Survival Island (reality show)

3. Explanations without answers

Sebastian hangs back on the rear of the group. He doesn’t need to be front and center to hear things, his hearing is superior to the humans around. This way enables him to watch the others and learn a few things about his competition. Not to be too obvious about what he’s really doing, he listens carefully to the questions being asked and who asked them. If they don’t ask what he wants to know he will.

“Is the prize really a million?” Someone asks.

“Yes.” The coordinator answers with a smile.

“Like in US dollars?” The money question again.

“Yes. It was clearly stated in the invite.” The coordinator says and Sebastian starts to question his competition. Asking meaningless questions about things they already know? Really? Who are these people? How did they get in? The prize won’t help you survive the island! Ask something that you really need to know out there.

“So, the show is 10 days? What happens when the time runs out?” The annoying guy from the plane asks. Finally a reasonable question, Sebastian thinks.

“The initial time for you to get over the course is 10 days. Who gets there first, wins. We have foreseen that it might take longer, so the first pick up at the finish line will be in 10 days, the next boat will be there on day 20, anything after that...Well...we’ll come look for you.” The coordinator tells them and Sebastian thinks there is something the guy is not telling. The problem is, he doesn’t know what to ask to get the answer he needs.

“If someone gets there faster? Will you make me wait?” The annoying guy asks. Damn, the cockiness of the guy, assuming he will win.

“No. The pick up point camera will alert us to come sooner, if that happens.” The coordinator smirks. So, he doesn’t believe this guy can win? Interesting, very interesting. Sebastian doesn’t believe it either, the guy is everything but ready for Survival Island. His head is too messed up for that, he saw a glimpse of that on the plane.

“You listed an obstacle course. What kind is it? Do we get points for it?” Someone asks and Sebastian zeroes in on the guy. Short and stocky. A little on the fat side.

“You don’t get any points. The obstacles are there to make it harder. We eliminated the easy passages to the other side of the island. It’s up to you how you get over or around them.” The answer is as vague as it can be. He notes that the coordinator is trying his best to sound normal, searching for words to not give anything away.

“You listed we get a map of the island. How big is this island, that we need a map and 10 days to get over it?” Magnus asks and Sebastian listens to this one intently. A very wise question indeed.

“The island is 80 kilometers long. You have to get over the whole distance. In theory, you could do it in five days, but we reserved a few more days because it’s a jungle terrain.” The coordinator explains. Again with nothing much to go by, but he uses kilometers not miles. Mistake number one: ordinary people still use miles.

“What’s that in miles? I’m sure no one here is Canadian.” Someone asks and that makes Sebastian chuckle.

“About 50 miles.” The coordinator sighs.

“Quel genre d'animaux y a-t-il sur l'île? Si nous sommes censés attraper notre propre nourriture, je veux savoir ce que j'obtiendrai.” Someone asks in a Cajun sounding French twang.

“What was that?” The coordinator looks up from his clipboard in surprise.

“He wants to know what kind of animals are on the island, if we are to catch our own food.” Sebastian translates and turns to the guy that asked in the first place. “Try to speak English. Cajun is not something most people understand.”

“How do you know it?” The guy asks in perfect English.

“I got a few friends from Baton Rouge, but that’s not relevant here.” Sebastian shrugs it off. “Can we get an answer to the first question? I think we’d all like to know what our food options will be.” 

“Well...There are snakes, birds, gators and fish.” The coordinator answers. “Add the ordinary jungle spiders and insects.”

“Me like me some gators…” The Cajun laughs at that.

“How many of those are poisonous?” Magnus wants to know.

“Erm...” The coordinator trails off.

“You don’t know? You’ve got someone who does? A local maybe?” Magnus inquires.

“Yeah. That would be good to know!” A few guys insert and a heated debate strikes up over the effects of poison and what deadly things live in the tropical rain forests.

Listening to the debate with a smile, Sebastian finds out more about the competition. Some of them have done a few survival trainings and two have even been on the Discovery survival shows. They seem to know quite a lot about poisonous animals. He exchanges a look with Magnus and the guy shrugs. It was a valid question and the debate that came from it is useful as well. Maybe Magnus can be an ally at this show?

‘He is good. I wouldn’t have thought to ask about poisonous critters.’ His wolf inserts.

'Yeah. We don’t care much for those, but a few snakes can be deadly if we don’t watch out for them.’ He answers.

‘It will be fun to see what the old man comes up with.’ The wolf muses.

‘Yeah. He sneaked off. You think anyone else noticed?’ Sebastian chuckles.

