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Note: This was really my Government project. My group wrote a lot of the ideas, but I re-wrote it the day before the assignment was due and saved our grades. All the survival info was put in by me, so was the story structure, events that happened were given to us by our teacher, and there are a few sentences my group came up with, everything else is mine. So, I decided to take the project and make it into a short story, but let people know that I, in no way, own it all, but I did write it. So… it’s a funny cool little survivor fic, I thought it might help other people who are trying to write realistic survival stories. Enjoy. Names have been changed to protect the public and… because they were. I.E my name is Harmony in this fic, and my last name isn’t there. If my group is reading this, I want to give thanks to Christopher and Dave for their help in writing the story!
Chris, Dave, Nick, Christopher, Julia, and Harmony are six teenagers who get the chance of a life time! The creators of the popular television show Survivor have come up with a new show. Ultimate Survivor! No human contact, no immunity challenges, no safety, no games! Nothing but survival! The group is sent to an island with nothing but a raft and a week’s supply of food and water, after that week is over, the containers holding the water will explode. There are cameras hidden all over the island, so a camera crew will not be with them. The teens chose Harmony as their leader, and they hope to survive a year on the island. The survivors get 1 billion dollars each! Christopher decides to keep a diary of the events that unfold in their year long vacation. Just remember, all they have is a raft, a week’s supply of food and water, and the clothes on their backs.
This is their story.
Hour One
Keeping with the rules, we have come up with a government.
Republican
Leader- Harmony
Chosen via pick a number
Harmony has no opposition for the position
Three good qualities she has:
1) She bought a survival guild
2) She read it
3) She memorized it
No one was dissatisfied with Harmony being leader.
Cannot change leader unless leader is ill, then temporary change is allowed.
Laws we made by suggestion and vote.
Laws are: 1) No stealing food 2) No hiding water supplies
3) All findings must be reported to the group
4) At least 2 people must search for food daily, whoever is good at catching fish must teach others, whoever can hunt must teach the rest of the group how, etc, etc. 5) Someone must take watch each and every night, different shifts every 4 hours 6) No fighting 7) No complaining 8) Get along with everyone 9) No singing annoying songs unless group agrees on song 10) Obey Harmony and no one gets hurt.
Failure to follow these laws can result from the minimal punishments like having cold or boiling water thrown on you or no food or water for a day, to the more aggressive punishments like running a lap around the island without stopping, the rest of the group beats you down, and finally, excommunication for a time period that the group decides. All sentencing is done through a vote.
Day One
We have been given a weeks supply of food and told the locations of the cameras with distinct orders not to destroy them. Harmony gave the order that we build a shelter immediately. Harmony suggested we build a shelter she alls a Field-Expedient Lean-To eventually, but that first we should build another structure she calls a Beach Shade Shelter.
To make this shelter we collected driftwood and other natural materials to use as support beams and as digging tools. We selected a site high above the water line and as close to the tree’s as we could. We then scraped and dug out a trench running north and south wide enough for our raft to fit in, Harmony suggested the trench be north to south so that it receives the least amount of sunlight. We then molded soil on three sides of the trench as high as we could so we would have more room inside the shelter and lay the support beams we made that span the trench on top of the mound to form the framework for a roof. We had to enlarge the shelters entrance by digging out more sand in front of it so we could get in, and then we finally laid down all the flat leaves we could find over to roof, pinning them down the rocks on either end. With any luck, this will keep us dry and out of the hot sun.
Our next project was to figure out how to get a steady water supply, and we only had a week before our water ran out. We knew if we boiled the sea water we could drink it, but we needed fire first. We tried rubbing sticks together but couldn’t get a fire, so then we searched the island but none of us could determine what different types of rocks were made of, so we couldn’t use them to create sparks. Suddenly, harmony remembered a technique from her survival book: The Fire-Plow.
