Free Desperate Measures by Jeff Probst Page A

have thrown the food away. But here, the idea of throwing away
anything
to eat was inconceivable.
    It was amazing what even a little food could do. Carter, especially, seemed to wake up from the trance they’d found him in. It was like watching him come back to life. Jane could have drunk gallons more water than they’d been given, too. Even so, she felt stronger than she had in days.
    And then, finally, the conversation began.
    There were questions first. Lots of questions. Carter listened as they explained what had happenedwithout him, and how
Ohzooka
had been called after his escape.
    Then he told them about his own strange turn with Chizo. It had been Chizo himself who had pointed the way for Carter to run.
    â€œMaybe he was hoping you’d get lost in the jungle,” Buzz said.
    â€œOr worse,” Vanessa said.
    â€œI don’t know,” Carter told them, looking up. “It was weird. I could have really taken him out in that fight, and I didn’t. I think he was paying me back.”
    â€œYeah, well . . .” Vanessa said, and held up her bound wrists. “I guess it
almost
worked. Thanks for nothing, Mima.”
    â€œI can’t believe she’d do this,” Jane said.
    â€œDon’t say that,” Carter told her. He looked up again, Jane noticed, but there was nothing to see. Just the starry sky and the back of one of the guards.
    â€œWhy not?” Vanessa asked. “Listen, I get it. She had to do what she had to do. But meanwhile . . . well, never mind.”
    Vanessa sat back again and shut her mouth.
    â€œYou can say it,” Jane told her. “We’re stuck. They’re going to try and take us away from Carter in the morning. And there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
    â€œDid Mima really need the blood ring that badly?” Buzz asked. “She already had the
seccu
.”
    â€œListen,” Carter said. “We wouldn’t turn on each other, would we? Mima wouldn’t do that to us, either.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Buzz shot back. “She just did!”
    â€œOmigosh, do you still
like
her?” Vanessa asked. “What’s wrong with you? This is about way more than a crush, Carter.”
    Carter didn’t take the bait. He kept his voice low. “I’m just saying, we’re going to be okay,” he told them.
    â€œHow can you say that?” Buzz asked.
    â€œAnd why do you keep looking up?” Jane added.
    When she looked for herself, the guard had stepped away from the edge of the pit. She could hear him talking to the other one, nearby.
    Carter glanced up once more. Then he leaned forward and rolled to the side, showing them the dirt wall behind his back. It was too dark to see much in the pit, but Jane could tell something was there. It had been shoved into the soft earth, she saw, just before Carter moved back into place.
    When she looked up again, the guard was there, staring down at them.
    â€œWhat was that?” she asked Carter in a whisper.
    Carter looked around at each of them in turn. “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you,” he said quietly. “Right after Mima tied me up, she gave me her knife.”

    Carter laughed for the first time since he could remember. The wide eyes on all three of his siblings were clear, even in the dark pit.
    â€œI knew it!” Jane said. “I knew she couldn’t just turn her back on us.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you say something?” Vanessa asked.
    â€œI just did,” Carter said.
    â€œBut what does it mean?” Jane asked. “What are we supposed to do with it?”
    â€œIt’s not like we’re going to . . . stab anyone,” Vanessa said.
    â€œAnd even if we cut ourselves free, how do we get out? And past the guards?” Buzz asked.
    It was still strange, speaking out loud for anyone to hear. But the guard didn’t even turn