by S A Ison
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Christian and Marla Eastan sat in camp chairs drinking instant coffee. The camera men were off with the contestants filming. Marla was reading on her tablet, she had a solar charger, and was glad she’d brought it. This was the first time she’d been away from the real world. She’d been told it would be a four-day trek, but she’d not been prepared for a twelve hour walk each day.
She felt almost like one of the contestants. Thank god she’d worn her running shoes, if she’d have worn anything else, she’d have been crippled. She thought she was lucky her feet hadn’t gotten swollen from all the walking. She’d tripped a couple of times and nearly twisted her ankle.
It was nice of the people in production to let her know the extent of the walking, not. She didn’t know if they didn’t tell her on purpose or they just didn’t realize that no vehicles could come out this way. It didn’t matter now, they were here. She’d passed out last night, it was all she could do to keep her body from sagging. That would have been embarrassing.
Even Christian had been done in. She’d caught him taking a nip from his flask from time to time and wondered how he’d gotten it past customs. She was glad she didn’t have to try to survive out here, she was pretty damn sure she would not survive at all.
As beautiful as it was, it was at the ends of the earth. Nothing but pure wilderness, packaged in beauty. It was bad enough being stuck here for two months with Christian. She’d wanted Warren Renard to host the show, but the network had settled on Christian. What a poser.
He looked good, looked fit, but everyone in Hollywood knew he was a coke whore. She wondered if he’d brought any, or if he had a little common sense, getting caught in China with cocaine could lead to serious prison time. Not to mention, he might try to bang all the females within a mile of himself. She hoped they’d not get slapped with a sexual harassment suit at the end of this.
She got up and poured more coffee, she turned to Christian, who also had his tablet. There was no internet of course, but they’d each downloaded books to read during their time there as well as games.
“You want any coffee Christian? I’m about to make me another cup.”
“No thanks, I’m good. I’d kill for a candy bar, you think they packed us any?” he asked, getting up and going over to the small crates.
“I’m not sure, I think they only packed MREs and water, and also water purifying tablets for when the bottled water runs out. Those porters won’t be back until next week with the supplies, so be careful, we only have enough for the week. You go over that, and we go hungry.” She said, looking at him over her reading glasses.
She sat back down and picked up her tablet and noticed the power had gone out. She sighed heavily and went to the solar charger and plugged it in. It didn’t come on. She unplugged and reconnected it. She moved the solar charger to a sunnier spot, but nothing happened. Great, now the god damn thing breaks, of all times, she thought and huffed.
She left it plugged in and went back to her camp chair with her coffee. It was going to be a long two months. She watched as Christian dug around in the boxes. For some reason, he bugged the hell out of her. Did he not hear her say they had to be careful with supplies? He finally gave up and went to sit back down.
“Hey, my tablet isn’t working.” He said, trying to turn it off and on and then shook it, as if that would help.
“Try to plug it into the solar charger.” Marla suggested. She watched as he fiddled with it and plugged and unplugged it.
“Nothing. Your’s not working either?”
“No, maybe the solar charger isn’t working like it is suppose to. Where was it made, China?” she laughed at her own joke. He shot her a filthy look and went back to his chair and sat down heavily.
“Did you pick this god damn place? Why couldn’t you pick a place where we could go to a fucking hotel for Christ’s sakes, why put us in the friggen middle of nowhere? I feel like I’m a god damn contestant. Do we at least have a deck of cards?” he asked sullenly.
“Probably not and we had to pack light, but you can check, I’m sure Bruce might have slipped some in, he loves his poker. We were lucky to get here, I chose this locale two years ago and it was a struggle to get permission from China, and all the red tape, but it is worth it. This place was so amazing and just perfect for drama. These people are already at each other’s throats. I can’t believe what a lucky draw it was for Carol and Grayson, I think he might just try to kill her.” She laughed.
