"Today's breakfast is Hawaiian-Italian fusion casserole!" Chef said putting food on Gwen's plate.
"You mean leftovers from the cooking challenge?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah, that's right! You got a problem with that?!" Chef asked angrily.
"Sir, no sir!" Gwen said saluting. She saluted back. Now it was my turn.
"Breakfast looks great Chef!" I smiled and saluted the intimidating man.
"Thanks soldier." He said. I went over to where Heather was sitting. She got a cold when she was trapped in the freezer. Heather was wrapped up in a blanket drinking tea.
"Need a little echinacea?" Gwen asked Heather as I sat down.
"Ha, you're so funny. You think that you can just lock me up in a freezer and get away with it?" Heather said with a stuffy nose. "I am gonna make you sorry that you ever met me."
"Too late." Gwen said.
"You are such a... a... a... achoo!" Heather sneezed.
"Ugh! I hate this place!" Heather said. I looked over at the Bass's table and saw Dj petting his bunny. He was so adorable. Then I thought about how he bullied Harold and looked away.
After we ate breakfast, everyone headed to the pier.
"Hey are you still mad at me?" Dj asked.
"Yeah." I said not looking at him.
"Can you back off of her? She obviously doesn't want to talk to you." Heather said getting in between us. She grabbed my hand and we walked away from him.
"So, last week's challenge exposed a few Gopher issues. And I'm sensing a little something funky floating in the Bass pond, too. So, this week's challenge is going to be centered around building trust. Because all good things begin with a little trust."
Confessional: "This is good. Things have been super tense around here lately."
"There will be three major challenges that will have to be completed by two or more members of your team. Normally, we like to have the campers choose their partners, but not this time! More fun for me!" Chris said. I was kind of worried about who I would be assigned to. Luckily I wasn't in the first challenge.
Unfortunately Heather and Gwen were paired up together. That was a scary combination. "Okay! So for the first challenge, you'll be doing an extreme freehand rock climbing adventure! DJ and Duncan will play for the Bass. Heather and Gwen for the Gophers."
"Ugh..." Gwen said.
"Here's your belay and harness." Chris said throwing them over. Heather aggressively took the harness and belay from Gwen.
"Hey! What's your damage?" Gwen asked.
"If you think I'm letting you hold me up, you're nuts!" Heather said.
"You won't be holding her up exactly. One camper pulls the slack through the belay as their partner climbs. If the climber falls, the belay will stop them from crashing. The catch? Both the side and the base of he mountain are rigged with a few minor distractions like rusty nails, slippery oil slicks, mild explosives, and a few other surprises."
"Wicked!"Harold said
"The person on belay must also harness their partner up. It's all about trust, people. And remember, never let go of the rope. Your partner's life depends on it." Chris said.
"Excuse me, can we trade partners? I really don't feel like being dropped on my head today." Gwen asked.
"Please. As much as I love your company, I'm not gonna throw a challenge just to kill you. Yet. Now spread 'em." Heather demanded. I watched as Heather hooked up Gwen.
"There. You're all hooked up." Heather said.
"What's the second rope for?" Gwen asked confused.
"It's a backup line." Heather said smiling.
"What are you smiling about?" Gwen asked.
"Nothing. I'm just really happy we got on this challenge together." Heather said.
"What did you do?" I asked Heather as we watched Gwen climb up the wall.
"You really don't trust me?" Heather asked pretending to be innocent. "I'm trying to focus. Just go back and watch the show." I sighed and watched as Gwen struggled up the cliff. Suddenly Chef began blasting hot sauce and causing more distractions. After a while, it seemed like Gwen was doing good, she was by the top of the climbing wall.
"Come one, Gwen. You don't wanna fall behind." Heather said before pulling a rope and ripping Gwen's skirt. Her underwear was revealed. Dj's eyes were covered by the skirt.
"What the heck Heather." I said as my face heated up.
"Dah!" Gwen made a shocked noise.
DJ took the skirt off his face and saw Gwen's exposed buttom. He screamed and fell backward. The rope tied around Duncan's leg and he was lifted up. But hung upside down next to each other. Gwen began to go up the wall
"Looks like the Gophers have won the first challenge." Chris announced.
"Yeah! Crap!" Gwen cheered before covering herself.
