Build a community, then build a business. It was a simple enough idea, and some time after Michael Landry had incorporated this principle------things had started happening.
People started following.
Then more.
And more.
And it pretty quickly became extremely addictive.
At that point it was still something that had ‘just happened’--------------it had started out as a hobby that had turned into a bonafide obsession---------while he still managed to make a boatload of money coding left and right.
Which was much of the reason why he had brought a satellite-feed to stay online throughout the duration of this whole survival thing that he was forcing himself into.
The linkup looked like an old-school walkie-talkie, and it hadn’t raised any questions at the airport----------and neither at the resort when it had been visible on a couple of occasions.
- 1 -
The bus took off and Michael followed it with the camera of his phone until all that remained was a faint cloud of dust that moved off into the horizon.
And so the great adventure begins, he texts while walking off alongside the road and deep into the woods. He frantically tapes footage that he uploads right away, all the way through building a fire, preparing a freeze-dried meal, and him logging off with some final thoughts of the day---------.
The log was along the lines of “anticipating towards something, until the day comes that it’s actually there”-------this one is more wild, more extreme and more out there than anything that he had ever done before.
At 8 in the pm it’s fully dark but no stars.
Sleep comes quickly, and it’s restless.
- 2 -
The following morning he wakes up around 5 in the am. The sun is already poking through the trees, but what did it most of all was the sound of some roosters not too far off in the distance.
This either means that there are people nearby, or there’s enough food for scavengers. Which probably also means that there is a larger game around these parts.
Michael pushes the thought away, out his mind and he stays in his hammock for just a while longer. The stats on the socials look average for a weekday, and he knows from experience that things usually turn around on a Sunday.
There’s no real rush, because the day ahead will probably be long, warm, hot and miserable.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Just not right now, because there’s still a tinge of cool in the air---------.
- 3 -
Hot was an understatement, and after four hours of hulking the heavy bike around he takes shelter under the nearest tree. His water supplies are already getting low, and he has no real idea of what to do except using one of the life-straws that he was left with.
Who would have expected that drinking water would be terrifying, and a small part of him thought that this would be the end of him.
The water flowed, but it didn’t exactly look clean, and he just had this image in the back of his mind that there was some open sewer ending up in this same water-------somewhere upstream.
The audience loved it.
Bets were made whether he would get sick within the hour, or that it would be just a while longer.
But, then nothing happened, and in fact he felt fine.
- 4 -
1300 was early to call it a day, but his break had lasted for two hours now with no sign of the heat letting up. “Tomorrow I might get more done,” he told his followers, “but this here, this is it for today.”
He hauled his bike off the road and he went to make camp in the most shaded area that he could find.
By this time it was 1500, and he couldn’t get himself to go anymore, so he ended up taking a nap that took the better part of two hours.
By 1700 the worst of the heat was gone, and he went about building a camp, with a bundle of wood to start a fire, and a good spot for the hammock---------------.
- 5 -
The next morning he woke up and it rained. The hammock came with a good size canopy, so he would stay warm and dry.
An hour in, and instead of the sun poking, there was gray.
The rain ended up stretching out until the following day.
- 6 -
The next day, the heat was back at full blast.
Then the three days after were exactly like that.
Then there was another day of rain.
- 7 -
The heat and the misery were about to get the best of him. It hadn’t even been a full week, but he already started to feel dazed and confused to the point that he didn’t really know anymore what was going on.
There was that small blinking dot on the screen, which was the target that he continued to move towards.
And then, just when he was about to call it a day, just shy of high noon, he got this notion in his mind that he was being followed.
“I know that it sounds totally crazy,” he told the audience, “Maybe it’s my version of an oasis in the middle of the desert. It ain’t there, the mind is playing tricks, trying to tell me something.”
With the desert oasis it’s simple: rest, shade and most of all water. With someone following, it’s all slightly different. Let’s say that it’s all not real, then the closest thing to the desert oasis would be this: get out, it’s not safe.
The Extractor didn’t waste any time.
It didn’t take any precaution because of the weakened state that Michael was in. The Extractor was almost discussed by the weakness that he witnessed, because it felt like this “hunt” was almost like picking up a chicken in the grocery store.
“You ain’t real,” Michael says.
“You ain’t much of a trophy,” The Extractor grunts, “But given your age you should have some valuable chemicals inside of this weak mess.”
“You ain’t here,” Michael says, clearly hallucinating.
“O I am,” The Extractor says, “I very much am real, and today is probably the sorriest day of your entire life.”
“I need some water,” Michael says, “I need to get away from this place.”
“You keep believing that buddy,” The Extractor says, while simply pulling him up, and dumping him in the back of the van.
What The Extractor didn’t know was that Michael was in the middle of a live-stream: it had recorded everything.
