The day begins with BELLE unusually happy. She walks into her office, just as she is about to have a seat JOHN walks in
JOHN
"I know I have said it before but let me remind you again, please don't kill anybody today.."
BELLE
"Its a day for having fun! we are unwinding why would I kill someone yet am not even participating?"
JOHN
"You designed the challenges and from the look of things everything looks too normal "
BELLE
"Then why are you worried?"
JOHN
"You princess are the desert weather...and this feels too cold...I feel like people are going to freeze to death"
BELLE
"No I was too lazy...I have just made normal challenges...or maybe I want them to lower their guards then unleash something sinister either way, you, I and them are going to find out when the company games start..."
JOHN shakes his head and leaves for his office.
MEMBER 1 TEAM TWO
"From the look of things it all looks normal...but walking into this set I feel like its booby trapped..."
MEMBER 2 TEAM TWO
"Maybe today she is playing a mind game where we always expect something to happen but nothing happens"
BELLE walks out of the changing room and into one of the halls where the games are to take place. There are two teams dressed in blue and red tracksuits She wears a black tracksuit and a whistle around the neck. On the stands are staff from various branches the crowd cheer. She speaks into the microphone
BELLE
"Welcome all...as you all know today we are having company games...am thinking the blue team will win"
Murmurs and cheer from the crowd she continues
BELLE
"I also think the red team will win...Its anybody's game....we all know I was given the privilege of punishing the loosing team...so for any teams sake I hope both of you win..."
MEMBER ONE TEAM TWO whispering to his teammate
"Under normal circumstances they motivate people to win by giving them rewards and trophies...here our motivation is to escape punishment..."
Murmurs from the competitors and cheers from the crowd. JOHN and CHIEF look from the crowd with CHIEF excited while JOHN is slightly worried.
BELLE
"Okay lets begin... since there are two teams of six each pair up and you have to carry your team mate to the finish line...simple right?..."
Murmurs and cheer as the teams pair up
On the red team HEAD pairs with his wife, ALLURE with AUGER and AEGIS with a member from TEAM THREE.
The members of TEAM TWO and some from TEAM THREE make up the blue team.
BELLE continues
"Now your weakest member will cost you points as each position you finish from has various points...now before I forget"
JOHN
"There it comes..."
BELLE
"while carrying your partner...you can't touch them with your hands...your partner has to hold on tightly to you...plus..
ALLURE releasing an exhausted sigh
"Of course what did we expect...simple right?"
BELLE
"You can't carry your partner on your back or chest..."
Murmurs from the crowd...
BELLE
"The clock is ticking "
she blows the whistle not giving the teams time to think straight .AUGER and ALLURE figure it out first as he carries ALLURE on his shoulders and they start running off to the finish line, the others copy them and follow suit as the crowd cheers wildly
BELLE
'I guess I made that one too easy'
OFFICER writes the scores on a board at the far end of the room the red team wins the first round.
BELLE into the microphone again
"For our next exercise ...tug of war"
suddenly OFFICER ushers someone carrying boxes.
AUGER
"Its never good when someone walks in with boxes.."
The other Boys nod in agreement. The crowd is curious as to what is in the boxes...
OFFICER hands each team wet suits.
HEAD
"I though she said tug of war...well maybe we are doing it in a swimming pool"
BELLE directs the teams and they take their positions everyone curious as to why they are wearing wet suits.
BELLE
"Ready?...one two start! she blows the whistle just for OFFICER to turn on a sprinklers that were set on each side...the unexpected nature of it leads to some members letting go of the rope...quickly they gain back control..."
HEAD pulling the rope
"So this is what the suits were for"
BELLE speaks to herself amused
'wait till they realize there's more to the water'
JOHN sighing
"There it is again.."
Suddenly everyone starts to slip...the water from the sprinklers is soapy water...
The crowd cheers and laughs at the hilarious scene of pulling and slipping
BELLE into the microphone
"Remember this challenge has the most points...the team that looses this will have a hard time recovering..."
TEAM blue wins the challenge and OFFICER again fills the score board.
The teams get out of the wet suits and prepare for their next challenge
BELLE
"For this challenge...its about landing the bulls eye over and over again...okay let me demonstrate"
She takes a small hand gun and shoots one of the targets set before her and lands the bulls eye
BELLE
"Easy...the target isn't far plus everyone in the teams is a perfect shot...now you have to shoot the same spot four times..."