Christian grinned as well, “Yeah, how about that, what luck. Her and Vana are such drama queens, I think either one will be gone by next week. I do feel bad for Grayson and Leo, that was just shit luck for them to get stuck with those two. Who do you have your money on to win?”
“I’m putting my money on Aiden, Sarah is a good help, I saw her resume, she is good with plants and she’s been doing survival stuff for about a year I believe.” Marla said, taking a sip of her cooling coffee.
“My money is on Gabe Carter, though Henry Zorn is a strong fellow, a lobsterman, right? Yeah, but Gabe, he is a mountain climber, mountain biker, hiker and survivalist. Besides, wasn’t Aiden injured some time ago? He might have that old injury flare up. You want to place a bet on whoever wins?”
“Christian, you know we can’t do that, you want us to get in trouble?” Marla’s dark brows grew down together.
“What? Who would know? It would just be between the two of us.”
And you’ve got the biggest fucking mouth in town asshole, she thought, but said, “No, absolutely not.” She got up and stretched, and went to look at her tablet, still nothing. She fiddled with the cord, and shifted the panel towards the sun. Nothing. Then she heard Tom Bale coming out of the forest, he was talking to Hudson, the other cameraman.
“Why aren’t you two with the teams?” Marla asked, not happy at all.
“Our cameras aren’t working. Mine stopped and I was coming here for another battery and then I ran into Hudson.” Tom explained. Then Bruce walked out from the forest and into the clearing. Marla’s brow shot up in question.
“Let me guess, your camera isn’t working either.” She snapped. Bruce shrugged and grinned.
“Try swapping out the batteries.” Christian suggested.
They all stood around as the cameramen shifted their equipment and dug into the packs for extra batteries. They each swapped them out, and tried their equipment. No one looked happy.
“What the hell? How are we supposed to shoot this shit without cameras? I’d better call.” Marla said and went to her tent for the satellite phone. When she came out of the tent, she had a worried and confused look on her face.
“My sat phone isn’t working. It had a full charge and it should work, but it is dead. Did you use it Christian?” her eyes narrowed and looked over to the blond man with the big teeth.
“Why the hell are you asking me? I didn’t touch your shit.” He said defensively.
“Anyone have a cellphone?” Marla asked.
“Cell phones don’t work out here Marla.” Christian quipped snidely.
“But they can video asshole. If we have to, we can use our cellphones as cameras until we can get replacements. We can just film bits and pieces and then editing can put it all together later. Along with what has been shot so far.”
Everyone pulled out their cellphones, and then looked around at each other.
“Mine isn’t working” Tom said and shrugged.
“Neither is mine.” Said Bruce and Hudson together and looked at each other.
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Carol tiptoed around the trees, looking for things to eat. It had only been two hours since breakfast and she was already starving. She could hear her stomach even now, growling like a wild animal. Grayson had found them a large fallen tree that had a hallow cavity for them to live in. She wasn’t crazy about it, but had acquiesced when he said if they found something better, they would claim it. If there were any bugs or snakes in there, she’d kick Grayson in the nuts. He
was such a cranky old bastard. Once more she bemoaned her plight.
Why had she gotten an old geezer? She didn’t give a damn if he did run marathons, they weren’t running one here. Why couldn’t she have gotten that cute Connor? She had the worst luck. Grayson was now looking for water since he’d brought a canteen as his choice item, and she had been tasked with looking for food. She was coming up short and her stomach was complaining, she had chosen a knife as her item, but it wasn’t doing her much good right now.
She was still angry, she had thought for sure that she would end up on a beach somewhere, not this god forsaken place in the middle of nowhere, and she’d almost brought sunblock as her item, she was glad she didn’t. Everyone seemed so happy about this place, but her and Vana. And she gets stuck with some old guy, she knew that she was going to lose fast, and now, she didn’t even care.
She jerked and cried out, swatting wildly, she felt something had landed on her and she spun around, hitting her hair and shoulders, then she saw some kind of bug and she screamed and flicked it to the ground and stomped on it. If they’d gone to a remote island, and had a beach, she’d have been thrilled. She squatted down and looked at a plant with blue berries on it.
