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Darkness has fallen on Wawanakwa Island. All that can be heard are the chirping of crickets, the wind whistling through the trees, the gurgle of the rare stream— and the final nine contestants yelling at a horror movie.
“Ooh, now he’s got the chainsaw!” Izzy squeals, jumping up from her seat. “That’s totally sick!”
Gwen grins at the screen. “Yeah, go for the car!”
“Can that dumb couple stop making out and run already?” Leshawna says. Next to her, Heather huffs.
“What are they, Tyler and Lindsay?”
“Hey!” Tyler cries. “I would never make out with Lindsay in some creepy place like that!”
The killer revs the chainsaw, and the girl’s scream pierces through the air. From his perch on Eva’s back, Noah doesn’t look up from his book. Eva, for her part, continues with her pushups. The girl screams again.
“Yeah, go get ‘em!” Izzy whoops.
“These people are sooo stupid,” Heather says. “Why would you take your faulty car out to the edge of the woods like that?”
Leshawna nods. “Just asking for trouble— you’d never catch me doing that.”
“Here comes the bloodbath,” Harold says.
CONFESSIONAL: HAROLD
Harold gestures to the camera.
HAROLD
Obviously, it’s fake blood. They make it with golden syrup, red food dye—
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
“—corn flour, water—”
“Shush!” Gwen says. “This is gonna be awesome!”
“I think you mean gross,” Courtney says, just as the hacking and slashing begins. She ducks behind Gwen’s shoulder.
“More, more, more,” Izzy chants, as blood fills the screen. She glances over at Courtney. “You’re really scared of this stuff, huh?”
Courtney stands up. “I am not!”
Gwen shoots her a look. “Really? ‘Cause you’ve been hiding behind me this whole time.”
“Wh— no I haven’t!”
“Suuure,” Leshawna says, rolling her eyes. Heather snickers.
“I am not scared! The fake blood is just gross, and I don’t need to see that.”
Harold raises a finger. “But weren’t you scared when we went camping and Duncan told us all those scary stories—”
“Shut up!”
“Both of you shut up,” Heather snaps, standing up and stretching as the movie ends. “I already had to watch this lame thing, I don’t want to hear you two bickering all night.”
CONFESSIONAL: COURTNEY
Courtney crosses her arms.
COURTNEY
Just for the record, I was not scared! I just don’t have any interest in all that mindless slashing and hacking, that’s all.
CONFESSIONAL: GWEN
Gwen smirks.
GWEN
Yeah, Courtney was totally scared.
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
“Whooo, psycho guy got away! Izzy loves happy endings!” Izzy launches herself through the air, landing on Eva’s back. Noah tumbles off with a thud and a few grumbles.
Izzy crouches on top of Eva. “You’d make such a good killer! You’ve totally got the arms and stuff. Look at that!”
Eva turns bright red as Izzy squeezes one of her biceps. Noah picks himself up off the floor and chuckles.
From the stumps, Harold pulls out a yo-yo, and starts fiddling with it. “Anyone know what our next challenge is gonna be? I gotta know which one of my mad skills will come in handy.”
“I dunno dude,” Tyler says, scratching the back of his neck. “I haven’t seen Chris since he got us all set up with the projector.”
Then, a familiar rumble cuts through the air— The Boat of Losers.
***
Chef is throwing the last few boxes and bags onto the boat, which Chris mans, when the group arrives.
“And just what is going on here?” Leshawna asks.
Chef yelps and jumps aboard, abandoning the last bag. Chris guns the engine, and the two take off into the night.
“Well, that was weird,” Gwen says. Courtney points to the bag.
“Chris! Chef! You left this behind!”
Noah reaches down and produces a newspaper. “What’s this? Escaped psycho killer on the loose. Be on the lookout for a man wearing a hockey mask with a hooked hand and carrying a chainsaw… Ohh-kay, then…”
“Ha ha!” Izzy claps her hands. “He’s on the loose! How fun!”
Tyler’s eyes widen. “Uh, no. Not fun!”
“Puh-lease, don’t tell me you guys actually believe this!” Heather snorts. “They’re just trying to scare us.”
Noah nods. “Never thought I’d say this, but I’m with Heather. This is too coincidental to be unplanned— it is a reality show.”
“You both think it’s a stunt?” Leshawna asks. Noah and Heather nod.
“You’re both wrong,” Eva says, her face grim. She holds up a small bottle. “If this was faked… would Chris leave his hair gel behind?”
Everyone gasps.
Dun dun!
