Chapter 2
Alex pauses to let his words sink in, but before I can really feel their impact— I’m really here, this is it, don’t mess up, please don’t mess this up—he’s talking again.
“There are eighteen of you standing before me, but only one can win the million-dollar prize,” he says, his voice perfectly intoned.
“Over the next thirty-three days, you’ll compete in challenges, build a shelter to keep you dry, forage for food and water, and live off these islands as best you can.
Eventually, you’ll get to know each other, become friends and allies …
and stab each other in the back. Unless, that is, you get betrayed first.” He pauses again, his expression momentarily serious before his smile returns in full force.
“But first things first: let’s get you separated into your tribes, so you know who you’ll be living with for the first portion of the game. ”
Alex waits as a young woman steps forward and hands him a silver plate with several wrapped parcels on it.
“On this platter, there are eighteen packets, labeled with your names. Each packet contains a tribal insignia that you must wear at all times. Once everyone has taken their packet, I’ll tell you to open them.
Make sure you take the correct packet, and please do not open yours before I instruct you to.
Understand?” He waits for us to nod. “Once you’ve all gotten a chance see what color your insignia is, I’ll ask you to please move to the matching mat, if you’re not already on it. ”
He steps forward, starting at his left. When he gets to me, I take the packet labeled with my name and hold it.
It’s hard to tell exactly what’s inside just by feel.
In previous seasons, it’s always been something small that we can all wear, like a bracelet or a headband.
Nothing fancy, just a way to remind the viewers what tribe we’re on.
The producers surely determined who would be on what tribe long ago, so it’s not like wishing for luck will change anything, but I do so all the same.
It would be nice to be on a tribe that can win challenges, one that has at least a few people I can work with, and maybe a few easy targets too.
But most of all, I need whatever will get me to the end and win, even if I don’t know exactly what that is yet.
Alex hands the last packet to the final person in line—Model Two, who handles it gingerly, as though it might bite her—and moves back to where he was standing before. “Okay, contestants,” he says. “Go ahead and open your packets, put on your insignias, and move to the correct mat.”
My hands trembling slightly, I open my packet to reveal a necklace with a round wooden token, painted purple.
I slip the insignia over my head and remain where I’m standing, since I’m already on the correct mat.
Meanwhile, some of the others shuffle in both directions.
Green Hat and Mustache, as well as a few others, move to stand over on the blue mat, leaving me with Model Two and some I don’t recognize.
Meanwhile, the older Black woman who was on the boat with me comes over to the purple mat. “I’m Rhonda,” she says, smiling warmly. Her voice has a heavy Southern accent, and I’m guessing she’s probably from Alabama or Mississippi or somewhere like that. “Nice to meet you, young man.”
“Ryan,” I reply, holding out my hand for her to shake. Her grin seems genuine, and she has an air of trustworthiness about her that comes through even in our brief interaction. Of course, that doesn’t mean I can actually trust her, but I already feel like we could work well together.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone else stepping onto our mat. “Hi there,” I say, turning to introduce myself again. “I’m Ry—”
The words die in my mouth as I get a good look at who I’m introducing myself to: a tall man with short blond hair and eyes the color of the ocean.
He looks to be around my age—maybe a year or two younger than me, if I had to guess, and he’s wearing a light blue T-shirt and khaki shorts.
While his muscles aren’t exactly bulging like Mustache’s, they’re perfectly defined, like he was sculpted out of marble by Michelangelo.
I know, somewhere deep in my mind, that I shouldn’t stare at him, but that’s exactly what I’m doing.
To my great discomfort, he chooses that moment to give me a dazzling smile. “Nice to meet you, Ry,” he says, his perfect white teeth glinting in the sun as he holds out his hand. “I’m Cole.”
I take his hand and shake it. I don’t know whether Cole means to be a charmer or not, but either way the absolute last thing I need right now is to be distracted from my goal.
Even if—especially if—he happens to be one of the most handsome men I’ve ever met.
“It’s Ryan,” I correct myself. I need to be polite, so I add, “But you can call me Ry if you like.”
He shrugs, still grinning lightly. “If you say so, Ry.” He looks like he’s about to say more, but a young Asian woman who barely comes up to his shoulder walks up to him and introduces herself. He turns his attention away from me, giving me a chance to breathe again and greet the rest of my tribe.
Or maybe not, because the producers signal Alex again, even though it’s been less than a minute.
“I’m glad to see you’re all excited to meet each other,” our host says, the rest of us quieting down and turning to face him.
“However, there are still a few more things to do before we can send you to your beaches.”
He gestures to the blue tribe and throws a small burlap bag to Green Hat. “Your tribe name is Sika,” Alex says. “In that bag is a map to your new home, and a flint to help you get started making fire. Be careful, because if you lose your flint, we won’t replace it, and you’ll be on your own.”
Next, he turns and tosses a bag to Cole, who snatches it out of the air one-handed. “Purple tribe, your name is Meru. Same thing as I just said for Sika goes for you: lose your flint, and you’re out of luck. Now, one last piece of advice for both tribes …”
He pauses, and when he speaks again, his expression is serious.
“Remember, this is a zero-sum game. Only one of you will win, and the rest will lose. But in order to make it to the end, you’ll have to work with your tribemates.
As with life, there’s no correct way to succeed, and how you play is up to you.
Just know that if there are a hundred ways to win, there are a hundred thousand ways to lose.
Always keep your focus on the game, and don’t let anything distract you from your goal. ”
I’ve heard those words, or ones like them, coming out of my TV, phone, or laptop countless times over the last decade or so, ever since the very first episode aired when I was a kid.
But now, hearing them in person, standing underneath the Samoan sky, they feel different—almost like they were meant for me, and me alone.
