Her Secret Angel

SURVIVAL

CHAPTER 6

GAURAV 

Fk this situation! How the hell we'll survive!  No potable water, no food, no shelter, and alarming coldness.

We could freeze here by dawn. Where the bloody hell were we? 

It’s definitely not among the tropical locations. 

The air was colder, and to think, the sun just set. How much more later? 

What’s with today? Everything was like a nightmare. 

Gosh! I definitely wish it's just a nightmare; hence I could wake up safely. But hell, it's the reality.

We're stuck on this island until we freeze to death.

I ran both hands from my face to my hair.

I took the three phones from my coat. 

The three hours of soaking them earlier would absolutely ruin those if I dare to turn-on them now. It would take three days to completely dry those stuff to know if they were damaged or still usable. 

How could my people locate me now? 

I wished my men would mobilize the search and rescue operation as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, and they should search through all possible islands to find me. I'm sure Fred or Bernie would retrieve the last known location of the phone but we're in the middle of the South China Sea? Damn it! How many islands do they need to search into?

Good heavens!

I wished I agreed on the chips they wanted me to implant on my wrist. At least if I have the thing in my body, they could easily locate me.

Meantime, I needed to shake off irritation, annoyance, and fear to think of ways to get through this.

I exhaled a mouthful of air several times. We need to survive...

Our primary goal should be to survive! 

How could this day be so damn unlucky? Everything s**t happened today.

The cold was slowly getting into me, my flesh was beginning to feel the coldness of the surroundings.

I stripped my wet polo and pants to get me out of the wet clothes as soon as possible. Against all odds, we needed to cling to life tonight.

I closed my eyes to think straight! I looked at Danie. She was overwhelmed and in a daze.

She looked like no experience at all in dangerous, threatening, and hopeless situations. Just my luck I couldn't count on her to think about survival.

She was crying already yet we were not in our worst situation.

Why the hell was she still in her wet clothes? 

Damn it! 

Well, if she wouldn't strip, she won’t have the chance to live. 

Oddly, I was not thinking of just myself, but she became my responsibility. The hell!

I shook my head more distressed and with thinned patience.

I had to sneer at her to listen to me. 

Stubborn woman!  

“Danie, if you dare think of DIGNITY and VIRTUE. By tomorrow you have those, but I don’t think you will have a LIFE to protect! Strip your damn clothes off before you catch an illness!" 

She was shaken by what I said and slowly stood up.

I closed my eyes and tried to lower down my tone when she shook profusely and looked at me pathetically then I said...

"Hopefully, it will dry sooner, so you can wear it again later.” 

It was a do-or-die situation and I became a babysitter.

Why did I have to save her life earlier if she wouldn't value it as much as she should? Such ignorance was simply annoying.

“I will take it off now.” She looked at me with frightened eyes. 

Jesus! Thanks a lot. I hope she won't piss me off for the rest of the night. 

“I will leave you for a moment, and I will try to find some more driftwood. You stay here!” I said firmly.

I tried to find something dry to prolong the fire that I made. Otherwise, we'll surely freeze to death. 

There weren’t enough dried woods here. Disappointed, I returned where we set up the fire. There wouldn't be enough wood to last the whole night. Will we freeze to death here?

I saw Danie, and she had taken off her wet clothes and placed them in the rock near the fire.

In fairness, her silhouette wasn't as bad as I presumed. The lady has a nice figure. Full bosom, slim waist, and long legs. She hugged her bent legs, either she was too cold or she tried to hide her nakedness. Good for her, she needed to take care of herself.

I uttered silently to myself, "Lady, it’s not the time to worry about nudity. SURVIVAL is our main agenda. Hopefully, they will rescue us tomorrow, or we will find a safer place." I heaved a deep sigh after.

We could eat the unripe banana tonight, but there was no potable water. I hope the dried coconut will still have juice inside. I wished our stomach could tolerate it; otherwise, that's another problem.

All the survival skills I have learned from a year of military training were useful in this situation. I just hope it was enough to keep us alive until morning comes.

“Danie, help me place the driftwood on the fire, don't place everything at once. Just add one at a time. We need to keep the fire burning as long as possible." Instead of sulking in front of the fire, she needed to do something to keep herself away from desperate and awful thoughts.

I added, "I will try to open the coconut to extract the juice for drinking.”

She moved, with her hand crossed on her breast and positioned near the fire. She was crying again, but I couldn’t be mad at her anymore. 

Our situation sucks! 

I found a sharp stone to open the coconut, and yes, there’s still coconut water inside.

I gave the first coconut I opened to Danie, and she sipped some of the juice. Also, I gave her the banana. She had two bites and stopped eating afterward. Maybe she couldn't tolerate it. It's not ripe; hence it's bitter, waxy and the texture was firmer. But that's all we have for tonight. Either we eat the raw one or we starve.

I placed a banana leaf by the sand, and she sat on it.

My tender heart prevailed, I couldn't be harsh on her anymore. She was scared and lost, harshness was the last thing she needed.

I toned down my voice as I spoke to her...

“Danie, mind over matter. We can survive this together, Okay?” 

I looked at her tenderly while she put more wood into the fire.

“The wind's so chilly, even if we have a small fire here, but it’s still cold.” 

Danie attempted to communicate but her voice was shaking. If the coldness was getting into me so much more on her.

“Yes, I know!” I don’t know how else we could survive if there was rain. "I just hope it won't rain tonight, otherwise I don't know how colder it could get."

I walked in her direction and sat beside her.

While she looked into the fire, she started crying again. 

Despite the fire, she's feeling the cold. Ladies are more susceptible to feeling cold. Her fragile body wouldn't be able to counter the freezing air for too long.

“Danie, I will hold you, so you'll be warmer? Will that be alright with you? Body heat will play an important role in our survival tonight."

I saw her looking at me. Slowly her lips arched a small smile. She moved her head, signifying she agreed to my suggestion.

Our situation was extremely disturbing, and we could only rely on each other to survive the sickening situation we're both entrapped with at the moment.

The climate was cold, and our clothes were wet. We don't have shelter, and our food was the unripe banana. Even the fire couldn’t contain the coldness of the night. But if we think about the pesky situation, all the more, our determination to survive would be shattered.

I wouldn't want to die in this situation. I didn't deserve to die in this situation. I refused to die without a fight.

I placed my hands into hers and tried to move her closer to me. 

“Danie, can you trust me?” I asked...trust will play a major role in our survival.

“Are we gonna die here, Gaurav?” She began shaking again as she buried her face into my chest. 

I placed my hand on her chin and made her look straight into my eyes.

How I wished I could lie to her and erase all her fears, but I have no idea of what's in store for us the rest of the night. If we based it on our current situation, it was frightening. I couldn't guarantee tomorrow.

"Let's do our best to overcome this situation, together let's fight it." 

I hope she reads my determination to cling to life.

I hope I made her believe we could survive...