Next Lindsay and I were up. I felt relieved about being partnered up with a friend. This would be a piece of cake. Our opponents were Geoff and Bridgette.Lights shot on and we were lifted up a platform. I adjusted my glasses causing them to shine. A stunt double jumped through the air and in front of a podium. Chris came from behind it.
"And now, round two! The extreme. Cooking. Challenge!" Chrus annoucned dramatically. I watched as the stunt double crawled out the room.
"Each team must choose who cooks and who eats."Chris announced.
"Ooh, Whitney! I'll be the cook!" Lindsay said seeming excited.
Confessional: "Judging from the last challenge I'm not fit to cook. I decided to let Lindsay cook. Even though we're friends, I often doubt her abilities."
"You got this." I said smiling at Lindsay.
"Today you'll be preparing Fugu sashimi, the traditional Japanese poisonous blowfish." Chris said. My heart stopped. Did he just say poisonous? "The Fugu Blowfish contains enough lethal toxins to kill thirty people."
Chef tapped the fish tank and got out the blow fishs. "Fishes, meet your maker!"Chef said and threw the fish over.
"Ahh!" Lindsay exclaimed.
"Must be sliced very carefully to cut around the poisonous organs. The poison paralyzes the nerves and there is no antidote. So no worries." chris said. I gulped as I watched Lindsay poke the fish with the knife.
"Have you taken biology?" I asked nervously. Lindsay nodded her head. I let out a sigh of relief.
"Begin!" Chris said. She stabbed the fish and it flew around. It broke the glass in the dining hall.
"Finished!" Beth said. I watched as Geoff at the neatly cut fish.
"Excellence!" Geoff said seeming satisfied.
"Ta-da!" Lindsay said pushing the plate towards me. It had a smiley face made of ketchup. I poked it with a fork before taking a small bite and swallowing. I began choking and my stomach felt weird. I fell over and began barfing.
"Ewwwww!" Lindsay said.
"It's cool. Give her twenty-four hours and she'll be up walking and breathing, good as new."
"Uh, is anyone gonna help this girl?" Geoff asked. Cheif came over in a nurses outfit and his lips moved towards mine. I tried to scream as they came crashing down onto mine.
The next few hours of hell. I was being taken care of by chef. He use a painful needle on me as I choked on my own vomit. It was a nightmare. I didn't get to see how the challenges ended in person. In fact, I wouldn't be better until the next day.
Later on, Courtney showed up. She was knocked out by getting hit in the head by apples. Afterwards, Heather was taken in because she was shocked by jellyfish. She down across from my bed. The giant purple jellyfish still stung her.
"What? Where am I?" Courtney asked as Chef fed me soup.
"You're in the infirmary."Got anything for removing jellyfish?"Heather asked. Chef nodded and Heather fell back.
"What's Duncan doing with a rabbit?" Courtney asked out loud.
"Dnucan wis wit Rabababit?" I asked confused.
"Yes." Courtney said. "He was luring it somewhere." She said. She came up with theories as I was tortured by Chef. After we won the challenge I was taken to see my team in a wheelchair. I spouted nonsense as I heard the announcement that the other won.
"Unfortunately, I said that these were blind challenges. By taking off the blindfold for a moment, you broke the number one rule, which makes the Gophers today's big winners!" Chris said causing my team to cheer. I cheered along foaming from the mouth. Afterwards, Chef took me back to the infirmary. I heard that Sadie was eliminated from Courtney later that on. She ranted about Sadie while I was in my awful state.
The next day, she visited me again when I was all better. Harold was with her. I sat up confused.
"You can now be dispatched. Take a shower, you're going to need it." Chef said pushing me out the bed. I stood up annoyed.
"Brittany I'm glad you're ok!"Courtney said hugging me.
"Thanks?" I asked confused.
"Thanks for being such a good friend and listening to me yesterday." She said smiling. I didn't have much of a choice.
"It was no problem." I smiled. "Thanks for being here." Harold coughed and I looked at him.
"I just wanted to give you these." He said handing me flowers. I looked at them confused. "Dj and I made up this morning. He told me to give these to you and said keep the fact he picked flowers for you a secret." Harold said before walking away.
"Aww you have an admirer." Courtney giggled.
"He was probably just being nice." I said flustered.
