Chapter 16: Land Down Blunder
As the plane flew south to the next destination, Team Amazon was having a snack in first class. Cody munched on a cookie. "Mmm, the chocolate chips are still gooey! First class rocks!", he said. Gwen picked up a cookie and gave it to Courtney. "No doubt about that", she said. Heather walked up with a tray of cookies. "Anyone else want these?", she asked. Courtney smiled. "Maybe just one more..." Gwen giggled. "Courtney, are you forgetting last time?" "Oh, just let me have the stupid cookie."
Confession Cam: Courtney
"Our team just keeps doing better and better. It's like we're all friends now, which is really weird considering Heather and Gwen are both here. But, I'm still focused on the game. I'm not gonna let a stupid friendship come between me and the prize I deserve."
Meanwhile, Team Chris and Team Victory were hanging out in economy class. "I'm sooo glad you guys got rid of Sierra!", Lindsay said. Noah smiled. "No problem. She was really getting on your nerves, and Owen's my friend, so it's not like I could vote off anyone else. Still, you do kind of owe us now, don't you?" Lindsay looked confused, and Bridgette raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, owe you?", she asked. "It's simple. We got rid of someone for you, now you help us get rid of someone. Team Amazon is competing against all of us, so I think we should team up and take them down." Lindsay shook her head. "No way. Cody's on their team, I don't want him going home if they lose." "And Heather's on their team too", Bridgette added. Noah shrugged. "Fine, suit yourselves. Just don't come crying to us if their numbers advantage leaves you in last place."
As the plane approached its destination, Chris turned on the intercom. "All contestants, please come to the common area to prep for landing." They did so. Chris arrived soon after. "Today's forcast: clear skies, with a temperature of, say, three hundred degrees Fahrenheit. And, today's landing is gonna be more of a non-landing fly by because the landing gear is stuck." Chris opened the door in the common area. "Jump, drop and roll! Come on, let's go, go, go!" The contestants jumped out of the plane, with Owen jumping last. "Oh, please don't let me land on my kiwis..." He jumped and landed. "Oww, me kiwis!"
Chris jumped down after them, and started talking to the contestants in a fake Australian accent. "G'day, mates! Welcome to Australia." Then, he dropped the accent. "I call today's challenge the marathon of death. Part one is an emu race all the way to the blue mountains. I'm not saying the trip will be dangerous, exactly, but with venomous snakes, killer scorpions, and the very real possibility of sunstroke, I hope you all have your affairs in order. Whoever reaches majestic Hanging Rock first will earn a distinct advantage in the second half of the challenge. And yes, I said emu." A group of interns walked up, herding eight emus. Lindsay looked confused. "Wow, those don't look like Gwen at all!" Bridgette facepalmed. "Lindsay, you're thinking of emos. And Gwen's a goth!" "Oh, and no saddles! After all, it's supposed to be a challenge. Now, go!", Chris shouted.
The interns let go of the emus and the contestants chased after them. Owen grabbed his emu and weighed it down long enough to climb on. Noah climbed a tree, then jumped and landed on his emu. He sighed turned the emu toward the mountains. "Alright, Owen, let's go!" Courtney threw Cody onto an emu, then climbed onto her own. "Come on, Amazons! We have a challenge to win!" Heather helped Bridgette get an emu, then got on her own. Gwen followed them. Lindsay got her emu last, and everyone headed for Hanging Rock.
Team Amazon went toward the rock, following Team Chris. Courtney was falling behind. "Courtney, pick up the pace!", Heather yelled. "It's not me, its the emu!", Courtney yelled back. "It has a brain the size of a walnut! Take charge!" "How am I supposed to make it do what I say if it's seriously that dumb?" Heather scowled. "Good point." "Just kick at its legs!", Gwen said. Courtney did so, and her emu started running faster, trying to escape her. Courtney smiled. "Thanks, Gwen!" "No problem."
The contestants kept riding until the sun set. Then, Team Amazon stopped for a few hours to sleep, while Team Chris and Team Victory kept going. The next day, they resumed riding, but were far behind the others. Meanwhile, Team Chris reached the top of Hanging Rock. "Hey Chris, we made it!", Noah said. Chris woke up from his nap. "Huh? Oh! Finally! I thought the scorpions might've gotten you." Bridgette and Heather arrived next. "And now we've got someone from each team. Perfect. Time for part two to begin!" Chris led the contestants at the cliff to a rock at the edge of the cliff, which had a bungee cord tied to it. "Okay teams, get ready to look death in the face and live to tell the tale. Or not. Anyway, teams must take turns bungee jumping off Hanging Rock and plummeting to the bottom, far, far, faaaaaar below, to try and grab one of Australia's finest sheep. Three of those sheep have Team Chris is Super Hot logos, three have Team Amazon logos, and three have Team Victory logos. First team to catch and shear one of their own sheep wins first class tickets to nextville, and the last team to do so heads to elimination town."
Chef walked up to the teams with some shearing supplies. "As the first team to arrive, Team Me gets an electric razor. The other teams get gardening shears. Time's a-wastin'! Team Chris is Astonishingly Hot, you're up!" Noah strapped himself to the bungee cord and jumped. He came back up holding a sheep. "Okay, let's shear this thing..." Owen held the sheep in place while Noah sheared it. After a few minutes, they found a Team Chris symbol. Noah went wide-eyed. "Holy crap..." Chris went wide-eyed as well. "Well, that was anticlimactic... Let's see which of the other teams finishes next!"
A few minutes later, Courtney, Cody and Gwen arrived, with Lindsay right behind them. "Okay, someone strap me in!", Heather yelled. Chef strapped her into the bungee cord and she jumped. She grabbed a sheep and came back up with it. "Courtney, help me shear!", she shouted. Courtney ran over and helped Heather while Bridgette bungee jumped. They finished shearing right as Bridgette got back to the rock. "Is there a logo?" "Yes!" Lindsay and Bridgette gasped. "Yes, we did it!" Team Amazon cheered. Chris pouted and stomped his feet. "Oh come on! What are the odds!" Noah smirked at Team Victory. "Guess you should've said yes to my offer." Bridgette and Lindsay gulped.
Everyone went back to the plane, and Chris, Chef, Team Victory, Cody and Heather went to the elimination room. Chris looked at the contestants, frowning. "It's been a tough day for many of you, but one of you is about to have the worst day of all. Since there's only two members of Team Victory left, we need to do another tiebreaker, and fast. My favorite cop show is on via satellite in ten. Chef?" Chef walked over to a tarp and picked it up, revealing two koalas in crates. "You girls each have to feed a hungry baby koala bear", Chris explained. "Koala babies eat two and a half pounds of eucalyptus leaves a day, and these guys haven't eaten since we got here so they're nice and peckish. And, you have to do this without your hands. First bowl empty wins!"
Bridgette and Lindsay picked up the bowls with their mouths and took them over to the koalas. Bridgette's koala ate the eucalyptus leaves, while Lindsay's just attacked her. "Come on, Lindsay, you can do this!", Cody said. Lindsay pushed the bowl closer to the koala and it started eating. But, Bridgette's koala finished its bowl of leaves. Chris smiled. "Congratulations, Bridgette, you win!" Bridgette and Heather cheered. Cody walked over to Lindsay and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Lindsay..." Lindsay hugged him. "It's okay. Just... do your best to win for us, okay?" Cody nodded. "I will. I think I can really win this time." Lindsay kissed him, then picked up a parachute and put it on. "Thanks, Cody. See you later... love you!" "I love you too." Lindsay waved goodbye to Cody and jumped out of the plane.