abcnovels
Chapter 355: [A Long Night In The Rainforest]
Chapter 355: [A Long Night In The Rainforest]
Is there anything I can use for first aid?
I climbed into the wreckage of the plane, searching.
“Ouch…”
On the way in, a piece of debris lightly cut my hand, and blood began to well up.
But I didn’t have the time to stop for an injury like this.
“Hah… Hah…”
Even just moving was tough on the slanted floor.
Looking around, the interior of the plane was in terrible shape.
There was hardly anything left intact.
I was close to giving up when…“No way… I can’t believe I’m this lucky!”
I had been watching my favorite streamer’s content, downloaded to my smartphone, rather than an in-flight movie.
A flight attendant had even recommended I connect it to the monitor for a bigger screen…
A cable was dangling loosely.
At the end of it, my smartphone swayed, still connected to the cracked monitor.
“Oh…!”
With trembling hands, I gently pulled it toward me.
The screen lit up, glowing like a beacon of hope.
As I continued searching, I found my bag in one of the storage compartments.
My luck hadn’t run out just yet. But…
“Her bag isn’t here.”
If the Secret Service agent’s bag had been here, it might have contained a medical kit.
But since this was supposed to be a quick trip, I didn’t bring much myself.
All I had in my bag were a few band-aids and some motion sickness pills…
Just as I was digging through my bag, I stopped.
“Hm? What’s this?”
I tilted my head at an unfamiliar package.
It was a gift-wrapped box with a number written on it…
“Oh, this must be Aug’s doing.”
Judging by the number, it looked like tomorrow’s slot from an advent calendar.
It seemed Aug had secretly slipped it in when helping me pack.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be useful right now.
Continuing my search, I found an unfinished bottle of Dedecamin, the drink I’d asked for during the flight.
“…Gulp.”
I swallowed hard.
My throat was parched, and my mouth tasted awful from vomiting earlier.
I twisted the cap slightly but stopped just in time.
This was the only consumable I had found.
“——”
I resisted the temptation, put the drink back in my bag, and returned to the secret service woman.
With the towel and band-aids from my bag, I did my best to tend to her injuries.
***
“No signal, huh.”
I sighed as I stared at my smartphone.
Unsurprisingly, the screen read “No Service.” And on top of that…
“Satellite connection isn’t working either.”
I’d heard about Starlink before, but…
Modern smartphones are supposed to be capable of satellite communication on their own.
When neither Wi-Fi nor mobile data works, an ‘Emergency SOS’ icon appears.
Through that, the phone can send location data via satellite and call for help.
…At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.
But no matter how many times I tried, it wouldn’t connect.
‘Please aim your phone toward the satellite.’ it kept saying.
“Are we outside the satellite’s range? Or are the trees just blocking the signal?”
Looking up, the canopy was so dense I could barely see the sky.
Which meant anyone looking from above wouldn’t see us, either…
“…Tch.”
A grim thought crossed my mind.
What if we never get found like this?
But there was nothing more I could do now.
All I could do was wait.
…In the dim forest, night fell much faster than I expected.
***
“!”
The cry of a wild animal startled me, making me jolt upright.
I quickly checked on the Secret Service woman’s condition and let out a sigh of relief.
I’d been doing this over and over since the sun had set.
Out here in the wilderness, the night was nothing but our enemy.
“Oh yeah, I need to loosen the tourniquet.”
I stopped the alarm I had set and used my phone’s flashlight to tend to her.
Apparently, the tourniquet needed to be loosened every 30 minutes to let blood flow back to the limbs, or else they could suffer tissue death.
I didn’t know much about first aid, but I did have a good memory for things VTubers had said.
Though I never thought I’d use that knowledge like this.
“Ugh…”
“Can you drink a little?”
I lifted her head onto my lap and let a few drops of Dedecamin touch her lips.
She was sweating profusely, likely from her injuries.
If she didn’t get some fluids soon, dehydration could set in at any moment.
But still…
“When will this night finally end?”
When I watch streams, the day seems to fly by.
I often think, If only the night were longer…
Now, I could barely stay conscious.
I hadn’t had a proper rest, as I’d been tending to the secret service woman the entire time.
“Not that I could’ve slept well anyway.”
Bugs constantly swarmed our bodies, and the rustling of plants was maddening.
But worst of all, I could sense the presence of wild animals close by.
It felt like they were watching us, waiting.
Maybe they were drawn by the scent of blood.
“I’m so tired… I want to sleep… I need rest…”
At this point, I felt like I could sleep soundly even in the same bed as Ah-nee.