While others seek survival, I engage in flirtation Chapter 37: Tracking Plan

Charlie had been hanging out at our camp for a while and had totally let his guard down around us. Every time we came back from outside, he'd jump all over us.

Gotta admit, he was a pretty awesome dog.

"I'll take Charlie to the other camp and chat with them about this," I said, giving Charlie a pat on the head. He immediately perked up. "You guys stay here and wait for me," I added.

With that, I headed out while it was still early.

To speed things up, I started running as soon as I hit the woods.

I hadn't run like this, full throttle, in ages.

Usually, when I went out, it was with the other girls from the camp.

Even the fittest girl, Lilian, probably couldn't keep up with my current pace.

But Charlie, being the amazing dog he was, had no problem with long-distance running. He was fast and had great stamina, easily matching my speed.

We dashed through the woods and quickly reached the other camp on the other side.

This time, I didn't bother hiding. I walked right into their camp with Charlie.

The folks there seemed a bit surprised to see me and didn't seem to recognize me.

But I got it. The last time I was here, I was with Ivy. Most people were focused on her, so they probably didn't notice me.

"I'm here to see Abbott," I said, and someone immediately ran to a nearby tent to get him.

"Why are you here? And with a dog?" He looked a bit puzzled but still gave Charlie a friendly pat on the head.

"I remember you showed me a roll of hair from those creatures last time. Charlie's got a super keen nose and can track someone from miles away," I told him, asking for the roll of hair, "Maybe Charlie can find that creature."

Abbott still looked a bit skeptical and gave me a suspicious look.

"Are you sure?" He eyed Charlie again.

Maybe he'd never seen a Saint Hubert Hound before... To be honest, I hadn't either. If Lilian hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known it was a tracking dog.

"We can give it a shot." I wanted to reassure Abbott and also see for myself if Charlie was really that good.

Usually, we took Charlie to find some food, and he always nailed it, finding similar plants. But our range was only a few miles. I hadn't tried tracking something from a long time ago and an unknown distance.

After thinking it over, Abbott and I decided to test Charlie.

I placed a small ball with a scent next to Charlie and had the owner of the scent walk to the edge of the woods.

I started to get nervous for Charlie.

But, to my surprise, Charlie just sniffed and immediately took off. He ran so fast that others couldn't keep up; only Abbott and I could barely follow his pace.

He kept running through the woods until he stopped right in front of the scent's owner, not even barking once.

Honestly, it was the first time I saw Charlie in full hunting mode. He was faster than me and could accurately track the prey. He was simply the best partner!

Abbott was also blown away by this. We didn't expect Charlie to be so capable.

This dog was seriously impressive!

"Do you believe us now?" I tried to keep my cool, "You gotta admit, Charlie's got some serious skills."

Abbott nodded right away, looking pretty determined.

He asked me to come to his tent to talk about the plan. I laid out my thoughts for him.

None of us wanted to just sit and wait. Counting on the rescue team wasn't enough.

If we wanted to get off this island alive, we had to explore it thoroughly.

There were tons of plants and animals here, and the vegetation varied a lot in different areas.

To survive, the first two threats we had to deal with were wild beasts and those weird people.

Our two camps weren't too worried about wolf packs, but if those creatures showed up, we had no way to handle them.

We just didn't know enough about them.

"These creatures pop up out of nowhere and then vanish just as quickly," Abbott pointed to the map they had drawn.

The map was probably made on paper they brought from the ship. It had been soaked in water before they drew on it, then dried, making it all wrinkly and tough to touch.

I couldn't even imagine how they managed to draw on this paper!

But the map was well-drawn, clearly done by someone who knew their stuff about geographical exploration.

After talking it over, we came up with a solid plan. I'd take Charlie to track down the owner of the hair, and Abbott would get a few people to come with me, looking for signs of those creatures along the way.

This way, we could get a handle on where these creatures were moving, at least keeping the others in the camp safe.

But this time, we couldn't guarantee we'd be back by nightfall.

Abbott's camp had a lot of people and was well-equipped, so even if someone couldn't make it back at night, the camp wouldn't be in danger.

But my camp was different. After I left with Charlie, the few girls there had almost no way to defend themselves. Whether they ran into wolves or those strange creatures, it wouldn't be good.

"There are only a few people in my camp, and I'm worried about them," I told Abbott, "Can they stay at your camp for a few nights? Once this is over, we'll leave."

I didn't really want to do this. The girls were all too pretty, and in these conditions, they didn't have proper clothes.

Before, when it was just me and them, I didn't think much of it. But now, I really didn't like the idea of others seeing them in their ragged clothes.

If there was a better way, I wouldn't agree to this.

Unexpectedly, Abbott hesitated too, saying his camp didn't have enough food.

"I'll have them bring some food," I said, and Abbott nodded in agreement.

Honestly, if I didn't need the help, I wouldn't agree to this!

After talking with Abbott, I got ready to head back and bring the girls to the other camp.

But by the time I got back to our camp, it was already night. I had to explain everything to the girls, so we stayed to rest and headed to Abbott's camp early the next morning.

On the way, we heard quite a few wolf howls, but they weren't too close, so we didn't worry too much.