The Adventurous Duumvirate
Finn Russell had just locked his room, when Walt Hartman, out of breath and not seeing where he was going, nearly collided with Finn.
“Finn!” Walt paused to catch his breath. “I need to see you about something.”
“Alright. Come in,” Finn sighed. He unlocked the door; Walt ran into the room and started to take out some papers. Finn walked calmly into the room.
“I need you to do something for me. You’ll like it. We’ll do it together.” Walt gave Finn a piece of paper. On the paper was a picture of North America. Much of the eastern seaboard was underwater. The Canadian Shield was bigger. Beneath it read, “North America in 2084.” Finn couldn't help but laugh.
“This is a picture of the world, Walt!” he exclaimed. Walt grabbed it and procured a piece of paper. He checked it.
This is it,” Walt said. Finn took a look at it. The adventure was in some tropical island called Germania. Day one would be snorkeling in some shipwreck off the coast. Day two would be going to a waterfall. Day three would be to scale it. Day four would be to explore an area of the jungle.
“This is it?”
“Yep. I almost planned on doing a small remake of the Iditarod.”
Finn Imagined riding a sled through the stark wilderness and the icy terrain of Alaska. He got rid of the image.
“No way. I am NOT doing this. I mean, scaling a waterfall? Climbing K2 is risky, but this is worse!”
“Come on, Finn. It’ll be fun!” argued Walt.

“No. As it is, I’m busy. Exams are in two months. I can’t come.” Finn said with a magisterial tone.

“Finn, this IS an adventure!” Walt not only played his last card, but he had put Finn into a position he couldn’t resist. Finn imagined an angel and a devil standing on his right and left shoulders respectively.

Don’t do it, said the angel.

Do it. You know you love a good adventure. Remember what St. Augustine wrote? “The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page,” said the devil.

It’s too risky. Forget it. You have exams to prepare.

Ah, you can do that later. It’s not that big a deal. It’s only 15 tests.

Good point, said the angel. Yeah, go for the adventure. It’s only four days. They disappeared.
“I’ll do it.” Finn smiled.
“Great! We leave tomorrow,” said Walt. He ran out of the room, as if the had to be somewhere extremely important.
Finn couldn’t wait.


