Survival Island (reality show)

23. Wolf traps

Waking up into a new day, Sebastian thinks that they are in no hurry and lets Magnus sleep for a few more minutes. He runs off into the jungle to get them breakfast. He knows where the fruit trees are and he smiles all the way there. Apart from the sugar rush, papaya is good for moisture as well. They need to keep hydrated and water is scarce in this part. He picks a few ripe papayas and some bananas. 

On the way back, he thinks about the wolf traps his wolf found last night. Those need to be set off, he can’t just let them be. It’s a moral obligation on his part to make those traps safe to be around. Destroying them would be even better, but he has no tools to do it. He would need a sledgehammer to pummel those traps to smithereens or a furnace to melt them down. He’s got neither, so setting them off will be a challenge. He needs to teach Magnus how to do it.

“Good morning. Where have you been?” Magnus greets him.

“Morning. Breakfast hunt.” Sebastian chuckles. “You weren’t worried that I left you behind?”

“No. I know that you will honour our deal.” Magnus shakes his head.

“I will. I’m sorry it’s just fruit. We don’t have many options right now.” He tells the guy.

“It’s better than worms.” The answer makes him laugh.

“There is something I have to teach you today.” Sebastian says as he serves their breakfast on banana leaves.

“About the traps? I had a feeling that those didn’t let you sleep.” Magnus scoffs.

“Yeah. It’s my moral obligation to get rid of those traps.” He nods and sighs. “It’s barbaric and dangerous to all.” 

“How do we get rid of them?” Magnus inquires. The guy looks genuinely interested in disposing of the wolf traps.

“It won’t be easy. We have no tools, so a heavy branch and a lot of pressure. We have to set those off to make sure that nobody gets hurt by one.” Sebastian explains. “But we have to be careful. You can’t just throw a branch on one, it won’t close so easily. And the nasty things can recoil and you still get hurt.”

“Sounds like it’s a science to get them to go off. Do we have to simulate someone or something actually stepping in the trap?” Magnus asks him.

“Yeah. It gets tricky. There is an exact spot that we have to find that sets it off. It’s usually in the center of the trap, but it could be on the rim. Sometimes it’s enough to brush lightly on the teeth of the yaw and it snaps shut.” Sebastian tells him. “We'll see when we try to set one off.”

“Let’s get to work then. You show me how and I'll help.” Magnus nods.

Sebastian leads the way to the traps set in the leaves on the jungle floor. He knows there are five of them in a very small area. They will have to be careful not to accidentally step into one when setting the other off. He gets long palm leaves to sweep the leaves away and expose the traps. The gleaming metal shines even in the dim light under the canopy of the trees. The trap looks like it was polished before it was set out.

“I don’t like that at all.” Magnus grunts.

“Me neither.” Sebastian tells him. He can't even express his displeasure of the things. “Do you see the spring in the middle? I think that is the spot.”

“So, how do we set it off? I just press hard with a branch?” Magnus inquires.

“Let’s try it.” He answers. Looking at the traps won’t do anything good. They have to get rid of them.

Standing a good step away from the trap, Sebastian takes a heavy branch and leans on it hard. The trap snaps together with such force that he jumps back from it when the branch is cut cleanly into two pieces. And it was not a scrawny branch at all. He would have a hard time trying to break it in half with his bare hands. That only tells him the traps have the heavy duty springs.

“Wow! What are these things? Loaded for bears or something?” Magnus exclaims from behind him.

“It looks that way.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Don’t these people know how dangerous one of these is? Don’t they have any regard for human life?”

“You’ve seen the other traps. I’d say no, they don’t care for anything.” Magnus scoffs after that. 

“Yeah. This experiment has gone really wrong.” Sebastian looks over at his friend.

“I have long ago given up all thoughts that this is a reality show. They messed it up too much. They have given too many wrong indicators and these traps scream danger.” Magnus tells him.

Sebastian thinks for a while and then he nods to Magnus: “I think you are right. About the experiment going wrong, I mean.”

“What else could it be? Let’s face it: no cameras, no control over anything, no safety measures.” Magnus says. “I wonder who is responsible for this disaster? I wonder if anyone will be held accountable for the outcome and the deaths?”

“Probably not. This is military grade steel. Look at the chain. Who else would get stainless steel chains for traps?” Sebastian points to the one trap they have disabled. He pulls on the chain and it’s tied to the closest tree. He needs to apply himself and pull with all his strength to break the link that holds it together. He then throws the chain over a high branch and hangs the trap up high. Nobody will be harmed by this one.

