Some Call This Fun (11/?)
Title: Some Call This Fun (11/?)
Summary: On a remote Brazilian island, 22 contestants are separated into 2 teams to compete against one another through a series of challenges. But they’ll soon discover that there are more challenges to be had than just the competition. Hook-ups, fights, partying, back stabbing, secrets and lies take center stage as the crew watches their reality show spiral into insanity. Various pairings.
Cross posted to Camp Toccoa
In this chapter: People hook up, people throw up and Nixon’s pretty happy about the whole turn of events.
Meet the Crew
Meet the Contestants
Oh Captain My
Captain?
Capture The Flag
We All Fall Down
Tequila Is Not Your Friend
Who Can You Trust?
Saving Me
Look Out Below
Blaze a Trail
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. Any ideas or challenges borrowed from a reality show belong to the creators of that show, not me. I don’t own anything…so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
A/N: I just want to say that as a vegetarian…this was a hard chapter to write. It probably won’t be that gross to read but the research was just…ewww.
Malarkey finally found what he was looking for when he stumbled upon Bill and Joe huddled in secrecy near one another and whispering furiously. He walked up to them nervously.
“So...uh, you guys are voting for Sobel right?” he asked them, drawing their attention to him and away from their intense discussion.
They exchanged a tentative look before Bill nodded, “Yeah, we are. Maybe you can get Skip to vote that way too?”
Don just raised an eyebrow, “Um…I can try?”
Joe smirked, “You do that.”
A little confused, and not sure why everyone always assumed he could persuade Skip of things, he went off to find his blonde friend.
Bill and Joe watched him go before turning back to their discussion. Bill was the first to speak up.
“Why do you want to vote for Skip again?”
“Because he didn’t even try to help us find Babe!” Joe argued.
“Neither did Sobel…plus you know he’s a prick.”
“Yeah. We do know that. We can anticipate him. But how do we know we can trust Skip? I expect Sobel to think about himself, and about a win. But Skip? C’mon- what the Hell was that?”
Bill looked thoughtful for a moment. “Why don’t we talk to Babe about it?”
Joe rolled his eyes. “That kid will never vote for Skip.”
“He voted for Shifty, he told me. Not that he was particularly proud of himself.” Bill informed him.
“You serious? Huh…guess the kid can play the game when he wants to.”
Bill nodded. “So let’s go talk to him.”
“I don’t think so.” Babe frowned at his two friends as they pitched their idea to him.
Liebgott just fell backwards in frustration and rolled his eyes at Bill. “Told you so.”
Bill ignored him and addressed the teen in front of him. “Babe, why not? I mean at least we know what we’re dealing with when it comes to Sobel.”
Babe nodded, “True, but Skip didn’t do anything wrong.”
Joe sat back up quickly, “What are you talking about? He just walked off and left us all for jaguar food!”
“Yeah, but can you blame him for that? I mean he’s not the one that blew the challenge for us.” Babe pointed out.
“Kid we kind of ALL blew it.” Bill noted.
Babe shook his head, “No we all didn’t. I did. You all were just trying to help. I don’t blame Skip for not coming after me and neither should you guys.”
Sobel walked by to snidely inform them that they needed to go to the beach to vote now. Joe gave him the finger and turned his attention back to Babe.
“Well then who are you going to vote for?” he asked.
Babe stood up with a tiny sigh. “The person that screwed up the challenge.”
That said he started to walk away. Bill and Joe looked at each other for a moment.
“But he said that he screwed up the…”Joe started but trailed off.
Finally understanding they hopped up and went after him.
“Babe, don’t be stupid!”
At the Beach
Winters frowned as he read over the votes. This was….surprising to say the least. He almost couldn’t believe it.
Nixon watched the small crease form between Dick’s eyebrows that indicated he was distressed and was torn between his desire to kiss it away and his desire to tackle Dick to the ground and force him to show Nixon the tally of votes.
Oddly enough, he felt the second option would cause fewer problems.
The contestants just stared as Nixon pounced on Winters and the two went flying to the ground.
Bill shook his head, “That man needs to be institutionalized.”
Winters just sighed, “Lew, get off of me.”
Nixon just snatched the tally out of his hands and looked it over before gaping down at Dick, whom he was sitting on top of. “You’re freaking kidding me. Really?”
Dick just pursed his lips and nodded. “Yes. Now do you mind? I’m getting sand up my shirt.”
“You know you wouldn’t have that problem if you didn’t wear a shirt.” Nixon pointed out.
“What?”
“Nothing.” The host scrambled up and held his hand out to help Dick to his feet. “Can I announce it?”
“By all means.” Dick said, shaking his shirt to rid it of sand.
Nixon twisted around to face the contestants. “In a surprising turn of events, the two people who received the most votes from their teammates and will thus be participating in tomorrow’s arena challenge are…Babe and Skip!”
Everybody just stared.
Gene spoke up, “Wait…are you sure?”
However, Babe just elbowed him lightly, “It’s fine.”
Don looked confused as well, “What the Hell?”
Nixon just shrugged and left them all to draw their own conclusions.
As soon as they were all back in the house, Don went up to Bill and Joe. “Did you guys really vote for Sobel?”
Joe frowned, “I said we would, didn’t I?”
Don nodded. “Okay…then how could Skip have gotten four out of the remaining six votes?”
Joe shrugged, “Maybe Sobel voted for him. His vote counts twice, remember?”
Not entirely convinced, Don sought out Sobel, who was talking with Evans.
“Um Sobel?” he called to get his attention.
The dark-haired man turned to look at him, somewhat surprised that he was being spoken to. “Malarkey. Can I help you?”
Don shrugged, “Um…I was just wondering…who you guys voted for?”
Sobel frowned. Normally he wouldn’t share that information with just anyone…but if Malarkey was actually asking then he obviously thought that Sobel had voted for Skip. Well wouldn’t he be surprised?
“We voted for Babe.” He informed the red-head.
Don gaped, “Really?”
Sobel nodded, “Why would we vote for Skip? He was the only other person to complete the challenge. Babe was the one who lost it for us.”
Don sighed, “Okay thanks.”
He turned and left his team captain behind to go and find Skip. If what Sobel said was true (and it made perfect sense) then Bill and Joe must have voted for Skip. He knew that neither of them would ever vote for Babe. But why would Bill and Joe lie to him?
He liked them both just fine…but if Skip went home tomorrow? Then they might have some problems.
Lipton wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take. He was going to die.
With what most people would call anger, but Lipton viewed as mild irritation, he got out of his chair in the kitchen where he’d been eating and walked out into the living room.
He marched up to where all of his team, save Alex and Ron, were lounging and smoking. “Guys I’m sorry but could you please not smoke in here? I really don’t think I can handle much more of it. I’m in the kitchen and I can hardly breathe.”
Toye nodded and quickly licked his finger and put out his cigarette, “Sorry man. I forget sometimes that everyone don’t smoke.”
The others weren’t immediately moved to action, but then something behind Lipton caught Perco’s eye and he too snuffed out his cigarette.
Standing up quickly, Frank motioned to the rest of them. “Maybe we should smoke outside, huh guys?”
The others nodded quickly and they all retreated towards the pool. Lipton watched their hasty exit in confusion. Had he been too harsh?
Turning around to go back to the kitchen, he jerked to a stop when he almost ran into Ron, who had been standing right behind him.
He sighed, “How long were you standing there?”
Speirs merely shrugged, “Not as long as you.”
Lipton just smiled and walked past him and back to his dinner. “Well thanks for scaring them off I guess.”
Ron looked like he was about to protest that point but Carwood just gave him a look. Finally the red captain nodded. “Anytime.”
The dark-haired man wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure where to start. Carwood didn’t seem uncomfortable to him. In fact, he seem rather relaxed in Ron’s presence. So the captain merely sat down across from him and watched the blonde man eat.
Gene sat next to the pool, watching as everyone laughed and had a good time. He couldn’t believe this. He should have just voted for Sobel. But Webster had convinced him to vote for Skip, for not helping them go after Babe. Although he figured that Webster was only voting that way because Joe told him to. Seeing as Liebgott was still upset that Webster had voted for Shifty, he was also still able to guilt David into certain things.
As Gene worried about the outcome of their voting session, he felt someone plop down in the chair next to him. “You look stressed out.”
Gene turned to see Babe looking at him with a small smile. Gene smiled back in spite of his bad mood. “Just worried about tomorrow.”
Babe laughed. “You don’t worry about tomorrow. Let me worry about tomorrow.”
With a nod, Gene shifted forward on his seat and glanced at Babe’s relaxed posture. “You don’t seem to be worried at all.”
Babe nodded. “That’s right. Now…neither of us has to be worried. What’s the point in stressing over it anyway?”
Gene laughed, “You were more worried when you sent Shifty to the arena.”
“That was different though. That time I sent someone else there, this time it’s just me.”
Gene frowned, “Wait…you’re not saying you voted for yourself?”
Babe shrugged, “Who else was I going to vote for? Skip? Sobel? What did they do wrong?”
Gene stared at him, unable to comprehend why Babe would vote for himself.
The younger man caught him staring and laughed. “What?”
Gene just shook his head. “You just continue to throw me off is all.”
“Is that a good thing?” Babe asked, a nervous smile on his face.
With a laugh, Gene leaned back into his lawn chair. “Yeah it is.”
Babe nodded. “Hey you know what we should do?”
Gene shrugged, “What?”
“We should go swimming.”
“The pool’s right there.” Gene pointed out.
Babe shook his head as he stood up. “No...I mean really go swimming. In the ocean.”
He reached over and grabbed Gene’s wrist, pulling him up and out of his chair.
“I don’t have my swim suit on!” Gene protested as Babe began to drag him away from the house and back down the trail that lead to the beach.
“Don’t worry. You’re not going to need it!”
Gene didn’t let that sink in until they got down to the beach. It was dark and he thanked the moon for being so bright that night.
The moonlight glared off the water and he could see Babe grin at him before he let go of his wrist. “Come on.”
He was about to ask how he was supposed to go swimming in jeans when Babe pulled his shirt off and threw it to the side.
The teen was already shoeless and had his feet in the ocean waters, the small waves covering his ankles. His hands went to the button on his cargo shorts.
He must have seen Gene staring at him because he laughed as he pulled his shorts down. “What’s the matter Gene? Never been skinny dipping before?”
“No…Babe are you drunk?”
Babe just laughed, wearing nothing but his boxers, which was something that they had all seen at this point.
“Nope.” He replied and then splashed some water on Gene, who just smiled at him
He stripped off his boxers and threw them off near his shirt. Even though it was dark the moonlight hit the top of Babe’s head and made his hair, his body and his smile shine in the nighttime.
He turned away and was immersed in the ocean as Gene gaped, somewhat stunned by the whole situation. Gene looked around and didn’t see any cameras. He quickly kicked off his sneakers and took off his shirt. Shimmying out of his pants he paused when it come to his boxers.
Babe poked his head above the water and shouted, “Hey! You saw me naked!”
Gene blushed and nodded, “Yes. Yes I did.”
“Get in the water and you can do more than see.” Babe promised before ducking back under the waves.
That was all the incentive Gene needed to quickly shove his boxers down and dive into the cool water. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. He swam over to where he saw Babe resurfacing again.
The teen grinned at him, “Hey.”
Gene shook his head. “I can’t believe you got me to go skinny dipping.”
Babe smirked, “I’m not throwing you off again am I?”
