What The Luck!?

"Welcome to advanced survival. Today we are going over desert environments. I don't care if you have experience or not, today you know nothing!" The advanced survival class was very different from the normal survival class. Every single week there would be a different guest instructor that specialized in a specific environment or situation. Jackson thought that this made it the best class in the entire school. So much so that he nearly clamped a hand over his mouth when the guest instructor said that they knew nothing about desert survival from this point on. 

"The best way to learn about survival is to do it in action. For this class, we will head to the survival area beneath this room. It has been simulated to mimic desert time and temperatures in a three hour cycle. That is why you will spend the next two periods of the day with me." 

The group had been one half of the class. The other student just happened to be a lot like Jackson and have a high affinity and love for survival. But this didn't mean that they were happy to hear that the teacher had changed their daily schedule on the first day back. They had all been very excited to have two study halls in a row which was a very lucky and rare occurrence for a monday. But their dreams were crushed. If every guest teacher thought this way then they were in for a massive loss of free time. 

"I was going to use that to study up on that triple kick. I want to master it and try to add a leg sweep." Cara had been completely caught up in the triple kick since she saw it the other day. Something in her made her full of desire to learn it and even grow the move more. She had the idea to add a leg sweep and potentially some elbow and knee hits to the combos. Overall, she was working to have a nearly endless flowing combo like Asher did when he was in the right situation. 

"Guys, focus up. We need to learn about the deserts." Jackson had gotten fully brought under control by the promising premise of the class. He had just been told that the best class and most favorite change of schedule he had ever been part of. 

"Yes yes, we will focus. But only if you promise all of us that you will bring your moms' tomato sauce for us to have a group dinner tomorrow." Sammy knew exactly how to calm down Jacksons' excitement and get everyone else on board with something happier. The other week when they had all gone to Jacksons' house to eat and found out that his parents were hug in survival tactics and such explained a lot to them. But what had really hit home for all of them was the fact that Jackson's mother had a secret family recipe for tomato sauce. 

"Yes! Sammy is right. You need to bring that tomato sauce. I will have a whole other shot to figure out the recipe." Art on the other hand, had vowed to figure it out. The fact that he had found a better recipe than the one his grandmother had taught him was a massive affront to his cooking. Since his family had always had money he even had the benefit of eating from high end chefs. None had even gotten close to how gook Jackson's mother's family recipe tomato sauce was. 

"I told you, its secret is home grown tomatoes. Just grow your own and it's more fulfilling." Jackson was snapped out of it when this was all mentioned but unfortunately had drawn the attention to the teacher that was walking them down the stairs to the basement level. 

"No, this should be many of your first times' here. This is the underground portion of the survival areas. The surface has the fake mountains, forests, and rivers. Down here we have rooms made to replicate other environments. The desert one is one of many. Caves, underwater, and even a small subway platform to deal with electrical dangers." The teacher sounded as if he had been here before and was always happy to explore and learn more as well. Jackson looked at him with jealousy since the different rooms could go leaps and bounds to further his education. 

"Now, this room is currently at the halfway mark in the cycle. That means it is the hottest possible. Come on in." The teacher opened the door and a blast of heat hit everyone. They all cringed away without exception. The dry heat was enough to tell them that there was a very low chance of surviving this environment. "Now tell me, who has a single idea of how they would stop the sun from cooking them whole?"

"You could use your clothing as a shield from the sun?" One student wanted to try and grab credit but was quickly ignored by the teacher. 

"You should try and find a dune that is tall enough to cast some shadow. Then use your clothing to expand that shadow. It's the closest to a cool shady place you can get. Then remain there until the sun had lost its highest point and resume your travel. The less you remain in the sun the less chance of dehydration, severe sun burn, and even sun poisoning." Jackson read this out as if it was written down. He had long memorized such things but never had the chance to use it in real like. 

"That works. Should you walk barefoot since it will be faster?" The next question was directed at Laura who looked to be bored with the class because she was forced to be in the uncomfortable situation of insane heat. 

"No, sand this hot is annoying. I need water. I will be back." Laura left in the blink of an eye. If this was any other student, the teacher would have given detention. But he knew that Laura had a faster metabolism and had the potential to end up in heat stroke faster. She had to remain hydrated more than anyone else. 

"She's correct, but not because sand is annoying. The hot sand will burn your feet and possibly cause a way for infection to get in your body. It also stops you from being able to walk to salvation." The small sand dune that was displayed in the room appeared endless due to the way the room was made. The only thing that stood out was the bright red of the door. It was made this way so that the students would be able to better immerse themselves in the false environment. 

"Now, when is the best time to travel in the desert? And what direction?"

"Oh, I actually know this one. I heard it on television." Jane shot her hand in to the air to get attention. "The best way to travel is to pick the way the sun rises and follow it. Or pick the way the sun sets and follow it. Once you decided stick with it until you see something. Then you should travel in the early morning for a few hours and the last afternoon for a few hours. Never in the morning and never at night." The proud look on Jane's face made everyone wonder how she managed to remember an obscure fact like this. 

"Exactly right. In the middle of the day the chance of heat exhaustion, dehydration, and even heat stroke. At night it is the opposite. The desert gets very cold and you can actually get first bite or hypothermia. The desert is a land of extremes. Now, you all have the rest of the class to gather one cup of water each. Good luck." The teacher threw them a sleeve of cups and let them all split up to try their luck. The only thing that Asher noticed was that he shook his head when everyone that was spitting up. 

"This should be no problem. We have so many of us." Louis wasn't sure how they would manage it but he did know that with everyone together that ti would be easier. 

"You have that right. With this many people, we should be done before the cycle hits the night simulation." Jackson had grabbed everyone a cup and was certain that they would be able to finish. "There are multiple ways to make this happen, but I doubt you guys want to do the gross one so we will dig instead." No one had any idea what the gross one was but something in Art's mind made him recall a memory of someone doing a certain act of nature in to their hands to have something to drink. 

"I agree, no gross ones. I will help dig." Art was visibly very supportive of this digging and started in on it right away even though he was sweating enough as it was. 

"Just dig slowly. Everyone can help. The less you sweat the better.." Jackson joined and talked them all through the process they were going to use. 

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