Original subtitles

[ Hyenas calling ]

She's been gone a while. Hyenas are out there.

Oh [bleep]

There he is.

I got to get the [Bleep] out of here.

Narrator: Two strangers...

There's my partner.

...one man and one woman, both experienced survivalists,

have chosen to put their skills to the ultimate test.

Whoo-hoo!

They have no water, no food, and no clothes.

Their challenge is to survive for 21 days...

God. We are so screwed.

...knowing that the human body

can only live three days without water...

We need water, fast. ...And begins to shut down

after three weeks without food.

This is the Everest of survival challenges.

Can a man and woman

survive alone in the wilderness Naked and Afraid?

Kellie: This blows those other reality TV shows out of the water.

Narrator: Africa... Tanzania.

Temperatures soar into the hundreds by day

and below freezing at night.

During the dry season,

everything that lives here is in a constant battle to survive.

Lions roam the plains of the Serengeti,

hyenas stalk and scavenge,

and deadly snakes will catch the unwary.

Plants litter the landscape with sharp thorns and needles

to protect themselves from plant-eating animals.

Without warning, violent storms can erupt on a biblical scale.

Most 46-year-olds don't look like this.

My name is E.J. Snyder.

I'm a retired 25-year army vet.

I've been married for 20 years, I got two great kids,

and I currently work as a sere instructor

for the special warfare center out at Fort Bragg.

I've been on survival missions all over the world,

but this will be my first in Africa.

Man, this place is absolutely awe-inspiring.

It's just gorgeous.

But we're gonna have to be on our toes

'cause I just can see every little spot

where a predator can be just prowling around.

And then I'm just thinking, "man, where's the water?"

It's so different from anything I've ever seen or ever known.

I'm Kellie Nightlinger,

and I'm a wilderness survivalist and adventurist.

I was a game warden for 12 1/2 years,

and I have an adventure-based youth camp.

I've never been to Africa, so that frightens me.

I'm sure you could spend a lifetime learning things,

but I'm excited for the adventure.

E.J.: Being naked in this terrain, it is crazy.

But I signed on for the 21 days,

and I'm not tapping until I hit the final bell.

Kellie: Being naked adds an unusual element

to this survival challenge.

I won't have any protection from the sun

or things in the environment that I may encounter.

If the partner that I'm paired with

believes in traditional male-versus-female roles,

it'll cause some issues.

If he thinks I'm just gonna stay in the kitchen, so to speak,

it's not gonna work out.

Well, there's my partner.

I'm one of those old-fashioned type guys.

Men tend to think more on the logical side,

where women will tend to think more on the emotional side.

It's probably a small percentage that are gonna take on something

like this and really step up to this challenge.

This is, uh, very interesting.

I'm E.J.

We're naked. We might as well, uh, hug here.

So [laughs]

How weird is this, being out in this place, totally naked

it's surreal.

I'm E.J.

I'm Kellie. Nice to meet you.

Looks like we're gonna be partners over the next 21 days.

I'm excited.

We got some bags here.

Why don't we check and see what we got?

Narrator: E.J. and Kellie

are each allowed to bring one essential survival item.

This is the item I chose to bring.

It's gonna help us catch food,

build shelters, all kinds of tools.

This is a key item for us. I have a pot.

We're gonna use it to purify water,

cook food, use as a digging instrument.

With these two things,

we're gonna be able to do so much.

A small crew will capture the 21-day journey

with clear instruction not to intervene

unless there is a medical emergency.

In addition, E.J. and Kellie are given handheld cameras

to document their own perspective.

It seems to be working. It's got a microphone.

Are you ready for the challenge?

Ready to rock it out.

I'm ready to kick ass. Aah!

And I have some kind of paper here.

It looks like it's a map.

This tree looks like the one we're standing at.

Our survivalists have been given a primitive map of the area.

Indicated on it is their extraction point,

a small mountain about five miles to the west.

They'll need to navigate the treacherous terrain

and be on top of that mountain 21 days from now,

where they'll have to build a signal fire

to alert a rescue helicopter.

There are small water holes

approximately three miles to the north.

That is the only source of water for hundreds of miles.

