The mood at breakfast was…
Rather tense, to say the least.
Gwen wasn't even there for starters, likely still holed up in the cabin for one reason or another. Leshawna and Trent were absent as well, probably with Gwen, or at least trying to talk to her.
That left Lindsay, Beth, Owen, Izzy, Cody, and Heather to all awkwardly pick at their food. Well, almost all of them. Izzy seemed blissfully unaware of the drama, and Heather seemed rather pleased with herself. She was trying to make small talk with her alliance, but Lindsay and Beth were rather restrained.
The Killer Bass weren't much better. Despite winning two challenges in a row, the mood was still rather tense as several of their members had rather strained relationships with each other.
Or, more accurately, with Courtney.
Despite being the de facto team leader, she had frayed relationships with Tyler, Bridgette, and Duncan, all while getting into a pretty heated rivalry with Heather.
Suffice to say, Chris was very pleased with the drama that the cast had provided so far.
However, Chris wasn't here right now - just Chef Hatchet and a bunch of on-edge teenagers.
Cody gazed sadly at his breakfast (actual quality hash browns, in contrast to the soggy, semi-frozen pre packages that everyone else received), not doing much eating, causing Owen to nudge him slightly.
"Uh, Cody?" He asked, surprisingly gentle.
Cody turned to him, slightly surprised.
Owen burped right in his face.
"Oops, sorry. You gonna finish that?"
Cody sighed, and pushed his plate over to his drooling friend. Owen immediately started attacking the hash browns like a starving pack of wolves, spoiling Cody's hunger even more than it already was.
Cody stood up from the table, gaining a few looks from the other Gophers as he left the main lodge in search of some peace and quiet.
He just needed to get away from everyone right now.
And so, he did.
Ignorant of the pair of eyes that followed him sharply as he walked away.
–
Cody sighed. There really weren't a lot of options on this island for privacy, aside from walking into the woods and hoping for the best.
Cody had gotten relatively lucky so far in regards to encounters with wild animals, but he knew what happened next challenge. He wasn't going to be caught alone in the woods any time soon, that was for sure.
The cabin was off limits, too - he had zero intention of running into Gwen any time soon, and Cody didn't intend on letting anyone eavesdrop on him in case he started crying.
That would suck.
And so, Cody found himself sitting back at the campfire pit, not really doing anything.
Just thinking.
And moping.
Thinking and moping.
And maybe even -
"What are you doing?"
Cody blinked as Heather's sharp voice cut cleanly through his inner monologue, only to realize that she was standing over him, glaring down as she blocked the sun from reaching him.
"Uh, hi?" He said, completely off guard.
That apparently wasn't the right answer, because her glare hardened as she squatted down in front of him.
"You need to get over yourself!" She began, poking him in the chest, "Are you seriously gonna cry every time someone won't be your friend!"
Cody was petrified. Not out of fear, but surprise. Where was this coming from?
"O-of course not!" He stuttered out as he tried to push himself up, still rather confused, "I-I'm just -"
Heather shoved him back down onto the grass, Cody letting out a quiet 'omph!' as his back hit the ground.
"Don't try and lie to me, Cody," She hissed, "I saw you during the hot tub challenge. Courtney got all bitchy at you, and you blew up in her face. Noah acts like he's the shit and talks down on you, you lose it at him and mope around for two days. Gwen thinks you're a loser, and you decide to go and try to hide away from the rest of the world. Notice a pattern?"
Cody didn't say anything, because she was right. He was trying so hard to be everyone's friend this time around.
Maybe too hard.
"Not everyone's gonna be your friend, nerd," Heather continued harshly, "All three of them are complete freaks, and I don't know why you'd bother with them, but seriously? Get over yourself. People are losers. Not everyone will like you. If you can't accept that, then maybe I should've voted for you instead of Noah."
Cody took a moment to ponder over Heather's words. While he didn't agree with her choice of words describing them, she was right.
Things were different now. Just because he was once friends with people doesn't mean he would be this time. To be fair, he wasn't exactly friends with Noah or Gwen at this point in time originally anyways, but the point was valid. Not everyone would be interested in befriending him.
He should've at least gotten that message after reading Gwen's diary yesterday.
