For those unaware, the target audience for this rewrite is teens and up (13+). This means we cover certain, more "mature" topics that kids would not understand (kind of like TDI 2007/ Disventure Camp style). I present some harsh, uncomfortable realities. But don't worry. These topics are not the main focus; they are only brief mentions. Most of the story is still good, comedic, enjoyable TDI.

I say this so that people don't get too upset when the concept of "pretty privilege" is brought up in this chapter. I included it to highlight how some people who have pretty privilege do not feel bad about using it to their advantage. Especially in this game. Anyways, enough with the essay...

I have finally finished coming up with episode titles that I am satisfied with. These may change later but for now this is what I have decided (you can see the beginning of my entire work but I will also put it here)

Episode 1: The Pink Painter Strikes Again

Episode 2: Dumb weighs to die

Episode 3: Under pressure problems

Episode 4: G...P...Scream!

Episode 5: Let them eat cupcakes!

Episode 6: 12 angry campers

Episode 7: M-AH!-ze of fears

Episode 8: Ex marks the spot

Episode 9: Subzero heart

Episode 10: Low and Arrow

Episode 11: Cardi-OW! Tiles

Episode 12: Playa Des Losers 2

Episode 13: Minecrap

Episode 14: An impawssible task

Episode 15: Shoot your shot

Episode 16 (Special): Sweet Little Revenge

Maybe you can keep these titles in the back of your mind to make predictions as the season goes on!

Episode 4: G...P...Scream!

July 5 2024

7:45 pm

The 14 remaining campers were eating dinner in the dining hall but the atmosphere was rather grim. At one end of the hall, Priya's eyes were glaring daggers at Wayne who sat hunched next to Raj, not saying or eating much. Raj took immediate notice of Wayne's unusual behaviour.

Raj confessional: *giggles with stew all over his face* It's not like Wayne to be so quiet. I wonder what happened.

"Wayner?" Raj nudged Wayne with his elbow gently. "Want to draw some faces in our stew?" he asked raising his fork cheerfully, waiting for Wayne to do the same. Wayne didn't reply and only gave an unenthusiastic grunt.

Bowie leaned in.

"Gosh, Priya is all riled up at Wayne," he said nervously, absolutely spooked by the fire which was emanating from Priya's eyes. "She stares any harder than that and you might as well burst into flames." He turned his back towards her to avoid facing her and also to cover Wayne from her view. Bowie was acting as a shield between Priya and Wayne for Wayne's sake.

Meanwhile, Priya's hand was trembling with pure rage. She was mushing her stew with her spoon aggressively pretending it was Wayne's face. The salt shaker she had knocked over was laying pathetically on the table. She couldn't believe Wayne had sided with Julia over Millie!

Priya had found out the next morning when she went to visit the Panthers' cabin and only saw Nichelle, Axel and Julia with Millie's trunk nowhere to be seen. She hadn't even said goodbye to her best friend!

Priya had wrongfully assumed Wayne would save Millie and went to bed that night relatively confident she would see Millie the next day only to be proven horribly wrong. Poor Millie probably thought Priya didn't even care about her when she didn't see Priya running desperately to the dock to console her and say a goodbye… He was so going down if they both merged!

Priya got up and swiftly walked over to Wayne's table, glaring down at him. Wayne avoided her eyes but it was rather difficult when she was breathing like a winded rhinoceros inches away from his face. Suddenly –

"HOW COULD YOU VOTE OFF MILLIE? WHY DID YOU DO IT? HUH? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAVE HER!" she shrieked. Wayne continued to stare down ashamed as Priya's chest heaved up and down with uncontrolled breathing.

"Uhhh Priya, calm dow –" Bowie said startled.

BANG!

Priya slammed her fist down on the table. All three bowls jumped into the air and then landed back down.

"I WON'T CALM DOWN! WHY DID YOU SIDE WITH JULIA OVER MILLIE, WAYNE? ANSWER ME!" Priya's nostrils were blowing steam and Wayne bit his lip, trembling. He was not afraid of Priya's wrath; instead, he was sobbing because he had voted off Millie for the wrong reasons.

It had nothing to do with Julia being a stronger player or Millie messing up challenges. The real reason was inexcusable and he knew Priya would never forgive him for it. But still, he wanted to find some inner peace for his poor decision. Wayne stammered slowly as he spoke, still avoiding Priya's gaze.

"I j – just… thought… Julia w – was… pretty… that's why," he mumbled, staring at his shoes disappointedly. The ugly truth had come out.

Priya's brain exploded. She slammed her first down on the table again with even more force this time which caused Bowie, Raj and Wayne to jump up into the air. She brought her face until it was an inch away from his.

"ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME?" Priya seethed. She couldn't believe it. Teenage boys! Would they really do anything a conventionally attractive woman told them to? This was certainly a new low for the hockey captain; Priya's whole perception on Wayne had changed.

"I know it's stupid but I got swayed by her looks!" Wayne protested, desperate to defend himself.

Priya's eye twitched.

Priya confessional: *high-pitched voice* Ohhh… I got swayed by her looks. Omg Julia is so pretty. YEAH I KNOW SHE'S PRETTY, AND THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE HER OFF. She's pretty, she's dangerous and she's a threat so YEAH! She's a PRETTY DANGEROUS THREAT! *stomps foot frustrated* UGH!

"YOU'RE SO SHALLOW WAYNE. MILLIE TOLD ME YOU WERE A GOOD GUY BUT I GUESS SHE WAS WRONG," Priya continued to roar. "YOU'RE JUST FEEDING INTO JULIA'S PRETTY PRIVILEGE BY DOING EVERYTHING SHE SAYS YOU KNOW?"

Though Julia had her back turned to Priya and Wayne, she let slip a little smile at what she was hearing.

Julia confessional: *sighs happily* Yeah. I have pretty privilege. So what? *snorts* It's not illegal to look good, is it? Deal with it.

"I really liked Millie. That's why I feel awful, I – I made the wrong decision," Wayne pleaded staring directly at Priya now.

"YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN!"

Priya slapped her head in amazement.

"AND WHAT'S THIS 'PRETTY' TALK? ARE YOU SAYING MILLIE ISN'T PRETTY?" She would not take this Millie slander lightly.

Wayne slammed his bowl on the table. He was getting really fed up now with Priya even assuming things which were plainly not true!

"I DIDN'T SAY THAT, DON'T PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH PRIYA!" Wayne shot back. The back of his neck was beginning to glow amber hot with rage.

Raj felt it was time to cut the argument short before it got out of hand. He whistled loudly and motioned a time-out with his hands.

"OK everyone chill! PRIYA, STOP SHOUTING AT WAYNE! I'M NOT SAYING WAYNE WAS RIGHT TO VOTE OFF MILLIE BECAUSE HE THOUGHT JULIA WAS HOT BUT YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO'S UPSET. WAYNE ALSO FEELS BAD HIMSELF! I'VE NEVER SEEN HIM SO DEPRESSED SINCE THE OILERS LOST GAME 7 AND COULDN'T COMPLETE THE 3-0 COMEBACK LAST WEEK!"

Priya scoffed.

"Are you on the other team Raj?" she asked menacingly. Priya did not know why she was lashing out at Raj but perhaps it was because she felt Raj was being unfairly kind to Wayne. Tonight, she was ready to fight anyone. In fact, part of her wanted to fight everybody in this dining hall.

"ARE YOU ACCUSING ME OF BEING A TRAITOR?" Raj retaliated, red-faced. "BECAUSE I'M NOT!"

"Raj," Bowie gently said, touching Raj's chest affectionately trying to get him to calm down as well. There were a lot of angry voices tonight at this table and Bowie did not like that one bit. "We're going to have to work together if we want to make this team work… let's just…. everybody… we can sleep on it and talk tomorrow morning…" Bowie mumbled awkwardly.

Priya snorted, got up and left to sit at a spot far away from Bowie and the hockey bros. Damien who sat hunched over a few seats away from Priya played with his food nervously.

Damien confessional: *puts hand on chin* So I don't exactly know if this is the best time to make a move… but…

Damien cheekily slid his hand over Priya's shoulder and tried to grasp it gently in a slightly flirtatious manner. "Hey Priya…how you doin'? I know now's not the best time to ask but – "

"Leave me alone Damien," Priya said in a low voice as she sighed.

Damien gave a pretend chuckle though in his mind, he was hitting himself for being so impulsive and trying to pick her up at a time like this. Are you stupid? Why flirt now of all times? he scolded himself.

"Right… sorry… hehe, so….. Raj….. I got Raptors-Lakers tickets for Christmas, wanna come?" Damien scooted over to Raj, Wayne and Bowie, trying his best to look cheerful though deep inside he was hurting.

Priya continued to smash the carrots in her bowl with force when a gentle hand touched her shoulder. Priya, often twitchy ever since Millie's elimination looked up quickly. Oh, it's only Emma she thought, relaxing a bit.

