Chapter 89
Chapter 89
The weather was scorching hot, and water was scarce.
Newbie Lucas and celeb Eddie, were running on empty, having not had a drop of water for over fifteen hours.
“You okay?” Eddie grunted as he pulled out the last crumbly biscuit from his backpack and offered it to Lucas, “take this.”
Leaning heavily against a hefty tree, Lucas tried to keep his balance. He looked at the biscuit, his voice raspy, “No, you keep it.”
Eddie insisted, “No, eat it. It’s been too long since you’ve had anything.”
Lucas didn’t respond.
Eddie felt bad, “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have hurt your leg. How’s your leg now?”
Lucas shook his head, “It’s okay, I’ve been through survival training before, this injury isn’t gonna stop me.”
They fell into a brief silence.
After a while, Eddie split the last biscuit into two and said, “We’ll share.”
This time, Lucas hesitated a moment before accepting his half.
They finished the biscuit.
Eddie felt bitter.
A single biscuit had to feed two people.
The taste of the biscuit didn’t even linger for three seconds before it was gone.
The atmosphere between them grew heavy again.
Suddenly, Lucas looked up, staring at the tree top, “Is there something hanging up there?”
Eddie squinted, “Looks like a green ribbon? Can’t really tell.”
“It’s a ribbon!” Lucas started to gauge how high the ribbon was and eventually shook his head, “I can’t reach, it’s too high.”
The tree was massive, the ribbon was tied at the very top, nearly five stories high.
No ordinary Joe could climb that high without safety gear, and if anything went south, the fall would be disastrous.
Eddie sighed, “If we miss this green ribbon, we’ll lose another clue. The last blue ribbon was tied to a freaking crocodile, that was
nuts…”
“Crocodile? What kind of crocodile? Where’d you see it?”
Suddenly, a voice came from behind, scaring the bejesus out of Lucas and Eddie!
They turned to see a camouflaged, pretty young girl perched on a tree not far away, swinging her legs, watching them.
Eddie recognized the girl, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Eileen?”
Eileen turned her head, staring at the handsome man, thought for a moment before replying, “Hey, Eddie.”
On the first day of the show, Eileen was the first to get dressed and leave, then the other two male guests came out.
They were the first to be dropped into the jungle.
“This guy,” she thought, “was one of them.”
“Why are you alone?” Eddie asked.
He knew Eileen wasn’t well-liked, but she was still a girl. In this rainforest, survival was much harder for girls than boys.
Eddie thought about the other teams they had met, he’d heard some people had already been eliminated.
He tried asking, “Was your teammate eliminated?”
Eileen glanced at him, casually replied, “Yeah, he was.”
He hesitated before suggesting, “If it’s hard for you alone, why don’t you join us?”
He looked to Lucas, “What do you think?”
Lucas, being a soldier, knew adding a woman to the team would slow them down but still said, “Sure.”
Eddie told Eileen, “Come over here.”
Eileen was silent for a moment before leaping down from the tree and walking over.
Eddie noticed her empty hands, asked casually, “You run out of supplies? Have you lost your backpack? No worries, we can find water if
/we push on.”
With that, they were ready to move on.
Eileen, hands in pockets, stayed put, “You are not getting that clue?”
Lucas turned back, chuckled bitterly, “We can’t reach that high, that clue is a lost cause.”
Eileen glanced at the height of the tree, “It’s not that high.”
With that, she stretched her wrists and started climbing the tree.
“Hey, don’t!” Eddie called out.
Lucas also said, “It’s too dangerous, you…”
He didn’t finish his sentence!
In just a few seconds, he watched as the athletic girl slithered up the tree like a snake, already reaching the first branch and skillfully continuing her climb.
Lucas and Eddie were stunned.
Five minutes later, Eileen jumped down from the tree, a green ribbon clutched in her teeth.
She dusted off her hands, read the words on the ribbon, then looked up to meet two pairs of wide, shocked eyes.
Eileen frowned, “What?”
Lucas, full of excitement, couldn’t hide his awe, “You’re so nimble.”
Eileen scoffed, she stared at Lucas for a moment before asking, “You guys got anything to drink?”
Lucas subconsciously touched his lips, which were already cracked and bleeding.
Eileen turned to Eddie, “One hundred bucks for a bottle of water, deal?”
Eddie, still in awe of Eileen’s climbing skills, was stunned by her offer, “You have water?”
Eileen, “I’m just asking if you want it?”
“Yes, yes, yes, I don’t have the money now, but I promise I’ll pay you back!”
Eileen’s eyes curved into crescents, “If you tried to break your promise, I have ways to get my money back. Wait, they should be here in three minutes.”
Eddie asked, “They?”
Three minutes later, Eddie knew what ‘they’ meant.
Elaine with a backpack, Burton with two, and empty-handed Egbert, slowly approached.
Eileen casually handed the green ribbon to Egbert.
Then she took a bottle of creek water from Burton’s backpack and tossed it to Eddie.
Eddie caught it and quickly opened the cap, gulping do
After drinking half of it, he handed the bottle to Lucas.
the water.
Lucas carefully sipped only a third of the water, then tightened the bottle cap, turning to Eileen and asked, “So, you four made a team, huh?”
Eileen replied, “Yeah.”
Lucas cast a glance at Burton and Elaine behind him.
But Eddie had his eyes on Egbert.
He hadn’t seen Egbert in the forest before, it totally caught him off guard that Egbert was also part of this show. NôvelDrama.Org: owner of this content.
At that moment, Eileen whipped out a lunch box.
Opening it, the aroma of deep-fried food wafted out.
Lucas and Eddie were instantly hooked, their eyes lighting up at the sight.
Eileen walked over, showed them the fried bugs in the box, and asked with a smile, “Wanna give it a try?”
Eddie was hesitant about eating bugs, but Lucas was all in.
Eileen handed one to Lucas.
He took a bite and found that it tasted better than anything he’d ever eaten in his life!
Seeing this, Eddie couldn’t resist and asked for one as well.
They had been starving for a long time, and at this point, anything would taste heavenly!
Eddie couldn’t help but want another.
But Eileen shut the lunch box and said, “Taste test over, one dollar for a bug. Wanna buy some?”
Eddie’s eyes widened.
Lucas was licking his lips.
In the end, Eddie bit the bullet and said, “I’ll take ten. No, make it twenty!”
Eileen counted out twenty for him.
Eddie gave half to Lucas, and they both savored their meal.
Then Eileen turned to Lucas and said, “You’ve hurt your leg, need some treatment? It’s five hundred bucks for a diagnosis, a grand for the meds. Guaranteed to get you back on your feet.”
Lucas was taken aback, “Diagnosis? Meds?”
Without a second thought, Eddie blurted out, “We’ll take it. I’ll foot the bill, you treat him!”
Eileen smiled and continued, “You guys are all dirty. Need a bath? I can show you the nearest water source. A grand for the guide fee.”
Eddie quickly nodded, “Deal!”
Then Eileen went on, “Need a change of clothes? Five hundred bucks for a piece of clothing, a hundred for a towel.”
Eddie, surprised, said, “You actually have clothes and towels?”
Eileen laughed, “Oh, I’ve got more than that. I’ve got tents. You guys must be having a tough time out here in the wind and sun, huh?
Want a good night’s sleep? My tents are top quality, sturdy and durable. As my first customer, I’ll give you a discount. Only 9,900 bucks for a high-class sleep in the jungle. What a steal! Interested?”
Eddie was speechless.