Episode 7

  Relay On Me

  “Last time on Endurance Forest!” Vince Goldman says over clips of the previous episode. “Ed explained to Mina why Regina was the one to go home, something that she ultimately seemed fine with outside of the fact that they don’t know for sure where Clarence stood. On Team Fire, Simon tries to convince Nicole that she might not be safe with Lucas and Jillian if they officially become a couple, which they did, having a steamy make-out session in the woods…” Vince’s voice becomes a bit distant, “Seriously who writes this… sounds like I’m reading a summary of a crappy teen drama instead of something I’d naturally say.” His voice returns to the normal volume as he continues the recap, “In the challenge, the teams were tasked with diving down into the lake to find treasure. Yong-Gi and Lucas went for Team Fire while Team Water’s reps were Sue and Clarence. Despite them bickering a bit when having to work together, Yong-Gi and Lucas managed to get their team’s chest up to their boat before Sue, who went out on her own to get the skeleton key, got said key. It was clutch, but in the end, Simon managed to pick the lock to win the challenge for Team Fire. After the challenge both of the alliances on Team Water talked with Clarence, trying to convince him to vote with him that night, in the end he decided to side with Mina and Ed, sending Lissa the heiress packing with her many, many bags. Though she did seem to take her loss better than I honestly expected of her and certainly better than some of our earlier eliminations. With nine left, who will be the next person to go? Find out right now on Endurance Forest!”

  ~~~

  The show opens on Ed returning to his camp in the morning with an armful of raspberries. Where Sue, had clearly just woken up, sees and is surprised by.

  “Oh? You went gathering food?” Sue asked.

  “Oh… uhhh… I went to the bathroom and came across these. Figured they looked good. These are raspberries right? I’m not mistaken something poisonous as them, right?” Ed asked.

  “Yeah, these are indeed Raspberries.” Sue said taking one and popping it into her mouth, “Though I gotta ask, did we somehow miss these? How far in the woods did you go to take a piss?”

  “I… may have gotten a bit lost on my way back.” Ed said, rubbing the back of his head in order to sell the lie.

  “I see… well I guess it’s a good alternative for people who don’t want to eat whatever I catch after I get changed.”

  Ed nodded and said. “Good luck.”

  ~~~

  Ed is shown in the confessional, “Okay, I’ll admit it. I was actually looking for that damn coin that Vince said was hidden out here back on day one. I’ve been looking for that thing this whole time and with no luck. I just grabbed the raspberries because one, it’s food and secondly because with how long I was gone, I didn’t want to come back empty handed. That could raise suspicion. Though I did notice Sue being friendly towards me despite me being one of the people who voted to eliminate Lissa. Maybe she thinks she can sway me over to her side. Ironic considering that I tried to push for her to be eliminated last time. Would I consider it? I don’t think so. Not out of any loyalty or anything, simply because of the fact that Mina is certainly more useful to me as an ally since she’s friends with Clarence, who is without a doubt the biggest physical threat here. Hell, he may even be the biggest social threat. Ironically that also makes staying with them too long dangerous as Clarence is the last person I’d want to face in the finale since if it's a challenge he’d probably win and if it’s a jury vote he most certainly wins. So unless Sue has a way to take him out first, It wouldn’t be wise to burn that bridge with Mina just yet.”

  ~~~

  There is a cut to Nicole cooking fish over a fire with the rest of Team Fire. She eventually spoke up and asked “So… since it’s been three days since the last challenge I’m sure Vince is going to call for us soon. Who do you guys think got eliminated last time?”

  “Easy, the blonde chick.” Yong-Gi said, “I don’t think she ever seemed like she was useful in any of the challenges. If she was on this team, I am certain we would have cut her off the first chance that we got.”

  “Why? Because of your super strong guys alliance?” Jillian taunted.

  “Alliance or not, I don’t think that it would take much convincing to show the rest of the team that she seems to be pretty useless.” Yong-Gi said annoyed with Jillian, but not taking the bait.

  “I actually agree with Yong-Gi.” Lucas said, “If they want to get rid of the weakest link, she’d be the clear pick. Though they have gotten rid of both that Phineas guy and that Regina chick so maybe they’re picking off who might be threats during the merge? If that’s the case then either Clarence or Sue would probably be the targets then.”

  “I don’t think they eliminated Phineas because he was a threat… or at least not because he was a threat in the game.” Nicole said, a chill going up her spine just by thinking about Phineas and his stare.

  Simon smirked, “I guess that whoever they voted out you’ll be glad as long as it’s not your daughter, eh Nicole?”

  “Yeah, of course I’d be sad if she got out, but I’m not going to worry about that unless it happens.”

  ~~~

  Team Fire stands in front of Vince who motions to his left, singling Team Water to walk in frame, “Team Fire, take a look at Team Water after the last elimination. Lissa getting checked out of the competition."

  “Called it. I’m honestly surprised they kept her for so long.” Yong-Gi mumbled to nobody in particular.