Emma hugged Priya as she invited herself next to her, to which Priya did not object. Though they ate in silence, Emma's presence was enough for Priya to calm down slightly.

Meanwhile, MK and Caleb were glaring sour-faced at Emma who they thought seemed to be getting along too well with Priya. "If this keeps up, Emma needs to go," MK said to Caleb squashing her stew angrily with a downwards motion of her spoon. "She's too dangerous to be kept on the team if she can switch over to another alliance at any moment."

Emma was now friends with Priya and Bowie, it was too much!

MK did not know why she was so angry. On the contrary, she should be filled with joy at all the tension that was going on between the two teams. It seemed Priya and Wayne, if they both merged, would have some beef between the two of them which was certainly not something to complain about. But still… there was the matter of Emma working with Priya, Bowie, and now possibly Damien in the team phase that troubled her…

MK confessional: Woop-di-doo. Emma has too many friends. This is not good.

Julia herself was not a happy camper either tonight. It had been a little over two days since the disastrous TikTok fiasco where her swimsuit had been sabotaged with the smell of stinky fish and she still could not get that rotting smell out of her head.

It had been so traumatizing, not only having to deal with the smell of her clothes, but the looks from her peers when they thought she was a flop and could not dance.

Coupled with the fact that they ended up losing the challenge… and while voting Millie off was a smart decision, Wayne didn't seem to think so and he was now avoiding her at all costs.

Julia didn't care. She didn't need him. If he was going to play the silent treatment card she was going to do the same. And it was better to have less distractions anyways. Boys could be so complicated and she didn't need to deal with an overly emotional Wayne at the moment. No…she had more pressing matters to deal with.

Somebody in this lodge had sabotaged her swimsuit. She was sure of it. She could sense it. Axel and Nichelle had tried to pitch the idea that it was one of the staff members or even Chris but Julia shut that idea down immediately by pointing out Chris would have sabotaged all of their swimsuits for laughs and giggles instead of targeting her specifically.

Julia highly doubted it was going to be a one-time occurrence. Whoever it was, they were surely going to strike again if the chance arrived. She was going to make them sorry they ever messed with her.

Julia didn't like being messed with because she was supposed to be the one doing all the messing around. Playing dirty was her wheelhouse. Striking fear and intimidation in her competitors was her speciality so she didn't appreciate the fact that the roles had been reversed last challenge, going from hunter to being hunted.

Julia had already made a list of potential suspects but the truth was it could have been anyone because she didn't exactly leave a good impression last season. Anybody could have a motive to want to take her out.

Still, she wanted to show everyone she was not afraid. Fear was what they used to their advantage so Julia decided she was going to let them have it. She lifted her feet onto the table and stood up with her hands on her hips, accompanied with a confident sway. She stomped her foot loudly on the table which caused the cutlery to wobble and her fellow campers stared. Now that she had had their attention, she pounced.

"Whoever had the GALL to rub fish on my bathing suit two days ago is now number one on my hit list, whether you're on my team or not. If you're on my team, you're going home next time we lose. If you're not on my team and you somehow make it to merge, I'm taking you out first chance I get. And believe me, I WILL find out who you are." She narrowed her cold violet eyes and stared around, watching their reactions closely.

One of Julia's strengths was observing every little detail of facial expressions and body language, accurately gauging fear and uncomfortableness in other people. She was going to dissect everyone right here.

She instantly noticed Damien's left leg twitching under the table. OK, potential suspect but Damien is always scared of everything anyways, Julia thought blinking slowly from left to right and absorbing all the details in the room.

"Little twitchy there are you Damien?" she spat malignantly.

Damien yelped and dropped his spoon. Caleb all of a sudden spilled a little bit of stew onto the table. Scared of how abrasive I am? I wonder why… suspect number two Julia thought suspiciously.

"Try not to get the table dirty Caleb," she continued her relentless attack. "Unless… you're used to dirty? Playing dirty?"

Caleb gulped and fervently shook his head from side to side. No one else seemed to have made any significant changes to their behaviour and facial features. However…

Three people at the far end were ignoring her completely. Indeed, Ripper, Chase and Zee seemed to be unbothered, almost bored of Julia's speech. They were flinging meat into Zee's hat with their spoons and chuckling. If there was one thing Julia hated, it was being ignored when she had something important to say. She stepped off her table and rushed over to theirs. One foot up and she was on top of their table which rattled and shook violently. The trio of Ripper, Chase and Zee ceased laughing and looked up, wide-eyed and fearful. A moment of silence. Then –

"What?" Ripper demanded aggressively through a mouthful of stew. Julia sat down cross-legged on their table and casually kicked Zee's hat to the ground.

"NO! My scrumptious meat!" Zee howled as the contents spilled all over the wooden floor.

"Alright you three. Which one of you thought it would be a fun idea to punk me last challenge?" she hissed and raised a threatening fist. "Was it you Chase? Emma broke up with you but I'll break your legs instead."

Chase just laughed her off and raised both hands innocently. Indeed, this was one of the few times when he was genuinely innocent and as a result he was amused of Julia's false accusations.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" he snorted. "I would have actually STAPLED the fish onto your swimsuit. That way it doesn't only just smell, you'd have to actually shred your swimsuit if you want to get the fish stink off!"

Ripper and Zee snorted so hard their dinner came flying out of their noses.

Julia's eyebrows went up so high they disappeared into her hair. She took Ripper's bowl of stew and chucked it at Chase's face.

"OW!" Chase yelled through a faceful of stew.

Julia leaned closer until she was right in front of their frightened faces.

"Listen here Larry, Curly Moe," she said venomously through squinted eyes.

Chase, Ripper and Zee each looked at each other confused and pointed to themselves wondering if she was really referring to them as the three stooges. Ripper even mouthed 'Larry?'

Julia ignored them and continued rambling.

"If you even think of pulling something like that on me again, I'll staple your heads together and tie you up to a flagpole so we can all play pinata with it." She gave them one last fake smile and shoved them off their seats so that they crashed to the ground and rubbed themselves groaning.

Julia stepped down and smiled to herself. She had done it. Even though she hadn't found out who it was, she had sent out a message to everybody that she was ready and unafraid. That would be good enough for now.

Julia confessional: *breathes in relief* Ahhhh! That went better than expected. Still don't know why I went so hard on Ripper, Zee and Chase when I don't even know if those three were responsible but… whatever. I was in a bad mood and they were bothering me.

Julia returned to her seat between Axel and Nichelle to continue finishing her dinner. She was in the middle of sipping tonight's fruit punch when she heard a THUD! next to her. Julia turned her head towards her left and noticed Nichelle had just collapsed. Julia barely had time to react when a THUD! to her right signalled Axel's collapse.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Now the Trout trio were knocked out…

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Bowie, Wayne and Raj's heads had all banged against their tables and they were now all laying sprawled on the ground.

"What the – ?" Julia looked around frightened as Priya, Emma, Damien, MK and Caleb all fell as well one by one.

For a few seconds, Julia stared around at 13 knocked-out bodies before she too felt a light, tingly sensation in her head. She groaned and put a hand to her head, confused. Her world was going dark, her eyes were losing focus and all of a sudden, she was feeling drowsy.

Julia took one last gasp before she stumbled sideways and fell on her front.

8:00 pm

Julia groaned and woke up off the ground where she laid face-planted. Eerie music was playing in the background but she was not afraid, not in the slightest. Her last memories were bizarre. The last thing she remembered was intimidating the Trout trio and then everything else was a blur before blacking out.

She raised her head and used her left arm to get up slowly. She pushed the earth with her right hand and clutched her head; slowly her eyes came back into focus. For a second Julia was glad to be alone because she gave a little embarrassing scream. Thankfully no one was around to hear it. What lay in front of her was a large black costume, a green Ghostface mask, a giant tablet and… was that a chainsaw?!

"What in the world?" she whispered and twisted her head around to check for anyone nearby. Out of nowhere, the loudspeakers blared all over the campgrounds and Chris' voice could be heard echoing from the mics. Julia flinched slightly and looked up as if she were trying to find Chris.

"Goooood evening everybody!" Chris' cheery voice said, echoing across the campgrounds. "Hope you all had a splendid dinner, and I especially hope you enjoyed your fruit punch which we spiked with a sleeping potion just for tonight's special challenge!"

Julia couldn't believe that the producers had actually spiked teenagers' drinks but she blocked that thought out because she had to focus on the challenge, did he say?...

"In honor of the first red moon on Wawanakwa Island since 1991, we've decided to celebrate with a horror-themed challenge!" Chris' voice boomed. "This red moon is just screaming perfect conditions!"

At these words, Julia looked up and stared in awe at the blood-red moon above her. She had never seen one in her life before.

Julia confessional: *looks up dreamily* It really is. #freeredlighttherapy

"Depending on your role, you have been equipped with different items. If you just have a tablet with two green or two orange dots on your screen, congratulations… you're a victim! You have all been dropped off at a random location on the island. Your job is to make it back to the dock safely and ring the bell. The tablet will be your map so you can find your way back and those two dots you see on your screen represent the two teammates closest to you. Green for Panthers, Orange for Orangutans.

