Read from Ch 1

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“Ha!” she cries. “We did it! We got the flag.” She waves the flag above her head like an emergency signal.

Todd sinks to his knees and helps Olivia climb down, still clutching the flag to her chest.

“Well done,” says Jeremy. “That was some stunt, man.” He shakes our hands warmly.

“Congratulations.” Kim gives us a hug. “That was a close one.”

“I’ll share my cheesecake with you, promise.” Olivia grins at her and turns to Todd. “Sorry. I bet you didn’t realise I was that heavy.”

He shrugs. “No sweat. There was no way you were lifting me.”

I tell my team that I’m proud of them and that had Olivia not kept her sprinting speed so close to her chest, I’d have asked her to run sooner.

She laughs. “I was district champion in senior school. It’s been years since I’ve had to move that fast for anything though. That’s what the promise of dessert does for you.”

I suggest that we collect her discarded shoes before we head on to the Finish Point, as they were borrowed from Beth Moses. It doesn’t take long to find them. Olivia stuffs them into her backpack, preferring to walk barefoot, and we all stop for a brief water break. We chat about Beth Moses and our stay at Gentings, the conversation meandering between Resorts World, and Singapore.

We have become one team again, our parts in the challenge complete. It isn’t until we step onto the beach expecting to see Jeff, Natalie, and the other tribe members with their respective ice boxes, and find no one, that we hesitate, glancing around us and back to the forest from which we have emerged.

“Shouldn’t they be here?” Olivia asks, the flag limp in her hand and trailing along the sand.

Todd sniffs the air and points to the remains of a campfire. He shakes his head. “We’re back where we started.”

“Where are the tents?” Olivia peers around as if they might somehow be hidden.

“They’ll have been dismantled,” says Kim. “We’re at the opposite end of the island from where we need to be.”

I ask if they know from their hike yesterday, the easiest way for us to cross the island.

“Quickest way will be inland,” says Todd. “The way we came. Once we get through the forest here, we can skirt around the hills.”

We waste no time. We’re assuming that our teammates on the canoes will have already arrived with the ice boxes.

“Shall I take the flag?” asks Jeremy. “Give you a break.”

Olivia is about to hand it over when she raises her eyebrows at him. “Nice try. I’ll hold on to it I think.”

As we head into the forest, it feels as though the wind is picking up, but once we’re amongst the trees and undergrowth, it’s unnoticeable. Several times, Olivia stumbles over a sharp rock, or a prickly plant, one time even clutching her toe and pulling out a thorn. The land begins to climb, but on Todd’s suggestion, we keep pushing forward around the side of the hill.

The forest becomes patchy in places, and it seems that whenever the canopy above our heads parts, the sky is a shade darker. I glance at my watch. It isn’t late, certainly not late enough for the sun to be setting, but the sky is gloomy rather than approaching twilight. I ask if they think a storm is brewing.

Jeremy nods. “I was hoping we’d have made it back before it broke, but I’m not so sure. It seems to be coming in fast.”

As he speaks, I feel the first raindrop on my arm.

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“We’ll stick to the trees as much as we can,” says Todd. They have come prepared and pull lightweight raincoats from their backpacks. Todd and Jeremy insist on giving theirs to Olivia and me, which we accept gratefully.

Although the trees offers some protection, the rain slows our progress. The ground becomes slippery, and Olivia even stops to put her shoes back on. We are almost out the other side of the forest when a flash momentarily turns the world silver. Moments later we hear the boom of thunder in the distance.

“Forty miles away,” says Olivia.

Todd raises his eyebrows, his wet hair plastered to his skull, rain trickling from the end of his nose. With the sound, the rainfall has become heavy as though a bucket in the sky has suddenly tilted.

Olivia clarifies, “You count the seconds between lightning and thunder and multiply it by ten.”

“We need to move,” says Kim.

She doesn’t say what we’re all probably thinking, that we don’t want to be stuck in the forest if the storm is heading this way.

Without discussion, we jog, Todd in front, Kim at the rear. Out of the forest and the ground slopes downwards, an empty beach to our left. It will mean that we are exposed, but we should be able to move faster. Then I hear a cry behind me and turn to find Kim on the ground, clutching her ankle.

We all run back to her. “I’ve sprained my ankle.” Kim is already dragging her backpack around in front of her and finding her first-aid kit.

“Here, let me.” Olivia kneels beside her, locates a bandage, and wraps it tightly around Kim’s ankle, securing it with a tight knot.

Jeremy and Todd help Kim back onto her feet.

“I’m fine,” she says. But she is limping, supported by Jeremy and Todd, the rain coming down in steady sheets that sting our faces.

Lightning streaks the sky, followed almost instantaneously by thunder that sounds as though the world is being ripped apart and makes us duck.

Olivia and I take the lead, choosing the least precarious route, the flag a sodden muddy rag dragging along behind us. The sea is no longer blue but dirty-grey as though we are staring at a black-and-white photograph, the waves foaming as they lap the beach which appears to stretch for miles in the direction we need to follow.

I turn around to suggest that Olivia and I go on ahead to fetch help when Todd points at the sea. Following his gaze, I spot a boat. It’s coming towards us, someone waving their arms above their head and gesturing for us to wait.

Jeff.

Go to Ch 19, Part 1

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WRIT LARGE: Ch 18, Part 3