Cody nodded slowly. "You're right, Heather," he admitted, a small smile on his face, "I guess I have been a bit better about all this."
Heather scoffed. "A bit?"
He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with a blush on his face. "Yeah, you're right. Again."
"Of course I am!"
Cody started to speak again, but cut himself off as he remembered something else she said.
"Wait, you didn't vote for me?" He asked, confused again, "Why not?"
"I'm not going to vote for you just because you think you're Superman and can solve everyone's problems, dorkus," she explained matter of factly, "Noah hadn't done a single thing worthwhile while he was here, and the dodgeball challenge was just the final nail in his coffin."
"Besides," Heather added with a smirk, "You're actually half-decent at this game. It'd be a shame to have to send you home so early."
Cody smiled back. "Thanks, Heather. You're a good person."
Heather froze, not expecting that.
"Fuck off, loser! I'm not your friend, and I'm not a 'good person' either!" She spat, causing Cody to laugh again.
"Whatever you say, friend!"
Heather looked like she wanted to rip his head off.
It just made Cody laugh harder.
–
Despite it not being his fault, Cody tried to avoid Trent for a little while after the whole diary fiasco.
He didn't have any problems with the guy, quite the opposite in fact. He considered Trent to be one of his closest friends on the island, up there with Bridgette and maybe Owen. But right now, he just reminded Cody of Gwen.
How she loved Trent, and how she apparently loathed Cody.
How she never saw him as a friend.
How she -
Cody shook his head. Heather was right, he really needed to move past this.
He sat on his bunk, lazily reading one of the comic books he had brought with him. It was one of the few amenities he had at his disposal, and despite having read it dozens of times before it still helped him pass the time.
Trent sat above him on his own bed, awkwardly tuning his guitar, strumming a few notes every couple of minutes before going quiet again and trying to get the instrument just right.
Owen, for his part, just watched the two of them nervously, barely able to take the awkward silence.
Cody envied his position.
"Uh…" Owen said slowly, "I think I'm gonna go see if Chef has any leftovers from dinner yesterday, that carp surprise he made was pretty good!"
He chuckled nervously.
"So, uh, I'll be back later!" He gave the two of them a thumbs up as he practically ran to the door, the floorboards creaking ominously under his weight.
Once the two guys were alone, Trent hopped down from his bunk, opting to lean against the cabin wall as he stared at Cody.
"Did you put him up to that?" Cody asked questioningly.
Trent sighed in exasperation. "That obvious, huh?"
Cody smirked slightly. Subtlety was never one of Owen's strong suits.
"So, what's so important that you need to talk to me alone about it?" He asked, despite knowing exactly what Trent had in mind.
"It's about Gwen."
Yep. Great.
"Look, I really don't want to talk about it, okay?" Cody tried, "It's whatever."
Something in Trent's gaze softened slightly.
"I get that," he nodded in understanding, "But look, you can't just act like it didn't happen. What she wrote wasn't cool, but I think you should talk to her."
"Pass."
Trent sighed, expecting that reaction, and put his hands up in surrender. "I'm not saying it has to be today. Or tomorrow. Or anytime soon. But Leshawna and I talked to her, and Gwen feels really guilty about the whole situation, as she should. She just wants to apologize to you, whenever you're ready. Promise me you'll at least consider it?"
Cody just sighed. Right as he was getting ready to move on from Gwen too.
"I'll think about it, alright? No promises." He said seriously, watching Trent nod and crack a smile in response.
"Awesome dude, that's all she's asking for." Trent said, grateful that Cody was such a nice guy.
Even getting her out of the cabin to go to vote the other night had been damn near impossible, the only thing moving her being the chance that they could probably eliminate Heather then and there.
Trent still didn't know how she got Justin of all people eliminated, let alone how she saved her own ass.
Regardless, he knew Gwen would appreciate the chance to try and make things straight between the two of them.
"Enough about that, though!" Trent declared with a grin, causing Owen to peek in again from the door to the cabin (when did he get there?), "I've got a killer idea for a song thanks to the Awake-A-Thon challenge we had…"
–
"Campers, today's challenge will test your outdoor survival skills! I'm not gonna lie to you, some of you may not come back alive."
