A/N: So I started this over a year ago and never finished it. I got distracted by other things and this story fell to the wayside. Then in July I got an Ao3 account. As I was reposting my fics from here i came across this one. I felt bad that I hadn't finished it. So I decided to wait until closer to Halloween, when it would be appropriate, and finish writing it. So please enjoy.
The next challenge began with a horror movie. An old slasher on a projector with terrible visual effects. They had all been called to watch it, and while Noah hadn't known it was leading to a challenge he had found it a bit odd.
Noah rolled his eyes at the action on screen, but he could see others were not taking it the same way he was.
"The killer's on a roll!" Gwen said excitedly.
"He's headed for the car! They're doomed!" Trent added. Lindsay buried her head in his chest.
"Trend! Don't let him get me!" The blonde screamed. The guitarist stroked her hair.
"He's gonna slice them up!" Bridgette shrieked.
"Don't worry! I'll protect you!" Cody said, despite looking more scared than she was.
"The car won't start? How predictable." Courtney said with an eyeroll.
Noah started as he felt Tyler grip his arm in fear. His heart began to beat quickly. "It's only a movie, it's only a movie, it's only a movie." The jock muttered over and over again.
Noah awkwardly pat his back.
"Here comes the bloodbath!" Gwen cheered.
Tyler drew closer as the on screen killer sliced his victims up like mincemeat.
To be honest Noah hasn't really known what to do about his feelings for Tyler. He doesn't want to act on them, because Tyler probably didn't like him back. At the same time though all these emotions were driving him insane. Still he'd rather no one knew he liked Tyler. He liked the jock, but he was an idiot. Though he supposed it made an ironic sense. So ultimately he decided to just keep things as they were. He was fine with Tyler just being a friend. Really. He was.
"And the killer lives another day! I love scary movies!" Gwen beamed.
"You would." Courtney huffed.
"Is it over?" Lindsay whimpered.
"Yeah, you're all good." Trent soothed.
"Uh, Tyler you can let go of me now." Noah pointed out
The jock nervously let go. "Right. Not like I was scared! I was just making sure you weren't scared!"
"Uh huh." He replied with a flat stare.
"I just don't understand why it had to be so violent." Bridgette said. "I mean, I get the killer has to win, but does it have to be so gory?"
"Yeah! Bridge is right. That movie was messed up!" Cody agreed.
"Aw, c'mon. For a slasher flick, it was pretty tame." Gwen said. "There were hardly any super gory kills. Slashers are awesome!"
"Mindless guts and gore are hardly what I'd call awesome." Courtney scoffed, having recovered from the movie. "Only a creep would actually like this stuff."
"I've been called worse." Gwen shrugged.
"Moving on. Does anyone have any idea what our challenge will be this week?" Courtney asked.
"Huh. Where is Chris anyway?" Trent asked.
Noah's attention was caught by the puttering of a boat engine. The focus shifted to a pile of luggage, a black hand, revealed to be Chef's, gripped one of the suitcases. The hulking man threw the suitcase onto the boat of losers, which was already filled with other luggage.
"Hey Chef what's going on? "asked Cody, as Chef threw a crate onto the boat. Only a single bag remained.
Chef yelped, shot a terrified look at the geek and jumped onto the boat. Chris, who was already on board, gunned it. The ship sped away it's passengers looking terrified as they fled.
"Chris you forgot one!" Trent called as he and the others watched the boat drive away. He held up a green backpack with a rolled up piece of paper inside. It fell out and the guitarist picked it up. It was a newspaper. "Escaped psycho killer on the loose. " He read. 'Be on the lookout for a man wearing a hockey mask, with a hooked hand and carrying a chainsaw."
"Well we have our challenge." Noah noted.
"What do you mean? You saw the newspaper bro!" Tyler cried.
"Please, First a generic horror movie, then a hasty exit, then a newspaper that just happens to have a killer fitting said description on the loose? Clearly this is a challenge." Courtney told him.
" I dunno. Chip looked really scared." Lindsay gulped.
"It's obviously a set up." Noah reassured Tyler.
"But if it is just a stunt," Trent said as he went through the backpack. He pulled out a small purple bottle. "Would Chris leave behind his hair gel?" Everyone but Courtney and Noah gasped.
"Whoa. This is for real!" Gwen said.
"So Chris left us alone on the island while a psycho with a chainsaw is on the loose?!" Cody exclaimed.
"Technically there's a killer with a chainsaw and a hook on the loose." Gwen said.
"Because that makes me feel much better." Bridgette remarked sarcastically.
"Will you all stop? You're being ridiculous." Courtney said.
"But I feel like we're being watched." Tyler gulped.
"it's a reality show. We're always being watched." Noah told him.
"To be fair it doesn't matter if this is real or a challenge. We should treat it like it is real. If you survive you win." Courtney explained.
"Yeah, I'd feel safer with a plan." Tyler said.
"I say we go back to camp and talk strategy. Who's in?" Gwen asked. Noah shrugged and followed her, Tyler trailing just behind him. Lindsay grabbed Trent's arm and took him away.
