Desperate Measures by Jeff Probst Page B

right away—not just what had to happen, but the need to keep moving. She had her hands on the frame next to him before Vanessa and Buzz were even in position.
    â€œSo, do we just—” Vanessa started to say.
    â€œPULL!” Carter said. He bore down with his feet in the dirt as hard as he could. Then he locked his fingers around the fat piece of bamboo and heaved with the others.
    Amazingly, the gate moved on the first pull. There was a groove in the ground, and the whole thing slid several feet before they lost momentum.
    Carter’s heart surged.
    â€œAgain!” he said.
    â€œEtto
farka!”
Mima said.
Farka
was the word for
storm
. And they were fighting like one right now.
    They heaved a second time. The frame seemed to stick in the ground, but then gave way all at once. Carter fell back, jumped up, and grabbed on again.
    â€œKeep going!” he said, and they did.
    The screen dragged toward them like the wall of a house moving through the dirt. Carter managed a step back. Then another.
    â€œIt’s working!” he said.
    All at once, the whole thing gave a hard jerk as the opposite side of the screen left the far bank of the channel. The frame suddenly rose in his hands, pulling him right off the ground while the other side dropped toward the water.
    â€œNo, no, no!” Vanessa yelled.
    It was too heavy. There was no time to switch tactics. The far corner of the frame crashed down, wedging itself into the channel at a crazy angle.
    Carter still hadn’t let go. He hung five or six feet above the water now, and quickly pulled himself up to sit on the frame itself. The current rushed by underneath him.
    â€œWhat now?” Buzz asked.
    â€œActually . . .” Carter said.
    It was hard to gauge in the dark, but it looked very much like there was enough room on this side of the channel for a canoe to slip under the tilted gate.
    â€œWe can still do this!” he said—just before several voices came up from the woods.
    Carter looked in that direction and saw the flame of a torch. Then another. Someone was coming their way.
    They’d beenspotted.

CHAPTER 14
    B uzz saw the torches, and his heart dropped.
    â€œWe’ve got to go. Like, right now,” he told Vanessa. She was farther down the bank and hadn’t seen anyone coming yet.
    â€œAll right, let’s go!” she said, and pointed upstream. “Carter! This way!”
    â€œNo, I mean, there’s no time for that,” Buzz said.
    â€œHe’s right,” Carter said, and yelled up the channel. “
Jane!
Change of plans. We have to go! Cut the boat loose!”
    There was a tense pause. Not a silence, though. The fire and the chaos in camp filled the air with soundand light. So did the torch carriers, coming closer through the woods.
    â€œNow?”
Jane’s voice came back.
    â€œYes!” Carter yelled. “Bring the canoe! There’s no time to explain!”
    â€œWhat about the current?” Vanessa asked. “She’s going to wash right past us!”
    â€œNot if we catch her,” Carter said. “Everyone spread out. Buzz, grab one of those pieces of bamboo and hold it over the water. We just need to slow her down enough to get in, and then we’re gone.”
    Buzz looked up. Carter was already on the frame of the gate itself, sliding farther out over the channel. The whole thing sat cockeyed, with the far corner stuck in the water. The other corner, nearest them, was at least four feet above the channel. That’s where the canoe could pass. But first they’d have to slow the boat enough to get in.
    â€œNessa!” Buzz said. “Up there! Next to Carter.” Vanessa was the tallest. She was the gymnast, too. “If you hang upside down, you’ll be able to reach anything that passes by. I’ll work from here with Mima.”
    He bent down and picked up an end of the heaviest bamboo he could spot. Several pieces had been