Survival Island (reality show)

7. The rapids

They are sitting high above the river and eating their last bananas. The view over the rapids is amazing, but the worrisome part is the width of the river. There is no easy way across, at least not that they can see. The place where the others are gathered is the least likely to get across safely. They can see it from up here, looking down on the river gives you a better perspective. So this stunt of climbing high into the tree is not only to avoid the others, but to gather information on the possible crossing sites.

“Do you see how the river swirls down there?” Sebastian asks Magnus and points to the end of the rapids.

“Yeah. That’s not good. You can get out of the foam of a normal waterfall, if you have to. The swirls are bad. They keep pulling down and under and you run out of air.” Magnus says and smirks. “Look at the idiots. They claim to be survival experts? They are at the worst spot imaginable.”

Sebastian looks away from the hypnotic swirls at the end of the rapids and gazes higher up to see what the men are doing. They have waded into the river just above the rapids. It seems to be shallow at first and they have some security measure with the vine they are holding onto, but one wrong move and they all go down the rocks.

‘The chubby guy you pulled out of that hole is with them. How did he manage to catch up to the rest?’ His wolf asks.

‘Who knows. Do you think they will make it over?’ Sebastian asks back.

‘Maybe. It's entertaining to watch.’ The wolf smirks.

“The middle part is getting deep. Look at them, over their waist in water.” Magnus speaks up and the guy is watching at the attempt with interest as well.

“I have a bad feeling.” Sebastian says. “That looks way too dangerous to succeed.”

“The chubby Mr. Black is there with them. He was unfortunate enough to fall in the first trap.” Magnus comments.

“I see him. Last in line. Not a very good choice, if you ask me.” He tells him and they keep watching. It must be freezing in the river, but the air is hot and the sun is shining merciless on the men down below. They have improvised hats made from palm leaves. More for the sun and some for the camouflage in the green canopy. They are both blond and someone might notice that in the upper part of the tree. If someone would have time to look around. 

It might be stupid to sit up here and watch, but they are resting, they have water and they ate something. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to learn from other people’s mistakes. The first three are in the shallows and the vine they are holding is suddenly slack. They are careless! You don’t loosen up till you are all over the worse part. That’s a rookie mistake they just made. Some experts they are.

“Oh, oh.” Sebastian says and watches the chubby Mr. Black fall in the deep part. The guy goes under and the closest two are rushing in the shallow, holding the vine hard and pulling as they go. 

“Two can’t hold him.” Magnus says what Sebastian is thinking. “He’s heavy, he’s wet, the current seems to be strongest right there and he’s under for too long.”

“I don’t see him right now.” Sebastian sighs. No matter how hard he looks, the chubby is nowhere to be seen. He diverts his eyes down the rapids and spots a fleck of blue. “There! Halfway down the rapids.”

“I see him. He’s not fighting the current.” Magnus nods.

“No. I don’t think he’s moving at all.” He says sadly. “The foam around him is not white any more. He got hurt and that is a lot of blood mixed with the water.”

They watch the guy go under and up and under in the last swirls on the bottom of the rapids. The other four men are on the opposite bank and trying to run downhill, but they have no chance of catching up. Just as Sebastian and Magnus have no chance to do anything up here in the tree. He can see them give up and they are shouting at each other, but he can’t make out the words over the loud water. He can only watch the angry gesturing and pointing and he hopes they don’t break out into a fight. There might be more casualties. The rocky terrain next to the rapids is no ground for any kind of fighting.

“That was… I don't know…” Magnus sighs.

“I didn’t know the guy, but watching someone die like that is not something I ever wish to see again.” Sebastian whispers. He takes a deep breath and still he can’t get the picture of a body rolling down the rapids out of his mind. He's probably a few clicks down the river by now.

“We’re not going that route. I vote for further upstream.” Magnus tells him.

“Yes.” He answers without looking in the direction Magnus is in. He is watching the others disappear into the jungle on the other side of the river. He couldn’t see a path from up here. Are they just blindly rushing into the jungle? “They don’t look like they have a plan.”

“Not that I could see. Are they working together or was it just to get across the river? I don’t think that running in the jungle is advisable, but that’s just me. What do I know?” Magnus shrugs. He is visibly shaken by the death they have witnessed.

They climb down the tree, careful not to fall into the river so close to the rapids. It would be death, judging by the swirls. So they continue their trek up the river to find a more suitable spot to cross over. The thing they find is another set of rapids. A good portion smaller, but still with those deadly swirls at the bottom. There is a boulder in the river, kind of in the middle section and there is plenty of space between it and the rapids. 

