/\

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Plane's Dining Area

3rd Person POV

"Hmm...I hope you don't intend on this being the only meal we get for the day. A single serving size only contains an estimated twenty-two percent of the nutrition the human body needs to function."

As of right now, Scarlett was getting her 'meal' from Chef, who was sitting inside the small kitchen. And from what she could see behind his burly build, the kitchen itself was actually one of the more cleaner rooms on the plane. Aside from whatever the first class rooms looked like, which none of them had been given the chance to see as of yet

As a matter of fact, there were only three areas the contestants were allowed in right now. The first was the Dining Area, where a few people, Owen, Sugar, and of course Scarlett to name a few, were at right now.

"Aw, shut yer trap Smerty Glasses! This grub's tha best stuff on the plane!" Sugar called out from behind as she started shoveling the food in her mouth.

"Wow, you're great at eating food." Owen said, watching in amazement as Sugar was finishing her fourth bowl in the tenth minute.

"All beauty pageant champions need ta eat up! Elsewise, we end up lookin' like that little twig with them fake cowgirl boots." Sugar said with a shake of her head before licking the rest of the food off the plate. Nearly making everyone else in the room sick, save for Owen.

"But I thought Lindsay was supposed to be pretty." Owen said, feeling worried for his friend.

"Aw, she may think she is, but she's just in denial. All pageant rejects go through that." Sugar waved the thought of Lindsay away as she stood up to go and get fifths.

"Woah. Poor Lindsay." Owen said sadly, just pouring the rest of his food into his mouth before getting up to get sevenths.

"Yeah. Because Lindsay's the one with fashion issues." Noah said sarcastically, drinking the water that he had gotten instead of some food.

"I'm still trying to decide whether or not Sugar is making such remarks because of pure idiocy, cultural viewpoints, or stressful denial. Even the psychological tests didn't have any conclusive results." Scarlett said freely as she sat down. Sitting a good foot away from Noah so her large amount of hair wouldn't end up bumping into him.

But as she saw his freaked out expression, she rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"Okay, I'm friends with a loopy psychopath, but that's still one of the creepiest things I've ever heard." Noah told her before very slowly getting up and walking off to catch back up to Owen in hopes of even the smallest bit of protection.

Scarlett sighed in anger, before just giving up and picking up her tray to leave their table.


Confessional Cam

Scarlett

While writing something down in a notepad, she looked up towards the camera. "Due to my...Failure of last season, I'm obviously at a huge disadvantage." She then crossed out something on her notepad with an 'X' pattern.

"If I'm to get anywhere in this season, I need to make an alliance. Or at the very least, find someone I can get along with to a point where they'll be inclined not to vote for me. Obviously no one from last season will agree, and someone stupid like Owen won't be an option since they're easily influenced. That leaves someone not so popular themselves…"


"May I sit here?" Scarlett asked half-heartedly, giving up her mission to create an alliance for the moment.

"What?" Looking up from her PDA, Courtney got a look of confusion. "Okay, who set you up?"

"No one. I'm just as hated as you by everyone here." Scarlett said bluntly before taking this opportunity to sit down. "Though I can't imagine why. Whereas I had nearly managed to blow up the island we were competing on with them on it, I don't you did much of anything...Did you?" She asked. Deciding not to jump to a conclusion or point out facts that may make Courtney want to leave like the others.

"No, not really. But because for some reason everyone took Duncan side, I was cast out as the bad guy." Courtney explained, obviously holding a grudge.

"Well that certainly doesn't make sense. Usually, most teenagers experience emotional trauma brought on by their peers. Why you were singled out is the primary question." Scarlett said, daring to take a bite of Chef's food. To which she someone managed to bare. "Huh. Not too inadequate I suppose…"

"You can actually stand to eat that?" Courtney asked, looking at it with disgust.

"Believe it or not, this is actually healthy for human consumption. It may not taste well, but this is more than likely a form of grit. The only issue is that food like this is meant as a side dish for an entire meal."