"You can choose to either go on your own to the dock or team up with other people. Choose wisely. Partnering up might sound safer but you'll have to spend a bit of time locating them first. Conversely, going alone might make you reach the dock quicker but it will be harder to survive. You will have to do your best to deal with snakes, bats, wild beasts, tricky terrains and two killers on the loose!"

At these words, Julia's face lit up with excitement and she gave a wide grin. She relished the thought of not being a victim. It was only natural for her to play the role of killer, after all she was never the type to run away scared.

An appropriate choice she thought to herself smugly.

"The rest of you are killers," Chris continued. "We've assigned one killer for each team. They've been dropped off closest to the dock and their job is to make sure victims don't ring the bell. Killers, you have been equipped with a chainsaw, a mask and a tablet showing EVERYBODY playing as well as their names. Your job is to use the chainsaw to destroy the tablets. Each tablet destroyed will count as a point for your team.

"Killers are not allowed to destroy each other's tablets. The thing that matters in the end the most is the amount of points you receive. Theoretically, a team can have more members make it back to the dock and still lose if the killer on their team racked up less points than the killer on the other team. Points, points, points people. So destroy as many tablets as you can! If the killer's tablet somehow gets destroyed they are out of the game. The game starts… NOW!"

The microphone turned off and tonight's game had officially begun.

Julia rubbed her hands eagerly.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho! IT. IS. ON !" she cackled. She tossed the oversized black-robed costume over herself and finally the green mask came on. She gave the chainsaw a whip and it came to life, its blades echoing ferociously throughout the crimson sky. Julia felt extremely bad-ass, standing with a chainsaw at night and a red moon glowing behind her.

She placed the tablet under her shirt and lifted the chainsaw above her head, ready to pummel everything in sight and mow down some tablets. She stared at the screen showing where everybody was.

Damien and Priya were dropped off west, Bowie and Raj were up north and MK and Emma were in the east. Julia thought strategically of who her first victim should be. She wasn't interested in petty revenge. She wanted to win and to do that she needed points. She bit her lip and thought carefully.

Caleb was the other killer. Julia smiled. Perhaps she was underestimating Caleb but she had a funny feeling he wasn't thinking as craftily as she was. He was probably picking people at random with very little thought. Tonight, she was going to be the smarter killer. Julia could see she was closest to Priya and Damien. She decided these were going to be her first two. Julia quickly weighed her options and made some calculations in her head.

Damien and Priya are probably teaming up which means that's 2 points Julia mapped in her head. Bowie and Raj are also teaming up so that's another 2 points. Between Emma and MK, Emma is a stronger player so I think I'll go for MK? But Emma is closer to the dock… Let's see… Emma is the player farthest east which means she should see MK and Raj as her two closest teammates. Of course she doesn't know who they are, she only sees two orange dots. Raj is kind of faraway but if Emma thinks that's Bowie would she go that far for him? If she tries to team up and finds MK first, she'll probably be discouraged that the next dot is Bowie because she can't afford to waste time. Emma is going alone and I can't have her getting there first.

She decided to go for Priya and Damien first, Emma next, Bowie and Raj after that and if time allowed it MK would be last.

Julia confessional: Talk about strategy. I am so running this game.

"LET'S GOOOOOO!" Julia cried into the sky and began heading west to Priya and Damien, splashing water as she crossed a pond, her sneakers sending frogs scurrying as she mindlessly crushed lily pads and sugarcanes beneath her.

Meanwhile, Caleb stirred slowly. After Chris had announced the rules of the game, he clenched the mask between his palms gratefully. Finally, another chance for him to show the others what he was made of. He was going to get more points than Julia.

True, the downside was there was a lot of cardio today when he had just done cardio yesterday. He would probably be running around for long periods of time with potentially little success. But still. He knew everybody's locations and that gave him a big advantage.

Caleb looked at his tablet. His strategy was to go for the weakest members first. Axel and Nichelle were nearby each other in the east so the chances of them teaming up were pretty high. He had seen the way Axel, Nichelle and Julia always hung out so if given the chance to team up, Caleb suspected they would probably go for it. Caleb felt confident he could take them each o but if there were two of them, with Nichelle's newly added kung-fu skills and Axel's strength it could be fatal.

Chase and Ripper were in the northwest. They seemed like good candidates and then there was Zee farthest west. Caleb had made his mind. He was going for Zee. Then he was going for Ripper and Chase. Finally, he would go for Axel and Nichelle. He would leave Wayne in the northeast alone for now. Besides, Wayne was probably the strongest of the six victims. Caleb frowned at the seventh green dot labelled 'Emily'.

"Probably just a glitch," he reassured himself. After all, why would Emily be playing?

He put his mask on, started up his chainsaw and rushed west. He could see Julia had already begun making her way west as well; she was just up ahead.

"Probably going for Priya and Damien," Caleb reasoned. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, thinking. His brow furrowed. He didn't really care for Damien but why did he feel so unsure about Priya? Should he try and help her? Sabotage Julia's path maybe?

No… if he wasted time saving Priya it would mean less time to secure points. For now he would just have to trust Priya to fend for herself. Caleb began running, hating the thought of hesitating back there for Priya. All that time wasted and he could no longer see Julia's backside.

Caleb confessional: I can't keep wasting time worrying about Priya. I need these points.

Axel wanted to throw her tablet into the river.

Why am I a victim? she furiously thought. I should be a killer. Although… maybe it wasn't all the bad. Axel was really digging this red moon.

The shadows it cast on everything around her were vibrant and even though she was infuriated she had failed to recognize their spiked drink (Literally survival rule number one: Always check your drink), she couldn't help but respect the producers for timing this challenge to be for today. It added a better playing atmosphere. She was temporarily lost in her thoughts until she noticed a green dot coming towards her.

Oh, great… she thought unamused. I'm teaming up with someone I guess? Axel really would have preferred to go alone.

A rustling of leaves and then –

The familiar face of Nichelle Ladonna popped out from a bush and waved happily at Axel.

"HEY!" Nichelle said rather loudly. She put a hand to her mouth in panic and hushed herself up.

"Hey," Axel replied half-enthusiastically. Despite it being one of her alliance members, Axel was not very good at expressing her excitement for group projects.

"Wanna partner up?" Nichelle asked in a quieter voice.

"Mhmmm depends. Think you can keep up?" Axel said tauntingly as she raised an eyebrow and began tying her long chocolate hair into a ponytail.

Nichelle laughed. Was Axel doubting her new skills? Had she already forgotten about the first challenge?

"YES I CAN!" Nichelle insisted.

Axel shrugged. "Then… why not? Let's go together. But first – "

Axel confessional: *punches fist into hand and smirks* Time for a little woodsman makeover

Axel quickly went to work. She crouched down on one knee and began scooping up mud into her palms. Nichelle stared perplexed and her jaw dropped when she saw Axel do the unthinkable.

Axel casually started smearing the mud onto her entire face, massaging it around generously with a very calm expression. Clearly, this wasn't Axel's first time doing this. For Axel, mud masks were as trivial as eating breakfast.

"Oh gosh… a mud mask?!" Nichelle said revolted as Axel started moving her hands in a circular motion.

Axel stared at Nichelle.

"Yup. Is it too much for your precious Hollywood skin?" she whispered savagely as she began applying mud to her shoulders and arms.

Nichelle flinched at this sassy remark. "Pffft no! But… why is this necessary?"

"Camouflage," Axel replied simply. "In general, you want to cover any exposed skin with a dark substance so they don't see you coming. Y'know? Blend in with your surroundings…" Axel thought this was rather obvious and couldn't believe she had to spell it out for Nichelle. Did she seriously not learn about this when filming survival movies?

"OK… if you say so…" Nichelle said hesitantly.

"Come here," Axel said sternly, motioning for Nichelle to come towards her. For a moment, Nichelle appeared to object but then she gave a sigh and walked to Axel. Axel began applying mud to Nichelle's face and arms. After a minute –

"Mind getting my back?" Axel asked as she turned around and pointed to her backside.

Nichelle looked like she had just been cancelled by Hollywood. It was bad enough having mud on her entire exposed skin, but to rub it on someone else?... Like sunscreen?...

Nichelle confessional: By far, one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever done. Right now I'm trying to pretend I'm just applying lotion! *gags*

Nichelle began to smoothen out the mud on Axel's backside and Axel did the same for her. They were finally ready.

Axel narrowed her eyes until they were fox-like. "Alright, let's move!" she said excitedly. "Stay behind me, be silent!"

Nichelle nodded. "GOTCHA!" she said a little too loudly for Axel's liking.

"SHHHHHH!" Axel snapped.

"Oh… right! Sorry…."

Axel confessional: *points proudly at herself* Trek through the woods. I was born for this.

