I Don't Get It

"I just don't understand." Cody was walking through the swamp with Noah. They'd had a good night of sleep so they went for a morning walk. They would've gone to the forest but they saw Eva and Katie going in and didn't want to awkwardly run into them. "Does he just leave the cabin early to watch the birds?"

"Don't be a hypocrite, we're on a morning walk, he can watch birds if he wants to." Noah wasn't very amused with a conversation about Ezekiel, he'd rather ignore him until he's inevitably eliminated again.

"Ok yeah but he came back at like 2 am yesterday, that's too much bird watching if you ask me."

"Well, maybe he's doing something else, like talking with the girls."

Cody didn't like that idea. "Do you think he's playing behind our backs?"

"He's capable, I just said it as an idea anyways, don't take it too seriously."

"You can't say something like that and expect me to just not take it too seriously!"

"Try me." Noah sat on a dry patch of land, resting his back on a tree. Cody didn't really feel like sitting down and getting his pants dirty, so he rested against the three standing up. "If it makes you feel better I think Ezekiel just feels happy he's getting to talk to people again."

"Oh yeah, I guess it must've been hard for him."

"Chris is a monster… I wouldn't have come back if I didn't need the money."

"I just came back to see you, man…"

"Oh." Noah really didn't want to hear something like that. "I'm over you, don't be annoying."

"No! Not like that… You're just a friend you know?"

"I guess…"

"You haven't been returning my calls so I just thought-"

"That if you cornered me here I wouldn't be able to ignore you? Really sweet of you Cody."

"Well if you put it like that it sounds really creepy!"

"Because it is." Noah looked away from Cody. "I'm trying to cut ties with people I met from the show."

"Oh… Like a bad memories thing?"

"Like a therapy thing."

"Even Owen?"

"Especially Owen." He picked up a little pebble and started playing with it in his hand.

"Did… Something happen?"

"Even if it did, I wouldn't want to talk about it."

"Hey I know you've always been reserved about yourself but talking about these things might help you a lot, you know?"

"No, these things should stay between me and a professional." Noah looked back at him. "You don't need the gossip anyways." He stood up, "I wished I had a book here."

"I wished I had my gamepad."

Noah chuckled a little. "To each their own I guess, see you later." And so, he walked away, leaving Cody alone in the swamp with his thoughts. Why won't he let him help?

"Huh? I don't understand." Katie was sitting under a tree, holding onto Eva's arm the way she used to do with Sadie. Eva didn't seem to mind.

"I mean an alliance."

"But why an alliance? We're already friends! Isn't that the best alliance?"

"You can put it that way."

"Then why do we need an alliance?"

"Well, it's just what you do in these games…"

"But I already told you I don't want to play the game, I just want to have fun!"

"You're too much of a girl… Isn't playing the game fun for you?"

"I mean you could say so."

"So maybe by playing the game you can have more fun than if you were to not do that."

"Hmm… You bring up a great point. But I still don't want to take it too seriously."

"Fair."

"Great! Then it's an alliance then." They sat down there for a while with not a lot else to say. Eva was happy with how the conversation turned out, she finally had an ally. Katie on the other hand finally had a friend. "So how was your day?"

"Huh?" Eva moved her arm so Kaite would let go of it, she did. "Why are you asking me about my day?"

"Because I care about your day!"

"And why would I tell you about it?"

"Isn't it nice for you to talk about your day?"

"I don't talk about myself."

"And what do you do with your friends?"

Eva takes some time to think. "Izzy always dragged me to stuff."

"And how did that make you feel?"

"Useful…" She thinks a bit more. "Noah was always afraid of me, at least a little."

"And how did that make you feel?"

"Powerful…"

"Well… Have you talked to Noah recently?"

"I threatened him to give me one of the idols."

"And did it work?"

"Not really."

"And what did you do?"

"I asked him nicely, cause I knew he had stolen it from Gwen and it was only fair." Eva really doesn't know if Noah felt bad for Gwen or her. "Then he gave it to me."

"Hm, you guys haven't spoken in a while haven't you?"

"Izzy pushes me to keep calling him but he never returns the calls… At some point, it became so frustrating that I stopped trying altogether."

"That's weird…"

"I don't care anyways, he can do whatever he wants, I heard he's dating a lawyer."

"Oh yeah! Emma, was it?"

"Yeah, people think she's a bitch."

"Well, I guess if he likes her..."

"He's a bitch too, I'd say they suit each other just fine."

"Honestly I was sure Noah was gay."

"No yeah, me too."

