While others seek survival, I engage in flirtation Chapter 4: Parting Ways

It was totally me who saved Aimee, so why the heck did she hit me?

"What do you mean by that?" I shot back at her, but she just glared at me like I was the bad guy here.

I saved her life, and this is the thanks I get?

"Don't think I didn't notice; you were watching me the whole time!" Aimee pointed back to where we came from, her voice getting more and more pissed.

Okay, I admit, she had a killer body, and yeah, I enjoyed the view, but I swear, I was just appreciating it, no creepy intentions!

"First off, I was trying to save you, I wasn't thinking about anything else. And even if I did look at you, so what?" I gestured to the thick, silent bushes around us. "This is a deserted island. If I hadn't found you, you'd be bear food by now!"

Margaret must've heard the commotion because she popped out from the edge of the bushes. She looked a bit surprised seeing us.

"Is she the one who was calling for help?" Margaret asked, giving Aimee a once-over. "Why are her clothes so torn?"

Seeing Aimee's barely covered body and remembering her attitude, I couldn't help but snort.

"Her clothes got snagged on the branches and wouldn't come off," I said, glancing at her exposed skin. "This is the best we could do for now."

Margaret seemed to have gotten her strength back and could move around. We started walking along the edge of the bushes. Aimee had a bunch of small cuts from the branches, so I gave her some Moonshadow Herb to chew and put on her wounds.

We moved slowly, and Aimee applied the herb paste as we walked. We wanted to find a place to stay, but since we didn't know the area, we decided to return to the beach and then figure out a new path.

I had a rough idea of the direction we came from. The deeper we went, the thicker the bushes and trees got. Ahead was a dense forest, no lakes or streams for fresh water.

Just our luck, as soon as we hit the beach, it started pouring. The rain got heavier, and we had to find shelter under a big, weird-shaped rock nearby.

The rain didn't seem like it would last long, so we sat under the rock waiting it out. Before it stopped, a familiar figure showed up, followed by several others.

"Carl?" They looked a bit nervous seeing me, but they had found some sturdy sticks and had strength in numbers, so they weren't scared of me.

I didn't care if they were scared or not. On the first day on this deserted island, we had already run into so many problems, and who knew what was next!

"Matt! You guys are alive too! That's awesome!" Aimee looked over and started waving. She and Matt must've been friends in school, and meeting here seemed to bring them closer.

I ignored them and stood aside. I shared some of the food I had with Margaret and Aimee, letting them rest.

We didn't know when the rain would stop, and both girls were hurt. If they didn't get some energy soon, they might pass out before we found a place to stay.

When I pulled out those food, Matt's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

I figured they probably didn't have any food. Sure, there were oak trees and wild fruits on the island, but they weren't exactly easy to carry around. Plus, after getting washed ashore, they didn't have a proper bag to collect and store supplies.

"Do you want some? He's got a lot," Aimee said, pointing to the bag in my hand, noticing Matt's hunger.

She was too naive! In a situation where resources are scarce, you can't just offer food to others!

"I don't have any more!" I quickly spread my hands. "I used a lot of jerky to distract the bear, and after we finish this, there won't be any left."

Okay, I lied, but I really didn't want to share my food with them. What surprised me the most was that when Aimee heard I had no food, her face immediately turned sour, and she walked over to Matt with a disdainful look.

It seemed that without food, I had lost my value in Aimee's eyes. I had heard in school that she was a social butterfly, and many boys liked her.

It wasn't surprising that she knew Matt, but her decisiveness in abandoning Margaret and me was unexpected.

I shouldn't control her decisions, but I knew what kind of person Matt was. If I didn't have strength, he would have already taken all my supplies!

"You can't go with them!" I immediately called out to Aimee. The rain had stopped, and they were about to leave. Aimee was going to follow Matt, but I didn't need to think twice to know he was up to no good from his lecherous look.

Who knew, once they got back to camp, Aimee might be raped by these men.

"Why?" Aimee looked at me with confusion and more disdain. "You're crazy!"

She didn't give me a chance to explain and left with Matt, leaving only Margaret and me on the beach.

"Forget it, our priority is to find a place to stay." I could see Margaret was worried about Aimee. After all, she had witnessed Matt's behavior firsthand. I had to calm her down before leaving the beach.

The beach was safe during the day, with only some seagulls hunting for food. Besides some soft-bodied animals in the sand, there were hardly any creatures on the beach. But at night, many amphibious creatures from the sea would come to the beach to hunt soft-bodied animals.

After I explained the situation to Margaret, she nodded and followed me off the beach.

Honestly, I wasn't worried about Aimee's life. Matt wasn't a good person, but he wouldn't kill, especially not a former classmate. But I couldn't guarantee anything else.

We walked along the coastline for a long time and finally saw a cave where the forest met the rocky area.

The cave was on a gentle hillside and looked like an animal's den from the outside.

The cave wasn't very spacious, but the slope outside was very flat. Moreover, this location allowed us to easily observe the surroundings, making it a good temporary shelter.

It was getting late, so I decided to make this our temporary resting place.

"Margaret!" I pointed to the cave ahead. "Let's spend the night there!"