Episode 1, Part 4: Sporting Games
On the 2nd June, Mitchell Adamson received the call he'd been praying for: his son, Duncan, was found alive and uninjured. He raced to where he was staying in the small town of Marsville, which was surrounded by farmland and patches of overgrown woods. He met Duncan at the police station there, where Duncan relayed his horrifying tale to him.
He explained that he'd been kidnapped alongside three other boys - Tyler Kennard, Alejandro Burromuerto and Trent Dawes. When the van pulled over to allow them to relieve themselves, they'd attempted an escape. The other three were captured, with only Duncan managing to evade them. Afterwards, Duncan had wandered through the woods until he came upon a farmhouse. The inhabitants called the police for him.
The idea that all four kidnappings were related shocked investigators. On the surface, the only thing connecting them was that all four victims were boys aged 16-17 years old, and that they went missing over a period of about twelve hours. But quickly, a theory began to emerge.
Alejandro was the son of the Spanish Ambassador. Tyler's father was a famous sports commentator. Trent was the son of a successful lawyer. And Duncan's father was Ottawa's chief of police. Since all four boys were related to rich and powerful professionals, it was believed that these kidnappings were targeted for the purposes of holding them for ransom.
The police set to work. They tapped the victims' house phones, anticipating calls from the kidnappers. Patrols were sent around the upper class neighbourhoods hoping to ward off further abduction attempts. Details of the van and kidnappers were released to the public and a tip line was opened.
None of it proved effective, however. After a week had passed since Duncan's return, authorities were no closer to catching those responsible.
However, on 10th June, police got a slight break. At 3:30 that morning, the Burromuerto's house phone rang. Alejandro's mother, Marisol, got out of bed to answer it.
On the other end of the line was a gruff male voice. He spoke in a deeply threatening tone that made Marisol feel like "he came straight out of my nightmares".
This was what he said to her: ""Hello, Miss. Betcha been wondering where your boy is. He's not coming back. We took him away some place you'll never find him. If he ever comes back (snickers) it'll be in pieces. Kiss his memory goodbye, because the whole world will forget about him and the rest of your family. It's what you deserve."
After he hung up, an inconsolable Marisol called the police. They listened intently to the recording and immediately set to work trying to track the caller down.
Both teams were seated in the mess hall and eating breakfast. The mood at the Gophers' table was tense. The atmosphere at the Bass' was grim.
"I can't believe we did that," DJ said, staring into his gluggy porridge. "Poor Courtney."
"What choice did we have?" Geoff said.
"I dunno…maybe we could have refused to vote?"
"Then the Executioner would just shoot us all," Eva growled.
Ezekiel sat up suddenly. "Hey, what if-"
"No one cares what you have to say, you sexist little freak."
"Ouch, " Geoff exclaimed, watching Ezekiel slump back down again.
Over at the Gophers' table, they quietly gave a round of applause when Trent opened the door and fell into his seat.
"Here's yesterday's winner!" Sierra exclaimed.
Cody leaned over and whispered, "Dude, how're you feeling?"
"Like shit." It came out muffled. "I slept horribly last night. There was a spring poking my back the whole time."
Leshawna passed him a bowl of porridge. He managed a few mouthfuls then rested his head against the table.
Just then, Chris McLean unfortunately showed up, carrying a dodgeball. "Who's ready to dodge?" He threw the dodgeball at the Bass table. It hit Bridgette square in the back, setting the mood that was to come.
The teams assembled on an enclosed courtyard on the beach. Chris sat in an umpire's chair above them, holding another dodgeball.
"Your challenge for today is a nice wholesome game of dodgeball! A classic school favourite! I hope I don't need to explain the rules…"
A small noise caused him to look down. Athaliah stood with her hand raised, pale face sickly in the sun. "Um…excuse me, but I don't know the rules…"
Chris rolled his eyes so hard he moved his head as well. "Alright, fine, I guess I can explain the rules since someone's too dumb to know them." Athaliah flinched at that.
"Here's what you do: both teams get some bouncy red balls. The aim of the game is to do just that: aim at the other team and try to hit them with the balls. If you land a hit, that person is out of the game. The game ends when one team has no members left on court. We'll play a best of three: the team that wins two out of three games wins the challenge. Got all that?"