Courtney glares at Harold, who tucks his miniature keyboard back into his pocket.
Tyler claps his hands to his cheeks. “This is real, dudes! We’ve got a real killer on the loose! What do we do?”
“Lock him in a room with Eva,” Heather says. “Either she kills him, or he kills her, and if he can kill Eva, we’re all toast.”
Eva steps toward her and makes a fist. “You know, I can kill you—”
“Nobody is killing anybody,” Leshawna says, moving in between the two.
“Except for the escaped psycho killer with a chainsaw and a hook!” Izzy cackles. Courtney flinches.
CONFESSIONAL: COURTNEY
Courtney throws her arms out at the camera.
COURTNEY
It’s a TV show! They can’t actually set a real, live murderer on us… right?
She gulps.
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
Gwen pounds a fist into her palm. “Look, whether this is actually happening or just a prank—”
“It’s just a prank!” Heather insists, touching her jaw and frowning.
“—either way,” Gwen continues. “We need a game plan.”
“No, I need a facial,” Heather says. “I’m totally breaking out! Ugh.”
Leshawna gives her a look. “Girl, what are you talking about? You look fine.”
“Maybe to you,” Heather grumbles, storming toward the bathroom.
“Wait,” Gwen calls after her, “we have to stick together!”
“I’ll go with her,” Leshawna says, already following Heather. “Worst comes to worst, I shove her in front of the killer. Besides, I need to pee.”
“Leshawna, don’t go! You’re the only person here I actually like!” Gwen looks at her fellow contestants. “Uh, I mean…”
Izzy shrugs. “We don’t really like you all that much, if it makes you feel better.”
“Great…”
***
They settle around the campfire, as it’s the best source of outdoor lighting. And they have lots of different directions to run, if the killer ends up coming after them.
While the other six cast members sit on stumps, Gwen paces around the fire.
“Rule number one! do not go off on your own. Rule number two, if you do go off on your own, never go in the woods! Rule number three, if you do go in the woods, never, ever, ever make out in the woods or you will die in the woods! Rule number four, the dumb jock is prime murder material, so sorry Tyler, but you’re probably gonna die.”
“Wait, what?!?”
Izzy raises her hand. “Wait, so if I go into the woods, will the killer find me?”
“Yes!” Gwen says. “So don’t—”
“Awesome! Hey, Eva, wanna go into the woods with me so we can fight the killer?”
Eva shrugs. “Sure.”
“You guys are idiots!” Courtney calls as the two girls wander into the trees. “You’re breaking two rules— Noah, what are you doing?”
“No offense, but if it comes down to a fight, I like my chances a lot better with them than with you four.”
Noah jogs away.
***
In the shadowy forest, Noah makes sure to walk in between Izzy and Eva, the latter of which is explaining how she got caught in a torrential thunderstorm during a twenty-mile hike.
“—we were literally sprinting back up the hill, dodging mudslides.”
“Whoa, that’s crazy!” Izzy says, slinging an arm around her shoulder. “We gotta do that!”
Eva blushes. “Uh. Yeah. Sure. Anytime.”
“You know,” Noah drawls, “we’ve been walking for a while and we still haven’t found the killer. I think we need some bait.”
“Bait?” Eva raises an eyebrow and stops walking. “What kind of bait?”
Noah smirks at her. “What did Gwen say rule number three was? Oh, right, making out in the woods. Now, I’m not into either of you, so you gal pals have fun.”
And with that, Noah runs back to the campfire as fast as he can— which isn’t very fast.
Face burning, Eva turns to Izzy. “You wanna make out?” she mutters.
“Yes!” Izzy crows, pulling Eva behind a bush. “Took you long enough— mmm!”
CONFESSIONAL: NOAH
Noah gives the camera a smug look.
NOAH
Yeah, Eva totally owes me now.
CONFESSIONAL: EVA
Eva pumps her fists into the air.
EVA
Yes!
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
***
Back at the campfire, Gwen pulls out her sketchbook. “Great. Now I’m gonna draw a chart of— where are Harold and Tyler?”
“They went to the bathroom,” Courtney says, perched on a stump.
“Are you kidding me?! Didn’t I just say that Tyler is—”
“—absolutely gonna die? Yes, yes you did,” Courtney sighs.
CONFESSIONAL: GWEN
GWEN
Does nobody listen to me around here?!
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
***
Tyler and Harold walk to the bathroom, Tyler fiddling with his headband.
“Are you sure we’re gonna be okay, dude?”
