the production

chapter twenty four

After the middle of the week passes, there's a distinct change in energy on the island. As we get closer and closer to Sunday, it's as if everyone knows our days could be numbered. People don't chat in the hallways. There's no mingling at meals. At least twice a day, someone invokes a rivalry on the lawn. I notice Captain isn't among them.

There are no more messages from Julius. I don't know what to think of this. Is he biding his time, waiting to hit me with one big, essential task? Or is there simply nothing he needs from me right now? With no further orders, there's nothing to concentrate on but my first Sunday Challenge.

Captain runs with Joseph every day. They jog together on the beach, Joseph trailing Captain by a few steps, his skinny limbs in stark contrast to Captain's broad shoulders. I work with Dodger, trying to coax his personality out so the audience can get to know him better.

Before I know it, it's Saturday night. Our half of the island is getting rowdy at the ravine—rowdier than any other night I've been here. My communicator tells me we'll be waking up early, and I'm not looking forward to the way I'll feel after all the Toxie I drank tonight. I'm just pouring another when I hear a beep and look down to see one word: RINGOLEVIO.

"Tomorrow's challenge," Captain is suddenly right next to me. I jump violently, jerking my body away from his.

"Jesus, Captain, you scared me. Ringo...what on earth is that?"

"A variation on a kid's game," he says, ignoring my reaction to him. "Each team has a jail. We'll have to fill our jail with members from the other teams and break our own members out of other jails. The team with the most captives at midnight wins."

I nod. Ringolevio. Now that I know what the Sunday Challenge is, I'm strangely calm. The game isn't complicated. It's a simple objective, one that will make for good TV.

"Should be fun," I say, giving Captain a nudge with my elbow. He fixes me with his Angry Captain look, his eyebrows drawn together in a frown.

"It will be a bloodbath, V," he says sternly.

"That was a joke, Captain. The polite thing to do is laugh."

"I'll laugh when you say something funny."

"Okay. I'm going to find someone else to talk to now."

"V," he grabs my arm. "We should get some rest."

We? Does that mean he's spending the night in our bedroom? I wonder, my heart suddenly banging in my chest.

"Who put you in charge of my bedtime?" I ask.

"It's late. We need to be ready for anything tomorrow."

We again.

"I'm perfectly capable of deciding when I go to bed, thank you," I pull my arm from his grasp, slipping into the crowd before his inevitable dissent.

I don't go to bed anytime soon.

I smoke with Cords and I drink with Dozen. I sit by the torches for a long, long time, savoring the heat on my face and the feel of other people around me. I pretend it's my last night on earth, and conduct myself accordingly.

When I stumble into our bedroom hours later, Captain's bed is empty.

. . . 

Morning comes far too soon.

My communicator beeps on my nightstand, lighting up in a little orb. I roll over with a groan, peeling one eye open to read the word: BEACH.

At the familiar ding sound, I take my birth control and prick my finger before pulling on my fanny pack and waking the rest of the team. When we get to the beach there are several motorboats floating just offshore. A tall figure stands in front of them. Of course he's the first one here.

"Boats?" I say as I walk up to Captain.

"One for each team," he answers, his eyes on the water. "They're splitting us up so we don't know where anyone else's jail is."

Captain looks down at me.

"Are you ready?" he asks, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

I don't answer at first, taking time to consider the question. Not for the first time, I wish I'd paid more attention when watching the Production with Meesh. I can't remember a single detail from past Sunday Challenges. Now I wish I was more prepared. I've only been here a week. That means one week of working out, one week of fighting, just one week to get used to this place.

I can't stop thinking about how I might have to kill someone today.

"Not really," I answer honestly.

"There's no way to be ready for this," he says quietly, still looking at me.

"Any advice?" I ask.

The corner of his mouth twitches.

"Don't die."

We climb into the boat marked with the number 6, and the rest of our team follows. The boat starts automatically, its motor humming as we pull away from the shore.

"Gather around," Captain says. He's standing behind a large chest, which he kicks open to reveal a pile of blades and other metal instruments. "Choose something you know how to use."

Everyone files up to dig through the chest. It's mostly knives and daggers, with some blunt objects like nightsticks and clubs—close contact weapons, clearly meant to force us to interact with our enemies. There are only a couple guns. Captain hands me one, taking the other for himself. I've never held a gun before, much less fired one, but I zip it into my fanny pack anyway.

After Captain explains the challenge to the team, the rest of the boat ride is spent sitting in silence, looking out over the deep blue waters. We weave along the shore, in and out of bays, watching as the other boats dock one by one. I study Captain as he traces his gaze up and down the coast of the island, his eyes analyzing each crevice of rock, zeroing in on each cave.

I wonder what he'll do when he finds what he's looking for.

Our boat is the last to pull onto a long stretch of beach. In front of us is a makeshift hut made of crude wood. Our jail. Captain hops from the boat and the rest of the team follows suit, gathering on the sand.

"Alright. Use these—" Captain hands everyone small earpieces, "—to communicate. Press it once to talk to me and V, press it twice to reach the main team channel."

Everyone sticks them in their ears. Captain points at some of the more senior members of the team: "You're on guard duty. You all—" he points at another group, "—look for the other team's jails. The rest of you, split up in pairs and capture anyone you can. Got it?"

Everyone nods. I notice Captain assigned Joseph to look for the other jails—the only position that probably won't require fighting. I thank him silently for doing that.

Captain jerks his head toward the jungle. 

I follow him into the trees.