"So that's why I lost that lawsuit." Courtney grumbled before taking a spoon and daring to try a bite herself. Cringing, but swallowing the meal nonetheless. "It's still horrible to eat."

"Yes, but by simply knowing that this is actually food, it is much easier to consume. Hence why I have such a strong stomach for these types of things." Scarlett informed.


Confessional Cam

Scarlett

She circles something on her notepad. "It's said that the most outstanding of achievements within scientific breakthroughs are those that are never predicted. And it seems that breakthroughs within a competition are very similar in that regard."


Confessional Cam

John

He's leaning against the wall, looking out towards the window of the Confessional. He sighs a little before turning to the camera. "There's some real nice people on this plane from what I can tell. I just hope I can fit in without painting a target on my back."


/\

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Economy Class

3rd Person POV

"Is something troubling you?"

Hearing a voice directed towards him, John turned to his right to see one of the other contestants sitting beside him in a meditative position. He would've guessed Lotus Position, but since that was the only meditative stance he had heard of, he pushed the idea away.

"Yeah, a little bit. I'm new to all this, so I don't really know what to do, you know? I'm kinda worried that I'm gonna start makin' more enemies than friends." John admitted, trying to stay quiet so no one would overhear his small conversation.

"For what reason do you have to be worried? Usually, you're a very friendly person." Dawn said, somehow already aware of that. Earning a small glance from John in return, but as soon as he looked at her, he shrugged it off.

"I guess it's just the position that we're in. Having to compete in a competition like this can really push people's limits. If I say the wrong thing then I'll be in trouble." John explained to her.

"You have nothing to worry about. Luckily for you, there are more people that have good karma this season than bad. You need but look around and see that everyone around would rather make friends than foes." Dawn reassured.

Taking her words of wisdom, John looked around the room and saw that Dawn had a point. None of them looked mean-spirited at all. Rather, they seemed more upset than anything else.

"So, how's it going with Sier-" "Shh! don't say her name! She'll hear you!" A forced whisper said with paranoia.

"Cody, its fine. I don't think she can hear us." Trent told him with a sigh as he kept his eyes focused on tuning his guitar. "Now would you please get out of there? I really don't think hiding in my guitar case is gonna help."

"You don't understand." Cody said from inside the case. It wasn't closed all the way since Cody was just a little too big, but the top was only an inch or so away from being shut completely. "Sierra's an intern now! Which means she doesn't have to go home!"

"Well, you can't hide from her forever you know." Trent shook his head as he strummed his guitar. Testing out a few lone chords to see if he was finished.

"Oh-ho-ho, just watch me buddy. I did it one season and I can do it again!" Cody told him with a smile. Which no one could see because, again, he was in a guitar case.

"Not when Sierra can use the cameras whenever she wants." Trent said instinctively. Making Cody burst out of the case. Nearly knocking the top off its hinges.

"I forgot about that!" He jumped out of the case and took off towards the Kitchen. Hoping that he could try and hide inside of Owen or something.


Confessional Cam

Trent

"I hope Cody's gonna be okay. He's one of the only friends I have in the game. Most of the others I've barely even met. And then there's Gwen…"

He sighed. "I know that I can't win her back any time soon. But we haven't talked for so long. I just hope that I can have some time to talk to her."


"And that's how I ended up getting me and my friend Kellie out of the Bermuda Triangle!" Izzy yelled out before breaking out laughing.

"Great story, eh." A not-so-amused stereotypical Canadian voice commented. Not even looking towards her.

"Oh, oh, oh! I have an even better one! It's how I got from Germany to Mexico by only paying eighty bucks!" Izzy told him, completely ignoring how Ezekiel couldn't care less about her stories.

"Nah, that's okay. I'm not really in tha mood fer stories." He told her, just staring at the floor the whole time with his head in his hand-claws.

"Okay! Then you tell the story!" Izzy told him, sounding more like a command than anything. "How'd you turn back to normal?! Because you were a lot more fun back then!"


