Surviving the Swamp (Survivalist Reality Show Book 1)

by Grace Hamilton

  So, now that I’m stuck home with nothing to do, I think I’ll be writing in you a lot more. It’s kind of boring with only me and Grandpa. I know there are things we’re supposed to be doing, and I will but I needed a break from Grandpa. He won’t come in my room. He says it’s my private space and he respects my boundaries. The old guy can be pretty funny sometimes.

  I know Dad will be here soon. He wasn’t that far away. Dad is an excellent survivalist. He knows what to do and wouldn’t leave me and Grandpa alone for too long. I better go, in case he comes home today, and I haven’t done everything on the list. Now to get Grandpa to help me. Maybe I can put him on a leash. Ha-ha! Just kidding. Bye for now!

  5

  Regan walked farther away from the group, moving slow to avoid drawing attention to her departure. The arguing and everyone talking at once was too much. They weren’t doing anything. She had to do something. Standing around made her crazy. She got antsy easily, and getting out of the swamp and into the city was her priority. She’d figure out what to do once she got there and could better gauge the situation. She didn’t know if this was the right choice, but at the moment, it seemed like the only one.

  Quietly, she slid her backpack over her shoulders and did what she did best. She ran away. No one was watching or paying any attention. That was something she was used to and had learned how to use it to her advantage. Being the girl no one knew made it easy for people to forget she had ever been there. She hoped that would be the case in her current situation, and that she’d be able to disappear into the swamp without anyone following her.

  Behind her, she could still hear people talking as she headed to the back of the so-called stage. While she walked, she glanced left and right, looking for anything that could prove useful, which they might have missed. Being on her own would be challenging, but she was ready for it. It had been that way her entire life; why change her ways now?

  She mildly regretted skulking away and not saying goodbye to Tabitha, but honestly, they weren’t friends. They had only known each other a couple of weeks. They were competitors first. Their friendship probably would have fizzled out once the competition had gotten fierce. Better to end it before it got started.

  Once she was free of the stage area and out of sight, she took a deep breath. She was going into the deepest part of the swamp alone.

  “You can do this. Alone is better,” she whispered, hoping to pump herself up.

  The swamp was scary business; she knew well enough. All the talk about EMPs had her worried, too, and anxious to get back into the world to find out what was happening. She didn’t know jack about EMPs and all that stuff Fred had been talking about, but she didn’t live under a rock. This was Florida and she knew there were Naval bases around. She trusted the government as much as she trusted people who said they would never let her down, and she guessed that this was all their fault. The government had probably been screwing around with their crazy, top-secret weapons and messed up. Maybe this was a test gone wrong or they themselves had accidentally detonated a nuke high in the atmosphere. The possibilities were endless.

  Regan thought about how that would play out as she moved aside some branches and then stepped lightly along the side of a creek. The more she thought about it, the easier it was to imagine that this was her own government’s fault, and local to where they were. Maybe they’d even been testing something over the swamp thinking it wouldn’t affect many Floridians if things went wrong. If that was the case, this would all be over in a week or two. If this was some stupid accident, at the very worst, there was a good chance it was isolated to the east coast, if not this little piece of Florida. That meant she could soon be on a plane and back to Chicago or wherever it was she decided to live for the year, and within a week or two. She could survive in the city that long. Once things were back up and running, she’d be out of there. Back to working from her laptop and maintaining anonymity.

  Gabe, the crazy ex-boyfriend who had been the catalyst for her dropping everything and signing up for the show, would be a distant memory. It was his fault she was stuck in the swamp. If he would have left her alone after they’d broken up, she wouldn’t have had to run to the swamp to get away from him.

  “Let it go,” she whispered, echoing the same words she had been telling herself for years. She couldn’t worry about what she couldn’t change. It was in the past.

  Deep down, her sixth sense told her there was something much bigger going on—something that wasn’t going to be all better in a week or two. Even if she was trying to ignore it now, the truth was that Regan listened to her gut. It had kept her alive for twenty-seven years. That had to mean something.

  Wondering again if she was making the right choice in leaving behind Wolf and the others, Regan shrugged off her nerves and kept going. She had to get out of this swamp. Everything felt wrong. She couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was off, except that it felt too quiet. Too still. Maybe it was the absence of airplanes flying overhead or the lack of electricity humming through power lines. She recognized they were far from civilization, but nowhere in the world were they ever that far away. Civilization had spread to every corner of the country and there was always some sign. Planes overhead if nothing else. Her numerous solo trips into the woods or on extended hiking trips had proven that fact to her time and again. And yet… this was different.

  It was her and the trees and the muddy earth beneath her feet. She could hear the insects buzzing and the occasional sound of birds calling out. The putrid smell she had become accustomed to after the first few days in the swamp accompanied her as she silently treaded through the thick trees growing so closely together that she could only see ten feet in front of her, if that.

  Then, suddenly, Regan froze. The hairs on her arms stood on end. She wasn’t alone. She automatically went into a defensive position, crouching with her arms up, ready to defend herself even as she looked around for something to use as a weapon if she had to face a bear or some crazy hobo who’d made his home in this swamp. Her heart was pounding in her chest. A twig snapped and nearly made her jump into the air, but she managed to remain still.