  This was heard by Sue who shot the gamer a scowl.

  ~~~

  Sue is shown in the confessional, “Making a mental note to put him on my s*** list if the two of us make it to merge. Though the rest of my team is certainly a higher priority than him. Hell, I may even have to work with him for a bit, just to get some numbers on my side.”

  ~~~

  “Alright everyone.” Vince said with a clap of his hands, “Today’s challenge is a three event relay race. Both teams have a baton in their respective colors. First one member of your team must string a bow and shoot at a target. You’ll need to hit a bullseye before moving on and will be given six arrows to do so. If you miss all six shots, you’ll have to waste time retrieving them. Once done you will run to the lake and hand off the baton to the next person to participate. That person is to swim to a floating platform halfway though the lake where another teammate will do the second half of the swimming portion. Once you reach the other side of the lake you are to hand the baton off to the next two members for the last portion of the race. One member is to climb up the side of the cliff while the other supports them with a rope. Once they are on top of the cliff with their baton they can ring a bell sitting on top of it. Once that bell is rung the challenge will end with the winning team being safe from elimination, as well as receiving a reward, a phone call home.”

  “That doesn't seem like much of a reward to me.” Simon said with his arms crossed.

  “Well just because you don’t have anyone to call doesn't mean everyone else here doesn't.” Vince said with a smirk.

  Simon just grumbled a bit in responce.

  “Wait.” Mina said, “This is a five person challenge, but we only have four people. How is that going to work? Is someone going to have to do two events?

  “Fair question, Mina. We considered that, we also considered having only one person on your team do the swimming portion, but determined that might put you all at a bit of a disadvantage. So we came up with a solution.” Vince pointed offscreen and said, “Uhh… you come here.”

  From offscreen an intern, the one with the red framed glasses that Lissa talked to after her elimination, walked up.

  “For the rock climbing portion, you’ll be getting this intern here to hold the rope while an actual team member of yours does the actual climbing.”

  “That still sounds like a bit of a disadvantage to me.” Sue commented. “How do we know he won’t mess this up for us.”

  “You don’t and them’s the breaks. Though if you really want him to try his hardest… fine I’ll give him a bit of an incentive.” He turned to the intern and said, “Tim was it?”

  “It’s Tex.” The intern corrected.

  “Ah, my apologies, Tex. How about this as an offer? If Team Water wins this challenge, I’ll pull some strings and get you on as a contestant in the next season. If we get a second season of course.”

  “You can do that?” Tex asked, sounding a bit excited.

  “I am the host. I do have some sway around here.” Vince said with a smile.

  Tex nodded, looked over to Team Water, gave them a salute and said, “I won’t let you down.”

  ~~~

  Ed is shown in the confessional, “He seems like a bit of a dork. If he does join the cast for season two, I don’t see him getting too far. Especially if him being there because of the host ends up painting a target on his back. Though I guess that’s not something for me to worry about. I’m focusing on this season.”

  ~~~

  Vince looked back at the contestants and continued, “With that, take some time to pick who is taking on what part of the challenge. Once everything has been decided, we will begin.”

  Both teams are shown huddled up. Over on Team Water, Sue didn’t waste a second to say, “I’m taking archery. As you all know, I hunt quite a bit and, while I am more comfortable with a rifle, I’ve done bow hunting before.”

  “That sounds fair to me.” Clarence said, “I think I’ll be the best fit for rock climbing. You guys okay with that?”

  “So me and Ed get swimming? I’m fine with that.” Mina said.

  Ed nodded in agreement.

  Over on Team Fire Yong-Gi spoke up, “I think I can handle archery. We did it for a week or two back in highschool, so I’ve stung a bow before.”

  “Alright.” Simon said, “Well I’m going to be the one holding the rope in the rock climbing. I’m not doing anything other than that.”

  “I can take swimming.” Nicole said a bit excited.

  “So then it’s between the two of us for who goes where.” Lucas said to Jillian. “What do you want to do?”

  Jillian flexed her arm a bit, which made Lucas blush, and said, “I can handle rock climbing.”

  “So I’m swimming again?” Lucas said with a sigh.

  “Is there a problem with that?” Jillian asked, “We can switch if it is.”