Gene laughed loudly and was almost shocked to hear the sound coming from him. Babe was just
looking at him. No smirk, just wide eyes and a sweet expression.
“What?” he questioned the teen, confused by the look on his face.
“You look really happy.” Babe noted.
Gene smiled in confusion and looked out over the ocean that they were carelessly drifting in. “I guess that’s because I am.”
When he turned back to look at Babe, the teen swam up to him, put a wet hand behind Gene’s head and kissed him. It had been a while since Gene had been kissed, much less by someone he really liked, and when the kiss was over he was left somewhat dazed.
He smiled at Babe, his hands now resting on the teen’s shoulders, “I think you’re what makes me happy.”
Babe laughed, “Your hair is sticking up funny in the back.”
Gene just rolled his eyes and dunked the teen under the water.
“I can’t believe this happened!” Alex pouted as he floated past Skip and Don in the pool.
Having been relaxing at the house while they were off voting, he had already snagged one of the few inflatable pool chairs.
Luz was currently occupying the other while he chatted with Buck and glared at where Bill and Jo set a ways away sipping beers.
Skip nodded, looking rather like a kicked puppy. Don hated how this whole thing had gone down.
“Yeah I didn’t think anyone would actually vote for me. Or Babe for that matter.” Skip pointed out.
Alex leaned forward, “Actually- I heard Babe voted for himself.”
Don gaped, “What? No way! Who told you that?”
Leaning back Alex grinned, “Toye. Bill told him about it.”
Skip snorted, “Speaking of Toye and Bill, get a load of the stink eye Luz is sending their way.”
They all turned to see and sure enough, in between his playful chatter and sharing a cigarette with Buck, Luz was sending the two men in question a look far too ugly to be on his otherwise constantly cheerful face.
Alex sighed, “Yeah that’s going to get ugly. It’s going to totally screw up our team too!”
Don rolled his eyes. “You think your team has issues? Liebgott is a ticking time bomb. I don’t know who he’s going to kill first- Sobel, Webster, or that poor intern that hasn’t got the common sense to stop hitting on him.”
“Yeah and speaking of Sobel- could we get a more incompetent captain? At least you guys have Speirs!” Skip added.
Penkala shrugged, “I still say our fallout will be bigger.”
“Yeah we’ll see about that.” Don laughed.
“Maybe..” Skip looked down, obviously concerned that he wouldn’t.
Alex reached over and flicked his ear. “Hey! Come on? Not that Babe isn’t cool and all but he isn’t exactly your best player. You should be able to beat him.”
Skip just shrugged. Penkala rolled his eyes before sliding off of his float and into the pool. “Damn I need another drink. Skip here- you can take over my throne and be King of the Worrywarts.”
He nudged the float towards Skip and swam off. Once Skip was comfortably settled into it, Don playfully flicked water up at him.
He frowned when Skip failed to react. “You don’t honestly think you’ll lose do you?”
His friend shrugged, “I dunno. Anything’s possible.”
Don nodded. “It would really suck if you went home, you know. It wouldn’t be the same here without you.”
Skip looked at him, “You know Don if I do lose..”
“You won’t.” Don interrupted.
“Yeah, yeah.” Skip waved his assurance off. “But if I do. I just want you to know that you’re….”
Don laughed, “I’m what?”
Skip wanted to tell him that he thought he was amazing, and fun and hot and totally perfect for Skip. Instead he just said, “You’re not getting out of hanging with me that’s what! You don’t make elaborate plans to go skydiving with someone and then back out!”
Penkala returned with his drink. “God you’re not talking about skydiving again are you?”
Skip jerked his thumb at Don. “He said I wouldn’t do it! You were there! He bet me $50 dollars that I would not jump out of an airplane!”
“Like I said- he’ll do anything for money.”
“Excuse me-the only way that I ever agreed to go skydiving was if I was wasted!”
“You are not backing out of this!”
“You realize he’s afraid of heights, don’t you Skip?”
“Um afraid is a bit harsh.”
“What? I heard all about you during that challenge! That you were all ‘Skip! Don’t let me fall!’”
“I was NOT!”
“Hahaha you kinda were.”
“Shut up! I hate you both!”
Webster thought it was a little odd that he couldn’t find Joe anywhere. Normally he could find him with Bill or Babe, but Bill was with Toye and had told him that Joe had given him the slip a while ago. David would have been concerned that Babe was also missing but Toye had smirked and told him to relax, that Babe was with Gene.
So now, with Webster’s curious nature being what it was (especially where Liebgott was concerned), he was walking up and down the upstairs hallways wondering where the other man had gotten to. At the end of the hallway, away from where the bedrooms were located, the crew had furnished what had before been an empty room with furniture and a telephone.
He saw the camera man before he heard the voice. He walked over to the man quietly, leaning on the wall next to the room’s glass doors so that he wouldn’t be spotted by the room’s occupant.
“Is Joe in there?” he asked the camera man who, on further inspection, was Walter Gordon. Although the crew referred to him as Smokey, not that David knew why.
The camera man in question just glared at him. It seemed he still hated the blue team. It turned out that they had led him out into the jungle on their wild chase after Babe and he had wandered around lost for a couple of hours before Winters had finally corralled Nixon into organizing a search.
The glare that Gordon sent him was coupled by a quick, “Shh!”, as he was obviously attempting to tape what was being said in the room.
Webster sighed and just leaned his head closer towards the door to hear the conversation inside.
“Don’t tell me what I did! I know what I did.” That was definitely Joe’s voice. But he seemed to be not his usually brand of feisty. Instead he seemed on edge and his speech was curt.
“Look you need to just stay out of it. I don’t know why you’re getting involved anyway- I can handle it.” Joe hissed to whomever he was speaking to. David wished he could hear what the other person was saying but knew that he wouldn’t find that out until the show aired, or until Liebgott told him. So…basically not until the show aired.
“No I’m not going to tell you where I am. I’m out of town, that’s all you need to know.” Joe replied harshly to whatever inquiry had been posed. “What do you mean ‘why not’? Because the last thing I need is one of his asshole friends looking for me that’s why!”
Joe became silent for a moment and then let out a huff. “Yeah well that’s what he gets for screwing with me. Fuck him and his retarded family. I’m serious. And you stay the Hell away from them. If they ask you where I am you tell them you don’t know. It’s the truth.”
More silence, then a loud crash as Joe possibly kicked something. The wince on Gordon’s face indicated that he had.
“STOP FUCKING SAYING THAT!” Joe screamed. “I don’t need you fucking telling me I have a problem. I KNOW I have a problem. I’ll fucking handle it. Fuck your cousin! I don’t want his fucking help. I’ve got it under control!”
The shouting on the other end of the phone must have been loud because Webster could hear a muffled voice on his side of the wall. He frowned, not sure what to make of it all.
On the other side of the wall, in the room, Joe was listening to his best (and only if he were honest) friend, Edward Tipper, make him feel like shit.
“Joe, I’m serious. Does anyone over there know what you’re into? You said it was some reality show thing right? How do you know they won’t bust you the moment they find out?”
Joe slumped back down into the armchair next to the telephone. Maybe calling Tipper had been a mistake. His friend was simply pointing out all the reasons that Joe was a total dumbass. “Because they care too much about making the show entertaining. They’re going to listen to the tape of this conversation anyway, so be as vague as possible. They can’t make me tell them anything,”
He heard Eddie sigh. Finally his friend asked the question that Joe had hoped he wouldn’t. “Okay. So…how much do you have left?”
Joe put one hand over his eyes and sighed, “I dunno…about a week’s worth?”
“What are you going to do when it runs out?”
The hand over his eyes moved up and gripped his hair tightly. “I don’t know. I’ll stretch it out though. It’ll be okay. I’ll handle it.”
“Yeah you keep saying that. Look Joe, just come home. My cousin is an expert with this kind of thing. He’ll get you cle- uh fixed up. I’ll talk to this Dike guy and we’ll figure something out.”
Joe jerked out of his stupor, “Shut up about your cousin okay. And I already told you to stay away from them! They are not kidding around. Just because Norm is a screw-up doesn’t mean that the rest of his family is so incompetent. He has connections, okay? Just…look. Please, please, please don’t get involved. I swear- if I need your help, I’ll ask for it.”
“Bullshit. But I can’t do anything about it. By the way, seeing as I now have this number on my phone, expect me to call and check in on you.”
Joe frowned, thinking for the second time that he hated having friends who worried about him. He expressed the sentiment to Tipper.
“I’m pretty sure that I’m the only friend you have. No offense.”
“Yeah well some of the guys here have got it in their heads that they’re my friends too. They’re like…force feeding me and shit.” Joe mumbled.
Tipper laughed. “Well good. I approve. Seriously though Joe. Just be careful. If you run out, it’s going to really suck.”
Liebgott sighed. “Yeah. Yeah I know.”
That morning Gene woke up in his now wet clothes, on the beach, tangled up in the long and pale limbs of a red headed teenager who was somehow, though they barely knew one another, turning Gene’s world upside down.
Their legs were both stretched out and hooked together at the knees and the ocean waves tickled at their bare feet. Gene propped himself up on his right elbow and stared down at Babe’s sleeping face.
Babe looked oddly serious when he slept. Not worried or old, just somewhat serious and for a moment Gene worried that he might be having a bad dream.
So he rolled over until he was laying above the teen with his arms braced on either side of Babe’s head and, morning breath be damned, leant down to kiss him awake.
The moment was perfect. Babe didn’t jerk awake or gasp, merely sighed and opened his mouth, though not his eyes, to return Gene’s kiss.
Gene lightly ran his tongue on Babe’s lower lip before he pulled back. “Morning.”
Babe’s eyes fluttered open and they stared at one another for a minute before the teen cracked a smile. “Good morning to you too.”
Gene looked down at Babe’s chest, “I think you’re wearing my shirt.”
Babe eyed the shirt, “Huh, I think you’re right. Now everyone is going to think we had beach sex.”
“If they thought that, they’d all be out here bothering us right now.”
“We should have totally had beach sex.”
Gene laughed softly and traced a pattern in the sand next to Babe’s head as the teen closed his eyes briefly.
“It’s a really nice morning.” Babe finally said.
Gene rolled back to the side, off of the teen, and Babe turned his head to smile at him. It must have been fairly early, because the sun was just coming up and the morning light made everything seem soft and dream like.
Babe let his left hand wander across the small space separating them until it found Gene’s right and they allowed their fingers to tangle up in a similar fashion as their legs.
Gene stared back at him and rubbed a circle on the teen’s hand with his thumb.
“It is a really nice morning.” He agreed. “Let’s just stay out here for a while, okay?”
Babe nodded and let his eyes close once more. Gene watched, not ready to move and not ready to risk Babe leaving, not when they’d just discovered what it could be like.
What they could be like.
“Jo! Jo wake up.” Bill whispered as he flicked at Toye’s sock covered foot that had somehow escaped the covers of his bed.
He glanced nervously over at the other beds in the room. Perco was out like a light, likely due to the large amount of beer Luz had poured down his throat the night before.
Speaking of Luz, the small man had somehow made his way over into Buck’s bed and Bill took a moment to be irritated with him. Didn’t he realize how much Jo liked him? Did he really have to be all over Buck in the confines of a room he shared with two other people?
He finally gave up flicking Jo’s foot and moved slightly higher and pinched his leg.
Apparently he pinched a little too hard because Jo jerked up with a loud, “FUCK!”
Buck shifted slightly, Perco snored on and Luz rolled back so quickly that he fell out of Buck’s bed with a thud.
