novelraw Chapter 229: Friday
Chapter 229: Friday
"Something isn't right about that place. I wouldn't advise moving into the hut," Lu Li said, opting to stay beneath the rocky overhang on the beach. The hut radiated a faint sense of unease, and he recalled the strange silhouette he had seen on its wall just before they left.
"And what if I want to?" asked the woman in black—Friday.
"Suit yourself. I'm staying here."
Splitting up on an island in the middle of the ocean was unwise, but Lu Li preferred to wait for help in a place he felt was safe rather than venture into the hut on the clifftop.
"I'd rather rest in a hut than in a sand-filled pit," Friday declared, climbing out from their shelter. She seemed to be in high spirits.
Lu Li nodded, making no attempt to hold her back. He handed her two cans of preserves and half of his matches. "Here. There's a path up behind that rock."
Lu Li hadn't bothered to retrieve the kerosene lamp and blankets from the hut—Friday could have them. A fire here would be just as effective.
Friday accepted his offering and waved. "Come on up if you change your mind."
Lu Li watched until she disappeared behind the rock, then turned back to the shelter.
The shelter was a natural hollow, set slightly below the level of the beach. It was filled with damp brown sand and tapered inward, extending no more than two meters deep. Still, there was enough room to build a fire and lie down, and the rocky overhang would prevent smoke from pooling inside.It was still early morning, giving Lu Li plenty of time to prepare. He aimed to finish his tasks before noon: gather enough kindling, start a fire, build up the edges of the shelter to keep out rainwater, construct a sand wall as a windbreak and to conceal the entrance, leave a conspicuous signal on the beach for passing ships, and find potable water and, if he was lucky, some food.
With that done, he could rest until evening, waking before dark to settle in for the night.
With a plan for his shelter in place, Lu Li started by scooping out about five centimeters of damp sand, piling it outside to clear space and build up a low barrier. Next, he took off his shirt and walked fifty meters down the beach to find lighter, drier sand. He gathered the top layer into the makeshift sling of his shirt, carried it back, and spread it evenly over the shelter's floor.
After three trips, a thin layer of light brown sand barely concealed the dark, wet ground beneath. It wasn't enough, so Lu Li spent another fifteen minutes hauling more, until the dry layer was a centimeter or two thick.
That would have to do for now. Once he got a fire going, the heat would dry out the lower layer.
Shaking most of the sand from his shirt, Lu Li licked his parched lips. He decided to put off gathering kindling and look for water first; he hadn't had anything to drink all night.
He inspected his two Spirit Guns. They looked undamaged, but he was out of silver bullets, leaving him no way to test if they were still functional.
For now, the Spirit Guns were useful for only one thing: starting a fire.
Leaving the beach, Lu Li headed into the forest, making for the spot he’d identified as a potential water source from the clifftop.
His sturdy boots protected his feet from sharp rocks and thorny brush, their retained warmth a comfort against the cool, overcast air.
Lu Li proceeded cautiously, pausing to scan his surroundings. He stooped now and then, picking up stones and pocketing a select few.
The stones he selected were mostly flat and smooth on one side—perfect for heating over a fire to boil water or cook food.
Lu Li found one stone with a reasonably sharp edge to use as a makeshift knife.
The island was small, only half a kilometer across, so it didn't take long to reach any given point. Within minutes, Lu Li was approaching what he hoped was a source of fresh water.
A faint smell of rot hung in the air.
Lu Li slowed his pace. Following the smell, he came upon a two-meter-wide puddle and a corpse.
His hand tightened on the stone, then relaxed. The body was small and oddly shaped, covered in matted, reddish-brown fur.
It was a monkey.
The dead monkey lay at the edge of the puddle, its head submerged. Its body was severely decomposed and the fur was matted—it had been dead for at least two weeks.
From what little Lu Li had seen of the island so far, this was likely its last wild animal.
The puddle was shallow—ankle-deep at its deepest point—and nearly dry. The water looked clear enough, with silt and leaves settled at the bottom, but it was stagnant, and thoroughly contaminated by the corpse.
Lu Li needed running water, something he could boil before drinking.
In this world, falling ill from contaminated water was as good as a death sentence.
Lu Li had no intention of drinking from the puddle unless he was on the brink of dying from thirst.
Lifting his gaze, he saw the hut perched on the cliff two hundred meters away. This murky puddle was what he had mistaken for a water source from that vantage point.
He had to find another source.
A circuit of the entire island left Lu Li with nothing but increasingly chapped lips. He found no water, only two empty cans on the far side of the cliff.
One was crushed and useless, but the other was intact—a potential vessel for boiling water.
If he could find any water, that is.
Back on the beach, Lu Li noticed a dark, damp streak running down the rock face.
It could have been condensed dew, or perhaps groundwater seeping through. A trickle, thin as a thread, snaked down the rock, forming drops at the base that soaked a small patch of sand.
Lu Li touched the damp streak and brought his fingers to his lips. The water was fresh, ignoring the salty residue already on his skin.
More importantly, it was running water.
Lu Li took the can he'd found down to the shore and filled it. Though the sea itself was a leaden gray, the water in the can looked deceptively clear, its appearance tempting his thirst.
Confirming the can didn't leak, Lu Li rinsed it inside and out with seawater before returning to the rock face.
The spot was only thirty meters from his shelter, so collecting water wouldn't be a long trek.
Lu Li placed the can under the trickle of water.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The soft plink of dripping water echoed from inside the can.
The drops fell excruciatingly slowly. To fill the 300-milliliter can would take at least two hours.
And there was no guarantee that the water would drip continuously.
This source would barely be enough to slake his thirst. He needed to find more. If he could find just one more dripping rock face, he would have enough for his daily needs.
Other sources...
Lu Li recalled the newspaper he’d read the day before he set sail. The three-day forecast had been consistent: overcast. But for the past two days, there had at least been a light rain.
He remembered that weather forecasts were rarely accurate.