Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
It was real, though—and so was the treasure chest sitting on the shore about twenty feet away. I took off toward it, dropping to the ground to open it and praying I was the first one to get here.
I opened the chest and found it loaded. There were two ten-pound bags of rice, three dozen packets of Gatorade powder mix, bug nets, a tarp, a flashlight, and a large canister of beef jerky.
“Shit.”
I turned and saw Nutter, who was covered in mud and had a disgusted look on his face.
“What?” I said.
“I’m supposed to keep pace with you so I can record you opening the chest, but I slipped and fell in the mud back there.”
“I can discover it again,” I offered.
He hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, man. It’s no problem.”
I loaded the loot back into the chest, closed it, and carefully mashed up my footprints, then went back to the edge of the tree line and replayed the scene.
“Shit, how am I going to get all this back to camp?” I asked no one in particular.
I remembered the backpack that had been stored beneath the lid of our last chest. I looked and sure enough, there was a backpack stowed in this chest too.
“Awesome,” I said, loading it up. “This Gatorade will be good for Lauren.”
I packed the bag, put it on my back, and started the trek back to camp. It was a slower return trip since I was carrying about thirty pounds on my back. As soon as I made it back to camp, I looked around for our canteens because I needed water bad.
The pile of canteens I kept next to one of our log stools was gone. My heart raced as I looked around. Four of the six canteens Lauren and I had were sitting there when I left. Lauren had one of the canteens with her and the final one was sitting empty on my hip.
Irina was asleep in the hammock. I walked over and called out to her.
“Irina, wake up.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
She shaded her eyes from the sun with her hand and looked up at me.
“Where are the canteens?”
“Oh.” She dropped her head back onto the hammock. “I don’t know.”
Like hell she didn’t know. She’d been here the whole time I was gone, and no one else had been near our camp.
“I need those canteens,” I said.
“I don’t have them.”
“But you know where they are.”
She yawned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“This place is hotter than hell. We need those canteens.”
She shielded her eyes again. “Me and Maks only have two.”
“Really?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “So a few more would be really nice, huh?”
She grinned. “Yes, if only I knew where to find more.”
I wanted to tip the hammock over and dump her out of it. I’d offered her all the fish and rice I had cooked before even taking any for myself. I’d left all four canteens full of water from the well. And she’d thanked me by fucking me over.
Without another word, I left camp and went to the well, where I filled my canteen, drank until it was empty, and then filled it again. Now that I knew I couldn’t trust Irina, I’d be staying awake all night long to protect the only canteen I had left and all our other supplies.
“You think she took your canteens?” Nutter asked me as I screwed the cap back on my canteen.
“I know she did.”
“Low blow,” he said, sounding genuinely sorry.
I was fucking pissed, but I wouldn’t give Irina the satisfaction of seeing it. Instead, I walked back to camp, sat down on a stump stool, and pulled the canister of beef jerky from the new backpack.
She’d eaten most of the fish, but even now, I couldn’t begrudge her. She was starving. There was still some rice, though, so I ate that and a couple pieces of beef jerky.
“What is that?” she asked me. “What’s in that bag?”
“Beef jerky and none of your goddamn business,” I said.
After pausing for a few seconds, she said, “If there’s anything in the bag I want, I might be able to find your canteens.”
I fought every instinct I had and smiled, taking out another piece of jerky and biting the end off.
“Nah, we’ll get by.”
She scoffed and stomped off toward the beach. It would suck having to fill the canteens constantly. We also wouldn’t be able to travel too far from camp because we couldn’t bring enough water, but still…worth it.
I knew Lauren would agree.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Day Eighteen—Seven teams remaining
Lauren
The next morning, production assistant Sal pulled up to Maksim’s camp in a golf cart and cringed at the sight of my temporary partner’s nudity. I was so relieved to see someone—anyone—other than Maks that tears pricked at my eyes.
It had been a very long night. There had been a few hours of rain and the shelter didn’t keep any of it at bay. Maks snored loudly and talked in his sleep—in Russian. And my stomach ached with hunger.