  “No no.” Lucas said with a defensive wave of his hands, “If anything I’m just hoping that the next challenge isn’t yet another water one.”

  ~~~

  The show cuts to a bit later where the teams are set up. First it shows Yong-Gi and Sue, each with a baton out of their pocket, standing a couple of yards away from a target with a disassembled bow in front of them. Next is Lucas and Ed standing at the edge of the dock in their swimsuits. Then the mother and daughter duo of Nicole and Mina are shown standing on the floating platform in their swimsuits. Finally the two rock climbing teams, one being Jillian and Simon, the other being Clarence and Tex the intern are shown completely set-up and ready.

  “Everyone ready?” Vince asked, but he didn’t wait long for a response before blowing his whistle and shouting “Go!”

  Yong-Gi and Sue rushed to grab their respective bows and began to string them by placing the bow and string between one of their legs.

  Sue let out a bit of a frustrated grunt as her bowstring seemed to be fighting against her. Meanwhile Yong-Gi managed to string his no problem. He even managed to fire a shot at the target by the time Sue's bow finally seemed to want to cooperate, but thankfully for her Yong-Gi missed the target entirely.

  Sue got into position and they both took aim and fired simultaneously. Yong-Gi once again missed the entire target while Sue’s went in, but she barely missed the bullseye by a few centimeters.

  “Alright… just need to aim a little to the left.” She muttered as she notched a new arrow.

  Yong-Gi fired a few seconds before Sue. One again he failed to hit the target at all. Meanwhile Sue’s flew majestically through the air sticking almost dead perfect in the center, only being off by a centimeter or two.

  “Sue has made her bullseye!” Vince announced, prompting Sue to drop her bow and start running to Ed, only for her to trip over her own feet and face plant into the dirt, giving Yong-Gi another chance to catch up.

  As Sue pushed herself back to her feet and sprinted as fast as she could, Yong-Gi loosed another arrow and by what to him felt like a miracle, it barely hit the very edge of the bullseye.

  “Yong-Gi has made his bullseye!” Vince called out.

  With gusto, Yong-Gi threw his bow to the ground and began running as fast as he could. Surprisingly, despite being a bit on the chubby side, he managed to catch up to Sue pretty quickly, only lagging behind her by about seven feet. Though he wouldn’t catch fully up to her as she handed off her baton to Ed, who didn’t hesitate to dive into the water and start swimming.

  A few seconds later, Yong-Gi, breathing like the air was as thick as barbeque sauce, stopped and handed the red baton to Lucas, who too jumped into the water. With his part done, Yong-Gi collapsed backwards onto the dock.

  ~~~

  Yong-Gi is shown in the confessional, “I really hope that the rest of my team can catch up. I mean sure I can argue that my genre is fighting games and not first person shooters, but that’s just me making excuses for me missing the target entirely like what… was that three or four times?” He let out a groan, “Like it even matters. Since, unless Simon managed to convince Nicole that she can’t trust Lucas and Jillian, either me or him are going home if we lose again.”

  ~~~

  As Nicole and Mina waited on the floating platform waiting for their respective teammates to swim over to them, Nicole took this time to catch up with her daughter a bit.

  “So… you and that muscle bound guy, anything going on there?” Nicole asked.

  “Mom!” Mina exclaimed, blushing a bit.

  “What? Can’t a mother be curious if her daughter has her eyes on anyone?”

  Mina let out a sigh and said, “Maybe at first I was a bit interested, but nothing’s going to come of it. He’s gay.”

  “Oh yeah, forgot that he said that in the truth challenge.” Nicole said with a nod. “Sorry to hear that.”

  “Why? It’s no big deal. Besides, I’m fine with being just friends. I mean I don’t really think I’d have time for romance once this game is over and I go back to school.”

  “So you’re going back, even if in the truth challenge-”

  “I don’t give a f*** about what happened in the truth challenge.” Mina snapped, taking Nicole aback a bit. It was at this moment that Ed reached the platform and handed the blue baton to Mina. “Sorry mom… I… need to go.” With that Mina took a running dive into the water.

  ~~~

  Nicole is shown in the confessional, “I don’t blame Mina for snapping at me but, I do hope we get a chance to fully talk about it. I guess I just need to hope that neither of us get eliminated in the team phase of this game.”

  ~~~

  Mina popped back out of the water, not too far from where she dived, coughing a bit.

  “Are you okay, sweet pea?” Nicole called out to her.

  “Y-Yeah.” Mina said before going back to swimming as fast as she could.

  It was at this point that a tired Lucas pulled himself onto the platform and offered their team’s baton over to Nicole. “H-Here.”

  Nicole nodded, took the baton and dived straight into the water. Once she had surfaced, she was neck in neck with her daughter, despite Mina getting quite the head start.

  “S***.” Mina muttered once she noticed.

