Chapter 4

Author's Notes

Sorry for the long wait. Had a lot of computer problems. A reader I have told me to focus more on details, so the challenge in this chapter is REALLY detailed. R&R please! Hope you like it.

"It's about time I start running this game!" Heather thought to herself. Heather scanned her team for some people she could use. Lindsay was easy enough to manipulate, but she'd need more people. Courtney perhaps? However, she would be hard to control. Heather was interrupted by a loud voice over the intercom. "Hello campers! Hope you had a pleasant night, because today is gonna be totally awesome! So, campers. If you like magic shoes, report to the dock, if you don't like magic, you're coming anyway." Chris' voice faded out. All the campers assembled on the dock and awaited their next torture. "Well, hello there campers! Nice day for a walk wouldn't you say?" Chris smiled. "I thought you were talkin' bout magic a minute ago." Leshawna said with a confused look on her face.

"We will be doing some magic soon! However, lets take a walk...of trust!" Chris said as some evil music played in the background. "Here's the rules. One camper will be blind folded, as their partner leads them along the dangerous path to our destination. You can't take off your blindfold, or tell anyone where they are. You can use dirty tactics, but nothing too extreme." Chris explained. "First pair is Courtney and Noah!" Chris beamed. "Excuse me. I think you made a mistake, Noah is on the opposite team." Courtney said. "I know, so you better be nice to your partner, or they might get you back!" Chris said with a smirk. Courtney sneered and put on her blindfold. "Trent will be walking Katrina. Ezekiel will be leading Gwen along the path." Chris said as Gwen let out a long, depressing sigh. Geoff will lead Sadie, and Duncan will be walking with Beth. Cody will be walking with Katie." Chris read off some more names from the list. DJ will walk Nick and...Justin will walk Bridgette!" Chris smiled at Bridgette, who tried to ignore Justin. "Last groups! Tyler will walk Harold. Izzy will lead Leshawna. Holy will be leading Lindsay. I guess that leaves Heather and Eva. You two will have to sit out and cheer on your team!" Chris finished.

The campers set off on the path, the leading campers with maps, and the blindfolded ones with nothing but fear and anticipation. "If you hurt me, you better believe you'll get it!" Courtney threatened. "Aww, is princess not comfortable on our little walk?" she heard Duncan's voice beside her. "Get away from me! You're supposed to lead Beth, so pay attention to her." Courtney commanded. "Ouch! I think a tree branch hit my face!" Beth yelped. "Quit your whining. It's just a scratch." Duncan said uncaring. Meanwhile, Trent and Ezekiel were having some problems leading their girls. Gwen kept tripping over roots and rocks, while Katrina babbled on about nature, that she didn't even pay attention to Trent and walked right into a tree. "Sadie, you have to move. We're going nowhere. Geoff said with a frown. "I'm not moving until Katie catches up!" Sadie yelled as she sat down. Katie was really struggling. She couldn't keep her balance. "Hey, you gotta get a hold of yourself, we'll be last if you don't hurry." Cody pressed her.

"Don't be so rude! Do you even know how hard this is?" Katie said in a voice of fear as she stumbled over a small hill. "Why don't you tell me what I'm walking on. It would help!" Katie said as she slowed down. Cody sighed. He liked Katie. He even thought about dating her. He decided to take a different approach. "Hey, I'm sorry about that. How about I lead you in a different way." Cody said with a voice full of empathy. "Oh, ok. That sounds better. What do you have in mind?" Katie asked. Cody had a plan to make Katie like him. He would simply woo her with his manly charms. "How about you hold me right here." he said as he put Katie's hand around his bicep. He was hoping she'd say something about his muscles, but no such thing happened. "This is sooo much better! Holding on to your wrist is a lot easier." Katie smiled innocently. "Ouch! That hurt. Maybe I need to work out more." Cody thought to himself.