Confessional Cam

Ezekiel

"After last season, My folks sued the show fer treatin' me like an animal. So they had to pay to fix me up. Only problem is the toxic stuff from the island made it worse. So I'm stuck like this, eh." He pointed to himself, referring to the green skin and other inhuman things about him.


Having told Izzy the same thing, Izzy just clapped. "That sounds awesome! I wish I could spit acid like a gun! Here, lemme try! Ptew!" She spit on the floor and stared at it intently. Actually thinking for a second that it may have actually burned a hole in the metal floor.

"Aw, that didn't work. Oh well!" She then started laughing crazily, not noticing the wide eyed, terrified look on Ezekiel's face.

"I...What did you just say?" He asked. "Did I really spit acid at other folks?" He started shaking.

"The more I think about it, it was actually drool acid. But no, you only drooled on rocks. Oh! And you puked acid too!" Izzy clarified. "So that's why I can't spit acid! I'm doing it wrong! Dooey!" She then started shaking her head around violently. Forcing Zeke to get up and move away from her.

"Okay, that's gotta be one of the most disgusting things I've seen her do." Gwen remarked as leaned to the side to dodge some of the flying Izzy drool.

"Well, at least one of us is in high spirits." John somewhat admired, glad to see that at least one of the people in here weren't so sad. "I guess you're right Daw...Where'd she go?"

Looking around, John found that Dawn was gone just as silently as she had appeared. "Huh. Guess I didn't notice her go."


Confessional Cam

Geoff

"Bridgette, babe, I miss you already. But don't worry! I'll try and win for us! But still, I gotta try to meet some of the other dudes that are here. Since we haven't even met the players from when the island was all toxic, I'm behind on guys to party with!"


No having anything else to say, Geoff left the Confessional and looked around the Economy Class. He saw Gwen and that girl in the pink jacket each sitting by themselves, but decided it was best he let them have their own time. Leading him to John, who was still on his own.

"Hey dude, what's up? I'm Geoff." The Party Dude said, holding out a hand with a friendly smile on his face.

"Hey man. I'm John." John returned the handshake with a smile. "Hey, you're the guy that hosts The Aftermath thing, right?"

"Sure am dude! I'm also the guy that sets up all the parties!" He said, sitting down to try and hang out.

"Really? Aw man, me and a few of my friends always used to throw parties back in The City!" John instantly sat up from his seat. Glad to find something to talk about.

"Wait, you're from San Francisco too?!" Geoff asked, breaking out into a grin. "Both me and Bridge only live an hour from there!"

"I live right in the heart of it! Maybe you can come to one of my friends' parties!" John smiled. The two becoming fast friends.

"Same here! Wait, were you born there?" Geoff asked.

"Nope. Texan." John cheered.

"Woah, same here!" Geoff said in amazement, pointing to his lucky hat. "Man, we're almost like twins!"

"Amen to that, man!" John agreed as the two fistbumped, going on and on about their own stories before DJ came out of the Confessional next.

"Yo DJ! Came here and meet my new friend John!" Geoff called out before DJ could walk off to get some food from the Dining Area.

"Hey, what's up dude?!" John asked, now instantly excited to meet another friend. Causing Gwen, who was trying to just drown out there noise, flinch at the very word of 'dude.'

"That's it. I'm going somewhere else." She said as she closed a journal she had been writing in. And after standing up, she walked off towards the Storage Area.

"Oops. Guess I was being a bit loud there. Sorry 'bout that!" John tried to call out, only for Gwen to not hear him and just keep going.

"It's cool man. Gwen's not a party kinda chick. Just let her calm down." Geoff told him, not sounding too concerned himself.

"Yeah, Gwen's not really too cranky. She's actually pretty nice." DJ added.

"I hope so. Don't wanna make any enemies on the first day, you know?" John said, choosing to go along with what they said and continue with what they were doing before.


Confession Cam

Gwen

"Great, just what we needed. Another party obsessed 'dude' that's way too happy. Well at least he isn't trying to follow me around."


