I was the most hated man in the entertainment industry. Having crossed the wrong power players, I chose to pack my bags, retreat to my quiet hometown, and marry a local girl just to escape the noise. To pay off the crushing contract termination fees, my non-celebrity wife and I signed up for a wilderness survival reality show. According to the producers’ script, I was supposed to act like a whiny, insufferable diva throughout the shoot, serving as a miserable foil to Cody Pratt, the industry’s golden boy, and his heiress wife, Regina Dupont. From day one, viewers mocked my wife, Mona, calling her a clueless country bumpkin who probably couldn’t tell the difference between artisanal pour-over coffee and cheap instant Folgers. “Look at her,” one popular comment read. “I bet she’s never even held a fine wine glass in her life.” “I give it three days,” another user wagered. “That disgraced actor is going to lose his mind and divorce his trailer-trash wife.” But then, a sudden, violent storm hit. A massive mudslide washed away the only bridge out of the valley, cutting off all electricity, water, and communication with the outside world. As the storm raged, the “perfect” celebrity couples fell apart. Terrified and starving, they fought over basic rations, their carefully polished images shattering in real-time. Meanwhile, my supposedly helpless country wife quietly pulled a ferro rod from her pack, sparked a roaring fire, and dove straight into the rushing, muddy river, hauling out two massive black catfish. I fell back on my own survival instincts, scaling and gutting the fish to simmer a rich, milky broth for her. What none of us knew was that the production crew had secretly rigged the entire village with hidden cameras. Every single moment of our struggle was being broadcast to the world on a live stream. … The mudslide had sheared off the main bridge to Blackwood half an hour after the crew made a hasty excuse about retrieving extra equipment from town. They had fled, leaving the six of us stranded in the middle of nowhere. Cody Pratt’s shrill scream was the first thing to pierce the heavy curtain of rain. “I’m not doing this stupid show anymore! Tell the director to get his ass back here and pick me up!” His wife, Regina Dupont, frowned, trying to maintain her cool. “Don’t panic, Cody. I’ll call the network. They’ll send a private helicopter.” She pulled out her phone, but her face instantly fell. No signal. Beside them, the young rookie Toby began to sob, while his partner, a rising influencer named Amber, kicked a wet stone in frustration. I watched the chaos unfold, feeling a cold detachment. I turned to the woman standing quietly beside me, tugging at the edge of her wet jacket. “Mona,” I whispered. “We need higher ground.” Mona didn’t say a word. She simply took my hand in hers—her grip warm, dry, and surprisingly steady—and led me up the steep ridge toward an abandoned, half-collapsed cabin. The cabin was in terrible shape, but the main room and a drafty lean-to at the back still offered some semblance of shelter. We had barely stepped inside when Cody and his group scrambled in behind us, soaking wet and shivering. Cody’s eyes immediately locked onto the dry, spacious main room. “Zane, you and your wife take the lean-to,” Cody demanded, his voice dripping with the casual authority of a star bossing around an extra on set. “We’re taking this room.” I ran a hand through my wet hair and let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “Does it have your name on it? First come, first served, sweetheart.” Cody’s eyes widened, clearly shocked that a blacklisted nobody like me would dare talk back to him. Regina stepped forward, shielding him with her body. “Mr. West, let’s keep this civil. Cody is delicate, and he can’t handle the cold. Your wife, on the other hand, looks like she’s built for rough weather. Taking the lean-to shouldn’t be an issue for people like you.” The condescension in her voice made my blood boil. But before I could snap back, a firm hand pressed down on my shoulder. Mona walked past me toward the decaying lean-to. She reached into her heavy canvas backpack and pulled out a thick, military-grade waterproof tarp. With an agility that caught me off guard, she climbed up the wooden beams of the cabin, securing the tarp over the broken roof in minutes. When she jumped back down, she had transformed the drafty corner into a dry, secure haven, lining the floor with a thick layer of dry hay she’d gathered. She looked at me, her dark eyes steady. “Get inside. Keep warm.” Looking at her damp hair and the quiet determination on her face, a strange warmth bloomed in my chest. Across the cabin, Amber opened her designer duffel bag and let out a horrified shriek. “Oh my god! My protein bars and crackers are completely soaked! They’re ruined!” Cody, already complaining of stomach cramps from hunger, eyed my heavy waterproof pack. “Zane, hand over whatever food you have in there,” Cody said, trying to sound reasonable. “We need to pool our resources. It’s about teamwork.” I pulled the strap tighter around my shoulder. “Why would I give you anything?” His face flushed with rage, and he pointed a finger at Mona. “Then tell your useless wife to go catch us something! Isn’t she from the backwoods? Can’t she do something useful for once?” Mona ignored his shouting entirely. She picked up a long, straight branch from the corner, using her pocket knife to quickly