ALLURE to AUGER
"Hold that sigh of relief in...I feel it...its coming.."
BELLE continues
"For the second shot..."
She places the gun on her other hand and continues
"You have to shoot with your other hand...you can start with either hand...your shooting hand then to the other or vice versa pretty easy..."
AUGER
"Doable..."
BELLE
"For the third and fourth shots observe..."
She wears a blind fold and lands the third shot, shifts the gun to the other hand and lands the fourth shot then removes the blindfold
CHIEF in an excited tone to JONH
"Now I wish I had settled and had a child..."
JOHN
"Why are we suddenly talking about that?"
CHIEF
"I should have had a son and had her as my daughter in law...."
JOHN stuck between a surprise and a scoff just sighs as they continue to watch...
ALLURE
"All we can do is our best.."
BELLE ushers the teams to their shooting spots ands blows the whistle of course the first two shots are landed well but no one manages to land the last two, ,its a tie for this round.
BELLE
"For the next exercise we are going to have a three legged race relay...you pair up again... and hand the baton to the next pair till the last team crosses the finish line..."
ALLURE
"There's no point in expecting it to be normal...lets just brace for the worst.."
BELLE
"..ready...one two...ooh I have forgotten... the batons..."
suddenly the first teams are handed eggs on a spoon...
BELLE
"Those are your batons carry them safely, if one person drops theirs at any point even if its the last point...the first team has to restart the race as the eggs are only at the start point...all the best"
AUGER
"More like brace for the impossible..."
Exhausted sighs from the participating teams laughter and cheer from the crowd. The red team manages to cross the finish line first and wins the round
BELLE
"We are going to take a break...we have even more fun activities planned for the afternoon..."
MEMBER ONE TEAM TWO
"More fun?...we are in for the worst..."
MEMBER TWO TEAM TWO
"Should we pretend to be sick in the afternoon?"
MEMBER ONE TEAM TWO
"Both of us?"
MEMBER TWO TEAM TWO
"We cant...I have just recalled what she said yesterday about giving up? Giving up is only allowed when her medical deduction deduces that one can't continue with the competition anymore..."
The members sigh exhausted as they leave the hall with the excited crowd
BELLE feels her phone vibrating she checks its JOHN she looks up to where he was seated earlier and JOHN urgently beckons her. She rushes to him. I will brief you on the way as they urgently walk out of the hall.
JOHN
"I have just received a call...there is a military raft stuck in the storm it contains some trainees and they can't be located...search and rescue is being inhibited by a storm...they have requested for you...I know you had a lot planned for the afternoon...and you can say no...your father would kill me if he knew I sent you on this mission..."
BELLE
"Have you watched a Disney movie called MOANA?"
JOHN not seeing where the conversation is headed
"Moana?"
BELLE sighs
"Well the ocean it calls me...anyway you will get it later"
JOHN Leaves for his office having not understood the reference.
BELLE immediately rushes to change as her team follows her hurriedly. Frantically they board the plane .BELLE revs the engine and leaves for one of the bases which had been set as the disaster management center.
By the time they get to the base the rains have intensified .BELLE lands, a tall handsome military officer greets her warmly and hands her a raincoat as her team follows behind being rained on. They rush to a helicopter on standby already equipped and ready for takeoff. They get in and she starts to crosscheck the equipment
TALL HANDSOME OFFICER
"The world has to be coming to an end for me to see you...I missed you.."
The boys look at each other
BELLE
"Priorities...someone's life is about to come to an end while you are professing your love to me.."
AUGER nudges AEGIS
AEGIS
"Priorities"
TALL HANDSOME OFFICER
"See you after this is over...maybe we can go for some..."
BELLE revs the engine and TALL HANDSOME OFFICER walks away
BELLE
ALLURE today you are my co pilot
ALLURE who is already seated opposite her nods in agreement.
She flies the plane to the assigned coordinates and after a while they spot a military life raft which has six officers on board. The raft is trying to stay afloat in the wild sea but the winds and the rain are making it almost impossible.
BELLE tries to circle the raft to no avail...her team drops a rope but the officers cant seem to reach the rope due to the wild weather. Finally one trainee manages to cling onto the rope and is pulled into the plane the boys wrap him in a foil thermal blanket BELLE circles again and tries to lower the plane but the rope is being swayed by the storm.
