A Shelter

The trees thicken as Jade proceeds, and it takes a great deal of concentration to keep on a straight path - concentration she can barely summon, not just because of the aphrodisiac running strong in her system, but because of the sheer stress and mental strain of the past... day? Two days? It hasn't even been a full twenty-four hours yet, but it feels like she's been lost on this island for weeks.

Jade recalls a trick from when she spent a single year in Girl Scouts - use the trees to stay on a straight path. Pick three trees ahead that go in a straight line away from you, she remembers. When you get to the closest one, pick another tree that's further away and in the same line. As long as you have three trees that line up, you keep going straight.

She's well aware of how well she stands out, with her pale white skin against the black of the woods. It would be safer to dig in somewhere for the night, or at least for the next few hours - she certainly can't risk setting off alarms again! But, she made her choice already, to follow where the camera pointed. If they're leading her into a trap, it's going to happen no matter what she does. Besides, if the other girls are joining up with the men, the only way she can win - and win with her virginity still intact, at least insofar as men - is to make good on her deal with the producers.

One of the trees up ahead looks strange. Jade narrows her eyes, tries to see better in the dark. The top of the tree is almost... square. As she approaches closer, the artificiality of the tree's shape becomes clearer, though she would likely not have seen it had she not been specifically looking at the trees. Finally, she is close enough to be sure; there is a platform up in the tree. Perhaps a safe house of some kind? In any event, it seems too convenient to pass up.

Unfortunately, the trunk of the tree is smooth - not just smooth in that it has no branches, but perfectly smooth, and apparently painted to look like bark. It doesn't seem to be made of wood at all - it's metal, like a lamppost. And, it's impossible to climb. Why would they put this here and have no way to get to it? Jade ponders. No, there must be a way up... but how? There's no ladder, nothing to grab onto except the platform itself, and that's got to be fifteen feet off the ground - the hammock!

Quickly, Jade pulls the hammock from her pack that she had cut from the portable shelter. About seven feet long, she guesses. And I'm five-two, but if I got a good whip with this thing and jumped high enough, I could probably catch it onto one of those bars sticking out up there!

The first attempt fails, as does the second. The third hooks! She loses her grip on it when it catches, but she can still jump up and grab it. This is going to be tricky, Jade thinks. I'm not that great at pull-ups, but it's the only way to get up there! She leaps for the dangling end of the hammock and catches it with one hand, leaving her hanging about a foot off the ground. It stretches but holds, and she reaches up with the other hand to grab a handful of the mesh, then pulls herself higher, straining not only to climb but to do so without making a sound. Finally, she's able to get a toe into the hammock's mesh, and from there it's easy.

When she gets to the top, she realizes she's not alone. Sleeping on a bare mattress at the center of the platform is one of the other girls. Jade only remembers her name because she had been making such a show of confidence on the helicopter ride in, constantly referring to herself in the third person. Paige. Next to her is the rope ladder she clearly used to get up to the platform, and was smart enough to pull up after herself. Jade immediately does the same with her hammock. Then, she creeps up to the mattress, kneels down beside it, and then quickly and firmly claps a hand over Paige's mouth.

Sure enough, the other girl wakes immediately and lets out a tightly muffled scream. Jade winces - it still might have been heard!

"Shut up!" she hisses. "I'm not one of the men, I'm a girl. I'll let you go now, I just didn't want you to cry out when I woke you. Stay quiet!"

Paige nods, and Jade releases her.

The blonde girl scrambles to the opposite side of the mattress, staring back at Jade with wide eyes. "You couldn't think of a better way to do that?" she whispers. "Jesus Fucking Christ, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"What would you have done?" Jade asks.

"I would have... oh, shut up! Who invited you up here anyway, this is my spot!"

"And it would have been mine if I'd shoved you over the side before you had the chance to stop me," Jade points out. "And we'll have a lot more company if you don't start keeping your fucking voice down!"

Paige glares at Jade, who glares right back. The two of them sit unmoving for a long moment.