Confession Cam

Izzy

"There was this other time when I hid away on a plane from the RCMP for two weeks! I ate nothing but airline peanuts and made friends with all the dogs that were with the luggage and helped them learn to bark in morse code!"

She then proceeded to bark multiple times in certain patterns. "That one was for you Apollo!" She then kept howling until the camera cut to static.


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Storage Area

3rd Person POV

"Vrrrrrn...Tik-tik-tik-tik-tik-tik-tik-tik-tik, Pew!" Beardo sounded out, acting out a plane getting shot down.

"Exactly!" Shawn agreed. "That is exactly what's gonna happen to this plane if so much as one zombie gets on board!"

"...Uh...I'm sorry soldier, but I don't think we'd get shot down by fighter pilots if zombies are on the plane." Brick said, obviously confused right now.

"Do you actually believe in zombies?" Samey asked, trying her best to say it quietly enough so Shawn wouldn't hear.

"Not really. But I figured it'd be best to play along. I'd rather not cause a war in a plane." Brick answered, making Samey nod in agreement.

"Aren't soldiers supposed to be trained for war?" Jo asked as she overheard their conversation as she was standing nearby. Leaning up against the wall of the Storage Area. "I mean, that is what the military's for, right?"

"No mam!" Brick yelled out, standing to his feet and glaring back at her in minor anger. "A soldier's duty is to protect his country! Whether it be war or otherwise!" He answered, sounding as if he was quoting someone word for word.

"Looks like the soldiers got'cha pinned in that regard." Jasmine said, tipping her hat to the soldier in admiration.

"I don't really think Brick-For-Brains is fit for that kind of duty." Jo told her with a roll of her eyes.

"Actually, I'm gonna side with him too." Shawn chipped in. "Military grade protective gear is gonna come pretty handy-"

"When the walkers attack, we heard you the first time, Zombozo." Jo insulted, ignoring the frowns received from the others as she looked away. "Uh...Do planes usually have green smoke coming through them?"

"..." Shawn looked at Jo with a confused look. "No?...Haven't you been on a plane before?" He asked. He may not have gone on planes often, but even he knew that 'green smoke' wasn't normal.

"Yes, I've been on a plane! But I've never seen a plane do that!" Jo pointed behind Shawn towards a busted pipe. Which as she said earlier, was leaking green gas.

"It wasn't like that before!" Samey shouted, getting to her feet and backing away.

"Attention passengers!" Chris said in his usual upbeat tone of voice. "Currently we are experiencing a gas leak. And yes, it is lethal." He added, scaring the group even more.

"Lethal?!" From the other side of the room, Zoey shouted in fear before standing to her feet. "Why would Chris buy a plane that has lethal gas in it?!"

"I think you just answered your own question, mam." Brick answered, standing up and running to the door. Currently, the group he was talking to, Zoey, Ella, and Dakota were all in the storage area.

Once getting to the door, he tried to turn the wheel to unlock the steel door and get to safety, but he was clearly having some trouble. "It's stuck!"

"Weehoo-Weehoo-Weehoo!" Beardo made a car alarm sound as he and the others all ran behind Brick in fear.

"Move over, let someone who can actually do something try!" Jo pushed Brick aside, trying to unlock the wheel herself. Only, just like before, she couldn't get it. "It is stuck!"

"Weehoo-Wehoo-Wee-Chik-Chik!" He ended the alarm by acting as if someone pressed a button on the remote. But since he was in the back of the group, his noises were short lived as the gas caught up and within seconds, he collapsed to the ground.

"Oh my! The dear giant has collapsed!" Ella announced, causing the rest of the group to become alerted.

"Dakota will open door!" Dakota yelled out as she went into a panic. Running up to the door and pulling on the wheel.

"Wait, Dakota stop!" Zoey warned. "If you keep forcing it, you're gonna-" "TING!" "Break it…"

Dakota sent herself backwards with the strength she put into it as she fell into the fog. Falling unconscious just like Beardo.

