When Junior woke up, the sun had barely risen, but already the tent was getting hot from its rays. It was an unpleasant end to an unpleasant night and an unpleasant start to an even more unpleasant day. Junior had constantly tossed and turned in his sleep, tormented by hunger, thirst and strain. During the night he had repeatedly woken up, craving at times water, other times food. The only thing that enabled him to sleep was the exhaustion accumulated from the previous day.
After the ambush fiasco, Irina had kept everything she had gathered at the first checkpoint for herself. At least, weighed down by the extra load, it had been easy for Junior and Lwazi to keep up with her. They hadn't even tried to take some supplies from her by force. She had proven to be much stronger than she looked, and neither one of them felt like getting their butts kicked. Again.
JUNIOR
Can you smell that too?
LWAZI
It smells delicious.
Grunted Lwazi.
LWAZI
She must be cooking breakfast...
In an effort to keep a close eye on her, they had pitched the tent close to where she had elected to make camp the previous night.
Junior got out of the tent, only to find Irina happily removing an opened can of beans from the fire. She looked at him and smiled.
IRINA
Dobroe utro tovarisch!
Junior glared at her, but couldn't think of anything to reply, so he clenched his fists and ground his teeth in frustration.
JUNIOR
Get up Lwazi! We need to get moving!
He said, angrily.
With considerable effort, Lwazi crawled out of the tent, and once they had packed everything up, they got moving. Irina soon followed suit, tailing them in the same manner they had followed her the previous day.
LWAZI
It doesn't look like she is planning to race us to the checkpoint today...
Said Lwazi, looking back towards Irina.
JUNIOR
So nice of her...
Replied Junior, sarcastically.
JUNIOR
She probably doesn't have room in her bag for anything more...
LWAZI
Cheer up! We might be able to eat today!
JUNIOR
And drink...
For hours they followed the brightly coloured poles along the route, until they reached the second checkpoint. As Lwazi expected, Irina never tried to compete with them for the supplies dispensed there. Finally, after more than a day without nourishment, Junior and Lwazi could quench their thirst and satisfy their hunger in peace. That is, until they realised that Irina had smoothly walked past them and she was almost out of sight. They quickly gathered their supplies and hurried towards her.
Their mood had considerably improved, and Junior, restored with energy, took out the map and began studying the rest of the course. He was so deeply engaged in this work that he failed to notice that something strange was going on around him...
So far, every time they had come across other contestants, they had been walking in the same direction as them. This time instead, they were coming towards them, some of them openly sobbing...
LWAZI
What do you think about that?
Asked Lwazi, after they had passed a particularly distressed girl. She was crying her eyes out, and looked inconsolable.
JUNIOR
About what?
Junior looked up from the map.
LWAZI
About all of them.
Lwazi made a gesture with his hand, showing Junior the number of contestants passing by them, following the coloured poles back to the second checkpoint.
Junior was shocked, and franticly looked back down to the map, trying to make sure they hadn't taken a wrong turn somewhere. He then realised that, lost in his focus, they hadn't been following the map at all, solely relying on the poles to continue along the track.
JUNIOR
No idea... I just hope...
He couldn't finish the sentence.
LWAZI
You just hope?
Junior took a deep breath.
JUNIOR
I just hope we're not lost...
Lwazi widened his eyes, but didn't reply right away. The thought of being lost in the desert didn't appeal to either of them.
LWAZI
We can always follow the rods back...
JUNIOR
That's exactly what they're doing, I'm afraid...
Junior said, pointing at the contestants walking in the opposite direction.
LWAZI
Well, we're not going to die at least!
JUNIOR
But we won't be selected either...
At that particular moment, between the two outcomes, the latter appeared the worst to him. "What could make all these people turn back?" asked himself Junior.
His question was soon answered, because as the path turned around the corner, the colourful iron poles that had valiantly guided them so far, the ones on which pretty much all the contestants had blindly relied on to complete the course, had vanished. Before them stretched the clear, open desert, unfamiliar and unpredictable like the ocean.
Junior was still holding the map in his hand. He felt his gaze drawn to it.
JUNIOR
Is this the only map we have, Lwazi?
Suddenly, awareness dawned on Junior.
LWAZI
It surely is...
Not everyone had a map... everyone they just encountered must have turned back because they didn't have one and couldn't go further... and if Junior had the only map of the team, then...
Junior quickly turned around, just in time to see Irina jump on him. He had a split second to get out of the way, and he started running.
JUNIOR
STALL HER!!!!
Shouted Junior to Lwazi.
Lwazi promptly did as he was told, but unfortunately, Irina quickly overpowered him and started chasing after Junior, who was still running away, rummaging through his bag, looking for something. With every step he took, Irina got closer. Even in that conceited situation, he couldn't help but admire Irina's athletic prowess. When Junior finally found it, Irina was upon him, but it was too late for her. He took out the lighter and quickly set the map he was holding on fire.
IRINA
NOOOO! IDIOT!!
She stopped dead in her tracks.
IRINA
What have you done?!
She collapsed to her knees.
IRINA
Now nobody of us will be selected!
Junior smiled broadly.
JUNIOR
I am the only one who knows the way to the end now! Are you coming with Lwazi and me or not?!
