I-II.
Martha Randall, 13
District Three Female
Catharantha Tribe
We move as one towards the crates, the orange tribe reaching the crates first and beginning to open them up. When I reach one, straw spills out of the sides and onto the ground. I dig through the crate and come up with a piece of flint - small, but useful.
Why am I the one who knows what's useful out here?
"Do you think we should just go?" calls out the girl from Ten - Urie, I think. "There's only stuff for fires here - maybe useful items if we look, but then we'll have to vote. And we won't be fast on this course."
My eyes dart towards the other tribes - they're methodically searching the crates, piling whatever they find in neat little stacks by their feet. They have flint, kindling, and other firestarters - nothing else. "I guess."
"Then let's go!" calls the tall boy, waving for the other Catharantha members to join us. "We're leaving, y'all. Now."
We hurry out of our gate - painted a violet hue - and into the jungle. The other tribes don't follow, but when I look behind me I see that a few of the tributes are staring over at us, pointing as we leave the clearing. I turn back towards the jungle, my legs moving faster - I don't want to come last.
I don't want to die.
Keaton Huang, 12
District Nine Male
Catharantha Tribe
When we reach the first wall, directly in the middle of the path and surrounded by nasty, thick bushes, I stop. I found nothing in the crates, but a few of the girls are carrying strange, shiny stones that glisten in their palms. Maybe they're sweaty from all of this running.
"Alright, how are we getting over this wall?" one of the girls, her short black hair already wet from sweat. It's humid. "We don't have these in Ten, y'know. We don't exactly have forests there."
"This ain't like Seven either," murmurs the tall boy.
The career laughs, tying her hair back and fixing it in place with her bandana. "Give me a moment," she calls. In a flash she grabs the rope and hurries up the wall, legs propelling her up into the trees. It must be twelve feet high at least, if not higher.
How are we getting down?
"Alright, anyone who thinks they can climb up go first," the girl calls. She straddles the wall with both legs, letting the rope fall back down to us. "Everyone else can get pulled up. All you gotta do is hold on."
"Here, let me," says the tall boy. He takes a giant step up the wall and pushes off of the jungle floor, hands steadily moving up the rope. The few footholds there are on the wall are well-placed, and he soon reaches the top. "Who's next?"
"I guess I'll go," a tanned boy offers. He licks his lips, then begins the climb.
At eight feet, it becomes obvious that he won't make it up alone - his hands begin to tremble, his forearms wavering as he grips onto the wall. The two above notice, grabbing onto the rope and heaving him up. "Thanks," he replies when he reaches the top.
"We can thank each other when we reach the end," the tall boy replies. "Let's go!"
Aasim Habibi, 18
District Two Male
Tapia Tribe
My lip curls further into a sneer with every empty crate. At the last one, I pick it up and hurl it against the fence - it splinters and tumbles back onto the ground, the pieces spilling into the grass below. "There's nothing left here."
"We're wasting time," Zirconia calls out to the other Tapia members. "Catharantha is gone, and Angraeca is leaving."
The orange tribe heads through their own gate as I look up, running into the jungle and towards their own course. I spit onto the ground. "Well, let's go! We can catch up to those purple runts. Half of them aren't even fifteen, probably. They won't be able to do anything out there."
"Don't be so sure," Zirconia murmurs. To the rest, she calls out in cheery tones. "You have the fire stuff? We better run!"
The rest follow like the sheep they are. They aren't questioning us - probably because we're the careers, the ones who are supposed to know what they're doing. I doubt that Zirconia knows how she'll do this, but I have faith in Lavern - he seems strong. He's reliable.
Kinda cute, too.
The small boy from Three and the peppy girl from Nine lag behind the rest of us as we hurry down the path, their arms full with the kindling and firestarters we collected from the crates. When we reach the wall, Lavern motions to them to dump their supplies on the ground. "I'll throw it over, and then we'll climb," he tells them. "Let's go!"
I'm first up the wall, and I help two of the outliers up before Zirconia makes her way over the wall and onto the other side. While the rest of us climb over, she gathers supplies into bundles and hands them to us as we jump back down onto a smaller platform, then onto the ground. "If we all carry equal amounts, we'll move faster," she warns.
I grab three bundles. "I can handle them."