  “Who’s there?” she shouted in her best, biggest bad-ass voice possible.

  She glanced left and then right before spinning around to face-off against whatever it was that had spooked her.

  Wolf Henderson practically materialized right before her eyes. The man was stealthy, she had to admit, and extremely light on his feet. She remembered one of the promos for his show playing up his Native American roots. The ability to sneak around undetected was obviously one of his inherited traits. He practically floated.

  “What the hell?” she grumbled, sighing in disgust with herself.

  He didn’t answer her with words, only offering a stern look that made her feel as if she was being scolded.

  “I don’t need any more opinions. I’ve heard enough,” she said, raising her chin defiantly.

  Wolf looked her up and down. She stood stock-still, prepared to defend herself if need be.

  “What’s your plan, Regan?”

  She scoffed. “To get out of here. Shouldn’t that be your plan? Who wants to hang out in a swamp?”

  He slowly nodded his head. “So, you thought heading off on your own was a good idea? The others who left were smart enough to go in pairs.”

  A small, thin smile spread across her face. “I do think it’s a good idea. I’m not them. I’ve been on my own most of my life and don’t need anyone else. I’ve been alone in the woods and in plenty of other dicey situations, and look, I’m still here.”

  He smirked. “Everyone’s luck runs out some time.”

  She shrugged. “Mine hasn’t yet,” she shot back.

  “What do you plan to do?” he asked again.

  “I plan to get out of here instead of standing around talking about getting out of here.” Her voice had taken on a hard edge, but she took a solid step toward him, holding his gaze. “Once I get to town, I’ll decide what
to do from there. You may be an expert in this environment,” she said, raising her hands to indicate the swamp. “But, I’m an expert out there. I’ve got street smarts for days. Being alone on the streets is just another day for me. Trust me, I’ll be fine.”

  Wolf’s expression told her everything she needed to know; he thought she was an idiot.

  “Regan, why not stay with us? It’s safer. Working together as a group lightens your load. You don’t have to do this alone.”

  Now the man was really irritating her. “Wolf, listen, thanks, but no thanks. I got this. I do better alone. All that drama going on back there; that is not my thing.”

  He smiled, and it wasn’t the first time she’d noticed how attractive he was when he wasn’t scowling at her or someone else. The guy tended to be too serious for her taste.

  “Drama is part of a group dynamic. But what you’re seeing isn’t always drama. Not like you think of it. People talk. People have opinions and, while it can be a little frustrating, it is helpful to solving a problem. Believe it or not, you are not all-knowing. It helps to have different sets of eyes to look at a problem.”

  Regan chuckled, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “I don’t need to be all-knowing to know I don’t want to listen to Fred’s wacky ideas or hear Geno’s ridiculously loud voice.”

  Wolf stared at her. “You shouldn’t be so dismissive, Regan. Fred has some crazy-sounding ideas maybe, but if you were smart, you would listen to those ideas and realize they’re not so crazy. The key is to sort through the idea and find the little kernels of value, and use them. And Geno,” he said, smiling and shaking his head, “he’s loud, but it isn’t intentional or him being mean that I can see. He’s a loud, Italian man.”

  Regan rolled her eyes and wiped her sweaty bangs away from her eyes. She knew Wolf was right, but that didn’t mean she needed to saddle herself with that kind of irritation.

  “This is nothing personal,” she said after a moment, glancing back to the way she’d been heading, away from Wolf. “You guys will do great. I’m not the girl to hang with your group. Thanks, though,” she said, her mind made up.

  When he stepped toward her, Regan stiffened. She didn’t think Wolf would force her to join them, but if he tried, she was ready to fight.

  Instead of making a move to touch her, he opened his hand and held it out. She glanced down and relaxed. “Where did you find that?” she asked, looking at the EpiPen he was holding.

  He shrugged. “If you’re going to be on your own, you’d better take this.”

  She looked at the pen, but didn’t take it from his outstretched hand. She was leery of anything being given to her. People never did anything without wanting something in return.

  “This is the pen I’ve kept on me. I’ve had it since the first day you arrived. I knew about your allergy and wanted to be ready to help if needed,” he explained gently, his voice softer than it had been a moment before.

  She met his eyes, swallowing the retort that had been hanging on her tongue. “I didn’t know.”

  “No, you didn’t. When you’re with a group of people, each of them is watching out for you, like Tabitha did that first day when you needed immediate help.”

  “I could have given myself the shot,” Regan fired back, annoyed that he’d remind her of it. As if she could forget.

  He shrugged. “Yes, but wasn’t it easier to have her do it? Why do everything the hard way?”

  Regan couldn’t think of a response to that. “Can I have it?” she asked instead.

  “Yes. I have more on my island, as well.”

  Regan reached for the pen, but then stopped herself. “Why? Do you have an allergy? Or your daughter?” she asked, suddenly hesitant to take life-saving medicine from a child.

