Chapter Fifteen
Sabine hadn’t minded when Taye and Isla had won the next reward challenge.
It was a puzzle challenge involving a swim out to a floating platform where they had to unclip weighted crates chained to the side.
Then they had to wrestle them loose while waves slapped at their shoulders.
When the floating pieces were finally free, they had to haul them back to the shore one by one before assembling the Outlast Her logo.
Taye and Isla had won it by a mile. Talia and Sabine had come in second.
She also hadn’t minded that they’d chosen Monique and Amy to join them.
Connie and Charlize, who had to sit the challenge out due to Connie’s head cold, did seem to mind.
Frankly, Amy needed a pick-me-up. She’d been moping around for the last two days.
Sabine also didn’t mind because she could finally air out the idea that had been rattling around her brain like loose change for the last twenty-four hours.
“I want to see if I can catch some fish,” Sabine said, rising and brushing sand from her shorts. A minute ago, she’d been half-heartedly scraping coconut husks into the fire pit. She turned to Talia, who was crouched over her sandal, re-threading a frayed strap, and added, “Maybe we can get lucky.”
Charlize scoffed, but said nothing. She had simply carried on whittling a stick with the tip of her machete.
There were enough wood shavings collecting at her feet to rival a small sawmill.
Sabine ignored her, mostly because she knew deep down that the woman was right.
Even Sabine knew her hands were better at stopping arterial bleeds than scooping fish out of a rock pool.
Truthfully, Sabine wasn’t actually intending on doing any of the sort. It was just a ruse to get Talia alone.
Luckily, Talia caught on and dropped her sandal. “I think we could,” she said. “There’s a great little rock pool over there.” She pointed to where the beach curved, and Sabine, who hadn’t gotten as far as planning which spot to visit, nodded in agreement.
A few silent moments later, they ended up at a rock pool just out of sight of the shelter.
Talia sat down first, and Sabine joined her on the bleached limestone that looked as pale as old bones.
It was warm under her thighs. She scanned the area where the tide had worn hollows.
Some were no bigger than a coin, while others were wide and deep enough for tiny fish to flicker through in big schools.
Then she tilted her head back and took in the sky above.
It was stretched thin and cloudless. Behind them, the Pacific Ocean crashed against the outer rocks, and spray leaped up and misted the air.
She picked up a small stone and rolled it between her fingers. Then she glanced at Talia, who had her knees pulled in and was skimming the water’s edge with her toes.
“I think we should flip the game,” Sabine said. She wasn’t loud, nor was she particularly confident either. It was more like a thought had accidentally slipped out of her head, and she was testing the waters, so to speak.
Talia’s eyes flicked up just as she dropped her feet into the rock pool. “Really?” she asked, a frown knitting her brows. “I thought we were fine where we are.”
Sabine leaned back on her hands and let the sun-warmed stones press into her palms. Talia was correct.
They were perfectly fine just where they were.
Their alliance with Isla, Taye, Lucia, and Marloe gave them a nice little cushion.
It was how they’d managed to vote out Shakira. But frankly, it wasn’t enough.
“I want to make a mark,” she said. The words tasted like salt on her tongue.
Almost forbidden. She was vaguely aware of the camera crew lurking like seagulls waiting for breadcrumbs, but right now, she didn’t care.
This was the kind of scheming that the viewers lived for.
They wanted alliances to bend. They wanted them to break.
“Taye and Isla are strong and smart. They’re winning challenges and making moves.
They’ll ride to the end if we let them. I don’t want that. ”
Talia flicked her toes and sent a silver arc of water flying like a tiny fountain. Any fish swimming in that pond scattered ages ago. “So, you want to blindside them?” she asked. “Even though they basically handed us a lifeline before the last Sending.”
That pretty much summed it up.
“Yes, exactly,” Sabine said.
Talia looked uneasy. She chewed at her cheek, and Sabine inched closer.
She nearly dropped her hand on Talia’s knee, but then quickly remembered the camera lenses.
Any touch now, even something as simple as a little bob on the knee, could be spun into something scandalous.
The viewers would think something was going on between them.
Wait. Are they flirting? Did she seriously just touch Talia’s leg?
Sabine’s family and friends would be shocked to witness a moment of PDA from her.
They’d guess immediately that Sabine was sleeping with her fellow castmate.
So, she refrained and even scooted a few inches away. She reached down and splashed water on her ankles, hoping she looked natural. She would’ve splashed some on her cheeks too because she was feeling awfully hot all of a sudden, but that would be too obvious.
“It will work,” Sabine added.
“I don’t know,” Talia said, looking at her feet tapping gently at the water. “How would we even go about it?”