“Don’t worry, you can count on my mad skills to protect you,” Harold says. “And my nunchucks!”
Tyler chuckles. “They are pretty awesome. Actually, they kind of remind me of this one anime, I’m A Ninja Warrior But I—
“—Got Turned Into A House Cat!” Harold finishes. “I love that show!”
“No way! I’ve never met another fan!”
“Me neither. Wicked!”
“Have you watched the spin-off? My Sister-In-Law’s Parakeet—”
“—Is An Honorable Samurai! It’s the best!”
“Oh, dude, we should totally go to the next convention together!”
***
In the bathroom, Leshawna watches as Heather carefully wipes off her makeup. “Why are you so stressed? You look fine.”
“Does this look fine to you?!” Heather snaps, pointing at her face. Now free of foundation, Leshawna can see faint acne scars streaked across her cheeks. “I am not getting more of these.”
“You’re wound up tight over nothing,” Leshawna says. “You got, what, one zit on your chin right now?”
“And I should have none,” Heather grouses, spreading green clay across her face.
Leshawna sighs, leaning against the sink. “I just don’t get why you’ve got such a stick up your butt. You don’t want to get sweaty, you don’t want your hair to get wet, you don’t want this or that or anything that could mess up your perfect little appearance. What’s the big deal?”
“You wouldn’t understand. You always think you look good.”
“Maybe I do now. But I didn’t always.” Leshawna crosses her arms. “Try me.”
“…Nobody back home ever liked me until I was pretty,” Heather admits, staring at the floor. “They would push me into lockers and mud puddles and bowls of chili.”
“Bowl of chili?”
“Yeah, our school was really— whatever.”
“So you’re afraid we’re all gonna dislike you if you don’t look your best,” Leshawna sums up. “Have you ever considered that nobody here likes you in the first place?”
Heather scowls. “People like me. I’m popular!”
“Not on this island, you aren’t. And an extra layer of foundation ain’t gonna change that. The way you treated Beth, for example…”
“What does Beth have to do with anything?”
“I know you were intent on turning her into a little minion, but if the girl didn’t have the guts to stand up to you, you might’ve turned her into another little Heather. What’s the difference between shooting someone with a paintball gun and shoving them into a mud puddle?”
“I…” Heather turns away. “It’s not that I like being mean, but…”
“But?”
“If I stop… won’t people just start bullying me again?”
“You can stand up for yourself without being mean,” Leshawna says. “And besides, get a better attitude, and maybe you’ll have better friends.”
Heather shrugs. “Not on this island. Like you said, everybody hates me.”
“Nah. You start being nicer, they start liking you more.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” Leshawna says. “You make an honest effort to not be a bully, and I’ll be your first real friend here. Deal?”
Heather narrows her eyes. “Only if you tell me what you meant earlier.”
“What I meant…?”
“When you said you didn’t always think you looked good.”
“Oh, that,” Leshawna scoffs. “I’m a fat black girl— the whole world has been telling me I look bad from the day I was born. I just learned to see the truth— that I am beautiful. No matter what they say. Even though it hurts, sometimes.”
“Oh.” Heather chews on her lip. “For what it’s worth, I have always been kind of jealous of your hair.”
Leshawna beams at her. “See, was that so hard?”
“…No.”
“Now pass me that green goop, you’re not the only one who could use a facial.”
***
Outside, Harold and Tyler stop walking, having reached the bathroom.
“Just stay here,” Harold says. “I’ll go in and be quick. If any killers come, just holler, and I’ll defeat them with my mighty nunchucks!”
Tyler shoots him a thumbs up, looking around nervously. “Hurry!”
Harold slips inside the bathroom, the hinges of the door squeaking. Tyler gasps.
CONFESSIONAL: TYLER
TYLER
Okay, looking back on it, it was pretty stupid, but the squeaky door sounded just like a chicken! And I’m still not over my fear, and— yeah…
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
Tyler opens his mouth to scream, but his headband falls down, effectively working as a gag. Tyler’s yells are too muffled for Harold to hear.
But somebody else hears him. Somebody breathing heavily, holding a chainsaw.
“MMMMMMRGHHHH!” Tyler cries, dashing away from the bathroom. Chef races after him, chainsaw growling.
***
Inside the bathroom, Harold closes the door, whistling as he does so. His whistles abruptly stop when he catches sight of Heather and Leshawna’s green faces.
“ZOMBIES!” Harold shouts, whipping out his nunchucks. “Stay back!”
Leshawna and Heather look at one another, before shooting Harold confused looks.