The rest of them started banging on the door, hoping that Chris or someone else would hear them. But one by one, the gas got to them and they were all out in seconds.

For a solid minute, the Storage Area, as well as the rest of the plane, fell silent. All of the contestants inside knocked unconscious as they all lay on the ground.

Not only them, but the rest of the plane was the same way. Except only the rooms that suspiciously had contestants were leaking green gas. Meaning that 1st class, the cockpit, and Chris' private room was all gas free.

"Everyone asleep?" Chris asked with a whisper. "Good! New interns?! Round 'em up and throw 'em in the Storage room!"

Just then, the metal door swung open without issue as a familiar delinquent stepped into the room with a gasmask on. His intern shirt was worn like a jacket, unbuttoned over his usual skull shirt.

"Stupid Chris making me do all this stupid work." He walked in with Cody and Diane cast over his shoulders like pieces of luggage. "All on this stupid plane." He tossed them both inside before dragging the others who were all gathered at the door towards the center.

"Don't you start on that, pretty boy. Least you gotta reason not ta be paid." Chef complained before tossing Trent, Noah, and Scarlett in next. "Now hurry up and give me a hand with Chubby."

"Ugh." Duncan growled in frustration before walking behind him. "Why does Chris need them all in Storage anyway?"

"He's doin' that so y'all can put 'em in place when we land. All while me and Chris are gettin' some of the finest pretzels that we were talkin' about."

"Comin' through!" Sierra yelled out as she simply dragged Courtney, Staci, and Dawn into Storage without much effort. "Where'd you put Cody?!" She called out before tossing the three towards the growing pile of contestants. Not caring that Courtney landed head first on the metal floor.

"Uh...He's with Owen!" Duncan said, shouting before Sierra could notice Cody already in Storage.

"Really?! I'm coming Codykins!" Sierra screamed before rushing past the two men.

"Hehehe. Sucker." Duncan said before exchanging a fistbump with Chef. Glad that he solved that problem.


/\

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Location: ? ? ?

3rd Person POV

As the camera faded into the next scene, it focused in on one of the contestants, who was no longer in the plane. Instead, they were laying on a polished wooden floor instead of a rusty metal one.

Around them was a number of windows with open entryways. They were side by side and were filled to the brim with multiple objects. All themed around a certain object, or in some cases styles.

The hallway, which was specifically where the person was sleeping, had a few random objects strewn around the place. Mostly trash cans, benches, posters, and even small booths. One had glass cases with watches and jewelry inside of it. Another was a German Roasted Nuts station.

The only odd thing was that no one was within sight of the camera. It was all deserted as no one was around the contestant, who was finally starting to wake up.

As they did so, a small symbol appeared in the top left corner of the screen for a few seconds. It was circular with a stitched edge as if it was a camping badge. The background of it was pure white with the picture being a green puff of smoke that looked more like a-

"BURP! Ugh man, that green stuff did Not agree with Mr. Tummy."

After waking up in his own...Smelly way, Owen sat up and looked around. Sniffing the air as he smelled something that probably tasted much better than that sleep gas.

"Is that -*Sniff-Sniff*- roasted nuts?!" Turning around, he saw the German Roasted Nut stand. "It IS! Ah-ha-ha-ha, come ta Papa!"

Jumping up to his feet, he sprinted over to the counter and hopped from one foot to the next. Looking as excited as a little boy at a carnival. "Hello?! Twenty bowls of your finest roasted nuts please!" He asked with a giant smile. Entirely unaware of the lack of people around him

"Ugh...Where am I?..."

As a hand caught the edge of the counter, another symbol appeared on the top left corner of the screen. This one was circular just like the last but this time the edge looked more robotic as it was made of metal and had a few lights to go along with it.

The background was a red-Scarlett color and the symbol was wide glasses with glaring, purple colored eyes looking forward.

As it faded back out of existence, the second hand grasped the edge of the counter and helped to pull up the contestant that the symbol was referring to. Scarlett.

