Episode 12: Squeezed in the Middle
When Mai Kai got back to camp, everyone went right to sleep except for Corey. He was thinking about the last tribal council where he got three votes, and was only saved because of a tie-breaker. He said, "I must have made an ass of myself the past couple days. These next three days I better shape up, or I could be getting more votes, which'll suck if a tie happens in the final 4." After staying up a few more minutes, h soon retreated to bed.
The next morning, everyone was up early. Will was trying to do a little ice-fishing, now that the lake was nearly completely frozen over. He wasn't having much success, but stopped doing it once Mike announced he had finished cooking breakfast. Everyone moseyed on over to the fire, where Mike dished out helpings of gruel. Everyone jokingly thanked him. They were having a quiet breakfast, when suddenly Will blurted out, "So, who's going next-Brandon or me? The question took everyone by shock, and a few seconds later Mike muttered, "We'll see." Will stared at Mike for a second, but he had already gotten up to check treemail.
When he got there, he was shocked to find nothing but a crumpled note in the box. He took it back to camp, and when he opened it, everyone groaned because it said, "You've been spoiled too much, no more reward challenges!" Sue snatched the paper and threw it into the fire. Everyone started clapping at that. That afternoon, Brandon and Will went for a walk. Will told Brandon, "I can't believe it's going to be over." Brandon replied, "Don't get so down. We can try to pull something off. Will told him, "I hope so, but I'm not so sure." Brandon went off to confessional saying, "Will's right. Me and Will are completly screwed what we need is some sort of miracle to make it in the final 2 without Corey, Mike, and Sue picking us off."
When they neared camp, they saw Mike, Corey and Sue sitting around the fire talking. They tried to listen and they heard them discussing who should go first-Brandon or Will. Mike said, "Will is definitely the bigger threat on all fronts. I think he should go first." Corey interrupted and said, "Brandon's so quiet, I wouldn't doubt him either, I think we owe Will the final four. Sue what do you think?" Sue just said, "You guys just do whatever." Mike laughingly said, "You're not ditching us, are you?" Sue just smiled at that.
Brandon and Will then quietly approached them, pretending not have heard the conversation. Mike feared they had overheard it and tried to keep the subject away from strategy. As they settled down for bed, he started up a conversation about sex stories. None of the guys had very many, but Sue had plenty to tell. The next morning, the aftereffects of last night's discussion still hadn't worn off. Corey remarked, "It's kind of gross thinking about Sue and the sex in the same sentence, but she does have kids, so I guess it had to have happened."
The next morning, Corey, Sue and Mike were up early doing some chores. Brandon and Will hung back at camp and slept in, because they were saving strength for the next immunity challenge. As Brandon put it, "I need these next three immunities, bad, really bad."
Around midday, a little snow had picked up, so Sue, Mike and Corey retreated into the crowded camp. After about 15 minutes, Brandon declared, "I'm bored." Corey asked, "How bored?" and Brandon said, "VERY bored." Corey said, "If you're that bored, I know a game we could play, it's called Zoo. My friend from camp named Kacie taught it to me. It's a pretty dumb game, but if you're that bored we should play it. We all sit in a circle and we start out by clapping and saying '1, 2, 3, ZOO!', we then go around the circle imitating various animals, and whoever can't think of one quickly is out." Brandon said, "Sounds fun!" while Mike groaned, but agreed to play. They went around the circle one and a half times, before Mike was stumped. The next round was intense, making three full revolutions. Corey attempted to do a bird, but Will yelled, "I did that in the beginning!" Corey swore under his breath and sat out. However, this time it was Will who got caught trying to do a turtle twice in a row. Sue and Brandon were the final two players and wished each other luck as an intense, cutthroat competition occured. However, in the middle of the eighth round, after Sue did a funny impression of an elephant, Brandon said, "that was mine!" and couldn't think of a new one, and Sue was declared the princess of Zoo. As soon as the game ended Mike declared, "That was the dumbest thing I've done in my life." However, Brandon said "That was kind of fun."