“What are you talking about?” Heather asks.
“It’s just us,” Leshawna says.
Harold swings a nunchuck at them. “You’re not the Leshawna and Heather I know— you’re hideously deformed! And green! It must be an infection!”
“Hey!” Heather and Leshawna snap.
Harold takes another swipe at them, but Heather reaches out, and yanks the weapon out of his hands. “Stop that!”
“I’ve been unarmed!” Harold cries. “But I won’t let them eat my brains, I won’t! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
Heather and Leshawna watch as he sprints out of the bathroom, screaming. He doesn’t even bother opening the door, instead crashing through it head-on.
CONFESSIONAL: HEATHER
Heather taps her chin.
HEATHER
You know what? The people at this lame little camp are, uh, eccentric enough that I’m not fussed about looking cool to them. I’m not that fussed— I’m still cool!
CONFESSIONAL: HAROLD
HAROLD
I wasn’t gonna run and scream forever. I had to make a tactical retreat, so I could find new weapons and a home base.
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Harold runs through the forest, and directly into a tent.
“Harold, chill!” Chris says, gesturing at Chef, who’s dressed as the murderer. “It’s just Chef— wait, Chef was in here the whole time, who are you running from?”
“Leshawna and Heather are zombies! We gotta take them down before they bite us!”
Tyler points at a monitor. “Dude, relax, it’s just one of those clay thingies!”
“Huh?” Harold looks up, to see a video feed of Leshawna and Heather wiping off their face masks with washcloths. “Oh, my bad. Wait— Chris, Chef, what are you doing here? We thought you left ‘cause of the killer!”
“There is no killer— except for Chef!”
“Wait, what?”
“That was your challenge, to watch a scary movie, and then survive one! So, you’re safe, but you lost the challenge. But now you can watch Chef terrorize everybody else,” Chris slaps Chef’s back. “Go get ‘em!”
Chef grins, slides his hockey mask back on, and trots out of the tent.
***
“Oh, good, you’re not dead,” Gwen says, as Noah sits back down at the campfire.
Courtney frowns. “Where are Eva and Izzy?”
“Breaking rule number three,” Noah says, pulling out his book. “Which isn’t something I—”
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
The three of them freeze.
“Was that Harold?” Courtney asks.
Noah shrugs. “Maybe? I’ll go check it out— this lighting is terrible for reading anyways.”
“No, don’t!” Gwen says. “You go alone to check that out, you will die!”
“Meh. Hell can’t be worse than summer camp.”
CONFESSIONAL: NOAH
NOAH
Yeah, I spotted, like, nine different spelling mistakes in that article about the—
(doing air quotes)
—escaped psycho killer with the chainsaw and the hook—
(stops air quotes)
—so I figured this was all fake pretty early on.
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
Through the Harold-shaped hole in the bathroom door, Noah can see Heather twirling a pair of nunchucks around. She promptly smacks herself in the face. Leshawna erupts into giggles.
“Hey! I thought we were friends now!”
“Oh, we are. But that was hilarious.”
Noah clicks his tongue, as the heavy breathing behind him becomes louder and louder.
“Look,” he says, turning around, “I’ll come quietly if I get to watch you scare the girls.”
Chef nods, before storming into the bathroom with the chainsaw.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
***
“Ugh, this is so annoying,” Gwen exclaims, kicking a stump. “If people just followed the rules— which are pretty darn simple to follow— they’d be better off! Instead, they’re breaking them and being stupid and screwing themselves over, and kind of us too!”
Courtney sighs. “Welcome to my life. It’s a good thing you know so much about horror movies. They’re totally taking that for granted!”
“I know, right?” Gwen says. “At least you haven’t left.”
“Even if I didn’t know the rules, I wouldn’t go off on my own. This is so freaky— I mean…”
Gwen smirks at her. “I knew it! You are scared.”
“Am not!”
“Oh, you sooo are. You—”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
Courtney rests her chin on her hand, blowing a strand of hair out of her face with an irritated puff! “That’s just great.”
“Ugh!” Gwen throws her sketchbook down. “That’s it! I’m sick and tired of people ignoring my advice— I’m getting a snack!”
Courtney gasps as she stomps toward the mess hall. “Gwen, wait!”
Gwen keeps walking. Courtney groans.
“Ohhh, I’m not supposed to leave the fire, but if Gwen goes off on her own…”
“Courtney, Courtney, Courtney…”
“Wh-what?”