‘Probably not.’ The wolf says.

Magnus comes up to him and leans on the railing of the ship. They haven’t left the port yet and it’s getting dark. He likes the smell of the sea water and the distant cries of the seagulls. It's calming him even with the debate getting out of hand. He will not interfere this time, the deck hands are there to observe everything and some have security badges. He saw that when they came on board.

“I didn’t think my question would have such an effect.” Magnus says to him.

“Me neither, but you got them good. I can’t believe they didn’t research what kind of critters live on the island. Or is that part of the game? Will they leave it to chance? Are we to find out what to stay clear of?” Sebastian answers.

“Haven’t thought about it that way. It’s possible. It would play into the survival game well. Get bitten by a poisonous spider, your own fault.” Magnus says.

“A bit risky if you can’t call for help.” Sebastian thinks that he should ask about that. Do they have some means to call for help? What can they do if someone gets seriously hurt? Will the camera operator send someone or will they just leave them there?

“What are you thinking about? You’re not going to bail out?” Magnus inquires.

“Nah. I’m not a quitter. I was thinking if we get some way to call for help during the show. As much as I understand, we’ll be alone on the island. What if someone gets hurt and can’t continue?” He answers and glances around. The others are still debating poisons and the coordinator is suspiciously absent.

“That is a valid concern.” Magnus agrees.

“OK, guys! Calm down!” The coordinator shouts as he comes back. “You have a few cabins under the deck if you want to get some sleep. We won’t be on location before dawn.”

“What about the poisonous spiders and snakes?” One of the guys asks.

“There are two poisonous spiders on the island and one snake. I will provide pictures in the morning so you know what to avoid.” The coordinator says. “I think that’s all for now.”

“One last question, if I may?” Sebastian speaks up. “In case someone needs medical attention, can we call for help from the island or not? Will the camera operators look out for things like that and send someone?”

“We haven’t foreseen that someone would get hurt, but I can get the camera team to watch for that.” The coordinator shoots out.

“I see. No communications then.” Sebastian smirks.

The coordinator lifts his hand to his ear and Sebastian notices the small communications device he’s using. Someone is feeding him answers or something else, maybe? The guy sighs and looks over the men on the deck.

“I would advise you all to get under the deck. We’re coming into some rough sea and high winds. You can also get some food from the ship's cook. And we’ll provide breakfast before we leave you on the island.”

“Can I get a single cabin? I don’t want to listen to snoring.” The annoying guy asks.

“No. We all share cabins.” The coordinator tells him and turns to leave. To the dismay of the guy who runs after him and tries to grab his arm. A security guard intercepts him with a glare and a warning.

“He’s gonna be trouble.” Magnus murmurs as they make their way below deck.

“Yes. I think he might be more challenging than the obstacle course.” Sebastian smirks. “Let’s see what the cook’s got.”

“Can’t be worse than tofu MRE.” Magnus chuckles.

“The what now? Tofu? Who came up with that?” He asks, perplexed that such a thing actually exists.

“Yeah. It’s a thing. Be happy you never got to experience that one.” Magnus tells him. “But whatever the ship’s cook is up to, smells nice.”

“Smells like Gumbo, but it will probably be something Creole.” Sebastian laughs.

Getting the delicious food and finding a spot in the crammed cantine is a chore that brings up old memories. Happy memories of messing around with the guys from his unit. They always relaxed around food, but this time is for gathering intel. Sebastian listens carefully at the conversations around him, but all they are doing right now is shooting breeze and joking around.

He decides to go find a cot to get some sleep before dawn and finds names on the doors of the cabins. Locating himself, he scans the other names in the door and smiles at Magnus’. One decent being in the cabin with him. He didn’t catch any other names and he hopes that the annoying guy is not in his cabin. Opening the door he finds a typical ship cabin. Narrow, with cots on the sides and folders on them. He finds his and lays on the bed. hard as a stone, but he did sleep on actual stones before, so he doesn’t mind too much. 

Sebastian sighs and opens the folder to find a contract inside. The Forest Inc. pops up again and the reward is stated again. Reading through the contract twice, he frowns at the things they waver if they sign it. But if they don’t, they can’t compete in the Survival Island. Being alone on the island is something they all know, but there seem to be large areas of the island that have no camera coverage due to bad terrain. Most of the course is out of the eyes of the camera crew. Drones are of no use in the jungle. 

This makes the show very interesting, but he is still concerned about the safety issue. Well, he can take care of himself and the others are not really his concern. He signs his name on the line and closes the folder. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.