Athaliah nodded.
"Good. Now here's a hint: if someone throws a ball at you, and you catch it, the one who threw it will be eliminated. Let's try it." He lobbed it straight at Athaliah. It bounced off her face and she stumbled backwards into Alejandro.
Chris chuckled. "Priceless! Anyway, each team starts with three players. You can swap out players mid-game three times; after that, if you lose them all, that's it for you. Oh, and everyone here has to play at least once."
"I'll go first," Geoff offered.
"Me too," Izzy joined in.
"So will I," Alejandro said. "And we'll swap in…Bridgette, Eva and Ezekiel. How does that sound?"
The others readily agreed.
On the Gophers side, it was a little more complicated.
"I'll go first," Leshawna said. "No one can rock the court quite like me!"
Heather scoffed. "As if! I'm going up first."
Leshawna rolled her eyes. "We can both go first, Heather. And we can take Justin with us. He's the only man on our team who looks like he can throw."
"Hey!" Cody and Owen protested. Noah just shrugged; they were right. Trent was dozing off again.
"Aw, but I want to go first!" Lindsay exclaimed.
"Same here!" Cody added.
Heather and Leshawna were about to get into it again, when Justin got in between them. "We can all start together. Enough fighting!"
Chris shrugged. "Sounds good enough to me. Now play ball!" He blew a whistle.
Things started off just like any old game of dodgeball. Izzy grabbed the first ball and threw it at Justin, who clumsily dodged and fell over. He instantly got smacked with another one, courtesy of Alejandro.
"Way to go, Justin!" Heather spat.
Justin picked himself up off the ground and trudged over to the stands. He hesitated, then pointed at Lindsay. "You can go on now, I guess."
"Ooh, yay!" Lindsay leapt up. She grabbed a ball and tossed it at Geoff. He caught it easily.
"Aw…" Lindsay dejectedly went back to the stands and picked Cody to replace her.
"Can you guys stop sucking?" Heather yelled, getting Alejandro out with a perfectly timed throw. He sent Ezekiel in his stead.
"Certainly!" Cody tossed a ball into the air, aimed with his thumb and tossed it, spinning it a little as he did so. It zipped through the air, smacking Izzy right in the crotch. "Shit! Didn't mean to aim there! Sorry, Izzy!" She flipped him off.
When Bridgette joined the fray, she had to avoid a similar throw from Cody. Heather and Leshawna backed him up, striking hard and fast and even managing to take out Geoff. Ezekiel jumped back, narrowly missing a good throw from Leshawna and bumping into Eva. "Sorry!"
"Outta my way!" Eva shoved him aside and launched a ball at Cody. He tried to deflect it with another ball in his hands but missed. It hit him in the stomach and sent his skinny body tumbling across the court. He got back up and clapped hands with Beth, letting her join.
Beth was not much of a thrower, so she focused on collecting balls for Heather and Leshawna. The Bass dodged and dove to avoid them. Even Ezekiel proved useful in this regard.
But then the Gophers realised they had a problem. They had no more balls. The red rubber winked at them in the sunlight, on the other side of the line.
"Oh, shit…" Beth began.
The three girls tried in vain to run as a red wave bore down upon them. Within seconds, all of them were eliminated.
"Game One to the Bass!" Chris shouted, waving his hand.
The Bass cheered and clapped for each other. Eva, Ezekiel and Bridgette grabbed each other's hands and raised them into the air. "We rocked it out there!" Ezekiel was jubilant. He'd never played dodgeball before, so to win his first game ever was a great experience for him. "You guys were great out there!"
Eva turned on him immediately. "Trying to act like you did all the hard work, huh? Acting like we've never done sports before in our lives?"
Ezekiel's eyes widened. "What? No, I-"
"Forget it." Eva wrenched her hand free and marched off.
"Sorry," Ezekiel said to Bridgette. "I was thinking about what Eva said the other day, about how it's wrong of me to think girls are weak. I was only trying to be nice."
Bridgette patted his shoulder. "I know what you meant just now. I think Eva's taking it too personally."
"So," Alejandro said once everyone was gathered around him, "who's up next?"
"Me!" Sadie and Tyler's hand shot up at the same time.
"Excellent! Athaliah, what say you?"