"Excuse me, can I have some service?" Owen asked, not even aware that he was talking to one of the other contestants.

"What?" Scarlett asked, still trying to get her bearings. She put a hand up to her head to try and cease her growing headache, only to notice that something was sitting on top of her head.

Taking it off, she looked at it and realized it as an employee paper hat with a small plastic pretzel on the top of it. She threw it behind her and gave Owen a tired look. "I hope you realize that I don't actually work here."

Sadly, the only response she got was Owen drooling all over her shirt.

"And you're not even listening because your sense of smell is so heavily focused on the food behind me that your other senses are lacking." Scarlett said with a frown. Knowing that it would probably be in her best interest not to let Owen get the food himself, she complied and started scooping the roasted food to put into a small cardboard 'dish.'

Passing the food to Owen, who simply poured the entire hot meal into his mouth, she began looking around. "Now that that situation is handled, that leaves us with figuring out where Chris took us."

"I dunno." Owen said through the food he was chewing. "But it smells so clean."

"That, or you're just used to foul odors on a regular basis." She said before testing out the scent of the area herself. "Although it does smell like it's been freshly sanitized. Wherever it is, it seems to be a public area with plenty of space."

Swallowing the roasted nuts, Owen turned back to Scarlett. "Can I have seconds?"

Scarlett pulled out an extra-large sized cardboard container and a small sized one. And after filling both, she gave the larger dish to Owen and kept the smaller size for herself. Eating at a much slower pace than him.

"With the multiple shops lined up around us and the benches located at an estimated twenty feet from each other, I'd assume that we are in a mall. And if the theme of this season is landmarks across the world...The Mall of America." Scarlett concluded.

"Wow. You're smart." Owen said, once again, through his food.

"Compared to you, anything above elementary grade-level thinking is smart." Scarlett insulted. "Seeing as how there's only the two of us in the area, I'm guessing that the rest of the cast is settled somewhere else. Meaning that the objective is to reach a certain-"

"Ahem!" Rudely cutting Scarlett's observations short, a small screen lowered itself in front of the two. "Sorry Scarlett, but that's my job. And looking at Topher, you should know that no one's dethroning this host!" He told her, pointing towards himself with his thumbs.

"But you're right! Welcome to the Mall of America! The one stop shop that will make you stop shopping!" He laughed at his own joke for a quick second, before going on. "Your task is to reach the food court! First round of you crazy teens there get to form their team and move on to the second part of the challenge! Then the second group is the second team, and whoever's left will be on the third team! Which I'll explain when you're there. But be warned. I set up a few traps along the way, and! The park in the middle of the mall is off limits! Have a nice walk!"

The screen turned off and retracted back up to the ceiling.

"The Food Court?! Aw man, that place sounds awesome!" Owen said excitedly, finally swallowing his second serving of nuts.

"Hmm...It seems that Chris thought ahead of time and took out all the maps of the mall. That, or those aren't as well located as the benches. But seeing as how you're the heaviest of us all, it's a safe bet that we're on the first floor." Scarlett deduced.

"Do you know where the food court is?" Owen asked with a hopeful expression.

"No, no I don't. I've never found it important to memorize the layout of a mall. But you on the other hand…" Scarlett quickly started closing all the containers that had cooked roasted nuts inside.

"Huh, me? I've never been here before." He admitted, not having any clue as to where the food court was.

"No, but you're still hungry aren't you?" She asked before closing the last container.

"Yeah. Wait, are you giving me more food?" Owen asked, starting to drool again.

"No-err-Yes! Yes, I am giving you food." She nodded with a determined smile. "All you have to do is track it down. So sniff it out!" She demanded.

"AH! Yes Sir!" He saluted stupidly before sniffing the air, catching onto a scent very soon. One other than the roasted nut station. "Is...Is that a cinnamon pretzel! Oh, Owen's eatin' tonight!"

He took off running at his own pace, Scarlett following beside him with an evil grin on her face.


