American homeless people, surviving in the city

Chapter 150 A Night of Ice and Rain

When Lynch saw Sylvia lying motionless on the riverbank, he felt his heart clench.

He practically scrambled over, knelt down beside Sylvia, and tremblingly reached out to place his hand on her neck.

The sound of rain was chaotic, and so was Lynch's mind. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he forced himself to calm down and carefully felt Sylvia's pulse with his hand, which was already numb from the cold.

Finally, a faint pulse, a symbol of life, came from Lin Qi's fingertips. Although the pulse was weak, it was still regular.

Lin Qi's hope was rekindled. He quickly half-lifted Sylvia, letting her upper body lean against his chest, and lowered his head to get close to her mouth and nose.

There was wind and she was breathing, so she didn't choke on the water!

This discovery made Lynch even more excited. He quickly laid Sylvia flat on the ground, calling her name as he hurriedly began to rescue her.

"Sylvia! Wake up! Hang in there!"

He pressed hard on her chest, performing simple CPR, but he soon realized that the cold rain, falling continuously and steadily on them, was drawing away their body heat.

Even if Sylvia is still breathing for now, if she continues to be exposed to the rain, hypothermia will likely take away her last bit of life.

...Damn Seattle, it's been raining for so many days, and now it has to rain again!

Lin Qi frowned and gritted his teeth.

He knew how dangerous it was to be soaked for an extended period in the wilderness—not only was Sylvia in danger, but he himself was too. He had to find a way!

But what could he do when he was exhausted in this wilderness?

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, briefly illuminating the surrounding scenery.

Lin Qi suddenly noticed that the place where the two of them were currently located seemed to be adjacent to a mountain wall, and on the mountain wall, not far from the two of them, there was a shadow that was much deeper than the surrounding environment.

That appears to be a cave!

...If there's a cave, then there'll be a place to shelter from the rain!

Lynch gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain all over his body, and carried Sylvia on his back, staggering step by step towards the deeper shadows.

Upon closer inspection, sure enough, there was a small cave hidden by branches and rocks. The cave was not deep, but it could barely accommodate two people.

Lin Qi bent down and crawled into the cave.

The cave was relatively dry, as rainwater was prevented from entering thanks to several rocks blocking the entrance. Although the cave was still damp and humid, it was much better than being outside exposed to wind and rain.

After laying Sylvia flat on the ground inside the cave, Lynch continued his rescue efforts.

He clasped his hands together and continued to perform CPR with great effort. He didn't know if what he was doing was even meaningful, but amidst his chaotic thoughts, his movements became increasingly hurried.

The gunshot wound on his shoulder reopened and became even more horrifying due to the force, with blood mingling with the dripping rainwater and flowing down his body, but Lin Qi didn't care about himself at all.

Wake up, wake up!

Finally, as if hearing Lynch's prayers, after an unknown amount of time, Sylvia suddenly began to cough violently, just like when Lynch woke up. She vomited large mouthfuls of murky river water, and then finally opened her eyes weakly.

She spoke slowly, "Mr. Lynch..."

Sylvia's voice was barely audible, yet it filled Lynch with immense joy. He quickly said, "Don't speak! Conserve your energy. Don't worry, we're still relatively safe!"

For Lin Qi, the cold night rain, while causing considerable trouble, also helped to better conceal their tracks. At least since he woke up, he hadn't seen any signs of the cultists pursuing them.

"Yeah..."

Sylvia slightly raised her hand, as if trying to grasp something, a smile appearing on her lips: "Well, that's good... I believe you..."

Sylvia's awakening was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Lynch. Although his own condition was also extremely bad, he still gained some motivation again.

He put Sylvia back on the ground, then groped around in the dark for a while and quickly found some relatively dry branches and pieces of wood, as well as some fluffy leaves.

Next, take a shoelace from your foot, tie it to a stick to make an arch shape, and then place flammable fluffy leaves between the stick and the block of wood. A simple fire-starting device by friction is now ready.

Lin Qi swung his arms and pulled on the bow-shaped wooden stick. Soon, sparks began to appear in the darkness.

Using the faint light of the fire, they gathered some branches, leaves, and pieces of wood, piled them together, and lit them with the fire, thus creating a campfire in the cave.

The flickering firelight dispelled the darkness in the cave and brought a warm glow. The two, who had fled the cold rain, experienced warmth for the first time.

"...That's it." Lin Qi let out a long sigh, feeling as if his soul had almost slipped out of his body with that breath. Now, he was truly and utterly exhausted. Even if the cultists chased after him again, he couldn't possibly squeeze out even the slightest bit of strength from his body.

He lay limply by the campfire, leaning against the cave wall, feeling sore all over as if he had turned into a puddle of mud.

After resting for a while, Lynch felt he had at least regained some strength to speak, so he turned his head slightly to look at Sylvia: "...Do you still have the strength?"

"...I'm done, I have no strength left." Sylvia's voice was soft, each word weak and drawn out. "Please spare me, I can't run anymore."

However, the fact that she was able to say this whole sentence shows that she has regained some strength.

"...I can't run anymore either." Lin Qi sighed. "Then let's leave it at that."

"Um."

After a brief exchange, silence fell over the cave. It wasn't that the two had nothing to say; they were simply too exhausted.

After lying in the cave for a while, even though the campfire was right between the two of them, Lin Qi felt his body getting colder and colder.

After a moment of stunned silence, he belatedly realized that he had forgotten something important again.

...both of them were still wearing wet clothes!

In November, Seattle's daytime temperatures are relatively stable, but due to frequent rainfall and its high latitude, nighttime temperatures are extremely low, often only a few degrees Celsius.

Wearing soaking wet clothes for extended periods in such temperatures becomes extremely dangerous. Wet clothes accelerate heat loss, and over time, this can easily lead to hypothermia.

Even if there's a campfire to dry them, it won't help. In this situation, the best thing survivors should do is immediately take off all their wet clothes and then use the heat of the campfire to dry their bodies and clothes together.

This is the best way to maintain the body's core temperature.

only...

Lynch knew that neither he nor Sylvia were dry. However, the thought of taking off their clothes as part of the theoretical survival procedure, and being in this cramped cave together, made him hesitate.