"Fresh Challenge: Vets vs. Groms"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter

One more elimination before the finale. Which guy is going to get the boot? Will it be someone you expect? Let's find out!

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Fresh TV, Inc.


20 teens, 3 weeks, $300,000 on the line
And only one team to split the prize

[Blaineley]
This is 'Fresh Challenge: Vets vs. Groms!'

-
Fresh Challenge: Vets vs. Groms
Episode Twelve - Drop It If It Hurts (08.26.11)

-

That evening, Trent and Cody were in the first-floor bedroom, discussing strategy.

Confessional Cam - Cody

"Jen's gone, and now I'm wishing I hadn't voted her into the challenge. Jen was the only person left on my team that really believed in me. Now, I'm left to fend for myself! Unless..."

"So, what do you wanna talk about?" Trent asked.

"Well, it's about Jonesy..." Cody began.

"Did someone say my name?" queried Jonesy as he walked into the room, his hair combed over and held in place thanks to some hair gel.

"Nothing, nothing..."

"I don't care," Jonesy ignored Cody's babbling, "because I have a date with the curvaceous Courtney! Rawr!"

Trent smiled. "I'm surprised it got this far, considering how many times she's tried to neuter you. Literally."

"She played hard to get, yes, but I knew with time that there was no way she could resist the Jonesmeister forever!"

He then playfully elbowed Cody in the arm.

"Maybe you should come along, Cody, eh? Learn some dating tips from the master so you can swoon that girl of yours?"

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Cody politely declined.

"Suit yourself! Oh, and if you guys hear noises when we get back later, that'll be the sound of me and Courtney smacking lips."

Jonesy walked back into the lobby, going to call Courtney down. But he was stopped by Caitlin.

"Wait! Close your eyes!"

Jonesy listened to her, but still wanted to ask. "Why?"

"Give it a few seconds."

Caitlin waited until Courtney had started to gracefully make her way down the steps, and then...

"Okay, Jonesy... TA-DA!"

Jonesy opened his eyes, and his jaw nearly dropped to floor as he saw Courtney, stunning dressed in a purple ball gown. A ball gown that looked awfully familiar...

Confessional Cam - Courtney

"As far as you know, I BOUGHT this dress! This ISN'T the same one I wore for that princess challenge and took home with me after the show. GOT IT?"

"BOING!" Jonesy exclaimed. "Courtney... you look... AMAZING!"

"I wish I could say the same about you," Courtney said apprehensively as she noted Jonesy had just put on his regular clothes.

"You two have fun!" Caitlin wished them off as she opened the door.

Jonesy smiled goofily as he exited first, followed by Courtney.

"So," Courtney wondered once they were outside, "where are we going? Some place nice, I take it?"


Ten minutes later, Courtney was scowling as she sat at a table inside a fast food restaurant. Jonesy joined her a few seconds later with a tray of food on it.

"What is that on your head?"

She was referred to the paper king's crown sitting atop Jonesy's head.

"This? Well, if you get to wear a crown, so do I!"

"It's a tiara, first of all! And second, take that off! You look stupid!"

"Mommy, look at her!" a seven-year old girl shouted from a nearby table. "It's a real-life princess!"

"Hmmm..." Courtney heard the girl's mother said in reply. "She must be from a poor country if she has to eat here."

Courtney buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.


Half an hour later, after the restaurant had emptied out except for its employees, Courtney was finally beginning to relax and enjoy Jonesy's company, even though they had both finished their meals awhile ago.

"Okay," laughed Courtney, "seriously, it's not NORMAL for someone to have that many jobs over the course of their entire lives! And you're just 16!"

"What can I say," shrugged Jonesy. "I like to dabble in everything."

"What you need is someone that can keep your head straight. Someone that's goal-oriented. Someone who's self-conscious of her image. Someone..."

"Someone like you?" suggested Jonesy, arcing his eyebrows with interest.