DJ was happy. His place was truly in nature. He loved all the wildlife. "Wow, I haven't tripped once! You're good at this." Nick said. "No problem, I'm not looking to make anyone mad or play dirty. Not looking for fights or grudges. That's not what life is for." DJ said as he avoided a nearby rock. Tyler was walking Harold right beside Lindsay. He completely ignored Harold. Harold's rage built, he wanted revenge. He was tired of being ignored by everyone! He was going to get Tyler back. "Girl! You're are crazy! I'm not jumping over a scorpion!" Leshawna yelled. "Aww c'mon! It's not that bad. It's not too poisonous." Izzy assured her. "Whatever! I'm not movin' until go around it." Leshawna stood still as Izzy attempted to make her move. "Oof! Umm, Justin? Can you please help me here? You aren't telling me where to go." Bridgette said as she rubbed her ankle. She was simply answered with silence. "Why does everyone like him so much. Sure he's eye candy, but he has no personality and he's totally obsessed with himself." Bridgette thought angrily.

Finally, the campers arrived at their destination and removed their blindfolds. Some were bruised up and angry, as others had no injuries and were quite content with the walk. "Yay, we made it!" Katie shouted to Sadie. Cody tapped his foot and gave Katie a stern look. "What?" Katie said as she gave him a strange look. "Oh, I don't know, maybe you insulted me." Cody tried to sound sad. "Oh my gosh! What did I say?" Katie looked worried. "You were not holding my wrist, you were holding my bicep." Cody said as his eyes narrowed. "Oh...sorry. I didn't know. I didn't mean it as an insult." Katie responded. Cody simply walked off, hoping that Katie would follow and console him. "How rude! He just walked off!" Sadie said with a glare. "Yeah! He's so annoying!" Katie said as she made her way towards Chris. "Campers! Your second portion is about to begin. Everyone who led your partners, your turn is up! Now they are in control of you! Better hope you were nice!" Chris smiled.

"Your second portion for today is "Explosive Escape!" Chris said with smirk. "What's that?" several people asked at once. "Allow me to explain. There is a timer set for exactly thirty minutes, meanwhile, people that were leading. You will have to escape before the timer runs out." Chris said. "Well, that doesn't seem too hard." Duncan laughed. "Oh, it may seem that way, but you are so wrong! Anyone like Houdini?" Chris asked. "Oh! Me! I like Henry!" Lindsay yelled. "Yeah...ok. Well, as everyone knows, except Lindsay, Harry Houdini was a master escape artist! You all are going to be like him! The people who were blind folded will have twenty minutes to tie you up, and you must escape before the timer goes out, or...well you'll find out!" Chris said as he led everyone to a large room with a lot of chairs. "You all may start." Chris said as he left the room in a hurry.

Bridgette gave Justin a nasty look and plotted her revenge! Everyone stood around, rather confused for a moment. "Hurry up! We're going to lose if you all don't hop to it!" Heather yelled. "Ok, you crazy white girl! You are finally gonna be tied down for once in your crazy life." Leshawna said to a wide smiling Izzy. "Ugh! Well this is no use! DJ is too nice, and he has huge muscles. He's a freaking brick wall!" Nick thought. Katrina couldn't contain herself. She had always had a crush on Trent, if he was tied up, she might be able to kiss him. She pushed him into the chair and gave him a warm smile. Trent mistook it and thought she was going to make it easy for him. "Ow! What the heck!" he said as he looked down to see Katrina tying his left wrist to the arm of the chair. "Shhhhh! You're distracting me." she said as she picked up another small rope and tied his right wrist down. She then grabbed a long rope. She wrapped it around his waist and biceps. Each time she went around him, she pulled it tightly as Trent winced. "Can you go a little easier there." Trent asked.

"Are you crazy? I want to win! Your going to be stuck here fore awhile." Katrina tried to sound competitive. Trent frowned, and realized he would not be good at this. Katrina took two more small ropes and tied Trent's ankles to the chair legs. "There's gotta be more I can do." Katrina said as she examined poor tied up Trent. She took another rope and weaved it around Trent's arms again. "You already tied up my biceps once. Why again?" Trent asked. When you try and free your wrists, arms, or waist, you're going to have to use your upper body strength. You see, the way I've tied you, if you flex, you'll hurt your muscles." Katrina smiled. "I need one more thing." she said as she turned around. "Oh no! Not another rope for my arms!" Trent squealed. "Not a bad idea, but I'm out of rope." Katrina said as she got a piece of tape. "But first..." she began as she walked to his side. She found a break in the rope and placed her hand on Trent's left bicep. "Now flex it." she commanded. Trent did so. He gasped and gave Katrina a dirty look. "It hurt!" he yelled at her. "Good." she responded as she put a piece of tape over his mouth. "Ha ha! Now when you waste energy, you can only regain breath through your nose! You get to sit here for fifteen more minutes before you can try escaping. See, I'm not all mean. I'll give you time to think of how to escape." Katrina said as she left.