Humans can only survive without water for three days.

E.J. and Kellie's first priority

is to make it there as quickly as possible.

Let's go. Yeah.

Watch your feet.

As part of their selection process,

E.J. and Kellie have undergone

rigorous physical and psychological testing.

Their survival assessment

has been generated using three categories...

skill, experience, mental.

E.J.'s experience as an army survival instructor

scores him highly.

But without his military-issued gear,

he may struggle to adapt.

Conversely, Kellie has broad experience

with primitive survival and plant life,

but working as a team

could challenge her independent nature.

E.J. and Kellie are given

an overall primitive survival rating.

E.J.'s is set at 7.3,

and Kellie's score is a 7.5.

Our experts will reassess their primitive survival rating

at the end of the 21-day challenge.

Will their rating improve or decline?

E.J.: Here I am out in the middle of Africa

with a woman I don't even know, completely naked.

It's a little strange.

But water's our priority, and that's what I'm focused on.

Let's go straight this way.

Oh. Wait. I think I found purslane.

It's a wild edible plant.

I think this might be purslane.

I want to point something out here.

It's some kind of a succulent, almost like a cacti.

She's got to stay focused, man.

Our job is to get to the water hole.

There's a little shell. Might be able to use that.

She's like a little squirrel getting ready for wintertime.

Hey! Nice score. Probably a zebra.

She sees this, she sees that, and that's a good quality.

But we got to get focused on the task at hand.

'Cause we need water, and we need it quick.

Let's keep moving, squirrel.

[ Laughs ]

Ouch. Oh, watch this guy.

Ah!

Did you get a thorn in you?

Yep. Got it. That one hurt.

This whole thing's thorned.

Narrator: The Tanzanian savanna

is covered with umbrella acacia trees.

Their spiky, three-inch thorns are developed to keep giraffes

and other plant-eating animals from devouring their leaves.

The thorns fall off the trees and litter the landscape.

Without shoes, just trying to walk

presents E.J. and Kellie with one of their biggest challenges.

You okay?

Every step is like someone's got pincushions

in the wrong direction going right up through your foot.

Aah!

Push the tall grass forward, then step on it,

like, kind of roll it in. Yeah, I am. Thank you.

Kellie: He's telling me how to walk on thorns,

as if he's an expert.

Aah.

You don't need to tell me how to walk.

You don't know how to walk on thorns any better than I do.

Let's go this way, Kellie. Let's keep moving.

Yes, sir.

Hey!

I think I might've found...

A medicinal plant that looks like a melon.

Let's go, squirrel!

When the mission is to move to water,

you got to move to water.

You just cannot keep stopping.

We got to get moving.

Yes, sir, sergeant major.

There you go.

Kellie: E.J. - - he's definitely type "A"

I think he's used to always being the boss,

so it'll be interesting to see if he will compromise.

Good God, this stuff's heating up.

[ Sighs ] Here comes the sun.

That sun is brutal.

Holy crap.

Oh, my goodness, it's so hot.

That sun's really starting to growl on us.

I personally do not know any woman

that would still be standing, and we've just begun.

Good God!

Every step is a thorn or the hot dirt

burning up the bottom of my feet.

We need some water, fast.

That's it.

I can't go any further, not with these feet,

not in these conditions.

Heat exhaustion has already definitely set in.

Narrator: The devastating effects of dehydration

can result in disorientation and loss of consciousness.

There have been reports

of even the most experienced survivalists

perishing out on this barren landscape.

I've been to three

paramilitary-style police academies,

and I just know from past experiences

if we don't get water,

everything else is gonna fall apart.

If we don't find water within the next two hours,

we're gonna have to come up with a "B" plan,

and I'm not sure what that is.

What do we got here?

Well, look, it's... we got water down in here.

No way. Yeah.

Dried-up riverbed. It's pretty skank.

E.J.: After all we went through,

this is how we get paid back,

with a dried-up stinking mudhole?

This isn't the water hole I was looking for.

Animals could've been urinating, defecating.

You don't know what's in that mud.

It was so manky.

Oh, soothing mud bath.

It kind of sucks because we can't drink it.

Oh, finally some sunscreen.

