Since they picked areas far from each other, the candidates had to ride with two different FNGs to reach their destinations. Soon, they were all dropped off, and theirs tests officially began.
Sunny Warmth found no apples in his immediate area, but he soon came to a huge lake with big sand dunes. "At least I won't be thirsty," he chuckled. He then went hiking in search of his favorite food, keeping his eyes open for potential trouble along the way. He soon found one lone apple tree which appeared very old, surrounded by several others that were clearly younger and much weaker. It was likely that the old one was intentionally planted, which also meant that its top had been grafted onto a strong rootstock. The newer ones were its offspring, which had not been grafted. Whatever house they had been planted in front of had long since biodegraded back into the earth.
Sparky had expected there to be nothing in his chosen area but grass, but to his surprise, a mighty herd of bison soon appeared. Without human predation, these animals had not only come back from the brink of extinction, but were obviously doing quite well! He wondered if any predator animals had arrived in the area to prey on them.
Cold One sauntered up to the shack and found its door locked. A whiff of something cooking was detected, but only for a fleeting moment. Was someone already living here, or was it his imagination? He readied himself for a fight as he pondered whether he should destroy the lock or pick it. He decided to pick it, because that way, he would be able to use it to protect himself later, if need be.
El Loco quickly found that many Mexican structures remained, though they were all overgrown and the roads had so many plants and trees in them that they were all but impassible to vehicles. He was halfway up in the mountains, safe from both snow and the notorious heat of the Mexican lowlands. He got the idea to look for a motorcycle and fuel. Sword Hoof had told him to leave his own bike back home, but he still wanted to ride. To his initial delight, he indeed found something - but it was only a scooter-type motorbike. Not only that, it was made for humans, hopelessly rusted, and its rubber parts were gone entirely - lost to biodegradation. Its gasoline had also evaporated. He kicked the useless relic in frustration.
Sword Hoof sauntered into Miami like he owned the place, walking through its overgrown ruins with ease, but he soon came to an area with clean metal roads. Not only was this a sure sign of activity, but Decepticon activity at that. He quickly used his urban stealth skills to stay hidden between the ruined buildings as he progressed to see what was going on. Before long, he came to a huge Decepticon-sized sign in Binary. As a Megatronist, he had learned Binary in order to better follow Leader Megatron. This allowed him to read it easily: CARJACK AGRICULTURE SHIPPING STATION. He noticed that there were a couple of cargo-bots high in the sky. He sniffed the air, and was surprised to catch the scent of unburned marijuana. It smelled like there must have been bales and bales of it not far away.