Gasps were heard among the gathered contestants, causing Chris to chuckle.
"Just joking!" He smirked, causing Leshawna to glare at him. He didn't notice, and continued his explanation without missing a beat. "All you have to do is spend one night in the woods. Everything you need is at your team's campsite in the forest. You just have to find it!"
Chris haphazardly tossed a map and compass to Courtney and Heather, who both caught their navigational tools easily.
"Oh, and watch out for bears!" Chris said seriously, a frown set upon his face for a moment before his easygoing smile returned, "Lost a couple of interns in pre production. First team back for breakfast wins invincibility! Off you go!"
Accompanied by his lovely airhorn, Chris gestured to the wilderness.
It didn't look very friendly.
"Did he say there are bears up in here?" Leshawna questioned, her usual boisterousness absent at the thought of facing one of Canada's apex predators.
Owen and Izzy then decided to share their own bear stories, something Leshawna certainly didn't appreciate if the way she twitched nervously at them was any indication.
Cody groaned internally, realizing that he still had his bear mace in the cabin with the rest of his stuff. He so could have used that here! He had his mind so set on not being mauled during the paintball deer hunt, that he completely forgot about what happened tonight.
Oh well, it was too late now.
Looks like he'd be sleeping in a tree.
–
"Ugh, how much longer until we get there?!"
Cody shrugged, too preoccupied with trying to navigate to respond. Heather had entrusted him with the map while she read the compass, the duo somehow working in tandem rather well.
Gwen, Trent, and Leshawna led the rather spread out team, but got set back a few times thanks to them ignoring Heather whenever she tried barking out directions. Heather and Cody were next, trailed closely by Lindsay and Beth, while Owen and Izzy chatted up a storm in the rear.
Cody kept a close ear on those two. He knew what happened last time around to cost the Killer Bass the challenge, and he was set on making sure that didn't happen to the Gophers.
Two losses in a row was plenty.
Between directing the team, making sure Owen and Izzy didn't get lost, and having to put up with Heather's near constant complaining, Cody was spread pretty thin.
It was a good thing he had a lot of patience.
"If this goes on for any longer, we're gonna have to stop," Heather whined, "My feet are killing me!"
"Maybe you shouldn't have worn wedges on a camping trip then?" Cody shot back sarcastically, almost on instinct.
Heather's eyes narrowed. "You're one to talk, twerp!" She scoffed, giving him a once-over, "I'd take fashion advice from Leshawna before I took your advice. Why the hell are you wearing a t-shirt over a sweater?"
Cody shrugged, unbothered, as he turned his attention back to the map. "News flash: It's cold in Ontario, even in the summer. I don't know how you can wear what equates to a bikini all the time without getting eaten alive by flies, let alone feel comfortable at night."
There was a pretty good chance Heather hit him for that one. There was an even better chance she yelled at him for it.
What he hadn't expected was for her to… laugh?
It was quiet - enough so that Cody was pretty sure not even Beth or Lindsay could've caught it as she covered her mouth - but he knew what he heard.
"Okay, nerdling," Heather said snarkily, "That was good. It's certainly an improvement over moping around all day like you've been for the past week."
Cody shrugged. "What can I say, I learned from the worst!"
Heather rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You just better hope that we make it to the campsite soon, or my complaining will be the least of your worries."
He just nodded absentmindedly, missing Heather's predatory grin that slipped onto her face.
"Speaking of this challenge," She said quietly, keeping the conversation between them, "On the off chance that we do lose today, can I count on your vote?"
Ah. Cody should've known there'd be a catch to Heather being, well, not nice, but as close as she could get to it.
"Depends," Cody said carefully, "Did you have anybody particular in mind?"
"Funny you should ask that!" She said, voice full of glee, "Because I actually do! There's a certain goth girl that's really throwing off the team chemistry, you know? It might be for the good of the team to cut her loose if we lose again."
Cody just sighed.
"I'll think about it," He said halfheartedly, "Depending on what happens in the challenge, but let's just focus on winning."
Heather nodded in agreement, another faux smile on her face.
"Of course! Now how long until we get there?"
