“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!” He smiles as he looks to us before Savannah and Noah come out behind us.
It takes a few moments for everyone to make it outside. Surprisingly, Kenzie and Calvin are the ones dragging their feet. I would have guessed it would have been Connor and Bella, since Connor could sleep through a stampede, according to Bella anyway.
“Good morning… or night! A huge part of having the right partner is making sure you guys are in tune with one another; that in dangerous situations, you can keep each other safe! That brings us to our next challenge—stop, drop and run!”
Landon and I side-eye one another before looking back to Alex.
“Everyone will be competing side by side. As always, the last two couples to make it over the finish line will be up for elimination. Now, let’s go check out the course.”
The cameras cut as the crew ushers us all down to an area of the beach that’s been cleared. Holy shit. When did they set all of this up? There are spotlights everywhere, probably to ensure there’s good lighting while filming, and several elaborate obstacles.
Daryll takes a seat as the usual woman begins giving us a breakdown of the rules. Basically, one of us jumps on our partner’s back and acts as their eyes while they’re blindfolded. We have to walk on a balance-beam type thing while huge foam—dear God, I hope they’re foam—mallets swing from either side. The idea here is to tell our partner when to stop and when to go so we don’t get fucking nailed. Awesome.
Then the next part of the challenge is “drop,” where we have to run as fast as we can, blindfolds removed, thank God, before literal fire is shot out of cannons, forcing us to drop until it’s done. That sounds nice and safe.
“Run” is the last part, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Oneof the partners has to pick up the other and carry them through a muddy pit. They’ve been nice enough to provide tall muck boots for whoever’s running if they want them.
Normally, I don’t think this would be all that hard. I mean, besides the whole threat of being burned alive or smashed into the ocean. I also don’t trust that there’s nothing wrong with those boots, but I’ve been known to be a pessimist. Anyway, normally, I think everyone could make it through this alright, but we’re all still disoriented and half asleep when they line us up.
“Is the fire, like, hot?” Angel asks.
“Yeah, it’s almost like it’s a heat source,” Bella scoffs.
Angel throws Bella a glare that looks powerful enough to kill.
“It’s more for looks than anything, but we don’t want the audience to know that, so run fast,” the woman says.
“What are you thinking?” I ask Landon.
“I’ll be blindfolded, and I’ll carry you at the end.”
“Duh. I can’t lift your big ass.”
He shoots me a look but doesn’t comment, glancing over to scan the obstacles once more. Then he whispers into my ear, “I’ve been counting the mallets. There are three of them, and each takes about two seconds to fully swing. As soon as we get about two feet from one, tell me to stop, I’ll count and then run.”
I nod. “And the fire?”
“Can’t promise anything, but at least we can both see for that part. We’ll run, listen for any noise indicating a flame is coming and hit the deck I guess.”
“Okay.”
My gaze roams over the entire course, and I shake my head as I whisper into his ear. “The last part feels too easy. Careful when you step into the boots. I feel like something could be in them.”
He furrows his brows. “Like what?”
I shrug. “Lions, tigers, or bears? They’re threatening us withsixteen-foot-tall mallets and fire. Then we just have to be carried through a mud pit?”
Landon nods in agreement before holding out his hand to high-five me. “We are not going home,” he says.
“We are not fucking going home!” I agree as we face the starting line.
I quickly tie the blindfold around Landon’s eyes before hopping up onto his back. He holds me easily, like I’m not even adding any weight to him.
“Three, two, one. GO!” Alex shouts, and we take off.
Landon is surprisingly graceful as he jumps up onto the balance beam, his steps quick and measured when he moves forward.
“STOP!” I shout into his ear.
