While others seek survival, I engage in flirtation Chapter 33: Organizing Supplies

Whether he was telling the truth or not, I had to check it out. Those were the supplies I brought back, and there was no way I was just handing them over.

But right then, we had to sneak into the camp. If we made a scene, we might come up empty-handed.

I told Lilian to wait for me outside the camp.

I then followed the guy's footsteps and slipped into the camp.

Even though we weren't far apart, he didn't notice me. I tailed him all the way into the camp and got a good look at the whole setup.

It was a semicircular camp, surrounded by a person-high wooden fence, with lookout windows in the middle.

It looked like a fence designed by someone who knew their stuff about wilderness survival. They probably had people like Assad, who camped out a lot.

I even caught a glimpse of some goats in a pen.

But now I had to head back. The place was well-hidden, and earlier I could find my way back with the moonlight. But now the moon had gradually slipped behind the clouds, making everything around me darker.

If I didn't leave now, I might really get lost.

I retraced my steps and pulled Lilian away from the camp.

By the time we got back to our cave, it was already pitch dark. The guy's camp was at least half a dozen miles away from us, and we had to cross a whole forest to get there again.

I suggested we first sort out the supplies we brought back, so we'd have a better shot at getting the lost supplies.

"What are all these?" Aimee opened a big box, inside were the supplies Lilian and I got from that sailboat.

These supplies were scattered all over the boat, and we gathered them into a box and brought them back to the camp.

Inside were some rusty iron pieces and some torn cloth. Most importantly, we also found some tools.

"Hammer... kitchen knife... and a flashlight?" Aimee looked at the stuff in the box, her eyes full of confusion. Maybe she didn't get why such random things were in the same box.

"These are just items scattered on the boat, we just collected them," I explained to her. Because time was tight, we didn't have time to sort each item in detail.

I just tried to bring as many supplies as possible off that boat. After all, that boat could sink at any time.

If there was something we needed that we didn't salvage, I'd definitely regret it.

The girls were still rummaging through the boxes, trying to sort them out, but some of the boxes were locked, and they couldn't open them with their strength.

"Carl, you're strong. Could you open this box?" They had no choice but to ask me for help.

"Let me see." To be honest, I thought these locked boxes would be easy to open, the locks should break easily after rusting.

But unexpectedly, the locks became more solid after rusting. It seemed like the lock and keyhole had fused together with rust, needing a lot of force to open.

I wanted to keep these boxes, even as storage boxes, they were much more convenient than the clay and wooden containers we were using now.

At this point, preserving the box wasn't a priority; I had no choice but to force it open with sheer strength.

The stuff inside the box left everyone speechless. There were fishing nets, some basic tools, and even a steel pitchfork. The pitchfork didn't have a handle, so I'd need to find a long, sturdy stick to attach it to.

But having a weapon like that was a game-changer. It meant we had one more way to defend ourselves and survive.

This island was crawling with wolves, and without weapons, we would've been wolf chow a long time ago.

"Oh my god, there are bowls and plates here!" Margaret exclaimed as she opened another box I had busted open. Inside were ceramic bowls and plates. They looked like they'd been soaking in seawater forever, but after a good cleaning, they were still shiny.

I didn't expect that even though we didn't have a pot, we already had bowls and plates.

With these containers, our camp started to feel more like a home.

There were also some food items in the other boxes, but they were way past their expiration dates. Even though food was scarce on the island, we decided to ditch the expired stuff.

Getting food poisoning out here would be a death sentence.

The boxes had all sorts of random things, including some fancy dresses.

To me, these clothes were only good for padding a mat. But the girls seemed thrilled to see them, probably because they hadn't worn normal clothes in ages.

For me, the best find was the fishing nets. Most of our food came from mushrooms and wild fruits we gathered nearby, and we'd only had meat once since landing on this island.

But with these fishing nets, we could catch some fresh fish and wouldn't have to rely on breadcrumbs to lure small fish like last time.

We were out of breadcrumbs anyway.

Plus, we could head to the shallow sea areas to catch sea fish. I heard sea fish have fewer bones and taste better.

The girls sorted through the supplies and tidied up the camp. They organized the boxes and neatly arranged everything. The camp looked almost completely different—clean and orderly.

The clothes we found were laid under the mats by the girls, making a big blanket. They set it up near the campfire, creating a cozy sleeping area.

The blanket was big and soft enough for all five of us to sleep on. Maybe I was just too exhausted, but I only meant to test out the new blanket's comfort and ended up falling asleep on it.

Thinking back, since we got stranded on this deserted island, I hadn't had a decent night's sleep. Every day was a struggle to survive.

The hope of rescue was fading, and it seemed like the only thing we could do now was to fend for ourselves.

I slept soundly on that big blanket. During that time, I had a dream.

I dreamed I was in a place with nothing but endless darkness stretching out before me.

When I opened my eyes again, it was still dark, but I knew this wasn't a dream. I reached out and realized the girls were all sleeping beside me.