Salutations! Welcome to the Chapter Four of TDI - E&R.
Third day begins and new challenge kicks off after day-off. How shall it go?
Sleepless Days, Pt. 1
"Last time on Total Drama Island: twenty-four campers arrived and learned that they'll be spending their summer at the crusty old summer camp. The campers were faced with their first challenge, jumping off a cliff into the shark-infested waters. And while most campers took the plunge, a few were forced to wear the dreaded chicken due to their refusal to show some spine and make the dive. At the campfire ceremony, it all came down to two campers of the losing Killer Bass. Courtney has experience as a C.I.T. in summer camp, but refused to jump, and Ezekiel managed to tick off every female contestant at the camp with his questionable and downright sexist comments about women. In the end, the first camper voted off Total Drama Island was Ezekiel, proving that homeschooling and a reality TV don't really mix. Screaming Gophers had some nice bonding over hot tub party. But could there be drama brewing below the surface? And Killer Bass is left scrambled after very first defeat and subsequent elimination. But could it be that some long-lasting connections are getting created there already? And who will be voted off this time in the most dramatic campfire ceremony yet? Find that out on TOTAL… DRAMA… ISLAND!
AWOOOOOGAAAAA!
Like thunder and rumble of doomsday combined, airhorn's almost reality-splitting sound, augmented through megaphone, echoed around the campground which just a second ago had been so silent.
Campers inside the cabins got rude awakening. Some fell or almost fell out of their bunks. Some hit their heads and bodies against different obstacles as they abruptly got frightened. Some shouted curses and other unprintable obscenities.
"It's seven in the morning!" a shout above all else could be heard from Gophers cabin.
Leshawna flung open the window to girls room and threw with commendable accuracy a piece of firewood towards Chris, the culprit to the sound, even though she missed him due to sheer distance between the host and the cabins.
"Do I look like a farmer to you?" she shouted, wagging her closed fist.
"LESS TALKING, MORE RISING UP!" Chris shouted through megaphone. "GET DRESSED AND MEET ME HERE OUTSIDE IN TEN!"
As much as the host would have loved campers actually to be ready within ten minutes, it took more like fifteen minutes before the last one of them managed to drag themselves outside. Most of them looked beaten and groggy, given the fact they were in deep sleep just a short while ago. They were in different states of waking up with some of them naturally looking more capable of handling the early morning while some of them were struggling to even stand. Only the thought of falling to the cold ground watered by lingering morning dew kept them up on their feet.
Only Duncan from Killer Bass and Jeremy from Screaming Gophers did not seem to mind getting gathered at such an early hour. They had woken up before Chris' appearance so they had not lost any sleep over it.
One big lineup of campers was formed in front of the cabins.
Cody was squatting down, trying to avoid standing straight as long as possible as he could still feel sleep's aftereffects tarring in his body.
He could just faintly discern an upbeat sound booming from somewhere. He lifted his eyes from grass and looked to his right side, seeing Eva standing there with headphones in her ears and music player peeking out of her pants pocket. Screen was visible to Cody but he could not make out what was written on it.
He discreetly wiggled his way closer to Eva with the intention of reading what Eva was listening.
This, however, did not turn up to go unnoticed. As soon as Eva saw Cody getting closer and staring her music player, she lashed out. She swung her hand to fend Cody off and for a good measure she also growled and hissed. It was like she was daring Cody to even try coming closer, yet alone touch her music player.
Boy withdrew quickly. He looked at the angry girl frightened and confused, wondering why such an inconsequential thing had caused her to flip in such a manner.
"Sheesh. If that's her reaction just because she just woke up, I can't imagine what could go down if she actually loses that damn thing", yawning Noah, who had witnessed the incident, muttered to Heather who was standing next to him.
"Morning. Hope you slept well", Chris wished good morning. He just had come back from dropping off the megaphone and airhorn which deed he had done once it had become evident campers would not make it in ten minutes.