Next was Ezekiel. He sat in the chair, almost paralyzed in fear. Gwen took his wrists and put them behind his back. She tied them behind him with a white nylon rope. She then took some tape and taped his ankles to the legs of the chair. She took a long brown rope and wrapped in in a complex series of twists and knots around his biceps. She took another small rope, tied one half around his wrists and the other half to the back peg of the chair. She finished by taking some tape and winding it around his waist to keep him on the chair. Noah and Cody were up next. Courtney shoved them both into their chairs. She put them back to back. She took a thin white rope and tied their wrists together behind them. She took four more ropes and tied their ankles to the chair legs. "Is this supposed to be this easy?" Noah teased her. She took four long ropes for her next trick. She tied two of them around each of their biceps to make sure they stayed in the chairs. She took the next two and tied them around their biceps again,but this time, she connected them and tied the chairs together. She tied their waists and thighs to the chairs and finished her rope work.

Geoff was the next up. Sadie did not want to lose, so she made a big complex plan in her mind. Geoff looked at her and smiled. "Give it your best shot." he snickered. Sadie took her first rope and put in near Geoff's right wrist. Geoff cleared his throat loudly. Sadie looked at him as he shook his head. She moved it to his left wrist and looked at him questionably. He shook his head again. "What do I do?" she asked. Geoff had a plan to mess her up. "You don't think my wrists need that much rope do you? When you're tying up a guy, you gotta get his guns first. Those matter the most. Wrists don't matter at all." Geoff told her. "Oh! You have a gun! Give it to me!" Sadie commanded. "No no no! When I said "guns" I meant my muscles." he said as he nodded to his arms. "Oh, ok." Sadie said happily. She took a long brown rope and looked at Geoff. "Roll up your sleeves, they might let your "guns" get away easily. Geoff did as she commanded. He rolled up his sleeves and winced a bit. He thought of the rope burn this would cause. "How should I do it?" Sadie asked. "How gullible is she?" Geoff thought. Geoff had watched escape artists and knew the tricks. To escape you had to be relaxed, and when being tied up, you had to be tense.

"Well ok. You have to feel my muscles real well. Feel and touch all you want. Wherever you feel my muscles the most, you tie them up really tight. Don't mess up ok? Really tight." Geoff instructed her. Sadie fell for his trick. He flexed his biceps tightly. Sadie felt them as he flexed more when she touched them. She took the rope and tied it around his biceps as tight as she could. Geoff winced but kept his cool. Sadie took the second rope and looked at his wrists. "No no no! More rope around my muscles. You only got the bottom of my biceps." Geoff said. Said took the second rope and wound it tightly around the top of his biceps. She twisted and knotted it many times. Geoff kept flexing as much as he could, it would make it easier for him to escape. He sighed as she finished. She took the third rope and looked at him. He gave her a false smile. "Muscles again!" he commanded. "Where?" she asked. "Well fell them, and see." he said as he flexed. She reached the middle and realized she'd missed it. "Yeah, that's where my biggest muscles are. Don't forget them." Geoff said. Sadie wound the third rope around the middle as tightly as she could. "Three down, two to go." Geoff though to himself. Sadie took her fourth rope and stared at him awaiting a command. "Biceps again. You didn't make it tight enough." he said. She wrapped it slowly around all the spots she had missed. She took the last rope and tied it around his ankles as he told her too. She left, not knowing that she had completely forgotten his wrists! Geoff's plan had worked!