—
Confessional: Heather
"This game is as good as mine!" Heather gloated, smirking triumphantly, "With Cody on my side thanks to weird goth girl, I'm safely in control of the team, and she'll get the boot first chance we get!"
"If we keep winning, though, it's no big deal," Heather shrugged, "It just means the Bass will get weaker and weaker. They better vote off Courtney soon. Little Miss C.I.T. is becoming a real B.I.T.C.-"
The camera cut to static before she could finish.
—
"Uhh…" Owen began, unsure, "There's no food here."
"This is a survival task," Trent reminded him, "Look at the instructions!"
Setting up their supplies had been relatively easy - tents and sleeping bags weren't very complicated - but between the hours of walking and the lack of lunch, some of the Gophers were beginning to get peckish.
"I wonder if there are any bears around today," Owen said, completely disregarding what Trent had said, "Wouldn't it be funny if we made some bear sounds and they came!"
"Absolutely not!" Leshawna interrupted.
"Do it!" Izzy encouraged.
Apparently Owen valued Izzy's input more than Leshawna's, so he began to groan and roar out his bear impression, much to the delight of Izzy.
"Grooaahh! I'm a bea- ow!"
Owen rubbed his head in mild pain after Heather had thrown the compass at it, glaring at him all the while.
"Could you please shut up?" Heather hissed, "I'm trying to read here! It says we're supposed to find our own food."
She glanced around briefly.
"I still don't see it!"
Trent rolled his eyes. "I think they mean in the woods?"
"I'll go!" Owen offered, "I'm good at finding food!"
"Well," Heather said, annoyed, "At least this will be a good day for my diet!"
"Oh! Oh!" Izzy shouted, "Let me go with you Owen! I'm a great survivalist!"
"Alright!" He returned, equally hyped up, "Let's do this!"
As the two of them walked away, Heather groaned and just sat down in the grass, resting her head on her knees.
Cody couldn't remember how long it took for Owen to find the fish last time around, but he hoped they got back soon.
He didn't know how much more of Heather's complaining he could take.
–
"Ugh, I am so hungry!"
Cody was starting to twitch. That was the ninth time Heather had said that in the last five minutes.
Everyone stopped responding after the fourth.
Suddenly, Owen popped out of the bushes, Izzy hanging off of his back, each holding several large fish.
"I am man!" Owen declared proudly in caveman speak, "I bring fish!"
"Aww, but Owen!" Izzy complained, jumping off his back, "I bring fish too! Besides, I caught most of them!"
Owen turned pink. "Sorry, Izzy."
"It's okay!"
The rest of the Gophers watched them with dumbfounded expressions. All except for Cody, who just smiled fondly, and Heather, who glared.
"Are you serious?" She questioned, "How did you catch so many?"
"I used my hands!" Izzy declared proudly, "And Owen's grandpa taught him how to fish!"
Owen nodded. "One time, I caught a shark!" He proclaimed, "It bit me in the butt. Check it out!"
Cody was able to look away in time, but the rest of the team was unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire.
It was too bad Cody had already seen it once before, and the image was burned into his mind forever.
–
"Okay, fire's hot, fish are grilling, tent is tenting," Owen said to himself, "Good work, guys!"
"Nice going man," Trent praised, "Fish look awesome!"
"Thanks man," Owen replied, pleased, "I owe it all to grandpa!"
"So you and your grandpa really fought a bear once?"
"Heck yes." Owen's smile was gone now, replaced with a grim stare that took most of the Gophers off guard. "It was the scariest day of my life."
Some gasps were heard, but Owen ignored them.
"We were out in the woods when we came upon the great beast," He explained, "I tell ya, he was ten feet high if he was a foot! His roar was terrible enough to make the Earth quake! We grabbed our shotgun, we knew it was either him or us! Nothing personal, just the law of the wild."
He paused for dramatic effect.
"And then, bam! One shot was all it took to fell the great beast. We took his blood and marked ourselves to honor him. It was a good death."
Cody knew the story was fabricated, but it was still fun to enjoy. He could imagine it being the kind of story a child wrote for a school project, minus that last bit at least.
Cody could even imagine some poorly written drawings to go along with it!
Crazy.