"Hi, Chris", Heather greeted back. "You look really good in those shorts."
"I know", Chris happily received the compliment with a smile and wink. Someone had actually noticed he had gone with the pants of different length that day.
Before proceeding, he did quick headcount of campers just to be sure nobody was missing. When it was confirmed, he continued his talk.
"Okay, I hope you are all ready because your next challenge begins in exactly one minute", he said nonchalantly like it was no big deal at all and paced his steps up and down the lineup of campers in front of him.
"Oh, excuse me!" Owen chimed in, raising his hand high above his head. "I don't know if that's enough time to eat breakfast."
"Oh, you'll get breakfast, Owen. Right after you complete your twenty-kilometer run around the lake!"
"Come again? Our what now?"
"Twenty kilometers? Isn't that like… half a marathon?"
"Oh, so you're funny now? You know what I would think be funny?" Eva stepped out of line and approached Chris, crackling her knuckles as she went.
Duncan jumped in to get hold of Eva's elbow and lumbar area. Geoff stepped in as well, wrapping his arm around Eva's still free arm and putting it into restraining lock.
"Eva, try to control your temper", Courtney mumbled to girl who was close losing all her temper.
Eva looked at Courtney and decided to drop the intention for physical altercation. But that did not mean she needed to leave out word-lashing.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she shouted at Chris.
"A little", Chris admitted and gave guilty smile. "You have 30 seconds!"
Confessional: Courtney
"Okay, that girl Eva has got to get a handle on her temper. She's only been here less than two days in total and she has already thrown her suitcase out of a window and broken the lock on one of the bathroom doors", she told while listing some of the incidents around Eva by lifting fingers.
Confessional: Mackenzie
"…and it wasn't just any bathroom door. The toilet in that one is the only one which actually flushes properly. So now you have to risk having company while doing your business or use one of the worse ones."
Confessional: Tyler
"You know, I challenged Eva yesterday at arm-wrestling match after dinner. She's a tough one, okay, but I could have won her easily if I hadn't gone easy on her - just to get that out in there", he told and pointed finger towards camera during the latter half of his comment. "Anyway, it was like she was purposefully aiming to amputate my hand, considering how much force she put into that match. And now my right arm feels all strained and sore. I might have gone too easy on her."
He wanted to demonstrate how roughly Eva had twisted his arm so he twiddled his right hand, clenched into fist. Instantly as he did it, he muffled scream of pain by biting his jacket's sleeve.
Chris was not entirely truthfully when he said they had to start their morning run in one minute. In actuality, after the time limit, he led two teams some distance behind the backside of main lodge. Someone had gone and painted long white line to the ground with that kind of paint which gets washed off after couple good rainy days.
Chris instructed them how they needed to follow white track poles which had bright red triangular flags pointing to the direction they needed to go. As the island was not big enough in circumference to facilitate half-marathon with one lap around the whole island, they needed to zigzag and follow pre-marked path to ensure proper number of kilometers came covered.
"Poor bastards those interns. What a time to spend night on twenty-kilometer lap", Duncan pitied sarcastically but was probably right. None of the campers had seen any signs of marked path the day before.
"Don't worry, Duncan. They had ATVs. But you have only your legs so let's see if you can have time of your life out there", Chris commented and joked while campers got settled to the starting line. "And once more just so we all understand. You can complete the run by using only your feet. We're watching you."
Host pointed to some of the more obvious cameras which could be seen by everyone from there where they were standing.
Groans were heard as campers tried to mentally prepare themselves for the coming agony.
"Nothing better than get your body going and moving on such a wonderful morning! Okay, runners. On your marks… get set… GO!"
When the mark came, some the campers went running full speed. Number of them decided to start slow and begun jogging. Rest of the bunch simply walked without any real intentions to start running. Rationale was that as long as they would not be the last at the finish line, it did not matter in which order they came there. Loser would be the team which could gather itself last at the finish line.