"You do realize how sad he was about you ignoring him right? That plus his bunny going missing made him pretty sad." Courtney said.
"Speaking of Bunnies let's talk about Duncan." I said smirking.
"Shut it." Courtney said blushing. The two of us walked to my cabin together teasing each other. We didn't notice the camera man following us.
The morning of the next challenge Courtney and I were walking together. I was praying Heather wouldn't see us talking. Suddenly underwear was thrown in front of us. It had weird brown stuff all over it. I looked up and saw Harold.
"Ew! Harold! You are so totally gross!" Courtney said disgusted. Courtney turned around and walked away.
"No wait! It wasn't me! Idiots!" Harold said before going into his cabin.
"Sometimes, he just makes it too easy." Geoff said
"Heh, I hear you, man." Duncan agreed.
"Someday karma is going to bite you two in the butt." I said glaring at them.
"Whatever mom. You may have the big guy wrapped around your finger but you can't stop us." Duncan said rolling his eyes. Dj peeked out of the cabin and waved to me. I waved back smiling. "Seriously man?" Duncan asked Dj.
A loud voice came from the loudspeaker."Listen up, you little cockroaches! I want all campers to report to the Dock of Shame at 0900 hours! That means now, soldiers! Now!" Chef demanded. Something told me today would be painful.
I ran to the dock of shame fearfully. When I got there Chef made us stand in a line. "Line up and stand at attention! You call this proper formation?!" He slapped Geoff with a stick. "Knees together!"
"Ah! Ah!" Geoff yelled.
"Arms down!" Chef slapped Duncan's crossed arms.
"Eyes forward! Head up!" Chef put the stick under Heather's neck and lifted her chin. He began hitting Harold with the stick. Gwen whispered something to Trent but I didn't hear exactly what.
"What did you say to me, soldier?!" Chef asked through his Megaphone.
"Um... Nothing?" Gwen lied.
"And you'll continue to say nothing until I tell you that you can say something! Today's challenge will not be an easy one. In fact, I do not expect everyone to come out alive." Chef said.
Owen chuckled before getting hit. "Aww, that hurt!"
"My orders are to make sure that all of the babies in front of me drop out of my boot camp except one. The last one standing wins immunity for their team!" Chef said through his megaphone.
"Uh... what happened to Chris?" Heather asked.
"Rule number one! You will address me as Master Chief! Have you got that?!" Chef asked.
"Yes, Master Chief!" We all said.
"You will sleep when I tell you to sleep! And you will eat only when I tell you to eat! Is that clear?!" Chef asked Geoff.
"Yes, Master Chief!" Geoff said.
Rule number two! When you are ready to give up, you will walk to the end of the dock and ring the bell. Which brings me to rule number three! I'll have to get one quitter before the end of the first day! And that day will not end until someone drops out! Now get your butts down to the beach, soldiers! Now, now, now!" We all screamed and ran towards the beach. This was a nightmare.
"Listen up! Each team will hold a canoe over their heads! I catch you taking your hands off the canoe, and you will be eliminated. And no one eats lunch until someone drops out. Canoes up!" Chef said. I walked over to the canoe and lifted it up along with my other team mates.
"Pfft! This isn't that hard." Owen said.
"Piece of cake!" Geoff said.
Everything was painful. My stomach was growling from not eating anything. The summer sun bore down on me as I continued to hold up the heavy canoe. I needed water. At some point Chef and Chris got on top of our canoes.
"Come on, you sissies! It's only been three hours!" Chef said.
"Looks like they missed lunch today." Chris said from on top of our canoe.
"Mmhmm. Guess they just weren't hungry! Unless someone wants to quit now." Chef said. I heard Owen' s stomach growl.
"Don't even think about it, Owen!" Gwen said.
"You can do this Owen."I encouraged the big guy.
I heard Duncan and Geoff messing with Harold but stayed quiet. Even though I was annoyed I had to remain calm for my team.
A couple of hours later, Owen was passed out sleeping as we listened to Chef's war stories. "Twenty-five of us went to the jungle that night. Only five came back out."
"What war were you in, anyway?" Gwen asked.
"Did I ask you to speak?! Because I don't remember asking you to speak!" Chef said angrily.
"Whatever. He so wasn't in a war." Gwen said. Lindsay was right in front of me. Suddenly she gave up.