Emily turned her tablet on and speedily punched in a number: 647-702-1965. She turned the camera of the video messaging app on and a second later Chris' face appeared on the side of the screen.

"Oh hello Emily," Chris grinned cheekily. "Did you enj – "

Emily raised her hand to get her father to stop speaking.

"Dad, why do I have a tablet? I'm not playing am I?" Emily vehemently asked.

Chris took a long pretentious sip out of his coffee mug and leaned back in his high chair before answering. "Actually… you are," he grinned.

"WHAT?!" Emily said outraged. "A – and so you thought I would make for a good victim? You couldn't make me a killer?! I know the most efficient ways to get around this place, secret passageways nobody else knows about. I'd finish this game in 15 minutes max and then you can enjoy yourself for the rest of the evening!" she flailed her arms in protest.

"Well, I'm actually enjoying myself right now but thanks for your commitment!" Chris chuckled. He lifted his legs up and reclined even farther back like a greedy landlord who was about to smugly evict their tenant. "Just play Emily! Come on! It'll be fun!"

"You're a dead man Mclean," Emily said through gritted teeth.

"Yup, that's your daughter all right," Chef laughed in the background.

"You said it yourself Em," Chris said. "You were bored of supervising the kids and tossing marshmallows so you wanted a more active role. I'd say running's pretty active don't you? Here you go!" The screen turned blank and Emily was left staring at her reflection with a disgusted face.

Well, if that's how things were going to be… she couldn't afford to waste any time. The sooner she got to the dock, the sooner she could rub it in her father's face.

Emily quickly tied her burgundy hair into a ponytail and wondered whether she should climb a tree to get the high ground or head east straightaway. There were two green dots next to her so she guessed that she must appear as a green dot on the other screens. Hoping and praying that these two dots were competent players, she began running east.

She ventured through a thick marshy bog and ran past the tree with a fork which she instantly recognized. She must only be 20 minutes away from the dock.

This is so easy she thought amused. She couldn't help but smile. If Chris really thought this would be a challenge for her, he was deeply mistaken. Nothing could stop her from getting there and seeing the arrogant smug smile which she loathed so much wipe off his face.

It's a funny feeling when you're so caught up in a good moment in your head you forget everything around you that exists in the physical realm. Sometimes, it feels like you're just sinking away, deeper and deeper into the ground. Deeper and deeper into the ground?!

"OH F*CK!" Emily swore as she closed her eyes and bit her lip in utter frustration as the realization hit her like a freight train. She had stepped directly into quicksand which was swallowing her up and there seemed to be nothing she could do about it. The worst part of it all was that she could tell this quicksand was not natural.

"Well, isn't this just wonderful? Dad plants quicksand and I fall right into it…" she sighed as she threw her hands up in defeat.

Chris who was watching from the monitors in his living quarters spat out his drink and began laughing uncontrollably. His laughter was so contagious Chef had no choice but to join in as well.

"Did you see the look on her face?" Chris wiped a gleeful tear from his eye. "HAAHA! That's just great! I put that there but I didn't think she'd be dumb enough to actually fall for it. I don't know if I'm disappointed or – or – or impressed!"

Emily confessional: *throws hands up resignedly* So I'm basically a sitting duck waiting to be slaughtered. If the quicksand doesn't get me, the killer will. Ugh, fantastic!

8:12 pm

Priya and Damien were already halfway to the dock. Damien suddenly collapsed, knees first to the ground heaving his chest which was inflating and deflating rapidly like a tire which urgently needed air pumped. Damien dramatically gulped water from the pond which they had stopped at. "Oh sweet baby H2O," Damien said between grateful sips.

Priya looked around anxiously while Damien took his water break.

Damien confessional: If I had to choose between dying from thirst or dying from a serial killer with a chainsaw, I'm taking the killer all day. *puts hands on hips* I ain't leaving this world with no crusty lips.

"Damien, come on," Priya urged. "We can't stay here too long, we have to keep moving or else someone will surely find us!"

Damien nodded. "You're right," he conceded taking one last gigantic gulp and wiping his mouth clean with his sleeve. "Let's get moving. You recognize where we are?" he turned his head puzzled. He definitely did not know where they were. It must've been a part of the island he had never seen before…

"Not really…" Priya admitted slowly. Whether it was this red light playing tricks on her and making her brain foggy or Millie's absence hitting a little harder than usual, Priya felt a little uncomfortable that she didn't recognize this area. One of the first things she had done both seasons was go for a run around the entire island to 'understand the location' as her parents had instructed. She had done it this year just to check if anything had changed but it hadn't. Priya was sure of it. So why did this area look so different?

Priya turned her head around, searching for the big iconic cliff of Wawanakwa. It would be a massive help to find it because then the dock would be south of it. From there, she would know exactly which direction to head for.

"Damien, help me find the big cliff," Priya whispered. She narrowed her eyes and did a 360 degree turn with her body. But for some reason, she was so sleepy… was it the after-effect of the spiked fruit punch or was she just sensitive to red light?

"AYO! THERE IT IS!" Damien yelled a little too loudly, pointing east where the sharp cliff was protruding into the night sky. "Oh damn, my bad," he hastily lowered his voice as Priya gave him a significant look.

Priya took a deep breath. "OK then… the cliff is east which means we need to go this way," she motioned towards the south, turning her feet accordingly. Damien promptly did the same.

"We'll have to go through this corn field first…" Priya said hesitantly. This corn field was definitely new, or it had just been planted for tonight because Priya definitely did not see this when she was surveying the area.

Damien looked fearfully up at the mean-looking scarecrow which was blowing in the wind and nodded his head, ready to go in. If a killer really was tracking them down, hopefully this corn field would provide a bit of cover.

Priya and Damien tiptoed into the corn field as silently as they could. Suddenly, they heard a sharp rustling pierce through the night.

"Damien. SHHHH!" Priya put her hands to her lips.

"That wasn't me!" Damien protested, slightly scared. He had heard that noise too. There was definitely someone else in here with them… the only question is was it friend or foe?... human or animal?...

"I know it wasn't you. That's the point. We need to listen caref – " Priya began but she was cut off by another swift rustling behind her. Priya's heart skipped a beat. She had a bad feeling the killer was already here. She turned around only to see an empty field. Now Damien was nowhere to be seen.

"Damien?" she called out nervously. She did not like this. She knew Damien would never leave her to fend for herself alone.

And then –

"ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

Priya abruptly jerked her head to her left. She could hear Damien's screams but she could not see him. All she saw was the corn stalks to her left which were now rustling aggressively. It appeared Damien was being dragged away through the cornfield… and fast.

"AHHHHHHH!" Damien's blood-curdling screams pierced through the night as Julia dragged him away by the collar of his jacket with a firm grip.

"DAMIEN!" Priya began running, following his voice.

Julia continued to drag Damien through the cornfield, turning left, then right, then left again. Finally, she reached the scarecrow at the center of the field and flung Damien into it with tremendous force. Damien's body crashed into the feet of the scarecrow while his head bobbled around weakly. His tablet cleanly fell out of his pocket and dropped to the earth. With a vicious slash, Julia destroyed it immediately. Damien was out. He groaned as he massaged his head which felt like it had just been split in half.

Julia heard Priya coming behind her so she quickly darted to her right and laid low in the field, watching intensely like a predator hunting its prey, waiting for Priya to check up on Damien's injuries before pouncing on her too.

A few seconds later, Priya had arrived to see a shocked Damien.

"Priya, THE KILLER'S IN HERE WITH US, WATCH OUT!" Damien cried out in fear, closing his eyes in shame. How had he let himself get dragged away like that? Like an absolute ragdoll? Even worse, he had a bad feeling he was the first one out considering the game had only started fifteen minutes ago.

Priya nodded as her eyes quickly darted left and right. She barely had time to check her surroundings when she was suddenly struck from the back of her head rather harshly.

WHAM!

A temporary sharp pain and Priya grabbed her head but quickly recovered. She turned around and there they were. The killer, chainsaw roaring, ready to fight.

Julia thrust her chainsaw forward. Priya just narrowly avoided the blades by ducking. Priya leapt up and roundhouse-kicked Julia who blocked with her chainsaw. Priya gave another kick with her left leg and the chainsaw flew cleanly out of Julia's hand and onto the ground.

For a moment, Priya and Julia stared at each other silently. Then suddenly they both raced for it. It looked like Priya was going to get there first until Julia flung herself at Priya's waist and the two of them tumbled to the ground, their bodies skidding along the earth, each clawing at each other trying to put the other in a pin. After a minute of rolling around, they briefly separated from each other but not for long.

Priya tackled Julia as hard as she could and the two of them crashed into the scarecrow. Three crows flew away annoyed. Damien was watching in horror. Though he was already eliminated, that didn't mean he couldn't help Priya out…

Damien confessional: WHY AM I JUST STANDING THERE? TIME TO BE USEFUL!

Damien decided he was going to make a run for the chainsaw while the killer was distracted by Priya.

