laying Games (Games #2)(5)
Author: Jessica Clare

In the distance, I spotted a splash of color – The World Races flag. I drove toward it, then began to apply the brakes on my sled, slowing the dogs down. As we approached, I saw an encampment. Ten igloos were set up in a line, and cameramen dotted the area. I saw another flag and mat, and then two areas that had been roped off for challenges.

We were here, and we weren’t in last place. Things were looking up. “This must be where we’re doing the individual challenges,” I shouted into the wind, leaning forward.

"Brake," Brodie called, pumping his arm with excitement. "Brake! I see the flag!"

The sled stopped, and we leapt off, handing control over to our guide. As we struggled to put our backpacks on, we sprinted for the check-in point. Waiting under The World Races flag was an Inuit man dressed in traditional clothing, and he looked a heck of a lot warmer than we were. He held our next World Games disk out for us.

Brodie automatically snatched it and began to read, and I was left to try and peek around my brother’s shoulder once more.

"Two challenges," he read aloud even as I tugged his arm out of my way. "Both are traditional Thule tasks. One team member must show their strength on the water, and the other must demonstrate strength in the belly. Choose your task and good luck."

The Inuit man moved to one side and gestured at the sign he was standing in front of. Two arrows pointed in opposite directions, a crossroads of sorts. One bright green arrow said ‘Thule Meal’ and the other said ‘Thule Craft.’

Brodie peered at the water in the distance. "Thule Craft looks like a kayak of some kind."

I took the disk from him, studying it. "And the other one’s clearly a gross food challenge. Which one do you want to do?"

He turned and looked behind us. "I see two more teams on the horizon. Whatever we do, we need to do it sooner rather than later."

"All the others ahead of us must be here," I told him. "So they might still be doing the other challenges. We have a chance to catch up." In the distance, I could see a long wall of snow that had been packed high, preventing anyone from looking around it. A cameraman hovered nearby, obviously filming something.

“We need to decide.” Brodie said impatiently. “Can you eat?”

"I guess so," I told him, steeling myself. "Though if I have to eat fish guts, I’m going to kick your ass when we get home."

He grinned and ruffled my hair. "I’ll kayak, then. This thing says to return here once we’ve completed both tasks and gotten our tokens, so we’ll meet back here when we’re done. Sound good?"

I nodded, tucking the disk under my arm. "Good luck!"

Brodie dashed off towards the distant shore, his yellow coat bright against the sea of white snow. He followed a marked path and disappeared out of sight a moment later.

Time for me to do my challenge, too. Ugh. I was not looking forward to chowing down on whatever horrors they could come up with. I glanced at the sign, and followed the arrows that said ‘Thule Meal.’ There was a path dug into the snow, and I raced forward, clutching the disk in hand.

Sure enough, the marked path led behind that thick snow wall I’d seen earlier. I could hear some odd sounds as I approached, my cameraman dogging on my heels as I headed toward the task. When I turned the corner at the wall, the sounds of retching hit my ears just as a horrible, overwhelming fishy smell hit my nose.

Oh…gross.

There was a table marked with a flag, and I headed there. An Inuit woman nodded her head at me and handed me another disk. I flipped it over, reading the instructions. Choose a banquet table. You will be dining on an Inuit delicacy that has been popular for thousands of years, dating back to the days when the Thule lived in Greenland – a dish called mukluk. Mukluk is whale blubber still attached to the skin. Sometimes it is eaten raw, sometimes cooked. You will have a chance to sample both cooked and uncooked versions.

My stomach heaved a little at the thought.

Select your table and begin eating. You must clean both bowls before the judge will hand you your challenge disk. If you need to get sick, a bucket has been provided under your table.

Oh dear. I clutched the disk to my chest, scanning the competition area. Sure enough, ten folding tables had been set up in the snow, covered with a red tablecloth edged with traditional designs. On the center of each table, two bowls had been heaped high with…stuff.

Five of the tables had someone seated in front of them, eating slowly. The sixth table had someone bent over their bucket, clearly puking.

I counted heads. Six people at the challenge. Three teams behind us. That meant…everyone was still here. Holy shit, we’d caught up. It was probably planned that way by the race organizers for additional drama, but I didn’t care. We weren’t dead last.

I headed for the closest open table – next to the puker – and sat down at the folding chair there. A napkin had been left on the table and I folded it in my lap. There was a water bottle at my feet, in case I wanted a drink.

I pulled the first bowl close to me and took a look at it.

It was…not good. The mukluk had been carved into chunks, and each chunk was two different colors – dark on top, and white on the bottom. I guessed the white was the fat, since it was shiny and glistened. I swallowed hard. This must have been the raw food, right? I leaned in and sniffed the bowl, while the person next to me got sick again. I glanced over, frowning, just as the puker sat up and leaned back in his chair.

It was Liam, the rocker.

Ha! I tried not to smile at his misery, since I was probably going to be in the same state pretty soon, but it was clear that Liam couldn’t hold down his mukluk. Both bowls in front of him were less than halfway gone, and he’d probably gotten there a lot earlier than everyone else. His complexion was tinged an unpleasant green.

He looked over at me, and must have noticed me studying him, because he scowled darkly in my direction.

