“It’s all part of the plan,” said Kyle. “Of course they left stuff for us to find. They’re clues. They mean something.”

“Mean what?” Mara regarded the supplies, which they’d spread on the dirt before the fire. The cheap flashlight. Ramen. They didn’t seem like clues. They seemed like scraps, or treasure.

“Well, I don’t know yet,” said Kyle. “The whole point is that we have to figure it out.”

The ramen was spicy chicken. The flashlight was some cheap store brand. The hoodie said Florida Gators on one sleeve.

“According to these clues,” said Mara, “we have to catch an alligator with a flashlight and season it with MSG.”

“It’s not funny,” said Ashley.

“I’m sorry,” said Mara. “You’re right. It’s not.”

“We need to solve a crime with a chicken from Florida,” said Bullfrog.

“Please stop,” said Ashley.

Mara took her hand.

“It’s okay,” Mara told her. “I didn’t mean to joke. I’m just not worried. Do you know how much trouble the show would be in if they left us here?”

“A lot.”

“Right. So much. They’d be fucked forever. They’ll be back. And if not, then Kyle’s onto something. It’ll work out.”

Ashley seemed reassured, and Mara kept talking, whispering comforts, as Kyle arranged the treasures and Bullfrog lay down to pretend to nap. Mara said everything she could think of to soothe Ashley, to keep her happy and content. Telling her that of course they were still on television, that this was all part of the game. There were clues, obvious clues, and they would solve them. But she wasn’t sure she believed it.

Because Mara had noticed something odd when she went to the trees to pee. The cameras around them had gone out—no blinking green lights, the kind that flashed so quick you thought you’d imagined it. The batteries had died, and no one had replaced them. The survivors weren’t on camera anymore.

19

Nobody mentioned the dead cameras, so Mara sure wasn’t going to bring it up. But she put aside the rest of her tube of cookies, and went to the lake for more fish. The trap held another perch and a walleye. The others made ramen in the pot, but Mara insisted on adding fish to it, too. “We should show that we’re still survivors,” she said. Nobody argued, but Bullfrog looked at her hard, and she wondered if he had noticed the cameras, too.

She should have been more worried about the missing crew, but she was mostly worried about Ashley. She wondered if she was imagining Ashley’s coldness to her. It was hard to put a finger on. Nothing overt. But Ashley let Mara stroke her hand, and that night she slept beside her, legs tucked to her chest.

In the morning they split another pot of ramen with fish, and decided to walk to crew camp. Though no one said it, the survivors wanted to stay together. If this was a game, one of the rules seemed to be that anyone out of sight could disappear. Besides, they were stronger now, from the food, and strong legs wanted to walk. It was good to have something to do.