“Could we use that boulder? I don’t think the top is wet.” Magnus points to it.

“Can you jump that far?” Sebastian wants to know. He estimates the distance to be over 2,5 meters. He can do it, but can Magnus?

“With a running start? Maybe.” Magnus says and tilts his head, he is still looking at the boulder. “I’m sure you can, based on the banana stunt.”

“The boulder looks large enough for two people to stand on. I think it’s our best option.” He nods and looks up the river. There is no sign of it getting narrower anytime soon. “You don’t have much running space, but I promise to catch you.”

“I’m more worried about the second part.” Magnus admits to him.

“I’ll get you over. I can swing a vine your way. You might get your boots wet, but you will come over.” Sebastian explains his idea.

“You would do that for me? Why?” Magnus asks, surprise written all over the guy’s face.

“I like you. We said we’ll be allies till the last day, so that means helping each other.” Sebastian smiles. “Let’s get over this river and try to avoid the swamp.”

“I’m with you on the swamp, I don’t like stale water.” Magnus nods. “Thank you for the help. I would probably still be swinging like a monkey trying to get the bananas.”

Sebastian laughs at the guy’s failed joke. He does like him, even his weird sense of humor. At least he knows how to laugh at his own expense. Still shaking his head, he jumps from the spot to the boulder. The distance is nothing for him. The werewolf gene allows him for much more, but he needs to be careful about it. Maybe he can trust Magnus with his life, but can he trust him with this secret?

“Sebastian!” Magnus calls to him. He turns around to see the guy standing a few steps from the bank of the river. He’s up against a tree to get as much of a start as he can for the jump. 

“Come on! We don’t have all day!” He yells and watches the guy take a running start to jump on the boulder. Sebastian is ready and he has a good foothold. It wouldn’t help them to slip into the river at this point. He reaches out a hand to steady Magnus and prevent him from falling off. He made the jump all right.

The second part will be harder. He looks over to inspect the bank. He needs to jump the distance and land a good portion inland, because the riverbank looks like something or someone slipped and damaged it. Maybe a roll on landing to make sure he doesn’t slip in as well? Are those human footprints he can see? Someone was here and made that jump. The ground on the other side is disturbed and some shrubs are damaged.

“What are you looking at?” Magnus inquires.

“Let me rotate you a bit.” Sebastian holds the guy by his shoulders and changes their position on the boulder. “We are not the first ones to cross here. Look at the ground all disturbed and trampled.”

“We’re not going back.” Magnus says with conviction. “We’ll just be more careful going forward.”

“Good.” He smiles and rotates them back around again. He needs to be perfectly aligned with the other side to make the jump he wants. No use in getting hurt over a bad landing.

Sebastian crouches low and pinpoints the exact spot he wants to land on. Half a meter away from the water’s edge. He leans forward a bit and jumps from the crouching position, using the rock for a springboard. He shoots over the water and extends his arms forward to roll over his head and come to a standing stop. Just like he was taught in training. He laughs and turns around to see Magnus watching him.

“Wanna try it?” He calls to him.

“No. I wasn’t born with springs for legs.” Magnus calls back. “Maybe some other time, when there's no water underneath.”

“Fine!” Sebastian laughs and takes the first vine that is hanging there. He uses all his weight to see if it will hold, but it comes crashing down at him. Not this one, on to the next. A few trials later, he is confident that he has one that will hold, but it’s too short so he takes one from the ground and ties them together with a double knot. He coils the length up and throws it at Magnus.

“Nice throw!” Magnus calls and secures his arm as high up as he can reach. He will have to be very careful not to fall in the damn river, Sebastian thinks and nods for him to swing over. He is ready to catch him on this side. 

“Get off of me! I don’t like you that much.” Sebastian growls at the guy as they land in a heap on the ground. He caught him, but the vine broke and he took the full impact of the swing and they ended up in an embrace on the ground.

Magnus rolls over to lie on his back and they both laugh at the absurdity of the situation. This whole swing over the river thing reminds Sebastian of the antics he used to pull off with his brother. Good old carefree days at the lake. Now he’s stuck on this damn island in a game that is everything but a reality show. He’s starting to regret it, but he needs to finish it now that he’s here. There is no other option. There is no chance to shoot up a flare and quit.

‘The absence of the cameras is very weird as well.’ The wolf tells him.

‘I noticed. The camera crew was there at the start, but not a single camera anywhere else.’ He answers.