We all filed into the girls cabin, and the second I stepped through the door, I heard the scream once more, even louder than before.
Lindsay was up on a chair, hands pressed to her face, and terror in her eyes. "Oh my God, oh my God, get it away!"
The floor below her held the biggest cockroach I'd ever seen in both of my lives. The thing was the size of three of my fingers, antennae twitching like it was deciding who to go after first.
It skittered toward DJ.
The guy let out a shriek that could shatter glass and threw himself backward onto one of the bunk beds. The entire frame crumpled beneath him with a crack of splintering wood.
"That was, mine." Gwen said flatly across from me.
The roach began it's move again and the cabin erupted. Beth scrambled backward. Sadie and Katie clutched each other, screaming in harmony, and Cody starring into space.
I was going to step up myself, but movement caught my eye. Duncan was already heading for the door.
He came back with a sharp looking axe.
"Dude, what—" someone started, but Duncan didn't hesitate. He brought the blade down in one clean swing, splitting the roach in half.
The cabin went quiet for a second, everyone staring at the delinquent kid who just casually overkilled a bug with a weapon.
"See?" Cody said immediately, turning to Gwen with this eager expression. "I could've done that. I was about to grab something and—"
"Sure you were," Gwen said.
Duncan glanced between them, lips quirking. "Nerds always go for goths."
I walked towards Lindsay, who was still frozen on the chair, breathing hard. "Hey," I said, offering my hand. "It's dead. You're good."
Her eyes met mine, and then she grabbed my hand like I'd just saved her from a burning building. "Oh my gosh, you're like, my hero!"
She hopped down, still holding onto my arm. Up close, she was even prettier than I'd thought blue eyes, perfect smile, she looked like she was made to be in reality tv.
Turning away across the cabin, Duncan had moved toward Gwen. He opened his mouth, probably about to say something smooth, but the intercom screeched to life before he got the chance.
"Attention all campers head to the main lodge dining hall, I have a special guest waiting on you."
It cut off, and we all headed off to its direction.
The dining hall smelled like something died and then got cooked anyway with a sprinkle of something edible.
We filtered in and took seats at the long tables. They were nice enough and separated by teams. I ended up between Gwen and Trent, with a clear view of the kitchen where a massive guy in an apron was slamming pots around. He looked towards us like he was already angry for some reason.
"Dude, look at that food," Trent said quietly. "It looks like it was spit up and put back in the pot."
I could only let out a small sigh, an ex-military man with no taste buds, instead of cooking he should be bench pressing the stove.
"Listen up! I'm Chef!" he barked, making half the table flinch. "I'm your chef. I serve three meals a day. You eat what I give you, when I give you, and you don't complain."
Beth raised her hand tentatively. "Um, will we be getting the major food groups? Because nutrition is really important for my stomach problems."
It was a good question, especially when you look inside the kitchen.
Harold cut in directly after, pushing his glasses up. "I get hypoglycemic if I don't eat enough sugar, so if you could just—"
"SIT. DOWN!"
Harold sat.
Chef grabbed a ladle and pointed it at him. "You. Scrawny. Bring your plate up here."
The kid stood up again, lifted his plate, and started walking forward. The laddle dropped down a white, gelatinous substance onto the plate. Then it started sliding. The kid tilted the plate to keep it on, but the slop moved like it had a mind of its own, spasming backward until it plopped right back onto Chef's serving spoon.
Nobody laughed. We were all too horrified.
Chef slammed it back onto his plat. "Anyone else got complaints?"
Silence.
He started doling out our portions, slapping the mystery substance into bowls as we all made a line. When mine hit my tray I stared down at it. The smell alone made my stomach turn. It was gray-ish white, glistening under the luminescent lights, with chunks of something that definitely wasn't supposed to be there.
I sat back down and felt my eyelids start batting. I had to eat to survive here. That was basic logic. But this? This looked like it could learn to kill me faster than starvation.
I couldn't even be bothered to think about eating it, I gazed around and saw Leshawna who was leaned against the other table, looking at Eva with a friendly smile. "Hey girl, so what kinda music do you listen—"
Eva. Did nothing, no expression, but it sorta looked like a mean mug with her low set eyebrows, and it didn't help that she just stared.
Leshawna blinked, then leaned back. "Oh, okay. It's gonna be like that."
I had to remember myself, Eva wasn't going to be the social type. It might be good to let her go early, so far she didn't seem to provide much of any content.
Gwen poked at her tray with a fork, then grimaced. "I hate being that person on day one, but..." She leaned closer, lowering her voice. "I'm pretty sure my food just moved."