Athaliah froze. "Oh, uh, sure…"
Over on the Gophers' side, Heather and Leshawna were towering over Noah, sitting with his arms folded.
"You are going out there and playing!" Heather demanded.
"No, I'm not."
"Yes you are, turkey!" Leshawna leaned in real close. "Are you trying to make us lose?"
"No! I'm doing this because I don't want us to lose! Trust me, I'm horrible at sports! I couldn't even make it past the first round of the PACER test!"
"Whoa, really?" Owen laughed. "Even I made it five beeps in!"
"Not helping!" Turning back to the others, Noah continued to plead his case. "Seriously, if you send me out there, I will fuck everything up. It's not an if, but a when."
Someone touched his shoulder. It was Cody. "Everyone has to participate, so you might as well just go and get it over with. I'm sure you'll be fine." He smiled. "Besides, you can't do much worse than Justin and Lindsay."
"Hey! I heard that!" Justin scowled.
Noah, surprisingly, found himself smiling back. "Alright, you make a good point. I'll do it." He stood up.
"Atta boy!" Leshawna applauded.
Noah was joined on court by Owen and Katie. As soon as Sadie caught sight of her best friend, she gasped.
"You guys, watch out for Katie! She has a killer throw!"
Tyler waved her off. "She's injured. We can probably take her!" He was instantly proven wrong by a ball bouncing off his collarbone. DJ was waved back on court.
As it turns out, Katie was the least of their worries.
Owen grabbed a ball in each of his ginormous hands. The adrenaline from watching the previous game was now coursing through his veins. He'd never felt more alive than in this very moment. He stood up, staunch and tall, and screamed, "GAME ON, FISH FUCKERS!"
Athaliah lurched back, clutching her chest and practically gasping for air. "What did you say?"
Her answer was a ball in the face.
DJ and Harold rushed on court. They had to immediately begin dodging the onslaught that came their way. Harold, with his bungled vision, didn't see one coming and was caught in the knee. Eva rushed back out. Sadie leaned back and reached down to grab a ball. She took aim at Noah.
Noah, seeing a ball flying right for his face, ducked. It bounced harmlessly off the wall behind him. He smirked. Hey, this wasn't so bad, after all…
He took hold of a ball and threw it at Sadie. She deflected it with another ball she had in her hands. "Shit!"
"Here," Katie gave him another one. "Aim for that scary blue lady." She threw her own ball at DJ and connected with his ankle.
Eva was running to one side and then the other, trying to keep the balls off her tail. She scooped one up and tossed it at Noah right as he threw his. His missed completely, while hers predictably smacked him dead in the face. Okay, dodgeball wasn't fun anymore. He stalked off the court and waved for Beth to go back on.
He shouldn't have bothered, though. Owen had already taken care of Eva.
"Game Two to the Gophers!"
"God fucking dammit!" Eva stomped her foot. "That kid's a freak of nature!"
"Ohmigosh Owen, that was amazing!" Katie gushed. "Where did you learn to play like that?"
Leshawna high-fived him. "Nice work man!" With you out on the court again, there's no way we'll lose!"
"Awesome! I wanna take you and Katie back out there! You guys were really good too…wait, Sierra hasn't played yet, has she?"
"I'll be right with you!" Sierra said.
Over on the Bass side, most were standing around, wondering who to send out there. Harold had readily volunteered but was pulled back; he'd already played his game, and more importantly, he couldn't risk getting his glasses broken again. Alejandro was the only one set to play. After a while, Athaliah and Ezekiel volunteered, seeing that no one else was up for it. Everyone was already anticipating a brutal beatdown. And another execution.
The final game. The fate of someone here would be decided by it. No one wanted it to be them.
It started promptly. Owen picked up a ball and threw it at Ezekiel, who only barely managed to avoid it. He responded in kind, but missed.
Katie and Sierra aimed for Athaliah at the same time. She ran halfway up the court, yelping all the while, as the balls bounced behind her. Both missed.
Alejandro leapt forward and scored a lucky strike at Sierra. She marched right over to Trent and practically tossed him onto the court. "You haven't played yet, so get on out there!"
Trent tried, he really did. But he was still practically dead on his feet and slow to act. As he bent down to retrieve a ball, he was smacked in the head by Athaliah.