Jo glared blearily up at Bill. “Um what the Hell man? What time is it?”
Luz popped up off the floor, obviously disorientated. “What’s going on? Is it time to go?”
Bill shook his head. “No. Jo get up- we’re going on a run.”
“We are?” Jo asked even as he was already moving out from under his covers.
“Yeah. Renee said you needed to keep your knee in use. You need to get it back into shape. So let’s go.”
As he pulled on his sneakers, Jo shook his head. “That doesn’t make much sense but I’m way too tired to argue with you. So whatever.”
Luz watched them go in confusion before hopping up and running out of the room, the commotion managed to stir Buck awake and he followed him.
“Webster, wake up!”
David groaned as he was shook awake. He blinked his eyes open to see Luz standing above him. “God, what could you possibly want right now Luz?”
“I heard you say you had binoculars?” Luz asked.
Buck poked his head inside the room, “What do you need binoculars for?”
“Um yeah, to look at wildlife on the boat ride over here.” David answered, slowly sitting up.
“Can I borrow them?” Luz asked.
David shrugged, “Sure.”
He rolled out of bed and stooped down to get them out of his suitcase. Once he handed them to Luz the tiny brunette bounded out of his room in a hurry.
Webster stared at Buck, who shook his head.
“I don’t really know.” The blonde informed him.
Luz apparently had caused quite the racket, because Webster wasn’t the only one who had decided not to go back to sleep and there were people gathering in the living room.
Lipton was starting a pot of coffee when David came down the stairs. He gave Webster a curious look and jerked his head out towards the pool where Luz was perched on the stone fence and looking through the binoculars. “What’s he up to?”
David shrugged. “I’m not really sure.”
“We should find out!” Skip announced from the living room, Don and Alex with him. They took off outside and David thought ‘What the Hell?’ and followed them.
Skip bounced up to crouch next to Luz on the fence. “Tell me what you see.”
Luz frowned, “Right now I can’t see anything because they stopped behind a goddamn rock!”
“Who exactly?” Alex asked before letting out a yawn.
“Bill and Jo.” Buck answered in an irritated tone from where he was sitting in a lawn chair. “They went for a run and Luz took it upon himself to spy on them.”
Skip grinned, “Maybe they stopped to make out?”
Don laughed, knowing that was highly unlikely as Bill was straight and that Skip was just trying to rile Luz up. He was such an instigator.
“Damn it! I knew it!” Luz cursed moving his head around and leading the binoculars every which way. “And they probably- whoa! What do we have here?”
“What the Hell are you all doing?”
Webster turned around to see Joe standing there barefoot in his boxers and a hoodie. His hair was tousled and he’d obviously just woken up.
“Well it appears we are spying on people.” David answered him.
“Who?”
“Right now Babe and Doc.” Luz called back to them. “They’re on the beach macking on each other!”
He put the binoculars down and pointed them out. All the spectators crowded next to Luz and looked. Sure enough the two blue contestants in question were lying next to one another on the beach and appeared to be kissing.
Skip and Luz stood up and began to shout.
“GET A ROOM!”
“I KNEW YOU CRAZY KIDS WOULD GET IT TOGETHER!”
They all, Joe included, yelled out a collective “AWWWW!”
Amidst the embarrassing shouts of their fellow contestants, Gene buried his head in Babe’s shoulder.
“I hate them.”
“Yeah me too. Guess that’s our cue to get our asses in gear. Can’t put it off anymore.”
In the Arena
“Well good MORNING everyone!” Nixon called to them all cheerfully, cup of coffee in his hand. Which he had double checked to make sure Talbert hadn’t pissed in. He didn’t trust that twerp.
“You all look tired.” He commentated on seeing the sleepy faces of all the contestants. Usually they all slept late since the arena challenge didn’t take place until noon. “And seeing as how I watch the monitors I know why. I gotta say Luz I didn’t realize you were so voyeuristic.”
Toye made a face and gave Luz a curious look, “What?”
Luz pulled out his most innocent expression and shrugged. “Who knows what Nixon’s ever talking about?”
Buck just sighed from the other side of Luz.
Nixon downed his coffee and tossed the cup at Talbert’s head. “Let’s get this show on the road shall we? I feel like this has been a longer morning than usual and it’s taken us some time to get to this point. Huh. Anyway you know the drill. Yesterday the blue team lost the challenge and had to vote for two of their teammates to compete one-on-one in the arena. Babe and Skip, please come down.”
The two navigated their way to the bottom of the bleachers. Skip clapped Babe on the back. “This has been fun up till now, right?”
Babe grinned. “Yep. Let’s get it over with huh?”
“Certainly.” Nixon interrupted. “I’m particularly excited about today’s arena challenge. We were supposed to use it yesterday with Toye and Blithe but Blithe had to be a little cry baby quitter and-”
“Nix!” That would be the familiar sound of Winters admonishing Nixon’s bad behavior…again.
“Right. Anyway, this is especially fun because we have found a way to possibly force you guys to eat ridiculous stuff on a semi-regular schedule. The title of today’s arena challenge is ‘Play or Puke’. Which I really only did so that I could have the word puke in there.
In this challenge you’ll be playing a game. Now the game won’t always be the same but the overall outcome will be. This time the game will seem quite familiar I’d presume because you’re going to be playing pool!”
Skip dared to sound optimistic. “That doesn’t seem so bad.”
“But wait!” Nixon swung an arm out towards the currently empty arena and a pool table was wheeled out by the crew, along with another less recognizable table. “This is no ordinary game of pool. In this game- there are consequences. Disgusting, icky consequences. Gentlemen approach the pool table.”
The two did so cautiously. Only then did they notice that on the other table there appeared to be a variety of drinks and what they assumed passed as food, each with a number attached.
“Oh this is going to suck.” Skip noted as he eyed the collection of edibles.
Nixon just grinned, “You have no idea. Now here’s how this is going to go down. We have a variety of hard to get down concoctions spread out on this table. The pool game is going to be played just as it normally would. However, every time your opponent sinks one of their balls- you then have to consume the food that matches the number of that billiard ball. If you refuse to eat something, you lose. If you throw up, you lose. If you both by some miracle stick it out- then whoever sinks the 8 ball first is the winner. Any questions?”
Babe raised his hand, “Why do you hate us?”
Nixon shrugged, “Don’t take it personally, I genuinely only like 2 people. And I’m one of them. Now get to playing!”
The other contestants just made disgusted faces from the bleachers.
“That’s just nasty.” Toye noted.
Buck nodded in agreement. “I think I see moldy cheese.”
“Eww.”
Liebgott slipped away from between Bill and Webster to poke Gene in the shoulder. “So how willing are you going to be to stick your tongue down Babe’s throat once he’s done eating pig testicles or some shit?”
Gene just glared at the skinny man. “Is there a reason you’re asking?”
Liebgott smirked. “Don’t get possessive Doc. I’m just testing you out. See how much you like our boy. I mean- someone’s gotta look out for the kid, right?”
“What like you did when you were doing body shots off of him?” Gene asked coolly.
Liebgott’s smirk turned into a full on grin. “Still jealous?”
Gene was about to respond rather rudely when Bill reached down and jerked Joe back to his side by the back of his t-shirt.
“Stop causing trouble.” Bill snapped at him.
Joe glared, “Stop fucking manhandling me!”
Webster rolled his eyes and tried to ignore their bickering and watch the challenge.
Babe could do this. He had eaten some gross things in his life, sure. And he knew how to play pool. He’d learned from his cousin who used to hustle pool a few years ago. It was all about the angles. He could play the game, but could he really eat all that junk? What was some of that stuff?
Skip moved pass Babe and grabbed a cue stick. “Alright, who’s going to break?”
Babe shrugged. “You can I guess.”
Skip nodded. It was better to just get this over with. After chalking the cue stick he held, he made his way over to the already racked billiard balls, lined up the cue ball and gave it his best hit. The balls quickly scattered across the pool table and Babe winced when he heard the familiar thud that indicated one had gone into a pocket.
Nixon rushed forward and pulled a solid red 3 out of the right corner pocket. “Excellent. Skip you’re solids. Babe, please head to the table.
Babe sighed and made his way over to the table where his doom awaited. His eyes fell down to the plate of… “What the Hell is this?”
“That would be fried spider.” Nixon informed him.
“You’re joking.”
“You wish. Now down the hatch!” The host ordered.
Babe made a face and picked up the crusty black looking creature. He closed his eyes and pretended it was chicken.
He slapped a hand over his mouth when it threatened to come back up as he swallowed the last legs. After a minute he coughed, hit his chest and then turned and triumphantly stuck his tongue out at Nixon. Both to be a brat and to prove he had eaten the whole thing.
He headed back to the pool table and looked at Skip, “Take your next shot.”
Skip nodded and took aim for the orange 5; unfortunately he missed it and instead sent the cue ball into the side pocket.
Babe smiled and was glad he was allowed to take his turn. He scanned the table really quickly to see which foods were paired with which number but couldn’t gauge just how badly they might taste. He pulled the cue ball out of the pocket, positioned it and took aim for the easiest one he saw.
Just to be a show off, he called it. “9-ball, corner pocket.”
With a jab of his cue stick the balls collided and the yellow and white nine-ball rolled smoothly into the corner pocket. He straightened up, feeling relieved.
Skip blew out a puff of air, but nodded and headed over to the table. He found the food that corresponded with the number and gave it a quizzical look. It was a drink in a metal cup.
“Umm?” he looked over at Nixon expectantly.
Nixon beamed. “That would be Babe’s famous hangover cure. We pulled the recipe together after reviewing the tapes. You have to drink the whole thing.”
From the sidelines Liebgott shook his head, “He’s screwed.”
Babe gaped at Nixon, offended. “Hey! It’s not THAT bad!”
Skip picked up the drink. “Bottoms up.”
He knocked the drink back and immediately coughed some of it back into the cup. He struggled to choke it down and it looked as though he was just about to finish it when he jerked his head to the side and began to vomit- the gray slush spewing to the ground.
The reaction from the bleachers was immediate.
“OH!”
“Sick dude.”
“I knew that would happen!”
Babe just frowned and put his hands on his hips, “Oh COME on!”
Nixon smiled as Skip coughed up the last of the concoction. “That must be some vile stuff Babe. Unfortunately for you Skip, since you couldn’t keep it down you are the loser of the arena challenge and will be leaving the island, and the competition, for good. Once you’ve uh…composed yourself, you can say goodbye to your teammates.”
Skip sighed and wiped his mouth. Great, what a dignified way to leave the competition, with gray barf on his shoes.
However no one seemed to care about the embarrassing circumstances as all the contestants left the stands and rushed over to say farewell. The entirety of the red team and even Sobel seemed sorry to see him leaving.
Over all the chatter, jokes, and laughter Skip was pulled into numerous hugs and reminded himself to squeeze Don just a tiny fraction tighter than he did the others.
“Good luck.” He whispered into the red head’s ear. “I’ll miss you.”
Don smiled sadly as he hugged his friend. “We’re all going to miss you too.”
Skip pulled back and grinned at him, “No, I meant that I’m going to miss you Don. Just you.”
Don looked confused for a moment and wondered if perhaps he had missed something when Penkala jumped on Skip’s back and the chaos of everyone’s farewells stole Skip’s attention away.
Dick smiled as he watched all of the contestants practically suffocate Skip. He turned to Lewis. “I liked him. Too bad he’s leaving.”
Lewis shrugged. “Eh- he’s not going very far.”