She picked one and put it in her mouth and chewed. Her mouth puckered up and she spit it out hastily, it was so sour. She spit and spit to clear the taste out. She wiped her hand on her mouth. She stood and looked around, there was nothing to eat in this place, how in the hell was she going to survive two months?
Grayson had better find something or she was going to call it quits. And her god damn feet hurt, why didn’t they tell her she would need boots? It is like they wanted her to fail at this. They give her an old man and she didn’t have the right shoes. She headed back to their log to take a nap. She was tired of looking around for something that wasn’t here. She climbed around and looked, but didn’t see the log.
She called out for Grayson but didn’t hear him. So, she kept walking, looking around. She found some orange berries and grabbed one and stuck it in her mouth and chewed and then screamed and spit it out. She started crying, she was so hungry and all these pretty berries tasted terrible. And she couldn’t find her log. She kept walking, calling for Grayson, but couldn’t find him anywhere.
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Grayson stood behind a tree and watched Carol stumble off in the wrong direction. His face hardened and his lip curled with contempt. He wasn’t going to help her, she was a tiresome bitch, a whiny bitch and he’d just rather see her disappear into the wilderness. Grayson thought that perhaps it had all been scripted. A set up. He’d waited five years to be on this program. Had worked hard, had prepared, and had lost it all when he’d been given her as a partner. He’d lost his chance at the millions, so why bother trying to help her? She was as useless as tits on a boar. He shook his head as he watched her stumble in those stupid sandals.
Another wave of rage washed through him. Deep down, he’d known they’d done it on purpose. For ratings, for drama. He should have known, there would be no real contest. It was all smoke and mirrors. Christ. He’d given up so fucking much for this one shot. That stupid woman. Jesus.
No common sense, maybe it was good he let her go off on her own, god help anyone who had a kid with her, it would be another stupid and useless person in the world. He took a bite of a root, it was almost like bamboo shoots, but very soft. It was actually not bad, he’d have shared it with her, but then, it would be a waste of food. He took a drink of his water.
He laughed when she slid down the hill, and she got back up and kept walking. He’d not thought of himself as a mean-spirited man, but Carol brought out the worst in him. Combine that with the devastating knowledge that the contest was over for him, before it had even begun. He turned and made his way back to the tree trunk. If he were lucky, they’d find her body in a day or two, maybe she’d fall off a cliff or something.
He wondered if there were poisonous snakes, and hoped maybe she’d get bitten or something. He knew everyone was laughing at him, they’d all made fun of Carol and Vana the very first day and when her name had been pulled out of the pith helmet along with his, he felt himself die inside. He also saw the pitying glances of the others. They knew, like Leo, that they were fucked. Two useless women.
He’d wanted to call it quits the very first day, when he’d found out who is partner was. Even now, he could kick himself for not turning around and catching the first flight home. He could at least console himself that he would be heading home next week, because he was sure they would be kicked off first. He got back to the hallow tree and crawled inside. He closed his eyes and tried to calm the hate that was swirling around in his brain like a hive of angry bees. He really did hope the bitch fell off a cliff.
Once more, he was surprised at the hate and rage that swirled within. He’d never thought himself as that kind of man. But here it was, and it was ugly. He didn’t like that glimpse of his darker self. Was it that he was tired? He knew most of it was the disappointment and wasted effort. He’d known there were stupid people out there, and had done his best of avoid them. But to have one connected to him. To have influence over his life.
He shook his head and looked up into the interior of the large log. The tree had been massive. He watched as a bug of some kind, walked its way across the ceiling of the log. Its long legs looked disjointed and it picked its way along the rough interior. A vicious smile curved his lips. Carol would have a shit fit if she saw that. It brought out a bark of laughter. He felt warm tears slide down the sides of his face. He didn’t bother wiping at them.