"Yeah right! There's no way you took down a ten foot bear!" Heather accused, before taking a glance around the group, "Hey, has anyone seen crazy girl?"
"I think she had to pee." Lindsay said.
"That was over an hour ago!" Trent responded, now slightly worried, "Izzy! Izzy!"
"Izzy the Gopher! Where are you?!" Owen joined Trent in calling out for the girl, before the rustling of some bushes got his attention.
"Oh, good! I thought we lost you there for a minute, man I - GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA!"
Owen's screams alerted the rest of the Gophers to the fact that there was now a very large and very unfriendly looking bear at the edge of their campsite.
Lindsay and Leshawna quickly joined him in screaming, as everyone immediately stood up in fear.
"The trees!" Heather called out, seemingly afraid for the first time Cody had seen since arriving on the island, "Climb into the trees!"
It took a lot of energy to climb high enough into the tree so that all of the Gophers were out of the bear's reach. It took even more energy for Trent and Cody, the two bravest, to help the others (Owen and Leshawna) even get up into the tree.
If Owen had farted on him, Cody would've left him down there with the 'bear'.
At least he didn't pee his pants in fright this time around.
"So, what do we do now?" Trent asked, glancing between Gwen and Heather.
"Don't look at me!" Heather snapped.
"It was your idea to climb the trees!" Gwen pointed out.
"Well, why don't you ask the bear hunting expert?" Heather said sarcastically, before looking up, "Hey Owen! What do we do now?"
"How should I know?" He cried out.
"Dude," Leshawna said, raising an eyebrow at him, "You said you killed a bear!"
"I was being theatrical!" He confessed, causing some of them to groan.
"This is all your fault!" Heather accused, pointing her finger at Owen, "If you hadn't been growling like that, we never would've attracted him to our site!"
"Excuse me for living!" Owen wailed out, before bursting into tears and hitting his head into the tree.
"Hey, hey, hey," Trent said placatingly, "Ease up on the guy. He did bring us all that fish!"
Trent pointed over to the fish that was still being cooked over the campfire, which the bear had just taken note of and began to sniff curiously.
"Hey! Lay off our fish!" Heather called out angrily, as if that would make the bear stop.
"It's probably already eaten Izzy!" Lindsay cried out.
"Then it shouldn't be hungry anymore!" Heather pointed out, gaining a gasp from Gwen and Beth. "What? This is survival of the fittest! She should've just peed in her pants."
Suddenly, an ominous creaking sound came from the branch Lindsay, Beth, and Leshawna were sitting on. The branch began to crack, but luckily for Lindsay and Beth it only started to split past where they were sitting.
Unluckily for Leshawna, that meant it broke right where she was sitting. Cody, on reflex, tried to reach down and grab for her, but he was too far above her, and far too slow.
Leshawna hit the ground with a thud, barely having enough time to sit up before the bear was upon her. She (and the rest of the Gophers) let out a gasp, but it was to late as -
"Hey, are you okay?"
Leshawna froze.
"Uh, did that bear just ask me a question?" She asked rhetorically.
Everyone gasped as the bear pulled its head off, revealing it to just be Izzy in a costume, grinning widely at her team.
Owen slid down the tree with a grin. "Oh my goodness I did not see that coming!"
"Okay," Lindsay said, her eyebrows furrowed, "I'm so confused right now?"
"What are you, some kind of freak?" Gwen glared at Izzy, who just laughed in response.
"I thought it would be funny!" Izzy said, laughing some more.
—
Confessional: Izzy
She was still in the bear costume, holding back laughter as she looked at the camera.
"Okay okay, that was so funny! Like, 'Oh it's a bear oh no' and like, 'We're all gonna die now help help!'," Izzy rambled, taking a moment to laugh, "And I'm like 'Rah I'm gonna eat you' like I could actually do that. There's no way okay!"
Izzy laughed again.
"They were all suuuper scared, except Cody!" Izzy said to herself thoughtfully, any traces of humor gone from her face, "Maybe he's not scared of bears, but I doubt it! I think he's a time traveler! Or maybe he's just gay for Noah."
—
The Gophers had barely a moment's peace to eat their fish before the second bear came out from the bushes, the same way Izzy had.