"Yes!" Athaliah cried.
Trent only yawned and, not caring who was sent in his stead, let Lindsay go on.
Lindsay set about retrieving balls for Katie and Owen, taking care to dodge those aimed at her. Owen was still firing them rapidly, and Alejandro fired right back. They exchanged fire so fast that the balls were just red blurs in the air.
Athaliah ended up being collateral damage from this, and she allowed Tyler to go on.
"Hey, Tyler!" Ezekiel called. "You and me, let's team up!"
"Alright!"
"They picked their unsuspecting target quickly: Lindsay, dutifully carrying an armload of balls. As she approached Owen with them, they let their own balls rip. One hit her in the arm, the other in the face. She screamed in pain. The Bass boys grimaced at the sound.
Lindsay got up and stumbled over to the stands. She removed her hand to reveal a large red mark around her eye which was undoubtedly a nasty bruise. "Sorry, you guys."
"It's okay," Leshawna said comfortingly. "You tried your best. Who are you gonna swap with?"
Lindsay's good eye ran over all of her teammates before landing on Justin. "Uh, him!"
Justin stiffened. "Uh, me?"
Heather shoved him with one open palm. "Lindsay chose you, so get moving. And don't run around like a headless chicken like you did last time!"
Justin couldn't promise that. As soon as he stepped onto the court, his self-preservation instincts kicked in. He'd never been a big sports guy; swimming was the most he could manage.
Owen, by his own admission, wasn't much of a sports guy either, but adrenaline and audacity can carry someone very far. He cleanly took out Ezekiel, and then Bridgette when she came on. He had a harder time nailing Geoff, though.
Geoff had paid attention to what Tyler and Ezekiel had done earlier, and he teamed up with Tyler and they took out Katie together. One ball hit her burned arm. She screamed even louder than Lindsay had.
"Sorry!" Geoff cringed. "I wasn't aiming there, dudette. Honest!"
Alejandro was still trading blows with Owen until he slipped up. He later said that Katie's scream distracted him. Owen's ball got him in the hip.
"It's up to you guys, now!" he said to Geoff and Tyler.
Owen set his sights on Geoff, although their encounter didn't last anywhere near as long. They both threw balls…and ended up landing direct hits on each other.
To both teams' horror, all that was left were Justin and Tyler.
Justin hadn't thrown a single ball yet in the challenge. Instead, he was more interested in dodging them and refusing to properly engage. Without Owen and Katie to hide behind, he was completely exposed.
Tyler worked better as part of a team. On his own, his movements became a little sloppier. His throws missed constantly. It was clear that the nerves were getting to him.
The teams cheered them on. Tyler kept throwing and Justin kept dodging. But they were starting to tire.
"Man," Tyler panted, "why can't you just stop dodging?"
"Why can't you stop throwing?"
Tyler heaved one last ball in his direction, which went wide because of course it did. Justin didn't even need to try to avoid it. But then both parties noticed the same thing at the same time: Tyler had no more balls left.
"Oh, shit…"
"Keep calm, Tyler!" Alejandro yelled from the sidelines. "Keep a cool head and focus!"
The Gophers were enthusiastic, but for a different reason. "Smash him, Justin!" Heather hollered. "Show those fish fuckers who's boss!"
Athaliah was beyond disgusted. "I beg of you, stop calling us that!"
Heather turned her attention to Justin. "Cut it out with the headless chicken act, and smash them!"
Justin nodded, still looking very nervous. This was his moment of truth. He picked up a ball, stilled the wobble of his hands, and chucked it.
Tyler dodged it easily.
Justin picked up another and another and another, as fast as he could. Tyler, for all his physical ineptitude, practically danced around them.
"Dude! Slow down and focus!" Cody shouted.
"Aim before you shoot!" Katie cried.
"Stop being a fucking idiot!" Heather yelled, which she was doing a lot of today.
But Justin was on a roll. He who had never done sports was developing a taste for it. Was this truly how it felt, to be hopped up on adrenaline and the thought that you could be the one to win it all for everyone? He was a Screaming Gopher, and he was not going to lose.
Besides, Tyler looked done for, anyway. The barrage has to come close to hitting him sometime.