“Are you ready?” asked Walt, when he walked into Finn’s hotel room. Walt was decked out in full scuba mode. He wore his oxygen tank over his back already. His mask was cocked on his head, already, fogging up. His stormy blue eyes looked ready for an adventure. Finn wasn’t.
“Just give me a few minutes,” Finn responded.
“All right. Meet me on the beach.”
Five minutes later, Finn was on the beach in scuba gear. He battled through the crowd trying to find Walt. He found Walt at last. He noted that at least ten other people were in scuba gear. A tall, well built man with jet black hair and a curly black mustache seemed to sneer at him. Finn looked away.
“Why are there so many people here, Walt?”
“Ah...No reason.”
“This isn’t a competition is it?” At once, a voice boomed through the beach.
“Attention everyone,” said the voice. “We thank you all for coming to the Adventurous Duumvirate Competition! As you know...” Finn ignored everything else. This corroborated his worries.
“Walt, you said it wasn’t a competition!” Finn shouted.
“Don’t be so asinine, Finn. You act as if I perpetrated a crime!” He said. The voice said something about getting an idol from ruins underwater. Then an air horn blew. Walt grabbed Finn‘s hand and they headed to the boats. Finn was in a daze. He was just mad at Walt. Finn was startled when Walt shook him.
“Look, I’m sorry. I couldn’t find anyone to do it. I knew you would do it. Every year I try doing it and we always lose, against some British team by the names of James Lunsford and Greg Patterson.” said Walt. “Lunsford was the guy who sneered at you. Patterson, his crony, is some rat-faced guy, who's not athletic, and can’t even see properly.”
“Are you omitting anything else I should know?’ asked Finn.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“So now what do we do?”
Walt checked his watch. “In about a minute, we’ll reach a place. In the shipwreck is an idol. We have to get that idol. It’s just us and 6 other teams.” The driver signaled to Walt. Walt gave an okay sign, and started to get ready. Finn did the same.
“We have an hour of air in these tanks,” Walt said.
“So we have to retrieve the idol in an hour?” Finn asked.
“Yes, but it isn’t far from where we are. Just follow me.” Walt put on his mask and dived in the water.
Finn followed suit. His eyes adjusted to the inky darkness. When he saw Finn, Walt swam deeper toward the ruins. Finn went after. After a few minutes, Walt stopped at once. He signaled to Finn that this was the place. At first, Finn couldn’t see anything. Then, he could make out the shape of the ship. Walt surged ahead and entered an arch. He signaled Finn to stay outside. What seemed like only ten minutes seemed like an hour; time seemed to stretch by. At last, Walt came out with the idol and handed it to Finn. The idol was a small replica of the Chinese Guardian Lion. Both eyes were glowing a fierce red. Walt and Finn swam back to the boat. Again, the five minute swim felt like fifty minutes. Seeing the silhouette of the boat, Finn broke the surface first. Walt’s head appeared almost instantly. The driver helped them back on the boat.
“That wasn’t hard at all, Walt,” Finn said after he took off his mask.
“It seems easy. The hard part is the next two days, which comes next. If we win that, then we go on to day four. They always explain that near the end.” Walt said. He signaled the driver to go on.
Finn couldn't help but feel elated. They might have a chance at winning. Their boat reached, but the opponents’ boat reached too. Finn and Walt jumped off and ran to the stage. Lunsford and Patterson kept stumbling in their gear and had to stop every second or so. Finn and Walt reached the stage first.
“First place!” exclaimed the announcer. The audience burst into cheers and applause. The announcer took the idol and placed it on a pedestal. Lunsford and Patterson finally came on the stage. Then, some girl team from Croatia came on stage. The crowd cheered when both teams came on. Soon, it started to break apart. Finn and Walt walked off the stage.
“So the next task is what?” asked Finn
“Don’t you remember? We have to scale a waterfall to get another idol,” said Walt.
“And the hard part is to find it?”
“Yeah. We always lose at this part. We might as well forfeit.” Walt walked off with a grim expression. Finn thought for a moment and ran up to Walt.
“We won’t lose, and we won’t forfeit. We will win,” he said.
“I believe you, but we can never we find it. They say it rests in a cavern, but it’s like the cavern is concealed.”

Finn was taken aback. Walt was never like this. But Finn knew that they would win.


