Chapter 14 #2
Cole frowns. “Randy did ask me whether I was tight with you guys, and Jenny told me she thought we could work together down the line, but that was it.” He looks at me, his eyes flickering with reflected firelight, and I have to remind myself not to get lost in them.
“What do you think, Ry? Are we missing something important?”
I pause to think about it before responding.
“I don’t know,” I reply slowly. “I mean, maybe they’re just waiting to see who wins the next challenge, or they could be biding their time to see if we crack.
Or maybe they think it doesn’t matter if we flip because they have the idol, and they’re convinced they’ll play it right. ”
Rhonda shakes her head. “I don’t like it,” she announces, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I guess there ain’t much we can do about it right now, other than keep tryin’ to convince Tamika to vote with us.”
I nod my agreement. Our plan to get Tamika to flip might not succeed, but right now it’s all we’ve got.
But then, even if she does desert her tribe and all five of us stay loyal, it still might not be enough, because if the Sikas play their idol correctly, it won’t matter if we have more votes than them.
That’s assuming they even have the idol in the first place.
There’re just too many permutations to consider.
More than anything, I wish I knew what the Sikas are up to. There is not a single shred of doubt in my mind that they have a plan, too. I’m sure I’ll find out what it is sooner or later, but the longer it takes, the more likely it is that they’ll take over the game and vote us out one by one.
Day 19
Ten tall poles, perhaps two feet in diameter and fifteen feet high, and each painted brightly in a different color, await us in the challenge area the next morning.
Each pole has several rings carved around the diameter, perhaps footholds or handholds.
I have a guess as to what the challenge might be, but I might be wrong.
Either way, I just need one of my allies to win, or at the very least, for Ashraf and Randy to lose.
The former because it would mess up our plan to flush his idol, and the latter because I’m hoping we can convince Tamika to flip and vote him out.
Alex is there already, watching as we all file in and stand on a single red mat.
Next to him is the usual podium where he puts the idol for us all to see, but this time it’s covered by a burlap sack.
“You ready to get to today’s immunity challenge?
” he asks, giving us that TV grin that he does so well.
“First things first, I’ll take back the idol. ”
He takes the large idol from Marina, but instead of putting it on the podium, he sets it down on the ground.
“You are no longer playing for tribal immunity. Instead, you’ll be playing for this.
” He pulls the cover off the podium with a flourish, revealing a large necklace made of colorful feathers and carved wooden beads linked together on a string.
“From now on, you’ll be competing for individual immunity.
If you’re wearing this, that means you’re safe, and you cannot be voted out at tribal council.
Sound like something worth playing for?” As usual, he waits for us to cheer. “In that case, let’s get to it.
“For today’s challenge, each of you will be assigned to one of the poles you see behind me.
All you have to do is hold on to the pole for as long as you can.
You may not stand on top of the pole, but otherwise, you can pick any spot you want to hang on to it.
If at any point you fall off, or any part of your body touches the ground, you’re out.
The last person left standing wins immunity. ”
It sounds incredibly simple, which is reinforced by the fact that there’s no walkthrough.
Instead, we’re randomly assigned to our poles, and once Alex gives the okay, I climb up as high as I can, positioning my feet into one of the carved rings.
It can’t hurt to have some wiggle room in case I slip.
Once we’re all in position, Neema signals to Alex. “I’ll count to three, and the challenge will begin,” Alex says. “Three, two, one … we’re on.”
For once, his pronouncement is met with dead silence, as all ten of us concentrate on staying where we are.
It quickly becomes clear that it’s not going to be as easy as it sounds.
Even if we weren’t all malnourished, the pole is just wide enough that my arms start to hurt almost immediately, and it’s impossible to get a good foothold in the shallow rings.
Meanwhile, the sun beats down on us, unrelenting in its heat, making me thirsty almost from the second the challenge begins.
I do my best to focus, hoping that everyone else is suffering more than me.
About fifteen minutes in, I hear a scraping sound off to my left, and I look up in time to see Rhonda drop off her pole.
She takes a seat on a bench off to one side of the area.
Alina follows shortly thereafter, leaving the rest of us to hang on for our metaphorical lives.
I can’t speak for everyone else, but I started feeling stiff as a board five minutes in, and it’s only getting worse.
Every so often, Alex announces how much time has passed or makes some comment about how we’re all looking, but for the most part, we compete in relative silence.
Then, just as my back is starting to really hurt, Ashraf slides down his pole, and his feet touch the ground, putting him out of the challenge.
Less than a minute later, Randy drops too, and I breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
My arms burn like they’re on fire, but I continue to hang on.
Half an hour passes, then forty-five minutes.
The ones who are already out cheer us on, but I try to tune them out. Do it for Arielle.
Just after the forty-five-minute mark, Marina drops, immediately followed by Tamika, leaving just four of us in the challenge: me, Cole, Jenny, and Katie.
Every single one of my limbs feels like it’s about to fall off, but I dig in and hold onto my pole as though it’s the only thing keeping me alive.
The pain in my arms and legs builds and builds until finally, just after an hour and fifteen minutes, I can hold on no more.
I slowly drop to the ground, taking a second to unclench my muscles before I walk over to the bench.
About ten minutes later, Cole drops too, shaking his arms with a pained expression on his face as he comes over to join us.
