Ezekiel was fast asleep when he found himself in the dark forest in his dream. The fog was thick, and the shadows of the trees seemed to move, whispering as he followed his every step.
Suddenly, a small, trembling cute cartoon dog appeared before him: Courage, the cowardly dog he had never seen in his life, but in the dream he had seemed real.
The dog barked in fear, then suddenly picked Ezekiel up and carried him on his back.
"Wh… what's happening?" Ezekiel shouted as Courage ran forward. The ground creaked insidiously, and long, black arms reached out from behind every tree.
A huge, goblin-like figure approached, with empty eye sockets and a distorted face, slowly but surely.
Courage threw all his strength into it, jumping and sprinting as Ezekiel clung to the dog's fur. The goblin screamed, the air was freezing, and the shadows of the trees almost slammed into them at times. With every step, the stones crunched loudly under their feet.
Ezekiel tried to find his way in the darkness, but shadows appeared on all sides.
Courage, within the limits of reality, but amazingly, as if performing a series of acrobatic jumps, ran over roots, climbed over fallen tree trunks, while Ezekiel clung to his back, screaming and laughing at the same time.
"This… this… is unbelievable…" Ezekiel cried in the dream, as the bogeyman approached, trying to strike them with his huge arms.
Finally, Courage jumped over a stream with a huge leap, where the bogeyman slipped, and the screams of the dark figure began to disappear in the mist.
Ezekiel lay on his back, panting as the dog slowly stopped, then panted contentedly.
Ezekiel woke up to the sound of a horn, sending his body crashing against the top of the bunk, falling back onto the bed, and rolling off the bed to the floor. Ezekiel groaned as he heard the rest of his team complaining endlessly about the unnecessary wake-up call.
"It's 7am, do I look like a farmer?" LeShawna shouted, giving Chris an incredibly angry look from the window of the pajama-clad treehouse. The yelling brought a smile to the host's face.
Ezekiel and Beth didn't take Leshawna's farmer comment to heart.
Well, I have an announcement to make, so everyone get dressed and come out," Chris said.
Ezekiel groaned as the others on his bunk began to stand up.
"Gee, at least Chris could have warned us before he woke me up," Trent said.
"Yeah, sure, like he could actually warn us," Noah said.
"But no one should wake the ladies up like that. It's rude to wake them up like that," Cody said.
"Oh, yeah? You just said that because Leshawna yelled at Chris?"
"What? No, I wouldn't assume that, man… it was just a moment of clarity."
"Amazing," Noah said in sarcastic way.
Ezekiel didn't know why, but he thought Noah was being sarcastic with his previous comment. There was probably nothing to worry about. Ezekiel got dressed and took his time putting on his navy cap. When he was done, he walked out of the cabin and noticed that most of the people were still trying to wake up or were just getting out of bed. Ezekiel was used to waking up at random moments, since his father liked to go on random trips across the plains, driven by some idea... but that idea soon faded, and he never really understood why his father had taken him with him.
He soon noticed the other campers standing up, and he saw Katie and Sadie talking to each other again. He waved to DJ, who waved back. Finally, Beth came over to greet Ezekiel.
"Hey Zeke… er, do you mind if I call you Zeke?" Beth asked.
"Well, no problem. I don't mind at all," Ezekiel said.
"Great. Because I'm still trying to wake myself up. Did Chris really have to blow that horn?"
"He could have warned us, right?"
Soon everyone was standing up, and they were looking at Chris.
"Good morning campers, I hope you all had a great first night in the cabins," Chris said.
"Not really... it's just an average cabin... with terrible mattresses," Gwen said.
"Too bad, because that's where you're going to be staying."
"Hey Chris, do you know when we can eat? I'm hungry now, man," Owen said.
"Yeah, you can eat... right after you run a 20-kilometer run around the lake."
"You're kidding me, right? You're doing this to us right after?" Eva asked.
Eva started toward Chris, but Duncan and Geoff stepped in and grabbed her arm to stop her from hitting Chris. She glared at Chris a little more as she tried to free herself from their grip. Ezekiel was nervous that Eva would do something else.
"Eva... I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you hit the host, it's an automatic disqualification. You wouldn't want to go home so early, would you?" Chris asked.
Eva growled at Chris, but soon she pushed herself away from Duncan and Geoff, and Ezekiel saw her, and the other campers started toward the starting line. He walked for a while, and soon everyone was lined up ready to go. Ezekiel thought about... how much effort he would have to put into this challenge.
Ezekiel decided to run, but not go all in, instead just take it easy and run the race. He took his preparation position like everyone else. Chris just stood there, at the front of the group.
"Ready…Ready…three, two, one, GO!" Chris shouted.
