Chapter 15: Treasure Hunt

The morning before the next challenge was nice and peaceful. Trent was swimming while Gwen sketched something by a tree, looking at the lake. Trent climbed up onto the dock and yelled to her. "Hey, beautiful! Whatcha sketching?" "Nothing!", Gwen yelled back. She put her pen down to shove a camera guy away.

Confession Cam: Gwen
"I absolutely, positively don't have a crush on Trent. I'm so over him! I mean come on, sure, for a week or two I was into him, but... ..."

A few minutes later, Chris fired a cannon and hit Leshawna's trailer, then pulled out a megaphone. "Yarr, mateys! Meet me at amphitheater in five minutes and I'll tell you about today's challenge!" He took a while to get there himself due to the fake peg leg he was wearing as part of his pirate outfit. "Well, my little scallywags, have we got an adventure in store for ye!" Geoff cheered. "Yeah, adventure time! Hey, what's under that sheet on stage?" "All in good time, matey. Who here has a hankerin' for a good old-fashioned treasure hunt?" Gwen groaned and rolled her eyes. "This treasure hunt's got a twist, mateys", Chris continued. "What you're lookin' for isn't hidden, and it isn't treasure." Cody raised his hand. "If there's no treasure, then what's with the pirate outfit?" "Yarr, shiver me timbers! Good question, me boy." He pulled the sheet away, revealing a dozen treasure chest. "You're looking for keys to these! Inside each of these chests is a treasure that will pamper you landlubbers, and one of these chests will even give you invincibility! Now come round and pull a clue out of this bucket", which Chef walked up with, "or you'll have to walk the plank!"

One by one the campers got their clues. "These clues will tell ye where yer key be stowed." Cody looked at his. "A b-bear?" Chris walked over, dropping his accent. "I was hoping you'd get that one, dude." He then looked at Heather's clue. "Oh, Chef's fridge. Nice. I hear he brushes it daily for fingerprints." He then sneaked up behind Geoff. "That one's the septic tank for the washrooms." He then resumed speaking like a pirate. "All you scallywags, go find your keys and bring them back by six PM, eastern standard time, to open up the chest and get yer loot. Fare thee well, ye scallywags. Now get to it!", Chris yelled.

Confession Cam: Heather
"I don't know who came up with these lame-o challenges, and memo to Chris: those pirate tights don't exactly flatter your legs, savvy?"

Some of the campers were finding their keys within an hour. Trent had to get his from the shark infested part of the lake, and did so by distracting the sharks with fish. When he got back, he walked up to Gwen with his key. "That was way too easy", he said. Then he went with Gwen over to her challenge, getting a key from a skunk den. She groaned and held her nose. "Are you okay?", He asked. "No, skunks totally freak me out", Gwen said. "Listen, I've already got my key, let me help you out." "But this is practically impossible!" Trent crossed his arms and smirked. "You could just pour water down the hole and flush 'em out..." Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Can skunks swim?" "Totally." So, she went to get a bucket.

Meanwhile, Heather and Lindsay went back to the kitchen. Lindsay lowered Heather down with a rope through a hole in the roof. Heather tiptoed over to the fridge, got the key out, then came back and yanked the rope. Lindsay nodded and pulled her up, but lost her grip when a bee flew by her nose. Heather nearly dropped the key, but grabbed it before it hit the ground. Then, Lindsay pulled her back up. "Now that's what I call teamwork", Heather said. "Way to go, Lindsay."

Back at the skunk den, Trent and Gwen poured the water in and the skunks came out. Gwen ran back and got the key from the den. She got up and smiled at Trent. He smiled back, and Gwen walked up and kissed him. Heather saw them.

Confession Cam: Heather
"I really should do something about this. I should try to break them up so their boyfriend girlfriend alliance doesn't mess with mine. But if I do that, I'll be acting mean again and everyone will hate me and vote me off. Being nice is a major pain."

Katie was the fourth camper to get her key, jumping through a ring of fire to snag it. Meanwhile, Geoff and DJ were climbing a tree and diving into a tank respectively to claim theirs. Izzy got Lindsay's key from a beehive, though the bees scared Lindsay off, and Cody went into the bear's cave. "Oh crap, this is gonna be terrible..." He started crawling toward the key, but the sleeping bear rolled on top of it. Cody shoved his arm under the bear to grab it, but the bear grabbed him and pulled him closer. "Oh... craaaaaap..." Then, Izzy went to get her own key from a snake. She walked up to talk to it. "Hey little fella, how ya doin'? Aww, you sure are cute!" The snake bit her head. "And feisty too!" She quickly passed out from the venom. Leshawna struggled to get her key from some crocodiles.