We know there's water in the area,

and that makes me feel more pressed

to get moving to where the water hole's sitting

just over yonder.

Kellie: E.J. may or may not think we need this.

We're kind of looking for a water source,

so he's probably just focusing on that.

E.J.: She's down there taking a mud bath,

and I'm just like, "really?

Stay on point."

All right, we're going that way, okay?

The water hole should be that way.

Come on.

We need to get moving because we're losing daylight now.

There are a lot of animals that come out... lookit!

E.J., there's a cave.

If it's big enough,

we can stay in there if there's nothing living in it.

Yeah, but we need to find water.

Oh, there's a bank there,

like animals coming down to drink.

Oh, yeah, baby.

Whoo-hoo! Oh, yeah!

We've reached the promised land.

Whoo-hoo!

Finally... all day, but we did it.

There's water around.

We can probably figure out how to start a fire.

It's like an oasis.

E.J.: We have all the water we could ask for,

but you don't know what's in there,

so you have to boil it.

Now we got to figure out a fire if we're gonna drink it.

We're running out of daylight.

I was in the sere school in the United States army.

That's where I got my first lessons

on building fire in the primitive way.

One method I learned what they call a fire plow.

What I'm gonna do here is I'm going to take my fire plow,

plow it down this little groove right here,

and when I get a little ember at the end,

I'm gonna throw it right in this little bird's nest,

and we're gonna get fire.

The materials out here suck.

The things you need to make a good fire are just not here.

[ Panting ]

This wood here is just not like anything I'm used to.

You can do it. You can do it.

[ Gasps ] Come on. Come on.

Go, go, go.

Let's get some flame.

It's out.

[Bleep]

Damn it!

I just want a drink of water.

Oh, my God. There's a thorn in there.

Aah!

This is a hyena print. If there's one, there's more.

[ Hyenas calling ]

She's out there. The hyenas are out there.

She's been gone way too long.

Kellie?

There's no $100,000 prize at the end of this trek.

It's just you and me out here in the African wild.

This is real.

Narrator: Survival experts Kellie and E.J.

Trekked all day

across Tanzania's hot and treacherous terrain

and finally found water.

The materials out here suck.

The things you need to make a good fire are just not here.

[Bleep]

We need fire.

Narrator: After spending an exhausting night in a cave...

It's gonna be like having an M.R.I.

...the entire next day,

they continued their desperate quest for fire.

I don't know why it's not [bleep] burning.

It'll go.

[ Screams ] Damn it!

Fire's everything, and if we can't get it, we're through.

Narrator: Kellie and E.J. have gone 51 hours

without a drop to drink.

They're weak and dangerously dehydrated.

After three days without water, the human body shuts down,

and death follows quickly.

All right, Kellie, this is it.

We need it now.

I'm not gonna put up with this [bleep] anymore.

You ready? I'm mad.

Come on, E.J.

You can do it. You can do it.

Get ready.

[ Gasps ] Come on.

Blow on it. There you go.

I told you.

Blow from underneath.

[ Blowing ]

Keep moving. Keep moving.

Oh, yeah, baby. Oh, yeah! Yeah!

Whoo!

We got fire!

Africa!

Fire! Yeah!

This is awesome.

[ Sighs ]

I am so happy.

We needed this.

This is surreal.

E.J.: Thank God for Kellie's survival item.

Now we can drink water.

Narrator: Boiling water for a few minutes kills bacteria,

making it safe to drink.

Kellie's pot holds a quart of water.

They need approximately 25 pots each to rehydrate.

This fire is our life.

What do you think? Let's have a drink?

Go to it.

Looks a little murky.

[ Sniffs ] Smells pretty good.

[ Slurps ]

Ahh.

That tastes so awesome.

That is the best hot cup of water I've had in a long time.

Oh, that is the most splendid drink I've ever had.

Good job. Good job.

Wow. Amazing.

[ Frog croaking ]

E.J.: Here we are, day 4.

The mission today is to get hydrated,

'cause without hydration out here, you're done.

Water is life's blood. We need a lot of it.

Kellie: I think E.J.'s realizing how hard it is to tend fire.

I don't like doing this part.