Next morning, Finn woke to the sound of knocking. He looked at the clock, which read 6:15. Finn rose out of bed and answered the door. He opened it to find Walt. Walt was again ready, wearing a yellow jacket, blue denim jeans. His left arm clutched a red helmet. His right arm clutched a package and another red helmet.
“Are you ready?” asked Walt. Finn’s eyes were tinged with drowsiness. His hair was all pushed to one side. As if that wasn’t enough, he was still wearing his night shirt and shorts.
“Do you think I am?” retorted Finn.
Walt handed Finn the package and the helmet. “Sorry. Your clothes are in here. Come down to the beach in 40 minutes. I’ll be at the helicopters.”
Thirty minutes later, Finn found himself near the resort’s entrance to the beach. The helicopters were near the water. There was a multitude of people on the beach, but it was much more than yesterday. Finn walked toward the helicopters, pushing people to get towards the helicopters. He reached the helicopters, only to find it was taped off and guarded by police.
“Please, may I get through?” Finn asked one of the guards.
“No can do, sir. Only those who are participating can get through.” The policeman said this in fluent English with a heavy German accent.
“But I am in the competition!” Finn argued with a bitter tone.
“That’s what everyone says.”
Finn was about to lose his patience and go all out on the police man, when luckily Walt found him.
“What are you doing here?” Walt asked.
“This guard won’t let me through.” Finn said. Walt talked to the guard in rapid-fire German. Finn was amazed by Walt’s prowess of speaking German. The guard finally let Finn through.
“What was up with him?” Finn asked.
“Nothing. He was just taking precautions. That’s all. Come on.” Walt checked his watch and proceeded to board the helicopter. Finn followed Walt to the helicopter and boarded as well. As soon as Finn had entered, the pilot closed the door.
“You guys ready?” The pilot asked. Finn and Walt buckled themselves in.
“Yes,” they said at the same time. The pilot took off. Through his window pane, Finn saw all the people crowded on the white sands, waving, growing ever so tiny in the distance. He also saw the other cobalt helicopters still stranded. Walt was staring into space, silently thinking.
“Walt,” Finn asked, snapping Walt out of his trance. “Why have the other helicopters not taken off yet?”
“We have a handicap placed on us. The judges told me today. You weren’t there yet. So, not only do we get a head start, but we also land a mile from Angel Rock Falls,” explained Walt.
“So, if it’s a mile, why will it take a day to get there?”
“It won’t. It probably will take two hours to get to the waterfall and a half hour to cross it.”
“Why that long?”
“You’ll see. Don’t worry,” Walt replied.
Finn shrugged and looked outside. Down below, the tops of trees penetrated the sky. The emerald jungle reminded Finn of some tropical rain forest in a place like Brazil. The helicopter dropped in altitude, getting ready to land. Finn was able to see a small river snaking through the woods. He saw something peculiar, almost like a little island jutting out of the river.
“That isn’t an eyot, is it?” Finn asked. The pilot momentarily glanced down.
“That?” he laughed. “No, that’s just a rock. Common mistake. It awfully looks like one.”
5 minutes later, the helicopter landed at the bank of river Walt unbuckled, opened the door, and got out first. Finn came out second. The pilot helped them unload the gear. The pilot, after unloading the gear, took off, leaving them stranded.
“Now, explain how it’ll take an hour,” Finn said.
“We have to get to the waterfall by wading through the river. Last time, it took roughly five under an hour. Got it?” said Finn.
“I get the point.” They put on their packs and started to wade through the water. Even though the weather seemed summer-like, the water was icy cold. Wading through this water is nonsense, thought Finn. This water is super cold. We’ll get hypothermia no doubt. Half an hour passed. Then forty-five minutes. Time seemed to stretch and defy boundaries. After an hour, the current started to get rough. Up ahead, Finn saw rapids. Angel Rock Falls should be up ahead, he thought.
“Finn! Come on! Get out of the water!” Walt shouted. Finn saw Walt standing on the banks of the river. Finn struggled to get out of the water. The current started to get even rougher. On top of that, the rocks were slick. Walt started to unpack his gear and rummaged through it.