Later that afternoon, Trent and Gwen went to the dock but found Lindsay and Cody already there, making out. When they were discovered, Lindsay blushed and Cody tried to smile. Gwen smirked. "So you took my advice, huh? Glad to see it worked out." Then they walked away. "Well that was awkward", Trent said. Heather walked up to them. "Have you guys seen Lindsay?", she asked. "I need to talk to her about something?" Trent nodded. "Yeah, I just saw her making out with Cody at the dock." Heather gasped. "What!"

Confession Cam: Heather
"Trent and Gwen I can tolerate, but Lindsay's part of MY alliance, and I don't feel like sharing! That girl is going down!"

Heather stormed off and found Izzy, who was still struggling with the snake. "Izzy. Can you do me a favor?" The crazy girl nodded. "Good. I need you to vote against Lindsay tonight if she isn't immune." "Why? I thought you were friends." Heather glared. "I have my reasons. Just do it."

Back at the cave, Cody finally had the key, but the bear was gnawing on his head. "Oh crap I am going to freaking DIE!" The bear finally fully woke up and growled, tightening its grip on Cody's head. "Oh crap infinity..." Meanwhile, DJ and Geoff finally came back to the surface with their keys. Sadie tried to get her key from a rabbit, but it growled at her and she went to hide in a tree instead. Then Chris turned on the intercom. "Alright campers, meet me at the campfire in ten, and bring your keys."

They did so. Most of them sat as far from Geoff and Izzy as they could, because Geoff stank and Izzy still had the snake on her head. Geoff turned to her and asked "Why don't you get rid of that thing?" "Oh don't worry, he's friendly." The snake bit her again. "See? Kisses!" She fell over again and Geoff smiled. "Now that's one crazy awesome chick." Chris walked up to them. "Yarr", he said, "It be time to claim your treasure. Those fortunate enough to bear the precious key, come forth with it." The campers claimed their rewards, most of which were useless. "My key won't open any chests", Cody said. "Oh yeah..." Chris laughed and dropped his accent. "I forgot to mention that some of the keys are broken." "Oh, come on! Can you at least do something about the bear? He won't let go of me!" Chef shot Cody and the bear with some tranquilizer darts. Heather opened her chest and smiled. "Hey, the invincibility pass! Lucky me!" Geoff was next. He opened his chest and pulled out a bottle. "What the... I just snorkeled in a septic tank for cologne! Nice!" Chris cleared his throat. "Okay, if everyone's got their treasure, it's time to do your duty and send one of your fellow campers home. Go cast your votes." He resumed the accent again... "And I'll see ye buccaneers back at the campfire after sundown!"

That evening, the campers went to the campfire, still avoiding Geoff. "And now the moment we've all been waiting for", Chris said. "The moment of truth. Marshmallow time! You know the routine, whoever doesn't get a marshmallow gets sent to the dock of shame. Izzy, Trent, Gwen, Leshawna, Lindsay, Sadie, DJ, Cody, Katie, Heather, marshmallows for the lot of you." Geoff looked shocked. "Sorry dude. You're out." "Sorry man", Trent said, "but you stink as much as Owen did now." Geoff got up and walked over to Izzy. "Hey." "Hey", she said. "I wish we could've had more time together. We could've had some wicked parties." Izzy nodded. "So, um... See you later? Maybe?" She stood up and hugged him. "You can count on it. See you when the show's over, Geoffie!" She kissed him and pushed him away, and he ran grinning to the dock. Izzy ran after him. "Bye! Take care! Don't get eaten by sharks!" Geoff waved back. "Sure! Get that snake bite looked at!" They kept waving until Geoff was out of seeing range.

Confession Cam: Heather
"Okay, Lindsay. You may be safe for now, but you're gonna pay for betraying me. I trusted you, and tried to be nice and trustworthy myself. But I can be nasty as hell when I wanna be. And with your lack of brain power, I doubt you'll see it coming."

While the other campers went back to the cabins, Gwen and Trent stayed behind, roasting their marshmallows and kissing in the moonlight. Gwen smiled and said "Maybe this summer isn't so bad after all."