  ~~~

  A mildly annoyed Mina is shown in the confessional, “Now for years I’ve heard my mom brag that she was quite the swimmer in her youth, even despite not being… let’s say hydrodynamic. Even then I figured I could have stood a decent chance against her, especially with the head start I got. I have never seen her swim this fast before. I guess this is just part of her competitiveness coming out. Well I guess I just need to show that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree in this regard.”

  ~~~

  Motivated to outdo the mother, Mina put in one-hundred and ten percent and she actually started to get ahead of Nicole by quite a bit, surprising even Nicole, who felt a bit of pride in this moment, but she couldn’t hold onto that feeling for long as this was still on challenge that she wanted to win. Nicole also tried to put in one-hundred and ten percent, but this ended up having the opposite effect. One of her shoulder muscles decided to give up in the moment and Nicole suddenly started to feel quite a bit of pain that even she couldn’t ignore which only slowed her down and gave Mina even more of a lead than she already had.

  Once Mina reached the edge of the water, she stood up and threw the baton to Clarence, who caught it, put it in his pocket and made his way to the side of the rocky cliff.

  “Nicole is almost here. I know you don’t care for me or Lucas, but you better not screw this up for us.” Jillian said to Simon.

  “Why would I do that? I’m one of the people on the chopping block. I ain’t gonna throw this challenge. I’m no idiot, toots.” Simon said with a roll of his eyes.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  It was at that point that Nicole surfaced and did the same move as her daughter, throwing the baton to Jillian, who too caught it and placed it in one of her pockets before she too started scaling the cliffside. Getting up it rather quickly, though lagging behind Clarence for a bit.

  While they were holding the ropes, Simon looked over to Tex and said, “So… you’re really hoping to get onto the next season, huh?”

  “I mean… if this show becomes popular it could be a great jumping off point for the stand-up comedy career that I want to make for myself.” Tex responded.

  “A comedian, huh? Well then Carlin, let me just give you some advice for if Team Water wins and Vince makes good on his word. If you make an alliance, make sure you know everyone’s intentions.”

  “I’ll… keep that in mind.”

  During their conversation, Jillian’s foot slipped causing her to knock some loose rocks down to the ground below, slowing her down a bit. Clarence however had no such issues, scaling up the cliffside with ease. Getting ever so closer to the top.

  Jillian, looking up and seeing this, tried to rush as fast as she could, but it felt like every few feet she would end up grabbing or stepping on another loose rock, causing her to stumble a bit and get slowed down even more. In the end she only managed to get about sixty-percent of the way up the cliff as Clarence pulled himself on top of it. With no hesitation Clarence practically leapt for the bell that was connected to a post sticking out of the top of the cliff. He grabbed onto the rope and started ringing the bell like his life depended on it.

  “Team Water wins!” Vince announced through a megaphone while on the red boat from the previous challenge that was being driven by one of Tex’s fellow interns, a woman with curly red hair and freckles. Also on the boat were Ed and Lucas who were still resting a bit after their swim. Though Lucas clearly was a bit disappointed with the loss. Once the boat reached shore, Vince continued, “Team Water since you won, you’re safe from elimination and will be given the chance to call anybody you wish. Which I’m just going to tell you now will be on a phone we provide for you and will be recorded in case the showrunners think it’ll make good content.”

  “That seems like a bit of an invasion of privacy.” Clarence commented from atop the cliff, which was unheard by Vince, who continued.

  “As for Team Fire, you’re going to elimination tonight. So figure out who you’ll be voting for to go home.”

  ~~~

  Lucas, still in his bathing suit, is shown in the confessional. “I am a bit sad that we didn’t win. I would have loved to call my little sister Megan. Tell her about how I’m doing on the show, and about Jillian… I mean Megan was always pushing for me to get out of my funk after the accident and to try to find happiness in some way, shape or form… I think she’d like to know that… there’s a chance I may have found it… If she doesn’t already know. I have no idea what’s the delay between when these episodes are recorded and when they air.”

  ~~~

  The show then cuts to Tex of all people in the confessional, a look of absolute excitement on his face. “Oh hell yeah! Team Water won, meaning that I get to be on the show next season… if Mister Goldman keeps to his word… and if we get another season.” His look turned from one of excitement to one of worry, “Hey if you’re watching this and enjoying it, please spread the word if you can. I want my shot at the million… or at least the exposure since…” He motioned himself up and down, enthusing his skinny frame, “I feel like I’m going to have some early boot allegations that I’m going to have to beat.”

  ~~~

  The show cuts to the contestants who competed in the second and third portions of the challenge now in the boat being driven to the other side in the lake. Nicole and Mina sit next to each other as Nicole massages her hurt shoulder which Mina notices.

  “Are you okay mom?” Mina asked with concern in her voice.

  “Yeah… I’m fine. I just need to rest this shoulder a bit. Though I gotta say, you really pushed me to my limit there.” Nicole said, with a smile, “Though at the same time it makes me feel like it’s a bit of a shame that you didn’t have the same passion for the water like I did growing up. I think you could have been good.”

  “Maybe, but like you said, I didn’t have a passion for it and… I certainly appreciate you not forcing it on me like I’m sure plenty of parents would have. Even if in hindsight, maybe if I did practice and got good enough I could have gotten a scholarship for it and not have to be on this show.”

  “Do they even give scholarships for swimming?” Nicole asked, “Unlike something like football, it feels like one of those sports that people don’t care about the competitive side of it outside the Olympics.”

  “I would assume so. I knew a guy in high school who, despite being as dumb as a brick, got one in shot put and, not to insult the athletes, but that is one-hundred percent a sport that nobody cares about outside of the Olympics.”