So I grinned. And popped the first piece of mukluk into my mouth just to f**k with him.

Immediately, I regretted that choice. Mukluk was awful. The taste was something like super fatty, slimy sushi, and it had a texture like gristle. It was cold on my tongue, and it smelled worse than anything. I shivered and forced myself to swallow the piece, then reached for a piece of the cooked mukluk. It wasn’t nearly as bad, though still pretty foul.

I alternated pieces, gagging between each one. Every few minutes, to my side, Liam would make a quiet heaving noise and then proceed to grab his bucket, which only made my stomach turn a bit more. I began to hum to myself to drown him out, grabbing pieces of mukluk and eating as fast as I could.

There was a lot of damn mukluk in the bowl. Soon, my entire mouth tasted like fish, and all I could smell was the scent of slightly-turned mukluk. I held my nose for a few pieces, and then decided to just suck it up and cram a piece of cooked mukluk in with the raw and chew fast. The taste was still awful, but it helped masked the slimy gristle-texture, and so I kept pairing and swigging with water.

It wasn’t a fast process. Even as I ate, I saw one of the girls on the end get up, stagger toward the judge, and was handed her token. Abby. She’d finished the challenge first.

She headed off into the snow, likely to meet up with her partner Dean. That was okay, I told myself. Everyone else was still here. I crammed more mukluk into my mouth, eating as fast as I could. It was pretty awful, but I’d had worse at culinary school when we had to taste our own experimental dishes. I could hear someone else get sick nearby, and it made my stomach roil uncomfortably, but I ignored it and kept eating. I crammed my mouth full of mukluk and glanced down the tables at my competition.

Liam had his head down on his table, clearly trying to compose himself. He hadn’t eaten another bite in several minutes. Others picked at their food, gagging at the taste or the texture. I continued to sandwich mine between the less slimy pieces and drank lots of water, glancing at the people that had just sat down. I was doing all right.

I grabbed the last piece at the bottom of my bowl and choked it down, ignoring the fish smell and the way it felt in my mouth. Almost done. I stared up at the clear blue sky overhead as I chewed, willing myself not to barf and ruin this. Gristle and fat squished between my teeth as I chewed.

And chewed.

And chewed.

Then, I reached into the bowl for the next piece…and there was no more. I was done. I jumped to my feet, flipped the bowls over, and trotted over to the judge.

He handed me my disk, and I gave him a nod of thanks, then ran down the path.

I started out jogging, but as soon as I did, my stomach gave a sick little gurgle, and I had to slow down. Sure enough, my mouth filled with saliva, and I paused on the side of the snowy trail to puke my guts out.

Mukluk splashed all over my shoes and the snow, and I grimaced, moaning at how awful I felt. I had to keep going, I told myself. We were in second place right now. I couldn’t let anyone else pass me. Dragging myself forward, I headed down the marked path, following the trail.

Over a crest, I saw a finish line ahead. Each race always had a mini finish line set up, complete with waving flags and a tape that you could break through. The tape was still unbroken.

Two people milled by the tape, waiting for their partners. One was Abby, clutching her stomach…and the other was Brodie. Holy shit, where was Dean?

Brodie gave a whoop of delight and a jump when he saw me, racing for me. "Come on, Katy! We’re in first place!" He grabbed me and began to drag me forward, toward the tape. My stomach roiled in protest.

I staggered with him across the finish line, and we landed in front of Chip Brubaker, who stood below a colorful World Games flag. "Brodie and Katy," he said with a beaming smile. "Congratulations on being the first team for the Greenland leg of the race!"

"We did it," Brodie yelled, and grabbed me and spun me around. "You did fuckin’ awesome, Katy!"

My stomach gurgled again. "Put me down, Brodie," I whispered. He did, and I sank to the ground, resting my cheek in the snow. Blessed, blessed snow. I was pretty sure I was going to puke again.

Overhead, I heard Chip talking to Brodie. "Here is your prize for winning the Greenland leg – an Ace. You can use this Ace to save another team at any time in the game."

"Great," Brodie said enthusiastically.

"Pepto," I moaned, clutching my stomach. "My kingdom for Pepto."

Brodie came to my side and thumped me on the back, hard. "We did awesome, Katy! I totally smoked everyone in the kayak race."

I gave him a weak thumbs up, still sitting on the ground.

A moment later, Dean and Abby trotted up to take second place. Abby looked as green as I felt, and collapsed next to me in the snow a moment later.

"You puke?" She asked breathlessly.

I held up two fingers. “Twice.”

She nodded. "Me too."

Taking a cue from us, our partners sat nearby. One of the cameramen pointed us off to the side, indicating that we should get out of his shot, so we all sat on a nearby snow bank, drinking bottled water to settle our stomachs and watching other teams arrive. The girl Olympians were third, and not too far behind Abby and Dean. Over the next hour, the other teams crossed the finish line, pair by pair.

Last to arrive? Tesla and Liam. I felt a twinge of pity for Liam, who looked a bit like death warmed over. He was sweaty and pale, and clearly had not done well in his challenge. Tesla looked unhappy with her partner, annoyance stamped over her pretty features. Her arms were crossed over her chest as they came to the finish line.