They all came in on the same plane, but they had no idea that they had all signed up for the same thing. All of them must have had the same initial impression: a clean stretch of tarmac surrounded by slums as far as the eye can see.

  No terminal where you can easily walk down to immigration and to claim luggage, but instead an old run down car with a stairs on top of it.

  “This is where we get off?” Rhonda asks, while she sticks around in the doorway of the plane for a second or two. No one seems to mind, because all of them must be of the same thought: what is this place?

  “It’s a little different,” one of the attendants says, I’m glad I’m going back home after this.

  “This is literally the end of the line,” Dean says, “Next up is that all of us will see evidence that the earth is actually flat--------and all those folks here have run as far as they could until their legs would no longer carry them.”

  “Where have all those people come from?” Tanya asks, looking all around for signs of green vegetation or large scale agriculture, “What do they eat?”

  “It looks worse than it is,” Michael says, “Just a matter of shifting gears.”

  “You have been to this place before?” Rhonda asks in disbelief: who would want to go back to this?

  “This is what we all signed up for, right?” Michael says, and he can’t believe that he probably was the only one who had done the math: only 5 passengers to a far-away country that’s as poor as dirt.

  “Please tell me that this is just the worst part,” Rhonda says, and she has half a mind to simply refuse to exit the plane so she can go straight back to civilization.

  “Not everyone has an easy life,” Philippa says, “Look around you: these people are poor, but not necessarily a danger to you------------.”

  “It still wouldn’t hurt to dress down a bit,” Dean says, “Keep two or three wallets that you hand off in case you get mugged.”

  “Which can happen anywhere?” Tanya says, now feeling more anxious than Rhonda------------they had always been extreme opposites when it came to pretty much anything------this time they were of the same mind, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

  “You read the fine-print?” Michael says, “It says it’s all non-refundable-------------.”

  “So where do we go from here?” Rhonda says, against her better judgment.

  - 2 -

  The airport seemed secure and no one seemed to be very interested in five strangers that had come from far. In the central hall were Nick and Donald, both wearing a Survival Exp t-shirt, hat and backpack.

  “Quite the transition,” Nick says, laying eyes on all of them, and laying it on a bit thicker to chase off the little nagging voice in the back of his mind that this might not have been his brightest idea, “Am I right?”

  “I ain’t disagreeing,” Dean says, realizing that there’s simply no way to give this one a more positive spin, “Seems like all the stories were true all along.”

  “It’s mostly the capital,” Nick says, “We will travel out right away, and you will see that things are better inland.”

  “Then why do people live here if it’s better inland….” Rhonda says, I don’t even want to know the answer to that one.

  “It’s complicated,” Nick says, “It looks worse than it is.”

  “Life out in the country is as it has been for hundreds of years------you own a plot of land, which feeds you and when there’s a little left over you sell it,” Donald says, “These here are basically the folks who don’t want to buy into that lifestyle.”

  “So how is that supposed to be reassuring,” Rhonda says, but she also realizes that she can’t easily back out of this one, “We’ll find out for ourselves I guess.”

  “Where do we go exactly?” Michael asks.

  “We will drive to the ocean where we will have a program prepared for you in a resort hotel,” Nick says, “We will share lunch, followed by a briefing, followed by free time, followed by dinner and drinks on the house.”

  “Followed by what?” Rhonda says.

  “In the morning you will be dropped at your respective coordinates,” Donald says.

  “And in the morning you can also decide to back out,” Nick says, trying to reassure most of all Rhonda that they will not just dump them in the lion’s den.

  - 3 -

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  The drive out to the ocean took a good long two hours, and it seemed that Nick and Donald hadn’t exaggerated. The capital was built around a river, and the airport had been a good 20 miles away. It looked more lush and green, but also like a typical large city with high-rises built next to the high-way.

  “So if this is the big town, why were those slums around the airport?” Dean asks.

  “They are chased from the city,” Nick says, “It’s a sad situation, but I’m not some local politician so I will not sell it to you any other way.”

  “And those are all natives?” Tanya asks.

  “Most of them,” Nick says, “Every place has its troubles.”

  The country changed dramatically into a lush landscape with forests, open plains, hills, far away mountains and it wasn’t long until all of them had put the rocky entrance behind them.

  The resort was a little outdated, but it definitely was a resort. There were many more guests besides themselves and the hustle and bustle put them straight at ease and it almost dropped them into a vacation mood.

  They all received keys to their private rooms and they all have about an hour to freshen up.

  “We reserved a table for lunch,” Nick says.

  “All you can eat buffet,” Donald says, “Which is the same for dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning.”

  Tanya pulls Rhonda aside, while everyone moves off to their private rooms.

  “This is straight out of a movie,” Tanya says, “I can’t believe it.”

