Day - 2

The sun rose on a brand new day, filtering through the leafs in the trees and causing their trunks to cast long shadows over the forest floor and subsequently over Jack's tent. It was nearly 2 hours past dawn when Jack finally awoke and emerged from his tent, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he evaluated this new day. The fire he'd made the night before had burned out overnight, but a few small coals still glowed at the bottom of the small pit Jack had dug the night before, nearly buried in ash. Jack grabbed some dry leaves laying around him and placed them on top of the coals, carefully making sure they caught fire from the embers and didn’t accidentally smother the last remnant of the fire from the night. Soon Jack had a small fire going again, enough to at least push back the chill of the morning air and let him warm up while he had a bit of breakfast. Jack drank some of the water he had left from the previous day and ate a small portion of his freeze dried food. It didn’t satisfy him, but it was enough for now especially as Jack was trying to ration what he had in case it was hard to find fresh supplies as he traveled. When he had finished his modest meal Jack refilled the canteen from the nearby stream, doused the fire, packed up his tent and bed roll, and slung his pack on his back as he started walking down the bank of the small stream. As he walked Jack thought about the previous evening. Once the sun had set leaving him in the dark, he had spent much of his time studying the tablet. He'd learned a bit about hunting and soon realized he'd need a weapon to have any success. Jack thought he might try his hand at making a bow and a few arrows to that end, he just had to find some suitable materials. More importantly though he'd checked the tracking system and found the general direction he'd need to head in, in order to reach the others. They certainly had survival training as well because the few signals that showed up near him had also headed for the stream, though they were further down along it. That was Jack's plan for the day, head down stream to possibly rendezvous with some of the others and keep an eye out for bow and arrow materials along the way.

The slope of the land was thankfully a gentle grade guiding the stream slowly to ever lower altitudes, meandering a little, but rarely banking at all. The stream and its bank provided a relatively clear path through the otherwise fairly dense forest and traveling along with it was actually pleasant and relaxing. Jack thought that wherever they finally chose to settle it ought to be near some kind of stream or river even if just for the aesthetics and not at all for the survival benefits. As he went Jack searched for materials to fashion into a bow, but not much presented itself. Jack did find a few exceptionally straight thin branches that he took for arrow shafting, and he recognized several stands of wild flax which he gathered to turn into cordage. The trek also failed to present any evidence of the others. Admittedly Jack was moving at a slower pace as he searched for materials, but he'd expected to make contact with one of the others at least. Of course that expectation was based on the assumption that the others were staying put, which given that they also seemed to have survival training and a mandate to find each other was unlikely.

Jack hadn't checked the tablet at all throughout the day, another possible reason he had yet to find any of the others. As he knelt down Jack swung his backpack over his right shoulder bringing the bag to his chest where he could access all the straps and pockets easily. Jack quickly removed the tablet from the straps he had secured it with and turned it on. A small indicator in the top right corner showed a full battery. Apparently even the relatively diffused light filtering down through the forest canopy was plenty to charge the battery. More importantly the tracking system showed that one of the others was very close, maybe a half mile or so further down the stream.

Jack stowed the tablet, but kept it in reach and headed further down the stream eager to find someone else out here. It wasn’t too long before Jack began to hear the stream get louder as it apparently hit a more turbulent section. As the day's light began to fade Jack continued visually scanning the area as he went, looking for signs of the other that he was tracking. So caught up in his search for the other was he that he almost missed the sudden end of the forest as the land rapidly dropped away into a sheer cliff face. Realizing his error just in time Jack leapt back falling hard on his side as he rolled to avoid crushing the backpack. “That was too close! I've got to be more careful,” Jack said to himself as he sat there for a moment gulping down air, trying to get his heart to stop pounding. As he sat for a few minutes he began to realize if that could happen to him, it could potentially happen to anyone, especially if it was dark. A sinking feeling began to crawl through Jack's mind as he crept up to the cliff's edge to test his suspicions. It took several minutes, but Jack soon spotted the other he'd been following in the dying light. His body lay sprawled out on the ground at the bottom, twisted in an unnatural way and ringed by red stains that were the unmistakable color of dried blood. From this far away, there was no telling how long ago he had died, but it couldn’t have been more than a couple days at most.

 Jack made the decision to camp here for the night. This was his second time setting up the tent and it proved far easier going than it had the previous night, even with his thoughts occupied by his dead compatriot at the bottom of the cliff. As Jack finished up with the tent he couldn’t help but wonder about the dead man laying below at the bottom of the cliff. Who was he? Did he know more about what was going on? How much had their potential society lost because of his death? The video had said everyone had the same skills to start. Hopefully the rest of the others could fill any gaps.

Jack didn’t feel much like reading tonight. He had grim business to attend to tomorrow and right now he wanted nothing more than to escape that reality by retreating into sweet unconsciousness.

Day - 1

Beep… Beep… BEEP! Jack snapped awake, being drug from his dreamless slumber by the insistent drone of some unfamiliar alarm. Jack's vision was still blurry as he groped about trying to find the source of the deafening noise and silence it. Slowly his vision cleared enough for him to make out his surroundings. He was laying inside some sort of pod with a black couch that Jack was currently laying on just below a semi-transparent ceiling through which light was currently filtering in from the outside. Jack could see some green and blue through the window, but nothing distinct, nothing to help him make sense of his situation. The walls were pressed in close and were mostly smooth and unadorned, but on the left near his hand Jack spotted a button flashing in sequence with the alarm and pushed it. This brought the alarm to a blissful end, leaving the pod temporarily in a near silence. Only moments later the silence was broken by a loud hissing followed by the whirring of electric motors engaging, lifting the semi-transparent window and its frame up and away from Jack.