"What happened then?"

"Boobs, I guess."

Katie laughed at the thought. They stayed under the tree talking for a while more. Eva almost enjoyed Katie's company, Katie was absolutely happy.

"Huh? Please repeat that." Tyler had no idea what Ezekiel was talking about. Gwen hadn't either but she wasn't going to say it out loud, so she just took advantage that Ezekiel was going to explain it again.

"Gwen is going to be the boot if we don't lose the next challenge, it's just maths yo!"

"Why would Eva and Katie vote me off?"

"Cause they're in cahoots with each other! I saw 'em leave for the forest together early today."

Tyler still didn't follow. "And what were you doing outside in the forest?"

"Following Noah and Cody."

"Oh no! Are they in cahoots too?"

"Possibly! That's why we need to work together, Tyler."

Gwen wasn't a fan of all of this competition talk, but it was sort of a way to test Tyler to see if he cared about it or not, so she didn't interrupt.

"I don't know man, I don't want to make enemies."

"It's not making enemies! It's just having me as a friend yo."

"Gwen? What do you think?"

She thought of it a little bit, Ezekiel was being everything she hated right now but also winning the bonus might be nice. Besides, if the three of them won, Tyler and her could kick Zeke out, right? "Well I hate to say this but it's better than going home."

"See? The girl's smart! Not that girls aren't usually smart I just meant that-"

"We get it." Gwen really didn't care for what the green man had to say.

"Great then, I'll leave you two to it." Ezekiel left the dining room, leaving Tyler and Gwen alone.

"We'll vote him out when it's just the three of us." Gwen didn't even look at Tyler, she didn't like doing this.

"I thought you wanted to get out?"

"I thought so too but… This could be an opportunity, right?"

"Right… Whatever's better for you I guess." Tyler stood up to leave, but someone entered the diner blocking his way.

"Where are you going, jock boy?" It was Noah, and Cody was behind him.

"Chris called us through the speakers!" Added Cody.

Noah looked at Tyler, then at Gwen, then back at Tyler. "You were with her?"

"Oh yeah! Zeke was here too…"

"I see." He walked past Tyler and into the room, Cody followed behind. They both sat at Gwen's table, she didn't open her mouth.

Next entered Katie and Eva. They saw Tyler was just standing there, Katie spoke. "Aren't you going to sit with us?"

"I guess I am"

"Great! Come on then!" And she pulled him into the table, Eva followed behind them.

From under the same wood plank as before, Chris emerged, but Chef wasn't there to clap this time. "Where's Ezekiel?"

"Fuck, he's missing again?" Cody sounded worried.

"No swearing while we're recording scenes with the host! Bleeping you would make us look bad"

"I'm pretty sure I've sworn in confessionals". Eva couldn't exactly remember but she had an idea.

"Yeah I noticed, and they're unusable, so stop doing that."

"Do you need me to record them again without the swearing?"

"If you can that would be awesome! But first, I'll explain the challenge."

"Go ahead, we can't wait."

"Shut up Noah, you're annoying." Chris cleared his throat. "For today's challenge, you'll have to compete in an obstacle course!"

"Physical challenges? This early?"

"Just in time to make your team kick you, Noah!"

"Funny…"

"You'll be going through the swamp! There's a small obstacle course prepared for you. You'll be running through the platforms we prepared… You'll have to complete the course in a set amount of time, the team that takes less time to complete it wins!"

"Hey that doesn't sound fair, they're three and we're four!"

"Oh, Cody you sweet summer child, the team that takes less time on average wins, not overall."

"Oh, sorry."

"Anyways the course is simple: You must run through a little passage while some of our interns shoot mud at your face, after that, you must swing through the vines, and land on the platform at the end."

"That's all?" Tyler seemed to be underestimating the challenge.

"That is all! No twist, no cheat."

"That's what you would usually say when there is a twist and a cheat though."

"Don't you trust me, Gwen?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, not my problem. Eva! Go record your confessionals from yesterday, I'll see you all in the swamp at 2 pm."

"Got it yo." Ezekiel was at the door, apparently, he had been there for a while.

"Jesus man, don't creep on me like that. And start showing up on time for that matter! People will ask where you are on editing if you don't."

"Sorry, sorry, won't happen again."

Chris disappeared in a mist of smoke. The rest of them remained at the table.

"Where were you?" Noah sounded really judgemental.

"Recording some confessionals man! No need to gang up on me."

"That's suspicious."

"Can we not embarrass Zeke?" Tyler interrupted. "He's just doing his own thing and that's totally alright."