That made Dick smile, as he was in on the little secret that the crew was keeping from the contestants. “Nope, he sure isn’t.”
Nixon slipped his shades on and gave Dick a sloppy salute. “Time to break up the party.”
Dick watched him scamper off to irritate the contestants and smiled. He might never admit it, but he thought it was somewhat funny the way he was so catty to them all. Lewis cared more than he let on. It was one of the things that Dick loved about his friend. Which was why he wasn’t going to let this reality show make Lewis into a different person, no matter how hard that task might prove to be.
The Challenge
The contestants were all seated at one long, wooden picnic table that had been set up on the beach. The red team on one side, the blue team on the other.
“So,” Nixon started off, “how’d you guys like that arena challenge?”
Babe made a face while Perconte and Luz laughed. The others looked an interesting variation of disturbed or indifferent.
“I only ask,” Nixon continued. “Because it was the perfect segway into today’s challenge.”
Perconte stopped laughing. “Crap.”
Nixon tried to contain his excitement as he began to explain. “Yep for today’s challenge you all will be facing off by eating some less than desirable things. We’ve got five courses ready for you to consume! You must eat or drink everything put in front of you. If you refuse to eat it, you’re out of the challenge. Similarly you will be out of the challenge if you cannot finish your dish in the time given or if you at anytime throw up. So you know- that’s exciting.”
Winters took over explaining, “Now at the end of the five courses, whichever team has the most people left wins. If the teams have the same number of people left over then we have devised a tie breaker which we will reveal should that scenario come up. Any questions that aren’t about why we hate you?”
Alex’s hand went up. “Uh yeah-they have more people than we do. How is that fair?”
Winters nodded, “You know I actually discussed that with our producer earlier on the way over here. We feel that because this game relies on the number of team members that make it to the end that you’re right. The blue team has an unfair advantage. So we’ve decided that because he already had a similar challenge earlier- Babe can sit this one out. Since we don’t want anyone to feel like he may or may not be contributing to any type of win or loss- should the blue team lose, he will also be exempt from the voting session.”
Sobel gaped, “How is that in any way fair?”
Nixon shrugged, “Who said it was? What’s with all the sudden griping about fairness anyway? It’s like you don’t know us at all.”
Babe frowned and looked over his team. He saw Liebgott shifting somewhat nervously and knew immediately that they had a problem.
They could hardly get Joe to eat normal food. He’d never be able to stomach all of this. Plus Sobel was always looking for an excuse to get rid of him.
“I’d like to compete.” Babe spoke up just as Nixon was moving to usher him away.
Winters frowned. “That’s very noble of you Babe but your team has too many people.”
“Yeah but you said that we just had to sit someone out.” Babe pointed out. “It doesn’t have to be me. I think Joe should sit this one out.”
Dick regarded the young man for a moment. “Are you sure? If he doesn’t compete, he’s going to be the one safe from being voted into the arena, not you.”
“I’m sure.” Babe decided.
Joe just stared in confusion. “Kid, are you crazy?”
Babe nodded, “Maybe a little bit. But not about this.”
Nixon led Joe off to the side with him and Dick and made a motion to the crew members who were gathered near a white tent where the food was being held.
“Alright let’s get this thing going!” This host called out.
First Course- Cocktails
The contestants all looked on in confusion as the crew set down in front of each of them a large cocktail glass filled to the brim with a red liquid.
David raised an eyebrow, “It looks like a bloody mary.”
Nixon snickered, “Bloody mary…you guys are funny. Nope this is no bloody mary. What you have before you is a combination of the hottest hot sauces that Brazil has to offer. And you have to drink every last drop.”
Babe wiped at his eyes, “My eyes are watering and I haven’t even picked the damn thing up.”
Evans frowned. “This isn’t fair they have all the Mexican people on their team!”
The red team just looked at each other. Not because of the stupidity of what Evans was implying, they were all used to that, but in confusion, not sure who he was talking about.
Buck nudged Toye, “Are you Mexican?”
Luz rolled his eyes, “Well you guys have…whatever the Hell Doc is.”
“I’m Jewish.” Liebgott offered from the sidelines.
Webster looked over, “Really?”
Sobel frowned, “Huh. So am I.”
“Of course you are.” Joe sighed.
Toye was about to inform them that he wasn’t Mexican when they heard someone begin to cough rapidly. They all turned their heads to see Lipton hitting at his chest, a now empty glass before him.
Speirs smiled at him proudly, picked up his drink, clinked it against Lipton’s empty glass then tipped it back and down his throat. Once he was done he put a hand to his chest and let out a quick breath.
Everyone stared at the two of them. “How was it?” Jo asked. Lipton just held up a hand to indicate he couldn’t quite speak and Speirs shrugged.
Nixon butted in, “You’ve got one minute to drink it or beat it.”
Everyone frowned but they all picked up their hot sauce cocktails. There was coughing, cursing and a few tears.
Babe looked at Gene and smiled. “What?” Gene managed to cough out despite his entire mouth feeling like it was on fire.
Babe grinned and reached out and poked Gene on the nose. “Your nose is all red, it’s really cute.”
Gene laughed and proceeded to point out that Babe's face was redder than his hair.
Nixon made a gagging noise from where he stood. “Ugh get a room you two. Oh and be sure to let the cameraman know when you do.”
The host yelped as the two tossed their glasses at him.
“Next course!” He shouted as he dodged the cups.
Second Course-Appetizers
The next dish was a plate full of weird...possbile bugs, bite sized and rubber looking.
“Oh God. What are they?” Don asked.
Alex frowned, “You probably shouldn’t have asked.”
“I was going tell you anyway.” Nixon said. “These are bee larvae. I’ve heard that they’re not that bad actually.”
Perconte frowned. “They look like maggots.”
Nixon laughed, “Haha…yeah. 2 minutes. Eat up.”
Bill ate a few. “Oh that’s horrible.”
Luz grabbed a handful and swallowed them. “Didn’t taste a thing.”
The others followed his lead and made it through the bee larvae.
Nixon frowned, “I was sure somebody wasn’t going to eat that. Alright next!”
Third Course-Soup
“EWWWWWW. I can’t! I just can’t!” Malarkey made a face.
Bill frowned, “It’s just uh…bat fruit soup.”
“I’m from Oregon! The most exotic thing we have to eat there is Taco Bell!”
Gene grimaced and took a bite. “It could be worse.”
Don continued to shake his head. “I can’t. I’m sorry- I’m out.”
The blue team sighed as he left the bench and went to stand with Joe, Nixon and Winters off to the side.
“You know it probably wouldn't be as gross if the wings weren’t in there.” Webster noted.
As if on cue, Alex turned to throw up. Nixon pumped a fist in the air, “Money shot!”
Fourth Course- Salad
“This is not a salad.” Gene pointed out. “This is vile.”
“I think that’s the point.” Lipton said.
Speirs raised an eyebrow. “Insect salad? Really?”
“Yep.” Nixon nodded, “We’ve got spiders, wasps, and grasshoppers. And you only have 3 minutes to eat it.”
“Great.” Sobel groused before spearing the spider with his fork and choking it down.
“Done!” Babe exclaimed proudly and everyone turned to stare. “What? I already ate a spider earlier-everything else was a total breeze.”
The rest attempted to eat the insect salad but when time was up, Lipton, Bill and Webster hadn’t managed to eat the whole thing.
Nixon watched them all trudge off to the sidelines. “Now we’re getting down to it.”
Fifth Course- Entrée
“Monkey brains?” Babe gaped down at the weird substance.
Gene took a quick bite and gave Babe’s hands a reassuring pat. “It’s actually a delicacy.”
Perconte stared at it on the other side of the table. “I don’t care. I’m not eating it.”
Luz scooped up a generous amount and shoved it into Frank’s mouth. Then he slapped his hand over the other man’s mouth. “Swallow it,” he ordered.
Frank did so. “Eww.”
“Now you didn’t do that for nothing did you?” Luz asked. “You might as well finish it.”
He then turned to look at his other teammates. “You’re next.” He warned.
The all took a bite. “Five minutes!” Nixon warned.
Babe noticed that Gene was done. “Wow.”
Gene shrugged. “I’ve eaten it before.”
The teen took a bite and then put a hand to his mouth. “I don’t think I’ll be able to keep it
down.”
Gene rubbed circles on Babe’s back as the red-headed contestant finished the dish.
Off to the side Webster noticed Joe watching the touching gesture. “Something bothering you?” he asked the other man.
Joe shook his head. “No...they just really seem to like each other.”
“Is that so odd?”
Joe shrugged and stayed quiet.
For some reason Webster really wanted to say. ‘I would rub circles on your back if you needed me to.’But he doubted Joe would care and remained silent.
He was brought back to reality as Buck, Toye and Sobel came to stand next to them in defeat.
Bill raised an eyebrow at Jo. “Monkey brains?”
Toye shuddered. “It was awful.”
Buck nodded. “So are you Mexican or not?”
“Alright!” Nixon called out. “Luz, Speirs and Perconte are the only three left for the red team. Babe, Gene and Evans are the only ones left for the Blue team. But we think we have a food gross enough to cut that number of people down considerably.”
“Bring it on.” Perconte challenged. “I just ate monkey brains okay!”
Nixon frowned. “Even I hate to make you do this but here it is- bring it out.”
The crew placed in front of all of the remaining contestants an…egg?
“Huh?” Babe looked over at Nixon in confusion.
“Yeah that is not a normal egg.” The host began to clarify. “That is Balut. It is a fertilized duck egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. You’ve got 3 minutes to choke it down.”
They all just stared at him. Perconte shook his head. “No way.”
Speirs silently pushed his away and waited to see how the blue team would react before making a decision out loud.
“Yeah agreed.” Babe nodded. “I am NOT eating a duck fetus! That’s too gross.”
“Same here.” Gene agreed. He looked over at Luz, “You know if you refuse to eat it they’ll have to give us something else.”
Luz bit his bottom lip and looked over at the three remaining blue members.
“Fuck it.” He decided before grabbing the egg, tipping his head back and sliding it in his mouth. He held his hand over his mouth and coughed before jutting his jaw out and taking a deep swallow.
Everyone gaped. “Did he just swallow that whole?” Dick asked in astonishment.
Nixon nodded. “Yeah…uh…Red team wins!”
Luz rubbed his jaw and gave a sarcastic, “Yaaay.”
Perconte looked at him. “Good gag reflex right?”
Toye coughed, “Say what?”
Nixon recovered, “Uh blue team you know what the means! Be at the beach in 3 hours and ready to cast your votes for the arena. And remember- Joe is exempt from this voting session.”
Dick and Lewis watched them all trudge off. Nixon frowned. “I guess swallowing an egg whole kind of makes up for the fact that only one person puked.”
Dick nodded. “I guess some people might view it that way.”
Luz was still rubbing at his throat about an hour later. Buck nudged him and Luz was about to assure him that his throat felt fine when Buck said, “You know now the teams will be even.”
“Sure,” Luz responded, “plus now Jo won’t have to worry about the arena.”
Buck was about to respond when the man in question plopped down on the other side of Luz and handed him a glass.
Luz gave Toye a confused smile. “What’s this?” he asked.
“That is a chocolate milkshake.” Jo informed him as he stuck a straw in the glass. “For your throat. I noticed you were holding it earlier, maybe that will make it feel better.”
That said he bounced up and went over to where Bill and Joe were talking. Luz watched him go with a full on grin. “He made me a milkshake.”