The leading group rapidly gained considerable distance with Geoff acting pretty much as their rabbit. Separately from them, DJ was in solitude the leading runner of all twenty-three.
Justin, Bridgette, and Mackenzie were more or less the next bulk of campers going at the run. They were followed by loosely formed group of Jeremy, Duncan, Tyler, and Noah. Any remaining campers were walking – or struggling to run.
Confessional: Heather
"I don't run. And I definitely don't run in high-heeled wedges", she made known that she was too good for such a dumb task. There were not any hints in her voice that she might have felt bad about that decision.
Confessional: Cody
"I figured out that if Gwen was not running, perhaps I could walk the track with her. But then a thought hit me. What if I don't run and because of it, girls think that I'm weak."
Cody shuddered at the mere thought of it.
"So… to show The Codester is the master of many abilities, running included, I decided to start running."
Heather was dragging her feet. She was not motivated whatsoever to even bother with such a stupid challenge. First, it was way too early for that. Also, she had not had breakfast or shower. Major concerns most certainly.
She knew she probably had to pick up her pace at some point to make sure she did not get to the finish line dead last. But for now she knew that at least that girl from the hoods, Leshawna, for sure was behind her. And she had just seen the dweeb and identically dressing girls from Killer Bass maybe fifty meters minus some ahead of her so it was not like Screaming Gophers would fail because of her. She was sure she could pass those teens any moment she decided so.
But twenty-kilometer run was definitely going to be a twenty-kilometer walk for her. It would take time but she reasoned it would take five hours tops to reach finish line. And it still be no more than little pass midday.
She was not really looking where she going because she was focused on getting mentally checked out from the fact that she had hours of constant walking before her. That carelessness over steps was the reason why she almost stepped on Owen's hand when she was walking over one bigger puddle of water.
Big guy laid on stomach in water and was lapping it up like dog on the brink of dehydration.
"Can't… catch… breath… must… have… condition!" Owen told with pained voice, dipping tongue in water between every word.
Heather was grossed out by that action as she could not fathom how Owen possibly could drink stagnant water from forest ground.
"Yeah, it's called 'overeating'. Look into it", she commented.
"Oh, what's your excuse?" asked Leshawna who just passed them both but stopped to lean against tree to catch her breath. "You skinny, annoying… ooh. I'm too tired fo' insults."
"PICK IT, PEOPLE! IF YOU'RE NOT BACK BY LUNCH TIME, YOU DON'T EAT!"
Chris drove into view from the shade of forest. He was steering light blue Vespa with one hand while the other hold the megaphone through which he shouted his threat.
Heather groaned clenching her fists.
"I hate him so much", she muttered before going around Owen, but making sure her next few steps were extra stomping so they splashed puddle's water on boy's face.
Owen did not seem to mind as he was slowly succumbing to exhaustion. His all energy was going towards staying awake.
"So… you run… pretty well… Aren't you… exhausted?" Bridgette asked panting from Mackenzie.
"I belonged to… cross country... tracking club… back in the middle school…. so I know… what to expect", Mackenzie answered. She was also panting but not as heavily as Bridgette.
"Not anymore…? Quit after middle school…?" Bridgette made follow-up question.
"Yeah… Found new passions", Mackenzie confirmed.
"Cool… I surf but… this kind of... endurance training… doesn't belong... to my program."
"Just… breathe at steady intervals and…. favor coming down… on the ball of your… feet… Just landing on… heels… strains your body…. more…"
"Good to know…"
They kept running. Justin from Gophers was running few meters in front of them. Leading group was gaining more distance ever so steadily. During every turn when they disappeared from their sights, it seemed to take couple more seconds before they could get them back to their sights.
"Fools… they can't… keep that speed… until finish line… it's about…. distributing your speed… evenly throughout the run…", Mackenzie criticized the group of six people ahead of them.
