The final three, got up, utterly confused by Adam's directions, and when they didn't move for a few seconds. Adam asked them, "What are you waiting for? You've got a REALLY long day ahead of you." Sue took the lead into the starry night and Brandon and Will finally got up and followed her. The first part of their trail was familiar until after about half a mile it branched off into more hillier terrain. About then Brandon muttered, "Guys, this has HAD to have been a mile so far." Will replied, "I think I see some light up ahead, maybe that's it." After walking over some rocks and uphill a bit they saw Adam standing there next to Zach's torch. Brandon asked, "How did you get here so fast?" He replied, "I'm magic." Adam then told them their instructions. "At each mile marker, you will find the torch of one of the thirteen contestants, in order that they were voted off. I'm handing each of you a colored notepad. Please write a short note to them and then throw into the fire. When everyone is done, blow out their fire. Any questions?" Sue said, "I've got one-why are their torches lit, doesn't fire reprsent life?" Adam chuckled and said, "They are lit for two reasons. First: they are definitely very alive in your memories. Secondly, you need to see your notepads." They laughed, and then Adam replied, "I'll see you three again in twelve miles." The three of them started to write notes to Zach. In her note, Sue wrote, "I never got to meet you and figured really that since you were not around at the beginning of the game ..you should be a target and i knew i would be..as i was not around in those few days either...so here's to one day playin a game together." When everyone threw their notes in the fire, and blew it out, they procceded onwards. After a realitvely flat stretch of ground, they found Frank's torch. Will wrote: "I didn't really get to know you, but I'm sure you would've been a good player if you had gotten further." After everyone was finished, they burned the notes, and snuffed Frank's torch. Yet again, they found another flat stretch of ground leading to the torch of third boot, Ryan. Nobody had much to say about Ryan, but Brandon wrote: "I didnt get to know you very well we only chatted for brief sections of time but i wanted to get to know you better." They quickly went on past Ryan to a curvy, semi-rocky stretch of trail and in a gluch they found Lachlan's torch. Sue, the only one of the final three who was ever on Lachlan's tribe, wrote: "I felt that Matt controlled your vote and really you didnt appear to have to much say for yourself..so that is why my vote at one point went to you ...its not good to let others control you that way..even if you didnt know it." After departing his torch a very hilly section of path lie ahead. It was so bad, that Brandon nearly fell down twice. After taking about an hour to walk the mile, they found Hayley's torch hidden behind a rock overhang. Brandon wrote, "I never talked to you, but everybody that did told me you were a sweet and nice person, sorry I couldn't talk with you." The most daunting section of the trail so far was what the survivors experienced next. They crossed two rivers and at one point had a near vertical section of rock to climb. After struggling for two hours, they found Matt's torch. Everyone had a lot to say about Matt, but Will summed up everyone's feelings, when he wrote: "I know we had our differences, but it's a game, and I hope there are no hard feelings." Though the next section of the trail was somewhat steep, it was nothing compared to the last one. After taking this mile in just twenty minutes, they found Kim's torch. Sue smiled during while she reflected about Kim: "Kim you were sweet . really you were and i did trust you..there is nothin i could have done to help you in this game..i just couldnt play with Matt and Hayley and therefore i refused to play with them unfortunatley at everyones cost..but..that i knew when i did it..i felt strongly they go..one person controlling three votes (not good) and that is what Matt was doing." The next mile was full of small hills and some small, but steep drops. At the end, they found Michael's torch. Will wrote: "Unfortunately you were a casualty of the ritual "picking off" that usually occurs. I had nothing against you, and I'm sure you would've made a good competitor." As they snuffed Michael's torch, they found an easy walk over to Sean's torch. Sue, who had gotten to know him the best, wrote: "I met you only a few times..and you seemed quite pleasant enough ..however you were not quite reliable as they say and that didn't matter anyhow..you did quite well really..there was nothing I could to save you..and I knew it..so I made them continue to think I was with them in this game." Brandon groaned as it looked like the next mile was almost vertical. It wasn't quite vertical, but the entire segment was more or less a steep rise uphill. It took them almost two hours to transverse this, and by the time they got to Missy's torch, they saw the first