He found that to be really important for some reason.
Summary: On a remote Brazilian island, 22 contestants are separated into 2 teams to compete against one another through a series of challenges. But they’ll soon discover that there are more challenges to be had than just the competition. Hook-ups, fights, partying, back stabbing, secrets and lies take center stage as the crew watches their reality show spiral into insanity. Various pairings.
Cross posted to Camp Toccoa
In this chapter: People hook up, people throw up and Nixon’s pretty happy about the whole turn of events.
Meet the Crew
Meet the Contestants
Oh Captain My
Captain?
Capture The Flag
We All Fall Down
Tequila Is Not Your Friend
Who Can You Trust?
Saving Me
Look Out Below
Blaze a Trail
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. Any ideas or challenges borrowed from a reality show belong to the creators of that show, not me. I don’t own anything…so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
A/N: I just want to say that as a vegetarian…this was a hard chapter to write. It probably won’t be that gross to read but the research was just…ewww.
Malarkey finally found what he was looking for when he stumbled upon Bill and Joe huddled in secrecy near one another and whispering furiously. He walked up to them nervously.
“So...uh, you guys are voting for Sobel right?” he asked them, drawing their attention to him and away from their intense discussion.
They exchanged a tentative look before Bill nodded, “Yeah, we are. Maybe you can get Skip to vote that way too?”
Don just raised an eyebrow, “Um…I can try?”
Joe smirked, “You do that.”
A little confused, and not sure why everyone always assumed he could persuade Skip of things, he went off to find his blonde friend.
Bill and Joe watched him go before turning back to their discussion. Bill was the first to speak up.
“Why do you want to vote for Skip again?”
“Because he didn’t even try to help us find Babe!” Joe argued.
“Neither did Sobel…plus you know he’s a prick.”
“Yeah. We do know that. We can anticipate him. But how do we know we can trust Skip? I expect Sobel to think about himself, and about a win. But Skip? C’mon- what the Hell was that?”
Bill looked thoughtful for a moment. “Why don’t we talk to Babe about it?”
Joe rolled his eyes. “That kid will never vote for Skip.”
“He voted for Shifty, he told me. Not that he was particularly proud of himself.” Bill informed him.
“You serious? Huh…guess the kid can play the game when he wants to.”
Bill nodded. “So let’s go talk to him.”
“I don’t think so.” Babe frowned at his two friends as they pitched their idea to him.
Liebgott just fell backwards in frustration and rolled his eyes at Bill. “Told you so.”
Bill ignored him and addressed the teen in front of him. “Babe, why not? I mean at least we know what we’re dealing with when it comes to Sobel.”
Babe nodded, “True, but Skip didn’t do anything wrong.”
Joe sat back up quickly, “What are you talking about? He just walked off and left us all for jaguar food!”
“Yeah, but can you blame him for that? I mean he’s not the one that blew the challenge for us.” Babe pointed out.
“Kid we kind of ALL blew it.” Bill noted.
Babe shook his head, “No we all didn’t. I did. You all were just trying to help. I don’t blame Skip for not coming after me and neither should you guys.”
Sobel walked by to snidely inform them that they needed to go to the beach to vote now. Joe gave him the finger and turned his attention back to Babe.
“Well then who are you going to vote for?” he asked.
Babe stood up with a tiny sigh. “The person that screwed up the challenge.”
That said he started to walk away. Bill and Joe looked at each other for a moment.
“But he said that he screwed up the…”Joe started but trailed off.
Finally understanding they hopped up and went after him.
“Babe, don’t be stupid!”
At the Beach
Winters frowned as he read over the votes. This was….surprising to say the least. He almost couldn’t believe it.
Nixon watched the small crease form between Dick’s eyebrows that indicated he was distressed and was torn between his desire to kiss it away and his desire to tackle Dick to the ground and force him to show Nixon the tally of votes.
Oddly enough, he felt the second option would cause fewer problems.
The contestants just stared as Nixon pounced on Winters and the two went flying to the ground.
Bill shook his head, “That man needs to be institutionalized.”
Winters just sighed, “Lew, get off of me.”
Nixon just snatched the tally out of his hands and looked it over before gaping down at Dick, whom he was sitting on top of. “You’re freaking kidding me. Really?”
Dick just pursed his lips and nodded. “Yes. Now do you mind? I’m getting sand up my shirt.”
“You know you wouldn’t have that problem if you didn’t wear a shirt.” Nixon pointed out.
“What?”
“Nothing.” The host scrambled up and held his hand out to help Dick to his feet. “Can I announce it?”
“By all means.” Dick said, shaking his shirt to rid it of sand.
Nixon twisted around to face the contestants. “In a surprising turn of events, the two people who received the most votes from their teammates and will thus be participating in tomorrow’s arena challenge are…Babe and Skip!”
Everybody just stared.
Gene spoke up, “Wait…are you sure?”
However, Babe just elbowed him lightly, “It’s fine.”
Don looked confused as well, “What the Hell?”
Nixon just shrugged and left them all to draw their own conclusions.
As soon as they were all back in the house, Don went up to Bill and Joe. “Did you guys really vote for Sobel?”
Joe frowned, “I said we would, didn’t I?”
Don nodded. “Okay…then how could Skip have gotten four out of the remaining six votes?”
Joe shrugged, “Maybe Sobel voted for him. His vote counts twice, remember?”
Not entirely convinced, Don sought out Sobel, who was talking with Evans.
“Um Sobel?” he called to get his attention.
The dark-haired man turned to look at him, somewhat surprised that he was being spoken to. “Malarkey. Can I help you?”
Don shrugged, “Um…I was just wondering…who you guys voted for?”
Sobel frowned. Normally he wouldn’t share that information with just anyone…but if Malarkey was actually asking then he obviously thought that Sobel had voted for Skip. Well wouldn’t he be surprised?
“We voted for Babe.” He informed the red-head.
Don gaped, “Really?”
Sobel nodded, “Why would we vote for Skip? He was the only other person to complete the challenge. Babe was the one who lost it for us.”
Don sighed, “Okay thanks.”
He turned and left his team captain behind to go and find Skip. If what Sobel said was true (and it made perfect sense) then Bill and Joe must have voted for Skip. He knew that neither of them would ever vote for Babe. But why would Bill and Joe lie to him?
He liked them both just fine…but if Skip went home tomorrow? Then they might have some problems.
Lipton wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take. He was going to die.
With what most people would call anger, but Lipton viewed as mild irritation, he got out of his chair in the kitchen where he’d been eating and walked out into the living room.
He marched up to where all of his team, save Alex and Ron, were lounging and smoking. “Guys I’m sorry but could you please not smoke in here? I really don’t think I can handle much more of it. I’m in the kitchen and I can hardly breathe.”
Toye nodded and quickly licked his finger and put out his cigarette, “Sorry man. I forget sometimes that everyone don’t smoke.”
The others weren’t immediately moved to action, but then something behind Lipton caught Perco’s eye and he too snuffed out his cigarette.
Standing up quickly, Frank motioned to the rest of them. “Maybe we should smoke outside, huh guys?”
The others nodded quickly and they all retreated towards the pool. Lipton watched their hasty exit in confusion. Had he been too harsh?
Turning around to go back to the kitchen, he jerked to a stop when he almost ran into Ron, who had been standing right behind him.
He sighed, “How long were you standing there?”
Speirs merely shrugged, “Not as long as you.”
Lipton just smiled and walked past him and back to his dinner. “Well thanks for scaring them off I guess.”
Ron looked like he was about to protest that point but Carwood just gave him a look. Finally the red captain nodded. “Anytime.”
The dark-haired man wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure where to start. Carwood didn’t seem uncomfortable to him. In fact, he seem rather relaxed in Ron’s presence. So the captain merely sat down across from him and watched the blonde man eat.
Gene sat next to the pool, watching as everyone laughed and had a good time. He couldn’t believe this. He should have just voted for Sobel. But Webster had convinced him to vote for Skip, for not helping them go after Babe. Although he figured that Webster was only voting that way because Joe told him to. Seeing as Liebgott was still upset that Webster had voted for Shifty, he was also still able to guilt David into certain things.
As Gene worried about the outcome of their voting session, he felt someone plop down in the chair next to him. “You look stressed out.”
Gene turned to see Babe looking at him with a small smile. Gene smiled back in spite of his bad mood. “Just worried about tomorrow.”
Babe laughed. “You don’t worry about tomorrow. Let me worry about tomorrow.”
With a nod, Gene shifted forward on his seat and glanced at Babe’s relaxed posture. “You don’t seem to be worried at all.”
Babe nodded. “That’s right. Now…neither of us has to be worried. What’s the point in stressing over it anyway?”
Gene laughed, “You were more worried when you sent Shifty to the arena.”
“That was different though. That time I sent someone else there, this time it’s just me.”
Gene frowned, “Wait…you’re not saying you voted for yourself?”
Babe shrugged, “Who else was I going to vote for? Skip? Sobel? What did they do wrong?”
Gene stared at him, unable to comprehend why Babe would vote for himself.
The younger man caught him staring and laughed. “What?”
Gene just shook his head. “You just continue to throw me off is all.”
“Is that a good thing?” Babe asked, a nervous smile on his face.
With a laugh, Gene leaned back into his lawn chair. “Yeah it is.”
Babe nodded. “Hey you know what we should do?”
Gene shrugged, “What?”
“We should go swimming.”
“The pool’s right there.” Gene pointed out.
Babe shook his head as he stood up. “No...I mean really go swimming. In the ocean.”
He reached over and grabbed Gene’s wrist, pulling him up and out of his chair.
“I don’t have my swim suit on!” Gene protested as Babe began to drag him away from the house and back down the trail that lead to the beach.
“Don’t worry. You’re not going to need it!”
Gene didn’t let that sink in until they got down to the beach. It was dark and he thanked the moon for being so bright that night.
The moonlight glared off the water and he could see Babe grin at him before he let go of his wrist. “Come on.”
He was about to ask how he was supposed to go swimming in jeans when Babe pulled his shirt off and threw it to the side.
The teen was already shoeless and had his feet in the ocean waters, the small waves covering his ankles. His hands went to the button on his cargo shorts.
He must have seen Gene staring at him because he laughed as he pulled his shorts down. “What’s the matter Gene? Never been skinny dipping before?”
“No…Babe are you drunk?”
Babe just laughed, wearing nothing but his boxers, which was something that they had all seen at this point.
“Nope.” He replied and then splashed some water on Gene, who just smiled at him
He stripped off his boxers and threw them off near his shirt. Even though it was dark the moonlight hit the top of Babe’s head and made his hair, his body and his smile shine in the nighttime.
He turned away and was immersed in the ocean as Gene gaped, somewhat stunned by the whole situation. Gene looked around and didn’t see any cameras. He quickly kicked off his sneakers and took off his shirt. Shimmying out of his pants he paused when it come to his boxers.
Babe poked his head above the water and shouted, “Hey! You saw me naked!”
Gene blushed and nodded, “Yes. Yes I did.”
“Get in the water and you can do more than see.” Babe promised before ducking back under the waves.
That was all the incentive Gene needed to quickly shove his boxers down and dive into the cool water. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. He swam over to where he saw Babe resurfacing again.
The teen grinned at him, “Hey.”
Gene shook his head. “I can’t believe you got me to go skinny dipping.”
Babe smirked, “I’m not throwing you off again am I?”
Gene laughed loudly and was almost shocked to hear the sound coming from him. Babe was just
looking at him. No smirk, just wide eyes and a sweet expression.
