Cutthroat

1x05

"Maaan, I can't run in these!" London whined, speedwalking behind her teammates. Tommy was clearly on his 'A' game, with Karyn not too far behind him. "London, let's go!" Tommy barked, pushing himself harder than ever before. The path was small, concave, and full of twists and turns. Everything was silent, besides shoes against the dense woods and the loud huffing of exhausted 20 somethings. This was the most tense challenge yet.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Wyatt, Amber, and Ginger left smoke behind them. It was very clear they were the team to beat. Wyatt slammed foward, nearly brazing his shoulder as they made it toward the first checkpoint.

(*Confessional Time*)

"I lucked out having these two as partners in this." Wyatt explained as he took a deep breath. "As much as I don't particularly care for Amber, I will commend her on her work ethic. Amber's a fighter, and one hell of a competitor!" Wyatt exclaimed, a slightly nervous chuckle trailing along behind it.

(*Confessional Switch*)

"I gotta be honest, Wyatt is pretty good. I don't like the guy but he's hella  persistent. I'll play nice. For now." Amber hissed with a slow eye roll.

(*Confessional Over*)

Amber, Wyatt, and Ginger charged forward with as much speed as they could muster, while just not too far behind them, Tatyana, Oleander, and Tommy began to trail after. "Yes!" Tatyana cheered, snatching Judas by the collar and dragging him along. "C'mon, we're so fucking close!" There was an almost desperate tone in her voice that strained if you heard it clear enough. Oleander scoffed, dragging along so that he was fast enough to keep up, but slow enough to nearly trail behind. Tatyana turned to look at him, and stopped in her tracks. Oleander mindlessly stumbled in front of her, meeting her gaze.

There was a moment where the two just stared at each other. Oleander's glare locked onto Tatyana, but she didn't seem fazed in the slightest. "If I lose this, you go down." Tatyana snapped. Oleander shrugged. "Yeah, but you'll go down even harder." He added, never once blinking. The two were at a standstill.

"Fine." Tatyana briskly waved off. "Let's just...win and never do this shit again."

And with that, she grabbed Judas again, quickly picking up her pace. For a moment, Oleander hesitated, but followed soon after. The tension was clearly still brewing.

From a little further back, Tommy paused to catch his breath. Karyn paused to, while London strolled right next to them. "This sucks!" She pouted, folding her arms with a sneer. "It's pretty fucking obvious we're third place. I don't know why you're even trying."

Tommy looked up, chest raising with his heavy breath as he quickly wiped the bead of sweat from his forehead.

"Look," he growled, treading foward towards London who was fairly amused. "There's gonna come a time where you're little alliance isn't going to save you. Amber and Judas are pretty close, yeah? What makes you think that they haven't thought about a contingency plan? That you aren't the bottom of the totem pole? Because it damn sure looks like you need them WAY more than they need you." Tommy ranted before turning on his heels and starting to run again. From the sidelines, Karyn was attempting to suppresshow amused she was.

(*Confessional Time*)

"When it's right, it's right. Homegirl needed to hear that. You better get her, Tommy!" Karyn cackled, finishing it off with a big 'whew!'

(*Confessional Over*)

The race was on. Tatyana's team and Wyatt's team, though on opposite sides of the maze, we're surprisingly neck and neck, with Tommy's team trailing behind. The finish line was in sight, and it was truly beginning to be anyone's game.

(Confessional Time)

"I want this. So bad. To win another challenge, and so close to the end...my god that will be everything. This is the only thing I need right now." Wyatt exclaimed, his voice heavier than usual.

(Confessional Switch)

"To win this challenge, and with a HUGE disadvantage...you have no fucking idea how much I want this. I'm floating in the water right now, and to become a frontrunner is gonna give me the credit I deserve. C'mon, gimme the win!" Tommy clapped, slowly hyping himself up with a loud 'whoo!'

(Confessional Switch)

"This win is the only thing keeping me between the big money and complete and total elimination. I've risen to the the top and there's nowhere to go but out the door. And baby, I'm not going out like that. I NEED to win. Point, blank, period." Tatyana frowned, her face hardening with every word.

(Confessional Over)