There were worse places to be trapped during a flash flood of the entire campground.
Sure, he could've been out by the docks, swept away by the waves. He preferred to avoid that area altogether though. Perhaps out by the remarkably out in the open craft services tent? Then again, it probably wasn't too affected since Chris and Chef were still on the campgrounds.
Honestly, he had just gone to the confessional to be alone, ironic as that may be. Alone, with only potentially millions watching him lament to a camera about everything that's been happening. About how he'll never recover any type of relationship with anyone still in the cast, about how winning seems to get further away despite his current standing, and of course, how much he despises this island.
But, the worst thing was the feeling of being completely trapped in the confessional. The rocking waves and slow tilting of the unit left Cody in a mix of terror and seasickness. He should've known this would happen, so why had he stupidly chosen to come here? Well, that should be obvious. He couldn't go and face Trent and Gwen, and he certainly didn't want to be in the Mess Hall with just Chef for company. Better to lock himself in here and wait out… whatever it was that ate up at him.
That was the worst part- being upset and not being able to identify all of what it was that made you feel that way. His actions in the game- that much was obvious. But, it was more than that, this feeling of something chewing up his insides, making him feel uneasy, he hadn't even been able to eat the slop Chef served because of it.
A rough wave sent Cody tumbling from his spot, crouched on the toilet, and sent his head careening into the side wall of the confessional. He blacked out briefly, but awoke soon enough, his head throbbing in pain.
"If only Dawn was here…" he moaned, clutching the side of his head like it was about to burst. "Hell, Alejandro would be fine too."
"I am here Cody."
He blinked.
Cody looked around briefly before remembering that Dawn had only come to him with a full body once, and after she did that she had disappeared until… Well, right now.
"Dawn..?" He moaned again, rubbing the spot where his head met the wooden wall. "Is that you?"
"Of course it's me Cody." Her voice spoke to him again, and Cody could finally smile. The sole person left who would help him, who could help him. "It doesn't seem like you've been holding up too well."
"No…" Cody lamented, leaning against the wall. "Every challenge and elimination has been painful. Everyone is against me, and I just want this to all be over, I… hate feeling like this."
"You deserve it though."
"Huh?" Cody blinked. Dawn wouldn't say that, right?
"You're a terrible person. You deserve every last thing that's happened to you since this began."
"Dawn… what are you saying?" Cody's features softened, his smile fading away as he tried to comprehend the calm and patient girl saying this to him.
"Do you need someone else to tell you? Or can you not comprehend why I would hate you? I'm here because you needed help, right?"
That… was true. Dawn had come to help him, and she had to watch him pathetically struggle through all of this, so wasn't she right?
"She's right, amigo. Remember how quick you were to vote off the one person who would always love and help you? I bet if Sierra saw you now, she'd hate you as much as any of us."
Alejandro? "Y- that was- I-!" Cody struggled out. How could he deny it!? "You're right, okay! What I did to her was wrong, but what she did to me was wrong too!"
"But isn't that what you wanted? Didn't you want someone to love you?" Sierra's voice was here too, but how?
"That's- I wanted Gwen!" Cody cried out, his eyes darting around trying to find the bodies the voices belonged to- but of course, they were his burden. Only he could perceive them.
"Yeah, real charming. Stalking me, harassing me, waiting on the rebound. You're pathetic, you know that Cody?"
"I helped you get with Trent!" Cody could feel his cheeks heat up, a wetness pooling under his eyes. "I just wanted to try again!"
"So is that why you lied and manipulated her? Created a whole persona just to be with her?"
"You're the worst."
"I was wrong!" Cody shouted,clutching his head in his hands, and curling up into a fetal position. "I was awful! But I've changed!"
"You haven't changed. You've only run away."
"..!" Cody couldn't respond, he could only curl further up, as the voices became louder, with more joining their numbers.
"You left me for dead in that forest. How much worse can you get?"
"I loved you, and you let me love you across so many timelines… and it was always a lie!?"
"You know twerp, everyone might not like me, but I'm sure everyone at this point absolutely hates you."
"I may have cheated on Princess, but at least I actually cared for her. You just led her along because you were upset about something she hadn't even done yet."
"Weren't we best friends Cody? How could you use me to get at Gwen like that?"
"Honestly, I'd say you're worse than Sierra. At least she didn't have to fake who she was."
"Maybe you deserved those sharks, amigo."
"You haven't changed, and you will never change."
"Just… stop…" Cody moaned out, the voices pounding on his brain like an unending barrage. He hated this, he hated everything about this, but who was there to blame but himself?
"Hey, check it out!" Trent laughed as Gwen and Heather followed behind, the two girls taking moments to glare at each other briefly in their walk. "Seems like the confessional washed up!"
"And still no sign of the twerp." Heather sighed, clearly annoyed. "Oh well, if this thing still works I have quite a few things to say about today. I hope Chris enjoys editing down several hours of concentrated verbal assaults against himself."
Heather opened the door, and gasped as a body tumbled out. When Gwen and Trent caught sight of it, they reeled back in surprise and horror.
On the beach, unconscious and with blood, both wet and dry, adorning the side of his head, was Cody. He'd clearly been caught by surprise during the flood and was left like this for who knows how long.
"We've gotta…" Trent paused. Did Cody deserve..? He shook his head. "We've gotta help him now! Let's take him back to the treehouse we found before he dies!" Nobody deserved this.