The group started off, and Ezekiel was jogging with them just as he saw Eva, Geoff, DJ, and Tyler pass by. Soon he was jogging with Cody and Noah.
"Hey Ezekiel, do you have any ideas for me? Do you know who you would suggest for Gwen?" Cody asked.
"Um…why? I don't know her very well," Ezekiel said.
"Well, I'd like to get to know her better…I wouldn't mind talking to her, even if she doesn't accept my advances."
"Dude, you know she's interested in another guy, right?" Noah asked.
"What, Trent? Come on, it's out of the question…he doesn't even try, like I do."
"Because he's not trying to move, dude. Just himself."
"Yeah, Cody, I think it would be nice to just be yourself, huh?" Ezekiel said.
"Well… I don't know, but I want to try, man." Cody said.
Ezekiel then saw Noah and Cody start to slow down a bit, as Ezekiel continued on without them. He was feeling pretty good, considering how his father wanted him to learn how to live in the wilderness, so he learned how to run long distances. Soon after, he was running alongside Bridgette and, for some reason, Izzy.
"Hey, this wild boy! It's nice to see you keeping up with this wild island," Izzy said.
"Um… yeah, it's the same here," Ezekiel said.
"Izzy, you're just confusing me. Hey, I'm glad you're with us… I was hoping for a little friendly competition," Bridgette said.
"No problem, I can keep up for hours."
"HAHAH! You sure can be wild, son. I almost believed it like when my family and I went on a trip to see the hidden ruins and I think I ate some dead guys' legs and that was pretty cool," Izzy said.
Ezekiel and Bridgette didn't say anything after that, not really understanding why Izzy was saying that, but they kept going.
Ezekiel had been running for what seemed like hours and lost sight of Izzy and Bridgette, not knowing how far he had to run. He felt like he had covered most of the way, but he had no idea if he was doing it right or not. But then he saw Trent, who was still jogging, but he noticed he was starting to slow down. Ezekiel walked over to Trent and walked over to him.
"Hey, you okay, bro?" Ezekiel asked.
"Uh… yeah… just… trying… to… get… to the end, buddy. Thanks… for asking…" Trent said.
"Um, good luck with finishing and everything."
Ezekiel then ran past Trent, who was jogging… straight to the cafeteria. Ezekiel arrived at the cafeteria panting. He didn't really know how long it would take for everyone to arrive, but he decided to rest with his teammates until everyone else arrived.
Three hours later…
Ezekiel was waiting for Owen, Noah, and Harold to arrive, not realizing that a 20-kilometer run around the island would take that long. Owen suddenly burst in, carrying an unconscious Noah.
"GET OFF THE TABLE, KIDS!" Owen shouted.
Owen set Noah down on the table, trying with all his might to revive him. Not long after, they saw Harold coming into the cafeteria panting.
"What the hell is wrong with you, buddy? You just ruined this for us," Duncan said.
"I think… I think I'm having heart palpitations," Harold said.
"Wait a minute… that means we won," Heather said.
The group suddenly became excited, including Ezekiel (or pretended to be, you know, from future memories he knows what's going to happen now too).
"Hold on guys… that wasn't the challenge," Chris said.
The Screaming Squirrels groaned together.
"Anyway… is anyone hungry?"
Chris reached a curtain, pulled it back, and a table spread with gourmet food was revealed. Ezekiel was amazed by the amount of food there was...chicken, stuffing, beans, anything Ezekiel could think of. He fell in love with it. He could eat it all. So he and the other campers began to eat the food around him. He ate slowly, as his mother had taught him. And soon everyone was exhausted and full. Ezekiel felt like passing out. But soon Chris entered with a megaphone.
*** Confessional: Duncan ***
"I think I speak for everyone when I say that the food looked pretty incredible after having to eat the crap the chef keeps serving us."
*** Confessional: Owen ***
"It was probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Mashed potatoes with gravy, turkey, ham, baked beans, maple syrup…" Owen trailed off as tears welled up in his eyes. "It was so beautiful." The thought of the food made Owen cry with joy. "Wait… I need a moment." Owen began to cry softly, ending his confession.
*** Confession: Gwen ***
"Hmm… I never thought I would enjoy a bowl of mashed potatoes this much, but… this is really… delicious."
*** Confession: Ezekiel ***
"Wow… this… this is truly amazing. Chicken, stuffing, beans… well… everything. I don't know where to start, but every bite is heaven."
*** Inside the Mess Hall ***
The 21 campers were moaning in satisfaction, many lying down on the tables or unbuckling their pants to rest. Some held their stomachs and groaned. Chris looked around and smiled, satisfied by the condition the campers were in. Chris then jumped onto the table with his megaphone.
