Chapter 8: Chapter 8
From a distance, I could see two figures. One had a killer body, which had to be Zoey, and the other looked like a dude with a big belly. They were facing each other, standing a bit apart.
My heart skipped a beat. I dropped the firewood I was hauling, grabbed a stick, and sprinted towards the shelter.
They heard me coming and turned to look. Zoey ran towards me, while the other guy just stood there, not daring to move.
I reached the shelter, and Zoey hid behind me. Now I could see the other guy clearly. He was a middle-aged man, looked like a businessman, with a gold chain, a big belly, and short stature.
Seeing me with the stick, the guy shouted, "I mean no harm! I just saw someone alive and wanted to talk."
Ignoring him, I turned to Zoey and asked, "What did he do?"
The man quickly explained, "I saw her working on the kiln. I know a bit about that, so I came to offer some advice. Tried talking to her, but she didn't listen and pointed a stick at me. Then you showed up!"
I looked at Zoey. I trusted her way more than some random stranger. Zoey nodded and whispered, "You told me not to let anyone touch the kiln to avoid messing it up. He wanted to touch it, but I followed your instructions."
Realizing it was just a misunderstanding, I put down the stick.
But the guy mentioned he knew about firing kilns, so I got curious. "You really know how to fire a kiln?"
He sighed in relief when I put down the stick. "Of course. I used to be great at it. Made a fortune from it, but as my company grew, I had to socialize more and rarely fired kilns myself."
He walked towards the kiln, commenting, "Your kiln looks pretty rough, but it works. However, you're firing it wrong. You need proper techniques. If you just crank up the fire like this, some parts will end up too brittle, and others won't get hard enough."
Watching him, I thought having more people around might make surviving on this deserted island easier. More hands, more strength.
I introduced myself. "I'm Caleb Jackson. Got some experience surviving on deserted islands. How about you?"
He replied without hesitation. "I'm Winford Beckett. CEO of a kiln product company. But that doesn't matter now. I know a bit about firing kilns and want to survive with you guys. Strength in numbers, right?"
I was surprised. I was thinking about inviting him to join us, especially since his kiln skills were exactly what we needed with all the clay around. I didn't expect him to suggest it himself.
But I didn't agree right away. Winford seemed okay, but on this lawless island, trusting someone blindly was risky.
I decided to keep an eye on Winford for a bit. If he proved to be trustworthy, then I'd really bring him into our survival team. But I kept these thoughts to myself. I walked up to Winford, gave him a warm hug, and said, "Of course, welcome to our little survival crew."
Winford looked a bit shocked by my friendliness. He probably expected me to turn him away since, in a place like this, no one would want to team up with a stranger.
But he didn't overthink it. He knew he wouldn't last long on his own. Sticking with someone who had survival skills was definitely a better bet.
Our survival team grew from just Zoey and me to include Winford.
With Winford on board, I felt like our survival plans could move along much faster.
I handed him a coconut. Watching him devour it, I realized he probably hadn't eaten since the plane crash yesterday.
That made sense. With his build, he probably couldn't climb a 30-foot coconut tree. And he clearly hadn't ventured into the jungle, given how clean his clothes were.
After he finished the coconut, I asked him to help me fetch the rest of the firewood. With two of us, the job was a lot easier.
We managed to bring back all the firewood. Now we had enough for the fire, and with Winford's help, the kiln work was going smoothly. But there was still more to do.
With Winford joining us, our old shelter was too small. It barely fit Zoey and me. Even if it could squeeze in another person, I wasn't about to let Winford crash with us and mess up our privacy. So, I decided to build him his own shelter.
After hauling the firewood, we took a break. Then I led Winford to the edge of the jungle to find wood for his shelter frame.
We quickly found enough wood and carried it back. I picked a spot not too far from our shelter to start building his shelter. Winford seemed to get that I wasn't going to trust him completely right away, so he didn't question the location.
We set up his shelter frame and had some wood left over. I used some leftover parachute material to finish his shelter.
Then, I brought back the remaining wood and parachute to upgrade our shelter.
I could've built another shelter with a few more pieces of wood, but I didn't. I wanted to sleep with Zoey.
Zoey didn't mind. She'd grown close to me after all the times we'd been together and wanted to sleep with me too.
After bringing back the rest of the stuff, I started modifying our shelter. Zoey helped out, and after some effort, we expanded it, added a door, and reinforced it.
By the time we finished, it was evening. I divided the firewood and gave Winford his share, then we got ready to rest.
I went into the shelter, where Zoey was already lying down, ready to sleep. She'd washed her outerwear and hung it up, now just in her underwear, her delicate skin exposed.
I closed the s
helter door and moved closer to Zoey.