After a particularly close call, Tyler slipped and fell over. "Ow! Mercy, please!"
Justin cackled without smiling. "Sorry fish fuckers, but we're not losing again!" He threw the ball in his hands, aiming straight for the face.
Tyler grew a startlingly fierce look in his eyes. "Neither are WE!"
Still lying on the ground, he reached one arm into the air and grabbed hold of the ball, not letting it slip from his grasp even a little bit.
There was stunned silence until Chris announced, "Game Three to the Bass! They win the challenge!"
The Bass team surged the court and lifted Tyler high above their heads as they whooped and cheered. "Tyler! Tyler! Tyler!" They paraded him around the court, much to the rage of the Gophers.
Actually, that wasn't fair to the Bass. They knew who was really to blame.
Justin didn't need to look at his team to realise how screwed he was.
The challenge had finished a while before lunchtime, so the campers had the rest of the day to themselves. The Bass could still be heard celebrating inside their cabin, so the Gophers retreated to different parts of the camp, wanting to escape the raucous celebrations.
Trent took a nap under the shade of a tree. Heather went to have a shower. Katie ran over to visit Sadie. Sierra read her book. Owen went straight for the mess hall. Cody moped around.
Noah, meanwhile, was bored. He figured it was time for an exploration of this hellish place.
He hung around the main facilities for a while. While walking around the outside of the bathrooms looking for something interesting, he noticed someone watching him. It was one of the cameramen, or camerawomen, he should say.
Cameragirl was more accurate. Upon approaching her, he realised that she looked to be about the same age as him. She had curly hair dyed a soft light pink, and it was tied up in a messy ponytail. She was wearing black shorts, a white t-shirt and scuffed black sneakers. She tensed up a little as she saw him coming.
"Hey," he called, irritated. "The challenge is over. Why don't you go annoy someone else?"
"I-sorry, but I was told to film the campers during their down time."
"Why? Don't you have enough footage of us being scared out of our fucking minds?"
"No, I'm, uh, getting bonus footage. It's for those who pay the bonus fee."
The words bonus fee smacked Noah in the chest. "Bonus fee. For what?"
"For getting extra content."
"People are actually paying to watch us die?"
The girl bit her lip, as if she'd said too much. "Yeah. Lots of them are."
It was too much for Noah to bear. He wrenched the camera out of her hands and threw it as hard as he could at a tree. He spun on his heel and marched away. Behind him, the girl made a sound like a wounded animal.
He went down to the beach, fire burning in every footstep. He needed to kick something, pronto.
He came upon Leshawna, Beth and Lindsay sitting cross-legged in the sand, chatting like they were in school, not an isolated island in the middle of nowhere.
"Why are you guys so chill?" he snapped, way harsher than he meant to.
Leshawna glared up at him. "We got nothing to fear tonight. We know who we're voting for. It's not you, by the way, so you can save the attitude."
Noah sighed. "It's nothing to do with you, it's just…did you know there are people paying to see this?"
"You're fucking with me."
"I wish."
Leshawna sat for a moment to take it all in.
"Wait…there are people watching us? Like, for fun?" Lindsay was incredulous.
"What did you think the cameras were for?"
Lindsay shrugged. "Like, blackmail or something? My dad's pretty rich, so I thought all of us were rich."
"Not me," Beth said.
"Jesus Christ," Leshawna ran a hand through her hair. "So this must be like a black market thing, right? Cuz no way would they broadcast this on TV."
Noah sat down with them. "I've heard Chris talk about releasing episodes within a few days, and given that there are subscribers…if my thinking's correct, then this might not just be a black market thing, but a deep web thing."
Beth went pale. "The deep web? I thought that was just a myth."
"I wish it was. And I wish this whole thing wasn't true. But no other explanation makes sense. No way in hell would they get away with putting this on the surface web. It'd be way too easy for it to spread to a wider audience, some of whom might recognize us. That's probably why they wouldn't let us share our last names on the first day. The cops would be onto them in five seconds flat. And only sick fucks would be more inclined to not inform the cops even if they did recognize us."
"So…how do we stop this?" Lindsay asked.
"Dangerous words, girl. Cameramen everywhere in this place. You never know who might be listening." Leshawna gently chided.
