Unscripted

Chapter Eight - The Challenge

"Ready in - THREE, TWO, ONE - GO!" Out of nowhere, Dani blared a blowhorn, which caused me to jump. Starting to focus, I moved the pieces together and started with the corners. Out of the corner of my eye, I could already see Emily digging furiously at a spot. What the fuck - how could they have already completed a piece?

I tried not to focus on their team as I looked back at my puzzle. Finally, I was able to make out a piece that somehow formed an 'x.' I yelled to Bec, "B2!" Instantly, she ran to the upper left corner of the grid and started to dig. I continued to try to solve the puzzle until I heard Bec huff out and look over at me.

Not a hit.

Lying, I yelled "C4!" She shook her head and ran over to another spot to dig. The next few minutes were absolute chaos as I heard other couples screaming out numbered pairs. In the distance, I heard Janelle yell "TORI! C3 NOT B3"

Tori threw her hands up in the air, "WHAT?"

"C3!" Janelle yelled back.

My head whipped to beside us when I saw Emily sprint over from her grid towards Cassie. Easily, she slipped a golden S into the podium and returned back to her shovel. What the fuck, that was quick.

This time, after hearing Janelle and Tori's conversation, I yelled to Bec, "C3!" I watched as she was covered in sand, dragging herself along the grid to try to find these stupid S's. Unfortunately, it also wasn't a hit. That meant our map and Janelle and Tori's map were not compatible.

I tried to hear other conversations and heard Charlie and Morgan. "D2! Oh my god, are you sure you're digging deep enough?" Morgan yelled in irritation over to Charlie.

"Of course I am! Fuck!" She groaned and I couldn't help but watch her easily use the shovel - the muscles in her arms bulging out while being kissed by the sticky sand.

Focus, Cara.

I yelled to Bec, "D2!" I looked down at my puzzle to see that I had it halfway solved. Did I need to solve it if I knew this grid wasn't a match?

My ears perked up when Bec whistled. Yes! An S! I grinned to myself and pretended to continue fumbling with the puzzle. Now all I had to do was try to listen in to Morgan and Charlie's bickering to determine what spaces to hit. Unfortunately, that was also contingent on if Morgan was able to solve the puzzle or not.

"Hm, whatcha got there?" I jumped, my heartbeat accelerating as Cassie spontaneously showed up behind me. I gave her a crazy look, what the fuck was she doing over here? I looked over to her grid to see that Emily was digging.

"What the hell?" I said and dropped a piece onto the table.

"Doesn't look like you're trying to solve that," she said as her eyes travelled up my body.

"Says you!" I retorted, "Go back to your podium."

She smirked, "Emily's got it handled." She motioned over to Emily, and I released that she was crazily digging at every single square. Within seconds, she found another S and dropped it on the podium.

My mouth hung open as the gears started to turn in my head. Instead of relying on communication and solving the puzzles, they decided to rely on Emily's speed and strength. I watched as the sweat beat down her forehead, and she ran her sandy fingers through her short, dark hair. They decided to risk it by digging it all up.

I had to admit - it was kind of smart.

But, fuck. I looked over at Bec, who I felt bad for as she was definitely wearing herself down already from digging at the squares. She looked at the two of us in question, and her eyes widened when she realized I was being interfered with. She looked around, examined Emily, then mouthed 'fuck it' as she also started digging.