I manage a look out the window, and all I see is darkness. “Where the fuck are we? Is it nighttime?”
“No. That’s the weird thing—it’s actually seven in the morning!” She nudges me to get up. “We’re in Alaska!”
Fuck. Me.
SNOWBOUND
Nell
Yes, clearly we’ve been at the bottom of the pack for much of the race, and there have been a lot of times where we made it through by the skin of our teeth. We’ve experienced a few setbacks, but we’re not giving up.
—Nell’s Confessional, Day 9
The taxi takes us to some little town in the middle of nowhere, and meanwhile, I can’t stop talking to the chatty cab driver.
First, I can’t believe we’re here in Alaska. Second, the more I talk to other people, the less I have to talk to Luke.
Not that he’s talking much. I don’t remember much of that night after the first shot of Cuervo. I remember his hand on my ass and me gyrating while he stood perfectly still and the room spun around me. I remember his mouth on mine. I remember asking him to fuck me on the dance floor.
After that . . . nothing. And if I think about it too much, I might die of embarrassment.
No wonder he’s been practically ignoring me since then. I swear, he looks like he can’t stand me. He’s distant and removed, and it’s like his whole attitude had changed. Before he was all gung-ho over the game. Now it looks like he’s deliberately trying to lose so that he can get away from me. He barely lifted a finger during the syrup challenge. I want to grab him and shake him and tell him to get his act together.
I shouldn’t have gotten drunk.
I shouldn’t have thrown myself at him.
I shouldn’t have acted like a total megaslut and turned him off. I even think I may have told him about Gerald and whined about my pathetic lack of bedroom skills.
Oh holy God. I’m a loser.
We’re nearly halfway there. There are only five teams left in the running. This is serious. And what did I do? I went and . . . shook my boobs at him.
I might as well die here. Really, what was I thinking? I’m not sexy in the least. He must think I’m a total ass.
I’m tense and restless while Luke sits in the back of the cab, silent.
The driver drops us at the corner near a gas station. I climb out of the car, and wind whips against my face. I lift my hood over my head. The ground is covered in mounds of snow. I see Will Wang huddled with the camera crew in a nearby bus shelter.
“Hello, travelers!” he says to us as we arrive. “I hope you had a lot of sleep on the plane ride here, because you’re about to get into your next challenge!”
I nod and rub my hands together excitedly as Will’s helper hands us snow boots, bibs, extra-fluffy coats, and gloves and hats, all with the MDM logo on them. I start to kick off my shoes so I can pull on my snow bibs.
Then I look at Luke.
He’s starting to worry me. He has his hands in his pockets, and his eyes are blearily staring at nothing in particular. I snap my fingers at him, motioning for him to get ready, and he startles. “You okay?” I mumble to him as he pulls on his snow bibs.
“Yeah. I’m good.” His voice is rough but weak.
“This is not a challenge for the weak of heart,” Will says, smiling at our coming agony. “Or the weak of body either. First, one of you will need to carry the other on a dogsled, a mile up that hill. Then you’ll need to work together to construct an igloo out of snow, where you will have to spend the night. When the sun rises tomorrow, you and the other four teams will have one more challenge, where you will compete head-to-head to determine your placement for the last half of the adventure.”
I peer through the darkness toward the hill. I can see the ruts in the snow of the contestants who came before us, which disappear into the darkness. Luke should have no problem pulling me. And building an igloo . . . that shouldn’t be hard. But the last thing I want to do is spend the night in an igloo. Outside. Ice cold. Cramped. No running water.