Body Games (Games #5)(39)
Author: Jessica Clare

Leslie and Emilio bickered like an old married couple. That hadn’t been an act. And I remembered from the last game that Leslie tended to be paranoid. I wondered if she still was or if she was confident in her place now.

The shelter went up that afternoon, and someone claimed my blanket before I had a chance to protest. By the time everyone had piled into the new team shelter, it was clear to me that I was on the bottom of the pecking order. Everyone slept next to their partners.

I didn’t have one. I ended up on the edge of the shelter, hanging off the side and without my blanket.

That was fine. All I had to do was be patient, I told myself. Someone would show a crack soon enough. It was lonely, but I could deal with lonely. Lonely with a million dollars would make everything okay.

As I closed my eyes, I thought of snuggling with Jendan under the blankets in our old, cozy shelter, and had to sniff back my tears.

Maybe lonely and a million dollars wouldn’t be okay. Not if it meant I’d lost Jendan forever.

~~ *** ~~

The next day dawned cool and windy, a sure sign we were going to get a mid-afternoon storm. I gathered wood with Kissy all morning. She was a sweet lady, and I really liked her. She was just so genuinely excited to still be in the game. We avoided the subject of Kip, since I didn’t feel like talking about him, and I was pretty sure she got enough of Kip on her own time. Alys came and helped us a bit, and the others worked on fishing and reinforcing the shelter for the upcoming weather.

I didn’t talk strategy to a single person. I kept my mouth shut and listened, and remained pleasant at all times. Someone would come to me soon enough. And if they didn’t, that was a sign that I was the one going home and there’d be nothing I could do…

Except win the challenge, of course.

“We’ve got mail,” someone shouted.

Kissy and I hurried with our firewood back to the beach. Saul stood there, Kip at his side, and they were examining the note. I’d noticed that the two men had paired up immediately, and I didn’t like it. Saul plus Alys plus Kip plus Kissy equaled winning numbers. I had to break that up.

“Challenge this afternoon,” Saul announced. “Here’s what it says: Today’s Judgment challenge is simple – last one standing wins.”

“That doesn’t help us very much,” Leslie pointed out.

“Maybe they got tired of silly rhymes,” Kip said, then looked over at me thoughtfully.

“Maybe,” I agreed, and moved to put my wood next to the fire. “We should probably bank this if we’re heading to the challenge soon.”

Kip nodded, and to my surprise, he came and squatted next to me as I pulled a big log over the fire. “We need to talk later,” he whispered. “Post challenge. Last season, they got rid of the reward challenges and staggered Judgment with the actual vote days. We’ll have time to form a plan.”

I know that, idiot. I played last season. But I hid my dislike. “Okay. We’ll talk later.”

This ought to be good.

~~ *** ~~

Six hours later

I squatted miserably atop a pole, my arms wrapped around my legs as the rain poured down on me. My teeth chattered as lighting blasted across the sky, but I remained locked in place.

It had been hours since the challenge started. Hours, and my legs were killing me, my entire body was wet and numb with cold, but I held on.

Today’s challenge was theoretically simple; we’d gotten to the beach to see seven colored poles in the water, each one topped by a wooden disk the size of a dinner plate. Our task? Stand atop the pole until everyone else gave up.

It wasn’t so bad the first hour. My bare feet ached a little and the sun had come out, but it was do-able. Everyone was still up on their platforms while Chip lounged in a director’s chair under an umbrella and drank fruity cocktails.

After that first hour passed, though, Chip got up and pulled out a big tray. “Anyone want to jump down for some nachos?”

Kip had immediately jumped, and Saul after him. No one else had moved. We watched with watering mouths as they devoured the biggest plate of nachos I’d ever seen.

An hour later, Chip brought out cake and ice cream just as the skies clouded up and began to drizzle. At that point, Emilio and Leslie jumped. Kissy, Alys and I had to endure watching them lick their fingers and then their bowls as they moaned with delight.

Assholes.

After two hours, my feet were killing me, so I hunched down to balance my weight a bit more. I figured it’d probably be ugly naked, but I also didn’t care. Kissy adjusted her balance, trying to copy me, and fell into the water. I could have cried for her – all that standing on the pole and she got nothing to eat.

Now it was just me and Alys. The hours wore past and the storm picked up. The rest of the contestants huddled under a tarp on the beach while Alys and I had to endure the storm on our perches. The wood was slippery and the pole rocked back and forth with the waves, but I managed to stay on.

“Five hours, girls!” Chip called. I barely heard him through the haze of pain that was my feet. My teeth chattered so loudly that I had to hold my jaw shut to hear him. “This is the final enticement. If you come down now, you get this—“

He pulled out a big red thermos.

“Hot coffee.”

Alys gave a moan of pain, and I looked over at her. Her thin face was pale, and she was trembling hard. The day was just growing colder, and it was clear that she wanted that coffee bad.

But I was vulnerable if I got down. No amount of food or drink was going to make me leave this pole. If I had to be up there all night, I would be.

She looked over at me. “You going to go for it?” Her voice had a vibrato from her shivering.

I shook my head. “I’m staying.”

Alys considered for a long moment. Then, she called, “Does it come with sugar and cream?”

“It can,” Chip said. He looked over at production and someone brought out two canisters.

“Fuck it,” Alys muttered, and hopped into the water, off of her pole.

I clenched my fists with excitement, my only outward sign of relief. Alys shivered in the water and began to head to shore, and then it really hit me. My knees went weak, and I had to clutch the small wooden plate I stood on to stay in place.

I’d won!

With immunity, I was safe. The three pairs couldn’t pick me off – with immunity, no one could vote for me. I watched gleefully as Alys swam back to shore, waiting for the go-ahead to get down from my perch.

“All right, the last one standing is Annabelle,” Chip called, and waved me in. “Come down and receive your immunity medallion!”