While others seek survival, I engage in flirtation Chapter 36: Hide Is a Rare Commodity

I followed the noise and spotted Nora standing a little ways off.

I still couldn't wrap my head around it.

Waking up on this weird shore, I felt like I was in some alternate reality every time I saw a familiar face. Each one brought me a sense of warmth and hope compared to those strangers.

Nora suddenly threw herself into my arms, her breathing all choppy.

It sounded like she was crying, but with her head buried in my chest, I couldn't see her face.

Then, out of nowhere, she looked up, staring at my chest with a confused look.

"When did you get so buff?" she asked, poking at my chest and abs.

Her face turned red right away... Yeah, women can't resist a guy with a good body.

I didn't stop her from touching me, but I didn't hug her back either. We were classmates, but not that close.

"By the way, how did you end up with Ivy?" Her face lit up with excitement at the mention of Ivy, just like everyone else.

Ivy was definitely a stunner, every move she made was full of charm.

Before getting stuck on this island, I was a fan too, but now, I see her more as a friend or maybe something more.

Living together, I felt like Ivy was even more charming than on TV.

A lot of people in the camp liked Ivy, some even asked for her autograph.

Of course, the autograph had to be signed with charcoal on wood or bark.

After sorting out the supplies, I was ready to head back.

"Wait up!" Abbott suddenly called out to me, pulling out a bundle of hair.

"Have you seen this before?" he asked, holding it out.

The hair looked familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"I think I've seen it... but I can't remember where." I said.

Abbott was stunned for a few seconds, then sighed heavily and put the hair away, which only confused me more.

"Then you must have seen those weird creatures." He used his hands to outline a rough shape.

I immediately knew what he meant; he was talking about those hairy creatures.

I nodded at him, then looked around at the others in the camp.

"Have you guys also run into those creatures?" I lowered my voice, "Did anyone get hurt?"

Abbott shook his head, saying no one got hurt when they encountered the creatures. They didn't seem very smart.

In his opinion, these creatures were probably just acting on instinct.

But I didn't think so. If they were just acting on instinct, they wouldn't be using knives!

After sharing info about the creatures, we stopped talking about it. We figured talking too much would freak everyone out.

After sorting out the supplies, the camp folks were super friendly to me. Ivy and I not only got special treatment but were also invited to stay for a meal.

They even slaughtered a goat for it.

"Need help with the slaughter?" Seeing a few of them struggling to cut the goat's throat, I couldn't help but offer.

I'm no saint, but I did feel bad for the goat.

If they kept going like this, the hide would be a mess to take off in one piece.

"You know how to slaughter a goat?" Even Abbott was surprised. They probably didn't expect someone my age to know how to handle livestock.

I nodded and jumped in to help.

After draining the blood, I cut open the goat's back and used an axe to get the hide off in one piece.

"This hide was removed by you, so we should give it to you, but... we really need it." He said, glancing at a few kids.

I was kind, but I couldn't just give away all my stuff.

"Let's trade then. This hide isn't super useful to us, but I can't just give it away for free." I rolled up the hide and handed it to Ivy, then divided the goat into several big chunks of meat.

The goat's blood stained my clothes, but I didn't care and kept cutting the meat.

The girls in the camp finally noticed I didn't have any clothes. They asked if I needed some, and of course, I said yes.

So they made clothes and pants from tents and fabric they found on the beach, and they fit pretty well.

"We're willing to give you half the goat... or what do you want?" Abbott looked anxious as I put away the hide.

His hand pressed on the goat meat, eager for me to name my price.

"How about this, I want some medicine and a pot in exchange for the hide."

Abbott agreed right away and brought a pot and some basic meds like antibiotics.

We really needed a pot and medicine. After all, you can't find those in the forest.

Ivy and I had a rare proper lunch at the camp. There was a chef whose cooking skills were decent, and with the spices he brought from the ship, the goat meat didn't have that strong gamey taste like when we roasted it ourselves. It was actually pretty tasty.

After eating and drinking, we took the pot and medicine we got in exchange for the hide and headed back to the cave before dark.

The girls were more excited to see the pot than to see me.

With this, we could cook more varied meals and do things we couldn't do before.

As for the medicine, Margaret carefully stored it in the supply box.

We now had nearly ten days' worth of food, and other supplies were enough for us to survive on this deserted island for a month.

Logically, we should now wait for rescue, making sure we stay healthy and sane.

But we still had a lot of problems. Wolves often showed up here, and there were many unknown animals and dangers.

We didn't even know when we might run into wild beasts or those creatures.

The wolves' behavior could be predicted, but if we ran into those creatures, it would be much more dangerous.

So we had to take the initiative, find those creatures, and figure out their intentions.

"We can't just wait any longer." I looked at the girls in the camp and finally made up my mind.

This way of surviving would never work long-term.

I planned to reinforce the camp a bit, then take Charlie to find the owner of the hair Abbott had.