Chapter 36
1143 Words
One more person had died.
At that moment, I felt a mix of emotions. I didn't have time to think much, so I rushed back to the cave as fast as I could.
When I got near the cave, I saw Eva and Mandy standing at the entrance, looking out, probably worried about me.
I hurried towards them, forgetting that my pants had been stolen by that damn monkey. I wasn't wearing anything under my military coat. After a night of intense and thrilling events, I finally returned to the cave, feeling much more relaxed.
From a distance, I waved the prey I had brought back.
Eva and Mandy were delighted to see me with the birds.
"Zack, you did it! You're our hero!" Eva beamed, coming up to me and kissing me on the cheek.
Mandy took the prey from my hands quickly, asking if I was tired and all that.
But soon, they noticed something was off.
"Zack, why is there so much blood on your clothes?" Eva's face suddenly turned serious. "It doesn't look like animal blood; it looks like human blood." Eva seemed to know more about this than the average person and noticed something was wrong.
"Are you alright?" Mandy asked, her voice filled with concern. Without waiting for my response, she squatted down and lifted my coat to check.
Before I could stop her, I felt a cold breeze on my lower body and quickly clamped my legs together in a funny pose. "Wait, my pants are gone."
Eva blushed slightly and smiled, "Zack, you didn't do this on purpose, did you? Are you an exhibitionist?"
Mandy couldn't help but laugh, "Zack, we’re all girls here. What do you think you're doing without your pants on?"
"You're the one who pulled up my coat. Who's the real pervert here?" I said, exasperated.
Eva laughed so hard that she couldn't stand straight. She placed one hand on my shoulder and said, "You're a grown man. How would you be embarrassed by me taking a look?"
Stella, not sure when she came out, saw me covering my naked lower body and screamed, turning her head away, "Pervert! This is gross!"
"It wasn't on purpose. A lot happened today. Let's go inside, and I'll explain everything." I coughed awkwardly and used the snow jacket to cover myself.
Stella huffed and turned away, ignoring my explanation. As I recounted my experiences to the other girls, she listened attentively with her ears perked up. 'What a contradictory woman!'
This time, I didn't hide what happened to William. Although I was partly responsible for his death, he was eaten by the hunchback birds, not killed by me.
"It seems Quinn did betray us. We should have kicked her and Leo out earlier!"
"Those two are real scumbags! Traitors!"
"Just wait when I get my hands on them!"
The girls started cursing.
"What do we do now? They have a dozen people. If they come back to trouble us..." Zoe seemed a bit scared.
I shook my head and reassured everyone, "There's no need to worry too much. The fact that they sneak around means they're not very strong. Besides, I just killed one of them."
"I think our advantage is that we have weapons. Everyone must keep a close eye on our weapons, especially the gun and the katana," Eva added.
I nodded, but I still had some worries that I didn't express. All my weapons were scavenged from underground caves. There were many traces of Japanese activity on this island. If Leo and his gang got lucky and found guns, we'd be in big trouble. So, I had to find their camp and take them out as soon as possible.
"We have meat for dinner again. I'll cook us some teppanyaki! Let's see how my cooking skills measure up!" Noticing the heavy atmosphere, I wanted to lighten everyone's mood, so I suggested this.
Hearing about teppanyaki, everyone got interested. Eva, especially, was excited. She grabbed my hand and said, "I had grilled chicken in Kyoto once. It was so good. I missed it so much."
Seeing Eva so close to me, Stella watched us for a moment, then said coldly, "Kyoto's grilled chicken is delicious, but that's made by professional chefs. Can Zack cook that well? If he had those skills, would he be working as a clerk at my company?" Stella snorted.
This woman was undermining me again. Recalling her teary eyes when I spanked her, it seemed she had forgotten the lesson. I was not like Leo, who only talked big! When I was a student, I worked in restaurants for several years and learned a lot in the kitchen.
"Just wait for it," I smiled and asked Zoe to help start the fire.
The earthen stove in the cave was a cylindrical mud block I had made by baking mud, hollowed out inside. Although big and ugly, it was usable. Since it couldn't be moved, Leo's group didn't steal it.
We usually made a fire under the mud cylinder and placed the helmet on top to cook. Although Leo's group stole the helmet pot, we had the iron plates we salvaged from the plane. I cleaned the iron plate and mixed some seasonings with water to make a thick sauce. Then I placed the cut meat on another iron plate, grilling it while brushing on the sauce.
Soon, the cave was filled with the delicious aroma of grilled chicken!
"It's amazing!" Eva picked up a piece of meat with her hands, took a bite, and exclaimed how good it was while blowing on her fingers because it was hot. Her eagerness was adorable. It made me joyful.
Zoe and Mandy also praised my cooking.
Stella, who had previously looked down on my cooking skills, was in a dilemma. She looked at the grilled meat on the iron plate and swallowed her saliva secretly. I didn't invite her, and she was too proud to ask for food. So she could only sit angrily to the side, glaring at me occasionally.
I couldn't help but laugh inwardly. 'I wonder if she will give in to her hunger and ask for food?' Just as I thought, I smelled a whiff of perfume.
Stella had somehow moved next to me, hooking her arm around mine and pretending to be casual. "Uh... I'm hungry. Can you feed me some?"
I looked at Stella in surprise. Was she the same grumpy Miss Smith? I had never heard her speak to me so gently. Although she tried to stay calm, her face was visibly red.
I was momentarily stunned.
Hearing this, Eva looked up, her eyes lingering on Stella holding my arm. Then she gave a playful smile.
"Zack, Stella is being coy with you. Aren't you going to respond?" Eva teased with a soft hum.
- Writer
