Survival Island (reality show)

17. To set a trap

They are making their night camp under a huge tree that will provide one side cover for Magnus. The tree trunk is thick enough to form a wall, that is why they selected it. And the bushes on that side are too dense for anything to crawl through. Only three sides to monitor, that should be easy for the wolf. The small fire they set up to keep warm is in a nice little stone lined fire pit. The only thing wrong with the set up are bugs for dinner. The birds are suspiciously absent again and he doesn’t trust the mushrooms.

“Do you think he will show up? Why wouldn’t he just race ahead and win this thing?” Magnus asks him later.

“I don’t think so. He killed at least two, maybe three. That guy in the swamp is a mystery, but I think we can count him as murdered.” Sebastian sighs. “With such a short kill span, he is on a high. I think right now the next kill is more important to him than winning this competition.”

“You might be right. I didn’t think of that.” Magnus nods. “Did you ever consider being a Mud Puppy?”

“Haven’t heard that term in a long time.” Sebastian chuckles. “The MPs tried to recruit me, but I said no.”

“I see. I think you would be good for them.” Magnus says.

“Maybe.” He shrugs. He never gave it much thought. “About our plan? How good are you in hand to hand? Just in case he gets too close to you for me to safely take him down.”

“I’m out of practice. If he’s got your speed, I don’t stand a chance.” Magnus admits to him.

“Then I just won’t let him come that close.” He responds.

“I trust you.” Magnus tells him. “I will play bait and pretend to be an ignorant human.”

“Nice. My wolf likes you, he won’t let anything happen to you.” Sebastian chuckles. “Just keep to the plan. Pretend to sleep and let me do the rest.”

“And if he doesn’t come in the night?” Magnus inquires.

“Then you can make a fire in the morning and gather some bugs for breakfast. I’m not sure if he hunts during the night. He might show up in the morning and try to surprise you. Especially if he thinks you’re alone.” He explains his thinking.

“I can do that. Where will you be all night?” Magnus wants to know.

“There.” Sebastian points to a low bush not too far away. “I’ll lay low and keep watch.”

“Hide my clothes and boots under some branches. Make sure the hiding spot is close to you. We spent so much time together that my scent is all over you. He won’t be able to tell that there is something of mine hiding next to you.” Sebastian tells Magnus.

“Are you sure he’s not spying on us right now?” Magnus responds.

“I’m sure.” Sebastian nods. “If he is far enough that I can’t hear him breathe, he can’t hear us talk.”

“If he’s tracking us, he must know you’re a shifter. Or, can you mask your scent?” Magnus inquires quietly. They talk in whispers just in case.

“He knows. Wolves don’t have that ability.” Sebastian answers and strips of his clothes. “Be careful.”

The white wolf disappears into the bushes and leaves Magnus alone. He doesn’t like it, but that is the plan. Magnus will be bait and he is his back up. They will repeat this set up every evening. For as long as it takes to get the coyote in the trap. He is certain that the guy won’t go for them during the day. Attacking outright is not the coyote’s MO. He is a sneaky bastard who ambushes people, but it’s close to impossible to ambush a wolf. It’s just a matter of who will fall into the others trap first.

He creeps around the jungle on silent paws, ears alert for any sound and careful not to go too far away from the campsite. He still hears Magnus’ breathing and the crackling of the fire. There is no scent to pick up, so he knows the other guy took some other route, but he is sure he will show up on their path sooner or later. He lays low under a dense bush and watches his friend. He is close enough to spring into action if the other guy shows his face around here.

It looks from here as if Magnus is asleep, but he knows better. Even if the breathing is so low and calm that one might think he’s sleeping, Sebastian knows he’s not. It’s a trick they both learned in the military. Resting with your eyes half closed and breathing so low you can pass for dead to an untrained eye. It’s also a great way to save energy and it allows the body to relax. Not as good as real sleep, but close enough.

