and acceptance.
"I can't command anymore. It reminds me of my comrades whenever I wear that outfit. The truth is, I'm just running away. To put it nicely, I'm sick. To put it bluntly, I'm just running away. It's hard to accept. What do you think?" Terrell asked.
A moment later, Sophia nodded dumbly. She could empathize with him. She didn't want to wake up because she was also avoiding it. She only wanted to hide. It was as if it had never happened, and no one had sacrificed if she could hide.
She was just lying to herself.
Listening to their conversation, Trevon felt upset. It took Terrell a long time to walk out, but he still couldn't return to that place. He could only quit and change jobs.
He was conflicted and afraid. He
hoped that Sophia could let go of the past, but he was also worried Sophia might return there after letting go of the past completely. He was selfish and didn't want to experience it again, or there might bea worse accident... He didn't even dare to think about it.
The father and daughter set up the tent and blew on the inflatable bed together. Trevon instructed Sophia to press the snow on the edge of the tent to prevent the cold wind from pouring into the tent. "Dad, why don't we build a wall with snow to surround this place later? That way, it will be warm at night, and we won't have to worry about the cold wind entering the tent," suggested Sophia with her hands on the shovel and her chin on her hands.
Trevon said, "Yes, we can. Let's set up the tent first. Then, we can lay everything out and light the firewood before we do it."
"Okay." Away from the hustle and bustle, the endless whiteness and the story of Terrell just now made Sophia feel much better.
Terrell said, "Captains have their missions, and comrades also have theirs. However, captains will also encounter unexpected things because of their mistakes. We are all humans, not gods. We can't possibly save the world, but we can use another method to make up for our mistakes in our way."
Terrell spent his life atoning for it.
He was an orphan. He had no parents, no wife, and no kids. He transferred every cent he earned to the families of his comrades who had sacrificed themselves. And he would use the rest to do charity. All his assets added up to only 200 dollars, but it was enough for him.
The tent was set up a few hours later, and the fire was lit. Terrell skillfully picked up the pots and pans and prepared to cook in the wild. The bodyguards imitated Terrell and also started cooking.
On the other side, everyone was waiting for Trevon's message at the Wilson's residence at night. Calculating the time, they thought Trevon and the others should have arrived long ago.
They could not help but feel a little worried. Natalie held her phone in her hand. Her eyes were filled with worry. When Jasper saw it, he said, "Mom, don't worry. Maybe they want to settle down before calling
us."
As soon as he finished speaking, the
phone rang. It was a video call. Trevon always' could get the signal in the snow mountain to report his safety. In the video, it was a dark tent. Sophia was sitting on an air mattress, hugging a pillow. She was wearing a thin sweater. She waved at the screen with a smile on her face. "Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, Jasper, Ruby, look at our environment. How is it?"
Trevon was very meticulous. He even hung colored lights in the tent. The firewood was burning in the heater, and the temperature in the tent kept rising. Trevon was wearing a black sweater and holding a phone in his hand. The white hair on his head was long gone. On the first day Sophia woke up, he asked Natalie to pull it out one by one, afraid that Sophia would blame herself if she saw it.
"We're fine, Natalie. Do you want me to show you the snow mountain?" he said.
"We'll watch it tomorrow. Don't go out." Natalie could see from inside the tent that there was a lot of snow on the edge of the tent. There was also snow constantly sticking to the tent outside. Natalie could imagine the harsh environment outside.
Trevon insisted. He wanted to show his wife the environment of the snow mountain. "It's fine. I'll show you. I added a fire outside. It's very safe."