  “Eh, at least you still get more respect for it than you would by being a part of a “fake sport” like me.” Clarence said, leaning up against one of the walls.

  The three shared a bit of a laugh as the camera pans to the front of the boat where a disappointed Jillian rests her head on Lucas’ shoulder.

  Sensing her feelings of failure, Lucas wrapped an arm around her, rubbed his hand up and down her arm and said, “Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it. We were behind the whole challenge. Between Yong-Gi missing the target a few times and Nicole getting herself hurt. We were at a disadvantage.”

  “Yeah… I guess I just wanted to call my mom. See how she’s been doing. Tell her how I’ve been doing. Tell her about the cute guy I met.” She cuddled up against Lucas as she said that. Then her tone changed into one that was a mixture of sadness and annoyance, “Though even then I can see her complaining that I didn’t meet you sooner. She used to get on my case quite a bit with me not being married or not giving her grandchildren before “the well dries up”. Though she hasn’t for a few years since, I think she might have given up on the idea of me finding a partner.”

  Lucas, blushing a bit and said, “I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t think my folks are that harsh with me. Though I do get the part of wanting to call my family. In fact when Vince said that the reward was a call home, I was planning on telling my sister all about you.”

  “Well I guess I can just meet her in person once this is all over. If that’s okay.”

  “Of course and then maybe at some point I can meet your mom… assuming she doesn’t start badgering me to have kids with you… I don’t think we’d be at a point where we’re together long enough to consider that.” Lucas nervously joked, rubbing the back of his head.

  “Oh I know… or at least hope that my mother would have enough self-awareness than that.” Jillian said with a laugh.

  ~~~

  After the challenge, and after Nicole finishes changing out of her swimsuit and into her regular clothes, she exited the tent only to find Simon waiting for her. “Let me guess, you’re going to try to convince me to vote for either Lucas or Jillian?”

  “Well Miss Gonzales I would be lying if I said that I just so happened to be passing by. So yes, I hope that since we are going to elimination tonight that you’ve thought about what I said about if you end up making it to the final three with those two. I’m just saying that I wouldn’t want to be the third wheel there, so it might be best to strike when you have the chance. Besides, if merge comes the three of us can work with your daughter and whatever friends she has on her team and have the majority. I mean she did end up beating you in the swimming race earlier today. So she might be a good ally for us to have.”

  “I think I-” Nicole began to say, but she was interrupted by Simon.

  “I’m not going to argue the same points that I did last time. Just think about it and if you come to the conclusion that I hope you come to, find me and I’ll tell you who Yong-Gi and I are voting for.” With that Simon walked off.

  ~~~

  Nicole makes an annoyed grunt as she sits in the confessional, “By god, Simon has got to be the least trustworthy person I have ever met. Why does he have to make such a good point about Lucas and Jillian potentially being a problem come merge? Though he also made a good point about working with my daughter if we both make it to merge. Yet… who says that I need to work with Simon in order to do that?” She lets out a sigh and says, “I’m not certain yet on who I’m going to vote for, but… I hope that I make the right choice.”

  ~~~

  The show cuts to Simon walking up to Yong-Gi who is sitting against a tree looking stressed to the point that he was dangerously close to ripping his hair out. Yong-Gi looked up at Simon and asked, “Did you manage to talk her into joining our side?”

  “Not sure, but I have a feeling that it’s going to work out.” Simon said with a confident smirk.

  Yong-Gi stood up and asked, “Feeling? You have a feeling? What feeling do you have that doesn’t make you worried about the fact that if she doesn’t vote with us, one of us is going home with the other probably being next?”

  Simon put his hands up and said, “Relax my friend… I just do. Trust me on this one.”

  Yong-Gi gives Simon an unsure hum.

  ~~~

  Yong-Gi is shown in the confessional, “Yeah… at this point I feel like my best chance, if Nicole doesn’t flip, is if they vote out Simon and then I make it to merge and manage to hit it off with whoever is left on Team Water by then. That or I find that goddamn immunity coin or whatever the hell it was called.” Yong-Gi took off his glasses rubbed his eyes and muttered, “F*** man… at this point I feel like I’d have a better chance of beating Sonicfox in a Mortal Kombat tournament than I do at actually winning this game.”

  ~~~

  An old phone booth is set up and the first to make use of it is Sue who punches in a number. After a few rings a man’s voice answers.

  “Hello?” He asked in a southern accent, confused by the number he didn’t recognize.

  “Hey dad!” Sue said cheerfully, “Is mom there? I swore that I was calling her.”

  “Yeah, she’s in the kitchen and left her phone in the living room and… wait, aren’t you supposed to be on that reality show? Did you get eliminated?”

  “No… though I do feel like staying in is gonna be a bit of an uphill battle for me. Though that’s not the point. My team won a call home and I’m using mine.”

  “Ah, I see… and… here she comes now. I’ll put you on speaker. Hey honey, Sue won a call home.”

  “Oh? Hey Susie-baby!” A woman’s voice exclaimed.

  “Hi mom!” Sue responded.

  “How’s everything going? I don’t think the show’s aired yet, so we don’t know.”

  “It’s going fine enough though… I can’t say that I’ve made many friends on my team. Though I did meet someone. Her name is Lissa, but she’s gone. Though good news. We’ve agreed to a date at… some point once this is all over.”

  “Oh? That sounds nice. Well I hope it goes well for you and that you win this whole reality show thing.”

  “Yeah, I hope so too.”

  Then Sue’s step-dad’s voice popped up again, “Yeah, show them what you’re made of. We’re rooting for you.”

  “Thanks Mom and dad. It was nice to hear your voices. Oh, is Teddy around?”

  “No, he’s out with his girlfriend.” her mom responded.

  “Then tell him that I said hi.”