The fire-plow is a friction method of ignition. Basically we rubbed a hardwood shaft against a softer wood base. First we cut a straight groove in the base and plowed the blunt tip of the shaft up and down the groove. The plowing action of the shaft pushed out small particles of wood fibers. Then, as we applied more pressure on each stroke, the friction ignited the wood particles. Ta dah! Fire! Now we needed something to boil the water in, there is the problem.
End of Week One
Out of water, out of food, out of the containers the water came from. We know that we need two liters of water each day to maintain efficiency, and that different plant types, such as vines, roots, and palm trees are good sources of water. Harmony remembered a page from her survival guild saying that vines with rough bark and shoots about 5 centimeters thick can be a useful source of water, but sadly cannot remember much else in identifying vines. We have to learn by experience which vines are the water-bearing vines; because not all have drinkable water, some may even have a poisonous sap. Luckily, Harmony remembered that the poisonous ones yield a sticky, milky sap when cut. Nonpoisonous vines will give a clear fluid and that some vines cause a skin irritation on contact; therefore we let the liquid drip into your mouth, rather than put our mouths on the vine. After a few days of this, we realize that we need containers bad.
Week Two
We are trying to use wood, bone, horn, bark, or any other similar material to make bowls, but it’s harder then we though. We needed tools first.
You would be surprised at what people learn to do when they know their lives are at stake, we put our minds together and learned to make a stone knife! First we found a sharp-edged piece of stone, another rock to use as a chipping tool, and a pointed rock used as a flaking tool. A chipping tool is a light, blunt-edged rock used to break off small pieces of stone. A flaking tool is a pointed stone or branch used to break off thin, flattened pieces of stone. We start making the knife by roughing out the desired shape on the sharp piece of stone using the chipping tool, trying to make the knife fairly thin. Then, using the flaking tool pressed against the edges, causing the flakes to come off the opposite side of the edge, leaving a razor sharp edge! We used the flaking tool along the entire length of the edge we needed to sharpen. Eventually, we made a very sharp cutting edge knife! However, a fight erupted over who gets the knife, so we had to make one for everyone.
Next, a weighted club! Yes! Knife was cool, but a mallet is desperate needed if we’re going to build anything. A weighted club is any simple club with a weight on one end, like a hammer, I had to tell Dave who didn’t understand. First, we found a stone that had a slight hourglass shape. Next, we found a piece of wood that was the right length for each of us to use. Then we had to find some rope. We decided to shred and braid plant fibers from the inner bark of some trees to make cord. After we made the cord we tested it to be sure it is strong enough by hanging Dave by his feet from a tree. By doing this we learned that our first cord wasn’t strong enough. Second, either. Third… no, but the fifth was! Once we discovered that we could make the material stronger by braiding several strands together we made rope hammocks and got a bit distracted with all the stuff these ropes we made would let us do. Bungee jumping didn’t work.
Finally, we could lash the stone to the handle. We used a forked branch and tied the rock into it. It works really well! Now we can make stuff.
We made wooden bowls! Go us! We simply used a hollowed out piece of wood that would hold our food and enough water to cook it in. We would hang the wooden container over the fire and add hot rocks to the water and food, then remove the rocks as they cool and add more hot rocks until our food was cooked and out water boiled. We learned all this quickly and through trial and error, but we still did it without to much trouble… though putting the rocks in wasn’t fun! Problem was the wood bowls wouldn’t boil water fast enough because he had to keep transferring rocks, and the bowls kept burning… We need a better water source, though the plants help, they do take a lot of work and drinking from a vine is a little unnerving
Week Three
I’m hungry I’m hungry, my god, I’m hungry! We were to busy trying to build things that we didn’t look for enough food. Julia and Harmony leave in search of food while the rest of us worked on getting more water.
Week Three and one day
Julia and Harmony return and it’s about time! They bring good news and a list of fruit bearing trees they found.