“Scared, scared, scared…”
“I am not scared!” Courtney snaps, before realizing she’s alone in the dark, with a killer on the loose, arguing with a disembodied whisper. Her eyes go wide.
“GWEN! WAIT UP!”
***
“I did not see that coming!” Leshawna laughs. Next to her, Heather scowls at Chris.
“Can you at least let me go back for my shoe?”
“Nope!” Chris says. “But throwing it at Chef when he cornered Leshawna— that was awesome!”
“It really was,” Tyler says, offering Heather a fist bump. “Never leave a man behind!”
“Uh, right,” Heather says, hesitantly returning it.
Harold points at the monitor. “Wait, who’s making out in the bushes? Because I think Chef is gunning for them.”
“That would be Eva and Izzy,” Chris says. “Which means this fight scene is gonna be epic!”
***
In the middle of the woods, behind a large bush, Izzy pulls away from Eva’s lips. “Did you just hear something?”
Eva narrows her eyes, as heavy breathing gets louder and louder. “I think we’ve found our killer.”
The girls emerge from the bushes, cracking their knuckles. From behind Chef’s mask, a muffled, “Oh, —bleep!—” is heard.
“Bring it on, Chef,” Izzy says. “You ready for round two?”
Chef raises his chainsaw in challenge, and swipes it at the girls. Lightning-fast, Eva rips a tree out of the ground, and throws it at Chef.
CONFESSIONAL: IZZY
Izzy gestures excitedly.
IZZY
Did you see that?! She picked up a whole tree! That was sooo hot!
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
Chef ducks under the tree, which knocks the chainsaw out of his hands. He raises his hook menacingly.
Izzy throws a rock at him, which quickly knocks the hook away. Chef gulps, before narrowing his eyes at the girls.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”
He runs toward them. Eva and Izzy lock eyes before doing the same.
“YAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”
“WE’RE GONNA CRUSH YOUR SKULL!”
Izzy launches herself at Chef’s head, while Eva tackles his legs. And as tough as a fighter Chef is, he’s no match for their combined power.
CONFESSIONAL: CHEF
Chef looks solemnly at the camera.
CHEF
You know, I’m proud of those girls… never met tougher soldiers.
CONFESSIONAL OVER.
“Uncle! Uncle! You win— don’t break my kneecaps!”
***
In the mess hall, Courtney and Gwen share a bag of chips.
“It’s like herding cats,” Gwen says. “I don’t know why you’re always trying to do it.”
“Well, you probably haven’t noticed, but I’m a bit of a control freak,” Courtney says, tossing a chip into her mouth.
Gwen makes a snorting sound.
“What’s so fu— aaaaaaAAAAAAHHHH!”
“What?” Gwen turns around, to where Courtney is frozen in horror. She’s pointing at a large man in a hockey mask. “Oh, Courtney, chill out. It’s just whatever actor they hired to scare us.”
“But— but— you’ve been saying we’ll die!”
“In the game, yeah, they’re not actually gonna kill us.” Gwen holds up the bag to the man. “You want some chips before you slash us, or whatever?”
The man shakes his head.
“Fine. Suit yourself.”
Courtney eyes him warily. “You’re serious?”
“Completely. There’s nothing to be scared about!”
“Well, you do know horror movies the best…” Courtney frowns at the man, and points to his mouth. “If you’re looking to get better roles than a slasher on a reality show, you’ve got to do something about your teeth. Find a good orthodontist, and you’ll start getting more callbacks.”
The man just stares at her.
***
The losing campers— and Chris— cheer as Izzy and Eva drag a de-masked Chef into the tent.
“That fight scene was epic!” Harold says. “Chef got owned!”
“Two against one ain’t fair,” Chef grumbles.
Noah high-fives his friends. Leshawna offers Eva a fist bump.
“You’re alright, girl.”
Eva hesitantly returns it. “Thanks.”
“Guys, look!” Heather points at the monitor. “Gwen and Courtney are gonna face off with the killer too!”
“Awesome!” Tyler hoots. “That’s some quality TV!”
Noah’s eyes widen. “Wait a minute— but if Chef is in here, then who…?”
“Oh, crap!” Izzy gasps. “It’s the real escaped psycho killer with a chainsaw and a hook!”
“Gwen!” Leshawna hollers, bolting out the door. Everyone follows her at a dead sprint.
“This could be really good for ratings, or really bad for lawsuits!” Chris pants, typing something into his phone. “Hello? 9-1-1?”