“I’m standing here trying to get out, and you’re trying to find something?!” Finn shouted with resentment. Walt took out a rope and tied to a tree. He threw the rope to Finn. Finn understood what was happening and grabbed on the rope. He kept pulling the rope and going toward the riverbank. Walt reached his hand out to Finn, and Finn took it. Walt pulled Finn on to the shore.
“Now what do we do, Walt?” Finn asked.
“Up ahead is Angel Rock Falls. After reaching there, we have to cross the waterfall to the other side,” Walt said. “Then we find the cavern in which the idol is concealed in, which is impossible, because we don’t know where the cave is.”
“So what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Finn said. He surged ahead for a few yards until he came across the waterfall’s cliff. Walt started to descend towards the rocks.
“Isn’t this a bit perilous, though?” Finn asked.
“Yeah, but how do we cross the waterfall, then?” Walt shouted back. Finn started to descend. He had caught up to Walt. Walt went through his pack and took out a rope. He knotted one end to form a noose. He tied the other end to the tree. He gave the rope to Finn.
“You see that rock there?” Walt asked. He pointed to the rock. “Try to lasso it.”
“All right.” Finn took it and threw the rope. Fortunately, it landed the first time.
“Now?” Finn asked.
“Cross to the other side, using the rope. It’s obvious, really.”
“Won’t it hold both of us?”
“It doesn’t look like it. You’re the lightest, right? It’s better if you go first.”
“All right then.” Finn got on the rope. He crossed his legs over the rope and sung his arms over. He inched slowly, snail-like, until he had reached the rock.
“Made it. That wasn’t hard,” Finn said. Walt nodded and he too implemented the same the technique. However, the rope on the other side weakened, and gave way. Walt fell through the waterfall, and disappeared from sight.
“Walt!” Finn screamed. Finn looked around frantically, hoping Walt would surface. Finn couldn’t find him. He sat down dejectedly, under the impression he’d never see his friend again. He was about to take out his phone to call the pilot to get him, when he thought he heard Walt’s voice.
“Finn!” Walt’s voice seemed faint.
“Walt! Where are you?” Finn shouted.
“Behind the waterfall. Come down with the rope. I think I found something,” Walt said. Finn untied the rope and quickly came down.”
“I’m at the foot of the waterfall, Walt. Now what?” Finn shouted.
“Good. I’m going to throw a rock. It’ll show where I am. When you get it, tie the rope around a nearby rock and sling it over,” Walt said. Almost simultaneously, a rock came out of the waterfall. “You saw that, right?”
“Yeah,” Finn said surprised. He followed Walt’s instructions and threw the rock back.
“Good. Secure the rope to a rock at one end; I’ll do the same here.”
Finn tied the rope to a rock and shouted, “Tied it!”
“Excellent! Now come through the waterfall. I want to show you something.”
“What?! Are you crazy, Walt?!”
“No, no. It’s only a sheet of water,” Walt said. “You can cross through. Nothing will happen.”
“Here I come then.” Finn walked through the waterfall. Thousands of gallons of water thundered down onto him. Soon he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had walked right into a cave. Walt stood right at the entrance.
“All right. Now what do we do?” Finn asked.
“Finn, look around. What do you see?” Walt said.
Finn slowly turned around until he saw the pedestal. On the pedestal, was a flaming red phoenix, with two emerald eyes glowing viciously. Finn ran up to it and took it.
“We found the idol!”
“Exactly. Now let’s get out of here,” Walt said. He took out his phone and called for the pilot. He grabbed on the rope and walked through the waterfall. Finn put the idol in his pack and proceeded through the waterfall. Outside, Finn saw the plane on the river and Walt boarding the plane. Finn rushed to the seaplane and boarded.
“So you’ve got the idol?” the pilot asked.
“Obviously. Why?” Finn asked.
“Last I heard and between us, Lunsford and his team got lost on their way. The two girls from Europe quit. You’re in the finals.”
“No way, really?” Walt asked. The pilot just nodded.
Finn was elated. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing! Yes, he thought. We do have a chance of winning!