Later everyone else was at the campfire. Gwen had sketched all of the remaining contestants. "Okay. Rule number one, do not go off on your own. Rule number two, if you do go off on your own, never go in the woods! Rule number three, if you do go in the woods, never ever ever make out in the woods or you will die in the woods!" She looked around. "Where's Lindsay and Trent?"
"Probably in the woods." Noah deadpanned.
Meanwhile in the woods Lindsay and Trent were walking around. "Uh, Lindsay why are we here?" The guitarist asked.
"I thought it'd be nice to take a walk together." Lindsay said.
"Through the woods?" Trent frowned.
"Yeah? Why? What's wrong with that?" Lindsay asked.
"Remember the movie?" The guitarist said.
"Oh! They were in the woods making out when the killer got them!" Lindsay gasped. "I love making out."
"Uh Lindsay?" Trent gulped, having heard a chainsaw.
"What?" The blonde said. The killer burst into the woods after them.
"I think we should run!" Trent screamed.
The two began to run over cartoonish short hills. "Why does it feel like we're going nowhere Trend!"
"Horror movie logic! Getting to the killer is easier than running away!" Trent screamed.
At that moment Lindsay tripped. "Lindsay!"
"Keep going Trend!" The blonde said.
Trent being who he was he didn't listen he went back to get her. Which led to them both being captured. The killer took them both to a tent in the woods where Chris sat in front of some monitors.
"No! He got Chip!" Lindsay screamed as Chef sat them down.
" Lindsay! Calm down it's Chef!" The host smiled and gestured to the man beside him, who pulled up his hockey mask to reveal it as indeed Chef.
"Why would you pull such a mean prank!' Lindsay said, crying into Trent's shoulder.
"It wasn't a prank. It was your challenge to watch a scary movie then survive one." Chris explained.
"Guess we failed then." Trent shrugged. Lindsay kissed him. Shocked the guitarist took a bit to respond. When Lindsay pulled away he smiled. "What was that for?"
"You tried to save me!" Lindsay beamed.
"The good news is you're safe. The bad news is you lost the challenge, but now, you get to watch our fake psycho terrorize the rest of the campers. Fun huh?" Chris chuckled.
"Oh hilarious." Trent scoffed.
Meanwhile back at the campsite Gwen was still trying to plan things out. "Okay. Now that I've drawn a chart with all the players, we can… where's Cody and Bridgette?"
"Bridgette needed to pee so Cody went with her." Noah explained.
"I would have just gone in the bushes." Tyler said.
"She's a girl dude." Noah said.
"Still I hope they're okay." Courtney said.
At the communal bathrooms Bridgette was talking to Cody outside. "Okay, no matter what, you do not leave. Not if you hear a psycho. Not if you see a psycho."
"Relax Bridgette. The Codster's got this." Cody reassured her. The blonde smiled and entered the bathroom. Shortly afterwards the sound of an ice cream truck went off. "Ice Cream?" Cody almost left, but he shook his head. "Focus Cody. Bridgette needs you."
The ploy not having worked, the killer went after Cody. The geek screamed as the cook hooked the back of his shirt. Then the killer entered the bathroom.
"Cody? I heard screaming!" The blonde cried. She saw the killer. "Cody!"
"Run Bridge! Save yourself!" Cody said.
Bridgette looked tempted but she didn't move. "No if we go down we go down together!" The blonde shoved against chef, Startled the cook dropped Cody. "Now we run!"
They ran across the camp, over a field, over a hill, another field, off a cliff where they landed in the water. They kept running and screaming despite this. Then they jumped out of the water and ran down the dock. The next time we see them run into the tent.
They kept screaming even as they saw Chris. Chris gripped one of each of their shoulders. "Dudes, you're safe!"
They stopped screaming. "We are?" Bridgette asked. "Phew." A hook hand offered a bottle of water. She accepted it absentmindedly.
"It's just Chef." Chris explained as she realized who had given her the bottle and accidentally did a spit take. "Man, did he scare the bejeebers out of you two."
"I'd like to see you do better!" Bridgette said.
"Yeah! Bridge was awesome back there!" Cody said.
"Awe that's really sweet." The blonde said.
"Anyway." The host walked to his co-star. "you're up psycho man." Chef grinned and lowered his mask again before leaving.
Back at the campsite the Tyler fidgeting. "Dude are you okay?" Noah asked.
"I can't do this anymore. I'm gonna face the psycho!" Tyler announced, getting up to leave.
Noah grabbed his hand. "You can't! You'll get slashed!"
"If I'm going down I'm gonna do my best to take him down too!" Tyler said, he tore his hand from Noah's grasp. Noah watched as he went.
"Hey where's Tyler?" Gwen asked.
"He went to face the killer." He said.
"What! Is he a complete idiot?!" the goth exclaimed.
"Yeah." Noah nodded. Tyler was being a complete idiot. So really it didn't matter if Noah stayed here. It's not like he'd do much against the killer anyway. If Tyler wanted to be a moron then why should he care?
Noah sighed. He did care though. He stood up. "I'm going after him."