“What?” he questioned the teen, confused by the look on his face.
“You look really happy.” Babe noted.
Gene smiled in confusion and looked out over the ocean that they were carelessly drifting in. “I guess that’s because I am.”
When he turned back to look at Babe, the teen swam up to him, put a wet hand behind Gene’s head and kissed him. It had been a while since Gene had been kissed, much less by someone he really liked, and when the kiss was over he was left somewhat dazed.
He smiled at Babe, his hands now resting on the teen’s shoulders, “I think you’re what makes me happy.”
Babe laughed, “Your hair is sticking up funny in the back.”
Gene just rolled his eyes and dunked the teen under the water.
“I can’t believe this happened!” Alex pouted as he floated past Skip and Don in the pool.
Having been relaxing at the house while they were off voting, he had already snagged one of the few inflatable pool chairs.
Luz was currently occupying the other while he chatted with Buck and glared at where Bill and Jo set a ways away sipping beers.
Skip nodded, looking rather like a kicked puppy. Don hated how this whole thing had gone down.
“Yeah I didn’t think anyone would actually vote for me. Or Babe for that matter.” Skip pointed out.
Alex leaned forward, “Actually- I heard Babe voted for himself.”
Don gaped, “What? No way! Who told you that?”
Leaning back Alex grinned, “Toye. Bill told him about it.”
Skip snorted, “Speaking of Toye and Bill, get a load of the stink eye Luz is sending their way.”
They all turned to see and sure enough, in between his playful chatter and sharing a cigarette with Buck, Luz was sending the two men in question a look far too ugly to be on his otherwise constantly cheerful face.
Alex sighed, “Yeah that’s going to get ugly. It’s going to totally screw up our team too!”
Don rolled his eyes. “You think your team has issues? Liebgott is a ticking time bomb. I don’t know who he’s going to kill first- Sobel, Webster, or that poor intern that hasn’t got the common sense to stop hitting on him.”
“Yeah and speaking of Sobel- could we get a more incompetent captain? At least you guys have Speirs!” Skip added.
Penkala shrugged, “I still say our fallout will be bigger.”
“Yeah we’ll see about that.” Don laughed.
“Maybe..” Skip looked down, obviously concerned that he wouldn’t.
Alex reached over and flicked his ear. “Hey! Come on? Not that Babe isn’t cool and all but he isn’t exactly your best player. You should be able to beat him.”
Skip just shrugged. Penkala rolled his eyes before sliding off of his float and into the pool. “Damn I need another drink. Skip here- you can take over my throne and be King of the Worrywarts.”
He nudged the float towards Skip and swam off. Once Skip was comfortably settled into it, Don playfully flicked water up at him.
He frowned when Skip failed to react. “You don’t honestly think you’ll lose do you?”
His friend shrugged, “I dunno. Anything’s possible.”
Don nodded. “It would really suck if you went home, you know. It wouldn’t be the same here without you.”
Skip looked at him, “You know Don if I do lose..”
“You won’t.” Don interrupted.
“Yeah, yeah.” Skip waved his assurance off. “But if I do. I just want you to know that you’re….”
Don laughed, “I’m what?”
Skip wanted to tell him that he thought he was amazing, and fun and hot and totally perfect for Skip. Instead he just said, “You’re not getting out of hanging with me that’s what! You don’t make elaborate plans to go skydiving with someone and then back out!”
Penkala returned with his drink. “God you’re not talking about skydiving again are you?”
Skip jerked his thumb at Don. “He said I wouldn’t do it! You were there! He bet me $50 dollars that I would not jump out of an airplane!”
“Like I said- he’ll do anything for money.”
“Excuse me-the only way that I ever agreed to go skydiving was if I was wasted!”
“You are not backing out of this!”
“You realize he’s afraid of heights, don’t you Skip?”
“Um afraid is a bit harsh.”
“What? I heard all about you during that challenge! That you were all ‘Skip! Don’t let me fall!’”
“I was NOT!”
“Hahaha you kinda were.”
“Shut up! I hate you both!”
Webster thought it was a little odd that he couldn’t find Joe anywhere. Normally he could find him with Bill or Babe, but Bill was with Toye and had told him that Joe had given him the slip a while ago. David would have been concerned that Babe was also missing but Toye had smirked and told him to relax, that Babe was with Gene.
So now, with Webster’s curious nature being what it was (especially where Liebgott was concerned), he was walking up and down the upstairs hallways wondering where the other man had gotten to. At the end of the hallway, away from where the bedrooms were located, the crew had furnished what had before been an empty room with furniture and a telephone.
He saw the camera man before he heard the voice. He walked over to the man quietly, leaning on the wall next to the room’s glass doors so that he wouldn’t be spotted by the room’s occupant.
“Is Joe in there?” he asked the camera man who, on further inspection, was Walter Gordon. Although the crew referred to him as Smokey, not that David knew why.
The camera man in question just glared at him. It seemed he still hated the blue team. It turned out that they had led him out into the jungle on their wild chase after Babe and he had wandered around lost for a couple of hours before Winters had finally corralled Nixon into organizing a search.
The glare that Gordon sent him was coupled by a quick, “Shh!”, as he was obviously attempting to tape what was being said in the room.
Webster sighed and just leaned his head closer towards the door to hear the conversation inside.
“Don’t tell me what I did! I know what I did.” That was definitely Joe’s voice. But he seemed to be not his usually brand of feisty. Instead he seemed on edge and his speech was curt.
“Look you need to just stay out of it. I don’t know why you’re getting involved anyway- I can handle it.” Joe hissed to whomever he was speaking to. David wished he could hear what the other person was saying but knew that he wouldn’t find that out until the show aired, or until Liebgott told him. So…basically not until the show aired.
“No I’m not going to tell you where I am. I’m out of town, that’s all you need to know.” Joe replied harshly to whatever inquiry had been posed. “What do you mean ‘why not’? Because the last thing I need is one of his asshole friends looking for me that’s why!”
Joe became silent for a moment and then let out a huff. “Yeah well that’s what he gets for screwing with me. Fuck him and his retarded family. I’m serious. And you stay the Hell away from them. If they ask you where I am you tell them you don’t know. It’s the truth.”
More silence, then a loud crash as Joe possibly kicked something. The wince on Gordon’s face indicated that he had.
“STOP FUCKING SAYING THAT!” Joe screamed. “I don’t need you fucking telling me I have a problem. I KNOW I have a problem. I’ll fucking handle it. Fuck your cousin! I don’t want his fucking help. I’ve got it under control!”
The shouting on the other end of the phone must have been loud because Webster could hear a muffled voice on his side of the wall. He frowned, not sure what to make of it all.
On the other side of the wall, in the room, Joe was listening to his best (and only if he were honest) friend, Edward Tipper, make him feel like shit.
“Joe, I’m serious. Does anyone over there know what you’re into? You said it was some reality show thing right? How do you know they won’t bust you the moment they find out?”
Joe slumped back down into the armchair next to the telephone. Maybe calling Tipper had been a mistake. His friend was simply pointing out all the reasons that Joe was a total dumbass. “Because they care too much about making the show entertaining. They’re going to listen to the tape of this conversation anyway, so be as vague as possible. They can’t make me tell them anything,”
He heard Eddie sigh. Finally his friend asked the question that Joe had hoped he wouldn’t. “Okay. So…how much do you have left?”
Joe put one hand over his eyes and sighed, “I dunno…about a week’s worth?”
“What are you going to do when it runs out?”
The hand over his eyes moved up and gripped his hair tightly. “I don’t know. I’ll stretch it out though. It’ll be okay. I’ll handle it.”
“Yeah you keep saying that. Look Joe, just come home. My cousin is an expert with this kind of thing. He’ll get you cle- uh fixed up. I’ll talk to this Dike guy and we’ll figure something out.”
Joe jerked out of his stupor, “Shut up about your cousin okay. And I already told you to stay away from them! They are not kidding around. Just because Norm is a screw-up doesn’t mean that the rest of his family is so incompetent. He has connections, okay? Just…look. Please, please, please don’t get involved. I swear- if I need your help, I’ll ask for it.”
“Bullshit. But I can’t do anything about it. By the way, seeing as I now have this number on my phone, expect me to call and check in on you.”
Joe frowned, thinking for the second time that he hated having friends who worried about him. He expressed the sentiment to Tipper.
“I’m pretty sure that I’m the only friend you have. No offense.”
“Yeah well some of the guys here have got it in their heads that they’re my friends too. They’re like…force feeding me and shit.” Joe mumbled.
Tipper laughed. “Well good. I approve. Seriously though Joe. Just be careful. If you run out, it’s going to really suck.”
Liebgott sighed. “Yeah. Yeah I know.”
That morning Gene woke up in his now wet clothes, on the beach, tangled up in the long and pale limbs of a red headed teenager who was somehow, though they barely knew one another, turning Gene’s world upside down.
Their legs were both stretched out and hooked together at the knees and the ocean waves tickled at their bare feet. Gene propped himself up on his right elbow and stared down at Babe’s sleeping face.
Babe looked oddly serious when he slept. Not worried or old, just somewhat serious and for a moment Gene worried that he might be having a bad dream.
So he rolled over until he was laying above the teen with his arms braced on either side of Babe’s head and, morning breath be damned, leant down to kiss him awake.
The moment was perfect. Babe didn’t jerk awake or gasp, merely sighed and opened his mouth, though not his eyes, to return Gene’s kiss.
Gene lightly ran his tongue on Babe’s lower lip before he pulled back. “Morning.”
Babe’s eyes fluttered open and they stared at one another for a minute before the teen cracked a smile. “Good morning to you too.”
Gene looked down at Babe’s chest, “I think you’re wearing my shirt.”
Babe eyed the shirt, “Huh, I think you’re right. Now everyone is going to think we had beach sex.”
“If they thought that, they’d all be out here bothering us right now.”
“We should have totally had beach sex.”
Gene laughed softly and traced a pattern in the sand next to Babe’s head as the teen closed his eyes briefly.
“It’s a really nice morning.” Babe finally said.
Gene rolled back to the side, off of the teen, and Babe turned his head to smile at him. It must have been fairly early, because the sun was just coming up and the morning light made everything seem soft and dream like.
Babe let his left hand wander across the small space separating them until it found Gene’s right and they allowed their fingers to tangle up in a similar fashion as their legs.
Gene stared back at him and rubbed a circle on the teen’s hand with his thumb.
“It is a really nice morning.” He agreed. “Let’s just stay out here for a while, okay?”
Babe nodded and let his eyes close once more. Gene watched, not ready to move and not ready to risk Babe leaving, not when they’d just discovered what it could be like.
What they could be like.
“Jo! Jo wake up.” Bill whispered as he flicked at Toye’s sock covered foot that had somehow escaped the covers of his bed.
He glanced nervously over at the other beds in the room. Perco was out like a light, likely due to the large amount of beer Luz had poured down his throat the night before.
Speaking of Luz, the small man had somehow made his way over into Buck’s bed and Bill took a moment to be irritated with him. Didn’t he realize how much Jo liked him? Did he really have to be all over Buck in the confines of a room he shared with two other people?
He finally gave up flicking Jo’s foot and moved slightly higher and pinched his leg.
Apparently he pinched a little too hard because Jo jerked up with a loud, “FUCK!”
Buck shifted slightly, Perco snored on and Luz rolled back so quickly that he fell out of Buck’s bed with a thud.