"We're a team, Tyler, we can't just have a single rat going around."

"Hey bro chill out he just was recording some shit, even if he's lying what else could he have been doing? Watching birds?"

"See? No reason to worry Noah." Zeke was actually moved that Tyler would defend him like this.

"Fine, fine, but I'm looking at you." Noah got up and left the room. Cody without really talking followed behind him.

"What's his deal?" Gwen hadn't really seen Noah act like this before. To her surprise the one to answer was Eva.

"He's been like that for a while, he's really pushing people away."

"Oh! Maybe he just needs someone to approach him?" Katie offered.

"Yo, that's what Cody's trying, right?" Zeke asked.

"Cody's not good at approaching people." Gwen spoke from experience.

"I dunno girl but he sure is making an attempt, I saw them walking alone this morning."

"Oh! We took a walk too!" Katie said, excited to share.

"Yeah, we know." Clarified Gwen.

"You guys…" Eva seemed suddenly worried. "You guys aren't allied aren't you?"

"And what if we are, huh?" Ezekiel smiled at her, he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Ah fuck."

"What's wrong?" Gwen was annoyed. "Don't tell me you expected to adopt Katie into your arms and win the game like that?"

"You planned on doing that to me?" Katie's mood dropped down a little.

"What! No! Not like that! I just thought we would form in groups of two and I'd have a chance."

"Well you still have a chance, just win immunity a couple of times and you're good to go!"

"Don't help her, Tyler." Zeke sounded harsh.

"Oh, sorry."

"But he isn't wrong, it shouldn't be too hard for you to win immunity."

"I guess it's not…"

"And what about me? Would you just vote me out?" Katie seemed heartbroken.

"Well… Yeah."

"Zeke!" Gwen found it funny deep down.

"What! It's true! If you want to we can get rid of Cody and Noah first…"

"Please do!"

"I thought you didn't care about the competition." Eva was confused at Katie's behavior.

"But you said playing would be fun! Right? I wanna play now."

"Well, we'll do the best we can."

"That's the spirit!" Zeke stretched a little. "Well, I'll be heading to the challenge if you excuse me."

"Let's go together, actually." Gwen offered.

"Whatever you want, but let's go."

"I don't get you guys, are you ready or not?" This was followed by utter silence. "Look, we can record this later if you want to."

"No it's fine, let's get it over with it. I'll go first."

"Alright, Noah!"

"Are you sure you want to go first man?" Cody seemed worried.

"Better to get it out of the way quickly, right? I'm not getting eliminated today."

Noah stood up, everyone's eyes were on him. He approached the platform and climbed the ladder to it. Chris shouted. "Ready? Set? GO!" And he took off running.

He could feel his legs separating from his body as he ran toward the vines. He really wasn't a physical person, he remembered one time he almost passed out wearing hats on a TV show, and all the mountain climbing and jumping yesterday had really worn him out. He was dying physically, and this hadn't even started.

"Yo, he looks like he's going to die."

"Yeah, he's not good at these things you know?" Cody was extremely worried about Noah's safety.

"Well, why is he going off first?"

"So you guys don't vote him out?"

"As if! Sorry Cody, but I think whatever happens today Noah is gone."

"..."

The first mud ball hit his leg, it was enough to make him lose balance. He almost tripped and fell, but managed to recompose his posture and keep running. The second ball went flying right in front of his head, but it missed him. The third one hit him just as he was jumping to grab a vine. It hit him on his back, which coincidentally gave him enough momentum to reach the vine in the first place.

"Oh man, that's really lucky."

"He looks like he's going to make it, Ty-man." Zeke was trying new things out.

"Ty-man? Is that what you're calling me now?"

"Do you like it?"

"No, not really."

"Eh, I'll find another one."

He started swinging, from one to the other. Each jump he made he landed further down the vine and closer to the ground. It looked like if he lost the momentum he wouldn't make it. He managed to reach the final vine, he jumped into the platform.

He missed but managed to grab onto the ledge with his arms. With the last remains of his strength, he pulled up. He was exhausted, absolutely done for, but he had made it, he was safe.

"1:07!" Screamed Chris. "Now, someone from the girls please."

"Oh-oh! Can I go first?"

"I don't see why not, Katie. Please go."

Katie wasn't unathletic at all, so this shouldn't be a big deal for her, right? She ran through the platform at high velocity, clearly more comfortable than Noah on the game. The mud balls started flying through the air, Katie was able to dodge them.

"She's good, wow." Gwen was surprised, she wanted to see what Eva thought.