"Well… we haven't seen… DJ at all… since the beginning so… I think… he actually might be… the best runner of us…", Bridgette noted.
"Could be… He has the physique…", Mackenzie admitted. "Such a nice guy… making amends after… that botched cliff jump…"
"Yeah… we have… solid team altogether… I'd say…"
"Yeah… some hiccups but… quite solid…"
"Hiccups…?"
"Don't mind that… keep running now…"
Mackenzie and Bridgette managed to keep up their pace thanks to Mackenzie's experience and willingness to coach Bridgette on right methods. Justin seemed to listen and take hints as well from Mackenzie's tips as he kept running that few meters ahead of them.
But little by little girls started to close that distance between them and Justin when finally they were running right beside him.
"Looking good, Justin… Don't slow down now…", Bridgette encouraged Justin.
"Ladies, please… of course I won't slow down… and disappoint you", Justin answered with his smooth voice but undertone in his voice implicated rather clearly how he was struggling to keep the pace up.
"Justin, please…", Mackenzie rolled her eyes but not like she was mad at boy. "You're a bodybuilder… Be honest… you don't do… too much endurance training…"
Pretty boy was silent few seconds, fixed at staring ahead.
"Maybe…", he finally admitted. "But it's not like… I couldn't handle… this kind of challenge… if it's needed."
"Of course… we can see that… You're doing great… but don't get too confident… Let's get to the goal… together…", Mackenzie not only assured but also warned about how overconfidence could be slow and insidious killer.
"Ladies… I hear what you say… let's do this together…", he said and turned his head to them to flash wide smile. Both girls struggled not to blush which was as such perhaps unnecessary since their cheeks were already burning red due to the work-out.
Confessional: Justin
"That Mackenzie is rather perceptive. Yes, I don't specialize in endurance sports, but I must assure you they are not my weakness either. I don't have weaknesses! Really, can a man as good-looking as me have any weaknesses?"
Justin stood up and whipped his shirt off, showing his toned-up upper body to camera. He made few poses to show off his muscles like he was right then and there doing photoshoot for modeling job or bodybuilder contest.
"Just look at me. I'm handsome. Who wouldn't like me or what they see?" he said once he sat back down. The shirt stayed off.
Morning air started little by little burn runners' lungs more and more but it was nothing unbearable yet. It was for better Chris had denied them breakfast before the run as running with full bellies would have been absolutely brutal task to take at such an early hour.
Loosely formed cluster of runners consisting of Jeremy, Duncan and Tyler were the last people jogging. They regulated their speed heavily and definitely did not go as fast as they could have gone.
Noah had been with them some time ago but had halted running to catch his breath.
"Have to admit, daredevil, I didn't expect you to be able to keep up this long", Duncan said to Jeremy when he happened to take a look behind him and saw the slender guy from Gophers.
"Thank you", Jeremy answered without looking at Duncan. He kept his stare fixed ahead.
"It wasn't a compliment", Duncan made clear he had merely made a statement.
"I know."
Duncan had to look behind again and wonder what was wrong with the guy.
"The heck? You're mocking me?"
"No. If I'd do that… I'd ask if you learnt to run this well while outrunning police."
"Okay, now you're begging for knuckle sandwich."
"No. Just paying jab for a jab", Jeremy answered but took couple sidesteps just in case if Duncan decided to go after him.
Duncan snorted. "Whatever."
Conversation was about to die out but Jeremy's conscience got too restless for that.
"Sorry… Was that too inappropriate? Joking about problems with authorities I mean."
"Don't sweat it, daredevil", Duncan said. He honestly did not want to talk too much about his past with authorities. Not at least then when he still barely knew his fellow competitors.
It should have led to silence, but Jeremy could not hold his tongue after another few seconds.
"Care to elaborate? Why daredevil? In good or bad?"
