While others seek survival, I engage in flirtation Chapter 17: A Bountiful Harvest

I showed Aimee and Margaret our haul for the day. They were both shocked at how we managed to find so many rare supplies. I then filled everyone in on what went down.

"So the camp got attacked? Was it wolves? What about the people there?" Aimee, always the caring one, immediately worried about the folks at the camp.

I just shook my head and said, "I have no clue where they went. Ivy and I didn't see any bodies, so they're probably not in immediate danger. And yeah, I took down the nasty wolf."

Margaret, after hearing my story, went quiet, deep in thought. Suddenly, she seemed to realize something and grabbed me, all excited. "But... from the looks of it, it was probably people who attacked the camp!"

People? Could it be Matt? But they didn't seem like they could handle so many people.

If it wasn't Matt, then who? Other survivors maybe?

"I think there might be natives on this island," Ivy said, frowning like she was remembering something. "I had a hunch about this before."

Ivy mentioned she saw some footprints by the creek, but they were deep and all over the place.

At first glance, they looked like kids had been running and playing by the water.

But in this environment, who would be playing by the creek? Unless they were used to living here, maybe even enjoying it.

If there were such people, they had to be natives.

"I just thought maybe some optimistic survivor left those footprints, but I didn't expect..." Ivy got more and more nervous as she spoke, like the natives were right next to us.

I couldn't be sure, but Ivy's reasoning made sense, and the cave did look like it could be lived in for a long time.

"Let's not dwell on it for now! We caught a hare today, it's still in the basket!" The mood in the cave was getting heavy, so Aimee jumped up, clapping her thighs, and pulled me to go deal with the hare.

Having watched my uncle handle various animals on his farm, I figured I was pretty good at it.

And since I was the only guy in the camp, I couldn't let the girls do it.

I grabbed the hare by its ears, walked a bit away from the cave, and used the axe to cut its throat, then hung it by its feet to drain the blood.

This was my first time doing it myself, and it felt way different from watching my uncle slaughter cows and sheep.

The feeling of the blade cutting through flesh was nerve-wracking, but to survive, it had to be done.

I skinned the hare, cut the meat into small pieces, put them in a cleaned can, added mushrooms and water from the forest, and a bit of salt to cook it into a meat soup.

Honestly, the soup tasted more like saltwater, but we needed protein and some hot food badly.

Most of the food I brought back from the camp was instant stuff and some vacuum-packed items, which generally weren't meant to be heated.

I figured after seeing a camp disappear, everyone needed to chill out a bit.

After we ate, we planned to rest, but we hit a snag while going through our supplies.

Besides some food and medicine, I had also brought back a bunch of fabric. The girls in the camp were eager to make clothes, especially Aimee, who kept bugging me about it when she saw the fabric.

"I'll figure out the needle and thread," Margaret suddenly said when she heard Aimee's constant requests.

Margaret asked me to get her a piece of bone, then she tore a piece of fabric and wrapped it into a spool, making a dress for Aimee.

The dress was a bit crooked and not very pretty, but at least it covered the essentials.

Before this, I had thoroughly explored the nearby area. Now that we had tools, we could easily make weapons like spears.

Next on the agenda was to fortify the entire camp.

Early the next morning, just as the sky was getting light, I grabbed my axe and got ready to cut down some trees. Before I could leave the cave, the girls called out to me.

"Let's go to the beach again today!" Aimee suggested first, and the other girls immediately agreed.

I knew what they were thinking; we hadn't been to the beach for several days.

We had left a distress signal on that beach. What if someone saw it and was looking for us?

I thought about it and agreed. After all, as long as we could get out of here, the process didn't matter.

I took the three girls to the beach. The SOS mark was still there, and there were no new messages.

Aimee suggested we wait on the beach, so we sat on the rocks for a while.

I knew they were still struggling to accept the fact that a rescue team might not come.

While we were waiting on the beach, we heard some rustling sounds not far away. The girls didn't notice, but my ears had become more sensitive, and I could clearly hear that there were indeed two people behind us.

I told the girls about this discovery, and they were surprised.

"How did you hear that?" Aimee asked me, puzzled.

I didn't know how I heard it either, but my ears just picked up the sound of two people behind us.

Margaret and Ivy trusted me, and as soon as they heard me say there were people, they became alert.

We quietly walked into the woods but saw no one, and the rustling sound disappeared.

"Maybe you heard wrong!" Aimee pouted in dissatisfaction.

"I didn't hear wrong, there was definitely someone here just now!" I pointed firmly to the spot under my feet.

There were clearly footprints here as if someone had been standing here for a while before leaving.

"Who could it be?" Ivy, who was quite brave, didn't seem afraid of wild animals and walked forward boldly. But before she could take two steps, she suddenly stopped, her mouth agape, as if she was scared stiff.

I immediately pulled her back and asked what she saw.

"There was a hairy creature waving its arms like a person!" she said, her face turning tense.

I shielded her behind me and bravely went forward to look. Sure enough, I saw the creature.

This creature stood as tall as a human but was more robust in build. As I considered chasing after it to get a closer look, the fur-clad creature suddenly bolted away.