While others seek survival, I engage in flirtation Chapter 12: The New Camp

These fish weren't as fishy as I thought they'd be; actually, they were super tasty. The meat was firm and springy, making it a rare treat. The girls next to me were chowing down with big smiles on their faces.

The only downside was that we couldn't store these fish. With more salt, we could've preserved some.

To make sure we didn't waste any of this hard-earned food, we ate all the fish we caught. Even though it was just fish, it was the first decent meal we'd had since landing on the island.

"That was absolutely delicious!" Aimee said, patting her full belly and lying down by the river with a satisfied grin.

Starting a fire wasn't a big deal for us anymore. With Ivy's okay, I used a stone to break her bra strap and made a portable fire-starting kit.

"I'm gonna fetch some seawater and check if there's any response to our distress signal." After eating and drinking, I looked at the dimming sky, feeling a bit worried.

It was tough for just a few of us to wait for rescue on this deserted island. We were short on manpower and resources. The urgent task was to find other survivors; only then would our chances of survival go up.

"No! It's way too dangerous for you to go alone!" Aimee immediately objected. It wasn't just her; the others also thought it was too risky for me to go by myself.

"I can handle myself, and I'll be back soon." After a lot of convincing, they finally agreed to wait for me at the camp.

Ivy and Aimee helped Margaret back to the camp, while I headed towards the beach.

The stones I placed hadn't been moved, only the seaweed on them had dried and faded. It seemed no rescue team had found us; otherwise, there would be some obvious signs here.

Feeling a bit bummed, I went straight to the beach to fetch seawater. But to my surprise, as soon as I squatted down, I saw a line of small words.

"GO EAST." These small words seemed to be carved with a knife, but not very deeply. I didn't know why they only carved two words, but judging by the way the message was left, it shouldn't be from Matt's group.

This was a breakthrough discovery for me. I immediately walked along the eastern coastline.

After walking for a while, I indeed saw a broken box and some trash.

The decaying food remnants and discarded containers had already begun to stink.

With traces of human activity, I could confirm that the message I saw was left by another group of people.

Moreover, there should be quite a few people in this group; otherwise, there wouldn't be so much trash. I continued walking east for about 2 miles and finally saw a camp at the edge of the beach and forest.

From the marked spot to here was about 2 miles. I had been running the whole time, but surprisingly, I didn't feel tired! Thinking about it now, I seemed to have adapted well to life on the deserted island; otherwise, how could I have gained the favor of so many beautiful women!

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a subtle sense of happiness.

The camp in front of me was getting closer and closer. I slowed down and carefully observed the surroundings of the camp.

The area around the camp had been cleared, and tree stumps and weeds had been burned. It seemed they were among the first to escape. Their camp had camping tents, and some backpacks were piled at the tent entrances.

I cautiously approached the camp, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Logically, the camp shouldn't be this quiet. No way a camp this big would be empty!

Even if they were out gathering supplies, they should've left a couple of people behind. Otherwise, wild animals could wreck the tents and supplies.

After making sure no one was around, I slowly moved closer. The tents looked pretty professional, probably the gear of seasoned campers. The tent corners were weighed down with stones, suggesting someone here knew their stuff.

There were a bunch of plucked bird feathers outside the tents, and the ground had some bloodstains.

From what I could tell, the folks here had caught some birds, plucked them, and cooked them.

Just as I was about to lift the tent flap to peek inside, something pressed against my back.

"Don't move. Who are you?" I couldn't see the guy's face, but he sounded like an older man.

"I'm not a bad guy!" I quickly raised my hands to show I wasn't a threat. "I saw the mark you left on the stone!"

The guy holding something against me paused for a moment, then slowly lowered whatever it was.

I turned around and saw he was holding an arrow, a slender, smooth branch with the bark stripped off and a bone arrowhead attached to the front, both sharp and sturdy.

And if he had an arrow, he must have a bow.

So even if I wanted to run, it wouldn't work. The only option was to clear up this misunderstanding; otherwise, I was toast.

"We're all survivors. I mean no harm!" I turned around with my hands still up. They could see I was barely wearing any clothes.

For the first time, I felt there was an upside to not wearing much. The guy in charge saw my appearance, frowned, and looked me up and down before slowly lowering his arrow.

"Leave now!" He waved his arrowhead, pointing away from the camp. He wanted me gone, but I wasn't ready to leave.

Just moments ago, when I peeked into the tent, I saw what was inside: a medical kit, a good amount of food and water, and neatly folded cloth.

We desperately needed all of that, especially the medical kit.

Even though Margaret's injuries were under control, it wasn't a long-term fix. Treating wounds with herbs was too primitive, and we didn't have any proper bandages. This couldn't go on.

"We escaped from the ship too. Can you share some of these supplies?" I took a cautious step forward, only to have the guy's bone arrow pressed against my chest.

"We? There're more of you? Which ship were you on? Everyone from our ship is here." The guy in charge got more cautious and even a bit angry after hearing me.

Did I say something wrong?

"Of course, the graduation party cruise!" I was surprised too.

Right before the cruise ship accident, I had spent a few minutes on the deck and hadn't seen any other ships.

Could there have been another shipwreck in this area?

"We don't know you, and we can't be from the same ship." The guy's face was full of suspicion. "Leave here immediately!"

I glanced back at the medical kit in the tent. The other supplies weren't as crucial, but finding survivors with medicine was rare. I really didn't want to leave empty-handed.