Bael fruit, Bamboo, Banana or plantain, Bignay, Breadfruit, Coconut palm, Fishtail palm, Horseradish tree, Lotus, Mango, Manioc, Nipa palm, Papaya, Persimmon, Rattan palm, Sago palm, Sterculia, Sugarcane, Sugar palm, Sweetsop, Taro, Water lily, Wild fig, Wild rice, Yam. And, oddly enough, we found fitch berries and an apple tree. Later, Dave and Nick found some Pineapple plants. What luck to have such plant experts with us!
Month One
Everything is cool! Life is good! We get to work building a better shelter. In the middle of all the working, Julia and Chris have built a swing a table and a hot tub. Julia warns that the hot tub has no controls as there is simply a fire pit under the wood tub held off the ground with rocks to vent the fire and that it may very well boil us alive, but at least we can tell everyone once we get off this island that we had a hot tub and it was cool! Like all good things do, they invited a bad situation to the party. Animals have surrounded our camp, we try to hunt them but there are too many, so we have to constantly have someone on guard duty, using our fire to keep the monsters back. We have to leave our shelter to do work and I am starting to believe that the hot sun is messing with some members minds, but we are working on correcting the problem, Harmony and Julia have an idea to keep our camp safe in the shade, but they won’t tell us what it is.
Month Two
No one has boiled themselves alive yet, but Julia and Harmony ran off the other day after Dave decided to hot tub naked. We haven’t seen them since. Dave has decided that life without clothing is good! The rest of us must pay for his decision… and we pay dearly, I find myself wanting to burn my eyes out with hot rocks.
Month Two Day Two.
Julia and Harmony came back! They demand Dave put on clothing but he says he lost his clothes. We wonder if this is true or not. Bug bites are getting bad, but the hot tub is used to treat bites though Dave says he hasn’t been bitten once. We think his nakedness scares them away. Not sure how to prove the theory, but it means Dave can’t hot hub anymore.
Month Three.
Harmony was bitten by an Anopheles mosquito and has caught Malaria. She has fevers and chills, complains of a headache a lot, doesn’t sleep well and throws up a lot. Julia finds some Vervain and gives it to Harmony to treat the Malaria. Julia is the new leader and we decide we need to come up with four more rules.
Rule 1) No running around naked (Dave!)
Rule 2) Everyone does their own laundry and laundry must be done
Rule 3) No foreign languages may be used to talk between members or to ones self.
Rule 4) Take a bath every now and then you smelly, smelly person!
Dave is not happy about these rules and miraculously, he finds his clothes! One night, Dave eats a few to many fitch berries and then got really hyperactive. He got naked and swam up stream to catch a fish. By morning, we found him lying on the beach, still naked, and with a fish in his mouth. Julia accepts that her rules have gone down the sand hole at least in Dave’s mind.
Month Four
Dave is naked and addicted to fitch berries. Harmony is still sick with Malaria. A wild pig approached the camp, Dave ran after it, naked, with a spear we had made. He actually kills the pig and we all eat well tonight.
Month Five
We hear strange noises coming from beyond our camp. Though no one is sure what it is, Dave and Nick have said that they think it is the natives to this island. No one else agrees, this island was supposed to be empty. We think it’s the animals talking, boy! They say funny things at times. We learned that the animals surrounding our camp aren’t dangerous, really, just annoying and wanting our food.
Month 6
As a group, we set out to explore the island again, looking for the sound. We left Nick behind to guard the camp and keep the animals from eating our food. We find signs of a civilization but aren’t sure if they are hostile or not. Chris finds a shrunken head on a stick and we decide it is a welcome greeting, as the face appears to be smiling. We trudge along the path the head was in front of and see tiny little huts. Julia and Harmony make comments that the natives must be children, as everything we see is very small. Chris and Dave agree and walk further into the village calling “Come out, little kiddies, come out!” Suddenly, they come running back.
“QUICK!” Shouts Chris. “WE’VE ANGERED THEM!” They are being chased by odd-looking people. Small, but carrying spears, knives, daggers, and other such weapons that are far better then ours. They wear skirts made of grass and wear flowers all over themselves.