Izzy twirled around and ran over to Beth and started to whisper in her ear. "Girl, get over here and sit down!" Leshawna yelled. "Hold on, I gotta...do Beth a favor." Izzy said as she ran away. She grabbed Duncan by the arm and threw him into a chair. "What? No! Not you!" Duncan glared at her. "Beth told me I could." Izzy replied. Beth stood behind her with a wicked smirk. "Revenge!" she shouted as she laughed evilly at Duncan. Izzy smiled widely and gave Duncan a playful punch in the arm. Izzy had some extra rope with her. She took her first two ropes and tied Duncan's ankles to the legs of the chair. She then took another rope and smacked Duncan with it. She giggled and looked at the people already tied up. She rolled up Duncan's sleeves and smiled once again. "I still love you." she whispered in his ear as she tightly knotted his wrists behind the chair. "Don't remind me." Duncan said between his teeth. Izzy hugged his right bicep and stroked it. "Wanna go out?" Izzy asked. "NO!" Duncan yelled. Izzy simply hung on him.

"Know what I love about you?" Izzy asked. "My personality?" Duncan asked. "Oh yeah! That is awesome! I love your personality. I love your piercings." she said as she tugged at one. "I love your frown. I love your cool shirt. I love it when you roll up your sleeves and show me these big muscles." she giggled as she stroked his right bicep. To her surprise, he didn't tell her to stop. "I don't know why, but I actually like it when she does that." Duncan thought as he became relaxed. The feeling ended as Izzy tied a rope tightly around each bicep and jumped away back to her seat where Leshawna held her and tied her down. "You'll never take me alive!" Izzy screeched. "I kinda just did." Leshawna said back.

DJ was just too strong, he kept breaking the ropes as Nick sighed in grief. Heather was not fully impressed by her team. She had a plan. "Hey, Chris." Eva and I feel really left out over here. Do you think that you and Chef could each play for a team so Eva and I can participate." she said with puppy dog eyes. "Well, that sounds like a neat twist. Ok, we agree, but you don't get to know which of us is playing for what team." Chris said. Heather narrowed her eyes, but agreed to the rules. She grabbed Chris immediately and ran into the room with him. Eva and Chef growled at one another as they paced slowly to the chair. Heather shoved Chris into the chair and picked up some rope. She didn't know exactly which way to do it, so she looked at what the others had done.

She decided do do a combination of what the others did. She started out like Katrina did and tied each of Chris' wrists to each arm of the chair. "Wow, that's the best you can do? You might want to make it tighter if I happen to be on the Frog team." Chris said to her. Heather did just that. She redid her rope work and made it as tight as she could. "Thats...better." Chris said in a bit of pain. Heather was not done yet. She took Chris' sleeves and rolled them up. She then took three long ropes and started on his biceps. "Ow! When I said tight, I didn't mean that tight." Chris said as Heather tied the third rope as tight as she could. "There! One around the bottom, one around the top, and one around the middle." She said happily as she tapped the ropes around Chris' biceps. Heather took the two smallest ropes and tied Chris' ankles to the legs of the chair. She took the last two long ones and tied one around his waist and one around his thighs. Heather had two ropes left. She decided to tie Chris' forearms to the arms of the chair as well. She did what she planned and studied her work. "Not bad." she thought to herself. She looked over to see Chef laughing, as he had tricked Eva and ended up tying her to the chair instead of him!

Courtney looked over everyone and smiled weakly. Her team might win. Nick walked over and whispered something in her ear. "Really? Chris and Chef joined? Shoot!" Courtney said as she walked over to Heather. "Hey, what if Chris is on our team? You're making it too hard." Courtney whispered. "Don't worry, it'll be fine." Heather assured her. Finally everyone was ready to begin. Everyone except the "Houdini's" ran out of the building. Everyone watched the door in anticipation. After five of the thirty minutes, DJ and Tyler walked out. Courtney slapped her forehead and sighed deeply. Next out at the seven minute mark, was Eva. Geoff emerged at the eleven minute mark. He gave Sadie a smile as she growled at him. Noah and Cody came out together after seventeen minutes, they had helped each other out. Izzy came out at the twenty-three minute mark, dragging Duncan behind her. Nick and Heather's eyes both narrowed. There were only a few people left! Chris came out after twenty-four minutes. "Where is Trent?" Courtney asked worriedly. "We only need Trent and Justin." Cody said crossing his fingers.

