Me and Ben got the air mattress set up after we got the tent up, we agreed that we'd both just use it, the mattress proceed more heat, so at first, I insisted he used it, then of course he didn't accept and just insisted I used it, so we were both going to use it at this point.

Next step was for dinner. Ben was going through the backpack to see the options of what was packed. I was trying to keep an eye on him without seeming obvious. I was sure he noticed, but he allowed it.

"There are some chips in here," Ben called out to me, I was getting the fire ready to cook.

"Any meat to go with it? Iv already got the fire ready for something." I said, at least that was my excuse, chips wouldn't make him feel any better, in fact, it would probably make him feel worse.

"Yeah, looks like chicken." Ben called.

"That'll work," I said, he brought over some neatly wrapped pork, I laughed quietly, not chicken. If he couldn't even identify meats, that meant he had blurry vision, not good. I put the meat in the pan . . . The thing, whatever it was. And then I got up and walked over to Ben. I put my hand on his forehead again, he sighed. He didn't want to be taken care of, I know, but I still was going to.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" I asked I took a few steps back to see how far he could see.

"Four." He droned. I sighed, I had five up, at least he was close.

"Five. I knew it. Ben, we're going to call out and go back to the Lodge, you need medicine that we don't have. How long have you been sick?" I asked, he rubbed his forehead and sighed again.

"No, we're not." He said.

"How long?" I asked firmly and more seriously.

"A few days, three or four." He answered finally. I grabbed his arm and took him to the tent, from what I knew, he didn't just have a common fever or cold, he had something that was going to make him blind if he didn't get some rest.

"I know you hate it, but you're going to have to let me take care of you, otherwise you might not ever see again, but I'll obey your wishes and we won't call out of the games," I said as I got out my phone, I made him lay on the bed. He couldn't see anyways, so I was going to text my dad.

To dad ~ Emergency: Ben is sick, apparently, he has been for days and he never told anyone. I need some medicine for him. ~ Skye

What are the symptoms? ~ Dad

To Dad ~ He's warm, like, really warm, and his vision is blurred, he hasn't slurred in any of his words yet, but I believe he will be. He doesn't want to drop out of the games, so I need you to bring the medicine out here secretly. ~ Skye

I'll be there before dark, just make sure he doesn't do anything for a while. ~ Dad

To Dad ~ Iv already got him lying down. ~ Skye

He didn't respond again so I assumed he saw it and was getting the stuff he needed and making his way out here. I looked back at Ben and lay down on the bed beside him.

"Thanks." He said.

"For what?" I asked, he took my hand, and while he couldn't see very well, he looked at me.

"Everything, and I'm sorry about never telling you about James." He apologized, I put my head on his shoulder.

"It's fine, I get it. I thought about it for a while, and I'm fine with it. And iv decided, I'll answer your questions now, while we wait for the food to cook." I recalled his questions from earlier. "I don't know what we do now, but I guess first thing's first, should officially say, I choose you, Ben Evans. And about Sean, I realized him and I have the same thing me and Josh have, just on a smaller level." I explained, he smiled at me.

"One more question?" He asked, I was pretty sure I knew what it was, but id let him ask.

"Hmm?"

"Can I kiss-" I cut him off by kissing him, of course, he was sick, but, who honestly cared!? I heard a branch snap. Wow, my dad was fast, I pecked Ben quickly and climbed out of the bed, my dad was standing by the fireplace with the medicine in hand.

"Read the directions, and make sure you follow them exactly, otherwise it could become a lot worse, we want him to get better. Be safe, and have fun, but not too much fun, and opposite sides of the tent." He ordered quietly. I hugged him.

"Thanks, it's going to be weird not seeing you for the next few days. But I'll be fine. Love you, see you soon." I said, he smiled and walked back into the woods. I read the directions carefully, one dose per four hours, and the side effects were dizziness, nausea, and swelling of the throat. I swallowed hard, the last one could kill him.

I stepped back into the tent, Ben had sat up, probably thinking that the food was done, it would be soon, and it would be good to go with the medicine.

"What's that?" He asked upon seeing the white bottle in my hands.

"I know you didn't want to drop out of the games, so I sent an emergency text to my dad and he got you some medicine," I said carefully, I didn't want him getting upset, but he didn't seem upset at all, he actually looked a little relieved.

"Thank you, again. As long as it's not gross and doesn't have horrible side effects like possible death." He joked, I didn't respond for a minute and my face went blank. "Skye. . . There aren't possible side effects such as death right?" He asked worriedly.

"Well. . . There's swelling of the throat. But it's not a hundred percent one, it's one of the least likely ones." I said in a rush, he took the bottle and looked at it, he swallowed hard and gave it back to me.

