Read Online Castaways by Brian Keene - Free Book Online Page A

and complaining that her back hurt and her arms were tired. Jeff and Raul doted on her, administering back rubs and offering to carry her share of the firewood. Their fellow contestants weren't as sympathetic. Jerry and Becka stuck with the threesome for a while, making small talk and feigning polite interest, but slowly they lagged behind, eventually separating from the other three.
    "Oh," Becka whined when they were out of earshot, pretending to faint, "my poor little arms and legs hurt. Jerry, will you carry me back to camp?"
    Chuckling, he shook his head. "Unbelievable, huh?"
    "It makes me sick, how the rest of the guys buy into her act. Well, except Ryan, of course."
    "And Troy. And Matthew."
    Becka frowned. "Troy's smarter than he looks. Matthew really creeps me out, though."
    "Yeah," Jerry agreed. "I think he's asexual or something. That's probably why Pauline can't play him."
    "And what about you?"
    "What do you mean? I'm not asexual."
    "No," Becka laughed. "I mean, why don't Pauline's charms work on you?"
    "That's easy. It's because I'm here to win. I'm not here to get famous or spin my appearance into an acting gig, or to hook up with people or make new friends. I'm on this show because I want to win a million dollars. Is she good-looking? Sure. I'm not gonna pretend she isn't. But I keep my eyes off her and on the prize instead. I'm here for the money. Aren't you?"
    "I don't know. I guess so. At first, anyway. I thought it would be fun."
    "Having second thoughts?"
    "Maybe. I don't know. I think I'm just homesick."
    "You said you brought a diary as your luxury item. Does it help?"
    "Not really. I've been so tired since we got here, I haven't really kept up with it. There's only three entries so far."
    "Well, you'll be around for a while yet, at least. I'm sure you'll have time to write more."
    Becka smiled. "I hope so. As long as I outlast Pauline, that's all that matters to me at this point."
    "You will. Just don't count on beating me."
    She slapped at him playfully, and he caught her hand in his. Becka felt a tingle course through her body. Jerry's hands were firm and strong, yet his skin was smooth and soft, just like his eyes.
    They stayed like that for a moment without speaking, just holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. Then Jerry broke contact and glanced away. He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet.
    "It's sort of weird, not having the cameras following us around for once."
    "Yeah," Jerry agreed. "It is. When we first got here, I had a hard time getting used to them. Now that they're gone, it's even stranger. I keep wanting to play to the camera, but it's not there."
    "Good. I could use a break."
    "Yeah, me too."
    "So, what would you do with the money if you won? If you don't mind me asking? Not that I'm being nosy or anything."
    "No, not at all. You'll probably think it's stupid, though. I mean, it's nothing grand or noble. I don't want to give it all to charity or help my sick mother or anything like that."
    "Try me."
    "Okay. Well, I work in a video store, right? Nothing glamorous and it doesn't seem to impress women, but I like it. But video stores are a thing of the past—a real dying breed. They've got to compete with movies online, Netflix and big discount stores marking DVDs down so low that it's cheaper to buy them than rent them. So I've been thinking about alternatives lately. The writing's on the wall. Sooner or later, I'll be out of a job."
    "So what are you thinking about?"
    "What I always wanted to do was open my own comic-book store." He paused, and wagged his finger at her. "I know what you're thinking right now
    just by the expression on your face. It's the same thing everybody thinks. You mention a comic-book store and they immediately think of some small dive in a strip mall with a bunch of smelly geeks playing Warhammer and the fat guy from The Simpsons sneering behind the counter. Am I right?"
    "Pretty much," Becka admitted. "My brother was into comics and gaming,