"I was actually referring to YOUR girlfriend. You know, what's-her-face..."

"Who? Nikki? That's kinda hard to do, seeing as she now lives in Nunavut."

"Wow," gasped Courtney in genuine shock. "So you two are in a long-distance relationship then? That must be rough."

"I guess."

That response did not sit well with Courtney. "What do you mean, 'I guess?'"

"Nothing. Just... we haven't talked in a couple months, and..."

"And that gives you a free pass to start flirting with other girls?"

"Well..."

"Eh..." Courtney shrugged. "Whatever."

"So that means you don't hate me?"

"Let's just say that I feel better about our team's chances if you're still around. For the moment, anyway."

"Good enough for me!"

Jonesy switched seats so that he was now sitting next to Courtney. He then pretended to stretch his arms so he could reach over and wrap his arm around her. Courtney promptly got out of her seat, so when he leaned over... he fell onto the floor.

"Yes! You didn't hit me! Makin' progress!"

Confessional Cam - Courtney

"As rough around the edges as Jonesy is, in pretty much everything... he's manageable. I guess he's not all that bad..."

Confessional Cam - Jonesy

"WOOHOO! I'm out of the batter's box! Soon I'll get to first base, then second, then third..."


The next day, Ty spotted Geoff, Caitlin, and Julie chatting in the backyard. He did not need to eavesdrop to figure out what they were talking about. He already knew what was coming...

Confessional Cam - Ty

"So, no surprise, Geoff and the girls are planning to throw me into Castoff Beach. As are the Vets. I kinda expected it, seeing as everyone's trying to take Kelly down a peg by taking me out. I guess I should be mad, but... why fight it? The only thing I can control is what I do on Castoff Beach. I do what I need to do, and I'm safe. End of the day, I still control my fate."

Still, later that afternoon, Ty had pulled Geoff aside and they got to talking about the plan.

"So it's going to be me no matter what?"

"Sorry, bro. It looks that way. You're not mad?"

Ty shook his head. "I just see it as another opportunity to prove I belong here. Like last time."

"Man, you're as cool as a cucumber. Respect, bro!"

The two fist-bumped.

"If we win," Geoff told Ty, "we're setting you up against Jonesy. You can take him, right?"

"Without a doubt! Then we'll be two up for the final challenge."

"Exactly. Take care of business, and we'll all be winners, dude!"

If Ty was worried at all, he was not showing it on his face as Geoff got up and walked away.

[End Act One]


The day of the final challenge was fast approaching. Only eight competitors would compete in it, but there were still nine in the game. Before that final elimination, the two teams would have to take a 30-mile boat ride west from Key West, to the Marquesas Keys, for the 12th challenge of the competition.

They met up with Blaineley on the beach, and they instantly knew what they were doing today when they saw her decked out in camouflage gear from the neck down, and she had a paintball mask cradled under her right armpit and a paintball gun in her left hand. Immediately, Caitlin, Kelly, and Cody all raised their hands to voice concerns.

"I don't care what you're excuses are," Blaineley said without hearing them out. "We're doing paintball, and that's final!"

Confessional Cam - Cody

"Why NOW, of all times? The last time there was a paintball challenge, I ended up mauled by a bear! That's something I'd rather not relive, thank you very much!"

"You don't think there are bears around here, do you?" Cody worriedly asked Trent.

"I don't... think so."

"Today's challenge is called Paintball War!" Blaineley announced. "One goal... take out the opposing team before they take you out!"

Everyone gulped in fear as they could already predict the painful sensation of getting pelted with paintballs in their future.

"The rules are simple... take one hit, and you're out. Even if you're shot by your own teammate. And, trust me, I'm certain that's going to happen."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" questioned Geoff suspiciously.

"Each player will be given a mask to protect their face. This MUST be kept on from the start of the game until the final whistle, even if you're eliminated beforehand! Violating this rule results in IMMEDIATE DISQUALIFICATION AND FORFEIT FOR THAT PLAYER'S ENTIRE TEAM!"

