American homeless people, surviving in the city

For survivors in the wilderness, thirst is often their most frequent and deadliest enemy.

Activities in the wilderness will rapidly deplete the body's stored water. Therefore, if water is not available for an extended period, dehydration can take a person's life within days or even hours.

Sylvia was parched, and so was Lynch. Both were dehydrated from blood loss and the sweat from their long trek through the dense forest. Not to mention, Lynch had just finished a full night of boxing.

However, when the precious water source appeared before him, Lynch's rational mind instinctively reminded him to be more cautious.

These forest streams may appear clean, but in nature, such seemingly clean water can easily be contaminated by animal urine, feces, and carcasses. Furthermore, because the valley is located in the suburbs of Seattle, not far from the city, this stream could also be contaminated by wastewater discharged from factories and farms.

In a sense, with human activity now covering almost the entire globe, it has indeed become more difficult to obtain clean resources for survival from nature.

Normally speaking, water in the wild, even flowing water like this stream, should ideally be boiled and sterilized before drinking.

Should I drink it or not?

What Lynch faced was a classic question that almost every wilderness survivalist would encounter.

However, after a brief moment of thought, Lin Qi carefully assessed his physical condition and made up his mind without hesitation.

We still have to drink!

The problem is actually not complicated, and the reason is very simple: in order to continue, he and Sylvia must replenish their water supply.

Considering the potential pollutants, pathogens, and parasites in the water are things to be done later.

What they need to do now is to recover their strength as much as possible and get out of this valley first!

So, seeing Sylvia's questioning gaze, Lin Qi smiled, squatted down beside the stream, and explained:

"Of course you can drink it, but let me check you first."

If there are no obvious signs of water pollution and no visible pollutants such as corpses or feces in the surrounding area, then the water is safe to drink in an emergency.

Lin Qi found a relatively flat embankment by the stream and squatted down. He tried to bend down and scoop up a ladle of water with his hands, but he soon found that because the stream was too shallow, it was almost impossible for him to put his hand completely under the surface of the water. Even if he managed to scoop it up, only a little water would remain in the shallow hollow of his palm.

If Sylvia were to drink water in the same way, she, who only has one hand, probably wouldn't even be able to get that little bit of water.

However, after roughly checking the area by the light of the torch, Lin Qi was at least able to confirm that there were no sources of pollution nearby and that the stream water was very clear.

Therefore, Lynch naturally had his own solution to the seemingly minor problem of "not being able to drink water".

"This water is drinkable, but please wait a moment."

Lynch gestured for Sylvia to wait where she was, then took a torch and walked into the woods beside the stream. A few dozen seconds later, he emerged from the woods carrying some large leaves.

"Fold it like this... and then like this... and it's done!"

In his hands, the leaves overlapped layer by layer, eventually forming a simple cup shape.

He gently scooped up a leaf cup from the stream, filling it to the brim with clear water.

This simple trick actually worked, which surprised Lin Qi.

He had only stumbled upon a short video on TikTok about how to fold leaves into cups by chance. He never expected that he would be able to make it successfully on his first try, nor did he ever expect that it could actually hold water as shown in the video—although there would still be some leakage, at least it could temporarily hold the stream water in it.

With a sense of accomplishment, Lynch smiled and handed the leaf-shaped cup to Sylvia: "Here, drink. Drink slowly, be careful not to choke."

Sylvia witnessed the whole thing. She watched as Lynch magically produced a cup and then handed her a full glass of water.

The moonlight was reflected in the stream water in the cup. Sylvia took the leaf cup and took a small sip.

The clear, cool stream water slid down her parched throat, making her sigh softly. It was just tasteless water, yet it tasted somewhat sweet in her mouth.

After finishing one cup, she drank another, finally quenching the unbearable thirst in her mouth.

Lin Qi folded another leaf cup, drank a few sips of water, and then checked his wounds again. The wounds were somewhat festering and looked a bit scary, but fortunately, they wouldn't affect his movements for the time being.

If his own wounds were in such a state, Lin Qi dared not imagine what Sylvia's body had become.

But after the initial panic, she endured even more severe injuries than I did and silently followed along until now, without even shedding a single tear.

...She's a very strong person. Lin Qi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

After a short rest, the two got up again. During this time, Lin Qi also checked their location again; the direction the wind was blowing was almost exactly the same as the direction the stream was flowing.

They had been traveling almost entirely through the forest, parallel to the stream!

However, the trees along the stream were sparse, and the moonlight was even brighter, so Lynch turned to Sylvia and gave his assessment:

"Let's follow this stream. The path is easier here, and we shouldn't have to walk much further before we find our way out."

"Um!"

Sylvia nodded vigorously, then paused for a moment, looked at Lin Qi, and suddenly spoke:

"Mr. Lynch... thank you so much this time. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would already be..."

"If only we could get out...!"

Before she could finish speaking, Lin Qi quickly interrupted her:

"I said stop!... You scared me to death, why are you suddenly setting up flags?"

He looked at Sylvia: "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly saying things like this? I'm also a victim of the accident, and my goal is to escape from here, so I was just helping you out. You don't need to overthink it."

"Just relax and let's keep going."

Sylvia didn't answer, only gently biting her lower lip. The moonlight shone on her pale face stained with blood, making the wound running down her face look particularly gruesome, yet it also added a touch of ferocity and resilience to her originally gentle and endearing features.

"...I see."

Lynch patted her on the shoulder:

"Alright, let's talk about it after we get outside. We don't know when those people will catch up, so we can't waste any more time."

"...Mm." Sylvia nodded slightly.

Lin Qi felt relieved, turned around, and prepared to continue walking forward.

But just as he turned around, a bone-chilling cold suddenly enveloped his entire body.

[Rat's Senses] sounded the alarm again, but this time the sense of danger behind him was much stronger than any he had ever felt before!

Lin Qi instinctively lowered his head, and the next second, "Whoosh—"

Something flew past his scalp.

Then, gunshots rang out in the valley.