The final day had arrived. Finn woke to knocking on the door.
“Five more minutes…” he said sluggishly.
“Finn, get up. They’re airlifting us to the final event at 10:00, 60 minutes,” said Walt. “They’re debriefing us at 9:40.
“Fine, then.” Finn dragged himself out of bed and opened the door. He saw Walt groomed and dressed, wearing an emerald green short sleeve shirt and denim jeans. Finn on the other hand was bedraggled.
“Get ready.” Walt shook his head.

40 minutes later, Finn found himself in a small conference room. The room and a conference table with seats for at least 5 on each side. Finn thought the room smelled faintly of leather. At the front was the coordinator, with a name tag that said, “Hi! My name is George,” sprawled in cursive. At the left of him sat Lunsford and Patterson, and the right sat Walt. Lunsford sneered at Finn as he walked in. Finn sat next to Walt.
“You’re late,” Walt whispered. He was shaking his leg and couldn’t stop.
“No, I’m not,” Finn whispered back. He showed his watch to Walt. It just struck 9:40. “See? Right on time.”
Suddenly, George started to talk. “Welcome Teams Alpha and Omega.”
“we’re Omega,” Walt whispered.
George glared at Walt. “Sorry,” Walt apologized.
George shook his head and continued “You have made it to the final event. It has not been an easy competition this year. And neither shall the last event be any easier.” Lunsford smirked at Finn and Walt.
“Is the last event going to be the same as last year?” asked Patterson.
“Shut up, Patterson,” Lunsford reprimanded. “Let the good man explain.” He gestured to George.
“Right. The event.” George hesitated. “Now, if you recall, you have the two statues. You must get four to win. How will you get the four, you’re probably wondering? By capturing them from the other team. The rules are simple. Get one statue at a time into your territory while protecting yours. We’ve demarcated that off, so don’t worry. Your method will include two essential items.” He pulled up a simple handgun and laid it on the table.
“You mean we’ll have to kill people?!” Walt was aghast with this notion.
George laughed. “No. Don’t worry. These guns have been redesigned to only shoot a tranquilizer containing a soporific.” He pulled out a tranquilizer dart as if he was a spokesperson for a TV commercial. “You’ll be knocked out immediately for 5 minutes. You have 50 of these with you.
“The second instrument. We’ve fixed the arena with AI holographic figures. We call them Soldiers. These virtual troops at your command. Each team gets 14. They will fight the other Soldiers and either one can win. The tranquilizer darts will disrupt the projection stream, thus, in a way ‘killing’ the Soldier. The darts will also dissolve. So place them carefully. Neither is retrievable, even after if one statue is captured.” Any questions?”
No one asked anything.
“Good. Now let’s get going. The chopper’s outside. You’ll be given a map and equipment while in the chopper.


“What should be our stratagem?” Walt asked,

“Huh?” Finn was startled. He had been looking outside admiring the luscious jungles.

“How should we go about this then? We have to have some plan.” Walt’s fingers could not stay still.

“No clue. And don’t be nervous. We’ll win this. Watch.”

“Oh, I hope you’re right.”

The chopper touched down and Finn and Walt got off. As soon as they touched ground, 14 blue figures pixelated and formed human shapes, outfitted with armor. They were equipped with blue swords and shields, raring to fight and win. They formed a circle between Walt, Finn, and a pedestal which contained the statues from the previous wins.

“These must be the Soldiers. They’ll probably fight the other Soldiers,” Walt thought aloud. “Now do you have a plan?”

“Yeah. You stay here and defend. Keep 7 Soldiers with you. I’ll go looking for their defense and take 7 with me.” Curiously, Finn tossed a statue to a nearby Soldier. The Soldier caught it and tossed it back. Finn caught it, smiled, and put it back.

“Good. Seems sound. Take this map.” Walt tossed the map. “Though I warn you, I’ve never been a good marksman.” He started commanding 7 Soldiers to take positions.

Finn looked at the map. The arena was a circle, a mile in diameter. The boundary was highlighted in hot pink. He looked towards a Soldier.

“Do you know where the other team’s base is?” he asked the Soldier.

The Soldier though about this and replied electronically. “No. I also cannot tell where they will place themselves or their Soldiers. However, I can calculate the possibility of where it is and the quickest route.”

Finn sighed. So much for intelligence, he thought. “All right then. Calculate. And I think I’ll call you James.” The Soldier bowed.

Suddenly an alarm sounded throughout the entire arena. The game was on.


Finn ordered the Soldiers to disperse, but kept James with him. They ran off into the woods and into enemy territory. Like in the map, the boundary was hot pink. Finn and James crossed over.

Finn could hear faintly the sounds of swords clashing, crashing throughout the entire forest. He could only hope that Walt was doing okay. He crept through the woods, when suddenly, a Soldier came rushing in at him. Finn loaded his gun and shot blindly. Much to his fortune, the Soldier dissolved.

