Survival Challenge Gone Wrong

Chapter 5 - Day 2

Their agenda stood as follows:

Gather wood and larger rocks for materials.

Seems simple, right? But no. Gen watched, horrified as Senku wrote out a little list in the sand of everything they would make with just a few sticks and rocks.

Rope

Axe

Toothbrushes (Gen highly doubted that one, though it would be nice.)

Pit for cooking

Traps for hunting

Raft - this one was written to the side with more notes that were hard to read on the sand with the wind messing up the blonde's efforts.

Some extra tidbits that Gen honestly ignored until it had to come up later, and just followed Senku into the forest so he could show him exactly what was needed.

"See this one?" The younger pointed at a thin long branch, using his small knife to cut it off from a larger branch of the black pine tree native to the island, showing the cross-section. "If it is mostly green on the inside then it's flexible and usable. Though it is a bit harder to work with." He then pointed at a bush growing just to the side. "The Chrysanthemum pacificum on the other hand, has a lot of usable branches we can just cut off whole. Unfortunately, they are scarce, and we need to settle on the trees if we don't find any more around here."

Gen hummed, scouting the area and calculating the workload, "Wow, you sure know a lot, Senku-chan."

The other shrugged, "Not really, this is just common knowledge. Come on, I'll cut off the branches and we can carry them back so I can show you how to make the rope. Can you search for some rocks in the meantime? They need to be big, smooth and dense. Ideally tapering in shape like an axe would, but we'll have to shape them anyhow." Quickly firing the instructions, Senku left Gen alone to focus on the bush, working on cutting off the branches. Gen stared at him for a short while and turned to look at the ground before he could overthink his task.

They fell into silence again, surrounded by sounds of shuffling, hacking on wood and some unintelligible bird cries. Gen walked across the perimeter, eyes scanning for rocks and kicking some he thought might work to nudge them out of the ground, before crouching to inspect further. Surprisingly, it was a harder feat than he thought. While most rocks were smooth, they were often uneven, too small, split into clunky parts or just way too thick. All this movement made Gen's body remind him of the soreness. But he persevered, collecting a few he thought were right for the job and storing them in the fabric of his shirt like a pouch.

This is going to stretch it out, he thought offhandedly, though it was decidedly the least of his worries. Squatting again to inspect another rock, his knees popped. Gen cringed at the sound and glanced over to where Senku was working. The scientist had a more static job, only moving his arms and upper body. He was leaning in to briefly inspect the branch, then grabbing it to hack at its base and finally throwing it into a loose pile behind him. They have worked for some time, the movements becoming automated and mechanical.

Blowing the hair out of his face, Gen scrutinised the sad rock below him. He lifted it to check the back and noticed a hoard of some crawly gross insects scurrying from the exposed dent. He shrieked loudly and jumped away, startling Senku from his task.

"What happened?"

Gen pulled the most exasperated expression he could muster. "An insect patch." He noticed the younger perk up and raised his voice before Senku could suggest something outrageous. "We are NOT going to eat bugs!"

Despite his deterrent, the scientist was already standing next to Gen, studying the creatures. Their shoulders brushed briefly when Senku turned to face him. "They are a good source of protein, reliable too. This species is abundant in environments like these and-"