"Guys, I-I can't do this anymore." Lindsay whined. " I have no more feeling in my arms." She miserably walked to the bell.
"Looks like we got ourselves a quitter!" Chef smiled.
"Don't do it, Lindsay!" Owen yelled.Lindsay rung the bell.
"Aww..." Trent grunted.
"Ah!" owen exclaimed bedore we all crashed down.
"Listen here. You have nothing to be ashamed of." Chef said putting his hand on Lindsay's shoulder. He took it off and began speaking through the megaphone. "Except being a little baby that let your team down! As for the rest of you, head to the mess hall! Dinner is served!"
"Sweet Marie, thank you!" Owen cheered. I laid under the boat tiredly. After a while we got the boat off of us and headed to the mess hall. My whole body was sour.
"All right, maggots! Open your ears! You've got ten minutes to eat before night training begins! Get to it!" Chef said.
"That isn't enough time." I groaned
"No way!" Owen said.
"Aw, man. No way!" Harold complained.
"Um, excuse me? Master Chief? Where's the food?" Gwen asked.
"You're looking at it." Chef chuckled. Owen and I looked into a trash can.
"This is the leftover garbage from this morning's breakfast." Owen said.
"Darn right! When you're at war, you take what you can get!" Chef said. Owen picked out something with a fish bone inside it and ate it. I nearly puked.
Confessional: "I'm pretty sure starving us and forcing us to eat trash should be a crime." I said disgusted.
"Well, I can see you've got this under control. I'm off to craft services. Coming?" Chris asked.
"Serve me up some of that. " Chef said going after Chris.
Gwen sighed miserable.
"Oh, I am not eating this." Heather said.
"Understandable. I'm not eating trash." I said.
"Me neither." Courtney scoffed.
"Don't care for today's specials, Princess?" Duncan asked Courtney.
"I am going to be running for office one day, and no one is going to pull up a file of me eating garbage!" Courtney said disgusted.
"Hey, Harold? We felt really bad about the whole underwear fishing incident thing. So here, we found you some apple juice." Duncan said. I kicked it out of Duncan's hand and it spilled all over his shirt.
"Oops sorry." I said. "I rather Harold not drink some random liquid. Doubt you actually found apple juice." I smirked.
"You little-" Dj and Geoff had to hold Duncan back from hurting me.
"Is that true Duncan?" Harold asked.
"It's kitchen grease." Geoff asked. "Too bad your mom prevented you from drinking it.
"You guys are so immature. I hope you're proud of yourselves." Courtney said. Duncan calmed down and turned towards her.
"Heh. Okay, look. I know you like me.He knows you like me, Brittany knows you like me, everyone knows it. So here's a tip. If you wanna kiss me, I might let you." Duncan cockily getting in Courtney's face.
"And to think I actually thought you were nice!" Courtney said.
"Shh! Me? Nice? Haha, yeah right." Duncan said looking afraid. Dj brought me bread from the trash can. It looked cleanish. I shook my head but he put it in my hands anyway. I ate it slowly.
"Thanks." I whispered.
"Why'd you think that?" Geoff asked.
"Bunny." I whispered. Duncan glared at me and I smirked before taking another bite of the bread. Dj looked down at me confused.
"Nevermind. I was wrong. He's just as gross and annoying as he wants you to believe. Enjoy your garbage!" Courtney said agitated before walking away.
The rest of the night we danced. Geoff had crazier moves than expected. We all moved in unity as funky music played. Suddenly Chef thrusted and I was about to drop dead. The music stopped and I turned towards the boom box confused. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Duncan turned it off.
"Duncan, what are you doing?" Courtney asked.
"One of us drops out, we're done for the day." Duncan said.
"We're done when I say we're done! Now drop and give me twenty!" Chef demanded. Duncan began doing push-ups. "Anyone else got anything they want to say?" Chef asked.
"Uh, yeah. Can I go to the bathroom?" Gwen asked. She was sent off to clean the restrooms. We all headed back to the dining hall.
"For your next challenge, you will complete a three-hundred word essay about how much you love... me. Anyone who falls asleep or fails to complete the challenge will be eliminated!" Chef told us.
