The Heart of the Jungle - James McVey - I'm A Celebrity 2018 Fanfic

The Quest Across The Outback

"This way!" He points into the Australian Bush. "Let's go kiddos!"

James and I run behind whilst John wrapped in our equipment. The wind blows my hair across my face; my stomach eats at my skin, as the hunger is getting unbearable. We need this food more than anything.

"This is the starting line?" John huffs once we've reached the side of a cliff.

I look around and can't see any clue where to go, until I spot a laminate taped to a post a few feet away. "Look!" I point, running up to it. "It says, 'In the live trial, your campmates managed to earn you 85 minutes to collect the eleven stars. The number of stars you have at the end of the trial will determine how many people eat at the luxury banquet."

A klaxon noise roars. On John's digital watch, 85 minutes flashes up on the screen, meaning the time has begun.

"I think I've found our first trial," James points. "Look."

James points to a cliff edge, where a ranger is stood ready to hook us up to some wires. We all edge closer, and I dare peak over the edge to see what looks like a 60 foot drop down.

"We're abseiling."

Then I spot them. Along a green cord in the centre of the cliff are 3 starred flags, hooked on it at regular intervals. "Who's going first?"

"I will, and then I'll tell you how to do it." James volunteers, leaping towards the ranger and getting strapped in.

"For god's sake be careful." I plead once he's in position.

He promises me he'll be fine, and then like a cat out of the water, he runs down the cliff edge fearlessly. Once he's descended to the first star, James swings his body across and grabs the cord, unhooking the flag and hooking it to his backpack.

"It's totally fine!" He shouts up whilst being unhooked from the outback floor. "You just have to swing across for the star!"

I'm next to be hooked up. The fear begins to arise when I'm first tied in, but it dissipates when I get over the first edge. The rocks are sharp and break away with the slightest touch; I spot all the debris falling to the floor and pray I don't fall too.

"Keep going Em!" James encourages. I feed the rope through the silver Caribbean and tiptoe ever so slowly down the cliff side.

"Stop! Ok, now swing yourself over to your left and grab the cord."

I push against the cliff edge and swing myself to the right, building enough momentum to grab the green cord. My fingers stretch out to the rope, and on my first swing, the cord is still out of reach.

But I commit, and manage to grab the green cord on the third swing. I feed my hand's clamp to the second flag and unhook the metal clips, attaching them onto the loops on my bag. Once it's safely secured, I gently allow myself down to the floor.

"Well done!" James congratulates me, picking me up and swinging me around. "You did incredibly."

He hugs me into his chest and goes to peck my lips, but I stop him. "Um, James? John is here, remember?"

"Oh yeah." He shakes his head. "I forgot."

"Don't worry. We'll let everyone know soon about-,"

"Let everyone know what?" I voice breathes down my eardrum. "I got the third star."

Wow. He did that pretty fast. "...Uh, it doesn't matter now." He shakes off his own question. "We have 62 minutes and need to get to the next challenge."

I hook all of the stars to my backpack when John plugs in the next GPS coordinates. "It's this way!" He points out to the horizon.

Once again, James and I sprint up behind John, desperate to see what the next challenge is.