Julia heard Damien's footsteps running away from her and she knew he had decided to make a run for the chainsaw. She had to stop this.

BANG!

Julia headbutted Priya with her mask and sent Priya stumbling backwards, clutching her forehead in pain.

Julia turned around to stop Damien but unfortunately for her, he was almost at the chainsaw. He would get there first…

Damien reached for the chainsaw with his outstretched hand and picked it up happily.

"HA-HA! OH HOW THE TURN TABLES!" he smiled savagely as he held his new toy proudly. The chainsaw had given him hope and now he was ready! Damien whipped around, ready to confront the killer but then –

WHAM!

A shoe had collided with the side of his head with such force Damien dropped the chainsaw and wobbled backwards. He tripped over a branch on the ground and fell down on his back with a loud THUD!He was unconscious.

Julia had taken off one of her sneakers and flung it directly at Damien. Risky move but it had paid off well.

Julia bent down to reclaim her chainsaw but Priya swooped in out of nowhere and kicked it out of her hands. They were back to fighting hand-to-hand. Julia scowled in annoyance. She had to end this fight sooner rather than later.

Priya looked down and recognized the killer's sneakers.

"JULIA!" Priya yelled shrilly. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" Now it was personal. Priya was going to avenge Millie tonight. All of a sudden, Priya had gained the urge to strike Julia harder than ever before. For Millie. And then there was Damien too…

Julia took off her mask. There was no point fighting with it; it would only slow her down after all and make her more sweaty. Julia curled her lip as she stared down at Priya's angry and determined face.

"What's wrong Priya?" Julia smiled arrogantly. She put a hand to her chin, pretending to be thinking. "Ohhh…that's right. I sent your girl packing. Yeah… she was useless…"

Priya balled her hands into fists and swung for Julia's head.

Julia side-stepped and easily dodged Priya's punch, maintaining eye contact as she continued to stare at Priya tauntingly. Priya briefly stumbled stupidly but quickly regained her balance.

"Poor Millie… I guess people were right about you carrying her last season… She should have never outranked me. See what happens when she's left to fight for herself?" Julia goaded, absolutely elated at witnessing Priya lose her mind.

Julia confessional: *pretends to look concerned* Poor Priya. She's too emotional.

"YOU BITC – " Priya swung again but again Julia ducked, smoothly avoiding Priya's closed fist. Priya's heart was pounding with rage. Though she knew Julia was trying to get inside of her head, Priya just couldn't ignore the arrogant smirk… the taunting… it was too much.

"I heard you didn't even say goodbye to Millie at the dock… she must have been so devastated…are you two even friends?" Julia laughed ruthlessly. She was really messing with Priya's head now –

WHAM!

This time Priya's punch had landed squarely, right in Julia's cheek.

Julia gave a cry of pain and fell to the ground, clutching her face. Priya breathed heavily with rage as she stood over Julia.

For a moment there, it seemed Priya had won. Priya picked up the chainsaw to slash Julia's tablet. Julia looked up at Priya apprehensively. She had no choice but to use the environment to her advantage. Priya may have the weapon now but if Julia was right about how much she had effectively damaged Priya's mental state… well then surely Priya was going to act rashly and try to end things too quickly without double-checking her surroundings… or Julia's hands which were clawing the ground in anticipation… ready to strike…

Priya confessional: *waves sassily with an unhinged grin* Goodbye Julia. This one's for Millie!

Priya lifted the chainsaw above her head with a victorious grin. She was about to slash downwards when Julia grinned maliciously and without hesitation, viciously swiped sand directly into Priya's eyes. Julia had not held back at all. That swipe was personal for punching her.

"EUGHHH!" Priya clutched her eye in pain with both hands. The stinging was too much, she would not be able to see. Her world was becoming a blur, the filthy sand and all of its contents were swarming her irises and clouding her vision.

Priya stumbled and wobbled as she helplessly tried to grab Julia's face but Julia stuck her foot out and Priya walked right into it, tripped over and face-planted into some mud. Priya made one last attempt to get up but when she felt Julia's entire bodyweight suddenly on top of her, she knew the fight was over.

Julia grabbed the back of Priya's head and spitefully slammed it into the mud repeatedly. By this point, Priya could do nothing but cough and splutter as her face kept getting smashed into the dirty mud over and over again.

Five times. Six times. Seven times.

When will she stop? Priya wondered angrily, choking between each slam. Julia was having fun. After punching her in her cheek, Julia felt she was going easy on Priya. Finally, after 22 slams Julia was satisfied. She reclaimed her chainsaw once again and slashed Priya's tablet without hesitation.

"HA!" Julia gloated as Priya lay face-down in the mud, helpless and unmoving. Priya was out.

Julia got off of Priya's back, making sure to slap her head mockingly one last time and turned away to go after her next victim – Emma. She was feeling happy of the two points she had just acquired with relative ease. Now she felt confident she could get the others just as easily.

"Later losers," Julia taunted slyly to the blurry-visioned Priya and the knocked-out Damien. Julia picked up her mask and the other shoe she had knocked Damien out with before beginning her walk east.

When the commencement horn had blared signalling the start of their challenge, Emma had barely moved. She stared hardly at her screen and saw two orange dots, one moving to the dock steadily and the other… was zooming towards her! Is it Bowie? Emma thought excitedly.

Emma hated being alone in anything. Especially eating alone… that was her biggest fear. She knew it sounded stupid but after eating alone for all of elementary school and being isolated, she always preferred group projects and friends. Maybe it's why she always clung to Chase because he was always hosting parties and inviting all the cool kids to his house…

The orange dot was rapidly approaching her and Emma turned her head around the nearby tree. With one hand over the trunk, she peeked slowly to see who was running. It was not Bowie. It was MK.

Aww, better than nothing I guess Emma thought, slightly underwhelmed. She really would have preferred Bowie now that they were speaking again.

"Emma!" MK called out.

"Here!" Emma responded, waving her hand behind the tree without revealing her body just in case a killer was nearby. MK quickly dipped behind the tree and ducked to the ground. Emma crouched as well to see MK better.

MK was panting and lay flat on the ground catching her breath.

"Emma, I need your help," MK said rashly.

"My help?" Emma was stunned. What could crafty little MK need from me? she thought puzzled. Even though she was technically in an alliance with Caleb and MK, she still felt like an outsider, as if those two were a little bit closer than she was to each of them. This feeling had been exacerbated ever since she started hanging out more with Bowie over the last couple of days.

"Yeah…" MK said slyly. "Here's the dealeo. Bowie is a bit of a problem for me – and I'll tell you why," she finished harshly as Emma had begun to open her mouth in protest. "Bowie is trying to make you feel like you're his bestie again when in reality you're just a third wheel to him and Raj. When the time comes, he'll get rid of you without a doubt. Now, I happen to like you Emma and I would hate to see that happening," MK said turning on her tablet. "I know it must be hard for you to hear this after Bowie helped you last challenge but trust me, he doesn't like you as much as you like him.

"Which is why," she raised her voice slightly again as Emma was turning tomato red. "We need to split them up."

Emma paused.

"Split who up?" she asked with a quivering voice, scared of the answer she knew was going to come out of MK's mouth.

"Bowie and Raj," MK answered simply. Another pause.

"N – no. We can't do that," Emma shuddered. She had gone very weak and her toes were tingling, itching to end this conversation quickly and get as far away from here as possible. What did MK mean 'Split them up?' Surely she didn't mean it in that way.

"Why not?" MK inquired.

"Look, I'm grateful for Caleb and you coming and talking to me when I broke up with Chase for the 50th time, but there are some things which are too far. Bowie helped me dance last challenge! What kind of person would that make me if I went ahead and backstabbed him right away?" Emma whispered.

"It would make you a very smart person because then it shows you want to take full control of this team," MK said, once again very matter-of-factly.

Emma looked like she had just got slapped across the face.

"You have Bowie's semi-trust and that's when you strike him. When he least expects it," MK drawled.

Emma's hands were shaking so much she had to ball them into fists Arthur-style and place them behind her skirt. "But I would feel terrible afterwards," she sobbed.

"Would you feel terrible being a millionaire?" MK pressed on, edging closer and closer to Emma's shocked face.

"No obviously not!" Emma shouted. "But at what cost? I lose my best friend AGAIN? He would NEVER forgive me this time!"

MK shrilly yelled into the air. "AWWW EMMA! YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE ME PUKE!"

Emma's forehead was flowing with copious amounts of sweat which began dripping onto her collar. "MK!" Emma urgently whispered. "Stop yelling. Do you want the killer to find us?" she took a careful peek behind the tree.

"They won't. We're east. The killers are both in the wild, wild west. We're as far away from them as we can be," MK said coolly.

"But – how could you possibly know that?" Emma asked skeptically. "I saw your dot. You didn't even go anywhere near the west, you came running here straight to me!"

MK didn't answer the question. She only continued raving. "Bowie and Raj are near the waterfalls. Good thing about waterfalls is they eventually end."