She shrugs, and we hurry across to the next obstacle. Large pots that seem to be meant to carry water, straps hanging from their sides, are arranged at the edge of the obstacle. Beyond is a sea of mud, a lone, green balance beam leading the way through the mess.
"Let me take one," I call out. I dump my bundles into the first pot, wrap my arms around the straps, then set my foot on the balance beam. It's thin but sturdy, and I clamber across the first trail before finding myself wavering on an incline. My foot moves forward, down, and into empty air as I realized I've stepped too far - there's a gap in the balance beam.
One big enough for me to fall through and splat - face-first into the mud .
Great.
Fleur Laveau, 18
District Eleven Female
Catharantha Tribe
The boy from Twelve was the only one of us to fall into the mud on the balance beams - he runs beside me, clumps of mud falling off of his shirt and onto the path as we hurry through the course. I grimace, thankful that I didn't have to carry a water jug through that obstacle. I'd rather stay dry today.
The career is the first to reach a web of ropes, lifting several at the bottom for others to crawl under. "Do you think we can fit the jugs through this?"
"I can take one," I offer, tucking it under my arm before beginning to force my way through the ropes. They're taut and firm, snapping back every time I try to push them a bit too far. I can feel my arms begin to burn from the welts they're receiving from the ropes, and I keep focused on where I place my feet. I don't want to trip up.
The boy from Seven takes the second jug, yet he manages his way through the course before the rest and drops it on the ground. "Anyone need help?" he calls, the three smaller tributes crawling under the final ropes and out of the obstacle. "I can go back in if you need it."
"How did - how did you get out of here so quickly?" I pant. The jug falls out of my arms, and I reach through the ropes to pull it back up again. It refuses to budge - it's wedged between a rock and several ropes, the straps too far out of reach for me to grab them and tug it out without crawling over to the jug. "I don't know if I can do this quickly."
"Just leave it!" calls the girl from Ten.
"What? But what about water?" I yell back, stretching over the ropes - just a bit further…
"We only need one," she says. She slips through the final set of ropes and helps the boy from Eight through, turning back to me. "We have to go if we're going to win."
I give one valiant, final stretch. My fingers graze the side of the jug, but I'm just too short to reach out. "Fine."
I pull away from the jug, and climb through the ropes that stretch between me and the end of the obstacle. We're almost there.
Baize Damask, 16
District Eight Female
Angraeca Tribe
A cage full of crates greets us as we sprint to the next obstacle, right next to what seems to be our final obstacle. Beyond the cage, a series of ladders that leads up a hill to what seems to be the end. I hear the splashing sound of waves in the distance - it must be the beaches. I think we're almost there.
"I guess this is the rest of the supplies," one of the careers say. The pair from One have been quiet through the course, but now they stand next to the cage and fidget with the keys. "Should we try getting in there and getting some more stuff, or should we keep going?"
"Do you think the purples have made it this far?" I murmur, looking at the keychain. "How many keys are on there anyway?"
The girl from One jangles the chain, showing it to the rest of us. "There has to be, like, two dozen or more on here. It may take a while."
"Here, let me take it," I say to the girl. I might as well try to do something for the tribe - maybe they'll accept me if I do. I want to make my mark. "I can start working on it."
The rest stand in a crowd as I begin to work on the first lock, cursing with every incorrect key. I'm halfway through the keys when the lock gives way with a click that's heaven to my ears. The door swings open to show the open crates inside, bulging with food, blankets, and tarps. We all rush in and grab items, stuffing our arms with the stuff before heading to the ladders.
I reach the first ladder and begin to hoist myself up, noticing the large gaps between each rung. I'm careful to not waver on the ladder, quickly climbing up and up to the next platform until-
My foot slips and my hands fail to wrap around the next rung. I can see the ladder slipping out of my grasp, and I tumble down, down, down.
I see red when I land back on the ground.
Alona Maomo'o, 18
District Four Female
Catharantha Tribe
"We don't need all of this stuff," I call to the others. "Just take some food and blankets, and we can finish this course."
The younger three are already at the ladders, scrambling up and helping each other to the next platform. I raise an eyebrow. For a scrawny tribe, we aren't doing half-bad. Maybe we will make it to the end first.
"I'll take the food," calls Silas. He grabs a pack and hoists it over his shoulders, tossing a few bags that contain thin blankets to Seibold. "We have to get moving."