Are you enjoying being a housewife or...?

[ Laughs ]

This look like the face that enjoys what you just said?

[ Laughs ]

We're not anywhere near our goal yet... 25 bowls each.

It's gonna be a slow process, but we got to get there.

Ahh!

Let's go get some firewood.

Maybe we'll get a big score.

Ow!

Man, there's all kinds of thorns here.

Ow. This is ridiculous.

[ Grunts ]

Right now every step is just agony.

Ow!

Does it look like there's a thorn in there or what?

Aah.

It looks pretty nasty.

What do you want me to do with it?

Do you want me to pinch it? Yeah, pinch it.

It's gonna hurt like hell, though.

[ Groans ]

[ Screams ]

Oh, my God. That's horrible.

There's a thorn in there. It's coming out.

Get it. Get it. Aah!

Holy cow.

Kellie: We are trapped in this gully,

feet full of thorns.

I'm so freaking tired of walking around here

like a little freaking infant, crawling on rocks.

I feel like less than a man.

I can't even [bleep] get over there.

Fire thing, I was pissed.

This, I'm [bleep] Mad!

Okay, it is day 8. It's a new beginning.

We're pissed off.

I've been brought to my lowest point.

Yesterday was it. I've had enough. Shoes today.

That's all I got to say.

When I was in the infantry,

you live and die by your feet, period.

So this is gonna be our version of sandals here.

We have to.

Yeah!

Yeah!!!

We're gonna kick you in your keister with these shoes,

Africa!

Yeah!

[ Bird shrieks ]

It feels better already.

They're straps for our shoes, strings.

Toe strap from here to there... stabilization.

Yeah.

I'm gonna loop this one.

Let's see how the shoe works.

No more thorns.

E.J.: We just increased our area of operation

to 500 meters for starters.

Tomorrow's the dawn of a new day.

Did you hear that?

[ Hyenas calling ]

I'm not sure what the hell that is.

[ Calling continues ]

Might be hyenas.

Kellie: Holy cow.

[ Calling continues ]

I keep hearing this strange noise out here.

It might be a hyena.

I think the fire's keeping them away.

I'm not sure.

Narrator: Hyenas are a major threat to humans in the wild.

It has been reported that, in 2004,

35 people were killed by spotted hyenas

near Tanzania's border with Mozambique.

The majority of the attacks occurred

on people sleeping out in the open in the night.

Oh, man.

Okay, here we are, day 9.

Just got up.

What a night last night.

We heard hyenas last night.

They were really close.

Yeah, they were very close.

Moving in around us... we heard a couple of them.

But today, with the shoes,

we'll be able to walk up out of here

and catch some of them animals, maybe.

Hopefully we get protein today.

I know I need some, and I'm sure E.J. does.

He's a lot bigger than me.

Don't kill anything we can't carry,

that's like bigger than an elephant.

Okay.

Narrator: With their hydration

and mobility issues under control,

now Kellie and E.J. desperately need to get some protein

into their bodies that they can convert into energy.

E.J.: Today we're entering into an area

where we're just not the biggest, baddest thing around.

Kellie: Hunting is my passion.

It's one of my favorite things to do.

But it isn't a sport here. It's life or death.

Looks like hyena poop because it's kind of like a dog poop.

There were hyenas in the area the last couple nights.

Oh, look, look over there. Zebra.

Yeah, and wildebeests.

Let's go around this, where I can get some cover.

Get down, E.J.

Come on! They're gonna see you.

We have the advantage 'cause they're coming to us.

I think if we stay put here for a little while,

we're gonna see some cool stuff.

We can sit here all day and study,

but we're not putting anything in our belly.

A lot about hunting isn't moving.

It's just watching and listening.

Let's just sit here, and we'll see what happens.

I got to get smaller game.

I got to get something in my belly.

He's a full-grown, you know, type "a" male,

and he certainly, I'm sure,

doesn't want to be told how to hunt by a woman,

but it's a team effort.

E.J.: It just doesn't click.

We're from two different worlds, and it's frustrating.

I'd be better off out here by myself.

[ Animal calling ]

I'm getting very concerned with my partner.

Her head isn't in the game 100%.