  “I have no problem believing,” Rhonda says, “I’ll just listen to what they have to say, and if I don’t like it I’m just gonna stay here for a month.”

  “That wouldn’t be so bad indeed,” Tanya says.

  “I guess your mind was still on those slums when we came in,” Rhonda says, “Don’t-------don’t worry about it. You deserve this.”

  “I get that not everyone can live it up, but it was just such a weird vibe,” Tanya says, “And I have a feeling that there’s a second airport----------a nice one.”

  “You think they wanted us to see the slums and all that stuff?”

  “Maybe it’s nothing,” Tanya says, “Maybe it was just to shake us up a bit, to give us a nice story to tell later on.”

  “Whatever it is,” Rhonda says, “I ain’t worrying about it.”

  “You know that the guys are all checking you out?” Tanya says.

  “But of course,” Rhonda says, “It’s vacation, baby.”

  - 4 -

  The buffet was good and there was plenty of everything. They all ate and drank as much as they could. It really set the mood for the rest of the day and morning. The briefing started towards the end of lunch.

  “You guys are our first clients,” Nick says, “Congratulations on that, because that means that none of the things here have really been broken in yet. That was a bad joke.”

  “And all of you should already know the basic idea of this operation,” Donald says, “You will all be dropped in different locations with limited tools for survival. You will get a very old-school GPS-system that will roughly point towards your extraction point.”

  “You will have 25 days to get there,” Nick says, “After that you will be transported back to this resort where you will spend the last 3 days before we will bring you all back to the airport to return home.”

  “The GPS-system can also be used as an emergency-beacon, in which case we will come to extract you then and there.”

  “So what are the tools that we are talking about here?” Michael asks.

  “Remember all those questions that you were asked during the intake,” Nick says, “It’s based on that.”

  “The tools will make it more likely that you will be able to survive,” Donald says.

  “So what about water,” Dean says, “Isn’t that a number one priority in this climate?”

  “You will all get a water purifier,” Donald says, “But locals just drink from the streams that you will find all over.”

  “Can we bring money?” Rhonda asks.

  “You can, but most likely it will be of little use because it’s mostly a barter economy in the places where you will be dropped.”

  “What about safety?” Tanya asks, “It feels like we all have a big red dot on our backs.”

  “It’s mostly safe, but of course you will have to be smart sometimes,” Nick says.

  “We have traveled here extensively for over a year,” Donald says, “All by ourselves on a very limited budget.”

  “A few months ago we met over a couple of beers and decided to start a company to share the same experience with more people,” Nick says, “The idea is that a lot of the legwork has already been done for you, with more safeguards and an awesome start and finish.”

  “There’s nothing like that initial excitement when you just start somewhere and have to puzzle each day to make it to a place to spend the night, and find food in the meantime,” Donald says, “All of this has been tested, and we just want to set you up with the experience of a life-time.”

  “That’s our story,” Nick says, “And if there are no questions, then you’re free until dinner which is for 8 pm tonight.”

  *

  Dean spends the afternoon with a recording of his initial impressions. He resists the temptation to call in to Pat to record a short segment for the pod-cast.

  *

  Michael, Philippa, Tanya and Rhonda stay in the lounge area shooting the breeze. Around four Philippa retires to her room. Shortly thereafter Tanya does the same.

  Then it’s just Michael and Rhonda that remain.

  They hit it off. Around six they go for a long walk on the beach to watch the sunset come down, which will be the first of many.

  - 5 -

  The aroma of grilled seafood and exotic spices still hung in the air as the sun dipped below the horizon. Laughter echoed from the dining area, slowly fading as the participants dispersed.

  Nick spread a blanket on the sand, gesturing for Dean and Philippa to join him.

  “Imagine,” he says, his eyes gleaming in the fading light, “a series of behind-the-scenes videos, cross-promoted on the podcast…”

  They launched into a lively discussion, their voices rising and falling with enthusiasm as they sketched out ideas in the damp sand.

  Further down the beach, Michael offered Rhonda his hand, his smile warm.

  “Let's get some air,” he suggests, his gaze lingering on hers.

  They stroll along the water’s edge, the gentle lapping of waves a soothing counterpoint to their easy banter.

  The half-empty bottles of wine on their table were quickly forgotten, and Donald and Tanya were the last two remaining at the dinner table.

  Tanya leaned back in her chair, surprised to find herself still engaged in conversation with Donald. He was sketching diagrams on a napkin, his voice animated as he explained, “Eighty percent of your results come from twenty percent of your effort…”

  Tanya, fresh out of business school, raised an eyebrow. “That’s a bit simplistic, isn’t it?” she countered, a smile playing on her lips.

  But as he continued, a seed of curiosity was planted.