"Alright guys, now it's time for part two of your challenge!"
"But... I thought eating WAS the second part of the challenge," Owen said, with gravy still around his mouth.
"What more could you want from us?" Gwen asked.
"Weird goth girl is right," Heather added, to Gwen's annoyance. "Haven't we been through enough?"
"Let me think about that... no." Chris chuckled. "It's time for the next part of your challenge. The ever grueling Awake-a-thon!"
"The what-a-thon?" Tyler asked.
"Simple, Tyler. Whichever team has the last person standing wins."
"So let me get this straight," Gwen said with eyes narrowed. "The run and the buffet were just part of your evil plan to make it harder for us to stay awake?"
Chris smiled. "Eeyup, that's right!"
"Man... he's good," Gwen commented. The other campers nodded in agreement.
"Move it campers, to the bonfire area. Move, move, move!"
The campers started to slowly exit the mess hall one by one as Trent approached Gwen.
"So, how long you think before everyone's out cold?"
"About an hour, give or take," she replied. Owen then lurched by Gwen and Trent, looking like he was about to pass out at any moment. "Maybe less..."
*** At the Bonfire Area ***
"We are now 12 hours into the challenge, and all 21 campers are still awake," Chris softly said off-screen. Many campers were slouched into their seats exhausted, while some were moving to stay awake, including Owen.
"Haha, stay awake for 12 hours? I can do that in my sleep! Whoohoo!" Owen pumped his fist into the air, but then suddenly passed out and became the first to fall asleep, leaving 20 campers awake.
*** Confessional: Gwen ***
"The Awake-a-thon? Easily the most brutal thing I've ever done in my life."
*** Back at the Bonfire Area ***
"Ugh, this is definitely the most boring thing I've ever done in my life," Gwen told Trent.
"Meh, it could be worse," he responded.
"Oh really? How so?"
"I could be stuck here without you to talk to." Trent flashed Gwen a smile, evoking a small blush from her. Heather looked at the two of them with an annoyed glare.
*** Confessional: Heather ***
"So, my strategy is to get two other campers to form an alliance with me and take them to the final 3. The only question is, who can I find that is desperate or dumb enough to do whatever I say?"
*** Back at the Bonfire Area ***
Ezekiel decided he wanted to hang out with Eva and Izzy, because...well, he didn't really know why, but he was having that gut-feeling moment to tell him to talk to them. Ezekiel got up and walked over to them, with him seeing Izzy waving her hand to hello to him. He sighed and sat down right in between the two of them.
"Hello again wild boy. Must have liked my story from earlier and must be interested in more!" Izzy said.
"Uh...I just wanted to talk to other campers...didn't want to sit on my own based on how long the challenge was going to be." Ezekiel said.
"Alright, now the last time I was on an island was on the Caribbean, and my family had taken me into the heart of the jungle, and, HA, I had to fight off a giant snake, a freaking snake, and I had to take it out using my experience in the wild, and me and the snake had the most epic fight ever man, it was so cool, that when I told my parents about it, they didn't even believe me...which was kind of sad, but still really awesome."
Ezekiel was having a hard time believing this story that Izzy was talking about...but was fascinated, nonetheless. He noticed Eva looking over at Izzy and him occasionally, but when he turned around to look at Eva, she would turn her head away. He assumed that Eva was interested in the story Izzy was telling, but he didn't really know how to bring her in.
"So... Izzy, right?"
"Yup, that's short for Elizabeth, because my parents thought that I would turn out smarter, but apparently I didn't, but that's okay, because I have myself to thank for my wildlife skills."
"Well...is living in the wild the same as hunting? I know my dad taught me that in the woods next to the prairie."
"Wow, so you're a wild and prairie boy...I should call you the wild prairie boy. HAHA! It sticks."
"You know my name is Ezekiel right?"
"Oh, where's the fun in that man. I love putting nicknames on other people...It's easier to do that with friends than I do actual people."
Ezekiel was surprised when he heard this.
"Wait...you already consider me a friend?"
"Of course. Your, like, super nice and all, and you've helped others on occasion, and you switched with Katie, which I thought was super-hot."
Ezekiel coughed a bit, and his face turned a reddish pink as he tried to contain his embarrassment. Izzy chuckled a little.
"Yes, I got you to laugh. Mission...COMPLETE!"
Ezekiel looked over at Eva...and was that a smirk? She was also smiling at his expense...great. But soon after, Ezekiel noticed that she was getting ready to leave.
"Guys, I'll be right back. I'm going to the bathroom."
Ezekiel saw Eva walk away...and then he noticed her MP3 player fall out of her pocket. He then thought about what he should do next.