  He shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I have them just in case. I’m prepared for anything. When I started stockpiling goods, I thought about what would mean the difference between life and death for people. I know people can develop allergies for no rhyme or reason. I wanted to make sure I had what was necessary to save my daughter or my father, should one of them suddenly become allergic to shellfish.”

  She eyed him suspiciously. “Does that actually happen? One day you’re eating crab and you’re all good, and then the next your throat is closing?”

  He nodded. “It can happen. Too much of anything is a bad thing. If you were eating nothing but crab day in and day out for months or longer, there’s a chance you could suddenly become allergic. In fact, most people don’t develop an allergy to shrimp and other shellfish until they’re adults. It’s one of those things. I’d rather be prepared, so I’ve stocked the pens.”

  Regan shook her head in surprise, but reached out and took the pen from him, examining it for a moment before she stuffed it into a pocket of her pack. “I didn’t know that.”

  He grinned. “See what you can learn by hanging out with other people? We’ve been talking five minutes, maybe, and you already know more than you did before you walked out here. I know you think you know all there is to know about surviving on your own, but you can always learn more. Me, too. I can learn from you. I can learn from Fred, Geno, and Tabitha. It’s all about playing off other people’s strengths to make yourself stronger.”

  That made her smile. “Ah, so you’re only using me?” she teased.

  His deep laugh was genuine. “Pretty much. Feel free to use me anyway you’d like. I’m game.”

  Examining his smile, Regan took a deep breath and made a split-second decision. Before she could doubt her instincts again, she nodded, her mind made up. “All right, I get it. I’ll stay,” she told him.

  Wolf grinned back at her, his white teeth flashing against his bronze skin in the gloom of the swamp. “Good.”

  “I’m only staying because I plan on using you and the rest of them,” Regan pointed out, smiling despite herself.

  The comment made him laugh, and she realized she liked the sound of it.

  “Fine,” he acknowledged. “Honestly, the only real reason I want you to stick around is because you have that hammock. I don’t want to sleep on the ground, and it will take too long to build a lifted platform every night.”

  She glared at him. “You assume I’m going to share it with you.”

  He shrugged a shoulder, casting a flirty look her way as he grinned. He was flirting with her again, she realized. He had been since they’d first met. She didn’t mind a bit, really. Guys flirted with her. Wolf favoring her could work to her advantage. She knew it was a little manipulative, but this was about surviving. Every person in the group could help or hinder her.

  In her mind, she was already identifying the strengths of each of the group members and categorizing them into neat little boxes. Tabitha was a paramedic and would be useful to all of them. Fortunately, Regan liked her and was happy to hang out with her for a few more days while they made their way out of the swamp.

  Geno wasn’t exactly a rocket scientist, but the guy did seem to know engines. If they could find a car, he could prove useful. Then there was Fred. The man grated on her nerves with his jokes. He was big, clumsy, and a complete goofball, but he was smart. He could probably build a rocket if he wanted to, she mused. Wolf, well, he was a survival guru. With her street smarts and his experience as a survivalist, they could help each other.

  “I can see the wheels turning,” Wolf commented, bringing her back to the moment. “Have you decided we’re worthy of your company?” he asked.

  “Yes. I said I’ll stay. Any funny business, though, and I’m out,” she warned him.

  He nodded. “Fine. Let’s get back to the others and get ready to move out. I want to make sure everyone’s bags are an appropriate weight. Too heavy and they’re going to slow them down.”

  “We need the stuff. They’ll have to suck it up. It isn’t like we have a lot of gear after those jerks took everything,” she grumbled.

  “Twenty pounds is more than I want anyone carrying.”

  Reg
an shimmied a little, moving her own pack around on her back. “I don’t have twenty pounds on my back.”

  “Good, then if someone else does, we redistribute some to you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Fine. But can we please hurry up and do this?”

  He smiled. “Yes. Can I test your pack?”

  Regan bit back a snide remark, but slid the pack from her shoulders and handed it over.

  He bounced it up and down, raising an eyebrow at her as he did. “This is more than twenty pounds. Closer to thirty.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “No way.”

  “Trust me, it is. That water alone is a pound per bottle. You have three. Add in the pack itself and the other stuff you have in here, and it’s going to weigh you down. A couple hours and you’re going to be feeling the strain.”

  “I can do it,” Regan hissed, pulling her pack back from his grip and slipping it back over her shoulders.

  They walked back onto the set together. When Tabitha saw Regan, she smiled.

  “Thank you,” she said, walking up to greet her.

  “For what?” Regan asked.

  “For staying with us. I would have been worried sick about you out there all on your own.”

  Regan shrugged uncomfortably. “I hope I’m making the right decision.”

  “You are,” Wolf said firmly.

  She looked away, thinking he was probably right.

  6

  Predictably, it took about two seconds before she felt she’d actually made a mistake in returning to the group.

  “Everyone, I know we’re all anxious to get out of here, but I want to make sure our packs are light enough. We need to do what we can to distribute the weight evenly. This isn’t sexist,” he added, looking directly at Regan and Tabitha, “but it is a fact that the men will be able to carry more.”