“How many are there?” Magnus inquires.

“Four more to go. Be careful when sweeping, they are all close together.” Sebastian answers him.

“I will, but I think I will let you set them off. I don’t want to get too close. I’m not a wuss, but these things scare me.” Magnus tells him.

“I understand that.” Sebastian nods. He selects another heavy branch to set the next trap off. 

They work slow and secure to get them all out of the way. It is a weird sight to see five stainless steel traps hanging from the trees. It looks like a macabre Halloween decoration. But Sebastian is happy that nobody got hurt this time. They might have used half a day to do this, but it’s worth it. He is content and at peace. The other traps are more of the usual spikes and holes. He is not worried about those.

“Shall we leave the nets? That is not overly dangerous to get caught in.” Sebastian asks.

“Those are the ones your wolf smelled?” Magnus replies with a question.

“Yeah.” He nods. The wolf is sleeping or pretending to sleep. He is not interested in traps today. Is his energy level so low? Is it affecting the wolf? It’s been quite some time since breakfast, maybe he should prod the wolf a bit and see what’s going on?

‘Hey, sleepyhead. The wolf traps are disabled.’ Sebastian pokes his wolf.

‘Good. I need sleep. The nightly run caused me to miss my nap.’ The wolf answers.

‘I’m sorry. I was worried that I might have caused another energy drop.’ He tells the wolf. ‘I’ll let you sleep.’

Midday has come and gone, before they slide around the last net trap. The only good thing about it, there are banana trees in sight. They need the energy and the sugar from the fruit for the walk. So they stuff their bags full of ripe fruit and take the path that leads West. It might be direct and obvious, but he is confident that he can spot a trap, if there even is one more somewhere close. It would be a bit too obvious to set another series so soon after the wolf traps and the nets. But, you never know. Maybe they have thought of the obvious factor and set them because of it? You think it’s obvious and dismiss it because of it and they set it to surprise you with it. 

“Be careful where you walk.” He tells Magnus. “I’m thinking of a paradox. There might be more traps just because it’s obvious and it should be dismissed. Or maybe there are none and I’m just paranoid.”

“Do you tend to get paranoid?” Magnus asks him.

“Not usually, but this island is just plain weird.” He answers. “I just don’t know anymore.”

“Do you want to take a break?” Magnus inquires. “We can rest for an hour or so and then walk a few more miles till evening.”

“It might be good. We don’t need to hurry.” He smiles and looks around for a suitable spot. 

They don’t need a fire right now, so it’s just sitting around and resting. Eating fruit and a few sips of water. That is the worrisome thing. If they run out of water, can they find more? It doesn’t look like it would rain anytime soon and he hasn’t seen a stream or river on the map. He takes the map out again to see if he might be wrong. No water for a few days will be bad in this heat.

“Looking for a river?” Magnus asks him. “I was thinking about water too.”

“Yes. We do get some water with the fruit we eat, but it’s not enough for this heat.” He tells his friend.

“I don’t see anything that would look like water in this part. We’ll have to be careful and eat more fruit. Stay in the shade and all that.” Magnus says.

“It doesn't help. We haven’t seen direct sunlight today and I’m feeling the lack of water already.” Sebastian sighs.

“What do you suggest?” Magnus fishes for ideas.

“This striped area on the map is intriguing. I’m thinking it might be a small swamp or maybe a pond?” He shows the location on the map to Magnus.

“It's just a little way out of the direction we have to keep. We can go check it out.” The guy answers.

Plans made and enough provisions gathered for the small side trip, they are bantering and talking about nothing important. From reminiscing about childhood days in two completely different parts of the USA to some adventures in the service. Mostly countries where they have both been and what they miss from there.

“I think it’s safe to say, we both like Morocco.” Magnus chuckles.

“Yeah. I miss the tea. You just can’t get good quality where I live. I might have to order it online.” Sebastian tells him.

“I can send you some. There is this great little store in Oklahoma city that I frequent. It’s run by an Arabic family. Third generation Americans, but they only import the good stuff.” Magnus winks.

“I will hold you to that.” He smiles. “I got addicted to tea. Coffee just doesn’t do it.”

“Then you haven’t had good coffee yet. I can introduce you to some really good blends.” The Major chuckles. “How far away do you think this suspicious slice of jungle is that looks to be water?”

“About an hour and a half walk. I think.” Sebastian answers.