Episode 2: The 1,000-foot Climb

The twenty-two campers, Chris, and Chef all stood on a large, square wooden platform probably 30x30 feet. The platform floated on the lake, at the base of the 1,000-foot mountain.

"No…way!" Lauren yelped.

"You've got to be kidding me!" James said.

"That's right, campers." Chris responded. "You must climb up the 1,000-foot-tall mountain, in order to pass the first task. Here's the basic rundown: You have two options; 1) You climb the mountain. If you succeed and reach the top, you will score one point for your team."

"Sounds fair enough. But where's the equipment? You know, the grappling hooks, the safety belts, the ropes?" Madison asked.

"The only equipment you can use in this challenge are your own two hands and two feet. But don't worry, there are plenty of tiny crevices, weak, rotted branches, and small, liable-to-break-off rocks jutting out from the side for you to grab onto. Anyway. For each round, two campers at a time will climb up; one per team.

"Again, if one should make it to the top, then that is one point for the team that camper is on. The team with the most campers to reach the top wins."

"What if we don't want to do it?" Nicole asked.

"That's your second option, and it's not a good one: If you chicken out, you have to go sit over there…" Chris gestured to a bench on one corner of the platform. The bench had a variety of large signs with arrows pointing down that said things like, "Coward." "I'm a scaredy-cat." "I'm too scared to climb a mountain." Etc. "…on the bench of cowards." Chris finished.

"What if we fall off while climbing?" Joshua said.

"If you fail the challenge, you come back onto the platform and sit over there…" Chris pointed to the opposite corner of the platform, where there was another bench with large signs that read, "I'm a failure." "I failed." "I'm a wimp." "I couldn't even climb a stupid mountain." And so on.

"…on the bench of failures.

"Now I know that it will be downright impossible for everyone here to make it to the top, so I've come up with a little bonus: Anyone and everyone who successfully reaches the top will gain Invincibility; a special privilege which ensures that, if your team loses, you will NOT be eligible for being voted off at the bonfire tonight. It's quite a prize. And that's quite a challenge.

"Alright, then. Now that the rules are explained, each team will pick one of their own to climb up the mountain first. Flaming Bears, Psycho Squirrels, pick your player."

The two teams huddled up.

"I'll go first." Peter said for the Squirrels.

In the end, the Bears picked Luke.

"Alright. The choices have been made. The Flaming Bears have picked Luke. And the Psycho Squirrels have chosen Peter. Now, Peter, do you accept this challenge?"

"Sure, whatever."

"And Luke?"

"Y-yes."

"Good. Get to your positions."

Luke and Peter walked over to the edge of the platform that was pressed up against the cliff wall.

"Start Round One!" Chris declared. Chef, who was holding a red bell like those at wrestling matches, rang the bell.

The two bold campers instantly grabbed the wall and started their slow climb. Luke found a couple crevices to stick his feet in or grab onto, and a couple roots and branches.

Of course, this was nothing for Peter. He had been through much, much worse, and was used to achieving such incredible physical feats. He was already ten feet above Luke by the time they were a quarter of the way up.

At one point, Peter reached for what he thought was a crevice, but was actually black moss. His hand instantly slipped and was unable to regain his grip. He tumbled down the cliff wall and bounced off the wall a couple times. He screamed as he fell. Suddenly, his chain hanging out of his pocket snagged on a rock and he hung by his pants. He looked down at the others on the platform, most of which, even some of his own teammates, were doubled over with laughter. He merely shook his fist at them and screamed from above.

"SHUT UP DOWN THERE!!!!" The laughter still continued nonetheless. He grumbled as he grabbed onto a root, unsnagged his chain, and continued his climb. Luke was ahead by three feet.

"Hey, brainiac! A pretty hard climb, ain't it?"

"Shut up!"

"You know, imagine the pain in your hands, the blisters, the horrible calluses that come afterward. And the fact that anything you grab onto could break off at the touch of your finger."

"I said can it, ignoramus!"

"What? Ignor-… huh?"

"Exactly!" Luke continued to climb. Then, Peter was level with Luke. They were neck-and-neck, almost at the top. Luke was holding onto a branch. His other hand and both of his feet weren't on anything. Luke raised his right foot to put down on a lip of rock. Peter saw this as a window of opportunity, and he took it. He instantly kicked hard on the piece of rock Luke was gonna step on, and it broke and fell off. Luke's foot fell through thin air, and he was so startled that he lost his grip.

