Chapter 25: Last Leg
Chris, Chef and the contestants stood by the wreckage of the plane. After crying for a few minutes, Chris pulled a phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. "Hello? Yeah, it's Chris! The freaking jet just exploded! ...I'll explain later, okay!? Just get me and Chef a ride out of here. ...Okay, that'll work. Thanks. McLean out." He put down the phone and sighed, then turned to the contestants. "Okay, good news and bad news. Good news, a helicopter is gonna come here to pick us up! The bad news for you, is 'us' only means me, Chef and Courtney." Courtney cheered, while the other teens groaned. "The rest of you need to find your own way to reach the final challenge destination in Hawaii." "How the heck are we supposed to do that?", Noah asked. "You're a smart bunch, you'll figure something out... or not. Also, you each get a walkie-talkie and GPS to help you navigate." Chef scoured the wreckage of the plane and got the devices, giving one of each to Owen, Noah and Heather. "Set 'em for Tijuana beach on the Mexican border. Get going, and good luck!"
Heather, Noah and Owen started walking south, toward Mexico. "Well, this sucks", Noah said. Owen nodded. "I know, I haven't had a decent meal in hours!", he said. Heather and Noah facepalmed. "We're heading to Mexico as a team, right Noah?", Owen asked. Noah nodded. "Of course." Heather smiled and started running. "Well, see you there!", she shouted. Noah gasped. "Oh crap... this isn't gonna work. If she gets there first, she wins. Owen, are you okay if I take off?" Owen frowned. "Well, I guess if it'll help you win..." Noah smiled. "Thanks, buddy. See you in Hawaii."
Noah ran away, and after a while he found a road. He pulled a tack out of his pocket, put it on the road, and waited. Soon enough, a truck drove by and its wheel hit the tack. The truck stopped and Noah climbed onto the roof. He smirked. "Hawaii, here I come..." Meanwhile, Heather was walking along, looking at her GPS, when she tripped and landed on some train tracks. She stood back up, groaning in pain. "What kind of idiot leaves train tracks in the middle of nowhere?", she asked herself. Then she smiled. "Wait, trains! Bingo!" She ran south along the train tracks to a station a few miles away. Back near the plane, Owen kept walking along steadily.
At the train station, Heather bought a ticket and got on a train in the afternoon. Right before it left, the truck Noah had been on dumped its cargo onto another car of the train, and Noah sneaked onto it. He pulled out his walkie-talkie and turned it on. "Owen, can you hear me?", he asked. "Sure can, buddy!", Owen replied. "Perfect. There's a train station a few miles southwest of the plane. Get moving, because I'm already taking the lead!"
Owen walked slowly to the train station. When he got there, he collapsed from exhaustion. "Oh crap, I don't think I can do this... quick, someone get me a burger or something!" He crawled to a vending machine and got some food. After he ate it, he sighed. "Crap, now I don't have money for a train ticket..." He walked outside and saw a group of horses trotting by. He smiled. "Perfect!" He ran up to one, grabbed it and pulled his way onto its back. "Alright! Giddyup, horsey!"
The next day, the train and Owen's horse approached Mexico. After the train stopped in Tijuana, Noah and Heather both got off it. They saw each other in the train station and gasped. "You! You aren't gonna win this time!", they both said. They ran out of the station and down to the beach. Meanwhile, Owen and his horse headed for the beach as well. Chris was waiting for them at a boardwalk when they arrived. "Hey, you finally made it!", he shouted. "Head down the boardwalk, grab a boat and head for the big island in the distance! First one there wins a ticket to the finals!"
The contestants ran to get their boats, each of them taking one. They started the motors and headed for Hawaii. On their way, Noah slammed his boat against Heather's. Heather glared at him. "Hey, watch it! These aren't bumper boats!", she said. Noah smirked. "Exactly!" Heather looked down and saw that her boat was springing a leak. "Oh, you have to be kidding me!" She screamed and sped the boat up. Meanwhile, Owen's weight was slowing his boat down.
Later, Noah arrived at Hawaii and saw Chris, Chef and the other former contestants waiting for him. He pulled out his walkie-talkie and turned it on. "Owen, I made it! Where are you?", he asked. "I'm on my way, pal!", Owen replied. A minute later, Owen and Heather arrived at the island. They both got out of the boat and ran toward Chris, who smiled. "Well, it looks like we have a tie!", he said. "What!? Come on, I totally won!", Heather said. "No way, I did!", Owen said. "Guys, guys! Calm down! I know just how to solve this..."