The Contestant. Stephanie Doyle

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СКАЧАТЬ lips twitched. “All I’m saying is that it’s not a team sport. Every man…and woman…is on his own.”

      There it was again. Something in his expression, the way he seemed to single her out, had the hair rising on the back of her neck. It was ridiculous. He was wearing dark sunglasses over his eyes; she didn’t really know that he was looking at her. But she swore that she could feel the heat of his gaze through his shades. This guy was dangerous. She just wasn’t sure in how many ways.

      “I can take care of myself,” Nancy proclaimed, apparently sensing that she was the weak link. She was right.

      Talia reached out to pat her hand gently and caught Reuben’s smirk. It didn’t matter. The future was looming in the shape of an island that was growing larger on the horizon. It seemed to explode out of the clear aqua water, and Talia figured since it was probably nothing more than a big volcano island, that’s exactly what it had done a couple of hundred years ago.

      “Okay, Joe. Get ready.”

      Talia heard the host’s commands and tensed. They were still a good mile or so from the shore. The water was shallowing out underneath the boat and she could see clear through it to the shadows of the coral reef below. She considered the predators, moray eels, gray reef sharks, tiger sharks and a sundry of fish that could bite hard enough to take a chunk out of a person. Not to mention the coral itself. If someone fell out of the boat the wrong way and impacted with the reef, it could rip flesh open, spilling blood into the water. Which would serve only to attract the predators they all very much needed to avoid.

      “Are you sure this is safe?” Talia questioned Evan as the boat slowed to a bob in the water.

      The host smiled, his stupid teeth practically gleaming in the sun. “Of course it is. If anything happens we can always pull you back on the boat. Don’t forget the cameras will be watching you the whole time.”

      Talia wanted to ask who would be watching out for trouble in the water, but she figured Nancy was currently bumping up against a panic attack and there was no reason to suggest anything that might trigger it.

      “What’s the matter, Pollyanna?” Reuben jibed. “Getting scared?”

      “What do you think?”

      He didn’t answer right away. Instead he smiled. “No, I don’t think you’re scared. Of the water, anyway.”

      His smile widened. It was the first time she’d seen his teeth since the trip began. They were almost as white and as straight as Evan’s. Only Reuben’s smile wasn’t so much fake as it was menacing…and perversely exciting.

      The second boat moved alongside and everyone nodded to each other, their expressions cautious, but also anticipatory. Both cameramen sprang into action, focusing in on the contestants one at a time. Talia did her best not to look away.

      “Okay folks, here’s how it’s going to work. For the first part of this game we will be separating you into two teams. Not randomly though. This is going to be Darwinism at its purest. The first four that make it to the island, thereby the strongest, will be one team. The final four will be on the other. Once everyone gets to the island I’ll explain how the first few days are going to work. Until then, this is a race and I’m the starter. Ready. Set. Go.”

      Everyone scrambled for the single backpacks that they were allowed to bring. They were only supposed to have contained some basic clothing, sneakers and, for the women, some feminine products. But the way Tommy was clutching his made Talia wonder if he hadn’t included gold along with his illegal ration of food.

      It didn’t matter. It was time to focus on getting everyone safely to the island. She watched as the group from the second boat jumped overboard and began to swim. When she didn’t see any lingering signs of a brownish fluid floating to the top of the water, she assumed that they had made it safely over the reef.

      Nancy was about to fall backward into the ocean, when Talia stopped her. “No. You’ve got to watch what you’re doing,” she said pointing to the shadows underneath the surface. “Check out the other side.”

      Nancy bobbed her head and scrambled for the other side of the boat, while Talia stripped off her life jacket. Reuben had already stashed his glasses in his sack and dumped the jacket in the boat, but she could see he was cautiously assessing the situation rather than diving right in. Iris was also still searching for a safe spot.

      “You need to the move the boat in farther,” she told Evan. “We’re sitting on top of a chunk of coral reef. It’s too dangerous.”

      “This game isn’t about making it easier for you,” he stated heavily.

      “Idiot,” she cursed under her breath. He was trying to make it seem dramatic, when the truth was if anyone got cut open, they would be in serious danger, if not from predators then certainly from an infection.

      “There’s a clear spot here,” Reuben called to them, already in the water and treading in a way that told her there was enough depth for them to jump. Then he was off, swimming toward the shore.

      Knowing she couldn’t play the game as ruthlessly, leaving her competitors to fend for themselves, she helped Iris into the water, and then turned to Nancy.

      “Let’s go.”

      “Maybe I should take off the jacket, too.”

      “No, I think you’ll feel more comfortable with it on.” The woman had no idea the physical strength it would require swimming such a long distance in the ocean. She’d been practicing in a pool. It was the difference between driving on a highway versus racing a car in the Indy 500.

      “But don’t you think it will slow me down? This is a race.”

      A race that Talia had already given up the idea of winning. Someone was going to need to stay with the older woman for the duration to make sure she got to the beach. The fact that Nancy didn’t understand that she needed help wasn’t good, either. The last thing Talia needed to deal with was ego, as well as the trials of getting them both to the shore.

      “Sometimes slow and steady wins it,” Talia told her encouragingly. “Let’s go.”

      She got Nancy over the side and into the water. Then she hooked the woman’s backpack over one shoulder and her own over the other. The weight in both was trivial and Talia was easily able to manage them. She waited a moment as Nancy tried to acclimate herself and then jumped in behind her.

      The ocean was warm and buoyant and for Talia it was like putting on a cozy sweater. She allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of floating, practically weightlessly in the salty surroundings. Swimming wasn’t as much fun as diving. But it was a close second—head and shoulders above walking or running.

      Why anyone chose another method of exercise that involved panting, sweating and pain, when swimming was all about being fluid, comfortable and relaxed, she would never know. But this wasn’t a vacation. It was time for her to get to work.

      Using a breaststroke helped Talia to keep the packs on her shoulders, as well as giving her a nice, easy stroke to conserve energy. She also was able to continually survey the group in front of her. She swam up next to Nancy, who was working her arms in a modified freestroke form. The divorcée was doing a lot of splashing, but she wasn’t going very far.

      Splashing СКАЧАТЬ