"Good luck. We only need Ezekiel." Duncan smiled. "Crap! We're at a disadvantage here!" Courtney said. Right at the twenty-seven minute mark, Trent came out as he shot a nasty look in Katrina's direction. She beamed a smile at him and then looked away. "Well...two campers left and only three minutes!" Chris said as he backed away from the door. The clock beeped as the time reached twenty-nine minutes. "Hurry up!" Courtney, Nick, and Heather all shouted at once. Thirty seconds later, the winning camper came out. Ezekiel had escaped just in time. "No! This is impossible! Justin should be used to this. I'll bet that crazed girls kidnap him or something all the time!" Heather said between clenched teeth. Just as the clock hit thirty, a loud noise was heard and the building leaked out a nasty smell. "Whew! What a nasty stink bomb that was!" Chris said as a mortified Justin walked out of the door woozily.

"Nice going, pretty boy. You cost us the challenge!" Eva yelled at him. He responded to her by looking at himself in the mirror. Eva screamed, took the mirror, and shattered it on a nearby rock. Justin whimpered and fell down crying. "Snakes! I'll be seeing you at the campfire ceremony." Chris said as they started their walk back to camp. Izzy sweet talked Duncan and Heather complained to an absent minded Lindsay. Nick lagged in the back and pulled Courtney aside. "Let's make an alliance." he said, taking no time to beat around the bush. "I was hoping we could, but we'll need more than just the two of us." Courtney responded. Trent walked by the two conspirators, he looked rather sad. Nick got a evil looking smirk on his face as he ran over to Trent. "What's wrong, buddy?" he asked. "Nothing...it's just personal." he responded. "I'm sorry. Well, would you like to join our alliance. It would be a great way to make friends and stay safe." Nick smiled. "That might be nice." Trent responded as he rubbed his sore arm.

"That's great! Meet us by the Tuck Shop tonight." Nick said as he went back to Courtney. "You don't really acre about him, do you?" Courtney asked. "Well now! Why would you say that! Actually, I like Trent. He's normal. However, I have a perfect pawn for us." Nick smiled. "Who is it?" Courtney asked. "Actually, it's a pair. Cody and Beth! They're the biggest wannabees I've ever seen in my life! We can manipulate and use them to our own end, and then get rid of them when they no longer serve any use to us." Nick explained. "That's sounds pretty evil the way you put it." Courtney said laughing. "Think of it in a way that suits you." Nick replied. Later, at the Tuck shop, Nick and Courtney sat on the bench. Trent came walking over, he seemed himself again. "Trent! Great to see you!" Nick greeted him. Cody and Beth came over with the note that Courtney had written to them. Cody smiled and winked at Courtney as she rolled her eyes. "Listen up! We need a final five, and I think this is a perfect group." Courtney explained. Everyone agreed to join, but Beth seemed somewhat skeptical. "Why choose me?" she asked. "Because you're nice! You're really courteous and well- mannered too." Nick thought of Beth's characteristics.

"How about me? Why take me?"Cody asked. Trent nodded along and asked the same question. "Well, Cody. You are smart and creative. You are pretty inspiring." Nick told him. "Trent, you are so nice and cool. I like your music too. Plus you're strong, strongest in the group if I may say." Nick explained with a smile. Trent smiled, knowing that he was admired. "Vote off the strongest player! We may never have another chance to. Trust me, the weak players will always be there to pick off. Get rid of the strong ones first and then we'll be the best!" Nick said inspirationally. "Not a bad idea. That'll work out for us a whole seventy percent better!" Cody smiled.

That night at the Campfire, Chris held out the marshmallows. "Courtney, Nick, and Beth! You are safe!" he said as they took their marshmallows. "Lindsay, Heather, Eva, and Izzy!" Chris said with a smile as they took their safety. "Cody, Gwen, Harold. You are also safe." Chris announced. "Trent and Geoff, you're the last ones left." Chris left them hanging for a minute. Trent debated with himself. "Nick said get rid of the strong first, but he called me strong. No! I trust him, he wouldn't let me go like this!" Trent assured himself. "Geoff!" Chris yelled! "You...are going to the dock of shame my man!" Trent let out a sight of relief and joined his alliance happily. Everything had gone according to plan.

Hope you liked it, R&R please!