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

Rotten Retrieval

Ok. Water doesn't bother me.

I jump into the bitter water that is slightly warmer than that of the shower. In an instant, I hold my breath and dive under, feeling the slippery eels swim past my shins. Looking through my goggles, I grab the key on my left and emerge at the other side.

As the time ticks on, I crawl through a segment of green ants nests and swim through another drowned out tunnel. The green ants bite and sting, but are thankfully washed away in the second tank.

I end up grabbing the third key before descending into yet another tunnel, home of hundreds of rats.

"Oh my god!" I squeal, stepping my feet down. "John there are rats!"

"Just pretend they're giant hamsters!" John screams, obviously having company in his cage too.

I snatch the fourth key off a hook on the wall and shove it in my pouch. Slowly but surely, I place my limbs in the gaps between the little creatures, and skittle to the end of the tunnel as fast as I can.

"You have four out of five keys." Dec encourages me. "Come on Emma. You have 6 minutes left."

This is by far the worst trial we've done.

"For fudge sake man!" I curse, reaching the last segment of huntsman spiders. "Couldn't you have picked something else? Like puppies?"

Holly chuckles over the microphone as I grab the last key and break down the webs. "Sorry. You don't get too many puppies in Australia."

I delve down into another passageway and hook a left, where the cage door is in front of me. In there lies John Barrowman, covered head to toe in cockroaches, mealworms and crickets. "Oh my gosh, hi!" I smile, getting all the metal keys out of my bag.

"Well done Em! You've got this."

Trying each key at a time on the rusty padlocks, it takes me thirty seconds to unlock them all. "There's a cockroach having dinner on my butthole!"

"Mood." I laugh, throwing the cage door open. "Give me the tool!"

John thrusts the alan key into my hand. "Go get the stars!"

Without waving goodbye, I turn around and scuttle through the rabbit warren, back up into the spiders' nest. "The first star is on your right."

I spot the glistening yellow star and take the tool to it, turning the bolt and grabbing it off the wall. "Thats your first star. You have four minutes left."

I crawl through the cavities in the spider webs that I made before and delve back into the chamber of rats. There are two in this segment, and I grab the first one immediately.

"Ew, ew, ew, ew," I cry, constantly screaming whilst battling through the pesky warm-blooded pests. "They smell so bad." Shovelling through rat poop, I grab the third star off of the wall and exit the room.

"Back to the water now. There's a star on your left."

I don't even realise I'm not breathing until Holly lets me know. "Stay focused girl," John shouts from his cage. "You've got this!"

I take a large inhalation and bury my head under the water. I swim forward a meter and hook the alan key into the bolt.

But my air runs out, and I swim back again.

"Just take a breath, Emma," Dec tells me. "Just take a few deep breaths."

There's not enough time. With one small inhalation, I delve back under and turn the key, loosening up the fourth star.

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah." I shove it in my pouch.

I throw my knees up and climb back out onto the rough surface, into the chamber of green ants. "Two minutes."

Their biting, stinging and swelling powers take over my skin, as the pesky ants crawl in every crevice. "They're in my pants!" I scream, shaking my hips. "They're in my pants!"

After claiming the fifth star, I jump back in the water with no hesitation. All the green ants drown - the water acts a pain relief.

I don't have to duck my head fully under, as the star is in reach. I take the key in my right hand and undo the bolt, grabbing the star and shoving it into my pouch.

"You have one minute Emma. Let's find this last star."

I swim under the water and emerge on the other side. I remember exactly where the last star was - just by the door into the trial. "Thirty seconds!"

"Come on Emma!" John's voice echoes through the tunnel walls.

The seventh star is in sight, and with fumbling hands, I slot the key in the bolt and begin to twist it.

"Ten seconds!"

With slippery hands, I drop the key. "Five seconds."

With all my leftover strength, I slot the key in the star and turn it again, letting the star fall off of the wall.

I throw it in my pouch.

"Time is up!" The klaxon bellows again. "Let's get them both out."

I scramble back up the metal ladder, being struck with broad daylight and fresh-smelling air. "Here she is," Holly awes. "Oh my gosh."

My legs are covered in red marks from the green ant bites. In my hair are remnants of spider webs, tangled like a fedora in my knotted sodden locks. "Well done, Emma."

John hops along on his walking stick, covered in cockroaches that scuttle around in his clothes. "You did so well."

I throw down seven stars onto the jungle floor; the relief washes over me. "It was so hard down there but so worth it."

"Well we won't make you stick around," Dec applauds. "We'll let you go back to camp and tell everyone the good news."

*****

I hope you liked this chapter! I loved watching this trial, so I really wanted to make Emma and John do it!

I think Harry will win tonight. Who do you think will win?

Thanks to the wonderful theweirdchic for the lovely comments!

Xoxo