hints of sunrise in the east. Everyone loved Missy, and they all shed at least one tear at seeing her torch. Will wrote: "Missy, you are a great person with a wonderful, deep appreciation of this game. I once said that people like you are the reason I play these games, and I meant it. I enjoyed my time spent getting to know you. Best of luck in the future." As they left Missy's torch, they had another arduous section before arriving at Eve's torch in the midst of a beautiful sunrise. Brandon wrote to her: "I wish you were here with me and Will, but I guess that can't happen, thank you for sticking with me and getting plans started, without that, I bet me and Will wouldn't be were we are now, thank you." Sue requested to blow out Eve's torch. As she did, the survivors found another daunting mile through the mountains to Mike's torch. When they got there, the sun was fully up and morning had begun. Everyone had gotten to know and like Mike, but Will summed up their feelings again, by writing: "Mikey, you da man! lol
You were always friendly and outgoing and had a great sense of humor and positive attitude throughout the game. I really enjoyed getting to know you. And good luck on your next SATs!" Will, who was very tired, later said, "just one more mile to go!" The last one wasn't very rocky, but was uphill all the way where they saw Corey's torch guarding a flat piece of land, where they figured the challenge was. Will, who had lots of admiration for Corey, wrote: "You were an awesome competitor, and you'd do great in any Survivor game. Hats off to you and good luck in the future." When they blew out Corey's torch, they soon realized that the flat bed of land was a cliff, very high above the lake. The cliff provided amazingly picturesque views of the lake and the places they had spent time during the game. They looked out and found all the tribe camps and tribal council. They also the some of the trail they took up to the challenge. However, they only looked out for awhile, before they all sat down out of pure fatigue. After sitting for a few minutes, Will noticed they had a small, black and white television set. After turning it on, and fiddling with the antennae a bit, they saw a fairly clear picture of Adam with the six jury members. Adam said, "Hello, everyone. Through the wonders of hidden cameras, all of us here at the Loser Lodge can see you three. This challenge is simple, each jury member will describe each of you, but not reveal whom they are referring to. Your job is to guess which one of the three of you that is. Now, to do this you will find three stone pyramids behind this TV. Carved on each one, is a picture of each one of you. Pick one up and we'll start. The three each picked up a pyramid and assembled themselves in front of the TV, in a way no one could cheat. Adam them said, "You guys ready? Mike will being first." Mike stepped forward and said, "One of you is very 'intelligent', one of you is 'observant and outstandingly inquisitive about everything' and one of you is 'quiet'". Which one of you is 'observant and outstandinly inquisitive about everything'? The three rotated their pyramids, showing that Brandon thought Mike was referring to him, while Sue thought he was referring to Will, and Will thought it was Sue. Mike said, "You're right, Will." Will smiled as he jumped out to a very early lead. Sean came forward next and said, "Hey guys, one of you is 'smart and practical', one of you is 'competitive and strategic', and one of you is 'introverted and observant'. Who do I think was 'competitive and strategic'?" Brandon and Sue quickly shuffled to Will's picture, while Will revealed Sue's face. Sean smiled and said, "You're all wrong, it was Brandon." The three laughed and then saw Michael move into the foreground. He spoke: "One of you is 'naive', one of you is 'trustworthy' and one of you is 'antisocial'. Who is 'antisocial'?" Will and Sue immeadiately displayed Brandon's image, while Brandon turned to Sue's picture. Michael stated, "Once again, you're all wrong, it was Will." Will nodded and realized he was still clinging to a one-point lead. Corey stepped forward and said, "Hey everyone, one of you is 'cunning', one of you is 'freindly' and one of you is," he smirked and then said, "'dismal'. Which one of you is 'dismal'?" Sue laughed as she displayed her face on the pyramid. Brandon did the same, but Will thought the answer was Brandon. Corey then said, "Congratulations, Sue and Brandon, you are correct." Brandon smiled as he realized he fought his way into a three-way tie. Missy came to the front next, smiled and said, "I'd describe one of you as 'still waters run deep', one of you as 'genuine', and one of you as 'keeping things interesting'. For which one of you did I say, 'still waters run deep'?" Will and Sue both answered Will, while Brandon thought Missy was referring to him. Missy then said, "Sue and Will, you are both correct." Brandon shook his head, knowing that if he missed the next question, he'd be automatically eliminated, and