My love for Chef Hatchet is great. He is intelligent and wise. Whenever Chef Hatchet smiles, angels in the sky sing. Whenever Chef Hatchet laughs, a flower blooms. No one can deny that Chef Hatchet is truly the best. I am truly blessed to have met him. Three things I love about Chef are his cooking, amazing personality, and sick dance moves.
I wrote the next four paragraphs yawning. A buzzer rang and chef began collecting papers. "This is way more than 300 words. Good job soldier." Chef told me. I saluted him.
"Thanks Master Chef!" I said. He walked past me and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Nice job." Heather mouthed sleepily. I smiled and yawned.Chef got Duncan's paper and began reading.
"I love Master Chief Hatchet because he is very very very very very very very very very very very very very very...This is just one sentence with five pages of "very"s in between!" Chef said seeming annoyed.
"It's three hundred words exactly! You can count them if you want." Duncan said. Chef accepted that. He walked past Owen and slipped on his drool.
"Whoa! Ugh! Wipe up that drool, you little baby!" Chef yelled at Owen. He slammed a fist in front of Trent.
"You two slackers are out. The rest of you, get to bed and report to the playing field at 0500 hours." Chef demanded.
"Uh, missed a spot there, General." Duncan said holding a napkin.
"Boy! Do you wanna run fifty laps around this camp right now?!" Chef asked Duncan angrily.
"No thanks! He's going straight to bed. Aren't you?" Courtney said loudly before whispering to Duncan. I went back to the cabin and got some rest. Early the next morning, it was time for the challenge. I gotten some sleep but was tired and sore from the day before.
"You will all run this course until you can all complete it in under one minute. Am I making myself clear?" Chef said pointing to a complicated looking course.
"Crystal." Duncan said.
"Go, maggots, go!" Chef exclaimed. I ran as fast as possible through the course. First we had to climb up a wall. After that, we had to climb onto a rope and swing. Next jump through a tire. Lastly go under hanging, moving axes. It was very difficult to get my whole body through the tire.At one point, Harold drowned in some mud and sent to the infirmary. We spent hours going through that course.
Somehow, Heather got a rope tied around her leg and was hanging upside down. I was helping her get untied when I heard Chef talking to Duncan."You just bought yourself twenty more push-ups!"
"Thank you!" Duncan said kissing Chef on the cheek. The man began fuming and growling.
"I think you may have pushed him over the edge, bro." Geoff said.
"I... think you're right." Duncan agreed.
"One-night solitary confinement. In the boathouse." Chef said brutally. Heather and I gasped as she fell to the ground.
"Big deal. How scary can it be?" Duncan asked. Duncan was sent out to the boathouse. Later on, as we were eating I noticed Courtney looked distant from where she was sitting next to Geoff.
"I'm going to check on him." Courtney said.
"You like him." Geoff replied.
"I do not like him." Courtney said denying her feelings.
"Yes you do." Geoff continued.
"Not only do I not like him, I can't stand him. He's rude, he's rebellious, and he's totally annoying...I'm gonna go check on him." Courtney said leaving.
"Have fun wirh your boyfriend!" I called after Courtney.
"Do you think Chef will murder her if he found out she went to see him?" Gwen asked in a hushed voice.
"Probably, which is good because they'll have two less members. Duncan isn't going to survive at this rate." Heather said. Later on that night, I was preparing for bed I heard knocking at our cabin door. Courtney had a huge smile on her face.
"What's going on?" I yawned sleepily.
"Do you want to eat actual food?" Courtney asked.
"Yeah." I said. Courtney showed me a bag filled with food. My eyes widened.
"Everyone, come to the boys side of the Killer Bass cabin. We've got food!" She called. All the girls in my cabin got out of bed excited. All of us campers met up and ate.For the first time in a while, I ate a peanut butter jelly sandwich. Heather and I ate together enjoying the heavenly meal.
"I never knew that I'd ever want to cry tears of joy out of eating a jelly sandwich." I smiled.
"Same." Heather nodded. I grabbed a brownie and ate it, "Just don't eat too much. We don't want you to gain even more weight." Heather said. I sighed and met eyes with Leshawna. She shook her head and went back to listening to Gwen.After a while, Heather got tired and left.
I was about to leave, when Geoff called me over. "Yo Brit! Come chill with us for a while." Geoff called out to me. He was with Dj. I smiled and sat down with them. We hung out for a while until we noticed Courtney was running out of the room. Duncan went after her.
