Chapter 22: Four in the Forest

Three days after Leshawna left, the four girls remaining woke up in the middle of the woods. A chipmunk hopped onto Gwen's bed and looked around, brushing its tail against her nose until she sneezed. She woke up and looked around. "Wait, what the heck! Where are we?" The others woke up and Heather groaned. "And where's Chris? He's gonna pay for this." Then, a helicopter flew overhead, with Chef attached to it by a ladder. "Everybody just zip it!", he yelled. "How you got here is not your concern!" He jumped off the ladder and the helicopter flew off. "What happened to Chris?", Katie asked. "None of your goddamn business what happened to Chris. I'm in charge now, and I'm gonna make you wish you were never born. Your mission is to find your way out of the forest or die trying." Sadie hugged Katie and tried to hide from Chef. "You can't be serious", Heather said, "we WILL die!"

Confession Cam: Gwen
"They left us in the woods, alone, again! Me, stuck with those three creeps! I'd rather go swimming in shark infested water."

Chef produced some duffel bags from seemingly nowhere. "Here's how it works. Team one: Katie and Sadie. Team two: Gwen and Heather." He threw the bags to the girls. "Everything you need is in these bags. You'll navigate your way north to the base camp. The first team to tag the camp totem pole wins, and here's a tip: better set up camp before sundown, because once nightfall hits, you won't even see your tremblin' hand in front of your terrified face... unless you've got night vision goggles." He pulled a pair out. "But, you don't." He laughed, and Heather and Gwen glared at him. "We can agree we hate Chef, right?", Heather asked. Gwen nodded. Sadie ran up to Chris and grabbed onto his apron. "Please, please don't leave us here, I'm begging you, we won't survive!" Chef pushed her away. "Grab a hold of your guts, soldier!"

Confession Cam: Heather
"Okay, this isn't good. Getting stuck with Gwen is one thing, but now Katie and Sadie are either going to fall apart or get closer than ever without me on their team. I need to do something about this..."

"We're gonna get eaten by bears, aren't we?", Katie whined. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that", Chef said. "You'll wish you'd seen a bear once you meet up with ol' Sasquatchanakwa. Yeah, somehow he survived his fight with Eva, and he's maaaaad..." The helicopter flew back and dropped a ladder down. Chef grabbed onto it and they flew off. "Good luck, troops!", he yelled. "Try not to die!" Heather yelled at the swiftly vanishing copter. "This is illegal! You can't do this!" Gwen groaned. "Heather, shut up already!" Meanwhile, Katie and Sadie walked off toward the north. "See you at the base camp, Heather!", Katie yelled. "Oh, this is gonna be fun! Right? It's like a camping trip! There's no way we're gonna die... right?" "Um... let's start running!" After a minute, they heard a growling from somewhere. "What was that?", Sadie asked. "Probably a bear... oh, we ARE gonna die out here!" "Well at least we're together... And, we've got this!" Sadie pulled out the night vision goggles. "You stole those from Chef? You're so sneaky, Sadie!" Sadie giggled. "I know I'm not that brave, but acting like a scared widdle girl to get something is one of the oldest tricks in the book. I make it work."

Meanwhile, Gwen and Heather got their gear organized. Gwen had the compass and Heather had the map. "Camp is north, so we should just follow the river. Easy", Gwen said. "Yeah, as long as we're not eaten by sasqwatchamacallit." "Would you relax? There's no way that thing is gonna find us." "I hope not. Otherwise, Chris is so getting sued by your parents after you get eaten." "What do you mean when I get eaten?" Heather rolled her eyes. "I know I'm a lot nicer now, but I'm still a selfish brat at heart. I'm not gonna let myself get eaten to spare you, especially since I'd lose my shot at the grand prize." Gwen glared at her. "Same to you, Heather." Heather glared back. "You're rude, dark and a bit too commanding. I respect that." Gwen shrugged and they started walking.

Later that afternoon, Katie and Sadie were climbing a cliff. "Did you catch what Chris said about the Sasquatchanakwa?", Katie asked. "Yeah, I thought that thing got killed by Eva!" "Oh my gosh, me too!" "What do you think he'll do if he finds us?" "Let's just hope that doesn't happen." The girls reached the top of the cliff and looked out over the horizon. Sadie pulled out some binoculars and spotted Gwen and Heather in the woods. "Hey, it's the other girls! And they're going the wrong way! We are SO gonna win this!", she yelled. "...wait a minute. Why would they be going the other way?" She checked the horizon again and saw the cabins. "Oh, crap! WE'RE going the wrong way!" Katie groaned. "What are we gonna do?" "I got an idea. We'll just jump in the river and ride the current to camp!" Katie gulped. "Okay..." The girls held hands, ran off the cliff and screamed until they hit the water below.

At the river, Gwen and Heather stopped for lunch. "Okay, look", Heather said. "We both know we don't like each other, and we both wanna win. I know I'm normally teamed up with Katie and Sadie, but this time I have no choice. So we're a team for today, right?" Gwen shrugged. "Right..." Then, Katie and Sadie passed by on a raft. Katie waved and Heather gasped. "They're getting away!" The girls picked up their stuff and ran along the riverbank to catch up.