As Luke fell screaming, Peter called down after him, "See ya later, brain-boy!" He then climbed up the rest of the mountain.

Luke screamed as he tumbled down the side of the mountain. At first, he didn't hit anything on the way down, but then, he smashed through a lip of rock headfirst. Then, he landed on, and broke through, another piece of rock. The third and last time he hit an obstruction on the way down, it was yet another piece of rock, except this time, he landed on it in the one way a guy does NOT want to land on something.

Luke screamed in pain.

Everyone down on the platform, even members of the opposing team, could only look away.

"Ooooooo! That's GOT to hurt!" Chris said.

The piece of rock then broke, and Luke fell the rest of the way down right to the water, where he landed flat on his stomach. The terrible smacking could be heard by everyone.

"Owchy! That's DOUBLE the hurt!"

Luke then sank under the water. A few moments later, he slowly popped back up on the surface and struggled over to the platform. He slowly climbed up, and everyone stared at him. His stomach was glowing red.

"Whoa. Well, that was a pretty dirty trick, but the rules don't say anything against it. So Luke, go sit over on the bench of failures."

Luke walked over to the bench and plopped down on it. He couldn't care any less about which sign was over him (it was the one that said, "I couldn't even climb a stupid mountain").

Meanwhile, Peter reached the top of the mountain. He looked down at the others, and yelled, "Woo-hoo! Go Peter, go Peter! I rock! I'm the bad boy! Who's bad? Peter!"

"And Peter scores one point for the Psycho Squirrels. Thus, Squirrels win the first round, and Peter wins Invincibility."

The members of the Squirrels all cheered.

"Now it's time for Round Two! Teams, pick your players."

The teams eventually decided on Matthew for the Bears, and Mark for the Squirrels.

"Alright, campers. Start Round Two!" Chef rang the bell.

The two campers instantly jumped at the wall and started climbing. Both were fairly slow, but Mark was slightly faster. Matthew, meanwhile, was scared to death. He breathed heavily, then whispered to himself, "Don't look down. Just don't look down."

They were halfway up when Matthew nearly fell off.

Matthew had his right foot in a crevice, and his left hand grabbing onto a lip of rock. He reached to grab a root with his right hand. Once his fingers wrapped around it, however, the rotten old root bent down. Matthew panicked and instantly lost his footing. He swung off the spot where he was holding onto before, and he swung out into the air. He kicked his feet wildly as he held onto the bent branch, which still held onto the wall.

All the other Bears below gasped when he swung out, expecting poor Matthew to fall. Chris looked up and said, "Looks like we're gonna have another failure."

Matthew looked down at the others on the platform below him. His hands nearly slipped off because they were so sweaty. But he looked down, and saw how high he was. He was really close. He wasn't gonna give up yet. He had often failed other rock wall climbs at camps and amusement parks. Failed miserably. But those had no prize for succeeding.

And this did.

"I'm NOT gonna fail this time!" He then swung over to a spot where he saw several small holes, and jammed his foot into one. He grabbed onto the branch with one hand, and reached for a crevice with his other. Then, despite being really shaken up, he continued climbing, as his teammates below cheered him on.

"Whoa!" Chris said, surprised. "He actually regained his grip! That was quite an accomplishment for the predicament he was in."

In the end of the second Round, both Matthew and Mark made it to the top.

"Well, both campers made it to the top. Which means they both have Invincibility, and they've each scored a point for their teams. But the Psycho Squirrels are still in the lead by one point, and the score's now two to one. Teams, pick your next player."

And this was how it went for the rest of the challenge. To spare the reader from having to read a long chapter that's only almost the same thing over and over, the author will simply put the standings this way:

Third Round: Bears) Daniel; Squirrels) Joshua. Both made it. Score three to two. Bear's favor.

Fourth Round: Bears) Ruth; Squirrels) Suzie. Ruth made it, Suzie fell off twenty-six feet from the top. Score three to three.

Fifth Round: Bears) Isaiah; Squirrels) Jessica. Both failed (Isaiah fell off after only ten feet, Jessica fell off after six feet. Score three to three.

Sixth Round: Bears) Violet; Squirrels) Tim. Both made it. Score four to four.

Seventh Round: Bears) Jennifer; Squirrels) Madison. Jennifer made it, Madison fell off halfway up. Score five to four. Bear's favor.

