Page 70 of Surviving Love
Maybe Jack thought by telling me he planned on winning, I’d just roll over and let him take the prize. He was wrong. I had every intention of trying to be the winner ofDevious Island. Jack didn’t need to know that though. If he thought I was acquiescing to him, all the better. He’d be easier to blindside that way. If he was nice enough to me, maybe I’d let him bemythird.
“Okay, everyone, the object of the game is for five members of each tribe to climb the ladder one by one and grab a key from the top of the platform. Next, you’ll swing down on the rope and then grab a bag of puzzle pieces from the chest that’s painted with your tribal colors. From there you’ll have to run back to the ladder and do it all over again. There are five bags for each member to retrieve. Once you have all the bags, the members who didn’t run the course will try and solve the puzzle.”
“Piece of cake,” Harold called out, and both tribes laughed.
Shep smiled. “Trust me, guys, by bag three you’re going to be dragging.”
I agreed with Shep. The ladders were steep and tall, and we’d be running back to the ladder through deep mud. This challenge was going to quickly weed out the weak from the strong. I prayed my asthma didn’t decide to come out to play. I didn’t think it would, but I felt paranoid now anytime I felt even a tiny bit wheezy.
Each tribe decided what order the players would go in and then waited patiently for the camera guys to take their positions. Once everything was set, it was time to play the game.
“Are you guys ready?” Shep called out.
Everyone clapped and nodded, and we were off. Jack was our strongest physical player, so he was going first, and the tribe had decided I should be second. I was flattered that they thought I was the next strongest player, especially after Jack had let the cat out of the bag about my asthma. After me was Billy and then Julia. Rob had grumbled when Julia was picked over him, but he was outvoted. I felt it was only right we have a woman on this part of the game, and Julia was young and strong. I knew she’d do great in the challenge.
When Shep gave the signal, Jack took off at a dead run through the sludge toward the ladder. He was impressive as he slogged quickly through the thick mud, and he climbed the ladder two rungs at a time. Once he was swinging down the rope, I took off running. The thick muck was like running through taffy, and my muscles burned as I sloshed along, but I pushed myself to go faster. When I reached the ladder, I scrambled up as fast as possible. I grabbed my key and swung down on the rope like Tarzan, which was actually pretty fun.
The other team had Thomas going first, and he was definitely strong and fast. Jack beat him to the treasure chest, but it wasn’t by much. I was able to help us pull ahead because the second person they had was an older guy who was definitely slower than me.
Shep had been spot-on about how this challenge would kick our ass. By the third trip, I was indeed dragging. I pushed myself to keep going, but I was struggling and winded. I comforted myself with the knowledge that even Jack was visibly exhausted by the challenge.
Ultimately, we won. Although, once again, our lead was almost eaten up by the people doing the puzzle. It was way closer than I liked, but we managed to squeak ahead. Larry and his tribe looked demoralized when Shep announced they’d have to go to the Fire Council that night.
As we were leaving, the two tribes mingled briefly with each other. I leaned in and said to Larry, “That was a brutal challenge.”
“God, right?” Larry gave a weak smile, his teeth white against his mud-covered face. “Hopefully I’m still here tomorrow morning.”
I grimaced. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”
“Thanks.” He squeezed my shoulder and followed his tribe into the trees toward their encampment.
I turned and almost ran into Jack, who was standing behind me. My face warmed at his accusing gaze. “I was just commiserating,” I said.
“Why are you commiserating with the enemy?”
“The enemy?”
“We’re not on the same side, in case you hadn’t noticed, Mason.”
I sighed. “Come on, Jack. I was just being friendly.” Was Jack being like this so that our tribe still believed we were at odds?
Harold joined us. “Don’t be too hard on him, Jack. Larry’s a nice kid.”
Jack continued to watch me suspiciously. “What did you say to him?”
“Nothing important.”
“I asked you what you said to him?” Jack repeated tersely.
Irritation nipped at me. “I gave him your ATM code and social security number because he asked nicely.”
“You’re a riot,” Jack muttered.
“And you need to relax. I can talk to whoever I want. You know, eventually we’re all going to be merged. It doesn’t hurt to have a friend over there.”
Jack’s surly expression told me he didn’t agree.
“Mason’s right.” Harold nodded. “There’s nothing wrong with being friendly to the other tribe.”