Confessional Cam

Scarlett

She's sitting victoriously with her arms crossed. "Nearly everyone has some sort of use. Luckily, I was able to extort Owen's only use to my own gain. And the first group to get to the food court is either going to be resourceful, reliable,"

She took a pause in order to adjust her glasses back in place. She may not have been too far-sighted, but she kept them anyway to keep more professional air about herself. "Or expendable."


/\

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Elsewhere

3rd Person POV

Two more symbols appeared on the top left corner of the screen. Both of these, much like Owen's, had that stitch-like edge. But that's where all the similarities end however. The first one had a solid dark red background with a dark green book opened away from the front of the button. Leaving you to see only the cover of the book.

The second one had appeared directly under the first and instead had a solid dark blue background and a dumbbell as the symbol.

As the two buttons faded away, the camera zoomed in on two of the competitors that they had referred to. Both of them walking at an almost brisk pace. They had, along with the rest of the others by this point, been told exactly what they needed to do.

"Don't malls usually have, I don't know, Maps or something?!" Eva asked, obviously ticked off by this point.

"Usually, but Chris probably thought it would be an even better idea to just let us roam around like mice." Noah said with a frown.

Eva sighed in annoyance. "Yeah, figures. But at least he got rid of the crowds too."

"Whoopie, now we can get all our clothes while they're on sale!" He said sarcastically. "Seriously, how does Chris afford to even do that?"

"You're the smart one, you figure it out." She answer, not really caring either way. She did one more sweep around the area they were in and spotted something promising. "Hey Bookworm, you think the Food Court's downstairs?"

She showed Noah the escalators that she spotted ahead of her. And after the two exchanged a look, they ran for them. Eva getting there a good ten second before Noah and running down the escalator instead of just letting them take her down like Noah was doing.

"Really?! We're in a race! Start running you pansy!" She insulted, glaring at Noah. He and Izzy were the only two she considered worth a few seconds of her time, and she wasn't about to sprint ahead and have to be on a team away from them.

"You do know...That the stairs...Are automated for a reason, right?" Noah asked her as he just leaned against the railing to catch his breath.

"There only automatic because lazy people like you get tired walking down stairs." Eva stood still as Noah finally made it to the end. But seeing as how he was taking his sweet time to catch his breath, she just grabbed him by the lower arm and just pulled him along without a care. Simply ignoring his yelling.

Sooner or later, they would probably find the food court. Whether Noah's awake or not when they get there probably didn't matter. But Eva was not about to lose a race of all things.


Confessional Cam

Eva

"Okay, so maybe I took the whole pulling him across the mall thing too far. But, uh...I tried doing the right thing...Right?" She asked, not sounding too sure of her own statement.


Confessional Cam

Noah

He kept his arm tucked in his sleeve as if it was a makeshift cast. "I would've at least run for a few minutes if it meant not having my arm pulled off."


/\

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Elsewhere

3rd Person POV

Two symbols appeared on the top left corner once more. Both of them representing a contestant each. Except both of the edges didn't have a stitch pattern or a robot one. Instead, both symbols seemed to have green toxic waste gathered around the side like a runny nose.

The first of the two had a camo background instead of a solid color like the rest of them. And staying in the center was a pair of dog tags acting as the symbol. The writing on the tags were too miniscule to read however and just resembled random scribbles.

The second one had a light pink solid background, but it was a bit different than the others as well. Mainly because it didn't have just one symbol on it. Instead, there were multiples of it. And they were all the same four letter word that was almost stapled on the entire symbol.

Blah

"Uh...You alright there, miss?" Brick asked the girl he was walking beside with a worried expression. She hadn't said too much save for answering yes or no questions.

"Yeah." Staci answered, just like any other question. Not looking at Brick and just facing straight ahead to where they were walking.

They had woken up on the fourth level of the mall in a movie theatre. From there, they met up and eventually found their way out of there in mostly silence. Brick giving up after a few minutes, just kept an eye out to get to the bottom floor.