"I guess so…"

"Aren't you a little bit impressed?"

"Just a little, I guess..."

Katie jumped to the first vine, she kept her momentum throughout all of them and landed on the platform standing on her own feet.

"You go, girl!"

"Tyler, don't encourage her." Zeke really didn't like the positive attitude.

"Oops, sorry man."

Katie felt really proud of her performance, but when she looked at Eva for validation, she didn't seem as happy.

"1:00 flat!" Screamed Chris. "Which means you boys need at least one score of 0:53."

"We can do the math," Noah said sarcastically, but his team didn't laugh.

"Good job with that time, smartypants, now we're behind!" Zeke's cunning smile could cut through a blade.

"I would've liked to see you doing better!"

"Watch me."

Zeke climbed to the platform. He ran through the platform in all fours, none of the mud balls were able to catch up to his speed. He swung through the vines like a monkey, keeping every bit of momentum, and he jumped to the platform as if diving into a pool.

And as if diving into a pool, he hit his chin against the floor and layed on the floor for a little bit, absolutely losing his senses.

"Ah, the tale of Icarus." Noah seemed proud to not be the only one with a lacking time.

"Who's Icarus?" Said Tyler and Katie almost at the exact same time.

Zeke recovered his senses and climbed up to the platform.

"Oh no, a loss, so embarrassing!" He exclaimed sarcastically, Noah raised an eyebrow.

"1:10!" Chris screamed. "Who follows?"

Eva stood in front of the pack. "I'll go."

"You're going to save me for last?" Asked Gwen.

"Why not? I'm sure you'll be able to maintain our times." Eva took a deep breath. "And Zeke?"

"Yeah?"

"It's not going to be that easy."

Eva stood up and walked through the platform very slowly. The mud balls were hitting her but it didn't seem to bother her at all. She was just making her way very slowly through the platform.

"I see how it is…"

"Zeke?"

"Yeah, Ty?"

"What is she doing?"

"Losing… And we can't let that happen."

"Excuse you?" Noah overheard them both.

"Any problem? Brain Pants?"

"Uh yeah, you're throwing the challenge? What kind of cheap gameplay is that?"

"Yeah man, why are we doing this."

"We can't afford Gwen going home, right yo? it'll be a mess. If you played the game better you would know, Noah."

"I… Who are you?"

"Zeke man! Same as always!"

Eva made it through the vines. She didn't really swing, she just jumped from one to another with a really dry rhythm. She made it to the platform.

"1:20" Chris made a pause. "Ok, you guys think I don't see what's going on huh? You think I'm an idiot."

"What's wrong Chrissy?"

"Oh, you do not get to call me that, Zeke."

"What's going on?" Cody was confused.

"Zeke and Tyler are throwing the challenge, genius." Noah let out in frustration.

"So am I." Stated Eva.

"What?!" Gwen screamed. "You want to send me home, is that it?"

"Yeah, get over it."

"We made a deal this morning, you would take out Noah and Cody first!" Tyler was also confused.

"Why us man?" Cody didn't understand.

"They're allied, you big idiot." Noah was too frustrated with the situation.

"Well now that the ladies broke their promise…" Started Zeke. "I wouldn't be too worried, boys."

"Eva, why didn't you tell me? I could've gone slower…"

"I…"

"Oh, I see how it is." Zeke smiled, he had figured it out. "You thought she was going to fail naturally, didn't you?"

"DID YOU?" Katie's heart dropped to her feet.

"Well… Yes, but I underestimated you, it's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal! You looked down on me!"

"Doesn't she look down on everyone?"

"Shut the fuck up Gwen."

"HEY!" Chris jumped in. "No swearing in this super dramatic moment."

"Well, I'm not letting us lose the challenge." Cody took the lead. "I'll get a great time and we'll win, and Gwen will be… gone!"

"Didn't think you had it in you to kick Gwen out, kid." Chris was interfering.

"Please! I'm so over it, watch me do it."

"It doesn't matter anyways, right? I'll just get a super long time." Tyler thought that was a smart thing to say.

"That's when I come in!" Chris prepared to give a speech. "Tyler, if you get a time longer than 1:20, your time will be 0:00!"

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"I decide what's fair, gollum. Gwen, Cody, if you get times lower than 1:10, your sum of time will be 5:00!"

"That's not fair!" Screamed both of them at the same time.

"Stop whining and get to it! Tyler. You go first."

"Don't fail me, buddy…" Zeke patted Tyler's back… He was ready.

