Chapter 11 Strange Coordinates

• I tightened my hold on Tina, merging our bodies into one. A low moan rose from the back of her throat, and I could feel her warm breath on my face.
• “It’s so hot...” Tina whispered between pants, “I can’t breathe...”
• “Then I’ll have to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!” With a devilish smirk, I sealed her lips with mine.
• “Mm!” Tina let out a muffled yelp as she clenched her jaw and stared right at me.
• I tried to pry her gritted teeth open with my tongue while my hands cruised her body, making their way under her shirt. Her skin was smooth to touch, and I could feel her trembling under my wandering fingers.
• I was in the midst of exploring her exquisite body when a flash of lightning ripped through the sky. White light flooded the cave for a millisecond before a peal of thunder reverberated in my ears.
• “Ah!” Startled, Hailey and Yara sat up with a shriek. I silently bemoaned my horrible luck as I wondered if the universe was trying to chastise me for indulging in this situation. Perhaps the lightning was meant to strike me—it would be a punishment for hooking up with multiple ladies.
• The howling winds guided a torrent into the cave. I carefully nudged our tiny campfire to the back of the cave. It was our final source of warmth, so I had to protect it from the merciless rain. The four of us huddled around the fire, our back against the cave walls.
• “Are your injuries getting better?” Hailey asked out of the blue.
• I nodded in reply, and she pursed her lips. “That explains why you’ve been so energetic!”
• A blush crept up my face when I realized that she was aware of everything that had been going on. The flames cast an orange sheen on Yara and Tina’s flushed faces, making them look even more enchanting.
• “Anyway, we can’t possibly stay here forever!” I hurriedly changed the subject, “This cave might work as a shelter for now, but it’s too shallow to shield us from the rain. We should look for a better option once I recover.”
• Tina’s doll-like eyes gleamed as she said, “I once saw a video on the AcFun website. It was about an Australian guy who built a house from scratch in a tropical rainforest. Why don’t we build a house too?”
• I smiled bitterly. “I’ve seen that video too, and a majority of it was just a baseless brag. The house he built wouldn’t last three days in this forest!”
• “Think about it—this forest is home to many wild beasts and venomous snakes, and it’s constantly pouring here. That house is poorly structured and will be a sad excuse for a shelter!”
• Tina stuck her tongue out in embarrassment, which was quite an endearing sight. I chuckled, “We’ll just find another cave to stay in. Who knows, maybe we’ll be rescued in just a few days’ time!”
• “That’s right! Help will come for sure!” Yara nodded her head vigorously.
• The fire danced in the wind, threatening to go out. However, it continued to fill the cave with light and warmth. I hoped that my faux confidence will do the same for them, despite the unease that settled in my gut.
• The storm went away as suddenly as it had come, and we fell asleep to the diminuendo of the rain.
• The morning sky was bright and clear, as if it had been cleansed. Wielding an axe, I left the cave.
• I told Hailey and the rest that I was going to forage for food, but in reality, I planned to look for Jude.
• Jude’s group was sinking into a state of desolation faster than I had expected, so I could not allow them to live any longer. Once they hit rock bottom, they would be stripped of humanity and have no boundaries. It would be a nightmare come true.
• There were two types of people who must be feared. The first were those who had no reason to live, and the second were those who had no regard for dignity. Jude’s group was bound to fall in the latter category, and it was going to happen sooner rather than later.
• That was why I needed to deal with this issue immediately, although my injuries were far from healed.
• I was bruised and battered, but I was convinced that Jude’s group would be in worse condition. Even if Jude Ford was alive, he would be crippled for sure, so the group was now without a leader. Besides, I had already burnt down their shack. Without proper shelter, the storm last night would have definitely taken its toll on them. With this in mind, I took a calculated risk and decided to face them off alone.
• Just as I expected, their slapdash shelter had been demolished. From where I was hiding, I could see a few women hanging up laundry, chattering away as they worked.
• There were four men who were zealously rubbing pieces of wood together to start a fire. However, these men were simply wasting their time and energy as the firewood was damp. Even I would not be able to create a spark.
• I quickly found the man I was here for, and I was pleased to see that Jude had one of his arms in a sling that hung in front of his chest. It was a result of my handiwork. I had severed his ligament. His face was ghastly pale, and he was sitting on a boulder as he gazed melancholically at the ocean.
• Jude was the first to notice my presence. He froze for a split second before he let out a deranged roar. I had no doubt that he was signaling the men to kill me on the spot.
• Holding the axe over my shoulder, I sauntered toward them with a piece of dog’s-tail grass between my lips, as if I were taking a stroll in a park.
• With the sun behind me, I could see my elongated shadow stretch before me. As I stepped closer, my shadow fell over the four men. They clenched the pieces of wood in their hands and slowly rose to their feet.