shave the tip into a lethal point. Then, without a word, she walked out into the pouring rain and stood by the edge of a flooded, muddy pond near the cabin. Amber sneered from the dry doorway. “Look at her, trying to play survival expert. There’s nothing in that muddy puddle but disease.” Before the words could fully leave her mouth, the water erupted. Mona’s forearm muscles flexed, her movements a blur of terrifying precision as she drove the spear down. When she lifted the branch, two massive black catfish were pinned to the end, thrashing violently. The entire cabin went dead silent. Regina swallowed hard, reaching into her designer bag to pull out a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills. “Hey. A thousand dollars for the fish.” Mona didn’t even glance at the money. She unpinned the fish, walked straight past Regina, and handed them to me. “All for you,” she said softly. What none of us realized was that high up on the cabin’s rotting beams, a tiny, disguised lens was blinking with a faint red light. Similar hidden cameras had been placed all over the valley. This raw, unscripted struggle for survival was being broadcast to millions of viewers in high-definition. On the other side of the screen, the internet was exploding. The live stream chat was moving so fast it was a blur: “Jesus, these spoiled celebrities are absolutely pathetic the second things go sideways!” “Regina Dupont really thinks she can buy her way out of a disaster with a grand? Read the room, honey.” “Cody Pratt’s ‘gentle prince’ persona is officially dead. He sounds like a spoiled toddler. I’m so glad the mask is slipping.” “Can we talk about Zane’s wife? Mona is a literal badass! The way she speared those fish with a hand-carved stick… the absolute power.” As night fell, the temperature plummeted, and a biting wind swept through the cracks in the cabin walls. Regina sat huddled in a corner, repeatedly flicking a luxury designer lighter. Her thumb was raw and red, but every time a tiny spark appeared, the damp mountain air instantly snuffed it out. Cody was shivering violently under Regina’s blazer, his lips a pale, sickly blue. “Why won’t this stupid wood catch? Where the hell is the crew?!” Over in our dry lean-to, Mona pulled a dry piece of fatwood from the bottom of her pack. She struck the back of her knife against a ferro rod, sending a shower of hot sparks onto a nest of dry tinder. A bright, warm flame bloomed, lighting up our corner of the cabin and driving away the damp chill. I set to work, expertly scaling and gutting the catfish. I collected fresh rainwater in Mona’s aluminum mess kit and set it over the fire to boil. Before long, a rich, milky broth was bubbling away, the savory aroma drifting over to the main room. I could hear the distinct sound of swallowing from the other side of the partition. The four starving, freezing celebrities looked like wolves eyeing a fresh kill. Amber finally snapped. Clutching an empty bowl, she marched into our corner. “Zane, we’re all colleagues here,” she said, her voice carrying a fake, sweet lilt as she reached toward our boiling pot. “It’s only fair that you share some of that soup.” Before her hand could touch the rim, Mona’s foot shot out in a blur. The kick caught Amber’s wrist. The bowl flew from her hand, smashing against the wooden wall and shattering into pieces. Amber shrieked, falling backward onto the dirt floor. Mona sat by the fire, her expression cast in shadow, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Get out.” Toby ran over, his eyes red as he helped Amber to her feet. “Zane! How can you just sit there and let your wife assault people? If something happens to us out here, it’s on your head!” I took a slow, deliberate sip of the hot, savory broth. “Don’t try to lecture me on morals now, Toby. Where was this ‘colleague love’ when you guys tried to kick us out of the dry room? You’re so used to treating people like garbage in the industry that you forgot the wilderness doesn’t care about your agent or your contract.” Cody gritted his teeth, stumbling over to the edge of our space. “You’re just a washed-up, blacklisted loser, Zane! Enjoy your little moment. The second we get out of here, my wife will make sure you never work in this town again!” Regina pulled him back, her eyes narrowing into cold slits as she stared at us. “Fine. Have it your way.” By midnight, the rain had stopped, though the ground remained a swamp of thick mud and pooling water. Mona and I curled up together, our bodies sharing warmth as we drifted into a light, uneasy sleep. A few hours later, the faint sound of shifting gravel woke me. I opened my eyes. Mona’s side of the bed was empty—she must have gone to check on the perimeter. Through the dim embers of our dying fire, I saw Regina and Amber creeping into our lean-to. Amber was clutching a thick, heavy wooden club, while Regina was reaching toward our remaining fish and our matches. They were going to rob us while we slept. I grabbed a glowing, red-hot branch from the fire pit and swung it directly at Regina’s hand. “Get the hell back!” I yelled. Sparks showered the air, and Regina leaped back with a gasp. Seeing her plan fail, Amber raised the wooden club high, aiming it straight at my head. Before the blow could land, a dark shadow burst through the doorway. Mona had returned. With a low growl, she lunged forward, grabbing the thick wooden club mid-swing. With a sharp twist of her hands, the