CHAPTER THREE
Henry and Gabe finally found a small waterfall about a half mile from the larger one that Aiden and Sarah had claimed. Henry had been pissed, but was now feeling better about things. Gabe found an overhang, it wasn’t a cave or anything, but it was pretty good shelter from the elements.
They had seen the cameraman, Hudson, following them and tried not to look at the camera. They’d been told to act natural and pretend the cameras weren’t there. He’d been glad when Hudson had left and he and Gabe could relax and find some food. They’d found a small pool in a clearing and had found some watercress to eat.
“You sure this shit isn’t poisonous?” He asked Gabe for the third time.
“Dude, I told you, it’s fine. You can eat these, they are like tubers. As long as they aren’t too bitter. You catch any fish with that line yet?”
“No, but I’m sure as shit glad I chose to bring fishing line and hook for my choice. I thought for sure we’d be on some beach somewhere, but I think this is better. Not so fucking hot.” Henry said.
“I’m glad too, my fire starter is okay, but we’d be shit out of luck if we couldn’t cook the fish, I don’t like sushi.” Gabe laughed.
“Man, I feel really bad for Grayson and Leo, they got fucked bad. Those girls are pretty, but useless. You know Carol is crying right now, bitching the whole time. What do you think about Sarah, Abby and Diana?” Henry asked.
“Abby is okay, her and Sarah are a little too chunky. Diana is hot, you know she was checking me out.” Gabe laughed.
“You’re full of shit, she wasn’t even looking at you, she was looking at Sarah, she’s gay dude. And so is Sam, he’s a body builder, right? And I heard Sarah saying she added on like twenty pounds or so just for this, that was really smart. Cause you know we’re all going to be losing some weight.” Henry said, patting his small paunch.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know Diana was gay or Sam, doesn’t matter, most of the people who hook up don’t last long.”
“Are you shitting me? Really?” Henry asked, laughing, “they only hook up cause they think they can get away with it. I’m glad I ain’t married no more.”
“Yeah, well Sam and Hunter were eyeing each other. I’d not be surprised if they hooked up.” Gabe said, taking another bite of root. The line began to jerk and Henry jumped and pulled the line in, landing a seven-inch fish. He threw it far from the bank and grinned
at Gabe.
“One down, several more to go. Abby wouldn’t be so bad, but she’s got some jacked up teeth. Man, can’t get passed that. Her body is okay, she isn’t skinny like Vana and Carol, but she’s got a weird shape.” Henry said, tossing the line back out with a cricket skewered on the hook. He sat back and looked around.
“This place isn’t half bad, its peaceful, like out at sea. Marla is pretty hot, don’t you think?”
“I’d be seasick, I don’t know how the hell you can stand it out on those small boats and big friggen waves. And I’ve never dated a black chick, I think she is pretty though, especially when she gives Christian the evil eye.” Gabe laughed.
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Joey Burk and Connor Hill walked down toward the main camp, both men were hungry and angry. Leo and Vana had found a small cave just as they had come up on it, if their zipper on the backpack hadn’t stuck, they would have planted their flags, as it was Leo rammed his in by the cave, crowing. Joey and Connor had to keep looking and Connor was pissed, he’d come across Grayson taking a nap in a log.
They didn’t see Carol, but figured she must be farther inside. It was a big log. In the end, they had found a small stream and decided to build a lean-to. He’d brought an ax and Joey had a machete, which was great for building their structure, but it kept falling. They found a few vines and got it put together finally. Fucking Tom was filming them all the while shit kept falling. Both he and Joey were glad when he left.
They’d not found any food, and were hungry as hell. It was getting dark and neither looked forward to finding their way back in the dark. He hoped this bullshit meeting wouldn’t take long. He looked over and saw Sarah and Aiden coming, they were carrying a torch. Maybe he could get a stick and get some of their fire. He nudged Joey, and nodded to the torch Aiden was carrying. “Let’s see if we can get some fire from them, okay?”
“Hell yeah, let’s see if we can get some food, or if they’ll let us get food from the boxes.” Joey suggested.