Eighth Round: Bears) Nicole; Squirrels) Jeremy. Nicole fell off three quarters of the way up, Jeremy made it. Score five to five.

Ninth Round: Bears) Rachael; Squirrels) James. Rachael made it, James fell off a quarter of the way up. Score six to five. Bear's favor.

Tenth Round: Bears) Samantha; Squirrels) Mary. Samantha fell off three feet from the top (technically, Samantha jumped off, only because her cell phone had fallen and she jumped after it to save it), Mary made it. Score six to six.

After what seemed like an eternity to most of the campers, the final round, the eleventh, finally came.

"And the Round Eleven is upon us! After ten painful rounds, the score is tied six to six. And surprisingly, no one has chickened out yet! But I see that the bench of failures is quite full." He looked in the bench's direction. On it were Luke, Suzie, Jessica, Isaiah, Madison, Nicole, James, and Samantha (all of whom were soaking wet, and most were groaning in pain from the fall).

"And up at the top, we have Peter, Matthew, Mark, Daniel, Joshua, Ruth, Violet, Tim, Jennifer, Jeremy, Rachael, and Mary. We're down to the final round, and our final two campers. John and Lauren, come up." The two walked over to him. "No pressure for either of you, but this round is the tiebreaker. Your decisions could decide the fate of your team.

"Now John, do you accept the task?"

John, who still had not spoken a word since he first set foot on the island, simply nodded.

"And Lauren?"

Lauren's eyes grew wide. She looked back at her teammates, and the members of the other team, all of which were staring at her. She knew that she couldn't fail. She needed that hundred grand. She looked up at the massive wall looming up before her. It was sure to be painful. And what if she fell off? She would have tried it for nothing! And the unimaginable pain (she had already seen what the fall had done to most of the failures). She then looked down at her precious fingernails, one of which was still broken from trying to move the suitcase on the dock.

"No way! I don't want to risk breaking another nail! Two broken nails in one day, that's, like, totally dreadful. Besides, I could get splinters from climbing!"

All the other Bears groaned.

"Alright then, coward. Take a seat on the bench of cowards." He gestured to the bench, which was empty up until now. "Oh, and by the way, I think you meant to say, 'blisters'."

Lauren strode casually over to the bench, all the while talking calmly to her fingernails. "It's OK, I'm not gonna let anymore of you guys get broken."

All the members of her team were enraged.

"Aw, come on!"

"What are you, a wimp?"'

"Lauren!"

"She's gonna lose this for us!"

Then Luke chimed in with an optimistic comment. "Guys, don't worry. John couldn't make it. Have you seen him? He barely does anything other than walk, nod, and breathe. I doubt he can climb a wall."

But John, despite his boring, quiet appearance and behavior, was quite athletic. He could even rival Peter for strength. So, much to the Bears' surprise and dismay, he scaled the wall no problem, and made it to the top.

"And John wins the first task for the Psycho Squirrels!"

All Squirrels on the mountain and on the platform cheered.

"Enjoy your victory. Now, all of you can go back to your lodge. AND YOU GUYS UP THERE!" He called to the ones on the mountain. "IF YOU'RE A SQUIRREL, GO BACK TO YOUR LODGE. SIMPLY TAKE THE ESCALATOR YOU SEE UP THERE BACK DOWN TO THE GROUND, AND GO TO THE LODGE. IF YOU'RE A BEAR, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT AWAY!"

After all the Squirrels had left, and the Bears on the mountain came back down to the platform, Chris looked at them shamefully and said, "Flaming Bears, what can I say? You lost the first task. Although some of you did incredible, it still wasn't enough to win. I will see you all at the bonfire tonight. And one of you will be going home before the night is over.

"You may go back to your lodge for a short period of time, but be back at the bonfire at 8:00 tonight, sharp!"

To be continued…

Author's Note: Alright, readers. The first bonfire is up next, and remember, send in your votes to choose who you think should walk the Dock of Shame. Also remember (and the author will put one of these in all author's notes that follow a task involving Invincibility), several campers on the losing team have gained Invincibility, and can't be voted off. Here's a quick rundown on who you cannot vote off: Matthew, Daniel, Ruth, Violet, Jennifer, and Rachael. All others (Luke, Isaiah, Nicole, Samantha, and Lauren) are eligible for voting off. Cast in your votes, and read the next chapter to see who walks the Dock of Shame.