Noah could only shrug. A quick shifting of eyes revealed that no cameras were present - or rather, none were visible. "Dunno. Are you a strong swimmer? You could try pulling an Alcatraz."
Lindsay nodded slowly.
Beth sighed, tears misting in her eyes. "I don't wanna be on the deep web. I just wanna go home."
Leshawna patted her back. "Same."
"So, who're you guys voting for?" Geoff asked.
Katie sat bunched together with Sadie on the latter's bunk. With no hesitation, she said, "Justin."
Ezekiel nodded understandingly. "That makes sense. He did lose the challenge, eh."
"Yeah. We even tried giving him advice during the game, but he didn't listen."
"Bummer, eh."
"Not the kind of person you want on your team, that's for sure." Bridgette stood in front of them, camera at the ready. "Say cheese!"
Katie's eyes widened, barely being affected by the flash. "You have a camera! Where'd you get it from?"
"I had it with me when I got, well…you know…kidnapped."
"Is that allowed?"
Bridgette shrugged. "I don't know. So I'd like you to keep it on the down low."
Sadie sighed. "I wish I had my camera. Katie got it for me last year for my birthday."
The word "birthday" triggered something in Geoff. "Hey dudes, does anyone know what the date today is?"
Bridgette checked the time displayed on her camera. "June 9th."
Geoff, for a moment, suddenly seemed very far away. He fiddled with his hands and looked down at them. He made a sound in his throat that could have been a sob.
"Dude, you okay?" Tyler asked.
Geoff sniffed. "Yeah man, it's just…today's my birthday."
"Nice!" Tyler went in for a high-five but faltered when Geoff didn't raise his hand.
Bridgette put her hand on his back. "Geoff? Are you okay?"
Geoff nodded. "Yeah dudes, I'm just bummed that I have to celebrate it here and that I might die tomorrow. I miss my family, my bros…I was gonna throw a sick party at the beach today…"
"Oh, that is so sad…" Katie and Sadie said with shining eyes.
"Hey don't worry!" DJ came up beside him. "We can still throw a sick party for you! I don't see any reason why we can't still celebrate!"
"Yeah!" The rest of the Bass cheered.
Geoff sniffled, giving them a watery smile. "You guys are the best…"
"Let's go do it right now!" Izzy raced outside. "I'll provide the music!"
"I'll go ask Chef if we can take our lunch outside," DJ followed.
"Cheer up, Geoff, it'll be fun!" Bridgette consoled.
"I'll believe you," Geoff smiled.
Noah was still sitting with the girls when the Killer Bass streamed out of their cabin and made a beeline for the beach. "Come to rub it in a little more?" he said snippily.
Eva rolled her eyes. "No doofus, we're having a party." At the other's shocked expressions, she clarified. "It's for Geoff. It's his birthday today."
Lindsay's eyebrows rose. "Oh, nice! Can we join?"
"Sure you can, dudettes!" Geoff said, in better spirits. "And you too, dude!" That last bit was aimed at Noah.
Noah held his tongue. Normally he'd question the ethics of partying in a place like this, but a birthday wasn't something to just ignore. The dude deserved to have a celebration.
The Gophers watched on as the Bass produced a dusty boombox and began playing Michael Jackson's Thriller album. The dancing that followed was something that Noah would never be caught doing.
The girls didn't care, though. They jumped up and joined the party. Lindsay and Beth danced together while Leshawna was off in her own world.
It didn't take long for the rest of the Gophers to come storming in.
"What's this?" Heather stamped her foot. "Are you guys seriously still celebrating your win today? Rude."
"Nah," DJ waved her off. "It's Geoff's seventeenth birthday today!"
"Oh!" Sierra exclaimed, "Happy Birthday, Geoff! Can we join!"
"Of course!"
The fun was thus shared by both the Screaming Gophers and the Killer Bass. They danced, limboed and talked on the beach under the blazing sun. DJ managed to score several bags of chips and nuts from the mess hall, which were shared liberally. The mood in the air was happy, for once.
Except for one.
Justin pushed his way through the crowd towards Lindsay and Beth. "Hey, can I speak to you for a moment?"
The smiles on their faces disappeared as soon as he came near. "What do you want?"
"I just wanna say that I'm sorry for losing us the challenge, and that I hope you don't vote me off."