Somehow, hearing them drives home the fact that I’m about to play this game that could change my life forever.
The only thing standing in my way is the other contestants, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure that none of them steal my prize.
If it wasn’t already clear from all the cameras and producers and whatnot that this is a TV show first and foremost, what happens next would make it even more painfully obvious.
The eighteen of us are told to get into two rowboats, one for each tribe, row about a hundred feet or so away from the pirate ship, then stop.
We, the newly-minted Meru tribe, paddle away in our purple-clad canoe, while the Sikas go in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, the hovering drone and the camera crew on the pirate ship film us majestically conquering the seas and navigating to our new homes.
Then, once we’ve reached the appointed distance and stopped paddling, one of the motorboats comes up alongside us, and we leave the rowboat behind.
Once we’re underway, Cole takes out the ‘map’ that we were given and silently shows it to the rest of us.
As I expected, it’s a cutesy little parchment with a vague outline of a coast and an X marking our tribe beach that I’m sure looks nice on TV but is essentially worthless for navigation purposes.
Thankfully, the captain seems to know where he’s going, and the motorboat circles around the big island.
It only takes a few minutes for us to come to a small cove on the western side of the island with a large purple flag on the shore, which I assume is our camp.
The beach is beautiful, with white sand and palm trees waving lazily in the gentle breeze, but I have a feeling I’ll think differently after a few days, if not a few hours.
The motorboat slows down as we approach the shore, pulling up beside a purple canoe that’s an exact replica of the one we just got out of a few minutes ago.
Waiting for us on the beach are several people holding large TV cameras, ready to make it look like we rowed the whole way here.
The motorboat pilot tells us to get into the canoe, wait until he’s out of sight, and then paddle the rest of the way in.
It’s nowhere near as majestic a landing as I imagined it would be from watching previous seasons, but as long as this ends with me winning a million-dollar check, I don’t really care how authentic it feels.
Once the motorboat is gone and we’ve finally made our way to the beach, the nine of us take a few moments to admire our new home. The camera crew surrounds us, making sure to get all of our reactions while staying out of each other’s shots.
“Should we all introduce ourselves?” asks one of my tribemates, a man with thick, curly hair and a full-Viking beard and mustache, who looks to be in his thirties.
He’s dressed like a lumberjack, with a flannel shirt and washed-blue jeans, which looks slightly out of place given that the only trees here are palms and mangroves.
“My name is Becker,” he continues as we gather around in a circle, “but you can call me Beck for short. I was born in Michigan, but for the last fifteen years I’ve lived in Oregon, where I run a small vineyard. ”
He turns to his right, where Model Two stands. “I’m Ashley,” she says, idly playing with her hair. “I grew up in Wisconsin, and I’m a college student studying biology. I’m really excited to meet all of you.”
I’m up next. “My name is Ryan,” I say. My gaze jumps to Cole, who gives me a wink. “But you can call me Ry if you prefer,” I continue, my face flushed, and not just from the heat. “I’m a lawyer, and I’m originally from North Carolina, but now I live in D.C.”
Next up is Rhonda, whom I met earlier on the pirate ship, and who tells us she’s a nurse from Georgia.
Then there’s a tall Black man with close-cropped graying hair named Joe who’s dressed in a suit and is a doctor from New York.
He makes it a point to shake each of our hands, his grip firm and dry even though we were just wading through the ocean.
After Joe is a white woman named Katie, who has thick glasses and shoulder-length brown hair, and who is a graduate student in nuclear engineering at MIT.
She also tells us that she transitioned about five years ago, which thankfully means I won’t be the only queer person on this beach.
Following Katie is Jing, a slender Asian woman with straight black hair tied up into a ponytail, who’s a personal trainer in L.A.
, and Marina, a Hispanic woman with a wide smile, who works in a grocery store in southern Florida.
Last is Cole. “Nice to meet everyone,” he says, grinning widely; I can’t tell if it’s genuine or not. “I’m Cole, and I’m a line chef at a French restaurant in Philadelphia. I’m really looking forward to working with you all.”
“Same for me,” Beck says. “Now that we all know each other, maybe we should take a look at our supplies next? Can’t hurt to know what we’re working with.”
Nobody seems to disagree, so we all set off towards the large purple flag. My mind works furiously as I walk, trying to memorize all the names and locations and occupations I just heard. So that’s it, then—the people who will determine my fate in this game for the next two weeks.
Even though we officially just met each other, I’m already starting to think about whom I might want to work with.
I got a good feeling from Rhonda when we were on the ship, and that impression hasn’t changed.
Meanwhile, it sounds like Katie and I have a lot in common, so maybe I’ll try to ally with her.
Jing seems nice too, and if she’s a personal trainer, she could really help us with challenges.
It didn’t escape me that Beck took the lead in getting us all to introduce ourselves to each other; it could be good for me to pair up with someone who’s more self-assured.
As for Marina, Joe, and Ashley, I didn’t really get a great read on any of them, although I’m sure I’ll have quite a few opportunities to do so over the next few days.
Cole, though … my first impression is that he’s the sort of person who makes friends easily, and someone people generally like to be around.
Even now, as we’re walking up the beach, I can hear Katie laughing at something he just said.
But I’ve met plenty of men who seem nice at first, only to reveal their true selves later on.
Sometimes I even wonder if there’s something in the water in D.C.
that corrupts otherwise normal men and turns them into douches.
I shake my head at that last thought. We’re barely five minutes into a game that lasts more than a month, and I can’t let my preconceived notions get in the way of reality.
Maybe Cole will turn out to be genuinely nice, or maybe he won’t.
All I can do for now is keep my eye on him and constantly remind myself not to let my guard down because out here, there are no second chances, and it will only take one mistake to send me home empty-handed.