I glanced down at her plate, then mine. "That's just the protein showing initiative. Chef's into that farm to table thing. Real organic."
She snorted, and I caught the hint of a smile.
Chef shot me a look from the kitchen, but I think I worded it carefully enough that he couldn't think of a reason to call me out.
The door swung open and Chris strutted in, with an all white smile . "Hey campers! Welcome to the main lodge, Hope you enjoyed your meal!" He said, completely ignoring the full bowls and 'food' crawling away. "Now that you're all nice and full, I've got great news. Your first challenge starts in one hour. Make sure you're wearing your swimsuits!"
He left before anyone could ask questions. and we all got up getting ready.
The hike up the cliff was steep enough that I could feel it in my calves.
I kept myself middle of the pack. Geoff and Bridgette were near me, and Geoff had been talking basically non-stop since we started climbing.
"So you surf?" he was asking Bridgette. "That's sick. I tried surfing once, totally ate it, but it was still awesome, you know?"
"Yeah, I've been surfing since I was like seven," Bridgette said, a little breathless from the climb. "My parents live right on the beach, so."
"That's so cool. I'm more of a party guy, you know, but I love the beach. Sun, waves, good vibes."
I glanced at him. The guy hadn't looked away from her once. Not even to watch where he was stepping.
Ahead of us, Duncan was keeping pace with Courtney, who was leading the whole group like she was on a mission. Her ponytail swung with each step, and she had this focused expression, she seemed ready for what was to come but knowing the show I wasn't so sure.
"You don't have to walk so fast," Duncan said to her. "It's not a race."
"Shut it you Ogre," Courtney shot back without slowing down. "First one up gets the best spot to see the challenge."
"Or you could just relax."
"I am relaxed."
She wasn't.
I stole glances at the others as we climbed. Lindsay in all red was near the back with Beth laughing at something she said. Heather was a few people ahead of me, looking completely unbothered by the climb, like she did this every morning.
Looking at everyone now I had to say, those three where definitely unmatched in appearance, at least compared with the rest.
We reached the top, and the view hit, endless lake stretching out, blue and glittering in the sun almost like CGI. And one very long drop down.
Chris was already waiting, standing atop near the edge with his arms spread wide. "Welcome, campers, to your very first challenge!"
"Campers," he said, voice crisp, "today's challenge has two parts. First one's easy."
He jabbed a thumb downward.
the ocean churned around a ring of red buoys—small, tight, and very far away.
"You must complete a thousand feet jump," he continued. "You land inside that safe zone. You score a point for your team. The more of you who actually make the leap, the better your chances."
"Part two of this you'll be building a hot tub and it'll be judged on its functionality, and presentation. Whichever team builds the best one earns the right to party tonight,"
"The losers head to elimination."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Bridgette said, glancing at me and Geoff.
Chris's grin only seemed to widen. "Oh, one more thing. The safe zone? That's the only part of the lake that's safe. The rest is filled with psychotic, man-eating sharks. Freshwater sharks, super rare, and they're hungry."
The group went dead silent.
"Wait, WHAT?" Cody said.
"You're kidding," Courtney said.
"Sh-Sharks?" Beth squeaked.
I stared at Chris, trying to figure out how they actually got sharks. Real sharks. And somehow convinced a legal team this was fine.
It was no mystery why the show was so popular in and out of its universe.
"Killer Bass, you're up first!" Chris announced, stepping back with his hands gesturing to the drop.
Nobody moved.
The entire Bass team just stood there, staring at the edge. Bridgette looked at Geoff. Geoff looked at DJ. DJ looked like he might pass out.
I nudged Geoff lightly, then Bridgette.
She glanced at me, and I gave her the smallest nod.
She swallowed hard and stepped forward. "Okay. I'll go."
The group parted as she walked to the edge. She stood there for a long moment, staring down at the water, at the tiny ring of buoys that looked impossible to hit from this height.
If my team had to go first I knew I wouldn't willingly except being put up. With the killer bass up, if none of them ended up dying I'd be more than willing.
"You got this!" Geoff called out.
Bridgette didn't answer. She crouched low, arms out.
Then she dove.
For a second, she was just suspended in the air, falling fast, and then she hit the water with a splash inside the safe zone.
A cheer went up from the Bass team.
"One point for the Killer Bass!" Chris announced.
I exhaled slowly. So people could survive this.
Good to know.
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Btw when he says those three he means Lindsay, Heather, and Courtney