Episode 3: Fill In The Blanks
As Melkiy arrived back at camp from their first tribal council, everyone was satisfied that the result had been nearly unanimous. Most of them felt that this was a display of their unity. Brandon remarked, "I have a feeling we
will go all the way and one of us will be the Ultimate Survivor." "Missy, Mike, Corey, Brandon, and Ryan are really nice and I don't plan on voting them out anytime soon," said Eve. The tribe eventually settled down to a fitful night's sleep. Over at Gluboko, everyone was having fun speculating who had been voted out that night. The only person who kept quiet was Sue, who was witholding a secret from the rest of the tribe- she already knew a member of Melkiy from before the game. "I plan on keeping this my little secret for now," laughed Sue once everyone else has fallen asleep. When all of Gluboko woke up in the morning, the realization dawned upon them that someone had just been denied the ultimate prize, and several people felt that this reopened some barely healed wounds. "I have to say that I'm sick of my tribe complaining and crying about how Zach was unfairly voted out. I was like... C'mon, give it a rest. The whole tribe hasn't shut up, and it's getting on my nerves," Matt explained. Sue, however, was just glad to still be in the game. Meanwhile, Melkiy was just waking up from their fitful night of sleep. "We voted Frank off because he wasn't participating," said Corey. "I have not really gotten to know Will, and I haven't even talked to Ryan." Will, realizing that he was on the outs with his tribemates, decided to become more social. When Mike, Missy, and Corey went to get some firewood, Will went along as well and struck up a conversation. As the group of four walked off into the distance, the three remaining at camp could hear boisterous laughter. They smiled and walked to check treemail. Ryan got their first, and pulled out a scrap of paper shaped like Lake Balkhash. Written on it were instructions to meet at Challenge Beach. Eve yelled for the distant group of four to run back, and held up the paper once they arrived. Missy and Will scrutinized it for a moment, then winked at each other and broke off into a mad dash. Mike took off after them, yelling "Last one there is a Gluboko!" Corey, Eve, Brandon, and Ryan laughed and took off after them. Finally, they all arrived panting at Challenge Beach and dragged themselves onto their yellow mat. "It's a good thing this won't be a physical challenge," laughed Adam. Melkiy managed a few relieved chuckles and watched as Gluboko quietly took their places on their maroon mat. Suddenly, the sound of a loud motor became audible in the distance. "Ah, there's the boat," said Adam. "I'll begin to explain. On the boat are two boards with five slots in each. Painted around the slots are sentences describing Lake Balkhash- the only thing missing are the words that will be painted on pieces of wood intended to go into the slots. The catch is that the five pieces are hidden around this area. The first tribe to get all five pieces of wood into the correct slots wins reward!" The host became silent, and watched as the boat ran itself up onto the shore. He helped the production crew pull down the ramp, and wheeled the two boards down. One person from each tribe came down to grab theirs, and the host stood and watched. He raised his hand to get the Survivors to quiet down, then yelled "Go!" The Survivors went into a mad scramble. Eve, Brandon, and Mike from Melkiy all ran into the nearby reeds to find the answers to the questions, while Matt, Lachlan, and Hayley from Gluboko dove into the water to begin their search. Finally, the three people searching for Melkiy brought back all 5 pieces of wood. Missy and Will began to place the pieces of wood into what they believed were the approriate places. However, they were struggling to place a couple of them. Meanwhile, the three Australians returned with all their pieces. Sue quickly grabbed them and began to scrutinize the painted board in front of her. She plunked each piece into a hole, then yelled for Adam to come over. Adam ran over, held up his card, and smiled at Sue. "Gluboko wins reward," he yelled. "Hey, I just realized something- you were all so excited about the challenge beforehand that I didn't get a chance to tell you what your reward even was!" Gluboko laughed, linked arm-in-arm, while Melkiy began to sulk and pack up their things. "Gluboko, you have earned yourself an extra point in the upcoming Immunity Challenge!" The tribe clad in maroon cheered and jumped in the air, elated that they had an advantage. Melkiy gathered their things and quietly headed back to camp. When the two tribes arrived at their respective camps, the sun was just setting. The two tribes lay down to sleep. When Corey and Missy woke up the next morning, they found Mike already awake and cooking breakfast for everyone. They walked over and began to chat with Mike as he served them their daily gruel. Once Corey was finished, he walked over to a nearby clump of reeds to give his confessional. "I currently have an alliance with Missy and Mike," he said matter-of-factly. When asked about his strategy, he said, "As far as strategy goes, I don't really have any at the moment except to win challenges." Meanwhile, Matt had just woken up at Gluboko camp. As he went on his errand of picking up firewood, he turned and noticed something that made his gasp, then drop all his firewood. Stifling a laugh, he quickly picked up his wood and ran to dump it next to the fire. "Hayley and Michael are an item on Survivor at the moment. It just made me laugh... The other funny thing is that Hayley is doing this purely strategically and has no interest in Michael. I can't wait to see how this backfires on her!" Finally, Matt decided to go and check if there was any new treemail. He sauntered over to the mailbox, then let out a yell. He held up a piece of parchment instructing everyone to hurry to the inland challenge site. When Gluboko got there and stepped onto their maroon mat, they saw that Melkiy had already arrived. Mike winked at Sue, and Sue winked back and laughed. Finally, Adam walked up. "Hello, Survivors," he said casually. "This challenge will be one in which responsibility for the win is put squarely on the shoulders of each individual. Instead of competing as a team, you will be competing one against another. We