Right now, they had just gotten to the third floor, and the stairs to reach the second floor were in viewing distance. But oddly enough, neither of them really seemed to be in much of a hurry. Both of them not really caring what team they were on really. And like Chris said, whoever's left will be on the third team.

"You sure soldier? Cause it doesn't look like it." Brick argued. "Uh...How about you tell me about your great great uncle?" He asked, almost regretting bringing that up. No one liked the lies about her family, but by this point it was better than nothing.

"No." She answered sharply, still not turning towards him.

"Oh...Uh...Sorry for asking?" Brick apologized, not sure just what he did wrong there.

"..." Staci sighed, turning towards him with a frown. "I'm sorry, it's just...There aren't any stories, okay? You don't have to mock me about it." She turned forward once again and kept walking.

"Right, I'm sorry mam." Brick said, deciding it'd be best to just go along with it. There was never such a thing as an excuse, and explaining himself would be just that. An excuse.


Confessional Cam

Brick

"Since she was the first one voted off, I don't know too much about her. Some soldiers have their secrets, and I guess 'don't ask don't tell' comes into play here."


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Elsewhere

3rd Person POV

"Aw, come on! No traps?! I thought at least one trap would've gone off by now!" A sadistic host cried out as he picked up another jumbo sized, cinnamon pretzel.

"Didn't you two set them all up?" Chef asked as he turned towards Duncan and Sierra. There weren't interns as previous seasons, so now with the former contestants there were five. But sadly, only Duncan and Sierra were treated with, a very small amount of, some freedoms.

"I was settin' em up for the next part. Ask stalker chick." Duncan pointed his thumb towards Sierra before taking a sip of his soda. It was small sized instead of large, but at least it was better than what Chef served.

"Huh?" Sierra looked up from her small pretzel, which she had been shaping into the form of- Oh you already know who by this point, why even say his name?

"The traps? The ones that I told you to set up in the hallways?" Chris reminded her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I set them up inside the stores!" Sierra said absent-mindedly before going back to her figurine.

"Why would you set them up in the stores?!" Chris asked with a glare. "Now no one's going to get caught in any of the-" "AAHHH!"

"...I stand corrected." Chris turned back towards the cameras with a happy grin as he watched in enjoyment as one of the contestants lay trapped in a straight jacket inside a girl's clothing store. Screaming in fear as she was suspended a foot or so off the ground.

Content with the trap, Chris turned towards the camera. "It seems that Samey's a bit 'tied up' at the moment. Will she be holding up whatever team is last? Is that jacket as twisted as these pretzels? Are-"

"Are you gonna stop making those bad jokes?" Duncan said sarcastically as he took another sip of his soda. To which Chris casually knocked it out of his hands with a glare.

"All these answers and more, right here! On Total!" As he struck a pose, the camera cut back a small distance from Chris. Showing all four members of the group that were in the food court. Chef watching the cameras, Sierra putting the finishing touches on her pretzel Cody, and Duncan giving Chris a death glare.

"Drama!"

"Fan Favorites!"


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And that'll do it for this chapter! And I gotta say...I'm not sure how this episode turned out. You see, I'm really new to writing a story like this. Usually, I never make a scene that's less than a good 1,500 words at the very least. And with styles like Total Drama, that way of writing doesn't work here. There are multiple stories going on at the same time, usually in groups of three or more.

Meaning that unless I draw out every scene to the point where the actual storytelling is paper thin, I won't be able to make that 'quota' of mine. So that leaves me to asking, what's your honest opinion of this story's style? Is it choppy, is it lacking, or am I just acting paranoid? Please feel free to be as brutally honest as you think you may need to on judging the story. It'd be very much appreciated.

QotC


Now for the final part of this chapter. As some of you have probably noticed, I'm giving each character their own little symbol. You'll see just why I'm doing that in one or two more chapters, but for now, what do all of you think of them? Are the symbols pretty spot on with every character they represent? Are they a cool idea? Please leave your answer in the review!

Until then, goodbye everyone!