Page 66 of The Compound

“What’s the task?” I asked.

“A hundred-meter race.”

I could see her plan, now. There was no question about it: the boys would win under normal circumstances. I was fast, but not as fast as Andrew and Tom. I didn’t need to be the fastest, however. I just needed not to be the slowest. Becca knew that too, of course.

“We need to wait them out,” she said. “Without water, they’ll get weak in a day, two days tops. You and I will be fine. Either they go home just to get some water, or they do the challenge. If we wait until they’re dehydrated we can beat them.”

“How dehydrated?”

“That’s up to them.”

“Why did you tell me where the water is, though?”

“Are you asking me why I’m sharing water during a drought?” Her tone was distinctly arch, and I gave her a blank look in response. I understood that Becca didn’t particularly like me, but had limited options. It would be risky to pull it off on her own, and she knew that to have a shot at Tom being banished both of us needed to beat him.

“Look,” Becca said. “I don’t mind sharing. I just don’t want Tom to have any. If I tell Andrew, he’ll tell Tom. You won’t tell Tom.”

“Girls?” Andrew called from somewhere beyond. I jumped. “Lily? Becca?”

We sat quietly, and eventually he moved on. I heard him head toward the tennis court, the call of our names becoming dimmer.

Becca whispered, “Are you still thirsty?”

“No.”

“Good. See where the sun is now? Wait until it’s directly above the skylight in the bedroom before you have another drink.”

“I don’t think I’ll remember how to get here.”

“You don’t need to. I’ll be here. I’ll hear your step and come and get you.”

“You’re going to stay here?”

“I can’t risk the boys finding me. If we’re all together they’ll force us to do the task. I’ll need you to bring food to me, though—at least twice a day. When you’re here, I can give you water. Pretend to be as thirsty as the boys, and don’t let them see you come. That’s the most important thing.”

“Okay,” I said. I was eager to go; the maze was eerie, even in the daylight.

“Lie low today,” she said. “By tomorrow they’ll be desperate.”

I left the maze and sat on a stump where the orchard used to be. When it grew too hot I moved to the tennis court. Eventually I had to use the bathroom, and went into the house. Andrew was sitting on a chair by the front door and jumped up as soon as I walkedin.

“Oh, thank Christ, Lily, there you are. I was looking everywhere. Where were you?”

“Just around.”

“Sam would have killed me if anything had happened to you.Iwould have killed me if anything happened to you. Look, I’ve got some bad news. The water’s been turned off. Did you already know?”

“No. Do you think you can fix it?”

“No,” he said, and ran a hand through his hair. “They’ve turned it off. I guess they want us to do a task and get rid of someone.”

“Huh,” I said.

“Here’s the thing. I know I’ve been kind of MIA for the last while. It’s just—well, it’s been hard without Candice. But you get that, now. I know how you must be feeling without Sam. I have to be honest, I woke up a couple of mornings ago, and I kind of thought—well, what’s the point, right? What am I doing? But the water going off woke me up. I mean, Jesus, look at this place. This was paradise not so long ago. We’ve let it go to shit, and it’s my own fault, I know it is. But I think we can get it back to something like it used to be. And I know that doing tasks in the last five means getting rid of someone, but we’ve been put in a position where we don’t have a choice. I don’t want anyone to go, I really, really don’t, but we can’t make it without water.”

His explanations sounded a lot like an apology. He knew that we girls would lose, too.

“Sure,” I said, and he smiled at me, relieved. “I’m going to use the bathroom,” I said, and he nodded. I was nearly down the hallway when he called my name. I turned. He looked apologetic.

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