Emma grabbed MK's tablet and stared. Her jaw dropped.

"H – how do you have this?" Emma gaped.

It was a tablet showing everybody's location and their names. How could MK have gotten hands on a tablet for killers?

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," MK winked. "I have a plan that will guarantee Bowie and Raj split up both literally and in terms of their relationship as well."

Emma had so many questions buzzing through her brain she began to feel light-headed. "FIRST of all, this - this thing you're doing," Emma pointed to the tablet as if it were possessed. "It sounds kind of like, cheating – "

"No, no, it's exactly like cheating," MK corrected her promptly.

Emma was not pleased.

"I – I'm sorry MK but I don't think I can help you," Emma firmly said. "Not today."

MK blew her nose impatiently. This was what she had come for? For Emma to start chickening out of their alliance? MK was left with no choice. She already had a sneaking suspicion Emma's loyalty would waver when she saw her acting too friendly with Priya earlier. Now it was time to officially cut her off.

"Well then, I'll do it without your help. And from now on, you can kiss our little alliance good bye!" MK said fiercely.

"Wait! WAIT MK! Please, no! I still want to be a part of the alliance. I just don't want to hurt Bowie!" Emma pleaded.

"That's too bad because those two options are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE!" MK roared as she ditched Emma.

MK stomped furiously, trudging through the forests, kicking leaves and bushes in a thuggish manner. She was the gangster of the forest and she was going to split up Bowie and Raj tonight, whether Emma agreed to it or not. She had already wasted so much time trying to convince Emma to join her plans only to be met with very little reward for her efforts. For now, she had to get to Caleb. This plan could only really work with a killer involved.

MK ran along the path to the woods out west, staring up at the sky with a gleaming mischievous grin. At once she began to laugh.

"OHOHO! EMMA! The problem with you is caring too much about people!" she yelled as she happily skipped along.

Ripper and Chase had decided to go for the green dot next to them.

"Hopefully it's Zee," Chase said casually as he strode along the path. They had been running towards this dot but hastily speeded up as they had noticed it had been still for quite some time.

"Probably got his leg stuck between a rock or something and that's why he's not moving," Ripper reasoned, recalling what had happened with the raptor in the fart challenge last season. "At least we know the killer didn't get to him or else his dot would've disappeared."

"True, true," Chase huffed.

Ripper and Chase leaped over some rocks and edged their way slowly down a hill.

"Zee should be somewhere over there," Chase squinted pointing ahead.

Chase and Ripper came running until they were right on top of the green dot.

"Where's Zee?" Chase asked turning around and craning his head.

"ZEE!" Ripper roared. "WHERE YOU AT?"

"Dude!" Chase frowned. "Can we like not try and alert a potential killer?"

"RIPPER?" Emily's voice sliced through the night air.

"Emily?" Ripper said, lowering his voice slightly and speaking in a soft, almost concerned tone.

Ripper and Chase jostled down further down the hill until they met their favourite summer camp counselor.

"EMILY?!" they said together shocked.

Emily looked up slightly disappointed. "Oh, it's you two..." she muttered unimpressed.

Emily confessional: *rolls eyes* Definitely not my first two choices of who I would have come and save me, but I'll take it.

" You sound a little too happy to see us," Chase joked, seating himself on a stump and massaging his right foot which had cramped up a bit on the run here.

"Phew, I just finished wrestling a bear," Ripper lied, clutching the side of his face which had a scratch.

"Oh, reeeeally?" Emily asked sarcastically, egging Ripper on to tell his fake heroic story.

"Actually he slipped and fell on a rock," Chase said grinning.

"There we go," Emily chortled. Ripper glared at Chase.

Chase confessional: *shrugs* I couldn't help it. I know I'm supposed to help my boy but it was too good to resist!

Ripper got up. Since his fabricated story had been tarnished by Chase, he was going to make up for it by saving Emily from the quicksand right here.

"EMILY! STAY STILL! I'M COMING IN TO SAVE YOU!" Ripper yelled. He ripped off his shirt and roared into the ruby sky.

"What's with the shirt rip?" Chase wondered.

"NO DON'T!" Emily panicked. She attempted to get Ripper to turn around, for him to do anything but what she thought he was going to do. If he really was about to jump in, she would have no words. Surely nobody could be that stupid. She waved her hands all over the place and expressively used her body to signal NO but –

Too late.

Ripper cannonballed into the bed of quicksand sending black inky substance flying everywhere, splattering the trees and squirrels nearby who all shook their fists. Emily gaped for a few seconds to let the moment truly sink in. As Ripper spat some quicksand out of his mouth –

"CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" Emily shouted in front of Ripper's face. "WHY – WOULD – YOU – DO – THAT?" she cried hitting Ripper on his hairy chest between each word.

"HEY! I WAS TRYING TO SAVE YOU!" Ripper yelled back, furious at Emily for being so ungrateful.

Emily laughed maniacally. "WELL DID YOU DO THAT? NO! NOW WE'RE BOTH STUCK. SO WHAT'S YOUR BIG PLAN?" she splashed some black tar onto his face.

Chase was rolling around on his back howling with laughter like a hyena as he pointed at Ripper and Emily.

"AHAHAHA!" Chase said pounding his fist into the earth. "Ripper, that was wicked!"

Emily tried to throw some of the quicksand at Chase which narrowly missed his head as he ducked at the last second.

"WOOO, her aim isn't as good when she's sinking in quicksand!" Chase teased. Emily's right eye twitched and she wanted nothing more than to pound the taunting Chase who was now pretending to film a video with his hands.

"Chase get us out!" Ripper pleaded. "I'm SHRINKING! I can't afford to be under 6 foot!" The alpha male would not tolerate being short. Anything under 6 feet was victim height.

"You're going to be 6 feet UNDER unless I come to the rescue!" Chase laughed, T-posing to assert dominance. He was savoring this moment. He enjoyed playing the hero and he especially liked it when others looked to him to rescue them.

Chase confessional: *Sings obnoxiously and horribly out of tune* I need a quicksand hero! I'm holding out for a quicksand hero till the end of the –

Emily threw another piece of sand which landed squarely on Chase's hair.

"AHHH MY HAIR!" Chase shrieked, attempting to shake off the large blackish colour oozing on his head.

"I thought I showed you last time, I never miss twice," Emily cracked her neck from side to side sassily.

"Alright fine, I'll get you guys out," Chase said grumbly. "AFTER I get this out first" – he pointed to the sand in his hair – "So you can thank HER for that." Chase pointed sharply at Emily who rolled her eyes.

"Get to it!" she barked.

Chase scowled as he cleaned the filth and grime out of his fabulous hair. After about two minutes, he was ready to begin the rescue operation.

Chase climbed up a tree which was no problem for him. Climbing trees was nothing but a warm-up compared to his stunts back home. He tied a vine around the thick part of the branches and took a deep breath. He began to sprint forwards and kicked off the ground with one foot, grabbed the vine he had securely attached and swung like Tarzan. If he had both hands, he would've beaten his chest King-Kong style.

Chase extended his hand and Ripper grabbed onto it, while Emily held onto Ripper's ankle. With momentum on their side, Chase was able to pull Ripper and Emily out. At least he thought.

Getting them out of the quicksand had been easy enough but getting them over the branch was going to be significantly more difficult. One moment he was pulling them up, the next they were pulling him down.

"OH NO!" Chase panicked, grabbing on to the branch with all his might. The vine he had tied around the branch was experiencing great tension and was about to reach breaking point. One snap and they'd all fall into the murky depths below.

Chase clenched his teeth in desperation and tried to pull them all up but failed repeatedly as Ripper and Emily's combined bodyweight sagged him down.

"RIPPER, WHY ARE YOU SO HEAVY MAN?" Chase complained.

"How am I supposed to answer that question?" Ripper said incredulously as he held his eyes shut tight.

"Chase, whatever you do, do NOT let go!" Emily yelled, looking up at Chase dangling from the branch.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Chase exploded. His eyes widened as the vine made a creaking sound. "Oh no! the vine is about to snap!"

Was it all over?

"Hang on!" Emily climbed on to Ripper's head and then got herself on top of Chase's shoulders. Chase winced but held on desperately. At once, Emily began taking off her camp counselor shirt, revealing her black bra. Chase and Ripper exchanged understanding smiles.

Emily twirled her shirt around like a lasso and flung it on to another more stable branch. It wrapped itself around the branch tightly while she firmly held on to the sleeve. . She heaved herself up slowly, Chase holding on to her waist while Ripper stayed behind holding on to the vine.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! CAREFUL!" Chase warned, shaking his hands frantically.

"Can you not panic?" she hissed. She heaved herself up with all her might and she had finally gotten them both onto the thick tree branch. She and Chase were now safe.

Emily clapped her hands. "OK! Time to get Ripper ou – CHASE! COME BACK!"

"Oh sh*t you're right, my bad," Chase had turned around to get back to the ground without rescuing Ripper.

