101
The crew on the helicopter don’t really know what to do when I refuse to get off at my stop.
“I told you,” I shout to be heard above the rotors, “I’m going with Thorun.”
“But,” one of the crew shouts back, “we have to drop you at specific points.”
Thorun shakes her head.
“Not if we’re playing together.”
“The only rule is that there are no rules,” I add.
Shrugging, the lead crew member nods to the pilot to continue, and about fifteen minutes later Thorun and I disembark together.
As the chopper takes off into the distance we both hoist our packs and stand for a full minute looking around us.
We’re on a rocky beach fronting a huge lake.
Others had been dropped off on the opposite side of the lake, and still others way further up or down the coastline. All of us, though, are on the water.
I study the map, and frown. The endpoint is far, far inland through dense forest and over a mountain.
“The map says we have to go this way,” I point north. “Always north, pretty much. I guess we'd better get started.”
“I don’t think that’s such a great idea,” Thorun frowns, shaking her head. “It’s so dark. Like Miranda said, the woods are full of bears, wolves and wolverines. I think we’re going to have to wait until dawn to decide what to do next.”
“What’s to decide? We have to go north as quickly as we can.”
“Yes,” she nods, “but we’re full of energy right now because we ate before coming out. By tomorrow we’re going to already be starting on the downhill slide because we won’t have any breakfast. By lunchtime we’ll be flagging because we won’t have water, and by evening things won’t be looking good.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“We’re going to have to switch up our nocturnal schedule and go back to human sleep times.
Also, it’s safer on the beach than in the forest. I think our first thought should be to sleep until dawn and then find food and water.
We need to figure out a way to make containers to take water with us or collect rainwater as we go.
We should probably fish for a few days, maybe a week, and dry or smoke our catch so we have food to sustain us on the march.
We’ll need to build a shelter to stay safe from animals and the weather while we’re doing that. ”
I consider everything she’s said. It all makes sense, and the other contestants are unlikely to start hunting each other just yet because most of us, I’m hoping, will have survival at the forefront of our minds.
“Your strategy works,” I nod, “but just so you know, I feel like fucking Samwise Gamgee carrying this pot strapped to my back.”
She giggles, and I shake my head and laugh, but I’m not laughing a few minutes later; neither of us are, as the rain starts.