BELLE
"ALLURE You have the controls"
ALLURE scared
"No I don't ...I don't!"
BELLE unstrapping
"have you ever killed five trained elite officers plus one special warfare trainee?"
ALLURE
"No! why... what has that got to do with anything?!"
BELLE
"Why are you confident you are going to do it today... she leaves her seat"
ALLURE shakily takes control
BELLE
"I wouldn't have risked all these men's lives plus mine if I thought you couldn't do it, ....I know you haven't done this in a while...plus I know what happened the last time you did...I trust your instincts..."
ALLURE nods and she hurriedly moves to the back issues instructions and proceeds to...she straps herself onto AEGIS and hooks him onto the plane...
BELLE to HEAD
"We will have to grab them the rope is not working and not to freak ALLURE out we are almost low on fuel I turned off the beep. We need to hurry."
AUGER directs ALLURE on whether to move the plane to the left or right to ease the process of grabbing for BELLE. Finally she scoops one and HEAD and AEGIS pull her in...again she jumps out and one trainee manages to hold onto her legs, she holds onto her and she is pulled into the plane
BELLE
'Three to go...'
She pulls the other two as well...just as she is about to go for the last one...the raft overturns and the officer is swept into the wild sea.
BELLE to HEAD
"The plane needs to fuel...go back now! I will be waiting and she grabs a double ended hooked rope like the kind she had strapped onto AEGIS with and jumps onto the upside down raft she immediately unhooks from AEGIS and the plane leaves the site with AEGIS wildly protesting...She hooks herself to the raft ,removes a gun flare from one of her pockets and manages to spot the trainee who is holding onto dear life.
BELLE manages to swim towards her she drags TRAINEE back to the raft. She then passes the other side of the hook through the raft and and hooks the trainee such that both of them are hooked onto the raft. She notices the trainee shivering from spending so much time in the icy water.
TRAINEE
"Am scared...what if we don't make it.."
BELLE
"What's your name.."
TRAINEE
"Isn't it weird am sleepy.."
BELLE
"OFFICER!.."
TRAINEE
"Yes..."
BELLE notices TRAINEE has started to show signs of hypothermia. She tries to calculate in her head how long it had been since ALLURE and the team left and how long it will be before they are back she realizes it will take way longer plus the refueling ...she notices officer slowly slipping in and out of consciousness
BELLE
"TRAINNEE...who is waiting for you at home..."
TRAINEE mumbles somethin incomprehensible
The rain intensifies...
BELLE moves closer to OFFICER and tries to lift her on top of the upside down raft TRAINEE completely unconscious now. BELLE tries to place her on top of the upside down raft the waves make her efforts futile
BELLE who is also exhausted and cold by now
' I should preserve the energy I have left incase we have to stay here longer...'
She holds onto TRAINEE and they drift helplessly in the sea for a while. She realizes she is also getting weaker...she holds on tighter as if she didn't trust the hook she had placed on them earlier. She speaks to the unconscious TRAINEE
"I got you...you know people don't know this about me...If I were to compete with an octopus in a hugging competition...I would win... first because I hate losing and secondly..."
suddenly she hears the sound of a plane engine...
BELLE exhales shakily...relieved and cold. She speaks to the fully unconscious TRAINEE
"My boys...are here...hang in there...am pretty sure they are scared by now..."
Meanwhile in the plane AEGIS is already strapped ready to jump AUGER trying so hard to spot her...
HEAD trying to mask his fear
"Am sure even the sea is scared of her... It cant harm her...I bet she already swore at a shark if it dared swim close to her...she is here somewhere...look for the boat"
she hears the engine get closer...
BELLE lets go with one hand...shivering out of herself...as she tries to get the last flare from her jacket. Speaking to the unconscious TRAINEE again
"if you were in a good state I would have made them work for it..."
She releases a shaky chuckle at the thought...
She manages to release the flare with the little energy she had left...
The engines roars above her head...she smiles
"My boys..."
just then AEGIS joins them and unhooks them from the raft...
BELLE
"Take her first..."
AEGIS reluctantly takes TRAINEE and then immediately comes back for her
Once in the plane they cover her in foil...and she embarks on first aid for TRAINEE officer she shakily handles the assignment AEGIS looks helplessly as he could not even help her. TRAINEE is warm
BELLE
"Why do you all look scared..."
she tries to remove her boots her hands shake so violently...AEGIS removes her boots for her and the boys bombard her with warm clothing she smiles
BELLE
"You know what would work better than these clothes?...a group hug"
The boys smile and scoff at the same time...