Confession Cam: Heather
"Using the river was brilliant. Well played, girls, well played."

Later that afternoon, the river came to an end and the four girls trudged through the woods. In the evening, Gwen and Heather came across a large footprint. Gwen smirked and winked at Heather, then gasped. "Heather, look! It's a sasquatch footprint! Oh, I'm so scared!" A rustling sound came from a nearby bush. "Puh-lease", Heather said, "you're embarrassing yourselves." Gwen shushed Heather, then crept toward the bush. She jumped onto it, and the sasquatch came out with Gwen on its shoulders. Heather screamed and ran off, followed by Gwen and the sasquatch. Up ahead, Katie and Sadie were looking around with the night vision goggles. "What do you see, Sadie?", Katie asked. "Okay, there's a cute little squirrel, and a raccoon, and a sasquatchanakwa. SASQUATCHANAKWA!" She screamed and ran away, with Katie right behind her and Heather, Gwen and the sasquatch further behind, all screaming like crazy.

They all ran into a cave. "Sadie? Sadie, where are the goggles?" "I think I dropped them!" Katie groaned. "Oh, come on!" "Shut up", Gwen said, "At least you HAD goggles." "Gwen's right", Heather said. "So, we're all here? I guess we'll be staying a while..." "You're kidding, right", Katie asked. "Uh, no. And... um... I never thought I'd say this in public, but Gwen, I'm hoping that's your tongue in my ear..." "Um... no..." Heather screamed and ran out of the cave, followed by the other girls and a flock of bats. They ran on until the bats gave up, then stopped by a tree. "Well... at least we lost the sasquatch", Heather said. "So. Since you guys still have supplies and a map, and we lost ours, I guess you beat us." "Speak for yourself", Gwen said. "It's obvious they're winning." Katie giggled. "Aww, that's nice of you to say. Since you guys lost your stuff, wanna camp with us?" Heather smiled. "That would be great. Thanks, girls!"

Later that night, after Katie and Sadie fell asleep, Gwen got up and kicked Heather, who was trying to sleep. "Ow! What is it?" "I still don't believe your nice girl routine", Gwen said, "but good job getting them to share their stuff with us." "That's not all", Heather said, "I know these girls pretty well. They're heavy sleepers. We're gonna get up early tomorrow and run to camp while they're still snoozing, and we can take their map and compass too." Gwen smiled. "Good idea." "Of course it is, I came up with it."

Katie and Sadie woke up about six hours later. "Sadie!", Katie yelled, "the girls, our stuff, it's gone!" "What! Well we gotta get going before they beat us to camp!" They ran off toward the north. "We're going the right way, right?", Katie asked. "Totally!" "Thank goodness at least one of us has a sense of direction!"

Confession Cam: Gwen
"Okay, normally I don't approve of stealing, but all's fair and love and war, and this is definitely war."

Confession Cam: Heather
"Okay, for the record, Gwen was just as into scamming them as I was. I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Besides, Katie and Sadie invited us to camp with them first! I'm still nice!"

Gwen and Heather ran to camp, with Katie and Sadie right behind them. "They're gaining on us, what do we do?" "Ditch the duffel bag!", Gwen said. They threw them to the ground, and Sadie tripped on one. "Sadie, are you okay?", Katie asked. She helped her friend get up, and Gwen and Heather ran up to Chef, who was relaxing in a chair and eating cinnamon rolls. "We did it! We win!", Heather said. She and Gwen cheered and hugged. Chef sighed and put down his food. "Yeah, congratulations. Challenge is over. Katie, Sadie! Say your goodbyes, because one of you is goin' home tonight."

That night at the campfire, Chef walked up to the girls with a plate of marshmallows. "This was supposed to be my day off! Had it all planned. I was gonna eat my cinnamon rolls and relax with one of Heather's facials, finish reading Gwen's diary, and clean my toenails. Then I was gonna play toy soldiers with Katie and Sadie's stuffed animals." The girls gasped, while Gwen glared at Chef. "But you all ruined it!", he yelled. "So, here's your darn marshmallows. Gwen, Heather, and Katie." Sadie started crying and hugged Katie, who started crying too. "Oh Sadie, I'm gonna miss you!" "I'll miss you too!" "I'll miss you more!" "No, I'll miss you infinitely more!" "Well... I guess

this means I gotta win for both of us, right?", Katie asked. "Yeah, I guess so... You can do it. You can do it, I believe in you!" "You really think so, Sadie?" Her friend stopped crying. "Of course I do. You're my best friend. I'm always gonna believe in you." Katie started crying harder. "Oh my gosh, that's one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me!" The girls walked to the edge of the dock and Sadie hopped on the boat. She waved at her BFF. "Bye, Katie! I'll see you later!" "Take care, Sadie! Bye!" "Bye!" They kept yelling until they couldn't hear each other anymore. Then, Katie walked back to the cabin, weeping quietly. "Oh my gosh... I hope I can win without her... I hope I can want to."