***
Back in the mess hall, Courtney keeps talking. “I know you’ve got to make a living, but doesn’t it bug you, morally speaking, to accept a job where you’re scaring innocent teenagers?”
The man just shrugs, and raises his hook in response.
“Cool prop,” Gwen says.
The man scowls, and takes off the hook, to reveal the stump of a wrist.
“Gross! How’d they get it to go all scabby like that?”
“Harold could probably tell us,” Courtney says. She giggles at the man. “It was you whispering in the bushes earlier, wasn’t it? I can’t believe I was scared— I could totally take you down!”
Gwen laughs. “Yeah, right!”
“I could! I know lots of martial arts, Gwen.”
“Oh, wait, really?”
The man just stares at them and huffs.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Gwen says. “It’s been a long night.”
The man revs the chainsaw, just as the rest of the cast bursts into the room.
“Gwen! Courtney!” they scream, almost perfectly in sync. “He's the real escaped psycho killer with a chainsaw and a hook!”
Gwen freezes. “What?!”
The real killer swings his chainsaw down at Gwen, who’s frozen in fear.
“HIIII-YAH!” Courtney knocks it to the ground with a flying side-kick. She tackles the killer, pummeling him with a series of punches and chops.
“Ow! Ouch! My spine!”
“AAAAAAHHH!” Courtney screams, kicking him in the crotch. The killer keels and falls over. Courtney stands over him, breathing heavily.
“That’s what you get for scaring the crap out of me, you freak!”
“Holy —bleep!—” Gwen exclaims.
Tyler looks like he’s about to pass out. Izzy whoops.
Chris slowly claps as emergency sirens fill the air. “We… have… a… winner!”
***
For the first time that night, all nine teenagers gather around the campfire. Chris stands, holding a platter of marshmallows.
“Dude, you miscounted,” Noah says, pointing at the platter. “Nine marshmallows, nine of us. Who’s going home?”
“If by home, you mean jail, then that killer guy is going!” Chris says. “Already being shipped back to prison. And, because you all had to face an actual murderer, and will probably have some lasting trauma from that, I decided to be nice and make this a non-elimination round.”
Everyone cheers.
Chris tosses them all marshmallows. “Now, if you can… go get some sleep. You kids earned it!”
The contestants chatter to themselves as they head back to their cabins.
“Hey,” Leshawna says, nudging Heather, “Even if it was fake, thanks for not leaving me alone with the killer.”
“Oh, totally— actually, that reminds me, I still need to get my shoe back… can you come with me? That was pretty freaky.”
“Sure, girl. What are friends for?”
Heather smiles at Leshawna as the two walk toward the bathroom.
Further down the path, Eva punches the air.
“Still hopped up on adrenaline?” Noah asks. She nods.
Izzy tugs her arm. “Me too! Hey, maybe you can teach me that move with the tree? And we can spar until we’re too worn out and/or inevitably end up making out?”
Eva grins.
“Have fun!” Noah calls as they head off. “Also, you two totally owe me for setting you up!”
“You do realize you’ve just created the most terrifying alliance known to man,” Harold points out.
“Oh, absolutely. But that’s your problem. Like I said, they owe me.”
“Dude!” Tyler claps Harold on the back. “You should totally teach me how to use your nunchucks, and then we can be our own super-powerful alliance duo!”
“Wicked idea!”
Noah snickers, trailing into the west cabin behind them. “Oh, yeah, this is gonna be entertaining.”
On the deck of the east cabin, Gwen leans against the railing, and sighs.
“Crazy day,” Courtney says, standing beside her.
“No kidding. You know, being in a real life horror movie was not fun. That dude was actually gonna slash us!”
Courtney shudders. “Don’t remind me. How’d he even get on the island?”
“No clue.” Gwen turns to face her. “Hey, I’m sorry about sort of making fun of you for being scared. You totally kicked that guy’s butt— and saved my life. I guess I was just kind of useless in that whole challenge.”
“Are you kidding me?” Courtney shakes her head. “If people had just listened to you, none of this would’ve happened. You were trying to save all of them. I’ve gotta admire a girl who makes the rules and sticks to them.”
Gwen raises her eyebrows. “Really? I thought you didn’t like me.”
“Maybe I did when I thought you weren’t a team player. But I was wrong.”
“Well, I was wrong too,” Gwen says. “You’re a lot tougher than you look.”
“Thanks,” Courtney says, smiling.
Blushing, Gwen turns away. “You know, horror movies don’t usually have happy endings.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to break the rules,” Courtney says, leaning down and kissing her.