The answer was simple. Or it had become simple after Sabine had detangled every silky strand until it looked like a perfect little web of deceit.
“We flip the game,” Sabine said. “We get Monique and Amy to vote with us. We’ll convince them it was Isla and Taye’s idea to vote out Shakira. Which it technically was. Then we pull Connie and Charlize over to our side as well.”
Talia didn’t look convinced.
“They’ll go for it,” Sabine said confidently. “They’re a swing vote. They don’t seem fixed to an alliance. They turned on Hanna and Monique and joined the Core Four at the first Sending. Last vote, they were on the fence. Didn’t you see Connie wobble between two cups?”
Talia didn’t say anything.
“The only pair we can’t trust is Marloe and Lucia. I know they’re technically in an alliance with us, but they won’t go against Taye and Isla.”
“But we won’t need them,” Talia said.
“Exactly,” Sabine replied, feeling oddly excited.
This could work. She could make a big enough move to be a ripple.
She didn’t want to be cushioned in an alliance like a decorative pillow everyone forgot about.
She wanted to be at the top. She had no idea how the final votes were going to work.
Would there be a jury like on Survivor who decided the fate of the final two contestants?
She did know that the winners were those who made moves.
The winners were the contestants who risked being disliked and did it anyway.
Talia pulled up one leg and let the other dangle in the pool. She rested her chin on her kneecap and stared at the ocean where waves crashed against rocks.
“Are you alright?” Sabine asked. She couldn’t put a finger on it, but something was off.
Talia hadn’t been quite herself the last two days.
Yes, she was still talkative. Last night she’d told everyone the story of when she’d worked a shift during a bachelorette party and the maid of honor had tried to pay with Monopoly money.
And yes, she and Sabine were still spooning every night.
But there had been a shift. Subtle as a tide pulling back before you noticed the water was gone.
Talia wasn’t distant, not really. Not enough for anyone else to notice.
But Sabine did. It had felt like she’d taken half a step away and had never quite stepped back.
“You seem a little off today.”
“I’m fine,” Talia said quickly, lifting her head just enough to look at Sabine. She smiled, but it felt like she’d pulled it off the shelf for the sake of smiling. “I’m just thinking.”
“About my plan? Or about something else?”
Talia took a minute to reply, which told Sabine enough.
There was something else going on in her head.
Something Sabine would happily have left alone a few days ago, but now it made her restless.
She badly wanted to climb inside Talia’s thoughts and find out what was bothering her.
She wasn’t sure what unsettled her more: the risk that came with making a move, or the possibility that Talia was pulling away.
“We don’t have to go through with it,” Sabine said quickly. Although that wasn’t what she wanted. “It’s just a thought I’ve been having. Both Isla and Taye are strong competitors. If either of them goes home, it will help us.”
“Or both,” Talia said.
Sabine shook her head. “That won’t happen,” she said matter-of-factly.
No one in their right mind would leave together, not even the tightest, most loyal pair on the island, not even the ones sneaking off into the forest when no one was looking to make out against a tree.
“You know that won’t happen, Talia. Everyone here wants to win. Isla and Taye included.”
Talia said nothing. She flicked her gaze down to her feet and kicked at the shallows.
Sabine snapped her head toward the ocean and drew in a lungful of salty air. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the camera crew drift back toward camp.
“Look,” Sabine said, scooting closer toward Talia but keeping a decent space between them in case any of the crew turned around and looked in their direction. “We don’t have—”
“We should vote out Taye and Isla,” Talia said, nodding. “You’re absolutely right. We need to make moves, and that’s a pretty big one.”
Sabine should’ve felt relieved. Triumphant even. Instead, her stomach flipped upside down, and her mouth suddenly felt dry. Maybe she was in over her head. Still, wasn’t a little risk worth the reward? “Are you sure?”
“I trust you.”
“Do you trust me enough to sneak off tonight when everyone is sleeping?” Sabine asked. But the second the question left her mouth, she wondered what had possessed her. She had seriously just suggested they sneak off and have sex under the stars.
Talia’s face lit up like a struck match. “Are you asking me out on a date, Dr. Sabine?”
“People usually call me Dr. Kallix,” Sabine said, still recovering from her suggestion. She bent down and splashed water on her face. Her cheeks had to be as red as they felt.
“Really?” Talia asked, eyes wide and bright. “I never would’ve guessed that was your last name. It doesn’t suit you.”
Sabine gasped. But she wasn’t really offended, not with Talia smiling like the sun breaking through dark clouds. “Well, I think it suits me perfectly.” Then she winked and started to rise. “We should probably get back and start a conversation with Connie and Charlize.”
“Without fish?”
Sabine laughed and extended her hand to Talia. “We’ll admit defeat.”