The girls looked at each other. Lindsay scratched her head. "I dunno. You were pretty bad out there."
"Yeah, well so were y-" Justin cut himself off, but it was too late. Lindsay's frown deepened and she turned away. "Sorry, I just really don't wanna die…"
"We'll think about it," Beth told him sharply.
And that was that.
Justin found Cody sitting by himself and pleaded his case to him, with predictably similar results.
"Sorry Justin, but you did cost us the challenge."
Justin trudged away, trying his pleas on Owen. They fell on deaf ears.
As the day went on, as the dancing continued and the music blared on, Justin became increasingly desperate. It couldn't end like this. Not for him! He'd tried! Why couldn't anybody see that?
"Leshawna, please don't vote for me!"
"Too late for that! I've already made up my mind!"
He turned to Trent. "Will you promise not to vote for me?" Trent's only response was a shake of the head.
Beads of sweat rolled down Justin's forehead. He turned to Heather. "Heather, listen, why don't we vote out Lindsay instead? Or Noah? They're both useless!"
Heather stepped back, disgusted. "Who the hell do you think you are? Lindsay and Noah didn't fuck up the whole challenge for us!"
"Trying to send someone else to their death instead of yourself? That's low." Eva chimed in.
Justin rounded on her. "You're not even on our team! Back off!"
"What? You fucked up. You take responsibility." Eva shrugged. "I get that you don't want to die, but why sacrifice someone else for your mistake, you jerk?"
Now everyone was staring at him. Justin's entire body began to itch. It was too damn hot out here. Sweat was pouring out like a waterfall. He felt like he was about to pass out. He did the only thing he could think to do.
He ran.
The others watched him go.
"Yikes," Cody said, sidling up to Noah, "That was crazy."
Noah folded his arms. "Crazy, stupid, and selfish."
"Aw come on, do you not understand what he's going through?"
"Like what Eva said. I totally get not wanting to be executed for the viewing pleasure of the entire deep web, but trying to throw me and Lindsay under the bus is despicable." His face darkened.
Cody dared to open his mouth again. "You know, the only reason you can say that is because it was Justin who was the last one standing. If it was you-"
"You think I don't know that?" Noah leaned in real close. "You think Lindsay doesn't know that, either? I don't know if you've noticed, but we're all one screw-up away from being killed. Including you." This was accompanied by a sharp jab to Cody's chest.
"Okay, okay…sorry."
Noah only harrumphed.
Justin ran.
Across the sand and then across the grass. He ran faster than he'd ever ran before in his life. He blasted past the cameramen and ducked behind the boat shed. Only then did he stop to catch his breath.
He bent over double, sick with stress. Tears burned his eyes and bile burned his throat. Sobs forced their way out of his mouth.
He couldn't believe this was happening. He was actually going to die.
It wasn't fair! He had honestly tried during the challenge! Yeah, it was gross of him to do that to Noah and Lindsay, but as long as it wasn't him on the chopping block, he'd find some way to live with that eventually.
But it was hopeless; he could see that now. His efforts had only further poisoned everyone against him. It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
The sun's heat was sickening. He slipped inside the boat shed, where it was much cooler. Sitting down on a dusty crate, he put his head in his hands and wept.
He wept for what felt like hours and hours. Once he felt like he could cry no more, he lifted his head and dried his eyes. Only then did he take note of something interesting.
Justin paused.
Could it be?
Should he…?
No, it might not work.
But what choice did he have? Chris had promised more gruesome deaths than getting shot in the head.
And it would save everyone the trouble of voting him off tonight.
That sealed the deal. He would do it, or die trying. Fuck this place.
Chris relaxed in his chair, having just finished a nice lunch courtesy of his personal cook. Oh, he and Chef went way back, and he knew Chef could put together a mean meal, but he also knew him well enough to know that when Chef decided to make something bad, it was bad. Of course he had to find someone else; someone who would be too scared to spite him.
The dining room he was in had once been stately, but now it was dark and old. The crew had cleared away most of the cobwebs and mess, but still the place had an eerie feel to it. Not that he paid it much mind.
His walkie-talkie crackled into life. "Hey, Chris," Chef's voice came through, "the kids are havin' a birthday party. Thought I'd rustle up a cake for the occasion. I'll save you a slice."
