People were intrigued to see others live prehistorically, while they sat on their comfortable couches, munching pizza and watching others struggle and fight to live. For Sarah, it was a chance to live out a dream, and even if she didn’t win, it was worth being here. It was so incredible. It was called the Lotus Holy Land, and to her, it felt like a holy place.
The cage had arrived and nine of the porters had come back. She’d been amazed that these small men could carry so much on their backs, they’d been weighed down by so much equipment, food and water. Christian was waving like crazy, the air current from the gorge blowing his heavily dyed blond hair about and the cameramen were starting to point their cameras and then they were taping.
She watched as Christian walked up and began to talk, his brilliant capped teeth glistening, he reminded her of an overzealous car salesman.
“Okay folks, I’m sending ten of you over to the other side. I’m told that you need to stand still and not rock the cage, as it could get dangerous if it starts swinging too much. When I call your names, please get into the cage.”
Great, I hope Vana and Carol catch the next ride over, Sarah thought grimly, that’s all we need, for them to start flailing around. As it turned out, she and Aiden, Connor Hill and Joey Burk, Abby Esposito and Matt Johnston and four others she couldn’t remember their names, got into the cage. The gears began to scream and the cage shook, then fell away which took her breath away.
She knew she shouldn’t, but she looked down and it was a long way down at that. The river below rushed, from what she could see, it was hidden in places from the mist that covered it. She could see the grays, blues and white of the churning water, and felt the mist of it on her face, along with the air current that was pushed up. Then she began to look into the hills they were approaching. That meant that their trek would be uphill, and from what she understood, it was a two-hour trek from the bridge.
Sarah had a feeling she was going to sleep well tonight, especially since they were feeding them one last meal. Tomorrow, all bets were off and they’d have to fend for themselves and hunt for food, shelter and water. Each of the team were given six hours to secure a location, claim the area and water rights, they were required to set down small flags to indicate their territory. Once claimed, no other team could encroach.
She felt the cage jerk hard and shudder and she grabbed onto Aiden who grinned down at her, and she saw that he was calm. Bastard, she thought, and laughed, she guessed he was used to this kind of thing. She wasn’t used to being afraid like this. Once more, she was glad she had Aiden on her team.
Once the teams found their area, they would meet back daily for contests to win or lose privileges or food, or things to make their stay easier. Each week, they would have a big contest and the losing team would have to vacate and head back home, which would be the same time the porters brought the next week’s food for the crew.
Because of the extreme isolation, one of the cameramen, Hudson Stevenson, was also an EMT and she believed William Bunt was a nurse, as well as Diana Martinez. She and Diana had spoken briefly, getting to know each other. Diana and her girlfriend, Alison, lived in Phoenix and Alison was a nurse, as well. Diana seemed very capable and had an easy laugh.
Sarah knew the crew carried medical supplies, such as IV fluids for hydration and other medications and such for just in case, along with several medical kits. No one chosen was allowed to have been on any kind of medication, nor have any allergies. It had been a long selection process and a lot of medical history passed along.
Now she knew why, getting out of here would take nearly a week, and there was no way to get out of here any faster than on foot. This had been a much-anticipated show, especially since it was a two-month run and such a huge payout.
Though, she’d not known where they were going originally, she was really glad that she’d worn her old hiking boots, they were buttery soft leather and waterproof. She’d seen enough shows where many of the contestant’s undoing were their feet. If they couldn’t walk, they couldn’t stay or survive. Her feet weren’t hurting yet, but she suspected that after the two-hour climb, they would be barking loudly.
She had put cushions in the soles. She’d seen that Carol had sandals, and shook her head at the thought. Blister city. Finally, she felt the heavy jolt of the cage landing on the other side, and she let out a long low breath. She wasn’t looking forward to the trip back and wondered how old that cable was? They disembarked and everyone sat down to await the others. Bruce, the cameraman was getting shots of them sitting down.
“Do you need us to do anything special?” Henry Zorn asked in his heavy Massachusetts’s accent, he’d said he was a lobsterman. He was combing out his damp hair with his fingers, he was going bald Sarah could see and was trying to do a makeshift combover, she hid her smile.
“Naw, we just need to get footage, and they will use it to fill in gaps or make up storylines. Just filler stuff.” Bruce assured them all.
“I wish they’d let us bring watches, I’d like to keep track of time a little.” Aiden said, rubbing his wrist where his watch should have been.
