Chapter 399 Your Money or Your Life
The desert island where Courtney and the others were was neither big nor small, but it had a dense jungle. The artificially reclaimed spot where they were was located in the center of the island, and it was in the deepest part of the dense jungle. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to leave the jungle without knowing the special markings on the island.
Over the past few days, Poppy had been trying to make conversation with Fatso, whereas Courtney had been studying every possible way to leave the island in a corner. She didn’t know how to swim, so she would have no choice but to leave the island by boat if she were to depend on herself.
“Thank you, Fatso.” Poppy took the dinner at the window and walked toward Courtney with it. Seeing that she had drawn some strange shapes on the ground with a stick, she couldn’t help but ask, “What are these?”
“A map,” Courtney replied in a whisper before pointing the stick at the center of the map. “We’re supposed to be here. We came ashore from the east side of the island, which is here. There are people patrolling the four directions every day, but those patrolling the west part of the island are the last to come back, so the west side of the island is probably the farthest from here. In other words, Fatso’s kid is likely in the west part of the island.”
“How did you arrive at this conclusion?” Poppy looked perplexed. “You came here in a worse state than me. You were tied up in a gunnysack. And besides, weren’t you unconscious at the time?”
Courtney replied, “I wasn’t fully unconscious. There was still a bit of consciousness left in me back then. I suppose my conjecture is more or less right, based on what you’ve told me and how those on patrol changed shifts every day.”
“You’re incredible!” Poppy looked at her with admiration before plonking herself down on the bed. Munching the dry bun, she slurred, “But Courtney, Fatso never mentioned his child to me again, nor did he ask me about the capsules. Say, what if he really wants to go to the city himself?”
Courtney’s face lit up. “That’d be even better. The more often they go out, the higher the possibility the police will find them, and the higher the possibility we’ll be rescued.”
Whatever the outcome would be, it would be better than them resigning themselves to death.
Just then, there was a sudden noise outside. They heard the sounds of those on patrol coming back and handing over to the next shift.
Poppy seemed to choke on the bun, and her face turned pale somewhat. Courtney’s face tightened as well. After glancing at Poppy subconsciously, she silently poured her a cup of water.
Soon, the door to the cabin opened. Two burly men of medium height came in while pushing and shoving each other. As soon as they entered, they saw Courtney pouring tea, and their eyes were instantly ablaze.
“What are you doing?” Poppy’s voice, which suddenly went up a few octaves, sounded unusually shrill and resonant in the cabin. She plonked the porcelain bowl in her hand on the shabby cabinet next to the bed with a loud thud.
“Ho ho, you’re upset because I just took a glance at another lady, huh?”
“Huh? I don’t care who you wanna look at.” Poppy pulled her collar while feigning a pettish look. “But if you take a shine to someone else, then get her out of my place. Don’t enter my room and get in my bed.”
Upon hearing Poppy’s words, the two men glanced at Courtney simultaneously with a look of disgust. Then, they went up to Poppy with a cheeky grin. “Do you think we’re blind? Why would we cast a darling like you aside and sleep with that ugly monster instead?”
Courtney sighed with relief inwardly when she heard the men call her ‘ugly monster.’ Seems like the effort of smudging dirt on my face over the last few days has paid off, she thought. Ever since she arrived on the island, she had been refraining from taking a shower, and her body stank. As a result, these men wouldn’t touch her even if she didn’t dodge them.
Seeing that both men had come up to her, Poppy darted an angry look at them and said shortly, “Did you forget what I said yesterday?”
The two men exchanged a brief look. Then, the slightly thinner man nodded vigorously with a lecherous expression, “Of course I remember what you said yesterday. Take turns, right?”
Ever since Poppy agreed to Courtney’s escape plan, she had slowly won the initiative over those men, who would come to her after returning from their shifts. These men were just seeking pleasure, and they all wanted to have a good time. If she didn’t play along with them, they would feel like they were sleeping with a human-sized doll; only when she played along with them could they take pleasure. Therefore, as these men started to get greedy after sleeping with Poppy again and again, they let Poppy set the rules so that only one person was allowed to sleep with her at a time.
Courtney felt revolted when Poppy first told her about it, but Poppy really seemed to think nothing of it. “I’ve worked as a nightclub hostess before, so I’ve had it figured out. It’s just a matter of money. In the nightclub, the guests would pay me money to sleep with me, whereas I’m gonna pay the man here with my life,” she said in a casual manner, but what she said was heart-wrenching.
Courtney couldn’t say anything under the present circumstances. After all, there was no better way to keep these people under control.
Just then, the other man argued, “Hey, Jonny, it was your turn yesterday, so it’s got to be my turn today, right?”
The man called Jonny frowned in displeasure. “Why are you being so fussy? What’s wrong with having a threesome? Weren’t you okay with sleeping with five or six of us at once in the past?”
Jonny’s words annoyed Poppy at once. She lay down in bed right away, saying, “Alright then, come on, I have no problem sleeping with both of you at once.” “Hey, I have a problem with it! We agreed to take turns, remember?” the other man protested assertively while shooting a glare at Jonny. “Stick to your principles, will you? A man has to keep his word. Even if you take this issue to Dragon, I’m gonna be in the right.”
Courtney retreated into the corner while cursing the two shameless men countless times inwardly. How could these two lecherous perverts have the cheek to talk about principles? Really, people turn into beasts once they are no longer part of society, she thought.
Naturally, as a result of the negotiation, only the person who should be staying was made to stay, whereas Courtney and the man called Jonny were driven out of the cabin. Having asked for a snub, Jonny left while swearing like a trooper, whereas Courtney crouched at the door as usual. She didn’t dare to wander about because Fatso had been doing woodwork in the yard. He seemed totally absorbed in what he was doing, but he was actually catching her every move with his eyes.
Just as things were getting steamy inside the room, the gate to the yard was pushed open from the outside with a squeak—Lil’ Mackaque came back. As soon as he entered, he circled around Fatso, saying, “I’ve got something to discuss with you, Fatso.”
Fatso darted a look at him. “Forget it if you’re gonna talk about leaving the island. We’ve left the island many times this month. If we leave the island again, we’ll be in trouble.”
“Oh, what do you think could happen?” Lil’ Mackaque lowered his voice. “I’m just going out for a walk since it’s so frustrating to stay on the island. I’m not gonna do anything, so who’s gonna find out? And besides, don’t you have to buy stuff for Dawn?”
The yard was small, so Courtney heard the name ‘Dawn’ very clearly. At the same time, though, Fatso glared daggers at Lil’ Mackaque, his face sullen.
“I…” Lil’ Mackaque frowned when he saw Courtney outside the cabin. Then, he lowered his voice even further, saying, “Well, you can’t keep hiding her here. Are you gonna let her live her entire life on the island? You’ve got to let her out one day. Dragon will certainly give you some compensation for the sake of your late wife—”
The saw in Fatso’s hand dropped to the floor with a loud clank! Fatso was usually even-tempered, but his face was livid with anger at this moment. He stared at Lil’ Mackaque chillingly, looking as black as thunder.
Courtney’s heart skipped a beat. Then, it clenched.
