When the challenge was over, we went back to camp. Kip immediately collapsed in my small shelter, hogging it. “If you’re heading to get water, my canteen’s by the fire pit.”
Furious, I scooped up his canteen. He wasn’t even trying to be helpful! I was just as exhausted as he was. The challenge had been a truly physical one. But we were both out of water, and I knew it was vital if we wanted to keep up our strength. I needed Kip until I saw what was in Pandora’s Box…
And now would be the perfect time to go retrieve it.
“Fine, I’ll get water,” I told him, infusing the perfect amount of sarcasm in my voice so he wouldn’t get suspicious. “Don’t work too hard.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he called back lazily.
Looping both canteens over my shoulder, I headed into the jungle. The water well was the first stop, and as I filled our canteens, I had visions of dropping Kip’s canteen in and pretending it disappeared for all time. Of course, then he’d just steal mine. I screwed the lid on and hefted the now-full canteen against my na**d hip. It wouldn’t be drinkable until it was boiled, which meant more work for me….
I paused. Gazed down at Kip’s canteen in my hand, marked with a K in grease-pencil.
Maybe I just wouldn’t boil it.
I’d boil mine, sure. I wasn’t crazy. But if Kip wanted his boiled, he could do it himself. I could just passive-aggressively hand him his full canteen and let him figure out the rest. If he got a little bit of Montezuma’s Revenge because he was drinking unboiled water, he’d figure it out in a few days.
And I’d have my subtle, ongoing revenge for him writing Lousy Lay on my back.
Pleased with myself, I filled my canteen and then re-covered the well. Time to go exploring. I had about an hour until the sun was going to set, but I knew exactly where I was headed now. I made my way deep into the trees, snatched up a digging stick as I walked, and headed for the forked tree. I eyed the roots. The note hadn’t said which direction to dig in, so I was just going to have to make holes in the ground until I figured things out. I picked the most likely spot and began to dig with my stick.
That hole yielded no success, but when I started in on the next spot, my stick struck something hard. Excited, I began to clear away the sandy soil. A small, red-lacquered box came into view, and I eagerly dug it out, now using my fingers instead of the stick.
The box was no bigger than my fist, the surface smooth. A black silk knot (now covered in dirt and sand) held the clasp shut. I quickly pulled it apart and flung the lid back.
A small white card was inside, the writing across the front stark black.
Are you sure you want to open me?
Of course I did. This was a game show, and I’d come to play.
I pulled the card out and opened it. The inside was decorated with drawings of palm trees and read: Congratulations on opening Pandora’s Box. If your team loses Judgment, speak the Power Word. This word will automatically eliminate your partner. You will be safe. Your word is Kere Kere - Please - in Fijian. This word can only be used once.
I squealed with excitement. This was exactly what I needed.
Goodbye, Kip. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Chapter Ten
“I feel a little bad for poor Sunnie. I keep ditching our camp to go spend time with Annabelle. There’s just something about her. She has the greatest smile, and there’s a lot of determination in those eyes of hers. The fact that she’s willing to play as physical a game as she can? It makes her really damn appealing.” — Jendan Abercrombie, Day 11, Endurance Island: Power Players
Day 11
“Welcome to today’s Judgment challenge.”
We stood in the hot sunlight, lined up on the beach. No one was smiling or excited today. Yesterday’s Judgment challenge had been a grueling slog of racing through a sandy obstacle course to retrieve buried labeled coconuts. While it had looked relatively simple, it had been cloudless and humid yesterday, and the heat combined with the sand had made it the worst challenge yet. Through a run of bad digging luck, Summer and Polly had trouble finding their buried coconuts, and they’d ended up in last with Kissy and Rusty. Everyone had banded together to vote the power duo of women out, and Polly had gone home. Summer stood next to me in the line-up, a grimly determined expression on her face. I think it was the first time she realized we were all against her.
Today, instead of a three day reprieve between challenges, we’d been called out for yet another one. Everyone looked unhappy.
Well, everyone except me. I’d done my best to lag behind in the last challenge. Deliberately. Kip, however, had acted like he was the lone hero of the entire show and ran the thing almost single-handedly. When we’d returned to camp, he’d given me a few scathing looks, as if disappointed by my ‘lack’ of athletic prowess, but otherwise said nothing. It occurred to me that he didn’t even realize I’d tried to throw the challenge.
I eyed today’s set-up as the cameramen moved past, filming us. It looked a bit like yesterday’s obstacle course, except the sand had been smoothed out from the churned mess it was yesterday. At several places along the beach, stations had been set up. One looked like nothing but oversized banana leaves piled together on a table. Another looked like a row of buckets, and an enormous spitted pig was at another. At the farthest end of the beach, several pits had been dug, with a sturdy pole set in the middle. Each pole had a tiny flag emblazoned with team numbers and held up a pair of scales.
“Let’s begin,” Chip said, looking down the line at us. “This is a back to back immunity challenge. We told you that things were going to be more difficult this season, and we weren’t lying. Win this round, and you’re safe for another three days. Lose, and this could be your last day on Endurance Island.” With that grim pronouncement, he turned and gestured at the stations. “Today, you are going to be collecting ingredients for a traditional Fijian lovo feast…without using your hands.”
Someone gasped.
I stifled my groan, straining to hear Chip’s instructions. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded.
“There are four different ingredients for this challenge. To make your lovo pit, you need these things: smooth stones for baking, banana leaves, the meat itself, and of course, dirt to go on top. The ingredients can be collected in any order, but you need five pounds of each ingredient for every person on your team. If you are playing solo, you need five pounds. If you are playing with a partner, you need ten pounds of each. Understand?”