He sits under the bush and thinks about patience. It’s not his virtue, but he will endure this hide and seek game. Sebastian learned to be patient on assignments, but it didn’t exactly rub off on his wolf. The animal hates to stay still, but now he will, he’s got good motivation to do it. For Magnus, because he wants his friend to be safe. He can forgo sleep for one night, if they catch this guy. Hopefully he’ll show up. How smart can one coyote be? Can he evade getting caught for long? Can he stop killing, now that he’s got a taste of it? Now that blood is involved?

At the first rays of dawn, it seems the trap was set for nothing. Not one to give up, he waits patiently under his bush. His night vision is good, but how good are coyote eyes at night? The animal is a predator and scavenger. Do they hunt at night? Or is this one a lazy kind and he slept the night away to make his move in the morning? Was he resting after the high he got from the last kill? Or did he run ahead and backtrack to surprise them? Questions upon questions and no one to ask them.

Magnus continues with their plan and wakes the fire up with some twigs. He then searches the nearby trees for maggots and any other high protein bugs. This is the risk they planned into the trap. To make it seem like Magnus is oblivious to his surroundings, having his back exposed to attack while he searches for breakfast. The wolf is carefully watching him and listening to sounds from other parts of the jungle. He is confident to hear an approach even with Magnus moving around.

It pays off to be a semi paranoid ex special forces sniper. The wolf doesn’t make a sound, but his shackles are raised and his long canines are showing. There was a sound he heard that didn’t come from Magnus. Someone else is close by. Someone that is careful not to make any sound, but he can hear leaves rustling and the guy is breathing. Sounds human to him. Now he just needs to determine where exactly the guy is in this undergrowth. Maybe he’s on the path?

‘Who do you think it is? Our killer or someone else?’ Sebastian asks his wolf.

‘I hope it’s the killer. I hate to sit still all night for nothing.’ The wolf responds.

‘Yeah. I want this over with as well.’ He answers and keeps on waiting for whoever it is that is rustling around.

‘If it’s not our killer, we’ll just set the trap again.’ The wolf muses. He’s having fun in all of this.

‘I don’t feel well with an unknown factor running around. The island is a challenge, we don’t need this additional complication.’ Sebastian answers and watches for movement on the path.

He can see a guy creeping up on Magnus from behind. The guy came from the direction that made him backtrack, if he was ahead of them. He thinks he’s so smart, Sebastian laughs silently. Lucky that the wolf can’t make laughing sounds, but they are both amused to no end. He watches as the guy pulls his Bowie knife out just as Magnus turns around. He must have sensed that someone was behind him. The distance is still safe between the new guy and his friend, so the wolf stays put for now.

“Well, hello. Where did you come from?” Magnus greets the other guy.

“So you became dead weight and the wolf left you behind?” The creep says without even a hello. This is the cue the wolf was waiting for. He recognizes the voice, it’s the annoying guy from the plane. He had so much perfume on at that time that nobody could even guess he is a shifter.

“What are you talking about?” Magnus fakes ignorance.

“Oh, that’s rich!” The annoying guy laughs. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell you? He saved you at the waterfall! How did he explain that away?”

“Is there an actual point to this monologue of yours?” Magnus asks calmly, but he is baiting the guy to give some of his deeds away. 

“Yeah! Enough with the chit chat! Where’s the wolf?” The other guy shouts. Getting him angry enough to lose focus is one way of doing things. Helpful for the wolf.

‘Damn, he’s annoying!’ The wolf comments.

‘And so full of himself. He didn’t even consider a trap.’ Sebastian answers.

‘Assuming I just left Magnus behind? He doesn’t know the first thing about wolves.’ The wolf growls in his mind and gets ready to spring into action.

Sebastian sends the guy’s back a silent thank you. The guy is loud enough that his movement is masked. The i***t! He lets his wolf all the control of the action and watches how the assailant falls face first in the leaves, his Bowie sails far beyond Magnus and the wolf’s muzzle closes around his throat. He can hear Magnus scramble back a few steps and hit the tree with his back.

The sight must not be nice, because he can feel and smell the guy’s blood. But there is some more fight in the coyote. He shifts under him and tries to throw him off. Doesn’t he know he stands no chance against a wolf?