Chapter 3: The First Rule of Dodgeball
The next day, Chris came to the mess hall while everyone was having breakfast. "Good morning, campers! Okay, since that last challenge took a few days, it's time for the next one already." "What!" Duncan got up and pulled out his knife. "You're not serious, are you?" Chris smirked. "Actually I am, and if you've got a problem with it you're free to go back to juvie." The delinquent glared and pocketed his knife. "You're a jerk, McLean." "I know." Meanwhile, Heather and the girls were discussing their alliance. "So", she said, "Here's the rules. Number one: I'm team captain, so I get to make the rules. Number two..." Lindsay raised her hand. "Breaking the rules can result in getting kicked out of the alliance?" "Good! Number three: no voting against anyone in the alliance if we lose. Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's have some fun." She stood up. "Hey, fish heads! Way to kick out your strongest player! Why don't you just give up now?" Courtney threw some gruel at her, and she stepped away, resulting in Gwen getting hit. "Missed me!" Chris stepped in between the tables. "Alright, that's enough. Your next challenge begins in ten minutes, so be prepared to bring it!"
A sixth of an hour later, both teams were on opposite sides of the dodgeball court. Duncan flung himself onto the bleachers. "Wake me up, and it'll be the last thing you do." Tyler gulped and Courtney rolled her eyes, then glared at Harold. "This is all your fault, you know! You and your snoring face!" "It's called a medical condition, gosh!" Chris picked up a ball and walked to the center of the court. "Today's challenge is the classic game of dodgeball. The first rule of dodgeball is if you get hit, you're out." He threw the ball at Courtney to demonstrate. "Ow! You can't do that!" She threw it back, and "If you catch the ball", which Chris did, "the thrower gets sent out and the catcher gets to bring in another team member, if there are any free spots. If you're holding a ball, you can use it to deflect a ball, but if it knocks the ball out of your hand, you're out. The game is five on five, best three out of five games wins." Noah rolled his eyes. "Throwing balls. Gee, another mentally challenging test." "I know, right?", Lindsay said. Noah facepalmed. "Now, Geoff", Chris said, "Try to hit me." "Wait, what do I do when the ball comes at me?" "You dodge!" Geoff threw his ball, which bounced off the one Chris was holding and hit Lindsay in the face. "Ooh! You were supposed to dodge!" "Oww... right." Tyler walked up. "Hey, are you alright?" Lindsay smiled and nodded. "Yep. Thick skull. I'll be fine. Thanks..." Tyler smiled back. "No problem."
Heather looked over the Gophers. "Okay, we can't get lazy. The Killer Bass are gonna be trying extra hard to catch up. Who wants to sit the first round out with sleeping beauty, also known as Gwen?" "Alright", Noah said, "I'll volunteer. Now let's see you Gophers get on out there and dodge!" The players stepped onto the court. Heather smirked at the Bass team. "Bring it on, fishies. Otherwise, winning three in a row just won't be as satisfying." This made Tyler mad. "Oh, you're going down! We're gonna bring the dinner to the table, and then we're gonna eat it!" Courtney facepalmed. Chef blew a whistle and the game began. Tyler epically failed, Harold's wicked skills were unimpressive, Izzy hit Lindsay in the face, and soon the Gophers won round one.
Confession Cam: Courtney
"We are so sucking right now! Okay, yes, Eva was a psycho, but at least she was an athletic psycho! I almost wish we hadn't voted her off, this challenge would've suited her perfectly."
The next round didn't go any better for the Killer Bass. Tyler hit Lindsay and then went to the dock with her and Owen knocked out everyone else by himself. Afterward he was really tired, though. "Man, I don't know what got into me!" Courtney sighed. "Okay, this is really bad. One more game, and we could lose the whole challenge. Again! We can't let that happen, people. We need someone strong, someone mean, someone who will crush those stupid gophers into the dirt!" Everyone looked at Duncan, who was still sleeping like a log. DJ shook his head and said "Nuh-uh. If we wake him up, he'll kill us." "He won't kill us, guys, he wants to win too." "Courtney's right, we need Duncan's fierceness to win this." "That's the spirit, Harold! Now go wake him up." "Why me!" "Because other than Tyler, you're the worst at dodgeball, and if he does kill you you're the only one we can afford to lose. "No way, I'm not doing it!" Courtney glared. "Well then who's gonna wake him up?" In the end, they got a stick and used that to wake him from a distance. The Killer Bass won the next two games, while Heather went to get Lindsay and Tyler back to the court. When she got there, she asked Noah how things were going. "Sports. Not my forte', remember?" "You know, you could actually give it a shot and pretend to care."
"Okay, this is it", Chris said. "The final tie breaking game. Gophers, Bass, let's send this sample to the lab and see what you're made of!" Chef blew the whistle and the game began. Things were chaotic and the game lasted far longer than it should have. Gwen got her revenge against Courtney for getting hit in the face at breakfast, Cody got hit in the nuts while protecting Gwen, and Harold finally got to show off his real skills. He bent back and dodged one shot, then when it was down to just him against Owen, he caught a ball and won the game. While the Killer Bass carried Harold off the court, cheering, Chris walked up to the Gophers. "Guys, what happened?" Noah shrugged. "What can I say? Weak effort." Gwen walked off. "Oh, shut it Noah." Heather followed. "You know, I actually agree with her."
Confession Cam: Harold
"I guess I'm kind of a role model now that I've won the dodgeball competition. People will probably all want my autograph when the show is over and stuff. Gosh, this is awesome."
In the evening, at the campfire ceremony, things went as expected. "Campers, you've already placed your votes and made your decision. One of you will be going home, and you can't come back. Ever. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The lucky campers who get to stay are... Owen, Gwen, Cody, Trent, Heather, Beth, Justin, Leshawna, Katie, and... Lindsay." Noah stood up. "What? Are you kidding me? Alright. See if I care! But good luck, because you just voted out the only one with any brains on this team!" The Gophers threw their marshmallows at him as he left. "You need to learn a little thing called respect, turkey!", Leshawna yelled. Then they all went back to the cabin, glad to be rid of him.