While others seek survival, I engage in flirtation Chapter 20: Danger

I didn't let the other girls leave the camp, just took Lilian with me towards the direction of the scream.

The other girls wanted to come too, but it was pitch black out there, and I could barely protect myself, let alone them. We could all end up in serious trouble.

But Lilian didn't need my protection; she might even be able to help me if things got dicey.

Leaving the camp in the middle of the night was definitely a risky move.

As soon as we stepped out, it was like someone turned off the lights. Our makeshift torches quickly faded to a faint glow.

We had to move slowly, barely seeing anything except for the moonlight guiding us towards the smoke. But before we could find it, we heard a shout.

The piercing scream cut through the quiet night, and Lilian and I froze.

"That sound is really close," Lilian said, her ears twitching slightly as she pinpointed the direction. "If we hurry, we might actually save him."

If Lilian was right, we couldn't miss this chance. It wasn't just about saving someone; it was about adding another person to our camp.

Lately, I'd gotten used to living with just a few girls and even felt a bit protective of them.

Given our situation, they were barely dressed, just enough to cover the essentials.

Earlier, when Ivy was packing up the tent, I thought, thank goodness the others had already fled, or else they would've seen her.

But now wasn't the time to worry about that. I was the only guy in the camp, so a lot of responsibilities fell on me. Even though Lilian could help, some tasks just weren't suitable for women.

I had to admit, having another guy in the camp would really boost our chances of survival and make life a lot easier.

Following the sound, we didn't find a person, just a dog that had been bitten.

It was a big, sturdy dog, its leg clearly bitten by a wolf, with matted fur and torn flesh. As I got closer, it started making noises.

"It's just scared, it's pretty badly hurt," Lilian said, squatting a few steps away from the dog. She somehow produced some food and placed it in front of the dog.

The dog was still wary, but its nose was sharp. As soon as Lilian put down the food, its eyes lit up.

It struggled forward a few steps and started eating.

While it was eating, Lilian reached out to touch it, and it didn't resist.

"What breed is it?" I asked, looking at the unfamiliar dog.

Lilian paused, then grabbed its front paw to examine it.

"It should be a Saint Hubert Hound," she said. The dog had already trusted Lilian, not reacting no matter how she touched it. "This breed has a keen sense of smell, a gentle temperament, and never pounces on prey during tracking."

I tentatively reached out to touch the Saint Hubert Hound, and it surprisingly didn't show any initial wariness or fear. In fact, it even pressed its head against my palm.

Seeing it had let its guard down around me, I dared to get closer and check its wound.

After rinsing it with water, the bite marks were fully visible. The wound had the telltale signs of sharp teeth, likely from a wolf.

"Looks like a wolf got to it," I said, gently holding the Saint Hubert Hound's hind paw and lifting it to check the wound.

Even though it was pretty banged up, the leg bone wasn't broken, just the flesh torn up. With some bandaging and a bit of meat, it should heal up fine.

I glanced around and spotted some herbs that could help treat the wound, but I had no cloth for bandaging. Besides my boxer shorts, I had nothing. The dog's injury wasn't too severe, but without proper care, it wouldn't be able to stand.

I looked around and finally fixed my gaze on Lilian.

When I first met her, she only had a few scrapes, and her clothes were still in decent shape, looking relatively normal.

"We need to bandage it; its leg is pretty messed up," I said, grabbing some sage nearby. Then I looked at Lilian's clothes and gave a helpless smile.

She shot me a dissatisfied look before taking off her clothes. It seemed she originally had a jacket, but for some reason, only a thin inner layer remained. After taking off her clothes, she was left in just a sports bra.

I took her clothes, which carried her scent, and tore them into hand-width strips using an axe. Then I crushed the sage and applied it to the dog's wound, finally tying it up with the cloth strips.

The dog, with its freshly bandaged leg, couldn't walk, so we had to carry it back to camp. It was a big dog, weighing about 110 pounds.

Though it sounded heavy, it wasn't too hard for me to carry. With the 110-pound Saint Hubert Hound on my back, I could still walk briskly.

"Is it a good idea to take it with us to check out the smoke?" Lilian frowned, looking at the big dog on my back.

Its broad chin rested on my shoulder, and I could feel its warm, heavy breath on my ear. The big dog seemed to have fallen asleep, its warm, soft body made me sweat a lot.

"Isn't it heavy to carry?" Lilian asked with concern, seeing the sweat on my forehead, and carefully wiped it for me.

This was so rare! Lilian actually showed some concern! I wanted to say I wasn't tired, but seeing her like this, I swallowed my words.

Lilian rarely cared about others in the camp, always keeping her distance.

I decided to hold off on investigating the smoke, but not because of the hound. Our torches were almost out, and we were still far from the smoke.

Without torches, it was super risky to go anywhere at night.

"Let's head back to camp first," I said, looking at the docile big dog on my back. "It's badly hurt, and our torches are about to die."

I knew we had no choice but to wait until dawn to check out the situation over there.

"Let's hope no one gets hurt," Lilian said, evidently guessing my thoughts. She glanced at the fruit knife in her hand, then looked up at the crescent moon above.

After surviving on this deserted island for a few days, I could roughly tell the time by the position of the sun and moon. I figured Lilian probably had the same sense.

It should be around midnight now, at least three hours until sunrise. But with our current situation, all we could do was hope that the person who screamed could hold on until morning.