She tossed the mask at Jonesy, who caught it right in the chest.

"You may use any part of the beach or up to five feet out from the shore and into the lagoon to do battle. Please note, the mangrove areas to the north and east of us are considered part of the local wildlife refuge, and are completely off-limits! Violating this rule results in immediate disqualification of the violators! Got it?"

They all nodded in understanding.

"You can use anything on the beach as cover... either the dozen or so abandoned boats, or the small number of inflatable bunkers we've placed along the beach. Other than that... that's all I need to explain."

"Blaineley," Caitlin, Kelly, and Julie all raised their hands at once. "I wanna sit out this challenge!"

The girls then looked at each other, and then shouted.

"I wanna sit out! You two do it! I don't wanna! Paintballs hurt!"

"You know what," Blaineley interrupted, shaking her head. "we don't have time to deal with this. I'm relieving your team's right to sit somebody out. You're all participating."

"WHAT?" the three yelled in disgust.

"Hold on!" Trent voiced an objection from the other side. "But that gives them a man advantage!"

"Yeah!" added Jonesy. "That's not fair!"

"Fine," Blaineley conceded as she walked over to the Vets. "You only have to hit four of their five members, okay?"

"That's good enough for me," Courtney replied.

"Good. Get suited up and go to your respective sides of the beach."

They started walking off, but then...

"Oh, and strip down to trunks and bathing suits, people!"

"WHAT?" everyone freaked out.

Confessional Cam - Courtney

"Odds of me filing a lawsuit against Blaineley after all this is over? One hundred percent... and rising!"

Confessional Cam - Ty

"I have a feeling that this challenge... is going to hurt."


[Challenge 12: Paintball War]

The Vets were positioned on the west end of the beach, while the Groms were starting from the east end, just feet away from the off-limits mangrove area. The Vets had already split into pairs, with Trent and Cody forming one, and Courtney and Jonesy the other.

"Ready?" Courtney asked Jonesy.

But all Jonesy could do was stare at Courtney and her gray two-piece.

"I'll go wherever you go, babe," he managed to utter.

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Well, at least he'll be following me."

Meanwhile, Julie had already put on her mask, and Kelly seemed to take joy in seeing her do so.

"I have to say," Kelly commented, "that's a definite improvement."

Julie crossed her arms over her chest, obviously not pleased with her teammate's backhanded observation.


Once all of the gear was on, Blaineley, wearing a mask along with being fully-clothed, pulled out a flare gun to use to signal the start of the challenge.

"Mmmfff mmmfff ffffuuuu!"

"Psst," someone whispered off-screen. "Turn your mike on!"

Blaineley stuck her right hand up into her mask to search for the on-off switch. After a few seconds.

"Better?"

The cameraman gave her a thumbs up.

"Okay! Let the war... begin!"

She raised her flare gun in the air and fired off one round. Seconds later, they heard a bird screech in pain, followed by it landing on the ground, in-between Blaineley and the cameraman. The hostess turned her head to camera and calmly said...

"So... you didn't see that, right?"

The camera shook left and right, indicating the person holding it was shaking his head no.

"Good. Neither did I."


The Vets quickly moved from their base and into the field of play. Trent and Cody stayed neared the shoreline, while Courtney and Jonesy moved further inland. On the other side, the Groms were a bit more disorganized. Ty and Kelly were together, naturally, but Geoff, Julie, and Caitlin were each pretty much acting on their own. The Groms scattered in different directions, with Geoff going the most forward towards the Vets' side.

Confessional Cam - Geoff

"So basically, our strategy is to spread out and ambush Courtney and the guys. We'll hit them so fast, they won't know what hit him."

Geoff moved closer to the center of the field, near where Blaineley was standing. All of a sudden, he came under fire from his left as blue paintballs started landing near him. He saw Trent had come out from behind a small boat and he was firing on him.