Chase and Emily gave a gigantic heave (it was difficult), with Ripper's weight sagging the both of them down. Finally, with all their strength they managed to get him on to the branch with them. They watched silently as the vine Chase had originally rescued them with fell cleanly to the quicksand and disappeared from view.

Ripper confessional: Phew that was a close one. Emily's lucky she had us strong men to rescue her! *flexes*

Chase, Emily and Ripper lay panting on the thick part of the branch which was comfortably supporting all three of them.

After a few minutes, Chase leapt down to the ground.

"OK… I'm just going to go take a leak…" he called from below. This was a lie. Chase was going to make a run for the dock by himself not because he was acting selfishly but because he wanted to leave some alone time for the other two. It was a completely selfless act.

"Ugh…" Emily wrinkled her nose and looked at Chase disgusted.

Chase whistled and started heading east to the dock. Before disappearing out of sight, he winked back at Ripper who returned a weak smile.

Chase confessional: Am I the greatest wingman ever or what? *winks*

Ripper and Emily sat in silence for a few minutes, Emily playing with her heels, Ripper ripping pieces of bark off the tree in boredom. Ripper felt hollow. He finally had a chance to have another one-on-one conversation with his crush and yet he was struggling to say anything. She didn't seem interested in starting a conversation with him either so he had to be the one to do it first. But what to talk about?...

Ripper's brain scrambled and finally it settled. He was going to go for the obvious, because why not?

"Soooo… what are you doing? Are you playing with us?" he asked her mundanely.

Emily stopped playing with her shoes and looked up. "Yup," she replied. "Dad made me play to teach me NOT to complain." She rolled her eyes.

Ripper blinked. What was there to complain about when you were Emily Mclean? "Complain about what? Don't you like this place?" he asked confused. I mean after all, I'm here he thought in his head.

Emily faltered slightly before responding. "I do… it's just… I just wanted to be more involved… all I do is toss marshmallows and supervise you guys from time to time…" she muttered staring directly at Ripper.

"Well… that's not bad!" Ripper said kindly. And then he suddenly recalled that Emily was an art major. Ripper leaned closer to Emily. "Hey… you think you can draw a portrait of me?"

Emily looked at him stunned. "Can I draw you? of course I can draw you. But do I WANT to draw you? I don't know…" she raised an eyebrow.

"Here… I have paper and a pencil!" Ripper said excitedly, ignoring her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a half-crumpled piece of paper and a foldable pencil.

"You carry these with you?" Emily asked, mind blown, wondering if these had really been inside of his sweaty shirt the whole time.

"YEAH!" Ripper enthusiastically replied.

"Nerd," she joked, laughing at Ripper's expression.

Ripper handed the pencil and paper to her, their fingers briefly touching. Emily opened the paper to its full size and stared at it impressed. There was already something written on it. A bunch of lines and black shapes that looked like… musical notes. There was one word on top, 'Crying.'

"You play music?" she asked stunned.

"What?" Ripper jumped. Apparently, he did not realise the paper he had given Emily had music on it.

Ripper rubbed his hands nervously. "Oh yeah… piano. Nobody knows but I play it... I hang around the music halls all day back at my high school."

Emily didn't know why but she found it charming that Ripper played the piano. Though why did he seem slightly embarrassed to tell her this…?

"Cool… stay still… ," she adjusted herself so she could see him better. "You wanna be a professional piano player?" she began drawing a large, round circle for Ripper's face.

"I guess?... I like to compose," Ripper replied.

Emily paused her drawing and flipped the sheet over to the music side. "This is your own music?" Now she was really impressed.

"Yeah…" Ripper grinned.

"Why is it called 'crying'?"

"Well, gee… Hmmmm… maybe because it's a sad song, did you ever think of that?" Ripper said sarcastically.

"Shut up," Emily gave a small laugh. She returned to her drawing but continued to talk with Ripper casually. "What's the story behind it?" she asked intrigued.

Ripper's smile faded and his eyes lowered. "I just… wrote it… for my 8th grade dance… that's it…" He stopped speaking, looking as if he had lockjaw.

Well that was odd, Emily thought to herself. But she decided to leave it at that. He was clearly bothered by the question so she wasn't going to pursue.

8:47 pm

Zee popped his head out from behind a tree, looking suspiciously to his left and to his right, his tablet in one hand, his signature soda held firmly in the other.

Zee confessional: There's a killer out on the loose looking for me which means the first thing we gotta do is make a fire… that way, we'll both be warm

Zee grabbed some firewood and began clanging rocks to produce fire. However, he had to stop suddenly because he had just heard a loud, crunching noise behind him. Zee turned around, his soda can shaking intensely.

"Who is it?" Zee called, his voice tremoring. He took a few steps backwards, ready to ditch his fort if he had to. But then –

A grey, black and white furry head popped out from the bush. It was nibbling apricots and stared at Zee puzzled. Zee sighed in relief. "Awww, it's just a cute little racoon. Hey, dude want some soda?" he cooed. The raccoon made a small noise. Was that a yes?

"Here, lemme get you some food," Zee bent down to pick up some acorns which some squirrels must have left behind. Zee placed the acorns in his hand and gestured for the raccoon to come closer. Which it did. The raccoon cooed affectionately as it slowly edged its way over to Zee's waiting hands.

"I'm going to call you Rusty. Think you can find me some firewood brah? Thanks…" Zee purred as Rusty the raccoon began nibbling the acorns happily in his hand.

After it had finished it's little snack, Zee set Rusty free. Rusty disappeared slickly into the shadows. Zee chuckled to himself and began humming a little lullaby when he heard a loud rustling once again. Zee paused, staring apprehensively at the last place he had seen Rusty.

"Rusty? Is that you?" Zee said, as he took a nervous sip of soda. No response. Zee clutched his prosthetic. He would probably have to start moving soon as this place no longer seemed safe. Zee took another sip of soda but immediately spat it out as he saw a large dark figure with a chainsaw jump from the shadows.

"AHHHH!" Zee screamed, chucking his soda can at the killers' face. He got a direct hit. Caleb rubbed his head angrily and began to chase Zee.

Zee continued to run as fast as he could, bolting through trees and throwing branches at random on the ground as if that would stop Caleb. He did not know where exactly he was going; he just wanted to get out of here.

Zee looked back twice and each time yelped as he saw the intimidating frame of Caleb on his heels. Suddenly Zee heard another voice screaming in front of him. Whoever it was, they were running towards Zee and the killer.

And then Zee finally saw Chase running and screaming loudly.

"AHHHHH!" Chase yelled.

"AHHHHH!" Zee yelled as they got closer and closer to each other. He squinted. Behind Chase, there appeared to be many dark and fuzzy objects floating in mid-air. This was most likely what he was running away from.

"CHASE?" Zee said stunned.

"ZEE?" Chase said.

"DUDE RUN! THERE'S A KILLER BEHIND ME!" Zee cried, waving his hands frantically to get his friends' attention to turn and run the other way. Whatever those floating objects were, it surely could not be worse than a killer.

"DUDE RUN! THERE'S A BUNCH OF CRAZY BATS BEHIND ME!" Chase yelped, swatting a bat away from his hair.

Chase and Zee continued to run towards each other. Zee was in the middle of formulating a genius escape plan. He was considering using the bats to their advantage to get them to attack Caleb while Chase and him dived off to the side. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly felt a hand grab his shirt. Next thing Zee knew, he was flung to the bats who began circling over his head menacingly. Zee looked at Chase incredulously as Chase cut off to the side and disappeared through a bush.

Zee frowned as the bats stared him down excitedly, eager to dig into the flesh of their new victim. Things might have been hopeless for non-soda drinkers, but Zee whose entire life revolved around soda, realized he had a powerful weapon.

Zee pulled out two cans of soda from his pocket and began to shake them vigorously. After a minute, he opened the cans.

WHOOSH!

A blast of creamy orange soda exploded from both cans and doused the bats who begun to flutter away, agitated.

"YEAHHH!" Zee hopped around on his prosthetic and performed a victory dance. Unfortunately, he had been so concentrated on fighting off the bats, he forgot about Caleb. Zee turned around and before he knew it, he was face to face with the killer.

Zee confessional: *chuckles* I'm in danger

Caleb seized Zee's baggy shirt with a firm grip before flinging him a little too harshly to a tree. It had certainly been harsher than he had intended as Zee was now unconscious. Orange soda flowed on to the ground as he lay there helpless.

Caleb confessional: I didn't know Zee was that light… Sorry bro. *scratches head awkwardly*

After sitting and drawing in silence for half an hour, Emily realized Chase had not come back from his bathroom break. "K, Chase is taking too long. Let's move," she said decidedly. "I'm finished by the way," she tossed Ripper the portrait she had worked on.

"Looks good Picasso!" he gave a hearty grin.