will combine the results at the end, and the tribe with the most points will win." Adam wheeled out from behind a clump of bushes two large cylinders with dividers separating each of them into seven equal parts. He fixed each cylinder onto a pivot on the ground, then waved towards a very large nearby tree. From behind the tree, the production crew pulled out a large contraption with sluices pointing towards the circles and pulleys at the top of the sluices (with buckets attached to hooks on the end). Meanwhile, Nick and another production manager brought out two color-coded cubes with each side labeled with a letter. Finally, the production crew brought out a large tub of water. The Survivors stared wide-eyed at the elaborate setup, and Adam chuckled to himself. "Once you're done ogling the challenge," he said, "I'll explain the rules." The Survivors finally shifted their attention to Adam. "Okay," he said. "Because there are seven of you on each tribe, we can split you up into seven pairs. Each person in the pair will be given their tribe's cube. I will ask a multiple choice question, and each of you must answer it. If you get the question right, you must take the bucket from the hook attached to your pulley and fill it with water. Using the pulley, pull the bucket up until the water tips down the sluice and into a section of your tribe's cylinder. The first person to fill their section of the cylinder will get a point for their tribe, and will get to put a lid on that section of the cylinder. Gluboko, because you won the Reward Challenge, you will be able to place an extra lid on once the challenge ends. The tribe with the most sections of their cylinder covered wins. Is everyone ready?" The Survivors nodded their heads, though still a bit confused. "Okay," Adam said. "Who's the first pair?" Matt stepped forward for Gluboko, and Brandon was selected from Melkiy. Adam asked the question, and both of them got it right. "It's a race to see who can fill their section of the cylinder the fastest," yelled Adam. "GO!" The two representatives sprinted to the tub of water and filled their buckets. After a long race, Matt ended up filling his section first. He pumped his fist in the air, and selected a maroon lid from a nearby pile that the production crew had just lugged out. He placed the lid on the full section, and rotated the cylinder to the next section. Brandon rotated the Melkiy cylinder, and the next pair stepped up- Corey and Lachlan. Corey ended up getting the answer incorrect, but Lachlan decided not to answer at all. The host finally decided that Corey would be allowed to fill up his section, and watched as Corey exuberantly placed a yellow lid on his section. Lachlan left his dry section where it was, while Corey rotated the Melkiy cylinder to the next dry spot. Kim and Eve stepped up next, and both got the answer correct. Kim prevailed, however, and added another maroon lid to her cylinder. Kim and Eve rotated their cylinders and watched as Hayley and Mike stepped up next. Both of them got their answers correct also, but Hayley managed to fill her section of the cylinder first, adding another lid to Gluboko's cylinder. Missy ended up defeating Sean in the next pairing, giving Melkiy their second lid. In the next two pairings, Michael defeated Ryan and Will defeated Sue. Matt finally stepped up and placed Gluboko's extra lid onto their cylinder, making the final score 5-3. Melkiy frowned as Adam let them know he would see them at tribal council the next night. Once Melkiy had arrived back at camp, the aftereffects of all the exercise gotten at the Immunity Challenge began to catch up with Ryan. His race with Michael had been a close one, and the harsh conditions of the past 8 days had worn him out. As the six other members of his tribe got everything ready before they went to sleep, Ryan collapsed in an exhausted heap on the ground next to the fire. The other Survivors glanced at him with a sympathetic look in their eyes, and settled down to sleep as well. At Gluboko the next morning, the tribe celebrated their immunity victory by holding a small party for the Immunity Idol. Amidst the revelry, however, Sean was contemplating what would have happened if the results of the challenge were reversed. "If we go to the next tribal council," he said, "then I will vote for Lachlan because he didn't even get a correct answer for the Immunity Challenge. He's one of the two people who really haven't been contacting everyone else." Matt was wondering what the results would have been as well. "I had an alliance with Kim to the Final 2... I know it's a bit early, but we made one. But now I'm considering voting her out at the next Tribal Council Gluboko goes to. She's been so sneaky and is lying to me through her teeth," he griped. Over at Melkiy, the tribe decided to leave early so they would be able to get to tribal council on time. Ryan was still very weak, and was worrying that he wouldn't even be able to walk there- not to mention the way back. After hiking for hours (with frequent rest stops), Melkiy arrived at their second tribal council. "Hello, Melkiy," greeted Adam. "This tribe was formed at the beginning of the game by the two fastest and strongest- Eve and Missy," he began. As he was about to continue, Eve and Missy grinned. "However," Adam continued, "Gluboko seems to be the winning tribe at the moment. You'll have to take this into consideration in the next few days." He started the typical questioning, and then told the Survivors that it was time for them to vote. Mike went up first. He wrote "RYAN" on his piece of paper and said, "You are not pulling your weight. It would be nice if you just did the challenges and we would keep you." The other six members of Melkiy got up to vote. Finally, Adam brought the urn back. He pulled out the first vote:
"That's three votes Ryan," Adam said solemnly. "The third person voted out of Balkhash is..."
Ryan got up without a word and managed to drag his torch over to the host. As Adam snuffed out Ryan's flame, the most recent bootee managed a weak wave as he trudged out of tribal council. The minority tribe then headed back, stronger for the next three days.
Next week on SURVIVOR:
People on both tribes begin suspecting alliances.
BRANDON: "If there is an alliance, I'm not part of it."
SUE: "There is definitely an alliance here."
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