Tyler climbed to the platform, he started running. He wasn't good at dodging, so he got hit by the mud balls. He wasn't only hit, but also lost his balance and fell face flat to the floor.

He quickly managed to get up though and went for the vines. He missed the first one and had to climb back. He missed the second one and kept falling to the floor, this wasn't good.

He managed to finally get it all done. Landing on the final platform.

"1:25… You know what that means…"

"I'm sorry Zeke." Tyler felt he had really let his friend down. Zeke was expecting him to fail, just not like this.

"Eh, it's ok, we still have a chance."

"I'm not fucking this up, you hear me, green man?"

"That's what you say Cods…"

"Shut it both of you." Gwen stood in front of them. "I'll do this myself."

Gwen climbed the platform and took off running. She ran through the mud balls. They hit her everywhere, she had mud on her boots, mud on her clothes, mud on her face, but she kept running.

She jumped through the vines, keeping the momentum, and finally landed on the platform.

"That was fun…" She spoke.

"1:10 flat, lucky!"

"Great job girl!" Tyler looked at Zeke waiting for reprehension, but he didn't get it.

"Hell yeah! Thanks, this is exciting."

"It's all up to you Cody, go ahead" Chris invited him to the platform.

"Cody…" Noah looked him in the eye. "It's now or never."

Cody, with newfound determination, climbed the platform. He went through it as the mud balls flew close to him. None of them hit him, and he made the jump to the vines.

He swung and swung as much as he could, he went through them like thunder, the speed of the guy was incomparable. And he made it through the platform.

"1:05… Sorry, Cody."

"Too fast! HAHA!" Zeke was jumping in happiness.

"Well, it was nice to play here." Noah was disillusioned.

"I'm so sorry… Eva… Noah…"

"Don't talk to me, you don't owe me anything, I can figure this out myself." Eva was thinking of how to proceed.

Katie was really disappointed in Eva and herself. "This is…"

"See you later ladies!" Gwen high-fived Tyler and Zeke, they were going to dominate this game they just knew it.

"Well campers, go record your confessionals and everything, see you boys at the campfire at 8 pm flat!"

"Huh, I don't understand?" Katie was… Confused, to say the least. This had never happened to her before.

"I'm apologizing."

"But…"

"I underestimated you, and it made us lose. I should've told you we were going to throw the challenge, I should've included you in the plan."

"I…" Katie was tearing up a little.

"Are you… Crying?"

"I- No!" She wiped it off her face.

"God, you're such a girl." Eva laughed a little.

"Shut up!"

"Are we still cool then?"

"Yes! Of course."

"We'll see this to the end, Katie, I promise you."

"I sure hope we do." And she held her arm again, like back in the morning…

"I don't get it, Cody is going home?"

"You heard me right, Noah!" Chris was standing at the campfire, all the boys were in front of him. Tyler and Zeke were sitting together, Cody and Noah were sitting apart.

"No, that makes no sense, I thought I was going home."

"Well yeah, you were…" Zeke stood up. "But the Codemaister over here told us to get him out, so we didn't want to waste our chances."

"But Cody… We could've gone for a tiebreaker." Noah didn't understand.

"I didn't want to risk you going home man, you really need the win you said."

"But you idiot, it could've been a tiebreaker between you and Tyler."

"Oh Noah…" Zeke started. "I wasn't risking Tyler going home for Cody, only for you."

"So you voted yourself?"

"Yeah!" Cody smiled, innocently.

"But why not lie and say-"

"Noah I'm not that smart, ok? You'll get out of this. You'll find a way, I'm sure." Cody tried to reassure him

"Nah, we'll get you out next round." Zeke laughed. "But enjoy your stay while you can brainy pants."

"Ehem!" Chris was getting impatient. "If you excuse me, can we record the elimination please?"

It was hard for Noah, but they managed to perform a very dramatic elimination ceremony. Tyler even screamed and shook his fist through the air at some point, it was insane. In the end, Cody went sailing the boat. And the competition continued without him.

A/N: Second elimination! It's a short fic. I thought it would be funny if I started every scene with a variation of the sentence "I don't get it." but didn't use the sentence itself until the end.

I know the logic for this elimination is rough and convoluted but I promise the rest are all simple and make total sense. The thing is I really needed Cody to go home so, sometimes you have to sacrifice game logic for good storytelling.

I liked the idea of the challenge though, both teams looking to lose and Chris altering the rules to fit the situation. That was fun to come up with.

Next chapter is Playa Des Losers again! So, look forward to that. Those are usually the better chapters.