Crashing Into Paradise

A corpse

Part of Anna's pride wanted to resist; she had insulted Max earlier, and accepting help from Max afterward made her feel humiliated. But a chill swept over her skin from earlier, and she couldn't afford to stay in just her clothes.

“I'll return it after I get my scattered belongings, probably around here.”

Anna looked around, and she spoke in an awkwardly cold tone. So far, the shirt Max had given her was quite helpful, though her exposed legs still felt cold.

“It’s up to you,” Max said unconcernedly.

Max looked around, his mind starting to read the situation more seriously.

“We need to find a place to rest before it gets dark.” Slowly, he spoke, and then he coughed out of weakness due to his dry throat. “Aren't you feeling dehydrated?” he turned to Anna.

Anna, who realized her impolite attitude and the fact that they were currently the only two there, then felt like mending fences with her. “Yes. But I'm sure there's no drinking water here.”

Max looked behind Anna's back with an annoyed look, and his eyes fell on the water bottle that had hit him earlier. He knew it was empty because if it wasn't, he was sure the bridge of his nose would have been hit even harder. “At least there's a water bottle that can be used.

Max picked up the bottle again and walked past Anna nonchalantly. Anna, on the other hand, grimaced guiltily, remembering what she had done with it.

She hobbled over to Max. “I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't intend to kill you.”

She explained, her face turned up to look at Max with a pair of eyes full of hope that Max could understand.

Max just sighed and didn't answer. He walked with the last of his strength left. He thought about Anna quite a bit, knowing that she was probably scared, and he could have comforted her by keeping her company.

But his dry lips ached every time his mouth opened to speak, and it stung when his tongue accidentally licked and wet them with saliva. He could not comfort Anna.

Max's eyes looked up at the sky again. he needed a place with an opening. A space where the branches of the trees didn't block the sky and became a roof. Without the branches in the way, the smoke from the campfire they would make later would surely be able to signal for help to come.

As far as his eyes could see, he saw nothing. There were no traces of humans left there, making him pessimistic about the possibility that someone would climb the heavily forested mountain. He also found no debris from the wreckage of the plane there.

His head throbbed even more as he realized that their search would probably take a long time, considering that the plane exploded in mid-air and he jumped from it at a distance that was difficult to estimate from the place of the plane's explosion. But he was pretty sure that the search would be conducted in the vicinity of where they were because at least the rescue team would definitely take into account all the possibilities.

“Could you walk a little slower?” Anna's voice was behind Max's ear, but he didn't turn around.

Anna stared at his back in annoyance, her feet full of blisters as she walked back, trying to catch up with Max. “I'm not asking you to help me walk, but at least walk slower. I'm having trouble keeping up with you.”

Max's sensitivity was high in this kind of situation, and he found it difficult to fully understand Anna and restrain his ego; he looked back quickly. “Stop being so spoiled and shut up, for God's sake!”

Max found in front of him a suspicious trail, from its size, he knew that it wasn't the trail of a human but of a beast, and he didn't want Anna's voice to attract them to come.

Anna jerked in place. For a moment, she was stunned and seemed speechless at Max's harsh words and yelling at her, but then her ego kicked in. “What did you say? Spoiled?”

She clenched her hands tightly, her frail body still holding a bit of strength. He then kicked Max's leg right on the shin.

Max's eyes opened wide, and his dry mouth couldn't even scream to explain the pain, but he cursed her actions with his gaze and facial expression.

“How dare you talk carelessly with me and yell at me? You deserve it. You think just because it's just you and me, then I'll tolerate all your behavior. You insolent bastard!”

Max, who was previously bent over holding his legs, stood up straight. He looked at the woman sharply. “Alright, whatever you say.”

Max detoured to avoid the trail of the Beasts that he believed were lodged there because of the signs they left behind, despite being rude to Anna, he still pulled Anna's hand in the direction where he detoured. Occasionally, Max looked back and made sure Anna was still following.

He couldn't tell her that beasts were living there, it would startle Anna and make her complain more, and all that would be a lot of trouble for Max.

After finding the right spot that he deemed safe enough due to its height, Max then took out all sorts of things that were in the sling bag hanging from his chest. There was a lighter in there that he could use, but he wasn't sure if he could light it since the humidity in the place was quite high.

But Max started to try; he countered his negative expectations with action because he didn't want to just die there without trying to save himself first. Max gathered some dry leaves and arranged some branches on top of them.

Slowly, he tried to start a fire through the dry leaves, but repeatedly he tried repeatedly he failed. he felt frustrated and on the verge of despair, the fire was lit.

Max sat his body down on the ground as the fire blazed in front of him. “Damn, I almost screamed and offered myself up to be eaten by a wild animal because I was upset.”

He smiled at the fire, and then the silence made him feel strange and realize something was wrong.

“Anna?” he called the name softly and looked around.

Max quickly got up from there and looked for her. he was relieved when he saw Anna not far away. But her appearance surprised Max who could see the folds of her buttocks poking out from underneath her pants.

She was bent over and reaching for something. Max looked away and saw the berry she was trying to get.

“Don't eat it!” Max yelled at her. As soon as he got close, he smacked Anna's hand to drop the fruit.

Anna gave him a furious look. “What are you doing? I'm hungry and thirsty.”

“It's a poisonous berry; your throat will burn if you eat it.”

Max had been in the military, and he'd been sent on a rescue mission in the jungle, which had given him experience with survival in such places.

Anna looked shocked. She almost died if Max hadn't stopped her. The woman's gaze was vacant, and her expression depicted that she was devastated.

But suddenly, a faint sound behind the bushes distracted them. Max had a bad feeling. His alertness increased as his body shivered.

“What's that sound?”

Anna immediately got up from her spot, and she moved as fast as lightning by hugging Max's arm.

Being so close, Max could feel Anna's chest touching his arm, and the sweet smell emanating from Anna's body distracted him. Max took a deep breath, pushed his instincts hard, and refocused.

“Be quiet and don't make a sound. I'll check it out.”

Max stepped forward, peered through the bushes, and gasped when he saw a large bear eating something that was no longer whole.

“That's... human....”

Max quickly silenced Anna's mouth and signaled her to be quiet, as they slowly moved away from there.

Anna nodded in obedience, but the tears from her eyes began to fall heavily, and her shoulders shook. She continued to hug Max tightly.