Cutthroat

1x01 Challenge

Wyatt grabbed his fist bag, pushing off with his legs as he shuffled quickly with it on his back. Amber snatched her first bag, carrying it with a slight struggle, but still managing to catch up to Wyatt's quick shuffling.  Wyatt lauched his bag forward, and two seconds later, so did Amber.

Amber took the lead, gripping her second bag and slinging it over shoulder and booming forward. Wyatt took a second to breathe, yanked his bag, and they were off again. The two raced to pure silence. No one could take their eyes off of the spectacle before them, and everyone seemed to be holding their breaths in pure anticipation.

And Sayera managed to finally attempt the tires.

Amber pushed forward, tossing her bag in with a deep grunt, and seconds later, Wyatt did the same. The two of the collapsed. Heavy breathing and the sounds of shoes dragging against the wet dirt filled in the silence.

Amber picked herself up, and in a huff, she was gone. Not soon after, Wyatt followed. As Amber reached her final bag, Wyatt grabbed his final bag, but ended up dropping it. Amber carried hers over her shoulder, but it seemed as though the weight was beginning to take it's toll. This was truly a race now. Using Oleander's method, Wyatt dragged it with the last bit of energy he could. Amber ran forward, pacing the numbers of steps it took before she also used Oleander's approach.

As they both reached the grave line, both bags were suddenly tossed foward.

The loud thud of one bag, followed IMMEDIATELY by the other, sent a cold chill through the spines of those watching. One thing was for certain though. The winner of this round was crucial.

Whoever won this could potentially shape the dynamics of this game from this point forward.

The intercom crackled, and heads turned as the slight static brought a shock to the other contestants.

(Confessional) "I need this win! If I win this round, Oleander and I could have an advantage. I just know that Amber's going to do everything in her power to protect everyone on her side, and that puts Me, Zeke, and Oleander in a dangerous position. I'm practically praying that I somehow managed to beat her." He sighs, a genuine flash of worry begins to appear on his face.

*Confessional  Switch*

"If I win this round, I won't have much competition going in to the final one. I want secure myself, but I also want to do something that could increase my chances of winning as well, but I can't do that if I don't have that advantage. This could be my only shot, because if the nerd squad wins, there's a possibility I could go home..." Amber groaned with a heavy eye roll and a sigh to match.

(Confessional over)

You two seriously brought your A-Game here, congrats all around you two! However, there can only be one winner this round. And that winner, the bag that fell the fastest, with .3 seconds behind one another...is...

There was a long, painful pause...

....Congratulations Amber, you've made it to the next round! Wyatt, you were SO close! Half a second faster and it was yours!

Judas and London run down the steps and almost trample Amber as they engulfed her in a hug. Karyn remained silent, looking on in suspicion.

"You killed that shit, Ambs! That final round is all you. If you win this first, you get the advantage!" Judas whispered quietly, forming a small circle amongst the three of them. "Do you have any targets so far?" London whispered, perhaps a bit TOO loud. Karyn and Ryder made their way over, slapping a sweaty hand on Amber's shoulder. London rolled her eyes in disgust. "Congrats, you were great out there." Ryder interrupted, sliding himself into the group as casually as possible. "Any ideas who you're going after if you win?"

Amber shrugged, intentionally knocking Ryder's shoulder off in the process. "There's a few more rounds left. All in due time my child." She joked, lifting her hands in a slow almost ascending way. Karyn nodded in acknowledgement, sucking her teeth in response. "Personally I'd say maybe Wyatt or Teyana, maybe Oleander if you win the last one. They're tough competition, and if it were me I'd take them out while you have the opportunity." She shrugged, folding her arms in a matter-of-factly tone. Oleander turned around, and was met with the daggers staring back at him from the conversing group. His hands began to shake nervously as he quickly snapped his head back towards the obstacle course.

The next group consisted of Ginger, Tommy, and Judas.

Tommy was nervous, clearly. And from the minute it started, it was clear he was a solid 3rd place.

Judas was surprisingly nimble for someone so tall. In fact, he got through most of the course faster than the other two because of the major height difference. That is until the monkey bars happened. Judas just kinda, well, held there. Apparently he wasn't as athletic as the others thought he would be. Go figure. By the time he was able to get across, Ginger was on her 2nd back, and Tommy was scrambling to attempt to carry twice at a time.

"Hey!" London called out, pointing at Tommy. "He's cheating! Call him on that!"

"To be fair, never in the rules of the game have I explicitly stated you HAD to carry one at a time. That was something I'm assuming the house came up with on their own."

London's face became red with anger. Literally.

Ginger threw her 3rd bag in, earning her third spot in the finals.

Brooklyn, Karyn, and London were next. And it took a bit...longer than expected, let's say that.

Karyn was really giving it her all with usual slip-up here and there.

London seemed to REALLY have a problem with crawling on the ground, so much so that she almost cried and the rule was changed so that crawling was optional.

And Brooklyn walked the whole time.

Sufficient to say, the others were P I S S E D.

Karyn won and received the loudest applause than anyone that night, while London whined about how tired she was, much to Teyana's chagrin.

And then Brooklyn laughed and shrugged, which apparently set someone off. And by someone, we mean Teyana.

Oh Boy.