Good, he thought. One down, 13 more Soldiers, two more people.

James guided Finn through the calculated route. “There is an 89% possibility that the base is behind there.” James gestured to an outcrop of rocks on a hill. And sure enough, the pedestal was there, with both statues. The statues were similar in design, but the Chinese Guardian Lion had yellow jewels and the phoenix had green jewels. Quickly, they took cover behind a tree. Patterson stood there, guarded by his Soldiers which carried red swords. Three of them were fighting Finn’s own Soldiers, while five of them stood guarding the pedestal. Finn’s Soldiers were winning.

Finn loaded his gun and took his aim. “I think I can take them all.”

“Don’t,” argued James. “I would advise against it. The Soldiers are fighting too close, and you run the risk of hitting your own. Even if you do kill them and hit the man, you would have not enough time to get the statue and run back without being noticed.”

“Then what?” Finn asked. One of Finn’s Soldiers struck and killed the Soldier. Another Soldier came and started to attack.

“I can take out the Soldiers myself. The man is not a good shot, worse than your friend. You can take out the man and run. Two or three shots and he will be unconscious for 10-15 minutes, enough to retrieve and run.

“If you can. But you won’t come back if you’re killed.”

“I am expendable. Victory is not.” James dashed up the hill. He took out two inactive Soldiers quickly before Patterson could notice. Once he realized this, he hid behind a rock

“Who’s there?!” Patterson shouted. “Who goes there?!” He moved and commanded heavy protection. Finn came out and fired thrice into Patterson’s thigh. Patterson fell.

Finn ran as fast as he could up the hill, taking out the three Soldiers his own were fighting. James came out and killed the remaining the Soldiers. He reached the pedestal, only to see Lunsford running back with Walt’s and Finn’s phoenix. Lunsford shot to prevent Finn, but a Soldier ran and took the hit. Finn loaded and hit Lunsford in his arm. Lunsford was out, tripped, and dropped the statue, inches from the pink line.
Finn grabbed the Lion and made a run. He dashed down the hill but tripped over a tree root. The statue fell two feet from him. He struggled to get up, but once he did, he dashed, grabbed the statue and ran over the pink line. The Soldiers soon followed.
“The first round goes to Team Omega!” a voice blared in the air. Lunsford got up and was furious. He stormed over to his side and shook Patterson.
Finn ran to his statue, picked it up and carried it back to the base. He saw Walt bruised and with streaks of dirt on his face.
“What happened?” Finn asked.
“Nothing,” said Walt. “Just a little hand to hand combat. He knocked me out long enough to get the statue, which I see you’ve gotten.”
“Ok then. How many Soldiers did we loose?”
“Not sure. Only one of ours survived here. Lunsford’s Soldiers might have fled with him.”
“Only four came back with me. So then both teams have the same amount.”
“So we each have five then. Fine. Let the Soldiers stay with me. I need all the help I can get,” Walt insisted. Finn nodded, reluctant to go without any protection.
The alarm sounded again. The second round had started.

Finn ran from the base, clutching the map at side. He stopped at the boundary to catch his breath. Out off the corner of his eye, he spotted a red gleam. He whirled around to see one of Lunsford’s Soldiers. The Soldier had spotted him. It came charging right at him.

Finn loaded a dart in the gun. The Soldier jumped up and swung its sword down. Finn dodged it, but just barely. The sword had grazed his left arm. Burning pain rushed in his arm. The Soldier was swinging its sword, but Finn took aim and shot it. It dissolved into millions of red pixels. He stopped to take a look at his arm. The cut was not too deep, but it was at least two inches long. Finn tore a piece of his shirt and tied it around the wound.

Finn continued through the jungle looking for the rock outcrop. He heard the bushes rustles and came face to face with Lunsford.

“So,” Lunsford sneered. “It’s you.” He held the gun at Finn’s body. Finn still had his gun in his hand.