The full intensity of the light from outside the pod hit Jack, forcing him to squint so hard his eyes were nearly shut. Thankfully his eyes adjusted quickly to the heightened light level and he could once again see clearly. Beyond the pod was a vast wilderness covered in trees of various species and stages of growth. The sky was a pleasant blue with a few wispy clouds making a lazy trek across the sky. Finally the motors finished their work and the pod fell silent leaving only the sounds of nature all around. Leaves rustled in a gentle breeze, birds chirped in the distance announcing their presence, and most importantly Jack could hear the sound of a nearby stream as it meandered it's way to lower elevations. Jack sat up trying to take in the full scope of his surroundings. He was in the middle of a forest best he could tell, but behind the pod was a long straight line of broken and fallen trees. They looked as though something had torn through them. Then it hit Jack that it had been his pod that cut through the trees as the odd line of destruction terminated right where his pod was, but where had the pod come from, and how long had he been asleep in that thing. It was clear from the damage to the trees and the presence of birds nearby that it had been some time, but the fresh growth of moss on the broken trees suggested it had been at least months, maybe even a few years since the pod had arrived.

Thinking back Jack didn’t remember ever leaving the pod before this. In fact, he didn’t remember anything before a few minutes ago. A cold creeping panic began to crawl through Jack as he realized all at once his situation. He had been dropped here, presumably in the middle of nowhere, with no memories of who he was or where he came from. “Well, shit.” Jack said, not knowing how else to sum up his situation. Then Jack shivered slightly as another light breeze blew through rustling the leaves as it went. Jack looked down to assess his clothing situation and was surprised to find that they didn’t actually exist. Jack was stark naked sitting in his pod. “Perfect,” Jack muttered with a hint of bitter sarcasm. He began to look around the pod, hoping that whoever had sent him here hadn't left him with nothing, but there were no panels, no hatches, no cubbies, just sheer metallic walls and his seat. Giving up his search, Jack began to climb out of the pod, hoping he could quickly find something to cover up with.

As Jack left the pod he felt the seat start to rise with him. Excitedly he turned to look at it and was overjoyed to find a compartment beneath the seat containing what appeared to be a set of clothes made of some soft, but durable material, a pair of boots, and a backpack, presumably full of all he would need to survive this experience, or at least he hoped it was. Jack dove upon the clothes like a naked man stranded out in the wilderness and put them on in a hurry. They breathed surprisingly well, yet kept him warm from the breeze at the same time. There wasn’t much to the clothes, some tan pants and a grey t-shirt, but they were considerably better than nothing. The boots, also a tan color similar to the pants, fit perfectly and were soon laced up tight on Jack's feet.

Finally dressed Jack sat on the ground leaning against the pod and pulled the backpack over to him. It was a sturdy cloth of some kind, reminding jack a bit of canvas. It too was a tan color, though a little darker than the pants or the boots, probably as a result of being made from different material. The front of the pack had one big pocket and two smaller pockets hung on either side. Between those one big pocket covered by a flap that was buckled down made up the rest of the pack. Finally hanging from some straps on the bottom of the pack was a modest bedroll that was an olive green in color. Jack was excited to see that as it meant he wouldn’t need to improvise some sort of bedding in his shelter.

Jack opened the side pockets first, to his delight the first one contained a survival knife and a fire starter. Jack took the sheath that held them both and attached it to his belt so it was always handy. The other side pocket contained a small first aid kit with various items to help treat a number of injuries and ailments. No doubt that would be invaluable. Jack opened the front pocket next revealing a single large canteen with a built in filtration system. This meant that Jack could fill this from any water source put the filter back on and then simply drink letting the canteen filter the water for him. Finally Jack unzipped the large main pocket. Inside was a short machete saw combo, a roll of paracord, a small one person tent, and enough freeze dried food to last at least a week if Jack rationed it carefully. There was also what looked like some sort of tablet with solar panels built into the back of the device. Jack pressed the power button on the device and it immediately turned on. The first thing that popped up was some kind of video message that began to play immediately. A man of average height appeared on screen and began talking as the camera zoomed in to focus on his face.

     “Greetings. We’re sure you must have so many questions. This is natural and all will be answered in time. Right now though you need to focus on surviving the wilderness and finding the others. There are 26 of you, each has been dropped nearby and given the same equipment to help them survive alone until you can all come together. Each tablet has a tracking beacon built into it to help you all locate one another, then you can get to the business of building your society. All the information you need to survive in the wilderness has already been downloaded into your minds, and all the information you'll need to build your early settlements has been provided in these tablets, schematics for buildings, types of building materials and how to get them, early trade skills, absolutely everything you could need to know about building your new civilization. Good luck, we know you'll make us proud.”

With that the video ends and the main tablet interface opens up, granting you access to folder after folder of information on everything regarding the establishment and growth of a new civilization. There was no time to peruse all the information now though. The video left so many unanswered questions. Not just unanswered, but new ones. Whoever that was, whoever he represented expected the 26 of us to establish a settlement and develop it into a civilization? First thing was first though, Jack needed to find his way to that stream he could hear in the distance and get a fire going before he set up his small tent. The sun was setting and soon it would be pitch black out there. The video left so many unanswered questions. Hopefully the others would know more. Jack got up, slung his backpack up onto his back and began walking towards the sound of the stream and toward what promised to be a particularly restless night.