Renee Morgan squatted down to tie her shoelaces, pretending not to have heard Lynn Miller’s question.
No matter whether someone reminded Zara Chapman or not, she’d put on that outfit anyway—making a fool of herself was inevitable. As a nobody, Lynn had no reason to argue with her. You know how some celebrity fans can get—they’d blame Zara’s humiliation on Lynn. Better not get involved in this kind of "good intentions get you nowhere" mess.
The seven of them had just caught their breath when the show staff quickly delivered their suitcases.
Zara Chapman was pleasantly surprised. She hurriedly found proper clothes to change into, but before she could touch up her makeup, the three instructors reappeared.
He wanted to inspect their luggage. Once inside the secret base, nothing related to makeup or unrelated to training was allowed.
"Secret base?" someone asked in confusion. "Aren’t we supposed to be training in the army? Isn’t this the army center?"
"The plan’s changed. You’ve got one minute," the instructor said coldly, showing no trace of warmth or intention to explain.
Renee Morgan and the others froze for a second, then popped open their suitcases at top speed. Before they could dig around, the instructor’s chilly voice came from above: "You’ve got 35 seconds."
"..."
Renee Morgan knew how things worked in the military, so she hadn’t brought much. She pulled out all her makeup, grabbed a few basic skincare products and some daily clothes, then stood up quickly.
Lynn Miller’s luggage was already simple; she just had a few bottles of hot chili sauce and asked the instructor if she could bring them.
The instructor: "..."
The instructor kept a stone-cold, serious face and didn’t speak. Lynn took that as a yes, grinned, and zipped her backpack shut.
Miles Yates packed only a few sets of clothes and basic toiletries, just like Renee Morgan.
The other three male members were even simpler, bringing just a bottle of face wash, some moisturizer, and a few changes of clothes.
Zara Chapman had a pile of jars and bottles all over the floor...
The instructor walked up to her and cut right to the point: "Are these all makeup products?" He’d already said makeup wasn’t allowed.
Zara hurried to explain, "No, these are all skincare products. They brought them too..." She pointed at Renee Morgan and Miles Yates.
The instructor: "You can only bring three."
Zara looked at Renee Morgan and Miles Yates—neither had more than three bottles. She glanced at the other three member’s luggage, who didn’t even have three things. For a second, tears welled up. Why did it seem like the instructor was always picking on her?
Seeing Zara pout and freeze, the instructor strode past them all, voice icy: "Here, you follow orders—no exceptions. If you can’t handle that, leave now."
Zara really wanted to turn around and walk out, but those contracts she’d signed popped into her mind. She couldn’t go. She was proud, but after years of clawing her way through showbiz, she could handle it mentally.
So she squatted down, took out a few outfits and three basic skincare products, and went back to stand in line.
The remaining stuff was collected by the show crew and taken back to the car.
The instructor told them to get on the bus, leading them away from the base, toward the secret site. From now on, the entire show would take place at the secret base.
"Morgan, any idea why they suddenly changed locations?" Lynn Miller wanted to ask the instructor up front as well, but one look at his stern "judge" face and she figured even if she asked, he wouldn’t explain much.
"No idea," Renee Morgan said once they got on the bus. Only then did she have a moment to remember the scenes from her dream. Back then, her allergic reaction was severe—she’d missed several days of filming. But Lynn and the others’ shoot had always been at the army base, so why the sudden change?
The other male cast members were discussing it too while the three instructors up front sat like statues, looking dead ahead.
Renee Morgan had a bad feeling, gripping the handrail so tight she actually wanted to jump out of the bus.
"Morgan, what are you doing?" Lynn Miller’s voice snapped Renee back to reality. After a beat, she mumbled awkwardly, "I... I suddenly felt a bit of a bump."
The instructors up front heard everything: "..."
It’s not like they’re out in the wilderness—why would it be bumpy?
The instructor glanced in the rearview mirror at Renee Morgan clinging to the bus rail—this girl’s pretty cautious, huh.
Not that it would help. Didn’t she know the show’s investor is ’Adventurer’?
Without looking back, the instructor saw a middle-aged man ahead waving. He raised his hand, signaling his colleague to pull the bus over.
When the middle-aged man arrived out of breath, Renee Morgan finally recognized the show director.
The director told the instructors’ bus to go ahead; they had to swing by the hospital to pick up a sick female participant.
The instructor frowned, as if opposed to a sick female cast member insisting on filming.
The director seemed to catch his misunderstanding and quickly clarified: "I just found out too. She went to the hospital early this morning. She just called and said it’s just a minor allergy—won’t delay the shoot, she insists I go pick her up. You know the contract isn’t in my hands, if there’s a breach... I’d let it slide, but with that huge company involved, they’d definitely go straight for legal action..."
The instructor was silent for a few seconds, then nodded. "As long as she knows how tough the training will be."
Everything had to be voluntary—no forcing anyone.
Renee Morgan hadn’t expected Wendy Aldridge to be so badly allergic she’d end up in the hospital, and still be in such a rush to get back on the show.
Well, it made sense. In her dream, at first she didn’t think it was an allergy, just figured the hotel bedding was dirty, bought some basic ointment and joined the unit. Under the blazing sun, her skin burned even worse, so she went to the army clinic. The instructor let her rest, but by day three she was getting worse and finally went to the hospital.
Wendy Aldridge was likely feeling guilty—she knew it wasn’t just normal skin irritation but an allergic reaction to some medication. So she went to the hospital right away, probably wasn’t too serious.
Thinking of what the director said, Renee Morgan whispered to Lynn Miller beside her, "Which company did you sign with on your contract?"
Lynn thought a moment, then said, "Seems like a big company, famous even internationally... what was it, Apex Conglomerate?"
Lynn was a civilian, and the show was paying her pretty well—at least several times her regular salary. The director handed her those complex contracts, but since there weren’t outrageous penalty clauses, she just signed without protest.
Renee Morgan: "???"
This show was such a big deal?
Renee felt a little lost. Her own contract was signed by her company, so she’d never looked at it. With her phone confiscated, she couldn’t even check in with Warren for answers.
When their bus arrived, they waited about an hour before the production team’s van came rushing over.
The first to step out was the PD, carrying his equipment, camera pointed right at the bus door. Then down came a delicate but stubborn-looking girl—the missing Wendy Aldridge. At that moment, she brushed her hair behind her ear, looking frail and pretty as a flower.
The livestream chat was full of concern and sympathy.
Everyone knew about the mix-up that morning—that it wasn’t Renee Morgan who was boycotting the show, but Wendy Aldridge who hadn’t made it.