Jo glared blearily up at Bill. “Um what the Hell man? What time is it?”
Luz popped up off the floor, obviously disorientated. “What’s going on? Is it time to go?”
Bill shook his head. “No. Jo get up- we’re going on a run.”
“We are?” Jo asked even as he was already moving out from under his covers.
“Yeah. Renee said you needed to keep your knee in use. You need to get it back into shape. So let’s go.”
As he pulled on his sneakers, Jo shook his head. “That doesn’t make much sense but I’m way too tired to argue with you. So whatever.”
Luz watched them go in confusion before hopping up and running out of the room, the commotion managed to stir Buck awake and he followed him.
“Webster, wake up!”
David groaned as he was shook awake. He blinked his eyes open to see Luz standing above him. “God, what could you possibly want right now Luz?”
“I heard you say you had binoculars?” Luz asked.
Buck poked his head inside the room, “What do you need binoculars for?”
“Um yeah, to look at wildlife on the boat ride over here.” David answered, slowly sitting up.
“Can I borrow them?” Luz asked.
David shrugged, “Sure.”
He rolled out of bed and stooped down to get them out of his suitcase. Once he handed them to Luz the tiny brunette bounded out of his room in a hurry.
Webster stared at Buck, who shook his head.
“I don’t really know.” The blonde informed him.
Luz apparently had caused quite the racket, because Webster wasn’t the only one who had decided not to go back to sleep and there were people gathering in the living room.
Lipton was starting a pot of coffee when David came down the stairs. He gave Webster a curious look and jerked his head out towards the pool where Luz was perched on the stone fence and looking through the binoculars. “What’s he up to?”
David shrugged. “I’m not really sure.”
“We should find out!” Skip announced from the living room, Don and Alex with him. They took off outside and David thought ‘What the Hell?’ and followed them.
Skip bounced up to crouch next to Luz on the fence. “Tell me what you see.”
Luz frowned, “Right now I can’t see anything because they stopped behind a goddamn rock!”
“Who exactly?” Alex asked before letting out a yawn.
“Bill and Jo.” Buck answered in an irritated tone from where he was sitting in a lawn chair. “They went for a run and Luz took it upon himself to spy on them.”
Skip grinned, “Maybe they stopped to make out?”
Don laughed, knowing that was highly unlikely as Bill was straight and that Skip was just trying to rile Luz up. He was such an instigator.
“Damn it! I knew it!” Luz cursed moving his head around and leading the binoculars every which way. “And they probably- whoa! What do we have here?”
“What the Hell are you all doing?”
Webster turned around to see Joe standing there barefoot in his boxers and a hoodie. His hair was tousled and he’d obviously just woken up.
“Well it appears we are spying on people.” David answered him.
“Who?”
“Right now Babe and Doc.” Luz called back to them. “They’re on the beach macking on each other!”
He put the binoculars down and pointed them out. All the spectators crowded next to Luz and looked. Sure enough the two blue contestants in question were lying next to one another on the beach and appeared to be kissing.
Skip and Luz stood up and began to shout.
“GET A ROOM!”
“I KNEW YOU CRAZY KIDS WOULD GET IT TOGETHER!”
They all, Joe included, yelled out a collective “AWWWW!”
Amidst the embarrassing shouts of their fellow contestants, Gene buried his head in Babe’s shoulder.
“I hate them.”
“Yeah me too. Guess that’s our cue to get our asses in gear. Can’t put it off anymore.”
In the Arena
“Well good MORNING everyone!” Nixon called to them all cheerfully, cup of coffee in his hand. Which he had double checked to make sure Talbert hadn’t pissed in. He didn’t trust that twerp.
“You all look tired.” He commentated on seeing the sleepy faces of all the contestants. Usually they all slept late since the arena challenge didn’t take place until noon. “And seeing as how I watch the monitors I know why. I gotta say Luz I didn’t realize you were so voyeuristic.”
Toye made a face and gave Luz a curious look, “What?”
Luz pulled out his most innocent expression and shrugged. “Who knows what Nixon’s ever talking about?”
Buck just sighed from the other side of Luz.
Nixon downed his coffee and tossed the cup at Talbert’s head. “Let’s get this show on the road shall we? I feel like this has been a longer morning than usual and it’s taken us some time to get to this point. Huh. Anyway you know the drill. Yesterday the blue team lost the challenge and had to vote for two of their teammates to compete one-on-one in the arena. Babe and Skip, please come down.”
The two navigated their way to the bottom of the bleachers. Skip clapped Babe on the back. “This has been fun up till now, right?”
Babe grinned. “Yep. Let’s get it over with huh?”
“Certainly.” Nixon interrupted. “I’m particularly excited about today’s arena challenge. We were supposed to use it yesterday with Toye and Blithe but Blithe had to be a little cry baby quitter and-”
“Nix!” That would be the familiar sound of Winters admonishing Nixon’s bad behavior…again.
“Right. Anyway, this is especially fun because we have found a way to possibly force you guys to eat ridiculous stuff on a semi-regular schedule. The title of today’s arena challenge is ‘Play or Puke’. Which I really only did so that I could have the word puke in there.
In this challenge you’ll be playing a game. Now the game won’t always be the same but the overall outcome will be. This time the game will seem quite familiar I’d presume because you’re going to be playing pool!”
Skip dared to sound optimistic. “That doesn’t seem so bad.”
“But wait!” Nixon swung an arm out towards the currently empty arena and a pool table was wheeled out by the crew, along with another less recognizable table. “This is no ordinary game of pool. In this game- there are consequences. Disgusting, icky consequences. Gentlemen approach the pool table.”
The two did so cautiously. Only then did they notice that on the other table there appeared to be a variety of drinks and what they assumed passed as food, each with a number attached.
“Oh this is going to suck.” Skip noted as he eyed the collection of edibles.
Nixon just grinned, “You have no idea. Now here’s how this is going to go down. We have a variety of hard to get down concoctions spread out on this table. The pool game is going to be played just as it normally would. However, every time your opponent sinks one of their balls- you then have to consume the food that matches the number of that billiard ball. If you refuse to eat something, you lose. If you throw up, you lose. If you both by some miracle stick it out- then whoever sinks the 8 ball first is the winner. Any questions?”
Babe raised his hand, “Why do you hate us?”
Nixon shrugged, “Don’t take it personally, I genuinely only like 2 people. And I’m one of them. Now get to playing!”
The other contestants just made disgusted faces from the bleachers.
“That’s just nasty.” Toye noted.
Buck nodded in agreement. “I think I see moldy cheese.”
“Eww.”
Liebgott slipped away from between Bill and Webster to poke Gene in the shoulder. “So how willing are you going to be to stick your tongue down Babe’s throat once he’s done eating pig testicles or some shit?”
Gene just glared at the skinny man. “Is there a reason you’re asking?”
Liebgott smirked. “Don’t get possessive Doc. I’m just testing you out. See how much you like our boy. I mean- someone’s gotta look out for the kid, right?”
“What like you did when you were doing body shots off of him?” Gene asked coolly.
Liebgott’s smirk turned into a full on grin. “Still jealous?”
Gene was about to respond rather rudely when Bill reached down and jerked Joe back to his side by the back of his t-shirt.
“Stop causing trouble.” Bill snapped at him.
Joe glared, “Stop fucking manhandling me!”
Webster rolled his eyes and tried to ignore their bickering and watch the challenge.
Babe could do this. He had eaten some gross things in his life, sure. And he knew how to play pool. He’d learned from his cousin who used to hustle pool a few years ago. It was all about the angles. He could play the game, but could he really eat all that junk? What was some of that stuff?
Skip moved pass Babe and grabbed a cue stick. “Alright, who’s going to break?”
Babe shrugged. “You can I guess.”
Skip nodded. It was better to just get this over with. After chalking the cue stick he held, he made his way over to the already racked billiard balls, lined up the cue ball and gave it his best hit. The balls quickly scattered across the pool table and Babe winced when he heard the familiar thud that indicated one had gone into a pocket.
Nixon rushed forward and pulled a solid red 3 out of the right corner pocket. “Excellent. Skip you’re solids. Babe, please head to the table.
Babe sighed and made his way over to the table where his doom awaited. His eyes fell down to the plate of… “What the Hell is this?”
“That would be fried spider.” Nixon informed him.
“You’re joking.”
“You wish. Now down the hatch!” The host ordered.
Babe made a face and picked up the crusty black looking creature. He closed his eyes and pretended it was chicken.
He slapped a hand over his mouth when it threatened to come back up as he swallowed the last legs. After a minute he coughed, hit his chest and then turned and triumphantly stuck his tongue out at Nixon. Both to be a brat and to prove he had eaten the whole thing.
He headed back to the pool table and looked at Skip, “Take your next shot.”
Skip nodded and took aim for the orange 5; unfortunately he missed it and instead sent the cue ball into the side pocket.
Babe smiled and was glad he was allowed to take his turn. He scanned the table really quickly to see which foods were paired with which number but couldn’t gauge just how badly they might taste. He pulled the cue ball out of the pocket, positioned it and took aim for the easiest one he saw.
Just to be a show off, he called it. “9-ball, corner pocket.”
With a jab of his cue stick the balls collided and the yellow and white nine-ball rolled smoothly into the corner pocket. He straightened up, feeling relieved.
Skip blew out a puff of air, but nodded and headed over to the table. He found the food that corresponded with the number and gave it a quizzical look. It was a drink in a metal cup.
“Umm?” he looked over at Nixon expectantly.
Nixon beamed. “That would be Babe’s famous hangover cure. We pulled the recipe together after reviewing the tapes. You have to drink the whole thing.”
From the sidelines Liebgott shook his head, “He’s screwed.”
Babe gaped at Nixon, offended. “Hey! It’s not THAT bad!”
Skip picked up the drink. “Bottoms up.”
He knocked the drink back and immediately coughed some of it back into the cup. He struggled to choke it down and it looked as though he was just about to finish it when he jerked his head to the side and began to vomit- the gray slush spewing to the ground.
The reaction from the bleachers was immediate.
“OH!”
“Sick dude.”
“I knew that would happen!”
Babe just frowned and put his hands on his hips, “Oh COME on!”
Nixon smiled as Skip coughed up the last of the concoction. “That must be some vile stuff Babe. Unfortunately for you Skip, since you couldn’t keep it down you are the loser of the arena challenge and will be leaving the island, and the competition, for good. Once you’ve uh…composed yourself, you can say goodbye to your teammates.”
Skip sighed and wiped his mouth. Great, what a dignified way to leave the competition, with gray barf on his shoes.
However no one seemed to care about the embarrassing circumstances as all the contestants left the stands and rushed over to say farewell. The entirety of the red team and even Sobel seemed sorry to see him leaving.
Over all the chatter, jokes, and laughter Skip was pulled into numerous hugs and reminded himself to squeeze Don just a tiny fraction tighter than he did the others.
“Good luck.” He whispered into the red head’s ear. “I’ll miss you.”
Don smiled sadly as he hugged his friend. “We’re all going to miss you too.”
Skip pulled back and grinned at him, “No, I meant that I’m going to miss you Don. Just you.”
Don looked confused for a moment and wondered if perhaps he had missed something when Penkala jumped on Skip’s back and the chaos of everyone’s farewells stole Skip’s attention away.
Dick smiled as he watched all of the contestants practically suffocate Skip. He turned to Lewis. “I liked him. Too bad he’s leaving.”
Lewis shrugged. “Eh- he’s not going very far.”