"I said: don't sweat it. Just keep jogging. Gopher boy", situation was getting on his nerve, but he could not hold it purely against Jeremy. He had done the mistake of talking to the guy in the first place.
"Hey, guys!" Tyler sprinted between them with the idea of intervening and distracting them. "How much you reckon is left?"
"Don't know. Two thirds maybe", Duncan said shrugging his shoulders. He was happy he got an excuse to ignore Jeremy's possible follow-up questions. "Gonna walk the last third. I don't wanna get too beaten before other parts."
"What? What do you mean?" Tyler asked, raising his eyebrow.
Duncan closed his eyes to restrain himself so he did not blow up. He took deep breath in and breathed then out.
"They need entertainment. Just morning run won't do any good as thrilling competition", Duncan answered.
Tyler pondered the words for a moment before turning his look to Jeremy.
"You think so too?" jock asked from the guy of another team.
"He's probably right", admitted Jeremy. "Getting done this early would be stupid of them. Even Owen can end this run before dinner… if he just keeps walking. Race like this doesn't exactly… put drama in Total Drama."
"Right… Just running is boring", Tyler said.
Duncan snorted again. "Way to point the obvious, genius. But we're not even really running at the moment so there goes that."
Delinquent started to pick up the speed, attempting to leave two guys behind. For a boy with stubby legs he was surprisingly quick and agile if he put in the effort. He jumped over protruding roots and rocks with apparent ease obviously attempting to show-off while he went.
Jeremy was not ready to get humiliated so he attempted to catch up with Duncan. His advantage was his long legs so he went leaping like a deer so he did not really need to put in extra steps to catch up boy with green mohawk. He was easily more out of shape than Duncan so he got more winded by the spurt but nevertheless he reached the boy once again.
Tyler looked for a second as the two other guys started going faster. After snapping out of his thoughts he also sped up realizing he could not let other two gain distance from him unless he wanted to bring his status as a sportsman under scrutiny.
Their fastened state brought them to Mackenzie, Bridgette, and Justin after short while after which they adjusted their speed to match theirs.
Chris could not believe it as he looked time on his watch when first runner burst into main lodge, finishing race.
"Two hours and fifteen minutes? You actually run all the way or what?"
"Well, I could not have kept that going any longer", DJ commented gasping for air and collapsed to the floor right next to the door so he did not block it. He laid straight on his back and focused on steady breathing, hoping to revert quicker from his strained state as his blood did not have to struggle against gravity.
Chris narrowed his eyes and took a phone out of shorts pocket.
"I'm onto you. We'll see if you cut any corners", host said while picking the number.
"I won't lie. That was the harshest work-out I've ever done in my life", DJ claimed and was honest in real in his statement. Never had he done anything of such magnitude in sports or not at least at such an early hour. It felt like his lungs and heart were all ready to burst up off his chest and he was drenched in cold clammy sweat.
He remembered one about week-long hike in which he had participated in few years back. After that experience he had felt like beaten to pulp. But it had been different kind of agony. Then he had been insanely tired and stiff but because that activity had been stretched over several days, it did not feel like getting hit by cargo train at full speed and capacity. Breathing that cool and humid summer morning air had done brutal things to his lungs. At his beaten state, he was questioning every single choice he had made which had led him to apply for Total Drama Island and had led him to that point.
Chris disappeared into kitchen to talk with someone in the phone, but DJ did not care. He knew he had run an honest twenty-kilometer as instructed and he was already ready to call it a day and retreat back into bed.
The air in the main lodge got cool as the outdoor stayed open for coming campers. But because the building guaranteed a place safe from wind, he quickly started to drift into sleep as he laid on the floor. Due to Harold's dreadful snoring the night before he had not had a chance to catch too many hours of sleep.
He got woken up when more runners finally started to burst inside.
"Well, well. More runners coming! How was your morning lap?" Chris teased.
"You shut up, you devil", Courtney lashed out while collapsing to sit down on one of the chairs.