Using our ferocious American nature, we run away. Quickly. They chase us. Our camp becomes a boxing ring! We draw our weapons and shout and scream, hoping to scare them away, but they continue running at us. So we charge! The pygmies who are closest to Dave run away from him because he is naked. This could be used to our advantage if we weren’t also running from him because he is naked. They destroy our camp, our shelter is now gone! Our home! Now we’re ticked. We sing a battle hymn as we charge the apposing forces, the words come to us as if sent from the tree gods. Oddly enough, the tree gods know the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Island Pirate LordWe mutilate the pygmies! We cackle and howl like maniacs and eat their remains. It appears the sun might have done some damage on our minds… nah.
Month 7
We work on rebuilding everything but aren’t having the best of luck. Being in the sun for so long has caused us all to go quite horrendously insane. We decide to build the field-expedient lean-to. We found two trees about 2 meters apart; one other tree about 2 meters long and 2.5 centimeters in diameter; five to eight trees about 3 meters long and 2.5 centimeters in diameter for beams; cord and vines were found for securing the horizontal support to the trees; and other poles, saplings, or vines to crisscross the beams.
To make this lean-to we tied the 2-meter tree to the other two trees at chest height then placed one end of the 3-meter tree on one side of the horizontal support created by the other threes pointing towards the direction of the wind. Then we crisscrossed the vines on the trees and covered the framework with brush and leaves, starting at the bottom and working out way up, like shingles on a house. Finally, we placed our raft inside, upside down for a bed. Amazing! We have surely been blessed by Oz with a brain!
Our next project is a drying rack. We cut a few 2-centimeter-diameter poles our of tree limbs. We lay one end of the poles on the lean-to support and the other end on top of the reflector wall. Then placed and tied into place smaller sticks across these poles. We now have a place to dry clothes, meat, or fish.
Month 8
Rebuilt our bowls and are living happily once again, ignoring Dave being a nudist and silently laughing at the fact that he is sunburned everywhere. Harmony expresses her happiness verbally and they get into a fight. Dave wins because Harmony won’t go near him.
Month 9
We have decided to be pirates! We are designing costumes using the pelts of the animals Dave kills with his spear and the bones of the small fish Chris catches as well as using berries Julia collects to make dyes. We use carefully woven strings of grass to make a flag. It’s taking forever, especially since we keep fighting over what the flag should look and eventually we decide it will be green with brown stripes! Fashionable! We like!
Month X
We finished out pirate costumes, but forgot why we made them. We run around the beach claming the Island as ours and that the gold must be hidden somewhere! But we can’t find it! Chris says “Savvy” a lot and complains that the rum is gone. We sword fight with sticks and hide leaves with $ signs carved into them from each other and bury them in the sand. Be then build a boat out of drift wood. It quickly sinks. We build another, it to sinks. We don’t know why we are trying to leave the island, our home, or where we’re trying to go, but it seems important. We loot Pygmy village. Use their technology to make grass skirts that fit us.
Month XI
Strange smoke signal seen in sky. Say ‘Boat will pick you up in one month! You have all most won!’ we are not sure what this means. Dave wears grass skirt and coconut bra.
We play the small instruments the Pygmies left for us and sing our song.
Month XII
Surprisingly, a boat has arrived at our beach! We don’t know how or why, but the people in the boat seem happy to see us.
Slowly, it all comes back to us, why we’re on the island. The men in to boat gives us checks for a billion dollars each. We thank them, they talk about how huge the ratings were, and how much more money they made and how our share was so minimal. They laugh at us. Laugh at the funny Island Pirates. Then one takes out a cell phone and yaks in it for a while, he smiles, and waves at the cameras. We smile, too, but we don’t wave. The men heard us onto the boat, laughing at us some more as they start the motor. We laugh to, as we push them off the boat to satisfy the gods. Then we raise our flag in triumphant insanity as we motor off to go take over another island, though we hope that the people we pushed off the boat don’t find our buried treasure, with our billion dollar checks in our grass skirt pockets and sing our victory song!
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Island Pirate Lord