He looked over at me, and must have noticed me studying him, because he scowled darkly in my direction.
So I grinned. And popped the first piece of mukluk into my mouth just to f**k with him.
Immediately, I regretted that choice. Mukluk was awful. The taste was something like super fatty, slimy sushi, and it had a texture like gristle. It was cold on my tongue, and it smelled worse than anything. I shivered and forced myself to swallow the piece, then reached for a piece of the cooked mukluk. It wasn't nearly as bad, though still pretty foul.
I alternated pieces, gagging between each one. Every few minutes, to my side, Liam would make a quiet heaving noise and then proceed to grab his bucket, which only made my stomach turn a bit more. I began to hum to myself to drown him out, grabbing pieces of mukluk and eating as fast as I could.
There was a lot of damn mukluk in the bowl. Soon, my entire mouth tasted like fish, and all I could smell was the scent of slightly-turned mukluk. I held my nose for a few pieces, and then decided to just suck it up and cram a piece of cooked mukluk in with the raw and chew fast. The taste was still awful, but it helped masked the slimy gristle-texture, and so I kept pairing and swigging with water.
It wasn't a fast process. Even as I ate, I saw one of the girls on the end get up, stagger toward the judge, and was handed her token. Abby. She’d finished the challenge first.
She headed off into the snow, likely to meet up with her partner Dean. That was okay, I told myself. Everyone else was still here. I crammed more mukluk into my mouth, eating as fast as I could. It was pretty awful, but I'd had worse at culinary school when we had to taste our own experimental dishes. I could hear someone else get sick nearby, and it made my stomach roil uncomfortably, but I ignored it and kept eating. I crammed my mouth full of mukluk and glanced down the tables at my competition.
Liam had his head down on his table, clearly trying to compose himself. He hadn't eaten another bite in several minutes. Others picked at their food, gagging at the taste or the texture. I continued to sandwich mine between the less slimy pieces and drank lots of water, glancing at the people that had just sat down. I was doing all right.
I grabbed the last piece at the bottom of my bowl and choked it down, ignoring the fish smell and the way it felt in my mouth. Almost done. I stared up at the clear blue sky overhead as I chewed, willing myself not to barf and ruin this. Gristle and fat squished between my teeth as I chewed.
And chewed.
And chewed.
Then, I reached into the bowl for the next piece…and there was no more. I was done. I jumped to my feet, flipped the bowls over, and trotted over to the judge.
He handed me my disk, and I gave him a nod of thanks, then ran down the path.
I started out jogging, but as soon as I did, my stomach gave a sick little gurgle, and I had to slow down. Sure enough, my mouth filled with saliva, and I paused on the side of the snowy trail to puke my guts out.
Mukluk splashed all over my shoes and the snow, and I grimaced, moaning at how awful I felt. I had to keep going, I told myself. We were in second place right now. I couldn't let anyone else pass me. Dragging myself forward, I headed down the marked path, following the trail.
Over a crest, I saw a finish line ahead. Each race always had a mini finish line set up, complete with waving flags and a tape that you could break through. The tape was still unbroken.
Two people milled by the tape, waiting for their partners. One was Abby, clutching her stomach…and the other was Brodie. Holy shit, where was Dean?
Brodie gave a whoop of delight and a jump when he saw me, racing for me. "Come on, Katy! We're in first place!" He grabbed me and began to drag me forward, toward the tape. My stomach roiled in protest.
I staggered with him across the finish line, and we landed in front of Chip Brubaker, who stood below a colorful World Games flag. "Brodie and Katy," he said with a beaming smile. "Congratulations on being the first team for the Greenland leg of the race!"
"We did it," Brodie yelled, and grabbed me and spun me around. "You did f**kin' awesome, Katy!"
My stomach gurgled again. "Put me down, Brodie," I whispered. He did, and I sank to the ground, resting my cheek in the snow. Blessed, blessed snow. I was pretty sure I was going to puke again.
Overhead, I heard Chip talking to Brodie. "Here is your prize for winning the Greenland leg - an Ace. You can use this Ace to save another team at any time in the game."
"Great," Brodie said enthusiastically.
"Pepto," I moaned, clutching my stomach. "My kingdom for Pepto."
Brodie came to my side and thumped me on the back, hard. "We did awesome, Katy! I totally smoked everyone in the kayak race."
I gave him a weak thumbs up, still sitting on the ground.
A moment later, Dean and Abby trotted up to take second place. Abby looked as green as I felt, and collapsed next to me in the snow a moment later.
"You puke?" She asked breathlessly.
I held up two fingers. “Twice.”
She nodded. "Me too."
Taking a cue from us, our partners sat nearby. One of the cameramen pointed us off to the side, indicating that we should get out of his shot, so we all sat on a nearby snow bank, drinking bottled water to settle our stomachs and watching other teams arrive. The girl Olympians were third, and not too far behind Abby and Dean. Over the next hour, the other teams crossed the finish line, pair by pair.
Last to arrive? Tesla and Liam. I felt a twinge of pity for Liam, who looked a bit like death warmed over. He was sweaty and pale, and clearly had not done well in his challenge. Tesla looked unhappy with her partner, annoyance stamped over her pretty features. Her arms were crossed over her chest as they came to the finish line.
"Tesla and Liam, you are the team that has finished last," Chip said in a dramatic voice. "Unless someone wishes to use their ace to save you, you will be eliminated from The World Races."
I snorted. Not likely.
To my horror, Brodie stood up, brandishing the sealed envelope that had been marked as our prize. "I'll use the Ace."
CHAPTER FOUR
"That douchebag just f**ked me, all because he wanted to sleep with my partner. What? No cussing? Fine. That jerk just dicked over his sister and me. What? I can't say dicked on camera either? Come on." — Liam Brogan, Ireland Leg of The World Races
"What the f**k, Brodie?" I called, staggering to my feet.
Chip plucked the Ace from Brodie's hand, brandishing it triumphantly. "And we have our first Ace of the game in use! Yellow team is going to use it to save the black team! That makes this round a non-elimination round!"