If you get in this mental state,

it's the first step towards giving up.

Oh, the rain's coming down heavier.

Come on, God, give us a break!

[ Thunder crashes ] I guess that's his answer.

Got to get ready in case the hyenas decide to come back,

'cause we've had a little pack of hyenas

keep coming around here and probing us.

Narrator: E.J. and Kellie are nearly halfway through

their 21-day survival challenge in Tanzania.

Before they embarked on this mission,

they were assessed by survival experts

and each given a primitive survival rating, or PSR.

They will be reassessed after the challenge ends.

So far, they have secured shelter, water,

and created fire, which will help keep predators away.

But exposure to the African elements has taken its toll,

and a diet existing of roots and barely any protein...

How about some tadpole soup?

I'd rather have a pizza.

...is not enough to keep them going for much longer.

In addition, E.J.'s foot wound is becoming infected,

and a failed hunt, which has led to increased tension,

is making the task of securing more substantial food

and protein even more challenging.

I'm starting to finally see the effects

of a lot of food deprivation.

We're starting to kind of get at each other a little bit

because these things just start to wear on you.

Kellie: Today it finally happened.

I hit the wall.

I'm just so exhausted and hungry.

We haven't had a real meal in almost two weeks.

E.J.: I'm getting very concerned with my partner.

She's just getting a little mopey.

It seems like her spirit's changing,

and that's what I'm really noticing.

Physically, how are you?

Right now probably at about 40%.

So, physically, you're at 40% power.

Mm-hmm. Hungry, tired, thirsty.

E.J.: Her head isn't in the game 100%.

If you get in this mental state,

it's the first step towards giving up.

It's getting to a point where we have to have a discussion.

I asked the crew to please give us some space

and that we would do this on diary cameras.

Certain things just have to be done on a personal level.

I'm in this thing for the entire time.

Kellie... I hope she stays. I just really am not sure.

I've been thinking a lot about the last several days,

and things have been going on.

My thing is, we're two different people.

You're more free spirit,

and I always move with a sense of urgency,

and it's frustrating me.

I guess internalizing it... I get angry.

It just seems like your way of being as an individual

is a slower pace of life.

I need to understand that.

I think that you definitely

seem to have a lot more energy than I do.

I don't know if it's because of going on a menstrual cycle

and having all those issues.

I'm not saying that.

No, I'm not envying you for that

because I don't know what that feels like,

and I am sure that is probably horrible,

and I don't know what that's doing to you.

Maybe I need to be more understanding of that

and not get frustrated because of that.

Maybe I haven't tapped what I need to tap.

I'll try to be a better partner from now on.

I don't want to be, you know, a hindrance to you.

That's never why I came here. I want to be an equal.

I think not many women would've signed up for this,

and I think you're a very strong woman

for just even raising your hand.

This is a tough situation, and...

[ Voice breaking ] It's just been... it's been hard.

[ Sniffles ]

I don't think either one of us

knew it was gonna affect us in this way.

I want to make sure we walk as a team,

like we came into this thing...

bright-eyed, smiling, and successful.

I want to do it as a team,

so we leave here lifelong friends.

Definitely.

Come here.

E.J.: We were at a make-or-break time,

and I felt that it was a very successful conversation,

and that we could move forward side by side as a team.

Kellie: It came out of the blue,

and I just wasn't expecting it,

but I agreed and was happy to agree to try to dig deeper

and grow together as a team and accomplish our goal.

To the end.

You betcha.

Since E.J. can hardly move today with his bad foot,

I'm gonna take the lead and try to find us some food.

It's got to be killing him that he has to be the housewife.

It's almost like we're a family,

so he thinks he needs to provide for me.

Yeah, I'm jealous right now.

I'd be lying if I would say otherwise.

Good luck. Happy hunting.

All right.

I hope the heat doesn't get her.

I love to be outdoors.

I have a passion for this whole conquest that we're undertaking,

and I don't feel it's really shown through,

so I think you're gonna see a whole new me.

Right now Kellie's out hunting, and I'm doing the house chores.

I don't like it. [ Chuckles] I don't like it one bit.

I feel like this is an apron now.