wood snapped in two with a deafening “crack”. Without pausing, she threw a heavy punch right past Regina’s ear, slamming her fist into the rotting wooden support pillar behind her. The solid wood split open with a sickening groan, dust and splinters raining down. Regina’s knees buckled, and she collapsed into the mud, trembling violently. Mona stood over them, her chest rising and falling, her eyes burning with a quiet, lethal fury. “Touch him again,” Mona whispered, “and I’ll break more than just a piece of wood.” The midnight robbery attempt had been captured perfectly by the overhead lens. On the live stream, the chat went absolute wild: “Are you kidding me?! Attempted robbery in the middle of the night? Regina Dupont is literally a criminal!” “Amber’s PR team must be sweating blood right now. She tried to hit a guy with a club! This is insane!” “The way Mona broke that club with her bare hands… and that punch! I am officially in love with this woman.” By morning, the quiet of the forest was broken by Toby’s frantic shouting. “Look! Over there, on the opposite ridge!” Through the mist, we could see the tops of several pine trees had been sheared off—the unmistakable markings of a helicopter’s low approach. Regina’s face went pale. “The rescue team came… but they didn’t see us.” Cody broke down, burying his face in his hands. “What are we going to do? Are we going to die out here?” Regina took a deep breath, forcing herself to regain her composure. “This is real survival now. If we want to make it out, we have to work as a unit.” She turned to look at Mona and me, her expression hardening. “Hand over your supplies and your tools. I will manage the distribution.” I laughed, the sound dry and bitter. “Are you out of your mind? Who put you in charge?” Regina sneered. “There are four of us and two of you. If you go off on your own and get hurt, don’t expect us to help.” I took Mona’s hand, feeling the warm strength of her fingers. “I’d rather take my chances with the wolves than travel with parasites.” Watching us walk away, the viewers online rallied behind us, their anger filling the feed: “Regina Dupont makes me sick. She can’t even start a fire, but she wants to ‘distribute’ someone else’s hard-earned gear? The delusion is real.” “Zane handled that perfectly. Don’t give those vultures a single match!” After a quick breakfast of leftover fish, Mona went into the woods to scout. When she returned, she brought back a sliver of hope. There was an old, overgrown hunting trail on the northern ridge. Because of the elevation, the mudslide hadn’t touched it. If we followed it, we could clear the peak and reach an area with cell reception. The news was a lifeline for the other four. Cody immediately assumed his usual arrogant tone. “Since your wife found the path, she can lead the way and clear the brush. She’s got the muscle for it anyway.” Using her as a human shield and calling it leadership. I was about to refuse, but Mona gently squeezed my palm. Her eyes met mine, deep and reassuring. “Let’s go,” she said. I knew why she was doing it. She didn’t want me trapped out here any longer without clean drinking water and medical supplies. The climb was brutal. The trail was overgrown with thick, thorny briars and slippery mud. Mona hacked away at the brush with her knife, clearing a path yard by yard, while I kept close behind her. Cody and the others lagged far behind, complaining with every step. Halfway up, we reached a steep, narrow ledge beneath a slope of loose shale and boulders. Mona found her footing on a stable rock and turned to reach down to pull me up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Regina standing further down the slope. Her eyes were fixed on a massive, loose boulder resting right above our path. With a cruel, deliberate motion, she raised her foot and kicked the support stone beneath the boulder. The heavy rock shifted, triggering a sudden rockslide. A sharp, heavy stone broke free from the mass, hurtling straight toward Mona’s exposed back. “Watch out!” I screamed, my voice cracking with pure terror. Mona spun around, her pupils contracting. If she dodged, the rock would hit me instead. Without a second thought, she threw herself forward, raising her forearms to shield me from the impact. A sickening, heavy “thud” echoed through the trees. The stone struck her forearm with brutal force before bouncing off into the ravine below. Blood instantly soaked through her torn sleeve. She let out a low groan, her body swaying as she fought to keep her balance. The entire horrifying sequence was broadcast live to millions of screens. The chat erupted in absolute fury: “Oh my god! Regina did that on purpose! She literally kicked that rock right at them! That’s attempted murder!” “I saw it clear as day. She aimed it! Mona took the hit to save Zane… oh god, her arm might be broken.” I scrambled up the muddy slope like a madman, wrapping my arms around Mona. The gash on her arm was deep, the flesh torn open to the bone, blood pouring down her wrist. “Are you insane?!” I screamed, turning to Regina with tears stinging my eyes. Regina put on a face of mock horror. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see that loose stone there.” Seeing the faint, cruel smirk she couldn’t quite hide, something inside me snapped. I lunged forward, grabbing her by the collar of her expensive hiking shirt. “You did that on purpose, you crazy bitch!” Cody yelled, rushing forward to shove me off. “Get off her! She said it was an accident!” My arm swung back and I delivered a brutal, open-handed slap across his face. “Crack!” The force of the blow spun his head around, his cheek immediately swelling into a bright red welt. “You… you slapped me?!” he shrieked, clutching his face in disbelief. On the live feed, the viewers cheered: “That slap was so satisfying! Cody is still trying to play the victim after his wife literally tried to murder someone!” Regina finally dropped her mask, her eyes twisting into something dark and ugly. “Zane, you really don’t know when to back down, do you?” she spat. “Your wife has one good arm left. You’re both dead weight. Do you really think you’re walking off this mountain alive?” Amber and Toby closed in behind her, both of them holding thick wooden branches. Four against two. And Mona was severely injured. The balance of power had shifted instantly. Mona gently pushed me behind her, her uninjured hand gripping her knife tightly as she stood between me and the group. But before anyone could move, a sudden, heavy scent filled the air—the metallic, musky smell of a wild predator. Mona’s face drained of color. She looked down at the soft mud in front of us. There, clearly printed, were massive, heavy paw prints, and on a nearby pine tree, three deep, fresh claw marks. Seeing those terrifying signs, the chat on the live stream shifted from anger to sheer panic: “Where is the crew?! Call the police! This is getting out of hand, someone is going to die!” “Wait… look at those tracks. Is that… a bear?” “A bear?! The producers said there were no large predators in these mountains! Mona is hurt, they can’t run!” Mona lowered her voice, her grip on my wrist tightening. “We have a problem. Run.” “Roar—!” A deafening, bone-rattling roar shattered the quiet of the forest. The thick brush ahead parted, and a massive black bear lunged into the clearing. Standing on its hind legs, it easily towered over six feet, its small, red-rimmed eyes locking onto us. Cody let out a pathetic shriek, his legs giving out as he collapsed into the mud. Regina’s face went white, but her survival instinct was cold and fast. She grabbed Cody by his jacket, dragging him up toward a high rocky ledge nearby. Toby tripped, falling backward into a muddy hollow, sobbing hysterically. The bear, agitated by Toby’s screams, turned its massive head toward him, preparing to charge. In that split second of pure chaos, Regina and Amber locked eyes. Between them, they held a thick nylon climbing rope. As Mona tried to pull me back into the tree line, Regina threw the coiled rope, catching Mona’s ankle, and pulled with all her might. Mona tripped, falling heavily onto the wet earth. Amber scrambled forward, wrapping the other end of the rope around a thick pine trunk and tying it off with a tight, complex knot. “Sorry, sweetie!” Amber yelled, her face twisted in fear. “Someone has to stay behind to keep it busy!” Without looking back, she and Regina scrambled up the high ledge. On the live stream, the chat was screaming: “Are they insane?! They just tied her up as bait!” “This is murder! Actual murder on live television! Somebody do something!” “The knot is too tight! Mona can’t get free!” The bear, distracted by the sudden movement, turned away from Toby and began lumbering toward Mona. Mona struggled against the rope, but her injured arm made it impossible to pull herself up. She looked at the approaching beast, then turned her head to look at me. In those quiet, usually silent eyes, I saw a sudden, terrifying resolve. With her one good arm, she gathered all her strength and shoved me away from her. “Run!” she screamed. “Don’t look back! Just live!” I stumbled backward, scraping my hands raw against the jagged rocks. I looked up to see the bear lunging over Mona, its massive paw raised high, ready to bring it down on her. In that second, my heart stopped. Every memory of our short marriage flashed through my mind: her building the tarp roof over my head, her taking the blow meant for my back. I had married her for convenience, looking for a quiet life to fade away in. But looking at her now, my heart was breaking. She didn’t know how to say sweet, romantic things, but she was willing to die for me. “No!” A primal scream tore from my throat. My fear evaporated, replaced by a reckless, burning fury. I didn’t run. I snatched a sharp, heavy rock from the ground and charged the beast. If Mona was going to die here, I was going to die with her. The viewers online wept as they watched me run toward certain death: “Oh my god, Zane! No! This is too painful to watch!” On the ledge above, Cody watched with a cruel sneer on his face. “Serves them right! That’s what you get for crossing us. They won’t even have bodies left to bury.” Regina’s voice was cold and detached. “Once the bear is done and leaves, we go down and take their packs. I want that waterproof jacket.” “I get the boots,” Amber added eagerly. They were already dividing up our belongings. I threw myself over Mona’s body, wrapping my arms around her head, waiting for the claws to tear through my flesh. I squeezed my eyes shut. But the pain never came. Slowly, I opened my eyes. The massive, clawed paw was hovering barely three inches from my face. Then, the bear slowly lowered its paws, grabbed its own neck, and with a hard tug, pulled its entire head off.
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