"Now, now. No need to get angry, miss. Just making sure you teens get your recommended morning exercises", host kept up with teasing and chuckled.
Most of the present campers groaned but did not have energy to pursue further confrontation.
Geoff was curious if they could have their breakfast but Chris denied the meal, saying that they could eat once everyone had finished the footrace.
Little by little during the next hour and half main lodge started to fill up of other campers finishing their race. All of them were in varying states of exhaustion because twenty kilometers even by walking was not an easy task to take even on best of the days. Hunger started to bother them the more they had to wait the remaining members of their teams. To keep their minds off thoughts of food, some of them started to do short walking laps around tables while some of them laid their heads on tables or floor in order to catch a short nap.
Inevitably, number of runners remaining at large started finally grow thin.
Cody came in jogging and he was followed by Katie and Sadie shortly after. Few more minutes passed by and Heather entered stomping her feet. Barely had she managed to settle down when Owen came bursting in carrying limp Noah on his shoulder.
"Clear a table, stat!" Owen shouted and scurried to put Noah down on one of the tables. "He needs CPR!"
"Man, it's not like he's dead, right", Trent noted but went to look closer anyway when Owen started to resuscitate Noah.
Especially Bridgette and Justin could quickly and easily say that Owen was not doing it in proper manner. Neither of them, however, believed Noah was in actual trouble. They had seen the guy few times while their zigzag tracks overlapped. He had not been doing exactly well running-wise but not stupidly bad either. All the same, it would have been weird if he actually had been the one to collapse when the ones like Cody, for example, who outwardly had weaker physique had made it. And not to mention Owen himself, the guy who was doing the quasi-CPR at that very moment!
They separately theorized that Noah might have taken the opportunity to skip exercise if he could get Owen to carry him by faking passing-out. Or maybe it was a plot to motivate Owen to make final effort to pass the finish line. Who knew.
While Owen kept doing pushes on Noah's sternum, Leshawna stepped inside the dining hall and fell to her knees.
"Huh! We made it!" she declared beaten and crawled further in before completely collapsing to the floor.
Courtney lost her cool and rushed to the door to receive Harold who was coming dead last some meters behind Leshawna.
"What took you so long? We just lost the challenge!" she demanded to know, not caring about the fact that Harold was crouching and holding hands over his heart.
"I think I'm having heart palpitations", dweeb told wheezing, voice infused with real hues of genuine pain.
"Hey, wait a minute. If they lost, that means we won the challenge", Gwen connected the dots. The fact that Leshawna from Screaming Gophers made it before Harold from Killer Bass meant the former's team took the win.
It took a second for the sentence to register in the minds of those Gophers who ultimately started to cheer. Even Noah came to senses just in time to hear Gwen's comment so he was one of the participants in cheer.
Duncan, raising other end of his black unibrow, gave meaning look to Jeremy who was sitting on the other table. Delinquent lifted his finger expectantly and shifted to look Chris.
"Whoa there! Hold your horses, guys. That wasn't the challenge", Chris pacified the revelers.
"What did you just say?" asked Gwen.
While Chris moved towards purple veil separating the other end of main area from the view, Duncan smirked at Jeremy, who in turn had to nod approvingly, acknowledging how the guy had gotten his assumption right.
On the other side of the veil there were usually counters where campers needed to do their dishes in washbasins once done with the meals. Chris gave an interested look to campers, trying to read from their faces if they had correct suspicions what waited behind the veil this time.
"Who's hungry?" host shouted and pulled the veil open.
Confessional: Gwen
"It's been just two days of brown sludge, but still... I almost cried when I saw that buffet."
Confessional: Owen
"And then I saw it, the buffet table! It was beautiful! There was turkey and Nanaimo bars and baked beans and maple syrup", Owen was freaking out out of happiness. Tears started to well up in corners of his eyes. "Can I have a minute?" he asked and started sobbing effeminately.
