lgw wrote:The food question has bothered me ever since The Fading. If you have some clue about wilderness survival, and are stuck in the wilderness long term, starvation is the most likely way to die. I'm sure Cuegan took some provisions when they set out, but you just can't carry that much (and foraging for berries and grapes only helps a little if you don't already know where the food grows). Molpy hunting is often a net calorie loss (rabbits are infamous for this - you can't find and catch a rabbit without spending more calories than you get from one, on average, unless you use snares or dogs or some other trick). It's hard to believe the 40 are carrying more than a few day's food now, and I'm not sure they'd know how to fish.
If you are unexpectedly thrown into a survival situation exposure kills the quickest (a matter of hours), followed by dehydration (a matter of days), followed by starvation (a matter of weeks). We can rule out the threat exposure for this group.
That leaves dehydration as their next threat. They loaded on at least two barrels when they left camp, so that alone would give them at least couple of gallons per person. (Given our 2D perspective they could have loaded on a dozen barrels in two rows, and all we would have seen are the two barrels closest to us.) Plus all of the smaller containers of water they would have carried on. These are desert survivors, so I think water would have been one of their highest priorities.
If they can stay cool, in the shade, resting, they might be able to get their water consumption down to a couple of gallons per person per week. Also, all of this Atlantic water is going to be cool, lowering local temperature quite a bit, so from this point on we shouldn't be thinking of them sweltering in the heat. And if it rains, then they can replenish their water stores.
As far as food goes, I expect the water to be full of all kinds of molpies, swimming or freshly drowned. And many of those Atlantic fish that died from the trauma of becoming Mediterranean fish should start floating to the surface. That should supplement their food supplies nicely.
So in the context of this story I think they can survive on their rafts for at least 2 weeks, maybe a month, before it starts straining believability.