"Ooh, if it's that chocolate orange one, then yes please!" Chris giggled and kicked his feet. "Who's birthday is it?"
"Geoff's."
"Nice. Tell him I said happy birthday." With that, the walkie-talkie powered off.
Chris went right back to relaxing. A challenge over and done with, a slice of cake, and some more money in his bank account. It was a good day today.
So it was only such that it would be interrupted. A few minutes later, a voice came blaring through the walkie-talkie.
"Chris?" It was Zach, one of his many crewmembers. "Yo Chris, we have a situation down by the beach. You'd better come quick."
Chris didn't need to leave the house. He could see it all on the cameras.
And the rest of the campers didn't need the cameras. They could see it from where they were standing.
A little ways away, Justin was seated in a small wooden rowing boat, his back to them, headed for the mainland.
"What is that crazy boy doing?" Leshawna was incredulous.
"Omg, do you think he'll make it?" Katie wondered aloud.
The answer seemed to be no. It was pretty obvious to everyone watching that Justin had little experience rowing a boat. His strokes were sloppy and uneven and he only had one oar. The wind condition was certainly in his favour, but it probably wouldn't help much.
Still, they all hoped he could do it.
Justin gritted his teeth. He had to do it. His arms burned with the strain of it all, but he ignored it. He was not going to die on some forsaken island if he could help it. The pain was nothing compared with the fear of death.
In the heat, the mainland wavered on the horizon. Who know who was standing on those distant shores this very moment? Someone who could help him, hopefully. Someone who could take him far away from this place.
Oh, and someone who had a phone, too. He would need to call the police. They can get that sick fuck McLean and haul his ass to jail. Then everyone else will be free, too.
Justin focused on his strokes. Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right. Over and over and over again. He tried to time his breathing in between strokes. His feet were firmly planted on the floor of the boat.
This boat must have been here since this place was still a summer camp, all old and worn, but it was serving him well. It will carry him to freedom. It had to.
"Try and get me now, you fuckers," he muttered.
A single bullet ripped through the air and hit him dead in the head.
Those on the beach jumped back and screamed in shock. Geoff and Bridgette clung to each other tightly, as did Noah and Cody. DJ nearly passed out. Katie and Sadie began crying.
They turned to see the Executioner crouched on the mess hall roof, a rifle in his hands. It was only taken one shot and he had an unobstructed view.
The loudspeakers burst into like. "I thought this would have been obvious, but escaping is strictly forbidden." Chris didn't sound mad. Just disappointed. "As you can see here, this is what will happen if you try. So no more funny ideas, okay?"
The campers gulped.
"Since the rest of the Screaming Gophers have been behaving themselves, there'll be no elimination ceremony tonight. Besides, I'm assuming you all would have voted him off, anyway. But just so there are no more incidents for today, all of you need to return to your cabins and stay there until tomorrow morning, okay? Dinner will be served to you by the crewmembers. Oh by the way, happy birthday, Geoff." The loudspeakers clicked off.
So that was that.
The campers had no choice but to comply. They filtered back into their cabins and dutifully stayed there for the rest of the day. Izzy tried to lift Geoff's spirits by playing more music, but it didn't work. Geoff got into his bunk and lay face-down until dinner-time. This was the worst birthday of his life and he wanted nothing more than for it to be the next morning already.
The rest of the day passed by slowly. Trent got some more sleep in. Owen ate the rest of the chips. Eva did push-ups on the floor. Most read the second-hand books they'd been given. Dinner was a similarly subdued affair.
They went to bed that night, thinking of poor foolish Justin who just wanted to live.
The anonymous caller was eventually traced to a payphone outside a supermarket in Missisauga. A search of the area revealed no useful information.
Two days later, on the 12th June, The Burromuertos received another phone call. At 4 in the afternoon, Manuel picked up the phone to hear a woman tell them this:
"Your son is lying in pieces in a field outside Ottawa. Next to a river. There's an oak tree there too. On the Quebec border. Good luck."
The police, listening in on the call, were able to track the origin to another payphone, this one in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Again, police searched the area and came up empty-handed.
Despite the fact that the voices were different, and that the origins were in two different locations, police treated them as being done by the same person.