Confessional: Jeremy
"Okay, I smell something fishy in this and I ain't talkin' about that salmon fillet on lunch table. Duncan got the guess right about running part but he also had solid point about the marketability of this challenge. That host of ours is still planning something…"
Like ravenous beasts, majority of campers rushed in to fill their plates with the absolute culinary treats which were served before them. Lunch table was loaded with all sorts of dishes, ranging from meat to vegetables and pastry to sauces. It was like Thanksgiving had come early that year.
"Dude! Where has this stuff been before?" Geoff could not help but shout happily as he was buttering his bun with raspberry jelly. Approving yeses were heard throughout the dining hall. Some of them still filled their plates while the quickest ones were already getting seated and readied to eat. Especially Owen was spiraling down in food frenzy and gulping the food with great vigor and speed.
Not too many seem to care about the thing how it should have been challenging to eat that much food so soon after grueling workout. Only Harold, Bridgette, Duncan and Justin from Killer Bass and Jeremy and Lindsay from Screaming Gophers restrained themselves and took only moderate servings. Harold was not that big of an eater in the first place. Justin, Bridgette, and Lindsay had their diets to follow once they actually got a good opportunity to follow them. Duncan was playing it smart, still suspecting something else to come up. And Jeremy, while also clued in to Duncan's suspicions, partook smaller portion only partially because of it. First and foremost he really could not force himself to devour too much after twenty-kilometer run.
Confessional: Chef
Cook with arms crossed stared angrily the camera.
"Those snotty brats been throwing away their servings yesterday and the day before like they ain't hungry but now they act like they've been starved here. Unforgivable I say! No appreciation whatsoever for the food prepared!"
All the food found eaters. Everything was gone in about half an hour after which campers slouched and laid around completely full. First signs of consequences for their gluttony started to show up when few of them already happened to hold their swollen bellies with pain radiating throughout their bodies.
Chris had been following the meal from kitchen and once the last one of the campers ate the last piece of turkey, he re-emerged to the main room of the building.
With megaphone in his hand he climbed to the table where the lunch had been served. He smiled widely while witnessing the agony where some of the campers were due to overeating. He clicked the megaphone on and started his delivery.
"Okay, campers. Time for part two of your challenge!" he announced.
Owen, mouth and face smeared in sauces and chunks of food, was highly confused.
"I thought eating was the second part", he said.
"What more do you want from us?" Gwen moaned.
"Uh, weird goth girl is right. Haven't we been through enough?" Heather seconded that.
"Um, let me think about that", Chris said and actually scratched his chin like he was seriously considering the question. "No! It's time for the Awake-A-Thon!"
Confessional: Jeremy
Jeremy did not say anything to camera. He only looked at it with knowing smug on his face, implicating how he wanted to make known how he "told you so".
After few seconds his gaze moved to stare something in the lower corner of confessional.
"But shit! Seriously? Awake-A-Thon?"
Confessional: Duncan
"Well, in case anyone was still wondering, Chris all but just confirmed it. Congrats, man. You're a proven a*****e."
"The what-a-thon?" Owen quite did not catch what Chris was saying.
"Don't worry. This is an easy one. The team with the last camper standing wins invincibility", Chris shed light into the task at hand.
"So, what you're saying is the twenty-kay and the turkey eating frenzy were part of your evil plan to make it harder for us to stay awake?"
"That's right, Gwen!"
Goth girl was forced to admit the ingenuity of the fact.
"Man he's good."
"That's what the critics keep telling me", Chris spoke while climbing down from the table.
"I think I happen to remember that's not what was said about his last year's fantasy flick. You know, the one with blue dragons and all", Beth could be heard talking to Lindsay.
"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Chris shouted through megaphone to get movement out of campers but was probably at the same time aiming to drown Beth's comment.
Campers started to slouch out of the main lodge, but Katie was the one to state the crucial question before anyone managed to get too far away.