  ~~~

  The show then cuts to Clarence in the phone booth.

  “Hello?” a man’s voice said.

  “Hey honey.” Clarence said joyfully once he heard his boyfriend’s voice, “Guess what? My team won a call home.”

  “Well it’s not much of a “guess what” if you tell me the answer right away.” Alex said, clearly joking around by the sound of his voice, “Though how are things going? Are you doing well?”

  “Well I’ve survived six eliminations now, three of which being for my team, and I can say I’m friendly with the people remaining on my team, even… well I guess one of the three people who got out. The other two… not so much.”

  “What? You’re telling me that there’s people out there who dislike you? I honestly didn’t think that was possible.”

  “Well one of them was this creepy dude that nobody seemed to like and the other was this lawyer woman named Regina who I organized the elimination of since she was being very bossy and rude to Mina.”

  “Who’s Mina?”

  “Oh, one of my teammates. Without a doubt the nicest person on my team. She let me read some of the graphic novels she brought with her. Some of which I think you might like.”

  “Really? What are your recommendations?”

  “Eh, I’ll tell you later. I doubt they’ll allow me too much time and… I’d rather not waste it talking about comics.”

  “Understandable.”

  After a few seconds of silence Clarence said, “I miss you… even if I’m trying my damndest to show it on camera, I’m missing you every single day that I’m out here.”

  “Same… it feels weird to wake up every morning without you by my side… our bed feels so empty at the moment.”

  Clarence chuckled at that, “Really? I figured that you would appreciate the extra room.”

  “Maybe a little, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling lonely.”

  “If that’s the case, maybe once I win this we could buy a bigger bed.”

  “I’d think we’d need to move out of this apartment first to have room for one.”

  Clarence smiled at that, “Sounds like a plan.”

  ~~~

  The show then cuts to later where Ed is making use of the phone booth.

  After a few rings, a woman’s voice can be heard, “Detective Fitzgerald’s Office. We’re sorry, but the detective is indisposed for the next month or so. If the help you need is an emergency, please contact the police.”

  “I see you’ve got that little cue card I gave you memorized, eh Lindsay?” Ed says in his real tone of voice with a bit of a smile.

  “Oh? Detective… I didn’t expect it to be you.” the woman, Lindsay, said with surprise in his voice.

  “Yeah, I won a call home and I figured that I’d use it.”

  “A-And you used it to call me?” Lindsay asked, some obvious happiness in her voice.

  “Who else would I call? My folks don’t exactly get much cell reception in their urns and as for Jared… well you know that we aren’t talking.”

  “Yeah… Maybe you two should. I mean he is your brother.”

  “You know why I’m not gonna do that. He made a mess of his own life and I’m not going to give him a chance to almost drag me down with him again. He could be dead in a ditch right now for all I know and I’m not sure whether or not I would care.”

  Lindsay let out a hum. She didn’t like the idea of someone saying such a thing about their own sibling, but knowing what caused the rift between the two, she couldn’t exactly blame Ed for saying such things. “Alright… So how are things going out there?”

  “Oh great. My whole “playing the fool” strategy is working very well. I don’t think anybody here sees me as an actual threat. Which is good. As long as everyone has someone they’re targeting that isn’t me, I can ride this wave to the finals.”

  “I see… well I certainly hope you win. I mean it’s not like I’m watching this trashy show you signed up for.”

  “You sure? Assuming that it’s fully aired once I get back we could take a night off and watch it on… whatever streaming service they decide to plop this thing on. If anything I hope it’s one that I’m already signed up for and I won’t have to make a free trial for some d-list service that nobody has.”

  “I can’t promise that I’ll enjoy the show, but… that does sound nice.”

  “Great sounds like a plan.” Ed said with a slight blush on his face, “But enough about me. How have things been going on with you Linds?”

  “Boring. My days have mostly been filled with me killing time between calls where I redirect people in the direction of the police. Though more likely they will probably go to Garrison instead.”

  Ed laughed at that, “That bumbling idiot is still in business? Well I guess when I get back that binge watch night might not happen for a bit since there’s at least a fifty-fifty chance I’m going to have to fix whatever problems he somehow made worse.”

  Lindsay could be heard giggling on the other side of the phone.