Geoff quickly ran inland, and the second he did, Trent stopped shooting at him. But it was a few seconds before Geoff had realized this. Only then did he come to a stop.

"Whew!" he said as he ran the back of his hand over where his forehead was. "That was close."

Then, without warning, he was hit by two paintballs simultaneously - one in the chest, the other in his abs. He fell to the ground immediately, clutching both in pain as he screamed in agony.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Courtney and Jonesy stuck their heads up from behind a nearby bunker about 20 feet away, and high-fived each other.

"You're not half-bad," Jonesy told Courtney.

"Neither are you," Courtney said to Jonesy in return.


Ty and Kelly had found their own boat to hide behind, with Ty having turned it upside down so he could get a better view. He then spotted Geoff rolling in the sand in pain.

"Man, I think they already got Geoff!"

"Figures," grumbled Kelly. "We're the only competent ones around here."

Ty scanned the field, searching for where the Vets were hiding. But while doing so, he didn't notice his girlfriend crawl away from the boat on her hands and knees and towards inland.


Trent peeked around the side of the boat, to see if any of the Groms were heading towards them. Even though he saw no movement, he decided to time was not right to move, so he pulled his head back in.

"Gotta be careful," he told Cody, who was next to him. "Don't want to do something stupid."

"Speaking of not doing something stupid," Cody brought up, "we're in agreement that if we win the challenge, we're both voting Jonesy in, right?"

"Yep."

"'Cause, you know, we're friends... and friends stick together and vote the same way, right?"

"I know, Cody!"

Confessional Cam - Cody

"I know I'm the only weak link on our team is me, and Courtney's surely gonna want to get rid of me! Trent and I have to vote for Jonesy. My only hope is forcing a tiebreaker vote, one that Blaineley might have to break. Wait... my best hope may be relying on HER? Wow... maybe we should let the Groms win. I know they'd rather have Jonesy go before me!"


Kelly had crawled her way over to Caitlin, who was shaking in fright as she hid behind a rectangular bunker, with her back turned towards the opposition.

"What are you doing?" Kelly asked, demanding an answer.

"I can't do this!" Caitlin replied. "It's... it's gonna hurt so much!"

"What are you, five? Stop being such a baby!"

Kelly then peeked over the top of the bunker. When she did not see anyone on the other team...

"Go! I'll cover you!"

"But..."

"GO!"

Caitlin nodded, took a glance around the corner, then made a break for the next bunker, a spherical one ahead 10 feet and 20 feet to her right. True to her word, Kelly was scanning the field with her gun out, trying to see if anyone would take a shot at Caitlin. But the blonde made it to her destination without being fired upon once.

"Lucky..."

Kelly got down and was about to follow Caitlin, but then she heard shots being fired. That forced her to stay put for the moment...


It turned out that the shots were coming from Courtney, but she was firing at someone much closer to her, as she hid behind a bumper shaped like a pyramid. Immediately, whomever she had been targeting started firing back. Courtney heard paintballs hit the ground near her, but none close enough for her to see evidence of.

She did see Jonesy, though, who was hiding behind another small boat that had been turned upside down on the beach. He held up one finger in Courtney's direction, indicating it was only one enemy. Courtney nodded, then made a gesture to signal she was about to move forward.

Courtney went charging towards the next bunker, and Jonesy moved to, to take up the spot where Courtney had just been. But as he moved, he heard shots being fired from at least two different guns.

"I gotcha, Court!" Jonesy shouted.

He kept running past the bunker, intending to protect his new love interest. He fired at the first person he saw, and she screamed in pain.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

Unfortunately, he had shot Courtney. In the butt.

And then to make matters worse, he was then shot with four successive balls, all of which either hit his right arm, the right side of his body, or his gun.

"OW, OW, OW, OWWWWW!"

Jonesy went down to the ground, just managing to catch the skinny bare leg of the shooter before he or she disappeared from sight. As he writhed in pain, Courtney walked over, very angry with him.

