Challengers

23 : String of Love

"So, anong strategy natin?" tanong ni Roi habang nakatingin sa linked bracelets nila ni Arin.

Zion shifted his gaze to Arin. "You lead," he said, prompting Roi to look at him with a shocked expression on his face.

"Teka, bakit siya at hindi ako?" sabay turo niya sa sarili niya.

Arin, on the other hand, had a smug look on her face. "Tinatanong pa ba 'yan? Zion trusts my judgment more than yours."

"Just make sure to tear the other teams' bracelets if they approach you," dagdag ni Zion. "I'll leave the gameplay to you."

Bumalik ang tingin niya sa akin at agad na napakunot ang noo ko nang makita ko ang pagngisi niya. "What?" I grumbled.

He tilted his head to mock me. "I thought the loser is not allowed to talk back?"

"I'm just asking a question," I retorted, fighting the urge to roll my eyes.

He shrugged his shoulders, but his expression remained cocky. "If you say so."

We finalized our strategy for the remaining minutes of preparation. Roi and Arin would just try to attack everyone. Those two were fit enough for this kind of challenge. Maski ako ay matatakot kapag nakita ko silang tumatakbo papunta sa akin.

Meanwhile, Zion and I would prioritize hiding to ensure that one of our groups would survive. Puwede rin kaming mang-ambush kapag may chance pero sa lampa kong 'to, sure akong matatanggal ang bracelet namin sa oras na sumugod ako.

"We're going to lead you to your starting points in blindfolds," Ms. Hanna announced. "You can start when you hear the whistle. Alright?"

Everyone nodded and the staff members started blindfolding everyone. Medyo kinabahan ako dahil baka hindi pa nagsisimula ang challenge ay maputol na agad ang sa amin dahil hindi namin nakikita ang dinadaanan. I tried to stay as close to him as possible to make sure that the paper bracelets wouldn't be stretched out too much while the staff members were carefully steering us toward our supposed starting points.

Makalipas ang ilang minuto ay binitiwan na ng staff ang magkabilang-balikat ko at huminto na rin kami sa paglalakad. They removed our blindfolds a second later and I realized we were at the entrance of the hanging bridge.

"Oh, shit," Zion cursed while quickly clinging onto the right log anchor.

It was already too late when he realized I was smirking at his struggle to hide his fear of heights. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze. "Hindi ka puwedeng mang-asar."

"Wala pa nga akong sinasabi," I replied, much to his embarrassment.

Natigil naman ang pag-uusap namin nang may marinig kaming kaluskos sa paligid. Behind one of the trees in the woods, Wannie and Robert from red team showed up, and charged at us.

Agad akong nag-panic nang makita ko silang tumatakbo papunta sa amin. My mind and heart were still not prepared for the challenge, but we were forced to take action.

Zion suddenly reached for my hand, and pulled me away. Tumakbo kami palayo sa kanila pero patuloy pa rin sila sa paghabol sa amin.

"Bilis! Bilis!" rinig kong sigaw ni Wannie sa likuran.

They were eager to tear off our paper bracelets especially since we were ahead of them in the rankings.

"Shit, we're cornered," huffed Zion.

We were about to cross the stone bridge, but Erica and Gon from black team came. Napalibutan tuloy kami ng dalawang group kaya na-stuck kami sa gitna ng bridge.