5 Lives

Introduction 

2128

Day 179,

The world. It was gruesome, filthy and crude. We had destroyed the world. Multiple world wars, disease and poverty. It was miserable for every human alive. We had to get off this planet; we would do anything.  But only the brave, intelligent, creative, and healthy could go. The smart, the ones that could handle pressure, make quick, logical decisions. I was in charge of the final test, to see if people were capable of being colonists. All you have to do is get captured by cannibals. 

-John Williams 

Part 1

Dave Mertens

Dave walked into the office with a bundle of papers, stacked high to his head. 

“I am the four o’clock for Mr. Williams,” said Dave., “This is the paperwork he said I would need.”

“Thank you. He will be with you in a minute. Please take a seat while you wait.” replied Veronica, Mr. Williams’ secretary.

The office was a bright cheery yellow with white accents. The skylight was the centerpiece of the room. It felt homey. There was a selection of chairs to choose from. Dave sat down in a plush, mahogany armchair. Beside him was a potted plant that went up to his chest. There was an arm table next to him. It held the newest edition of “The Puzzle”, the largest circulating newspaper in the country. Dave had just reached for it when Veronica piped up and said, “Mr. Williams is ready.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Dave knocked on his office door. It was cold as ice. The big, oak door lurked over Dave as he waited for it to open. He heard footsteps approach from the other side. As it swung open, he was face to face with Mr. Williams. He gave Dave a hearty handshake, and welcomed him into his office. Like the waiting room, it was bright and cheery, with the same yellow walls and white accents. There was a large oak desk and a leather office chair behind it. Dave sat in a seat on the close side of the desk and waited till Mr. Williams had sat down. After the preliminary interview, Mr. Williams spoke, “Dave, are you ready?”

“Yes sir, I am.” Dave replied. 

Mr. Williams and Dave walked into the testing room. Mr. Williams gave him one piece of advice, “Dave, remember you have to complete your tasks. Listen to the voice. To survive, you must be able to adapt to your environment. Be careful.”

“Thank you, sir. I will try my best.”

“If you complete these tasks, you will be eligible to take part in the colonization.”

“Yes, sir. How much time do I have?”

“As much as you’d like.” Dave felt reassured immediately. “The down fall to time is that you only have five lives.”

“What?” Dave was starting to have second thoughts. Dave had a wife and a kid at home, if he failed, that was it, he was gone. His wife and kids were left to live without him.

“You okay, sport?” asked Mr. Williams.

“Yeah, yeah sure. I’m ready. Just in a little shock.”

“Happens to the best. Please follow me and I’ll get you set up.”

Dave and Mr. Williams walked over to a large mat. There on the computer the screen read the words, Dave Mertens: Five Lives Left. His mind was spinning. It reminded him of the time he went to the fair with his grandma when he was six years old.. He had gone on his first roller coaster. He had felt as if he was going to fall off at any moment, or just throw up. Either way, that's what he felt now. 

He stepped into place and arranged the helmet on his head. He gave Mr. Williams the okay to start the program. He was wisped away in an instance. He felt as light as air. There were colours blasting past him like a roaring river. He could start to see around him. It was green, there was a fire pit, boys and girls ran about, chickens too. There were great hills in the background, a raging river, and a waterfall a little ways off to the right. There was jungle all around. It looked like a Hollywood set. 

He thought he was dreaming until a loud, frightening voice yelled, “How do you want to die? Give me an answer!”

Day One

Dave was freaking out, not only on the inside, but on the outside.

“What? How do I want to die?”

“That is what I said! Now, give me an answer! Suffocation, burning or drowning.”

After the man finished his train of thought, everyone glitched, froze in spot. Dave looked around in confusion. What was going on? A bug in the system? There was a loud crackling in the sky, almost like lighting, shooting across the sky, in the blink of an eye. A loud voice boomed across the valley. It spoke with power.

“I am the voice. Listen to me. You only have five lives. This is a choose your adventure. Make wise decisions, take risks and be aware of your surroundings. Good luck.” 

The villagers slowly started to function again. The villager asked him again. Dave answered: drowning. The villagers tied him up and carried him to the top of the waterfall.  They slowly counted down from three, and threw him to his death-or so they thought.