With him out, that just leaves Katie, who has barely moved since the beginning of the challenge, and Jenny, who has slid down so that she’s only a foot or two above the ground.
As much as I hope my ally wins, I have to give props to Jenny for lasting this long.
They must both be in so much pain right now.
And then, just after the hour-and-a-half mark, seemingly out of nowhere, Katie slides down and drops off her pole, ending the challenge. “Jenny! Wins immunity!” says Alex, raising his hands in the air triumphantly.
The rest of us clap, some of us less eagerly than others, as Jenny steps down from her pole, a huge smile on her face.
Instead of handing us the tribe idol, Alex has Jenny come over to him so he can place the immunity necklace around her neck.
I cheer and clap with the others, but I’m already thinking about what happens tonight, and how I can make sure I live to see another day.
During the motorboat ride back to camp, I ruminate on how I should approach Tamika when we get back.
We only have a few hours left before tribal, so I don’t want to wait too long.
But on the other hand, if I approach her immediately, that could seem pushy.
Besides, if the other Sikas find out what I’m doing, it would give them more time to try to come up with a counter-strategy.
If she does vote with them, and it ends up being five to five, then presumably it would still be tied on the revote, and I don’t know what happens then.
I’d much rather have it be six to four. The only question is how I can best ensure that happens.
Should I talk to her immediately or try to wait until later?
But all that worrying turns out to be for naught, because we’ve barely gotten off the boat before Tamika asks if she can speak to me privately, her voice taut and her eyes narrowed.
I agree immediately, even though my stomach starts to churn at the sight of her expression.
Hopefully, she isn’t mad because she figured out that I lied to her.
We walk down the beach, just the two of us and a cameraman. As soon as we’re out of earshot of the rest of the tribe, she turns to me. “You were right,” she says, her nostrils flaring. “Randy and the others were trying to get me out.”
I breathe a huge sigh of relief internally while doing my best to keep a straight face. “Are you sure?”
She nods, her lips flattened into a thin line. “I talked to Cole yesterday, and he told me all about his and Randy’s little conversation after the last tribal. How Randy shook his hand and told him not to worry, ‘cause I was the next to go.”
Wow, I had no idea Cole was such a good actor. The handshake was a perfect detail to add. It sounds exactly like something Randy would do. “I hope you’re not upset with Cole for not telling you before. He’s a good guy, I promise.”
She waves a hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry about that.
I’m not mad at him, or you either. You didn’t have to say anything to me, but you did.
Randy, on the other hand …” She wrinkles her nose, as though she’s just smelled something distasteful.
“Oh, of course he denied it when I confronted him this morning, but if I didn’t already know he was lying, his shit-eating grin would have given it away.
And did you hear him clap when I fell off the pole today?
He tried to play it off like it was a mistake, but I just know he was waiting for me to fail. ”
I didn’t hear anything like that at all, but I was pretty focused on not falling myself, so maybe I just missed it. “I wondered about that,” I lie. “I thought maybe I was hearing things, but I guess I was wrong.”
“He probably doesn’t even care if I heard, ‘cause he believes I’ll just fall in line and do what I’m told.
He thinks he can just use me until he doesn’t need me anymore and then cut me loose.
” Her eyes lock onto mine, her gaze flinty and cold.
“Well, he’s wrong. I’m gonna get him before he gets me, and that’s a promise. ”
There it is: the opening I’ve been waiting for. “Why don’t we vote him out tonight?” I ask, trying to sound like this is an idea that’s just come to me. “He doesn’t have immunity, and if he thinks he’s safe anyway, he won’t even see it coming. It’ll be a perfect blindside.”
She frowns. “Who else would vote for him? I’m pretty sure the rest of my tribe doesn’t want him out just yet, and I don’t want to let him know that I’m turning the tables on him if it’s too early. Then he’ll get rid of me for sure.”
“I think I can convince my alliance to vote for him without too much trouble.” That much, at least, is true. An understatement, if anything. “It’d be six against four, and you wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore.”
She looks at me, her eyes narrowed, not saying anything, while I try not to wilt under the pressure.
It’s obvious that she knows what this would mean.
I keep quiet too, afraid that if I try to push her, then she’ll bolt.
My heart pounds against my ribs as the silence stretches uncomfortably.
Please, I silently will her. I need you on our side.
Finally, after a few long moments, she sighs. “I’ll do it,” she says. “But I have one condition.”
My pulse slows down somewhat, but not completely. “What is it?”
“I want you to promise me that you won’t vote me out at six,” she says, holding out her hand. “And I won’t vote you out then either. After that, anything goes. But I’m not flipping on my alliance just so I can be on the bottom of yours.”
I bristle on the inside, although I make sure to keep my expression neutral. I don’t blame her for wanting me to make that promise, but I’m not sure it’s one that I can keep. I’m not even sure if it’s one that I want to keep.
On the other hand, if I don’t take this deal, I might not even make it to the final six in the first place. And if it turns out I can’t hold up my end of it … well, I’m not here to be honorable, I’m here to win a million dollars.
So, with little outward hesitation, I grasp Tamika’s outstretched hand and seal our new deal with a handshake, even as I hope that it doesn’t come back to haunt me.