That made Dick smile, as he was in on the little secret that the crew was keeping from the contestants. “Nope, he sure isn’t.”
Nixon slipped his shades on and gave Dick a sloppy salute. “Time to break up the party.”
Dick watched him scamper off to irritate the contestants and smiled. He might never admit it, but he thought it was somewhat funny the way he was so catty to them all. Lewis cared more than he let on. It was one of the things that Dick loved about his friend. Which was why he wasn’t going to let this reality show make Lewis into a different person, no matter how hard that task might prove to be.
The Challenge
The contestants were all seated at one long, wooden picnic table that had been set up on the beach. The red team on one side, the blue team on the other.
“So,” Nixon started off, “how’d you guys like that arena challenge?”
Babe made a face while Perconte and Luz laughed. The others looked an interesting variation of disturbed or indifferent.
“I only ask,” Nixon continued. “Because it was the perfect segway into today’s challenge.”
Perconte stopped laughing. “Crap.”
Nixon tried to contain his excitement as he began to explain. “Yep for today’s challenge you all will be facing off by eating some less than desirable things. We’ve got five courses ready for you to consume! You must eat or drink everything put in front of you. If you refuse to eat it, you’re out of the challenge. Similarly you will be out of the challenge if you cannot finish your dish in the time given or if you at anytime throw up. So you know- that’s exciting.”
Winters took over explaining, “Now at the end of the five courses, whichever team has the most people left wins. If the teams have the same number of people left over then we have devised a tie breaker which we will reveal should that scenario come up. Any questions that aren’t about why we hate you?”
Alex’s hand went up. “Uh yeah-they have more people than we do. How is that fair?”
Winters nodded, “You know I actually discussed that with our producer earlier on the way over here. We feel that because this game relies on the number of team members that make it to the end that you’re right. The blue team has an unfair advantage. So we’ve decided that because he already had a similar challenge earlier- Babe can sit this one out. Since we don’t want anyone to feel like he may or may not be contributing to any type of win or loss- should the blue team lose, he will also be exempt from the voting session.”
Sobel gaped, “How is that in any way fair?”
Nixon shrugged, “Who said it was? What’s with all the sudden griping about fairness anyway? It’s like you don’t know us at all.”
Babe frowned and looked over his team. He saw Liebgott shifting somewhat nervously and knew immediately that they had a problem.
They could hardly get Joe to eat normal food. He’d never be able to stomach all of this. Plus Sobel was always looking for an excuse to get rid of him.
“I’d like to compete.” Babe spoke up just as Nixon was moving to usher him away.
Winters frowned. “That’s very noble of you Babe but your team has too many people.”
“Yeah but you said that we just had to sit someone out.” Babe pointed out. “It doesn’t have to be me. I think Joe should sit this one out.”
Dick regarded the young man for a moment. “Are you sure? If he doesn’t compete, he’s going to be the one safe from being voted into the arena, not you.”
“I’m sure.” Babe decided.
Joe just stared in confusion. “Kid, are you crazy?”
Babe nodded, “Maybe a little bit. But not about this.”
Nixon led Joe off to the side with him and Dick and made a motion to the crew members who were gathered near a white tent where the food was being held.
“Alright let’s get this thing going!” This host called out.
First Course- Cocktails
The contestants all looked on in confusion as the crew set down in front of each of them a large cocktail glass filled to the brim with a red liquid.
David raised an eyebrow, “It looks like a bloody mary.”
Nixon snickered, “Bloody mary…you guys are funny. Nope this is no bloody mary. What you have before you is a combination of the hottest hot sauces that Brazil has to offer. And you have to drink every last drop.”
Babe wiped at his eyes, “My eyes are watering and I haven’t even picked the damn thing up.”
Evans frowned. “This isn’t fair they have all the Mexican people on their team!”
The red team just looked at each other. Not because of the stupidity of what Evans was implying, they were all used to that, but in confusion, not sure who he was talking about.
Buck nudged Toye, “Are you Mexican?”
Luz rolled his eyes, “Well you guys have…whatever the Hell Doc is.”
“I’m Jewish.” Liebgott offered from the sidelines.
Webster looked over, “Really?”
Sobel frowned, “Huh. So am I.”
“Of course you are.” Joe sighed.
Toye was about to inform them that he wasn’t Mexican when they heard someone begin to cough rapidly. They all turned their heads to see Lipton hitting at his chest, a now empty glass before him.
Speirs smiled at him proudly, picked up his drink, clinked it against Lipton’s empty glass then tipped it back and down his throat. Once he was done he put a hand to his chest and let out a quick breath.
Everyone stared at the two of them. “How was it?” Jo asked. Lipton just held up a hand to indicate he couldn’t quite speak and Speirs shrugged.
Nixon butted in, “You’ve got one minute to drink it or beat it.”
Everyone frowned but they all picked up their hot sauce cocktails. There was coughing, cursing and a few tears.
Babe looked at Gene and smiled. “What?” Gene managed to cough out despite his entire mouth feeling like it was on fire.
Babe grinned and reached out and poked Gene on the nose. “Your nose is all red, it’s really cute.”
Gene laughed and proceeded to point out that Babe's face was redder than his hair.
Nixon made a gagging noise from where he stood. “Ugh get a room you two. Oh and be sure to let the cameraman know when you do.”
The host yelped as the two tossed their glasses at him.
“Next course!” He shouted as he dodged the cups.
Second Course-Appetizers
The next dish was a plate full of weird...possbile bugs, bite sized and rubber looking.
“Oh God. What are they?” Don asked.
Alex frowned, “You probably shouldn’t have asked.”
“I was going tell you anyway.” Nixon said. “These are bee larvae. I’ve heard that they’re not that bad actually.”
Perconte frowned. “They look like maggots.”
Nixon laughed, “Haha…yeah. 2 minutes. Eat up.”
Bill ate a few. “Oh that’s horrible.”
Luz grabbed a handful and swallowed them. “Didn’t taste a thing.”
The others followed his lead and made it through the bee larvae.
Nixon frowned, “I was sure somebody wasn’t going to eat that. Alright next!”
Third Course-Soup
“EWWWWWW. I can’t! I just can’t!” Malarkey made a face.
Bill frowned, “It’s just uh…bat fruit soup.”
“I’m from Oregon! The most exotic thing we have to eat there is Taco Bell!”
Gene grimaced and took a bite. “It could be worse.”
Don continued to shake his head. “I can’t. I’m sorry- I’m out.”
The blue team sighed as he left the bench and went to stand with Joe, Nixon and Winters off to the side.
“You know it probably wouldn't be as gross if the wings weren’t in there.” Webster noted.
As if on cue, Alex turned to throw up. Nixon pumped a fist in the air, “Money shot!”
Fourth Course- Salad
“This is not a salad.” Gene pointed out. “This is vile.”
“I think that’s the point.” Lipton said.
Speirs raised an eyebrow. “Insect salad? Really?”
“Yep.” Nixon nodded, “We’ve got spiders, wasps, and grasshoppers. And you only have 3 minutes to eat it.”
“Great.” Sobel groused before spearing the spider with his fork and choking it down.
“Done!” Babe exclaimed proudly and everyone turned to stare. “What? I already ate a spider earlier-everything else was a total breeze.”
The rest attempted to eat the insect salad but when time was up, Lipton, Bill and Webster hadn’t managed to eat the whole thing.
Nixon watched them all trudge off to the sidelines. “Now we’re getting down to it.”
Fifth Course- Entrée
“Monkey brains?” Babe gaped down at the weird substance.
Gene took a quick bite and gave Babe’s hands a reassuring pat. “It’s actually a delicacy.”
Perconte stared at it on the other side of the table. “I don’t care. I’m not eating it.”
Luz scooped up a generous amount and shoved it into Frank’s mouth. Then he slapped his hand over the other man’s mouth. “Swallow it,” he ordered.
Frank did so. “Eww.”
“Now you didn’t do that for nothing did you?” Luz asked. “You might as well finish it.”
He then turned to look at his other teammates. “You’re next.” He warned.
The all took a bite. “Five minutes!” Nixon warned.
Babe noticed that Gene was done. “Wow.”
Gene shrugged. “I’ve eaten it before.”
The teen took a bite and then put a hand to his mouth. “I don’t think I’ll be able to keep it
down.”
Gene rubbed circles on Babe’s back as the red-headed contestant finished the dish.
Off to the side Webster noticed Joe watching the touching gesture. “Something bothering you?” he asked the other man.
Joe shook his head. “No...they just really seem to like each other.”
“Is that so odd?”
Joe shrugged and stayed quiet.
For some reason Webster really wanted to say. ‘I would rub circles on your back if you needed me to.’But he doubted Joe would care and remained silent.
He was brought back to reality as Buck, Toye and Sobel came to stand next to them in defeat.
Bill raised an eyebrow at Jo. “Monkey brains?”
Toye shuddered. “It was awful.”
Buck nodded. “So are you Mexican or not?”
“Alright!” Nixon called out. “Luz, Speirs and Perconte are the only three left for the red team. Babe, Gene and Evans are the only ones left for the Blue team. But we think we have a food gross enough to cut that number of people down considerably.”
“Bring it on.” Perconte challenged. “I just ate monkey brains okay!”
Nixon frowned. “Even I hate to make you do this but here it is- bring it out.”
The crew placed in front of all of the remaining contestants an…egg?
“Huh?” Babe looked over at Nixon in confusion.
“Yeah that is not a normal egg.” The host began to clarify. “That is Balut. It is a fertilized duck egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. You’ve got 3 minutes to choke it down.”
They all just stared at him. Perconte shook his head. “No way.”
Speirs silently pushed his away and waited to see how the blue team would react before making a decision out loud.
“Yeah agreed.” Babe nodded. “I am NOT eating a duck fetus! That’s too gross.”
“Same here.” Gene agreed. He looked over at Luz, “You know if you refuse to eat it they’ll have to give us something else.”
Luz bit his bottom lip and looked over at the three remaining blue members.
“Fuck it.” He decided before grabbing the egg, tipping his head back and sliding it in his mouth. He held his hand over his mouth and coughed before jutting his jaw out and taking a deep swallow.
Everyone gaped. “Did he just swallow that whole?” Dick asked in astonishment.
Nixon nodded. “Yeah…uh…Red team wins!”
Luz rubbed his jaw and gave a sarcastic, “Yaaay.”
Perconte looked at him. “Good gag reflex right?”
Toye coughed, “Say what?”
Nixon recovered, “Uh blue team you know what the means! Be at the beach in 3 hours and ready to cast your votes for the arena. And remember- Joe is exempt from this voting session.”
Dick and Lewis watched them all trudge off. Nixon frowned. “I guess swallowing an egg whole kind of makes up for the fact that only one person puked.”
Dick nodded. “I guess some people might view it that way.”
Luz was still rubbing at his throat about an hour later. Buck nudged him and Luz was about to assure him that his throat felt fine when Buck said, “You know now the teams will be even.”
“Sure,” Luz responded, “plus now Jo won’t have to worry about the arena.”
Buck was about to respond when the man in question plopped down on the other side of Luz and handed him a glass.
Luz gave Toye a confused smile. “What’s this?” he asked.
“That is a chocolate milkshake.” Jo informed him as he stuck a straw in the glass. “For your throat. I noticed you were holding it earlier, maybe that will make it feel better.”
That said he bounced up and went over to where Bill and Joe were talking. Luz watched him go with a full on grin. “He made me a milkshake.”
He found that to be really important for some reason.