Dave plunged into the water with a loud splash. Down the waterfall he tumbled. The water was sharp and smooth like a sword that pierces your skin at the moment of contact. It was quite cooling compared to the humid surface. He slowly sunk to the pool at the end of the waterfall. The voice spoke to him again.

“Good choice, Dave. Death by fire or suffocation were both incorrect choices. Now, for another choice. There is a poisonous fish guarding the knife laying on the ground to your right. You could float down the river or try to take the knife and cut yourself free. Be wise.” 

And just like that it was gone. Dave decided to attempt to retrieve the knife. He had to be aware of the fish. Dave cautiously drifted in the direction of the knife. He was in arms reach of it. He stretched his arm with all of his might. He carefully grabbed the knife and swam to shore and hurreled himself out of the water. Once he gained his composure, the voice spoke again. 

“You’re a smart man. For the next choice: you must choose which direction you will go first. Up stream, down stream, back to the village, under the waterfall, or up the mountain.”

Dave wanted to explore. He decided to head downstream. He had walked for several minutes when he came upon a clearing. There were three paths to follow. One lead to a tall tree. The next, a cabin, and the last, a wood pile leaning against the edge of the crooked, old cabin. Dave observed the tree. It looked harmless enough. He approached with caution and slowly climbed it. When he reached the top, he could see everything this side of the mountain. 

He viewed this serene, perfect island. It was the pinnacle of peace-except the angry cannibals. Dave sat in the tree for a time and didn’t even realize it was a fruit tree. Once he saw what lay before, he overflowed with joy. Dave picked a ripe, juicy mango and bit into it with delight. He felt his strength run through his veins once again. 

He made his climb down and walked toward the cabin. He knocked ironically and the door creaked open. The inside of the cabin was simple. There was a bed frame with a   mattress and a ragged blanket, a simple wooden table, and a stool. There was a basket, in the corner. There were windows on the back wall and the sides. Dave thought this would be a good place to set up camp. He saw how large the basket was and walked over to the tab And then, the basket started moving. It fell over and out came a tiger. And everything froze again.

“You have some options, Dave. Break a window to climb out, or kill the tiger. Have fun!”

Dave made a quick choice. He was going to fight. He grabbed the knife and pierced the tigers soft fur, into his heart, but only after he clawed Dave's leg. It let out a loud moan and stumbled onto the ground. The tiger squealed and stood to fight, but he fell in agony. Dave walked over to the tiger and stabbed it again to make sure he was dead.  

He was safe, for the moment. He needed to make a fire to cook some of the tiger meat. He walked outside, towards the wood pile. He reached out to grab a log and a snake flopped out of the pile. Its razor-sharp fangs sunk into Dave's flesh. He howled, and fell to the ground in pain. The voice questioned him.

“Most people ignore the pile, because of the large spiky bushes in front of the pile and search elsewhere. Nice try, but, keep your head in the game. You’re down to four lives now. Stay smart.” 

Dave walked slowly back to his cabin base and crawled underneath the scrawny blanket and tried to catch a few winks before day break. Day one is done.

Day two

Hot. It was hot outside. Dave got up at daybreak and walked to the waterfall to bathe. He heard cannibal drums. They were preparing to go on a hunt. Dave had to get out of there. He had to complete the tasks.

After returning to his camp, he grabbed a mango and left for the day. The voice enlightened Dave on his mission. “Task one, get to the cave. Task two, find old village. Task three, get the raft. Do these in order. Once the cave has been found, you just have to travel. Good luck.”

Dave headed back up to the waterfall. The voice gave him the same choices. “Up stream, down stream, under the waterfall, back to the village or up the mountain.” 

He decided to attempt the waterfall.  He climbed a small hill, and walked towards it. The water was cold. He was going to jump through the waterfall, and land behind it. He counted down from five and jumped. He splatted into the rock wall. All the air in him leaked out, like squeezing a sponge filled with water. The voice was back. “Ha, ha, ha. Nice try. Most fall for this. Down to three lives now.” 

