Fish!! The sequel

Having gutted and skinned the fish Ace was separating all the innards into piles of what looks edible and what looks not-so-edible with separate piles for soft tissue and skeleton. The head lay on it's own. He had managed to skin it pretty well and even scraped off and gathered the oil from around the surprisingly fat fish's body on top of the skin. He had also cut off the remaining fins to use as backup to his current knife.

Ace could use the soft innards as bait to get more fish and make some tools of the bones, maybe some needles, knives or arrowheads. The main problem was what to do with all the meat. He could grill it but he wasn't sure he could eat all of it before it went bad.

'The AC!'

Since food went bad due to microbes transmitted through air, air that the AC could purify. If he put the air converter in an enclosed space with the meat it shouldn't go bad that quickly. With a possible way to store meat Ace decided it was best to cook it all.

Gathering used up splinters from the young trees he wondered if he should go looking for more firewood. With his new knife he could probably cut a few trees down, but they would still be damp with their tree juice.

Ace figured if he could get the bark from the grown trees it would probably burn pretty well once it caught fire.

Grabbing his knife and heading over to the forest Ace was still doubtful about it even though he had to try. Could a knife as thin and fragile-looking as his really cut through something as solid as stone.

He didn't spend much time thinking about what tree to chose, he just went to the closest one and put the blade against the trunk at the height of his head and pushed downwards slowly. Although it wasn't as easy as when he slid it against his skin he managed to get a sheet almost a meter long and a hand wide on his first try. Continuing right next to the first one he shaved off several more sheets.

Bringing the sheets with him back to where he had placed the fish meat on a few cabinet doors from the pod he prepared the rest of the firewood. Ace used the knife to chip of even smaller strips and pieces that would easier catch fire.

Digging a small firepit in the sand he placed the smallest and thinnest pieces of wood at the bottom. With a few smidgens of the fish fat on top he struck with his fire striker on it.

He expected it to take a lot of time since the wood was sturdy and the oil was from a weird fish from a weird sea and although it wasn't on the first try it only took a few moments for the fragments to catch fire. Slightly surprised Ace prepared the next size and put it over the small pile of fire. He gradually increased the size of the pieces and finally he laid fourth of a sheet of bark from a grown tree over the fire.

As the fire slowly consumed the sheet Ace noticed it getting hotter and some time later when it was more smoldering charcoal than fire he placed slabs of fish he had skewered, over the fire. With the depth of the pit he could place them right across the pit, above the fire. With the red meat reflecting the orange flickering from the burning coals it almost looked like a scene from hell. Or it would have if not for the sandy beach and bright daylight.

Since the pod wasn't equipped with any spices he had to make due with the fish's natural taste, nonetheless the aroma was mouth-watering. The scent of the fish being grilled and the slight woody smoke from the bark combined with the sound of oil dripping down and sizzling on the charcoal to make paradise on earth.

Although Ace wanted to grill it perfectly, since he hadn't grilled it before he decided to go for the safe route and grill it too much instead of undercooking it and consuming some weird bacteria.

As the surface of the meat reached almost dangerously grilled levels Ace picked up the skewers and placed three of them upright in the ground with the fourth in his hand. With it so close to his nose he could smell both the slightly burnt meat and the aroma of cooked fish.

Taking a bite of the first piece was incredibly satisfying. The crunchy surface easily transitioned over to a juicy inside. Ace barely felt the juices running down the sides of his mouth as he was enamored with the taste and experience of eating grilled fish for the first time in who knows how long. It wasn't even a scrawny mutated fish living off of garbage and polluted waters. It was a nice, fat, juicy fish, filled with proper nutrients and energy. Before he noticed he had cleaned the skewer.

Before taking the next one he placed a new bark sheet on the fire so he could continue grilling.

All the cooked fish was gone in a flash as Ace only felt satiated after the fourth skewer.

Waiting for the fire to burn out and become live coal so he could grill what's left of the fish he noticed how hot he was getting, or more specifically his blood and how it was rushing through his veins. His blood pressure and heartbeat rose dramatically and he could see the veins on his arms on the verge of bursting.

Panicking, Ace wondered if he was about to explode in a bloody mess but it seemed as if whatever happened to his body only pushed it to it's absolute limit.

Ace's senses were overwhelmed and the only thing he could hear was the blood rushing through his veins, all over his body he could feel the blood and his heartbeat thumping wildly. Whether he closed his eyes or kept them open, whatever he saw was covered in a red hue. His nose and mouth were filled with the smell and taste of blood and iron.

Doing the only thing he thought reasonable, Ace used a breathing technique that was developed to even out and stabilize irregular breathing and blood circulation in case of involuntary seizures or panic attacks. It was perfect for this situation.

Although his blood didn't calm down it was less erratic and more rhythmic, like his normal heartbeat but much more powerful.

Ace lost track of time as he focused on keeping his breathing under control. It seemed like it would never end but eventually Ace coughed up blood and collapsed on the ground.