Emily leaped down to the ground and Ripper swiftly did the same (although he landed on his butt instead of his feet). "Thanks…" he muttered as Emily helped him up. As Ripper got to his feet, he yelped. Emily whipped around. They were now face-to-face with Caleb the killer who was currently breathing loudly as he stepped closer to them.

Ripper and Emily backed up slowly wondering which way they were going to run. That is, if they should even run. After all, there were two of them. Maybe they could take on this large killer despite his intimidating stature and size.

Emily certainly seemed to think so. She was never the type to run away from a fight. She stepped on Ripper's shoe.

"OW!" he yelped as he looked at her incredulously. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" he roared.

Emily rolled her eyes. Of course he hadn't caught on to the fact that she wanted to tell him something. "OK you distract him… I'll try to get an attack from behind," she whispered as Ripper started sweating. "That sound alri –?"

She did not finish her sentence though because next thing she knew, Ripper's hands had seized her shoulders tightly in a squeeze.

"I DON'T TASTE SO GOOD!" Ripper blubbered. "HERE, TAKE EMILY!"

"WHA – ?" Emily protested.

With a violent shove, Ripper pushed his crush straight into Caleb and then proceeded to make a run for it. Sweating profusely, he desperately swatted leaves, branches and vines out of his way, as he stumbled over his untied laces and whimpered in fear.

Emily whipped her head around only to see a cowardly Ripper making a run for it, looking like an absolute wreck as he zoomed away into the darkness.

"RIPPER!" she cried out. Would he come back for her? It didn't look like it. Ripper's head was getting smaller and smaller as he ran farther and farther away…

Ripper confessional: So here I am running for my life from the killer when all of a sudden it hits me… *blinks in horror* DID I JUST PUSH EMILY IN FRONT OF THE KILLER?!

Emily scowled as she turned to face the killer head-on.

"UGH! Fine, I'm warning you. I'm not going down that easily…" Her heart was thumping. Even though she knew she stood no chance, she still wanted to get a few good hits. Emily gave Caleb three fierce kicks to the head and then punched his stomach with as much force as she could muster. No luck as Caleb stood over her, unhurt.

Even worse, it was Emily's hands that were swelling and hurting. She had not expected her fists to collide with rock-hard abs. And then she realized who she was fighting. Emily's heart skipped a beat.

Its Caleb isn't it she thought frightened.

Emily backed up slowly, trying her best to ignore the stinging pain in her hands. Truthfully, she may have even broken her bones. Emily winced as she tried to get one more good hit to his mask but Caleb simply seized her wrist and slammed her as gently as he could to the ground.

Emily's tablet fell out cleanly and Caleb cut it up with his chainsaw in one swift motion. Now that his job had been done and he had secured another point (surely that should count as a point right?), it was time to move on to the cowardly Ripper and Chase who had both betrayed their partners.

Emily sat down panting as she watched Caleb run after Ripper, his desperate shove still etched in her memory.

9:44 pm

MK ran through a clearing in the northwest region. She had eyes on one dot only – Caleb the killer. MK noticed that two green dots and two orange dots had disappeared. It seemed the score was even… for now.

MK rushed over to Caleb.

"Caleb!" she hissed. Caleb spun around as MK came up to him, panting intensely. "Bowie and Raj were dropped off near this side of the cliff," she pointed to his screen. "Right now, they're both in the forest, about half an hour away from the dock."

Caleb's eyes narrowed into slits. He was slightly nervous. He had only racked up two points and didn't feel like sabotaging Bowie at a time like this. But if he disobeyed MK's orders she would realise he was not as committed to revenge as she had hoped.

"Alright thanks MK," he nodded. He put on his green Ghostface mask and began to run forward but MK held his arm back. She had cooked up a plan on her way here and wanted to share it with him. "Wait! Hang on, I have a plan to split them up," she said mysteriously. Caleb paused and looked at her quizzically.

"Go on," Caleb urged. "I'm listening."

"I'm going to pretend to run away from you while you're chasing me. I'll signal to Bowie and Raj to run so they should be in front of me and you should be behind me," MK rapidly explained.

Caleb tried to picture this scene in his head. What he got out of it was he was going to chase MK while Bowie and Raj were running ahead of her?

Caleb frowned. "OK..? I don't see where this is going?..."

MK smirked and put her hands on her hips. "You don't?" She pulled out her GPS and pointed to a specific region on her screen. "Look."

Caleb squinted at the location MK was pointing at. "Is that another cliff?" he asked, staring at the large shape which ended abruptly over a body of water.

MK nodded. "Yup, a small one that drops to a river below. If I time it right, I can fake a fall, lose my balance and grab Raj around his waist so that we both fall into the river. Then you can go after Bowie on your own."

Caleb bit his lip as he let MK's plan sink in.

Caleb confessional: She is diabolical! But it just might work… so why do I feel so uneasy about this? *shifts anxiously*

"A – alright, let's do it," Caleb fist-bumped MK who smiled. Finally, at least someone appreciated her brilliant plans.

10:08 pm

Raj and Bowie were running along a hill when Raj suddenly tripped over his left shoelace and face-planted into the earth.

Raj confessional: Why is it always the left shoe? *stares at left shoe annoyed*

"RAJ!" Bowie yelped as he knelt down to pick his boyfriend off the ground and dust little fragments of rock and dirt off of his shirt.

"Thanks Bowie!" Raj chuckled as Bowie extended a hand and helped him to his feet. Bowie gave a gigantic heave and before he knew it, him and Raj had pressed their noses against each other, staring and giggling.

A moment of silence and then they kissed.

Bowie and Raj embraced each other, grateful to be in the others' arms but their moment was cut short when MK burst out from a bush.

"AHHHHH!" she screamed. "KILLER IS COMING! KILLER IS COMING!" She made her way over to Bowie and Raj, signalling them to start running with a wave of her hands. Truth be told, it was rather unimpressive acting. MK had never taken lessons after all.

"WHAT? WHERE?!" they both shouted fearfully. They did not have to wait long for their answer. A few seconds later, where MK had come out, they saw a giant towering figure with a lime Ghostface mask and a chainsaw coming towards them.

"RAJ! RUN!" Bowie yelped.

Raj did not need to be told twice. He immediately extended a hand for Bowie to grab onto and the two began running away, MK's watchful eye right behind them.

This is going to be a problem she thought nervously. She had completely overlooked the fact that couples often held hands when running away from a dangerous situation.

MK confessional: *throws hands up annoyed* OK, seriously?! I didn't expect them to hold hands… Ugh, talk about clingy.

Bowie and Raj continued to run quickly along the trail, MK doing her best to keep up with them. If she was right about this… she had approximately 15 seconds before the river came up at which point she would have to grab Raj around his waist and send them both flying below.

10...9…8…

It was coming up.

7…6…5…

MK briefly looked behind her and gave a little nod to Caleb who understood.

4…3…2…

There was the river, its rocky current glimmering below.

1…

"AHHHH!" MK screamed, pretending to trip over an invisible branch on the ground as she hurtled herself towards Raj. MK wrapped her arms around his waist and kicked off the ground as hard as she could. It had been enough.

Raj's hands slowly slipped away from Bowie's. Bowie could do nothing but stare horrified at MK tackling his boyfriend.

"BOWIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Raj's voice echoed as he fell to the river below.

"RAJ! NOOO!" Bowie extended his hand though it was useless. Raj had already fallen halfway to the river.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" MK and Raj screamed as they splashed into the river.

SPLASH!

Bowie stared desperately at Raj's tiny head which was now swimming all over the place. Raj was doing his best to fight the current but it was simply too strong for him. Bowie let out a small cry but then he turned his head to a more imminent danger. The killer's footsteps were approaching him… and fast.

"I'm so sorry Raj…I'll find a way to get to you, I promise!" Bowie whispered to the river as he wiped his tears, turned his heel and began to run away.

Bowie confessional: *crosses arms* I saw exactly what happened. MK is up to no good.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Part 2 comes out this Saturday where we will find out which campers ring the bell, which team wins and of course, who gets eliminated.

*Extra notes*

For those who didn't know, the Stanley Cup Final was on Monday June 24. Edmonton Oilers (Wayne's province) vs Florida Panthers. After the disappointing result (for Wayne at least), I immediately made a last-minute change in the script. It somehow worked out perfectly for me because this rewrite takes place in 2024 (this year!).

Priya and Julia's fight scene is the same as "Off the Hook!" This time they are using chainsaws and fists rather than hooks. When I saw Julia swipe sand DIRECTLY in Priya's eyes I actually jumped up and screamed (LMAO, wish I recorded my reaction). Fun fact: It was actually THIS moment that made Julia my fav Reboot character because I love her craftiness and ruthlessness. But yeah... anyways we're doing it MUCH earlier than Episode 12 in this rewrite.

By this point, I think it's pretty obvious (which is why I didn't mention how MK got the tablet) that Sally texted her the challenge order at the end of last episode. Over the last three days, MK prepared accordingly by stealing a GPS with everyone's location. What's going to happen on Saturday?...