This time, he went up stream. He had hiked for two hours when he came upon a clearing. There was nothing great there, just space. Lots of space. It looked like some of the trees had been cut down, some of the bushes pruned back, and some of the soil turned loose. He didn’t realize what it was until it was too late. Dave tripped over a rock- or what seemed to be a rock, it was a gravestone. He heard the drums coming. Loud and clear. The cannibals weren’t going on a hunt. It was a funeral. Dave was standing in the middle of their cemetery! He panicked and ran. He ran faster than he could ever remember. Like lightning. He ran up stream, so far that when he stopped, he was already two thirds up the mountain. He needed to keep going. So he ran, and ran, and ran, all the way to the top. Once he reached the peak, he viewed the island in its true beauty. It was gorgeous: lavish jungles, rivers, streams, the shore, and his cabin. All he saw was the beauty. He couldn’t see the village, or the graveyard. He only saw peace. He also saw something that gave him butterflies. He saw the cave. He was close to home. It was close to sundown already, but he could here the cannibal drums getting louder and closer. He had to get out of there, before they found him. He still had to hike back to the cabin. He left that challenge for tomorrow. 

Day three

Dave woke before sunrise. He had to get on his way, if he was ever going to get home. He started the trek once again. A few hours later, Dave reached the peak. He spotted the cave and was on his way. By the time he had reached the cave, it was sun-up. He didn’t have a light, so he went in blind. He felt around until he touched what felt like a piece of paper. He grabbed it and ran. He was thinking at the same time. He thought about how the voice hadn’t talked to him all day. He shrugged it off and took a quick glance at the paper, the he climbed back up to the top of the mountain. He went into shock. Joy. Relief. Disbelief. He could go home now. He found it. The first task was done. 

He had the map from the cave. He was overwhelmed and decided to return to the cabin. It was enough to make a sane man crazy. He was almost done. Almost home.

Day four

Today was the day. He would get home. Another journey up the mountain and a trip to the cave. He looked at the map. The old village was close, yet, oh so far away. The map said he had to go down the far side of the mountain and through the jungle. Off he went,  for home. After what felt like an eternity, sweating, he came out of the jungle at the bottom of the mountain. There it was: an old village. He saw huts, fire pits, trees, mats and a raft. A raft! He found both of his items. He was set to go. He climbed over a log and sat on the ground, near a fire pit. 

This sounds like a happily ever after, and it was-until a bear came charging at him through the trees. The voice quickly shouted, “Run or fight!” 

He ran. Down to the ocean and up a tree. The bear just followed and climbed up after him. The bear began to gain on him. Dave screamed in pain. The flesh from his calf had been torn by the bears strong teeth. It slowly backed down and walked away. The voice chimed in, once again. 

“Wrong choice, two lives left. You’re so close.”

 He zapped back to the fire pit. His leg flesh was back and so was the bear. He fought it. A punch to the nose, and some wrestling on the ground and a bit to Dave's shoulder,  and the bear left him alone. He was about to kick off the island, but the cannibals came storming down the mountain. He paddled as hard as he could, but their swimming abilities were incredible. They stayed equally paced. They reached for Dave, grabbing, biting, trying to eat him alive. He wouldn’t stop or turn around. He was a fighter. He wanted to go home. He kept going. He forgot all the other struggles he had gone through the last couple of days. 

He was losing quite a lot of blood. He felt faint. He couldn’t go through the pain of doing it again. He refused to die. Refused. He put his blood, sweat and tears, literally, into this. He saw a small island, he paddled towards it. He had paddled most of the way around the island. . He screamed in pain.  His arms felt like they were going to fall off after all of the rowing he had done. He was so close. Stroke after stroke he fought. The cannibals started to slow down. They swam away from him. The realized their defeat. 

He was so close. He flung himself to the shore and a swirl of colour took him away.  

The office started to appear around him. He could see the screen, the carpet and the man standing in the doorway. It was Mr. Williams. He did it. He was still alive. 

“Good job, Dave.  you have passed the hardest test of all. You were able to make decisions and handle stress well. You have been entered into the colizination. You and your wife and kids will all be able to leave this wretched planet soon.”

Thank you sir, this was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I am forever grateful.”

And that is how Dave got captured by and survived, the cannibals.