even if he got it right, he needed the others to get it wrong to force a tie. Eve got up next and with a frown on her face, said, "One of you is 'quiet', one of you is 'miserable' and one of you is 'smart'. Who did I feel was 'miserable'?" Everyone answered Sue, and Eve remarked, "you're all correct." Adam then moved up and said, "Well, we have a tie. Will and Sue, you've each answered three questions correctly, Brandon you only got two. Therefore, Brandon, you are eliminated, and Will and Sue move on to a tie-breaker round. I'm going to read off one of the other ways the jury described you as. Then between the remaining two people, I'll ask you to guess which one they were referring to. Whomever gets the most right is immune. We'll go in a different order this time just for variety. Here we go: Who did Eve describe as 'quiet', Brandon or Will?" Sue and Will both correctly answered Brandon. Adam then asked, "Who did Missy say 'kept things interesting', Brandon or Sue?" Will and Sue kept pace with each other again, both answering Sue correctly. Adam then said, "Who did Sean call 'introverted and observant'-Sue or Will?" Once again, both of them correctly answered Will. Adam said, "After three questions, we are still tied 3-3. Next up is Corey. Brandon or Will; who did he call 'friendly'?" This time, they answered differently as Sue rotated her pyramid to Brandon's image, while Will rotated it to his. "Congratulations, Sue, you are now leading. The correct answer was Brandon." Will rolled his eyes, but remained focused for the next question. Adam asked, "Who did Michael call 'trustworthy'-Brandon or Sue? Remember, Will if you answer incorrectly, and Sue gets it right, she will have clinched a win." However, both of them correctly answered Sue. Adam then said, "OK, it comes down to the last question. Sue if you answer right, or Will gets it wrong, Sue wins. Will, if you get it right, and Sue errs, you will have forced a tie. Immunity is at stake here. Who did Mike call 'very intelligent'? Was it Brandon or Will?" Sue quickly answered Will. Will, not knowing Sue's response, also rotated his pyramid to his own image. Adam then spoke, "You two are both correct, however by a score of 6 to 5, Sue has prevailed in the challenge and is guaranteed a spot in the final two." Sue let out a small scream and then hugged Will. Adam told them to go down the long 13-mile trail directly to tribal council. By now, the survivors had not slept in around thirty hours and were exhausted. They kept slipping, but fortunetly no one was seriously hurt. On the way down, each of them were thinking. Sue had the biggest decision to make, to boot Brandon or to boot Will. At the switch, she recalled how close to Will she had been, but since the merge she felt closer to Brandon. Sue also thought about how the jury would vote in each of the two possible scenarios. During a bathroom break, Brandon went off into a confessional saying, "Geez, this game has changed a whole lot since the final 5 I thought I was going to be voted off, but Sue joined with us to get Mike out, which I think changed the game for me, now I think I can win this as long as Sue dosen't decide to betray our deal that we've made. But Sue, I hope she isn't like that, [because] she's been really tricky lately, so I don't know." Will was thinking that his time was up, because based on the jury's words, he thought Sue would have an easier time beating Brandon than Will. When they got tribal council, it was sundown and the final three was fatigued, from about 36 hours of not sleeping and about 24 hours without eating. Adam said, "Hello, again. I can tell you guys are absolutely worn out, so we'll get to the voting. Since Brandon and Will can't vote for themselves, and they can't vote for Sue, they'd have to vote for each other, so thus their votes will cancel each other out and the only person voting will be Sue. Sue, are you ready?" Sue answered "yes" and went to the voting platform. She covered her card, but gave a long speech, part of which was, "The person I'm taking came head to head with me in a few conversations and listened to my reasoning and I believe he and I trusted eachother from the beginning, even though I believe that of the person I'm voting as well". She neatly folded her card and sat back down and put her hands on both of their soldiers. Will said a little prayer, and Brandon had a confident look on his face. Adam took the urn and said, "The fourteenth person voted out of Survivor: Balkhash is:", he hesitiated a moment and read the lone vote:
Will got up and high-fived Brandon and nodded at Sue. He brought his torch up and Adam told him, "Will, the tribe has spoken." He left and Adam said, "The last 36 hours have been brutally rough. Quickly head back to camp, get some much needed rest, and meet me tomorrow, where one of you will be proclaimed the winner of Survivor: Balkhash." Brandon thanked Sue as they got up, and the two headed back to camp.
Proceed to Day 39
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