"I'm on YOUR team, NITWIT!"

She then winced as she felt the welt on her butt cheek and just below it swell up. Angry at Jonesy's accidental betrayal, she took her gun and fired one shot... at Jonesy's nuts.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"And to think, I was starting to LIKE you!"

With that, Courtney stomped off, while Jonesy grabbed his neither regions and bit his lip in pain.

Confessional Cam - Caitlin

"Of all the ways to get dumped... wow. No tub of ice cream's gonna heal THAT kind of wound."

[End Act Two]


More shots were being fired from several locations as the battle continued. Trent and Cody were still working together, and they had managed to lure Ty into a trap. They began firing on him from two different locations, and he had difficulty discerning where their shots were coming from.

"Oh, man! I'm pinned down here!"

Ty did not know where any of the girls on his team were. If he did not get help from any of them soon...

He had to go on the offensive. He peeked out from the left side of his hiding spot... and was promptly greeted with a shot in the face. Luckily, his mask and goggles kept any part of his face from taking a serious blow. Still, he was now out.

"I got him? I GOT HIM!"

That excited realization had come from Cody, who stood up and raised his arms in triumph.

"YES!"

He then heard someone firing at him. He sidestepped to his right and just missed being hit in the left ankle by a paintball. He hastily retreated back behind his bunker. But Cody was not the only Vet being shot at, as Trent had been forced out of his hiding spot and was trying to outrun Kelly, whose shots were a step or two behind him.

But Trent managed to reach the next bunker, a large rectangular one, without getting hit. He bended over to catch his breath, but then nearly did a double-take when he saw Caitlin standing there, looking like a deer caught in the headlights herself, as her gun was down by her side.

"Caitlin? Aw, man... of all the times. Ugh... well, go ahead."

Caitlin snapped back to reality, then raised her gun to fire a shot at Trent to eliminate him from the challenge...

But then she had a change of heart, as she lowered her gun back down.

"I can't shoot you! If anything, you should've shot me while I had my guard down."

"I was going to, but... I can't shoot you, either! I couldn't bare to hurt someone as cute as you."

Caitlin gasped, then let go of her gun, letting it drop to the ground.

"You... you think I'm cute?"

Trent squatted down, placed his gun down, then stood back up and started walking towards Caitlin. She, in turn, moved towards him. They continued until they were only an arm's length apart, at which point they reached out with their arms and interlocked hands. Trent pulled Caitlin closer and then he looked down into her eyes. Well, as best as he could considering they both had their masks on and the goggles made it hard to discern where her eyes actually were.

And then Trent felt himself get hit in the right side of his stomach with a red paintball... some of the paint which also splashed onto Caitlin's bikini top.

"Gotcha!" Kelly exclaimed.

Trent let go of Caitlin and turned to walk away. Caitlin turned to glare at Kelly, who picked Caitlin's paintball gun off of the ground with the intention of giving it back to her.

"What was THAT?" an irate Caitlin asked.

"What were you doing?" Kelly asked in return, angry herself. "You let him trick you into letting your guard down?"

"We were just..."

"Never mind," Kelly cut her off as she thrust Caitlin's gun into her arms. "The good news, the Vets should only have one person left."

"Well, find him yourself! Because I QUIT!"

With that, Caitlin tossed her gun aside and walked off in the opposite direction.

"HEY!" Kelly yelled at her. "This challenge isn't over!"

She did an about face to chase after her teammate, but she would never get to Caitlin, as Kelly was blindsided with a shot that hit her in the back.

"EEK!" she squealed.

"Ding dong, THE WITCH IS DEAD!"

She turned back around and saw Cody doing a celebratory dance. Kelly reached for her back and felt the blue paint on it, then growled in frustration.

"I was taken out by THAT loser? CAITLIN, get back here and take him OUT!"