BELLE
"Am so proud of you...all of you, even my scared cute brave pilot...I mean ALLURE"
HEAD
"Yes we got that...you know no amount of therapy could get him back on that seat..."
BELLE smiles faintly as they land at the military base .
TRAINEE is rushed to the infirmary BELLE sighs relieved and tries to get off the plane bare foot AEGIS carries her...she writhes trying to get down
BELLE tries to cover her head with the foil
BELLE
"I will loose gangster points put me down!"
AUGER amused
"Or were you waiting to be carried by TALL HANDSOME OFFICER...he threatened us with our lives and called us ungentlemanly for leaving you behind..."
BELLE
"No...he isn't my type..."
ALLURE
"Why he is pretty good looking... who is your type..."
BELLE
"He is the type of man to clip a woman's wings...you guys trusted me to handle the situation...When I say am capable...I would like my man to believe Iam...so in a nutshell all of you are my type..."
ALLURE cringes as they enter the infirmary which is bustling with activities
TALL HANDSOME OFFICER
" I will take it from here....Give her to me.." she tries to take BELLE from AEGIS'S hands
AUGER
"Are you a medic?...move aside" as he shoves TALL HANDSOME OFFICER aside and walk in with AEGIS
The Boys walk away from him and AEGIS places her on one of the beds while HEAD hustles one medic to come and have a look at her....just then TRAINEE comes to her bed and gives her a hug catching her off guard, BELLE smiles
TRAINEE taking out her phone
"Wait I want to show you something.."
BELLE reluctant
"I don't like surprises unless am the one doing the surprising"
TRAINEE
"You asked me who I have waiting for me at home and even when I gave up you ensured I get to see them again ...Its the picture of my daughter...she gets to see her mum because of you... she is one year old"
BELLE
"No wait..."
TRAINEE surprised
"Why?"
BELLE
'When I look at you...you are a very pretty woman..."
TRAINEE still not seeing where the conversation is headed
BELLE
"based on a research I have been doing...I have realized extremely beautiful women like you marry... the uglie...let me look for a kinder word, not so good looking men...I don't know if nature designed it that way to balance and not create extremely beautiful people...anyway...this being your first daughter probably looks like her dad...and how can someone look at a baby and not say how cute!...don't turn me into a liar...so I wont look unless she looks like you..."
TRAINEE laughs her head off
"OOh you are serious..."
she proceed to show her
BELLE sighs relieved
"she is indeed cute...!"
TRAINEE hugs her once more and returns to her bed.
BELLE to the Boys
"You all should learn a thing from her.."
ALLURE
"What"
BELLE
"To be proper huggers"
Scoff from the men
A medic arrives to give BELLE a checkup once done she insists that all her boys receive full checkups as well which they receive fully whining. She is released in a hospital gown and slippers covered in foil.
TALL HANDSOME GUY
"So can I call you..."
BELLE walking towards their helicopter
"Please do..."
TALL HANDSOME GUY
"But will you pick"
AEGIS in an impatient tone shoving TALL GUY aside
"Please let the lady breathe. She is not fully recovered..."
TALL GUY stops following them
BELLE amused
"lady!...please carry this lady to her chariot."
AEGIS without warning scoops her and carries her to the helicopter she writhes again and covers her face anytime they encounter someone.
ALLURE flies them back to the office. As soon as they land she finds her father and uncles waiting for her on the helipad
BELLE surprised
"What are all of you doing here?"
GREG Hugging her daughter...
"Dad! I will loose gangster points..."
GREG
"From who!"
She points the Boys
GREG hugs all the boys unexpectedly and goes back to his daughter
GREG
"Now you are all even"
TIM pointing to AEGIS
"Pajama guy!"
The boys turn to look at AEGIS
AUGER to AEGIS
"The next time we are in the office you better have a convincing answer on this pajama issue"
TIM
"Princess..."
AUGER shouts and scoffs involuntarily
"Princess!"
The uncles look at him threateningly... the boys leave hurriedly
HEAD
"I have so many questions"
AUGER
"I just have one"
he turns to AEGIS who leaves hurriedly, BELLE leaves with her dad and uncles as well.