The debate raged on through the night. However, the princess, Sue, and Will stayed out of the debate. They were having a discussion of their own right in camp, but everyone was so passionate about the Zoo debate, they didn't pay attention to Sue and Will. Will started by asking Sue, "is there any way I can be safe at tribal council?" Sue said, "maybe, let me sleep on it." Will nodded and soon the Zoo debate was over as well. Shortly afterwards, the survivors drifted off to sleep.
However, one survivor couldn't sleep. Sue was up contemplating strategy. She knew that theoretically she should vote Brandon or Will with Mike and Corey, but she was still bothered by another player-Mike. She knew she'd have a remote chance of making the final 2, let alone winning with Mike and Corey around. She said, "Mike, you told me, I could never go to the final 2 with you. I really don't want to be like Jan and Helen and sit back and do nothing. However, there is more to this. You went unscathed all game...just a little too much like you whole tribe. I think it's time to stir this God-forsaken pot. I'm still not sure yet what I will do."
Will was up next after Sue that morning, and the two went to check tree-mail. On the way there, Will suddenly stopped and dropped to one knee. He told Sue, "Well?". Sue replied, "Look, I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but if you want any chance of surviving, vote for Mike." Will said, with hint of disapproval in his voice, "I think I can do that." They resumed their trek towards the mail box and when they got there they found 7 envelopes, one with each of their names on it and 2 that said Mai Kai, one was labelled "Open First" and another was labelled "Open Last". When they got back to camp, Brandon was barely awake, and Corey and Mike were still asleep. Sue yelled in a drill-sargent voice, "GET UP, PRIVATES!". She then started humming revelry really loudly. Corey grumpily got up and said, "Stop that heinous humming!" Sue laughed and announced she had tree-mail.
Everyone gathered around as Sue ripped open the letter marked "Open First". They cheered when it said, "We said no more reward challenges, not no more rewards! Enjoy these letters from home! At that, everyone immeadiately ripped open their individual envelopes. More than a few tears were shed as they read about events back home, such as Sue's son making the lacrosse team. When everybody had finished their letters, they were starting to go back to camp, until Will remembered they had the letter marked "Open Last". They opened that letter and inside the papers read:
"NOWROOZ (VERNAL EQUINOX HOLIDAY):
On the night before Nowrooz, the entire family gathers around a table (or spread) with an arrangement of several items, each of which symbolizes a wish or theme. Of all the items in this arrangement, seven of them, starting with the Farsi letter "seen" (the English "S"), must always be included. The Farsi translation of number seven is "haft" -- hence the name Haft Seen. The Haft Seen spread is usually put out a couple of weeks before the Nowrooz day and symbolizes the holiday season and its special mood very much like the Christmas Tree for the Western holidays. Zoroastrians celebrated the creation of life by offering their deity, Ahura Mazda, seven trays, full of symbolic objects representing truth, justice, good thoughts, good deeds, prosperity, virtue, immortality and generosity. The seven items starting with the letter "seen" in the contemporary Haft Seen are:
Samanu (a Persian snack made of flour and sugar)
Sekeh (coin)
Sabzee (green vegetables)
Sonbol (the hyacinth flower)
Seer (garlic)
Senjed (a dried fruit resembling that of the mountain-ash tree)
Serkeh (vinegar)
Other items often included with the Haft Seen are apples, sugar cookies or pastries called Shirini, a mirror, candles, eggs, and a bowl with goldfish. Looking at the goldfish at the turn of the year is believed to bring good luck and fortune."
"What is this?" Mike protested. Brandon also said, "I haven't got a clue". The two of them went back into the shelter, followed soon by Sue and Corey, respectively. However, Will knew it had to be for something and a good deal of time analyzing it.