“It’s a soporific. It won’t do anything,” Finn said calmly.

“So it may seem. It’s a mild drug. But repeated shots and you’ll be out for an hour. Maybe two.”

“Enough for you to win the game.”

“Exactly. Not once, but twice, I can win, if I knock you and that bumbling fool Davenport out.”

“So then why don’t you?”

“You’re absolutely right.” Lunsford shot five times. Twice in the arm, twice in the leg, and once in the neck. Finn felt a wave of weakness come over him. His knees buckled and he fell.

Lunsford looked over him and smirked. “And that was just a warning shot.”
Then, Finn blacked out.
“Finn! Get up!” Walt was shaking Finn furiously.

“Huh? What happened?” Finn had trouble waking up. “Did we win?” He found himself at the base.

“Quite the opposite,” said a dismayed Walt.” We lost the round. He shot me and I fell. He took the Lion and ran.”

“Fatalities?” Finn sat up, trying to comprehend what had happened
Walt shook his head. “All gone. Down to the last one. ”
“What about Lunsford’s Soldiers?”
“Luckily for us, his vanguard was all his Soldiers. I either shot them all or they were defeated by ours. Unfortunately, when Lunsford himself came, he shot them all. Then he looked at me and said, ‘Well, Davenport, you lost this year again.’ He shot me and took his statue.”
“So now what?”
Walt took out a device. It looked like a smartphone. “They gave us a GPS. All four of us have it. It will tell you my location and if I need help, but also, where the opponents are.” He handed it to Finn.
“They also changed the rules. Now, both statues can be taken at the same time.”
“This is either really good or really bad.”
“Yup. This is NOT going to be any fun. Are you ready?”
“Sure.” Finn got up and stretched. Walt tapped his GPS a few times.
A minute later, the third-round alarm rang.


This time, Finn had taken defense. He sat on the ground waiting for something, anything to happen. He looked at the GPS. He was a red dot on the screen. Walt was a yellow dot, Lunsford was blue, and Patterson was green. The statues were little triangles. It seemed that Lunsford was still offensive and Patterson was still defensive. The yellow dot was moving swiftly through the jungle, until it met the blue dot. Finn stood up even, his eyes eagerly watching the screen. The yellow and blue dot circled around for a bit until they both stopped. Suddenly, the blue dot stopped moving and the yellow dot was moving swiftly. This meant one thing.

Lunsford had been shot.

Walt was winning.

Finn did a silent cheer in his head. The yellow dot had reached the green dot. The yellow dot kept moving while the green dot stood still. The yellow dot reached the triangles and the triangles disappeared.

The statues were with Walt. Finn was overjoyed! He couldn’t believe what he was seeing! That was until the blue dot started to move. Toward Finn. The blue dot was moving swiftly and had crossed the pink line. The GPS showed that Lunsford was within eyeshot, but Finn could not see him. Finn put down the GPS and picked up the gun. He loaded in a dart and scanned the area.
Suddenly Lunsford appeared, inches away from taking the statues. Finn fired but missed Lunsford. Lunsford took the butt of the gun and slammed it on Finn’s hand. Finn dodged the attack. But Lunsford had taken the statues. Finn took the GPS and carried the gun in hot pursuit of Lunsford. Finn took a look and the yellow dot was even closer to the pink line. Lunsford had still more distance to go than Walt, yet Finn still pursued Lunsford. Suddenly, the yellow dot crossed the pink line.
Walt had done it!

Lunsford threw down the statues in an act of disgust. Finn rushed to Walt and saw Walt rejoicing in winning.

“See? I told you we would win!” Finn exclaimed.

“I KNOW! I never could have done this without your help.” Walt couldn’t contain his jubilation.
“You know what Walt? This was fun. I don’t know why I didn’t say yes at first. Can we do this together next year?” Finn asked.
Walt didn’t have an answer to that.