But while Caitlin was refusing to cooperate, someone else was willing to take up charge, as Cody was bombarded with a number of shots. But again, he managed to duck back down and out of harm's way in the nick of time, even as his hiding spot was pelted with red paint.

"Who is DOING that?" Cody asked aloud.

Cody tried to figure out who was harassing him. Luckily, Kelly's big mouth helped him solve that quandary quickly.

"JULIE! Take the geek out, and I'll let you choose which one of them to put in the elimination challenge!"

Julie popped up from her hiding place, behind a boat on the beach, and shouted back a response.

"WILL YOU BE QUIET? YOU'LL GIVE ME AWAY!"

SPLAT!

Julie was clocked with a shot to the side of her head, which knocked her frail body to the sand instantly. The second she hit the ground, a whistle was heard blowing. Blaineley came running in.

"That's four! I don't know how he did it, but Cody, you've given the Vets their EIGHTH challenge victory!"

[Team Vets $200,000 - Team Groms $100,000]

Cody dropped his paintball gun on the ground, then started up another celebratory dance... this time, doing the Dougie.

"Aw, yeah, I'm the man! I'm the man!"


Back on the mainland, so to speak, and on the bus to Castoff Beach...

"That was incredible!"

Cody smiled as Courtney was giving him a rare compliment.

"At least SOMEBODY on this team knows to shoot the OTHER TEAM!"

"I said I'm sorry," squeaked Jonesy, who sat in his seat with a sizable bag of ice in his lap.

Courtney then let out a yelp, as she felt the pain in her lower cheek and upper leg after accidentally pushing down on that area in her seat.

"So, which one of us is going to take on Ty?" Trent asked. "I mean, no one has any objections to picking him first off, right?"

"Nope," replied Courtney. "Getting rid of Ty is the ONLY way to deal a serious blow to Kelly's psyche before the final challenge."

"Good. Then let's decide then."

They decided to vote via secret ballot. As the only girl on the team, it fell to Courtney to count out the votes.

"Trent. Jonesy. Trent. And..."

She pulled the last vote out of the baseball cap she had been given, and read the name of it...

"Trent."

Trent seemed a little surprised. Cody quickly fessed up to changing his mind at the last second.

"Sorry, Trent... but the truth is, I think you're more well-rounded. You'll stand a better chance of beating Ty then Jonesy will if you end up in one of the non-physical challenges."

"Oh, come on!" grumbled Jonesy. "I can out-think surfer boy as easy as one, two... uh, uh... four!"

"Not to mention Jonesy's not at a 100 percent, physically," added Courtney.

"Wasn't that YOUR fault?"

"Details, details, Jonesy. Besides, that means you're in the final challenge no matter what! You should be happy!"

"Well..."

"And Trent will be too. He'll take out Ty, and then the final challenge will be four-on-four! We've got this competition in the bag!"

Hearing Courtney boast was like a shot of confidence to Trent.

"Alright, then... let's do this!"


[Castoff Beach]

"Last elimination before the final challenge!" Blaineley reminded them once more. "Courtney, which member of Team Groms is your team sending to Castoff Beach and why?"

"Well, Blaineley, if you must know... we've chosen Ty. And we picked Ty because we think our team's chances of winning are better if Ty goes rather than Geoff going.

Ty nodded as he stepped forward.

"And who are the Vets sending in to try and eliminate Ty?"

"We decided on... Trent."

Trent stepped out of line and joined Ty.

"Trent? Why, Courtney?"

"Out of the guys on our team, we think Trent is the best equipped to take Ty out."

"Very well. Ty and Trent, one of you won't be competing in the final challenge. Trent, come on up and spin the wheel!"

Trent did so, and then he turned to shake hands with Ty as they waited for the wheel to stop.

"Good luck, man."

"You too."

The two boys watched as the wheel came to a stop on 'Hang for Your Life.'


[Hang for Your Life]

Both Trent and Ty were on their respective platforms, waiting for the signal to go as their teammates cheered them on.