Trent, Owen, and Izzy originally thought it was just a prank from Chris, but that theory was quickly disproven when it nearly took off Owen's head with a single swipe of its claws.
Back into the trees it was!
Cody didn't pee his pants this time either, thankfully, but he at least felt real fear from the bear. Sure, he had certainly faced worse things, both on the show and off, but at least none of them had ever mauled him to the point of being completely crippled and wheelchair bound for weeks.
The point was, he didn't get a lot of sleep that night.
Especially once it started raining.
–
The Gophers ran as fast as they could in the general direction of camp (the map had been destroyed by the rain), any traces of their earlier arguments forgotten in a desperate attempt to somehow be the first team back to the campfire pit.
Unfortunately for them, the Killer Bass were all seated, looking at them with smug smiles as they finally arrived. They looked well rested, relaxed, and were in a much better disposition than the Gophers were.
It seemed like they had no horrors of the woods (or Izzy) to deal with last night.
"They're already here?!" Heather groaned, exasperated, before turning to Owen and Izzy, "This is all your fault!"
She pushed Owen, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud, which Izzy laughed at.
Cody blinked. Weren't she and Owen friends? Why would she laugh at his misfortune, instead of trying to stand up for him?
"Ah ah ah, not so fast Gopherinos!" Chris said, smirking as he tended to the firepit, "It seems that the Killer Bass are missing a few fish!"
"Oh, you mean Katie and Sadie?" Courtney asked, "I'm pretty sure they got eaten by wolves last night."
Duncan nodded in agreement. "Darn shame."
Funnily enough, that was the moment the two of them finally appeared, huffing and puffing after having run for God knows how long until they finally reached camp.
"We made it!" Katie cheered.
"We're safe!" Sadie agreed, "Oh my gosh, guys, we got totally lost, and then got in this massive fight!"
"And there was this huge bear and he was all 'Raw you're in my crib so get out!'"
"And we had to run and it was like sooo scary!"
"Oh, Sadie, I'm so sorry I said I was prettier than you."
Their blabbering went on for quite a while, and although their apology was heartwarming, it was clear the rest of their team weren't quite as happy for them.
"All right, Killer Bass," Chris said, "One of your fishy butts is going home!"
Chris paused, before turning around to the winners. "Gophers, you're going on an all expense paid trip to… The Tuck Shop!"
They erupted into cheers, rushing to get ready for their reward, as the Bass hung back, glaring at Katie and Sadie.
—
Confessional: Owen
"Oh. My. God!" Owen looked close to tears. "Food! And not just food, junk food! The best kind of food! I've been starving for a taste of some chips and chocodiles! It was heaven! That party we threw afterwards was the sickest thing ever!"
—
Cody watched from a safe distance as Katie took her walk down the Dock of Shame, same as last time. Whatever the Bass had done better this time around didn't matter, the same duo had cost them in the same way regardless.
He was honestly starting to get a bit worried - the changes Cody had noticed so far were small, but they were still relevant.
And it had only been five challenges. What did that mean for the future?
And what about tomorrow?
Cody knew what challenge was up next. He knew what kind of demons he would be facing in the morning.
He just hoped he could just try to defuse a timebomb again.
As he watched Bridgette finally pull Sadie up from the Dock of Shame, bawling her eyes out, Cody shuddered.
Owen let out a nuke of a fart from inside the cabin that caused Trent and the girls to rush out, gasping for breath. As they recovered, Trent took notice of the final dessert piece that the Gophers had left over from their Tuck Shop party.
"Hey, guys," he said, a small smile on his face, "What if we, say, go over there and hang out with the Bass while we let the cabin air out?"
As the group nodded in agreement, Cody could only pray.
No one listened.
—
A/N:
Shorter chapter, took slightly longer to write too, my bad.
Didn't have much for the actual challenge portion of this, but trust me. Things'll start getting serious soon. We all know why.
Also, college starts up tomorrow again, so probably gonna take more time between new chapters now. Maybe. Maybe I'll continue the breakneck pace I've been at. College is weird.
As always, let me know if you enjoyed! Or didn't! Criticism is fundamental.
P.S. Izzy is watching…