What Would You Bring? - SCP Foundation

"If you were stuck on a deserted island, what would you bring?"

Mr. Johnson's words echoed throughout the classroom, the group of teens all giggling at the question.

"It's an age-old question, one of the oldest icebreakers known to man. It is the last resort of someone who has nothing else to do or say. So, what would you all bring?"

"Oh c'mon, that's too vague. Spice it up a little!" Zeke said.

"Same reasoning for your new hairdo today?" Sarah said in response, getting a chuckle from Zeke and the others.

"Hey, I was just trying something okay? Besides, I think it suits me." Zeke responded.

"Okay, besides the fact that Zeke's hair looks like a piece of roadkill, I do have to agree with him. Let's limit it down to just a category." Sam wittingly chided, pushing up his glasses.

"Fine, how about this: You could only listen to one song while marooned on a desert island. What would you listen to?" Mr. Johnson replied.

"Oh, Bohemian Rhapsody, hands down," Zeke said, an heir of confidence noticeably in his voice.

"Hey, gotta respect the choice, but that's not funny enough. Message In A Bottle is my choice," Sam said, getting rewarded an eye-roll by everyone present. "Think about it though! It's catchy and it fits! It's the perfect choice."

"Bro, come on. You'd go nuts listening to that over and over again! Mine is Jessica by the Allman Brothers Band." Jack said.

"How'd it even work? We'd have no electricity if we were on a deserted island!" Sarah said, prompting Mr. Johnson to point at her with his ruler and coldly state, "Don't be a know-it-all, Sarah. Fine, let's assume that there's some kind of electricity on the island, happy? Now, let's continue. How about video games?"

The class began to ponder, with numerous answers being thrown around. Some of them said Super Smash Bros, while others said things like Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and the Elder Scrolls.

"Alright, alright, settle down. Now, let's keep this going: How about books? Now, don't let these be the basic answers, surprise me. I know I myself am a large Heinlein fan, so my choice is Stranger In a Strange Land."

"I've heard some good things about Against the Day," Sam said, wiping his glasses clear of any stains.

"Uuuuuuuh, how about Ulysses by James What's-His-Name. It's been sitting on my dad's bookshelf for ages, so might as well see what all the fuss is about," said Zeke.

"I'll read Lord of the Flies. I can have fun reading while all of you tear each other apart." Sam said, chuckling.

The class continued to answer question after question, the thought of being stuck on an island burned into their minds, as if they stared at the sun and it were engraved into them. They could almost see it, those winding beaches, and the salty breeze that blew through their very souls.

"Alright, let's move on. Now, l-" Mr. Johnson began, but was quickly cut off as the whole room began to shake. Students began to scream, with others looking out the window, the sight before them unlike any seen before.

Outside, there… well, there wasn't even an outside left. What used to be there was now an arrangement of fractals and colors, a barrage of the sights and senses. Infinity itself folded in on itself as if the world was being destroyed and reborn anew.

Soon, they became nothing, and out of darkness, they became themselves again. Reborn and destroyed a near infinite amount, time itself unable to keep up. A myriad of colors and feelings bombarded them. Their essences merged and melted, their very beings being plucked by the strings of fate.

The last thought any of them could muster, before they drowned in utter infinity, was that of the island. And so, their fate was sealed.

The room began to twist and distort, with the walls fading away to endless waves. In a flash of blue light, the world was back to the way it was before, but something was different. The classroom that once held so many people now lay empty and barren, with no trace of anyone having been there at all.

Far away, in an unknown location, the members of the classroom awoke to find themselves no longer inside the classroom, nor even in the school. Instead, the hot sun bathed them with its warm embrace, the floor beneath now no longer made of wood and concrete, but of sand.

They were marooned.

Gathering their bearings, the group began to assess their situation.

“What the fuck?!” Zeke said, beginning to scan his new surroundings.

“I…how is this possible? We were just in the class!” Sarah said, wiping the sand out of her hair.

“M-maybe this is some elaborate prank?” Sam said.

“How the fuck would that work, Sam?” Zeke snapped.

“Well, maybe we were drugged. Yeah, that’s it! We got drugged!”

“Then what about the earthquake? And the stuff outside?” said Jack.

“The earthquake could’ve been a helicopter, and the shit we saw would’ve been due to the drugs. This is all just some elaborate prank,” said Sam, still trying to find a rational reason for their circumstance.

“So we got drugged, kidnapped, and you think this is some fucking prank?! How dense do you-” Sarah began, but stopped as she noticed a strange object lying on the sand. She picked it up and saw the large text visible on the front of it. The words Lord of the Flies were there in bold, and flipping through the pages, it was indeed the book.

“Oh my god… It’s our stuff…” Sarah said, her eyes widening with realization. She immediately began digging through the sand, uncovering an iPod with the song Message In a Bottle shown on its screen.

For the next few hours, the group fanned the entire island, finding more of the objects they said back in the classroom, a place that feels infinitely far away. For every second they spent there, every time they looked out at that ever-stretching ocean, their hope grew more and more faint. Finally, once all the objects were discovered, the group reconvened along the islet.

“What the fuck is going on, man?!” Zeke said, panic ever-present in his tone.

"There's gotta be some cameras hidden here or something. This is all some kind of joke, there's no way we just appeared on some island in the middle of fucking nowhere." Sam said, beginning to walk around the island, scanning the area for any sign of cameras or microphones.

"Bullshit! Suppose you're right, and that we all are being pranked, but being drugged? Kidnapped? That ain't no prank," said Jack.

"Everyone, stop! I don't know how or why we're here, but we are. If we want to survive, we need to work together," Mr. Johnson said, attempting to group all the now spaced-out students back together.

"How do we know he isn't in on this, huh?" Zeke said and pointed at the teacher. "He's the one who started the whole "oh if you were stuck on an island" bullshit!"

"Zeke, I would never do that. You're not thinking straight, please calm down." Mr. Johnson said, meeting Zeke's stare.

"I…goddamnit!" In a fit of rage, Zeke grabbed a disc off the ground and hurled it as hard as he could. The disc landed against the tree, shattering into pieces.

Zeke began to cry, saying, "I…I wanna go home, man. I miss my family, my friends. I wanna go home…"

Seeing Zeke, Sarah approaches him and embraces him, tears still falling down Zeke's face. On the horizon, the sun is now touching the sea, the resulting sunset filling the air with vibrant, warm colors.

The group begins to huddle close, attempting to stay warm. Out of the darkness, it was Sam's voice that was heard. It was quiet, with no confidence behind it. He simply said, "Do you think we'll be here forever?"

Attempting to lighten the mood, Jack butt in, "No, we'll get out of here. We have technology, each other, and enough music to make us not go crazy. Hey, who knows, maybe you guys may finally like Jessica."

The group chuckled, making Jack smile, happy to see his friends in a good mood. The one happy memory they have on that god-forsaken island.

And so, each member of the group slowly fell asleep, some praying for rescue, while others simply dreamt of what they'd do the second they got back home. Some would hug their family, others would check on their pets, but all of them yearned to be home.

But deep down, they know it'll never be enough.

They’ll die, only surrounded by what they brought.