"The first two attempts at this SUCKED!" recalled Blaineley. "You two better give us a good show!"

She blew hard on her whistle, and the challenge began. Both boys grabbed the closest ring and swung out on the course.

"Take him down, Ty!" screamed Kelly.

"It's all you, Trent!" shouted Cody. "Go for it!"

It was a little gusty, but so far, both Trent and Ty were taking care to securing their grips on each new ring they got to before moving on to the next one. They were slowly, but surely, moving on a collision course towards each other, to meet near the center.

"You can do it, man!" cheered on Geoff.

"Show him who's boss!" bellowed Jonesy.

Finally, they met, and both lifted up their legs and tried to wrap them around their opponent's body. After a couple of misfires and one wild miss, someone succeeded in doing so. It was Ty.

"Get him!" barked Julie.

Trent tried to wrestle free as Ty grabbed Trent's right arm with his left hand, trying to loosen his grip. Ty also tried to pull off Trent using his legs to push Trent's body downward.

"Now THIS is what I was expecting to see!" remarked Blaineley as she watched the struggle continue.

Beginning to feel as if he was losing the battle, Trent let go of the ring his left hand was holding and brought it towards him to try and swat Ty's hand away so he could reinforce his own grip on the other ring. But he was not moving fast enough, as his fingers were starting to slip.

Ty then made one last thrust downward with his legs, and that was enough. The last of Trent's fingers slipped from the ring, and he went plummeting into the water below, with Ty spreading his legs just in time to avoid being pulling down with him.

"And there you have it!" announced Blaineley. "Trent's been eliminated!"

Ty pumped his fist in exuberance, then released his grip and fell into the ocean, angling away from where Trent had splashed down.


Once back on land, Trent was seen congratulating Ty for his victory by hugging him and giving him a pat on the back.

"Gonna miss you, man," Ty said with genuine remorse.

"Okay, Trent," interrupted Blaineley. "You know the deal. Raft of Exile... or whatever we're calling it."

Cody, Jonesy, and Courtney walked over to give Trent one final hug goodbye.

"Sorry I let you down, guys," he told them.

"Don't worry," Jonesy assured him. "We'll take those Groms down for you. You just watch!"

"We'll see you soon," Cody told him.

"I hope so," Trent said, unsure of his immediate future.

Trent began the walk to the raft, waving farewell to the remaining competitors on both teams. But just as he reached the raft and was about to climb on, Caitlin suddenly ran over.

"WAIT!"

The interns stopped and allowed Caitlin through. She had a small piece of paper in hand, which was folded up once, and handed it to Trent. He took it and opened it... it was her cell phone number.

"Call me!" she exclaimed as the interns stepped past her and pushed Trent's raft out to sea.

Confessional Cam - Trent

"Man, am I gonna miss a lot of people there. I just wish I had more time to get to know some of them. Like Caitlin."

Trent was about a quarter-mile out from shore when he came to a sudden realization.

"HEY!" he yelled. "IS THERE CELL PHONE RECEPTION IN THE GULF?"


"And so there were eight!" Blaineley said as she stood with the remaining competitors on either side. "Team Vets won twice as many challenges as their opponents, yet only Cody, Courtney, and Jonesy are still here to compete in the final one! Despite being the underdogs, Team Groms will bring five to the finals: Caitlin, Geoff, Julie, Kelly, and Ty!"

She then began walking away from the two teams.

"What surprises do I have in store for them in the biggest, longest, most drama-filled challenge yet? Come back next time to see which team comes out triumphant on the finale of 'Fresh Challenge: Vets vs. Groms!'"

End Episode Twelve

Author's Notes:
Trent is the 12th person eliminated, which leaves us with eight people - three Vets and five Groms - to compete in the final challenge! Which team will put it altogether and win the grand prize? There's only one way to find out...

Next up: Episode 13 (Finale) - Next Thursday, September 1st, 7 pm EST!