  ~~~

  Once Ed is done he exits the phone booth and walks by Mina. “It’s all yours.” He said in his fake tone of voice.

  “Eh… I don’t think I’m going to take the call.” Mina said with a shrug.

  “Why not?” Ed asked, tilting his head a bit.

  “My mom is here and I don’t know. While I do have friends back home like Kate and Gwen… I don’t really miss them enough to feel like calling them. Hell, I know that Gwen’s phone is permanently set on do not disturb for all numbers not in her contacts. So she wouldn’t even pick up if I called her.”

  “Why’d she do that?”

  “If I remember correctly, she got really tired of getting those spam “car extended warranty” scam calls when she didn’t even have a car at the time. God those things were annoying so I don’t really blame her. Though at the same time, I can’t help, but wonder if people actually fall for that bulls***? I mean it’s so obvious, but they wouldn’t do it if it didn’t work, right?”

  “Whether not it does people who profit on the misery of others are total pieces of s***. I’d even hesitate to call them people.” Ed said, slightly breaking character as he said that.

  “Yeah… That sounded a bit personal… Are you okay Ed?”

  Ed let out a sigh, thinking about this for a second, trying to think of a way to explain this while keeping up his dimwitted persona going. After a few moments he said, “Well… these aren’t exactly the same thing, but… my parents passed away from a carbon monoxide leak. When that happened the house was left to my older brother who offered for me to move in with him. It was a great deal at the time. We split the money on all the bills. Though the system was that I’d hand him my half and he’d pay them… that was until I found out that at some point he stopped using the money I gave him for the mortgage and bills. He started gambling and… he lost more than he won… up until the point where I came home one day and found an eviction notice on our front door. Our childhood home… taken from us because of his foolishness and greed… I mean I know I didn’t do the best in school myself, but… still… I figured he was smarter than that… f*** man… I haven’t talked to him since and… I guess that’s part of why I signed up for this show. Maybe if I win that money I could buy back the house if it ever goes on the market again.”

  “Oh s***… I am sorry to hear that Ed… I really don’t know what to that other than… yeah that f****** sucks.”

  “Yeah.”

  ~~~

  Mina is shown in the confessional, “Damn… with how carefree Ed seems to be most of the time… I never would have guessed that he was hiding his motivation like that. I guess it goes to show that people often have more going on than they show.”

  ~~~

  Ed is then shown in the confessional, “Yeah, most of what I said to Mina was true. The only parts I exaggerated were the fact that I didn’t do well in school, my grades were consistently in the A and B range, and that I plan on buying that house back with the money. Sure, it was a nice house, but I am willing to let it go and not just sit around waiting for whoever is currently living in it to move out. Though that being said, since our dirty laundry is now out in the open on national TV I will say one thing. Jared, if you’re watching this, I just want to remind you that I will never forgive you and I want you to go f*** yourself.” As he said that Ed flipped off the camera, only for his hand to be censored.

  ~~~

  All five members of Team Fire are shown sitting at the bonfire with Vince standing behind his podium. “Well Team Fire, haven’t seen you here in a bit, but welcome back. I hope you all remember how this works. Now get to voting.”

  A montage of the members of Team Fire voting is shown. Lucas is shown with a look of confidence, but then it shows Simon with one as well. There’s then a cut with Yong-Gi looking more than a little nervous. Then the last person shown in the montage is Nicole who looks to still be weighing her options, even at the last second. She eventually writes down a name and drops her vote in the slot.

  The show then cuts to Vince with the clay pot on his podium, “Alright Team Fire, like always, I will pull the votes out one by one and read them aloud. Whoever receives the most votes is eliminated from Endurance Forest and must leave.” He reaches into the pot, “The first vote goes to… Simon. The second vote… also goes to Simon. That’s two votes for Simon.”

  Yong-Gi is continuing to look nervous for his one remaining ally, but Simon’s confidence doesn’t let up for a second.

  Vince pulls out the third vote, “Sixth person voted out of Endurance Forest is… Simon.” Vince flashes the paper, this one being in Nicole’s handwriting. “Three votes is enough.”

  “Really?” Simon asked, while standing up and walking towards Vince, “I don’t think that it is.” After he said that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a large golden coin with the show’s logo on one side and an angel on the other.

  “Oh… f***.” Lucas muttered.

  “I honestly forgot that coin was even a thing.” Nicole whispered.

  Simon hands the coin over to Vince who looks it over for a few seconds, “I can confirm that this is indeed The Coin of Salvation. All of the votes against Simon for this elimination ceremony have been nullified. Simon, return to your seat and I will continue reading the votes.”

  Simon turned around and began walking back to his seat, a devilish grin across his face as the bonfire roared behind him.

  Once he was seated, Vince pulled out the next vote, “The fourth vote goes to… Lucas.”

  Lucas, seeing what’s coming, lets out a sigh and looks down. Jillian places a hand on top of his.

  “The fifth and final vote goes to… Lucas. Sorry man, but you’ve been eliminated.”

  “S***!” Lucas exclaimed.

  “That’s what you get for stabbing us in the back.” Simon said with his grin even wider than before. “In the end you ended up spending as much time with your little girlfriend as you would have anyways. Except now you’ve lost your shot at the money.”

  “Oh please, you’re assuming that Ben wouldn’t have just dragged us down if he stayed!” Lucas snapped, standing up and looking right to Simon.

  “Hey, you don’t know that he would have.” Yong-Gi spat back, defending his eliminated friend.

  Lucas, knowing that nothing he could say would change the fact that he was out, just let out a sigh and said, “Whatever.”

  Vince walked up to Lucas and said, “Lucas, sorry, but it’s time for you to go.”

  “Can I walk him out?” Jillian asked, standing up.

  “Sure.” Vince said with a shrug. “Just try to remember your way back to camp. I don’t want this to end up as a double elimination via medevac.”