Gwen picked up Cody's light body, carrying the same was she did during the last challenge, only this time without his annoying comments. She glanced down and saw, despite the blood coating the right side of his face, an innocent look about him. He looked almost… docile. Peaceful.
"G'en…" he whispered softly, though he was clearly still not awake. "m'sorry."
Before Gwen could even ponder what that meant, Trent began barking orders at her and Heather. She chose to ignore Cody's whispers for now, and made for the treehouse- it was going to be a long day it looked like.
"How's he doing?" Trent asked, looking down at Cody. His gaze was softer than usual, clearly worried for the smaller boy despite the mutual antagonism the two shared. Seeing him like this, possibly dying… nobody deserved that.
"Still mumbling in his sleep, but it looks like there's some more colour in his face." Gwen replied, looking down at Cody. He'd been left in one of the beds, Gwen sitting next to him on a chair. Heather had gone out a while ago to look for some means of rescue, and the pair didn't really care. If Heather decided to abandon them and make a raft to leave… well, they honestly didn't think she could make a raft.
"What's he been saying?" Trent asked, sitting on the bunk across from Gwen and Cody.
"Just some names. Mostly people we met here, but also a few we haven't. He sounds particularly obsessed with this Dawn girl." Gwen smiled softly, brushing away some of Cody's hair. He looked so harmless like this, it was honestly hard to believe just how much he'd done the past few weeks. "Not sure if she's a lucky lady or not. I'd never want to be with this guy."
"Hard to believe he has friends." Trent said, promptly bringing an end to any conversation. While Gwen had been thinking it, Trent's statement was a reminder of how Cody acted while he was here. Nobody could find it in their heart to say they liked him except for maybe Beth, and that girl was hurt the most out of anyone by him. Chances were, he'd go to the Playa without a single warm smile to greet him.
"He… also said he was sorry." Gwen mentioned, recalling the first thing he'd whispered. "He said he was sorry to me."
"...You probably misheard him." Trent casually said, not wanting to believe that. "If he was sorry, he wouldn't have hid all of that from us… he would've been upfront about it ages ago."
"Maybe he was scared." Gwen said.
"Scared of what?"
Gwen just brushed Cody's hair again, not knowing the answer to that question.
Cody slowly woke up, the familiar sight of the med tent roof greeting him. He groaned and rubbed the side of his head, feeling… bandages?
"Finally up I see!" There was Chris' obnoxious voice. Cody rolled his head to the left and saw Chris sitting on the bed next to him, a smile that seemed quite forced plastered on his face. "Good… great, even!"
"What do you want?" Cody groaned, pushing himself up on his arms, only for Chris to hastily shove him back down.
"No, no!" Chris cried out, holding Cody's shoulders firmly. "Nurse Chef, and an intern who I think had their CPR-B said to keep you stable like this for a full day's rest! No getting up for you!"
Cody just rolled his eyes. "Okay, I won't. What do you want? Here to kick me out of the game for getting injured?"
"No! Nonono!" Chris held his hands up in front of him, seemingly afraid to anger Cody for whatever reason. "Of course, you can join the other losers if you want, but we hope you don't press charges!"
Cody snorted. He remembered now, Chris had offered him something similar when he got mauled by a bear. Said he could continue participating so long as he waived his right to press charges, only to get voted out a couple hours later. "Would I be allowed to stay here instead?"
"Of course! So long as, you know, don't press charges about what happened today."
"No problem. Any money I made suing you would be a drop in the bucket for my parents. Not that they'd care." Cody grumbled out, and Chris thankfully ignored these comments, his focus decidedly more on the 'No problem' part.
"That's great! Well, just rest up and get ready for the next challenge!" With that, Chris rushed out of the med tent, clearly in a state of silent cheering over this. Cody looked around and saw that nobody else was here to see him. He had no one to blame but himself for that.
Loop 0107-0108
"Cody…" Dawn looked down at the unresponsive spirit of the boy in sorrow. He'd willingly thrown himself out of that loop, but his being was shattered, his realizations leaving nothing but a broken husk.
She had been working on making him whole again, but even after all the trouble she went to for that goal, he was still quiet, still lost. That was, until for a brief moment his eyes finally opened and he spoke. He still couldn't perceive her, but he could tell when she was watching him.
"So, I'm back here." He lamented, staring up at the pure white of the void. "Could you tell me what happened?"
"You were with Gwen… and you had a realization that made you force yourself back here. You nearly destroyed yourself in the process."
"Do you think I would deserve that?" Cody asked, still not moving. "After everything I've done so far? After everything I did to Gwen?"
"Nobody deserves this."
"I do." Cody's sorrowful words were unbearable, his pain and regret at all that had transpired in the last loop, as well as his built up self-loathing for every loop prior, had led him here. He looked over to where Dawn would be, had he been able to see her, and asked one more question.
"Will anyone love me?" Cody hated the way that sounded, but it was something that burned in his mind. Not romantic love, or the love among friends, but… a deeper kind of love. One he couldn't ascribe any words to at the moment.
Dawn could only look up at the void, as the world around them shifted to the docks, Cody's mind returning to an image it was familiar with. She saw the full moon, hanging in the sky. A complete circle, looping in on itself, king among the stars dotted around it.
"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"