LaShonda

No first aid kit, Jade thinks as she rummages around the hut. Plenty of fresh water, though; I'll bet LaShonda will be happy to see that, there's none along the beach according to Malik's map. If she goes for the stream, Carlos and those other guys will probably catch her, so hopefully she won't do that. I really want to eat this other orange, but I'll save it for her; I'm going to have to get on her good side, after all. She looks up at the ceiling of the hut, sees the cameras she was expecting, and glares at them. I hope you bastards jerk your own dicks off.

The hut is surprisingly well-lit; the walls, which looked like pre-fab steel from the outside, are actually translucent panels which allow enough sunlight in to make the inside almost as bright as outside. Instead of a mattress, the floor itself is covered in large square cushions, made of the same black-and-gray weave as the hammock Jade had used earlier, and they're tied to the floor with cords of the same material It would be useful to take the cords with her, but Jade knows it's impossible to rip, and she has nothing to try and cut it with.

What do I say to LaShonda when she gets here? Jade wonders as the lays down on the cushions. Should I tell her that the Director sent me here, or let her think I ran into her by accident? If I tell her why I'm here, will she go along with it? Probably not... I get the idea that she'd probably kick my ass for that. She didn't strike me as someone who respects authority, or people who go along with it.

Is that what I'm doing? Going along with the producers? Well, I guess I am, if I'm going to be honest with myself... but the ends justify the means. I'm doing it to keep myself in the game, as long as I can. By now, most of the girls have probably been caught and deflowered... I might be the only one left who's still a virgin. Well, only in the sense that I haven't fucked a guy yet, but the misogynic bastards running this thing probably figure girl-on-girl sex doesn't count. Anyway, if I AM the only one left, it's more important than ever that I stay virginal. After all, as soon as they catch me, that could be the end of the game! The Director said that once we're all fucked, that's it. And that means I kiss the prize goodbye... and my father along with it.

Jade puts her hands behind her head, stares up at the ceiling. If I really am the last virgin on the island, or if I eventually become the last one... that's going to make things a lot harder. They're bound to start sending the men after me at that point, to try and end the game before someone reaches the prize. Maybe that's their whole scheme - they make it so it's really impossible to win. But I KNOW they've had winners before... haven't they? He said as much during his little opening spiel, but it's not like these people are trustworthy. My God, is this all going to be for nothing in the end?

Jade sees a shadow against the sunlit wall - a woman, that's easy enough to tell. There she is, she thinks, a lump rising in her throat. She backs up against the opposite wall, ready to defend herself if she has to -

The door is thrown open, and LaShonda rushes inside, spinning around to shut it again and throw the bar across it. Then she turns to take in the room, and jumps back half a step when she sees Jade sitting there.

"Whoa, what the fuck?" she exclaims. "What are YOU doing here?"

"Hiding, what does it look like?" Jade responds.

"Well, you're doing a shitty job of it, leaving the door unlocked like that!" LaShonda replies. "I mean, you're lucky it was me instead of one of those rapers out there!"

"I guess I forgot," Jade says in a small voice. Or, I knew you were coming, and I wanted you to let yourself in.

"Never mind, just gimme some of that water!" LaShonda says, spotting the large bottle attached to the wall. She rushes up to it and opens up the spigot, sucking at the spout as if she's dying of thirst. By the time she comes up for air, at least half a gallon is gone. "Oh, holy shit," she whispers, "I couldn't have gone much longer without that... I was almost ready to go trade my pussy for a taste of that stream back there. Probably would have, if this hadn't been here."

"Those guys are still out there?" Jade asks.

"I saw two of them. They looked like they were waitin' for someone."

"I think they're waiting for me," Jade says. "I heard them talking when I was sneaking past them. They knew I was heading this way. Someone tipped them off."

"Yeah, well," LaShonda says, sitting down in the opposite corner, "I'm pretty sure the guys runnin' this show are setting us up. I ran into... well, never mind." She looks away, at the wall.

"Malik," Jade says quietly.

LaShonda's eyes snap back to her. "How the fuck do you know that?" she demands.

"I met him," Jade says. "A couple of hours ago. He said his sister was on the island, and... well, it's not hard to guess that it would be you."

"He probably fucked you good, didn't he?" LaShonda sneers. "Goddamn bastard."

"No, he didn't," Jade says.

"You beat him up? Serves him right."

"LaShonda... he helped me. He saved my friend's life. He's gone now, off the island."

LaShonda's eyes are penetrating. "You're shittin' me."

"No, I swear it's true. I teamed up with Kayo... you know, the Asian girl. She got hurt, really bad. If Malik hadn't shown up, she'd probably be dead now." Jade takes a deep breath. "He wanted me to tell you something, in case I ran into you. He wanted me to tell you that he did something good. And he really did."

"He's still a fuckin' ****," LaShonda mutters, looking away again.

"Yes, he is," Jade agrees. "He told me that much himself, that there were two other girls on this island that he ****. But he could have done the same to me, and he didn't. And there's another girl who's going to live to see tomorrow, because Malik was there and he saved her. That doesn't change what else he did, but it's got to be worth something."

LaShonda leans back and closes her eyes for a moment - and then they suddenly snap back open again. "Wait - you said he's gone? How did he leave?"

"On a helicopter," Jade says.

"Goddamn it!" LaShonda shouts, scrambling to her feet.

"Wait!" Jade says, running up to her. "I know what you're thinking, I saw the crash. It wasn't him, I swear. It was a different helicopter. The one he left on was all red, the one that crashed was white with a red stripe. He's all right, I'm telling you!"

"Are you sure?" LaShonda demands, grabbing Jade by the shoulders.

"I'm positive! Kayo was on the same helicopter that took Malik, I'd be out there digging through the wreckage right now if I thought there was a chance she might be there. LaShonda, he's all right! And we need to stay quiet, or we'll have twenty men surrounding this hut!"

Jade puts her hands on LaShonda's shoulders to try and calm her, and suddenly realizes how close the other girl is... close enough to kiss, if she were to try. Jade holds back for the moment, but her eyes drop momentarily to LaShonda's lips, and she can't suppress the slight shiver that runs through her. The self-satisfaction didn't hold her lust at bay for long; if anything, it's made her even hungrier for the touch of another woman. Or man, she adds as an afterthought.

LaShonda seems to calm down as well, and perhaps Jade is only imagining things, but it seems to her that there's a momentary look of desire in the dark girl's eyes. She obviously wasn't drinking much water, until now, Jade thinks, but she did have the canteen she started with, and she's probably been eating the food. Plus, she just had a whole lot of it, all at once, and it doesn't take long to take effect. She's feeling it... she must be.

"Here, sit down," Jade offers, dropping to one of the cushions and gesturing for LaShonda to take the one next to her. "We're both playing this game to win, but that doesn't mean we should turn on each other. The men are the enemy here, not us."

"And how do I know I can trust you?" LaShonda asks.

"Well, when you were sucking at the water cooler a moment ago, I could have kicked you in the head and thrown you out the door, then locked it. But I didn't."

"I could've taken you, bitch."

"Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't still be here if I couldn't hold my own, you know."

LaShonda considers. "Okay, you got a point. But I still got my eye on you."

Okay, Jade thinks. Now we're friends, or at least as close to it as we're likely to get. The question is, what do I do now to get her to give into those desires that I know she's feeling?