Chapter 3

The angelic voice that graced Nathan's ears caused his brain to completely stop functioning. It seemed like her voice alone can bring end to darkness. Just her voice alone brought a strange sense of peace to Nathan that felt quite foreign to him. Nathan's brain had already stopped functioning, so his instincts took over.

"Hi, my name is Nathan."

He subconsciously grabbed her hand for a handshake, which turned out to be a massive mistake. Feeling the soft, smooth skin of her hand even his instincts shut down.

"Nathan, what a cute name! I like it!" 

Seeing that he is still frozen, Lucy giggled. She was not bothered by his actions at all, even finding them cute. Her situation was somewhat familiar to Nathan's. She too didn't have much contact with those around her age but when she did, the looks she received disgusted her.

He was not like them.

Although he froze on their first encounter, he did not have the same disgusting look in his eyes. He looked at her as one would at the world's most beautiful flower, a fresh experience for her which she would later engrave it on her heart and soul.

Hearing her giggle woke Nathan up. He suddenly blushed slightly and turned away to calm himself as he suddenly found himself in a situation where he lost control of himself.

He was usually cold to those around him, but everything about Lucy seemed to throw him off. From her gorgeous looks to her drool-worthy body, and from her angelic voice to her cheery yet bold personality.

He coughed slightly to remove the awkwardness , still not willing to end their handshake,

"Ahem, What can I help you with, Lucy?"

Lucy was really enjoying herself, teasing her new 'friend', so she smiled.

"Are you going to let go of me first or should we continue like this?" Lucy asked teasingly.

Nathan knew he was caught red handed so he let go of her hand, albeit unwillingly.

"Ahem, sorry. Please continue."

"I want to team up with you!~" Lucy suddenly declared.

Nathan was taken back. Although he was already charmed by her goddess like beauty and bright angelic voice, he still held some suspicion in his heart, lest he is left with all the regret in the world later on. 

"You want to team up with me? Why? There are many better options around here. Look, many people have already started grouping, while I don't plan on joining any group. You have better chances elsewhere." Nathan tried probing her motives.

"Exactly! I have been watching from the very beginning, and from those around us that I can see only you and that guy over there are the only people who remained calm, despite all that is happening around us."

Lucy pointed at a certain cold looking, skinny guy as she continued, "Between that guy who looks like he can freeze the whole desert with his dark, gloomy face, and the ice cube who'd melt even in the freezer," She vaguely pointed at him, drawing circles in the air with her dainty finger, "The choice is pretty obvious!"

Nathan stared at her, but couldn't bring himself to be angry at her remarks even if he wanted to. He was even starting to enjoy them, just a little.

"Then what about other groups?" he asked. Still pushing for answers, trying to see through her.

"They won't last long. They will spend all their energy on arguing or complaining, and when the times get tough, they will start backstabbing each other. I hate back stabbers…"

Nathan was surprised as she seemed to avoid other groups for the same reason as him, which led him to place a bit of trust in her, as her words resonated with his own conventions.

"So, what do you say Nathan? Would you allow me to join your team? I promise I won't be a burden! Pleeeaaaseee~~~"

Seeing her giving him a puppy eyes look with her mesmerizing green eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say no to her. He could already see traces of tears gathering at the edge of her eyes, and her cute nose started to turn pinkish, as if she would cry at the smallest grievance.

Looking at this scene pulled Nathan's heart strings, making him want to hug her and never let go. Protecting her from the cruelness of the world…

He sighed, choosing to give in to his desires and accept her proposal, regardless of the consequences. Truly, few could resist the favor of a beauty, especially a bright and good natured one such as Lucy, and young Nathan was no different.

"Alright, alright. Welcome aboard miss Lucy. Just bear in mind there is no one else on this ship, so don't complain if you start to feel lonely."

Nathan couldn't help but joke with her, already affected by her mood which he didn't seem to notice himself.

"Yay!~~~ Success! I finally have a friend now! Phew, that was stressful…"

She acted as if she accomplished her life's mission, wiping her imaginary sweat off her forehead.

"You also don't have any friends Lucy?" Nathan was greatly surprised. With her personality, she seemed like the last person who would have troubles finding friends for herself.

"Also? Oh! So you don't have any friends either! Great! So, does that mean we can be each other's first friend!?"

Lucy seemed visibly happier to know that Nathan didn't have any friends, causing Nathan's eyes to twitch from irritation.

He ignored her remarks yet again, focusing on the situation at hand. He seemed like he had wasted enough time already.

Seeing Nathan turn serious, Lucy also turned on her business mode. 

"So, seeing that we can only choose to move forward in a random direction, do you have any other ideas?"

"That does seem like the best course of action, doesn't it? Also seeing that we are provided with such thick jackets, it's safe to assume that this trip will take longer than a single day so it's best we consume as little amount of resources as possible." Lucy concluded.

"Indeed. We should also be on the look out for any possible sources of food or water. But don't hold back on drinking water, drink when you feel thirsty, just enough to quench your thirst. Many people who die from the lack of water, are often found with them having some water still remaining that they tried to ration using, yet they never got to use it."

"Also, seeing that we are provided with such heavy wool jackets that are very inconvenient to carry around, then it's better to assume the nights will be extra chilly compared to a normal desert night. The platform might not even be in the desert, and perhaps it might be hidden a place that is extremely cold, which means we might get obstructed by snow and perhaps, even wild animals, if there are any. We need to get a few tools ready for these situation if we get our hands on anything the we can turn into tools. Something to defend ourselves is of the highest priority."

Lucy's eyes brightened, feeling more assured of her decision,"Wow, Nate! You are so knowledgeable!"

Hearing her compliment him so sincerely, caused him to visibly blush, but he caught onto a certain word, trying to hide his blush.

"Nate?" Nathan looked at her weirdly.

"What? We are each other's first friend so I get special privileges." Lucy waved her hand as if it was nothing important.

"Whatever." Nathan brushed it off as Lucy being Lucy. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy being called by a nickname, especially by her angelic voice.

'Hehehe… let's see how long will it take you to melt, my little ice cube.' Lucy thought mischievously. She was having so much fun by teasing Nate, and seeing him blush ever so slightly was the greatest reward for her. Just like the satisfaction of digging a pothole and watching people trip and fall, the pleasure of it was immense, which made her want to tease him all day.

Being couped up in a mansion since as far as she could remember, her true nature was starting to surface now that no one was there to keep tabs on her.

Nathan picked up the bamboo tube to check it out, "This is barely bigger than a bottle. The amount of food and water distributed is way too unbalanced. Those 5 loaves of bread can last us up to 10 days yet this bit of water can barely last half a day…"

Lucy approached him, stopping at the last moment when their bodies was about to touch,"Maybe it's one of those artifacts from those fantasy novels, you know the kind that the space inside is bigger than what it looks like on the outside."

Nathan felt a pleasant scent reminiscent of cherry blossoms', causing him to blush ever so lightly. He could already faintly feel the heat of her body and the illusion of her perky breasts brushing his arm, trying to wake up his desires, yet he pushed them down forcefully. 

He fought the urge to turn back and take a deep breath as her scent had quite an addicting touch to it,"unfortunately, we cannot test it but we better start looking for alternative sources of water." Although they were present with their souls, everything looked and felt like as if their bodies were there. They could feel thirst, hunger and even pain. 

Nathan concluded,"Well, there is nothing to be done here. How do we choose which direction to go now?"