"Ok, I'll do it." He said, I grabbed a spoon from the backpack and poured the perfect amount and then gave it to him. He drank it and made a sour face. "Gross." Then he grinned, he waited until I put the lid back on the bottle and put it on the fold-out table we set up and then he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him and kissed me.

"Ok, you're right, that's really gross," I said with a sour face, oh it was really horrible, they didn't try to flavor it at all, or maybe they made it taste like vomit on purpose. Ben chuckled and let me go. I went outside and spit as much of it out of my mouth as I could. I had only gotten a little of it in the first place bit every drop was horrid. I checked on the food, it was done. I got out the paper plates from the backpack and put the pork on it, I sliced it all up for both of us and put chips on the plate with it. I sat on the bed next to him and gave him the plate of food. He gladly ate it and got the taste out of his mouth.

"It's getting late. Should go to bed." Ben said after we finished eating. I nodded, I was exhausted after the bike ride. Part of me never wanted to participate in the games, but the more people that competed, the more money the lodge got, and after the whole incident with Sean's dad, we needed to put ourselves out there.

"Ok, goodnight," I said as I crawled onto the air mattress.

"Night," Ben replied.

~~~

I was awake before Ben was, I smiled as I watched him, he was so peaceful when he was asleep. I got up after a while, I couldn't exactly change, inside, Ben could wake up, and outside, there were about a hundred other people in the woods camping. So I just put a jacket over what I was already wearing. It was a freezing morning.

I started to cook some eggs, there was a cooler behind the tent full of ice that I had moved all of the things in the backpack too. I could hear Ben stirring, he was going to wake up soon if I wasn't quiet, the more rest he got, the better. That's why I hadn't cooked the bacon yet, the sizzle would most likely wake him up if the smell didn't.

Cooking on a fire was actually really fun, it tasted different and it cooked slower, it made you appreciate the food more and gave you more time to look around and think about nature, which reminded me of the clue from the Underground. It was about a flower, that grew on the waterfall, at night it was small, but during the day it grew tall. Was there a waterfall at some point on the river?

The thought escaped my mind as two arms snuck up behind me and scared the living life out of me. I looked up to see Sean and Josh. Sean was the one that had grabbed me and Josh stole my eggs.

"What're you guys doing here!?" I whisper yelled, and I made sure they knew Ben was still asleep and to be quiet.

"Eh, I and Josh teamed up after Noah quit and James was caught cheating, he may or may not have gone on to the rock climbing event too soon," Sean explained, the two boys sat down on either side of me.

"He cheated!? And Why'd Noah give up?" I asked.

"James decided Sean was too much to deal with so he stormed off to the next challenge with the backpack and everything, and Noah and I tipped over across the river, luckily, I had put my phone in an airtight bag to keep it from getting wet and unfortunately for him, he thought we could get over the river without tipping and decided that he was done after his phone short-circuited. Sean came and found my camp since James had taken all the supplies and food and we had breakfast and decided to just bunk up." Josh explained, huh, cool. At least they both got what they needed. Josh got a better partner that somewhat understood the outdoors and Sean got what he needed to survive the rest of the time in the woods.

Ben was definitely awake now, I could hear him getting dressed in the tent since he had the tent all to himself. I shooed the boys off.

"We aren't supposed to be talking, it kinda counts as cheating, go, shoo, see you later! Good luck!" I said as they were leaving. I got out Ben's medicine as he came out fo the tent. There were some eggs left after the others had picked at it a bit, I gave the rest of it to Ben.

"Morning." He greeted as he sat down on the fold-out chairs.

"Morning, and guess what you need to do before you eat breakfast?" I asked with a smirk. He narrowed his eyes at me and sighed.

"Take my medicine." He said childishly. I laughed and gave him his spoon of medicine. He took it quickly and tried to grab me again.

"Nope, eat your breakfast. No icky stuff for me today. How are you feeling?" I asked, I waited for him to take the first bite of food so most of the gross flavor of the medicine would be gone and he couldn't pass it to me and I felt his forehead, he was cooler, but he was still slightly warm.

"Fine, vision cleared up, and I'm not dead yet. That should be the last dose that I have to take." Ben said, I nodded and held up two fingers. "Two." He said without me even asking, I back up to the tree line. "Still two." He called to me, I nodded and walked back over. I sat down in a chair next to him.

"So, I was thinking about the clue, since we've got a whole free day of nothing to do, I think we should walk along the river line to see if there's a waterfall," I suggested. I knew there wasn't one to the east, but to the west, there was a possibility of there being one. Even if it was a small one.

"Sure, as long as it doesn't get us disqualified." He accepted.

"No, as long as we don't go to the rock climbing event, we won't be disqualified," I said, I started to ramble about the rules of the games again just to clarify, he grabbed my hand and I shut up.