"Are you kidding me? Noah I thought you were smarter than that." Courtney said.
"I should be." He admitted. "But crushes make people do crazy things." He whispered under his breath before walking off. He listened for any sign of Tyler as he went. Eventually he heard the chainsaw. He followed the sound to the dock.
Tyler was throwing everything he could at the 'killer' trying to get him to stop, but the 'killer's' chainsaw just ripped through everything. Noah looked around desperately. How did he get that chainsaw out of the 'killer's' hands?
He spotted a rock. Nothing too big but enough that with the right momentum could knock the chainsaw out of the 'killer's' hands. He needed to be precise with his aim, but he didn't have an IQ of 180 for nothing. He made his calculations on the fly figuring out exactly where to aim the rock and how to throw it.
He picked the rock up and took a deep breath. He had terrible upper body strength. Terrible strength in general really, but people can do amazing things on adrenaline. He had plenty of that going through him. The sight of Tyler falling was what gave him the last push he needed. He threw the rock through the air, hoping he hadn't made a miscalculation.
He watched with baited breath as it soared towards the two figures on the dock. Just before the killer could raise his chainsaw the rock hit his hands. Startled by the pain the killer dropped the chainsaw. While he quickly recovered Tyler grabbed the chainsaw and used it to keep the killer where he was.
Noah ran to him. "Tyler! We did it! We took the killer down!"
"Noah, you totally saved my life." Tyler said.
"Not really dude it's just Chef." He said, removing the mask.
"Chef?! He's a psycho killer with a chainsaw and a hook?!" Tyler gasped.
"No Tyler this was a challenge." Noah explained. Had anyone else given him this trouble he'd have been annoyed, but Tyler made idiocy cute somehow.
"Oh, I knew that." The jock bluffed.
"What do you say we take him in?" Noah said.
So they did. Chef lead them to the tent where everyone was waiting. "You know chainsaws should be used with care." Noah remarked, opening the tent flap and coming in with the weapon. Tyler and Chef following.
The other campers and Chris clapped and cheered. Then Trent pointed to the monitor still showing the mess hall. "I guess it's Courtney and Gwen's turn."
"Wait a minute!" Bridgette exclaimed. "Chef's here. So who's in the lodge?"
"Wait, there's actually a psycho killer with a chainsaw and a hook?" Noah said, his eyes widening in fear.
The entire group's eyes widened in and as one they all screamed and ran out of the tent.
"This could be really, really good for ratings…" Chris began to tell Chef. "or really, really bad for lawsuits!"
Noah rolled his eyes. Of course that was what Chris was concerned with. Noah trailed behind most of the other campers, but his fear for Gwen's, and to a lesser extent Courtney's, safety meant he did keep up.
They all burst through the doors to see Gwen and Courtney eating sandwhichs the killer about to strike. "He's the real escaped psycho killer with a chainsaw and a hook!" They screamed in unison.
"What?!" The girls screamed, but in the end Gwen acted first. She kicked the psycho in the face multiple times. His mask fell off.
The killer's face had a unibrow and two beady eyes the left of which had a scar through it. "Ow!" He said in a high pitched whiny voice. "Oh, that was totally uncalled for! " Gwen stared at him in shock as he quickly recovered, point an accusatory finger at her, before turning and walking away. "Man, I am so out of here! I was treated way better in prison!" He added as he passed the rest of them.
Noah was in shock. Wow. That was close. After they all had a bit to recover Chris had them go to elimination.
The host chuckled. "Well It's obvious to everyone that Gwen wins invincibility. "And it's equally unanimous that Lindsay walk the Dock of Shame. Since she was the one to lead Trent into the woods and didn't even realize what she'd done wrong until Chef showed up."
"Awe, I'm gonna miss you Trend." Lindsay said, giving the guitarist a kiss.
"I'll miss you too, but don't worry I'll do my best to win for you." Trent said.
They all watched as Lindsay got on the boat. Slowly everyone began to filter out. Except for Tyler. Noah walked to the jock who was sitting on the dock much like he had been when they'd first formally met. "Hey, you good? I know you liked her."
Tyler sighed. "Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for saving me earlier."
Noah sat down next to him. There was a tension in the air. Noah didn't quite understand it himself. Maybe it was leftover adrenaline from earlier, but Noah's body reacted before his brain could catch up. He pressed his lips against Tyler's. They were surprisingly soft and warm. He pulled away as soon as his mind caught up. Shit. He should have asked permission. Embarrassed he looked down at the water below.
Then to his surprise Tyler lifted his head up and kissed him back. Noah hadn't really known what he was doing as far as kissing was concerned. Tyler knew though, and he was a really good kisser. He knew exactly how the angle his mouth so their lips touched each other's as much as possible.
The jock pulled away. Noah knew he was blushing. "I didn't think you'd like me back." He said.
"I didn't realize I did until you kissed me." Tyler admitted.
"Well..." Noah trailed. "We should probably head back to the cabin."
"Nah." Tyler said. "Let's just sit here a while."
Noah was more than happy to oblige.
