Striking a deal

"Here," Jade says, offering her water canteen.

Kayo looks at it with longing, and then shakes her head. "No, thank you."

"I know it's spiked, but you can't last long without water. You won't be able to run, and the men will catch you. You can resist it, it just takes a little willpower..." Kayo licks her lips as she looks at the flask in Jade's hand, and Jade suddenly sees her in a new light. "And, there's a little trick I figured out for dealing with it. I can show you."

Kayo takes the flask. "Thank you!" she says, and drinks it down in several large gulps. Jade refills it and puts it back into her pack.

"I don't suppose you still have your map?" Jade asks.

"Yes, but it is no good. I cannot make sense of it, nothing is where it says. I gave up trying to follow it."

"Let me see."

Kayo pulls out the map and Jade opens it up between them on the bed. "Okay... starting point, here. Final safe house, here. Let's see if we can figure out where we are... I'm pretty sure this is the high hill I've been walking toward all day, and back here is the cliff I jumped off yesterday -" (Kayo's eyes go wide, and she puts a hand over her mouth) "- this one might be the treehouse because it's not in a clearing, and I think this is the one you got kicked out of this morning."

"No, that cannot be. I have been keeping to the west side of the island, not the east side. But, it does match up, what you are saying. It as almost as if..." All at once, the penny drops. "Eom-ma-ya! It is like a mirror! West is east, east is west!"

"One of the men told me that almost at moment one, but I lost my map before I could confirm it," Jade says with a nod. "He wasn't lying, it seems. This definitely gives us an advantage; probably none of the other girls have figured it out."

"Us?" Kayo asks, raising an eyebrow.

Jade shrugs. "We each seem to have what the other needs. You've got a map, and I could probably just take it from you, but... well, that's not the way I work. And you just need someone to lean on a little. So, for now at least, I think we could have a partnership."

"You said you are in this to win."

"I still am. And when the time comes, that's what I plan to do, whether you're still with me or not."

"I do not care about winning, truthfully. I do not need so much money. I just... I do not want them to get me."

Jade looks at her quizzically. "What are you doing here, then? If you don't need the money, why did you sign up for this?"

"It was so stupid. My friends and I auditioned as a dare, none of us thought we would be accepted. But I was. They said I should go on to the next step, just to see what happened. I thought I would be able to quit, but someone really wanted me to be here... they said that if I pulled out, they would inform my family of what I had done. That would have shamed me, so I stayed, but I tried to act like someone who they would not want on the show, so they would reject me and I could go home. I never imagined it would go this far!" Tears begin to well up in her eyes.

She probably watched the show and saw how the women all acted like total sluts, Jade guessed. She didn't know - NONE of us knew - that they would have ways of getting that kind of performance out of us, whether we wanted to provide it or not. The more scared and innocent she acted, the more they wanted her. Bastards!

"Let's make a pact," Jade said. "A promise to each other. You say you don't care about winning. Well, I NEED to win; I need that money, not because I want to be rich but because it's literally a matter of life and death. So here's the deal: we'll stay together, and help each other out. You help me get to the prize first. In return, I'll do what I can to keep you safe. I'm not some kind of jungle commando or anything, I'm just a regular girl, but so far I've been able to keep my head above water around here. I guess I have a knack for it that I never knew about until I came here... or maybe I've just been getting lucky. Either way, I'll stick by you right up to the end, if you'll do the same for me."

"Yes," Kayo nods. "Yes, that is good."

"This is for real, now," Jade says, holding out her hand. "Swear it, on something important. We stay together as long as we can and we don't betray each other. I swear it on... my father's life. That's the most important thing in the world to me."

"Nothing is more important to me than honor," Kayo says. "That is what I swear upon to you."

Their hands clasp.

"Okay," Jade says. "We should rest up a bit more before we head out. You should find a stick for yourself, like this one; if it comes down to it, we need to be able to protect ourselves, and it also helps with the hiking."

"May I ask you a personal question?" Kayo asks.

"I might not answer it."

"You said that winning is a matter of life and death for you. Then you said the most important thing to you is your father's life. Is he the one you are here for?"

Jade feels her stomach drop. "I'm... not sure I'm ready to talk about that."

"I can see in your eyes that it is true," Kayo says. "I do not need to know the details. That is very honorable of you, to risk yourself like this for his sake. I know that I can trust you now."

"He doesn't even know I'm here," Jade whispers.

"And that is also honorable. You do not burden him with guilt. If you succeed, then you will save him. If you fail, then he does not need to know what you did, and that would be best if he loves you as much as you do him. I will help you, Fox."

"My real name is Jade," Jade says.

"I am glad to know it... but I think I will call you Fox," Kayo says. "It is a good name for you."