Urie struggles to pull herself up to the last rung, and I hurry up the ladder to help. "Use my shoulder to push yourself up," I call, and she steps up and onto the next platform.
"Thanks," she whispers, half out of breath. "You guys coming?"
"Almost there," replies Silas. He takes a deep breath and throws his bag into the air, hurtling it past the ladder and onto the next platform. "Catch!"
I reach out and snatch the bag. It's surprisingly heavy, but it's snug against my back. "Hurry up, Arthur!"
The boy from Twelve is surprisingly clumsy - it takes him three jumps to grab the final rung and get up to the top of the last ladder. He's about to get onto the last platform when his foot slips off of a rung, and I rush up the rungs. Several frantic bounds and leaps later, I shove him up and over the ladder. "There you go, buddy."
"Thanks," the boy pants. He rolls over onto his side, trying to catch his breath. "Are we - we almost there?"
"If you get up and run like your life depends on it," I reply through gritted teeth.
Dafne Waldgrave, 16
District Seven Female
Angraeca Tribe
"Are you okay?" I ask Baize, the girl struggling back up to her feet. "Is your ankle alright?"
Baize shakes her head. "I think it's twisted," she whimpers. "Maybe sprained."
"We'll haul you up," Titus replies pragmatically. He and Lazuli grab Baize, pulling her by the armpits to the top of the first ladder. "You'll have to take the rest of the supplies, though."
"Why are we wasting time with extra supplies?" I ask, pointing to the two boys working away at the lock. "If they aren't making us kill each other, there's obviously enough food for us not to starve. If we run, we can beat the rest of the group. I don't think that the purples can get to the end faster than we can."
The Ones ignore me, continuing to force their way up the ladders and to the top of this next obstacle. I sigh, then turn back to the boys. "Are you two going to get anything, or should we just go?"
"Almost got it… there!" calls the boy from Six with triumph, the lock falling at his feet. "You gonna help us with this or not?"
"I don't think we have time to get supplies," I murmur. "Are we playing to win or not?"
The boy from Six scoffs, dark hair falling over his eyes. "Sweetheart, only one of us is leaving," he replies. "We might as well go out with a full stomach."
"Then you can go first," I respond.
Penny Cogswheel, 16
District Five Female
Angraeca Tribe
The ladders are hard to climb - with the water jug's straps loosely clinging to my back, every step shifting the weight of the jug, it's difficult to keep my grip on each rung. Yet I manage to climb the first two with relative ease, clambering to the final platform with the rest of my team.
"Catch!" calls one of the boys from below, throwing a sack up to me. I reach out to the sack, my fingers grazing the cloth but failing to clench it before it falls back down. It lands below with a splat, and the boy groans. "Anyone who ain't a klutz up there?"
"Let it go," the girl from Seven yells back. "We have to hurry if we're making it to the end."
The first five make it up the final ladder, the pair from One helping the injured girl up to the top, and I climb behind them. My eyes are greeted with the sight of blindingly white sand, stretching as far as I can see - and, in the distance, a platform awaits.
But there's another group of people running towards it. They're moving quickly.
"Go! Go!" scream the careers, shoving me forward and onto the beach. My lungs shriek at me as I quicken my pace, unused to all of this running. It takes strength I didn't know I had in me to keep moving under the blazing sun, towards the platform. The end of this race is in sight.
We're close to the end when the injured girl trips and crashes into the sand. The girl from One is almost brought down by the force of the impact, but yanks her hand away and stumbles backward before the same happens to her. "Help me!" she calls to her district partner, tugging at the girl's arms as we watch the other tribe run towards the platform. "Are we going to get there on time or what?"
The boy grabs the other arm, surging towards the platform. We're all sprinting now, the boy from Eleven panting in front of me with the firestarter kits we found in the crates and the the other water jug swinging on the arms of the boy from Ten. But the sand swallows our momentum, my legs burning as I realize that I can't keep up the pace.
I sink to my knees as I see the shrieking purple tribe, the three youngest members at the front of the pack, reach the platform and kill our last hope of staying safe tonight.
And here is our first challenge! Obstacle courses to begin Survivor is always a fun way to go, imo, and I hope it helped showcase the personalities clashing and meshing with one another as these 24 begin their game.
Expect our first tribal(s) in a month or less! :oo Until next time, TheAmazingJAJ