Kellie: I know how E.J. is feeling.

He is upset because he's not here,

but yet he would be excited if I got food.

This is a hyena print. Big sucker.

They travel in packs.

If there's one, there's more.

In the daylight, they're kind of skittish, stay away from humans.

But at night, man, they can cause you a problem.

They've been known to corner humans before at night,

and can be pretty mean.

I'm gonna head over to this tree over here,

the big one out in the middle,

'cause I think that it's a roosting spot for Guinea hens.

A lot about hunting isn't moving.

It's just sitting here and seeing what happens.

Narrator: With the camera crew gone for the night,

Kellie and E.J. are on their own,

alone, vulnerable,

with only their diary cams to record their fears in the night.

So, I'm sitting down here, get off my foot,

got my foot elevated 'cause it's not pretty at all.

Kellie's been out longer than she planned on being.

It's gotten real dark.

I'm waiting to hear Kellie soon.

[ Hyenas calling ]

[ Sighs ]

E.J.: Kellie?

She's been gone a while. It's pitch-black.

I heard hyenas out there.

I'm getting kind of worried that, you know, she's out there.

I should've been out there with her.

My stupid foot...

I can't even freaking hardly walk down there to get water.

She's out there, my partner, and hyenas are out there.

Hyenas use their sense of smell to find wounded animals.

I feel like a sitting duck right here.

You don't want to go up against a pack of hyenas.

I hope she makes it back soon, man.

She's been gone way too long.

Kellie: Oh [bleep]

Oh [bleep]

There he is!

I got to get the [Bleep] out of here.

She's been gone a while.

I heard hyenas out there.

Narrator: It's night 13

of Kellie and E.J.'s 21-day African survival challenge.

With the camera crew gone for the night,

Kellie, out alone on a hunt for food,

has encountered dangerous hyenas

and is desperately trying to get back to camp.

But E.J. is crippled

with an increasingly debilitating foot infection.

Kellie?

I heard hyenas.

I'm getting kind of worried that, you know, she's out there.

I should've been out there with her.

I'm sitting here trying to see if I see any sign of her.

She's been gone a while.

[ Hyenas calling ]

Kellie: Oh [bleep]

E.J.?

Kellie?

E.J.?

Kellie!

Kellie?

Yeah.

Oh, man, I heard hyenas. You all right?

Yeah.

They scared the [Bleep] out of me.

Oh, my God, I was so worried.

They were around me.

Did they come close?

Yeah, they were close.

[Bleep] Really close.

[ Sighs ]

They don't travel alone.

So if there's one, there's more.

I'm sure if we stay by the fire,

I'm pretty sure we'll be safe.

[Bleep] Africa.

Every time you turn a corner, they throw you a curveball.

Narrator: It's two weeks into their survival challenge.

E.J. is still struggling with his battered feet.

Kellie: Wow. That looks horrible.

And the little food Kellie and E.J. have been eating

has not been enough.

The average adult American

consumes over 2,000 calories a day.

They've had a fraction of that

the entire time they've been in Africa.

Now I've lost some muscle. I've lost fat.

I know we're at the point

where our bodies are starting to consume themselves.

My breasts are smaller.

My stomach is smaller.

I'm guessing maybe I've lost 25, 30 pounds.

I just saw a fish over there.

There they go again.

Do you see two or one?

I see two. Awesome.

Why don't you try to scare them down to me,

and I'll come down to the other end?

Fish protein is one of the best sources of protein you can get,

and out here, I'm very surprised

there's fish in that water pool.

But we're gonna get one today.

I think they're over in this hole here.

There he goes.

Do you see him?

Here, fishy, fishy, fishy.

Fishy, I'm gonna come get you.

I'm gonna catch you with my hands!

E.J.: So, I look behind me, and there's Kellie.

She's got her legs all spread out.

That is one strange technique.

I've never actually caught a fish this way.

Just patience.

Patience.

Whoo! Fish in the crotch.

Go, go, go!

Nice job, Kellie!

Got him.

Nice! Kellie? Yeah?

You're the better fisherman.

Narrator: Out on Tanzania's savannah,

catfish live underground during the dry season

in thick muddy ponds.