  ~~~

  The show cuts to Lucas and Jillian walking to the entrance of the forest where Lucas’ suitcase was waiting with an intern.

  “So… I guess this is goodbye for now.” Lucas said with a lot of sadness in his voice as he turned to face her. “I was hoping to go to the final two with you, but… I didn’t even make it halfway through,”

  “Yeah… I hate this… f****** Simon. I swear that I’ll make him pay I’ll-” Jillian began to say, tears forming in her eyes, but stopped when Lucas placed a hand on her cheek.

  “Look Jill… I appreciate it and don’t get me wrong, if the next two people I see at the motel are Simon and, by-association, Yong-Gi I’d be ecstatic, but I don’t want you to spend all your time and energy on getting revenge for my sake. I’m out. There’s nothing we can do about that, even if it was via some reality show shenanigans. Despite that, you should keep going in this game as yourself and not as my proxy. Go and win this. Not for me, not even for us, but for yourself. Show them all how much ass Jillian O’Hara can kick!”

  Jillian wiped her tears and laughed a bit, “Were you preparing that in your head the way down here, or was that speech of yours improvised?”

  “Ehh, a little of column a and a little of column b. Why? Did it not work?”

  “No… I think it did. Though it also helps remind me that you’re a bit of a dork.”

  “I’m a fantasy writer. I don’t think me being a dork is a fact that can be forgotten.”

  The two shared a laugh for a few seconds. Once it died down the two of them looked at each other’s eyes and as if being pulled by magnets, the two shared one final kiss goodbye. Though unlike their first one a few days ago that was fueled by pure passion, there was something different about this one. A true level of care for each other. Once the kiss broke, Lucas took a step back from Jillian, gave her a smile and a wave goodbye and walked to the intern to grab his stuff before getting into the car that had pulled up at some point in their conversation.

  Once inside the car, Lucas’ smile dropped. He let out a disappointed sigh and said, “F*** that million dollars or… however much would have been left after taxes, really could have helped me out. Though… I guess at least I may have gotten something out of this whole experience. A constant reason to wake up the next day.”

  ~~~

  A very sad Jillian is shown in the confessional, “As much as I’m going to miss him, Lucas is right. At this point in the game I need to play it as myself and not as half of a pair. Though if playing for myself involves sending Simon packing, I don’t think anybody would blame me.”

  ~~~

  Simon is shown in the confessional, “I kinda wish that I got to hold onto that coin a little longer. You know, just to have that backup plan in my pocket at all times, but Nicole didn’t side with us so I had to get Lucas out this way. While I’m a bit disappointed, I’m not surprised. So it is what it is. I’m still here and the boy who betrayed his alliance for a chance at some redhead p**** is gone. As far as I’m concerned, all is right with the world.”

  ~~~

  Yong-Gi is then shown in the confessional, “Hell yeah! Ben has been avenged. Adios Scarface. Though I gotta be honest, with how many shots I missed in the challenge, I almost thought that they would have voted for me instead. Though perhaps if they did the result would have been the same if Simon used his coin to save me. Though… while he is my ally, at the end of the day we’re all trying to win. So I wouldn’t have put my faith in that happening, even if I had known that he had it. Though I do wonder how long he had it. I might need to talk to him about that.”

  ~~~

  Vince is shown by himself at the bonfire, “With an elimination ceremony that I can certainly see as being a bit… controversial out of the way. Well, it at least was for me. I can tell you, I didn’t want to see Lucas go. Though hey, I also wanted to someday win an Oscar, but here I am hosting a reality TV show. So I’m used to not getting what I want.” After Vince says that he looks offscreen for a bit where he gives someone that the viewers can’t see or hear an annoyed look before continuing, “Anyways… Who will be the next to go and will it be another person I personally don’t want to see gone, or will it be someone who deserves to get the boot? Tune in next time to find out on Endurance Forest!”

  Who Do You Want To Win?