• “You think you can kill me?” I stopped before them and spat the grass out before beckoning them over with a finger. “Come at me! Watch me slaughter every single one of you!”
• The men exchanged glances but stayed rooted to the spot.
• I let the axe swing limply by my side as I strode toward them and bellowed, “I just don’t understand. Why would you submit to a person who can’t even start a fire instead of getting through this crisis with me? Are you f*cking dumb? Are you all idiots?”
• The men hesitated and looked at each other again. Agitated, Jude rasped, “Don’t listen to him! You should have known that there was no going back when you ate the meat!”
• “Kill him! Kill him! Kill hi-”
• I cut off Jude’s hysterical screeches with a firm kick to his chest. The frail man toppled to the ground.
• I put a foot on his cheek and pressed his face into the ground. His features were distorted, but he still glared at me with unadulterated hatred. I bent down and whispered, “You’re doomed!”
• Jude’s chest heaved with anger when he heard my words. I flashed him a smile before turning to look at the four men. “Are you going to side with me or him? It’s up to you,” I said indifferently.
• The first person to surrender was a bald, middle-aged man who had once been clobbered by Jude. He threw away the stick he was holding and raised his arm.
• “I’ll follow you!”
• “What about the rest?” My eyes swept over the remaining three.
• Humans were not so different from sheep - once a leader was identified, the rest of the flock would quickly lose their resolve and follow suit. In a matter of seconds, all the men had hastily sworn their allegiance to me.
• I scrutinized each of them. Taking two steps backward, I said loftily, “Since you have decided to follow me, you’ll have to prove your loyalty.”
• “Prove our loyalty?”
• The men looked at me in puzzlement. I pointed at Jude and made a slicing motion across my neck.
• They understood my gesture instantly, but none of them moved as they glanced at each other yet again.
• “Ten seconds!” My voice was low but authoritative.
• “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...”
• A scrawny man lunged toward Jude. He raised the wooden rod in his hand and swung it toward Jude’s head.
• Jude barely dodged the blow, and the rod slammed into the ground next to him, splattering mud everywhere. It was clear that the thin man did not hold back.
• The remaining men joined in promptly after the scrawny man made the first move. Their wooden rods whooshed toward Jude.
• Jude threshed on the ground and howled in pain while I watched coldly from the side. Amongst the thumping sounds of wood on flesh, I heard Jude cry, “Please stop hitting me. I have a secret... and I’ll tell you! It has to do with our survival...”
• “Stop!” I halted the men, walked toward them, and lowered my head to look at Jude from my height.
• “Speak!”
• Jude’s face was already swollen from the severe beating. He spat out his blood-tinged saliva and stared at me. “Do you promise to let me live if I tell you?”
• With a curt nod, I replied, “I promise I won’t kill you, and I won’t order anyone to kill you either. However, I won’t offer you any help and you must fend for yourself!”
• Jude cackled maniacally, “I wouldn’t have believed you if not for that last sentence!”
• He took a deep breath and said with an unfathomable expression, “Do you know where we are now? You won’t believe me even if I told you!”
• Creasing my brows, I looked at him as he recounted, “I thought we had run into turbulence when the aircraft lost control, but I caught sight of our coordinates and was shocked...”
• A petrified expression crossed Jude’s face, and he gasped for air as he spoke, “The coordinates showed that we were south-east of Florida. Unless the plane somehow teleported, it’s impossible to divert thousands of kilometers away from our original route in the blink of an eye. But the coordinates... Anything could happen here...”
• “Our coordinates... south-east of Florida...” A terrifying location popped up in my mind, and I felt a chill travel down my spine.
• “Do you mean... the Bermuda Triangle?”
• “Yes!” Jude sighed and nodded.
• I stared at him, fervently hoping that he was lying to me, only to find utter hopelessness in his expression. I felt my heart sink.
• The Bermuda Triangle was notorious for its eeriness. It was widely known that Bermuda was associated with numerous mysterious disappearances, and just the mention of Bermuda would spark fear in many.
• How did we end up here? This location was thousands of kilometers away from where we were!
• There was no use trying to rationalize our situation. After all, even science could not explain Bermuda’s existence.
• If Jude was telling the truth, then the rescue party would never be able to find us! Even the wildest imagination would not lead them to think that we ended up thousands of kilometers away from where we disappeared.
• Besides, this place could make any sort of device go haywire, and there had never been exceptions to this.
• Did that mean that we would have to live here for the rest of our lives? We would never leave this place. Even our ashes...
• No wonder Jude’s group resorted to cannibalism after just a few days, which was a lot earlier than I had expected. It was clear that they had given up completely because their leader was certain that help would never come.
• Sighing deeply, I slowly sat down next to Jude. I pointed in the opposite direction of my shelter and said in a low voice, “Leave before I change my mind.”