An internal organ functions as a lung,

and they can breathe air.

When enough water is present, they emerge out of hibernation.

Good job.

Dinner. Whoo-hoo!

Good job, Kellie.

Kellie: Catching fish is a victory.

The fact that I caught a fish,

it just puts me on more of a level playing field.

Maybe now E.J. will treat me as an equal

instead of just some woman he's dragging along on his excursion.

Awesome, eh?

Nice job.

Way to teach me how to kill a catfish.

We have our first real, real food.

It's a really special moment.

Oh, man.

That is so good.

This is a well-earned meal. It is.

E.J.: If the opportunity shows itself,

you have to pounce

because we just don't know where our next meal is coming from.

Day 16... my foot is worse than ever.

I'm kind of incapacitated right now.

I can't even move around hardly anywhere,

so I've been sitting... laying down here with my foot elevated

to try and get the blood out of the foot.

[Bleep]

In this kind of environment,

a foot infection is as good as a death sentence.

It could turn into a staph infection.

It can go septic.

I can even get gangrene.

In my 25 years in the military,

I have seen guys lose legs over this kind of thing.

It really sucks, and it demoralizes you.

Serious. This is no joke. This could be life-threatening.

[ Thunder crashes ]

Oh, did you hear that one?

A lot of thunder.

A lot of it rolling in.

Right there... look at that cloud head.

[ Thunder crashes ]

Oh, here it comes now.

Man, that came in quick.

Right over top of us.

Oh, it's getting cold.

Aah.

[ Shivers ]

Right now the rain is creating a life-and-death situation for us

because, if our core body temperatures lower too much,

we can go into a hypothermic state,

and that's not good, and that could be deadly.

I'm starting to see the fire starting to go out here.

We're gonna have to start stoking it.

If we lose this fire, we're gonna be through.

That'll be a good idea,

just so we have something... some embers.

This is like disaster, between my foot and the rain.

I mean, this is really a tough situation.

We didn't expect this. It's the dry season.

This stuff's not supposed to happen around this time,

and this came out of nowhere.

Come on, God, give us a break!

[ Thunder crashes ]

Uh-oh. [ Chuckles ]

I guess that's his answer.

Challenge, challenge, challenge.

These coals are going out.

You tend the fire over there.

All right.

Watch it. Watch it.

Get up there and tend the fire. You all right?

Hold on.

It's in there. Just tend it.

Just don't let it go out.

I'm gonna keep gathering firewood,

and you just keep doing that.

If anything happens that you need me for,

you just tell me.

I will. You're doing a great job.

Way to step up.

[ Grunts ]

E.J.: My foot feels like it's on fire.

I'm dizzy. I'm nauseated.

The pain's just shooting right up my leg.

Your skin is the easiest way for infection

to creep into your body and your bloodstream.

Aah. You all right?

No.

Narrator: E.J.'s infected foot has worsened.

With his life in danger,

the production crew has to intervene.

If that starts going up your leg, man,

you're in serious trouble.

I'm worried that you're not gonna make it to the end.

E.J.: Damn it!

E.J.: When I was in the military, security's important.

It's just as important out here in the wild, especially Africa.

This spear I'm making is a little bit shorter than I like,

but it'll at least give us something

in case something comes in here.

We can at least stick them with this

to make them think that we're not the meal

they want for the night.

That should be good enough for the shelter.

This is critical.

Security... there's wild animals out here.

We don't know what to expect.

This spear might be the only thing between us and living.

This challenge has given us everything we've got.

[ Groans ]

Narrator: It's day 16.

E.J. and Kellie have managed to rescue their fire

from the sudden storm.

I'm gonna keep gathering firewood.

But E.J.'s worsening foot has reached crisis point...

...and the production crew has stepped in,

fearing for E.J.'s life.

E.J.'s infected foot puts him at risk

of contracting septicemia,

a serious condition in which bacteria enters the bloodstream

and can result in respiratory stress,

septic shock, and even death.

E.J. is taken to a local medic,

who washes his infected foot

with an antiseptic saline solution.

If E.J. is deemed okay to continue,

it is his choice whether to carry on or tap out.