"Um, where to?"
"Right. Get your butts to the campfire site. We will conduct the challenge right there", Chris told.
"You maggot of a man", irritated Eva was planning to slap Chris' head while walking past him. She was too full to feel energetic enough to slap him too hard, but before she could follow through her plan, Courtney snagged hold of her raised arm.
"Eva, control your temper", Courtney hissed through her teeth.
Bodybuilder quickly snatched her hand free and gave self-acclaimed C.I.T. death glare but ultimately she did not pursue the matter. Even though she was one of the strongest players in the game physically, even she felt too beaten after long run and substantial lunch to actively focus on thing which in grand scheme of things did not matter that much.
"So, how long you think it'll be before everyone's out cold?" Trent moved closer to Gwen to ask the question.
"About an hour, give or take", she answered but then she saw Owen walking past them, already crouching and visibly struggling to keep his eyes open at the mere thought of upcoming fight against slumber. "Maybe less."
Campers crept slowly towards the campfire site with many of them holding their swollen bellies. Chris walked behind them and shouted through the megaphone more specific details concerning the challenge.
Food and hydration would be provided at the campfire site picnic style so they did not need to go hungry or thirsty if challenge was to get prolonged due to some of them surviving longer than anticipated.
"And how long are you anticipating us to last?" Harold was curious to know.
"Quite frankly, I don't expect any of you to survive through the first night", Chris laughed.
Challenge would take place at campfire site in entirety. Fire would be lit and maintained throughout the night so they did not need to go cold. Toilet breaks would be conducted in controlled manner with limited number of users allowed to go at a time. And time would be limited so no one could take secret naps at toilet stalls. Alongside Chris, Chef and two cameramen would supervise campers and judge if they were properly awake to be considered part of the game. But supervisors would be on ten-hour rotation with four other members of staff coming in to replace Chris and company. After all, supervisors themselves required and had earned their rest.
"This bites", Cody fretted once he reached the campfire site and got himself seated at one of the trunk stools. "Ready for the challenge, ladies?" he asked from Beth and Izzy who occupied the seats behind him.
"Well, not exactly but we'll see how this goes", Beth admitted. She was already staring into space.
"You know, I once stayed awake forty hours straight but it definitely wasn't after strenuous workout and big meal", answered Izzy and gave small laugh.
"Forty hours? Impressive? But why would do that?" Cody asked. Izzy did not manage to answer before Chris started to speak.
"Let's see! Seems like everyone's here. Twelve Gophers and eleven Bass. You guys got woken up just before seven so let's say we start counting your hours from seven."
Host looked to the sky. Previous two days had been beautiful ones and so was this one, but there was something special indescribable beauty in the air that very day which somehow made it even better than any previous one. Perhaps it was lingering result of showers of rains that had swept over the lake during the night which made the air feel especially clean.
"Gonna be warm afternoon. Your bellies are full and muscles sore. Anyone who could go for a nap already?" Chris teased campers.
"Shove it, McLean", huffed Heather who was sitting on one of the trunks. She threw her right leg over left and crossed her arms in an act of defiance, but it was obvious she was struggling to maintain that front as her full belly tried to force her bend double.
"Suit yourself. Very well. Let the Awake-A-Thon commence!"
A/N: I know I might have said I'd like to try stay in episodic structure but then again when I considered it, I thought it could be beneficial to try already how splitting the challenge throughout chapters turns out. As the first challenge already kind of is a challenge which is split into two chapters - save the chapters are separately named on this fanfic - it makes more sense to further try this now on second challenge. And this way chapters might stay shorter, easing the reading when not every single delivery is full-fledged mini novel in its own right. And to be honest... that point when Awake-A-Thon begins is way too good of an opportunity to split challenge day into mini-episodes!
OC's got little bit of screen time this time, and hopefully you can find my other additions and adjustments to be an intriguing read.
Till the next time!