Later that morning, Mai Kai disembarked camp for challenge beach. At challenge beach they found Adam holding five pens and five pads of parchment. He handed each of them a pad and a pen. He then started, "I hope you guys read the thing about Norwooz in depth, because you will have had to if you want to win immunity." Mike swore and said "no". Adam continued, "Well, tough, because I'm going to ask you questions about it. To move on, you must answer a question correctly. However, should everyone answer correctly, the last person to flip their pad of paper over is eliminated. When we get down to 2, we'll have a best-of-three tournament. OK, ready? First question: What does Norwooz celebrate? Will quickly wrote "Vernal Equinox" and flipped his pad over. Sue and Corey did shortly after, as did Mike who declared "I actually remember this one!". However, Brandon was stumped and wrote down "Christmas." Adam said, "Will, Sue, Corey and Mike move on, Brandon the correct answer is the vernal equinox." Brandon laughed as he took a step back and said, "I wish I knew what that even was." Adam continued, "Next question, what Farsi letter do all the items on the table start with?" Corey finished first this time answering as "seen" as did Will, who finished shortly after Corey did. Sue took a moment to think and also wrote down "seen", while Mike was flustered and wrote down "W". Adam chuckled and said, "As you could probably guess, Mike is eliminated. Step back over there with Brandon." Mike went back and high-fived Brandon as Adam started the next question, "What are you supposed to look at to bring good fortune for the new year?" Will, Sue and Corey all started writing their answers very quickly. They all correctly said "goldfish", but Sue was a bit slower than the guys, as she was eliminated next, and sat down with Mike and Brandon. Adam then said, "Alright, Corey and Will, you have both demonstrated competence, but who knows more? This is a best-of-three round, same rules as before. First question: Who is the deity of the Zoroastrians? Corey had no clue and wrote down "God", but Will thought for a moment before writing down "Ahura Mazda". Adam then said, "Will is up 1-0. Will, if you win the next round, you are immune. Here we go: What is the word for vinegar?" Corey had no clue, but Will knew. He correctly answered "serkeh" and Adam yelled, "WILL, IMMUNITY!" He danced around and yelled, "Yeah, baby! Final 4! He high-fived the runner-up, Corey. The survivors then retreated back to camp.
Upon arrival, Brandon and Will took a walk. Brandon turned to Will and said, "Will, it's been great knowing you. You're a true friend, but I know I'm done tonight." Will said, "Don't think that! Sue told me that you might have a chance to stay if we vote for Mike at tribal council. I'm not sure if she's telling the truth or just using us to keep her previous votes down." Brandon said, "Well, I do not care! I will do it if I have any sort of a chance to stay." Will said, "Good, I really hope this works." Brandon replied, "Me too."
Meanwhile, Corey, Mike and Sue and hung around camp. Mike said, "I guess we have to boot Brandon. Corey and Sue nodded. Sue then went off into a confessional, "I'm squeezed in the middle here, Brandon and Will are wanting me to vote Mike, and Mike and Corey are wanting me to vote for Brandon." However, Sue wasn't sure she had Will and Brandon's vote for Mike. "I do know Brandon and Will could vote me, and to tell you the truth, I'm not so sure they won't. That means I could have to vote for Brandon, to get a majority, but it's might be time to stir this God-forsaken pot."
Soon afterwards, Mai Kai headed to tribal council, with Brandon and Sue feeling very nervous. Corey and a naive Mike believed they were safe. After questioning, the five of them went up to vote. An immune Will was first, followed by Mike, and then Brandon. Brandon held up his vote for "MIKE" and said, "If Sue isn't pulling my leg, then I am saved so here's my vote, if it works his little plan is blown away, so bye bye, hopefully, my vote is "MIKE". Corey voted next for Brandon and Sue went up last. After what seemed like an eternity, Sue voted with a sad face and stuffed her vote in the box. Adam began to read the votes:
"Two votes each for Mike and Brandon. Final vote:"
At that, everybody was speechless. Brandon and Will had huge smiles on their faces, and Mike stared open-mouthed at Corey and Sue. When he got to Sue, she began to chuckle, so Mike knew that it was Sue who backstabbed him. Still astonished, he took his torched and Adam snuffed it. The final four watched Mike leave before heading back to camp for the final stage of their adventure.
Next week on SURVIVOR:
A winner is declared:
ADAM: "The winner of Survivor: Balkhash is:"
But before that, tensions heat up in both the final 4 and the jury:
COREY: "All in all, she's played a sucky game to get herself to where she is-unless, of course, she were trying to get the award for pissing off everyone in this game."
EVE: "You are the worst person I have ever met."
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