E.J.: Aah!

[ Screaming ]

[ Groaning ]

Narrator: The puncture wound is drained

to remove any of the remaining shards of the thorn

and dressed to keep it clean.

All I want do is get back out there.

Narrator: E.J. is given antibiotics

to kill off any dangerous bacteria

and prevent further infection.

E.J.: Been kind of crazy. I got a little worried.

I thought maybe that my challenge was gonna be over.

So, to be sitting right here now is a great thing

'cause that means I'm still in it.

I'm still in the challenge, and I'm still moving forward.

Kellie: Well, I'm here in the cave.

I'm in dire need of a hairdresser,

of some makeup, of a shower.

I wish I had a bottle of rum.

Kellie: Day 20.

We're still not there yet.

We've got some ideas to transfer the embers from our fire

to establish a zone for the helicopter to land.

E.J.: We want to get some kind of a carry basket built

so we can transport some embers

so we can have a fire at the end of the thing.

Kellie: And get the frog out of here!

Yeah!

Narrator: E.J. and Kellie must make their final trek

across the hot treacherous landscape

to the extraction point

and transport their burning embers

up the remaining 1,500 feet.

There, they have to make a signal fire

to alert the rescue helicopter the next day.

Keeping embers from burning out over a long period of time

is one of the most difficult tasks they face.

There's a big old dead tree up here.

Hey, that looks like a good spot for camp.

Yep. We got everything.

We got here with all items attached.

Let there be fire.

Here we go.

E.J.: It's so critical that we make

because if we don't have an ember in the morning,

we're done.

[ Insects chirping ]

Shoot. We just lost flame.

It's out.

Come on, bitch!

E.J.: I fell asleep right next to that fire,

and I woke up, and there was nothing but coals.

This is very dire straits.

We're really focusing here on getting ember,

and nothing else matters.

Keep blowing.

We just need a little flame.

Oh, yeah, baby. Keep it going.

Watch your head.

Oh! Oh!

Help! Help!

[Bleep] [ Laughs ]

That was not good.

Oh, my gosh.

Kellie: I've never been so thankful.

He reacted literally within a second or so.

E.J. saved my life.

That's crazy.

E.J.: Final destination...

top of extraction point on that hill right there.

I found some good animal dung for us to transport embers.

I just don't want to catch on fire.

I've already been through that.

Doing good, Kellie.

Well, we're almost there.

Victory's in our grasp.

Whoo! We are here!

You do your fireman's blow there.

That's a nice smoky fire.

Fire... now it means our rescue. It's our way out of here.

It's our extraction!

There it is, right there.

Yeah!

Yeah, incoming! Incoming!

E.J.: I came into this challenge

thinking a woman had her place,

and it was definitely not out here in the wild.

Kellie proved to be an amazing partner.

I'll never think of the roles

of men and women in the same manner again.

Kellie: This has truly been a life-changing experience,

and I got to show sergeant major E.J.

That a woman can survive out here just as well as any man.

This is for all you who watched us suffer.

[ Smooches ]

Hope you enjoyed that big wet one.

[ Laughs ]

E.J. and Kellie survived 21 days,

and what a ride it was.

We made it! We survived 21 days.

Goodbye, Africa!

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

Narrator: After 21 days,

E.J. and Kellie have undergone

a mental and physical challenge like no other.

E.J. lost a total of 33 pounds, and Kellie 28 pounds.

E.J. is back with his family in north Carolina

and continues to train soldiers at Fort Bragg.

Kellie returned to Alaska and is planning her next adventure,

this time with clothes.

Survival experts reviewed E.J. and Kellie

in terms of their skills, experience, and mental approach,

and reassessed them both

according to how they coped with their situation.

E.J. showed his adaptability

by embracing primitive survival skills well,

while Kellie used her plant and wilderness knowledge

to good effect.

They both displayed great mental toughness and a will to survive.

Despite their ups and downs,

they reconciled any differences

and managed to work effectively as a team.

Overall, their PSRS improved significantly.

E.J.'s PSR is now 8.2, while Kellie gets an 8.1.

This experience proves that both E.J. and Kellie

have what it takes to survive Naked and Afraid.