Chapter 7 Sound Of Night Storm

• “He’s back!”
• Tina’s melodic and delightful voice traveled from the top of the cliff.
• The misadventures I experienced still lingered in my head. It got me thinking about how easy it was to lose one’s life in the forest, not to mention those girls.
• I came to a realization. They trusted and depended on me entirely. My life wasn’t just mine, but our little community’s.
• I gestured for them to come down and help me with my findings.
• Eggs, wood, coconuts, palm tree barks...
• The girls’ eyes welled up when they came close enough to notice my ripped clothes.
• Hailey, who had always been sarcastic to me, shifted her attitude and voiced her concern for me.
• I cut a hole in each of the coconuts before we enjoyed them together.
• Not only were they hydrating, but the sugars also helped to re-energize us. I felt so much better after drinking two whole coconuts.
• I dug a hole in the ground and buried the eggs in there. Then, I started a fire on top of the hole to grill the tree barks.
• I had them follow me and held the barks until it was completely dry without letting them catch fire.
• During the process, I told them about the longest hours of my life. I threw in some colorful, exaggerated details, where I punched the bees one by one and kicked the boar out of my way.
• Knowing I was only bluffing for entertainment, the girls giggled. After a while, however, it turned into a weeping session.
• “Zayn!” Hailey wiped her tears away and gazed at me. “We don’t want you to carry all the weight. Now that we are a team, we will all work together. At the very least, we need to try to be like you.”
• “Well, I can pee standing up. Can you?”
• I dodged Hailey’s slap and grinned jokingly.
• I couldn’t bear the solemn mood. It was my philosophy that we always had a reason to stay positive as long as we were alive. I figured a joke was appropriate to lighten the mood.
• “Alrighty. Let’s eat.”
• I moved the fire to the side and cleared the thin layer of soil on top.
• We peeled the eggs to see the translucent, coagulated egg whites with half-cooked yolks oozing in the middle. Even with the slight gaminess, it was still the most scrumptious thing we had put in our mouths thus far.
• Those eggs were gone in a jiffy. We sprawled under the sun for a break, burping occasionally from overeating. It was a moment of sheer joy.
• “Okie dokie. Let’s get to work.” I carried a few empty coconuts into the forest with Hailey’s help.
• I sent Tina and Yara back to the cave beforehand and instructed them to keep drying the barks until they became fibrous.
• Hailey and I walked down the path I made until we reached the water-storing baobab tree. Then I let Hailey fill the empty coconuts.
• Later, I plucked a considerable amount of coconuts as a backup supply since they lasted long in storage.
• Hailey was curious as to why we needed the tree barks when I peeled them off layer by layer.
• I told her that the brown mattresses we saw back in the civilized world were made out of these. Jude and his men had robbed us of the clothes we used in our tent. There was no way we could sleep on top of the bare rock tonight. Thus, I came up with the idea of using dried palm fiber as a dry and plush cushion.
• If time allowed, we could even make ropes out of the fiber and weave a pad with them.
• Hailey wrinkled her brows. “How do you know so much? Where were you when you were in the military? You never mentioned anything about your time there. I remember that they promoted you, but you returned all of a sudden.”
• My hand froze in the midst of chopping. Everyone had a sore spot buried deep inside them—a story we could only hide away but never forget.
• Hailey’s question was probing that hidden corner in my heart; the past that I did not wish to recall.
• “Ah, that. I got caught for paid sex, and they sacked me,” I said indifferently, but my chopping grew fiercer.
• Hailey looked at me in doubt. Her follow-up questions were ignored afterward.
• After much work, we headed back with coconuts, palm barks, bird eggs, wood, and another bundle of rattans.
• The cave had already been dehumidified and warmed up. We split up into two teams. Yara and Tina worked on drying more barks while Hailey and I made a ladder out of the rattans.
• Rattans were extremely nifty. When twisted together, they could hold the weight of multiple people combined.
• The only downside was its rough texture. Hailey’s delicate hands blistered halfway, but she put on a tough front and continued until we were done.
• It was almost dusk when the ladder was completed. We stood at the cave entrance to relish the saturated and colorful sunset as the fireball gracefully kissed the horizon. Layers of clouds adorned the sky. This scenery was too otherworldly to be true.
• As I admired this unpopulated and unpolluted part of the world, I wondered if our primal ancestors also lived like this.
• I ascended to the ground with our brand new ladder and cleaved some wood to make charcoal.
• The cave didn’t have much air circulation. If the wood emitted carbon monoxide from not burning fully, we might lose our lives in our sleep.
• Not only would charcoal solve that problem, but it could also absorb any miasma, not to mention it was easy to store. It rained frequently and heavily in the tropics, making it hard to find dry wood to burn. Having charcoal would save me the trouble.
• “Wow. You put so much thought into this.” Tina blinked her crystal eyes at me.
• “Let’s get to know each other. Tell me about your skill sets so I can delegate tasks accordingly,” I suggested.
• “I’m a fashion design student at Marangoni Fashion Institute. I also taught myself to arrange flowers and perform tea ceremonies.” Reading our facial expressions, Tina’s voice faded out until she stopped herself with pouting lips.
• Those were all art forms distant from our current world. In conclusion, Tina couldn’t contribute much.
• “I-” I gestured with my hand to cut Hailey off. There was nothing I didn’t know about her.
• “The only useful thing you know is some basic medical knowledge from church school. There’s no use for it here. As you can see, we don’t have any medicine around.”
• I turned to Yara eagerly. I sincerely hoped she could surprise me.
• “My forte is etiquette... Oh, and yoga.”
• Yara gave me a sheepish smile. My shoulders dropped as disappointment and isolation washed over me.
• I couldn’t expect much help from any of them. I made food with a cloud hanging over me. After dinner, we got some shut-eye on a layer of palm tree fiber instead of chatting away like before.
• Accompanied by the flickering flames, the sound of fire crackling filled the otherwise dead silence.
• It had been such a long day that I fell asleep in a snap. Thanks to my past in the army, I was always a light sleeper.
• A rustle woke me. I opened my eyes slightly to see Tina sit up.
• She glanced at the other girls before creeping toward me.
• That gave me ideas. Does she want to thank me by giving herself to me?
• But we might wake Hailey and Yara... Hmm, I might have to knock them out first...
• Just when I was lost in my train of thought, Tina squatted in front of me to study me attentively.
• I pretended to be fast asleep by drawing long breaths in and out. Tina tapped her chest in relief before walking over me.
• What is going on?
• I tilted my head sideways to find her moving a rock at the edge of the cave.
• I had coiled the ladder and put the rock on top for safety. Why is she moving it? Is she planning to leave us?
• Tina gave up moving the rock and looked at us awkwardly. Her flushed face cleared my confusion.
• She turned away and squatted down. Pulling her pants down, she revealed the outline between her legs.
• Following that, I heard the sound of running water and smelled the distinct odor of urine. I quickly closed my eyes tightly to save Tina from the embarrassment.
• It was just the beginning. Yara got up after Tina had done the deed, then it was Hailey.
• I figured that they were all waiting for the first person to relieve themselves.
• They made me feel the urge too. Rather than trying to be discreet, I stood at the entrance and let it go. The height combined with the quietness of the night made the sound unmissable.
• When I dropped my body back on our make-shift bed, I heard my heart pound.
• There was an inexplicable tension in the air. The awkward silence was made worse by everyone’s heavy breathing, which didn’t help us go back to sleep.
• A strong waft of air suddenly invaded the cave, almost putting out our fire. The girls screamed, startled. Raindrops came after the wind and landed on me, who was the closest to the entrance.