"Wanna spy?" Geoff asked me mischievously.
"Sure." I said standing up. We went by the doorway and tried not to be seen. I stood in between Dj and Geoff. It sounded like Courtney barfed.
"So the Princess has a dark side."Duncan said.
"Okay. That was so gross. But it was like, once I did something bad, it was so much fun, I just wanted more!" Courtney said sounding excited. Duncan touched Courtney's chin.
"Well, you could always gimme that kiss, that would be pretty bad." Duncan said.
"You're still not my type." Courtney said ruffling his hair.
"Fine. Enjoy a peanut butter-less life." Duncan said folding his arms.
"Thanks. Enjoy prison." Courtney said leaning against his back.
"I will." Duncsn said. Suddenly Courtney turned around and kissed him. He kissed back. All three of us were looking at each other. I gave the two men fist pumps. Courtney walked away and I went after her.
"Courtneeeeeeey." I called out ready to tease her. As we were talking a loud speaker went off.
"Attention, all remaining boot camp recruits, the next evolution of your training begins tomorrow morning at 0700 hours! And if I catch the sucker that took my desserts, your butt is mine!" Chef said through the loud speakers. After that, I went to bed.
The next morning, we had to hang upside down in trees.
"What you are experiencing is an ancient form of torture. By now, the blood has begun rushing to your head. The next stage is nausea, followed by dizziness and a flushed appearance as the blood begins to pool your eyes. You may experience fainting spells." Chef said. Duncan was the first person out. He fell to the ground and looked pretty messed up.
"Duncan!" Courtney called out. Bridgette ran over and checked on his.
"It's okay! He's all right!" Bridgette confirmed. Everyone reached their arms towards the branches to keep from falling. Owen struggled.
"Come on... I... can't... reach! D'ah!" Owen groaned before farting. He began to laugh.
"Okay, that's it. I'm done." Heather grunted before jumping out the tree. She gracefully landed to the ground. Owen fell on top of her.
"Off of me, you big ox!" Heather screamed.
"Sorry." Owen said.
Courtney began giggling loudly. I looked at her stunned.
"Stop laughing this instant!" Chef said.
"I'm sorry." Courtney giggled. "I can't help it.Whoa!" Courtney fell out of the tree.
"I expected more out of you, soldier." Chef scolded Courtney.
"Master Chief? Heh. I just have one thing to say to you." Courtney said giggling.
"And what might that be?" He asked.
"You really need to take a chill pill." Courtney giggled. I could see how angry chef was getting. He was practically steaming. My mouth was wide with shock and I giggled. Chef glared at me and I fell out the tree.
"Hehe, yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Duncan said high-fiving Courtney. She put an arm around his waist.
"Okay, Geoffy, it's all up to you!" Courtney said.
"You got this, Gwen?" Owen asked.
"You got this queen!"I called up to Gwen. "We believe in you Gwen!"
"Oh yeah. I can hang here all day." Gwen said.
"Rock on, sister! I live for the head rush!" Geoff said. Before looking a bit exhausted. "Heh. It feels... so... good." Geoff slurred before falling out the tree.
"Ooh! That's going to leave a mark." Courtney said.
After our win, my team worked together to carry Gwen cheering for her.
"Gwen!" Chef said causing us to stop. "Congratulations, soldier. I'd go to war with you anytime." Chef said giving her a salute.
"I'll keep that in mind when choosing my career." Gwen said looking confused.
"You do that, soldier!" Chef said in an emotional voice.
We went back to celebrating leaving the man alone.
Before the ceremony of the Killer Bass Harold and I met up.
"I don't think we can be friends anymore." Harold said. I looked at him confused.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because you were hanging out with Geoff yesterday even though you know how mean he is." Harold said.
"So you're dictating who I'm friends with now? That's really messed up Harold. I've been trying my best to help you out all summer." I said feeling angry. "Fine, you're getting voted off anyway tonight so I guess this is the last time we're seeing each other." I said storming off.
I was incredibly confused on how Courtney got voted off. So were all of her teammates. Bridgette and Courtney were close friends. And Dj,Geoff, and Duncan swore they all voted for Harold. My theory was that Chris rigged the votes somehow.