Survivor: Okinawa
Episode #2: Unhappy Campers
-------------------------------------


Sato Tribe (green): Matt Carter, Henry Jenkins, David McDaniel, Lance McHale, Hogan Mueller, Beth Sowles, Amy Twieg
Kamiya Tribe (yellow): Christopher Collins, Murtz Jaffer, Michelle Kin-Fraley, Joni Newman, Ryan Rebez, Mike Ruff, Isabella Smith, Danielle Wheelis




DAY 4


Things were going to be different in Camp Sato today.

"Come on guys," said Amy, "Wake up. We gotta get moving. We got stuff to do."

The rest of the green tribe roused slowly, most of them not particularly happy about getting up so early. No one seemed to want to wake up today, and it looked like it was going to be a very lazy Sunday. Or Monday. Or Friday. Well, -whatever- day today was... it was going to be lazy. That much they were sure of.

Amy Twieg stood with hands on hips now, looking down at the remnants of her tribe. And the sharp-eyed mother of two saw a mess. This whole tribe was a mess and frankly, it was now getting out of hand. She hadn't expected to come out here and fail so badly. She hadn't expected to watch her team fall completely apart in three days. Not this way. Because right now the Satos were pathetic. This was a pathetic team and nothing had gone right so far. Their shelter didn't keep them warm, their leadership was completely non-existent, and they had already had enough arguments and misunderstandings to last them all game.

Quite frankly, her tribe made her sick.

"I was just bothered," she would admit, in her melodic midwest accent, "That we fell prey to so much nastiness at the start. It wasn't a place we really wanted to be and we all just brought each other down so much. You could just see it in everyone's face." She shrugged. "And I admit I'm not perfect, I never claimed that I was. I admit a lot of it was my fault too. But that didn't matter because after Elisabeth left, we needed to come together. If Sato wanted -any- chance of winning this game, we had to start working together as a tribe."

And it wasn't that Amy didn't like her tribemates. She saw them all as pretty good people... as individuals anyway. It was just that as a tribe, they tended to get in each others' way. But for the most part, she had a pretty tight bond with them all, which had pretty much been her plan all along.

"Beth is a great lady," she had said last night, in a midnight confessional. "She's a hard worker, she's got a real head on her shoulders, and she says what I'm thinking a -LOT-. In my mind she's a strategist who just hasn't had to speak up yet. She knows what she is doing."

Amy then moved on to David, the soft spoken "leader" of the Sato alliance. Because in her mind, the two of them had been growing close. -Very- close. She more or less considered him to be her best friend out here, and he had taken her side in all the Henry drama thus far. David had always taken her side and for that she would be forever grateful. She wasn't going to forget it.

"David and I are tight." She smiled. "There's no other way to put it, he's my counterpart. He knows what I'm thinking and our methods of operating are very similar. He's open and honest and he's just a great friend."

And while David scared her a little with the power he held over the tribe, she was -more- than happy to defer to him for now. David simply commanded a lot of respect, and people listened to what he had to say. But as much as she liked David, the one that -really- made Amy smile right now was Matt, the tall redhead with the odd sense of humor. Amy simply -adored- Matt, and all his awkward, goofy mannerisms. She didn't know -how- she would get along without the kid they liked to call "Big Red."

"Matt, oh wow. Well he's a threat. A -big- one. But he's also a likeable one. The kid has his head on
straight and he doesn't mind opening up if the moment is right. And while I'm sure that's all strategic, I've enjoyed getting to know him right away. He's funny and he just makes me laugh."

She laughed now, thinking of his not-so-hidden crush on her. Because one of the first things Matt had done in Okinawa was to give her a nickname. In tribute to his favorite movie of all time, -The Graduate-, Matt had started to call Amy "Mrs. Robinson"-- As in the older, unattainable fantasy woman. And while Amy had been offended at the time, in time she learned that it was just his way of being complimentary. When he called her "Mrs. R", it wasn't meant to be offensive at all. It was just the way the kid talked. You just had to get used to him.

But Amy's circle of influence did not end with her immediate alliance. No, she had ties to most everyone on her tribe by now, something she had most -definitely- tried to accomplish. Because despite the fact that Hogan and Lance were kind of left out of the loop strategically, she -did- have a good working relationship with both of them. She knew them as well as anyone did out here, and she thought it might come in handy down the road-- in a worst case scenario kind of way.

"Lance is kind of quiet," she explained, "But he strikes me as being very loyal and dedicated. He just doesn't like to lie and he doesn't like how team politics work. That part of the game kind of turns him off. But he's also a father and he loves kids and I took a liking to him right away. He's a sharp guy and he is someone with integrity. And as for Hogan..."

She smiled, thinking of Hogan's misadventures in the first three days. Because Hogan had spent half of yesterday lost in the jungle, yelling for someone to come find him. He simply seemed to have no directional skills at all.

"Hogan's a good kid who's strong in the challenges. He seems eager to play... but he's not a real great asset in our camp life. The poor kid can't step into the edge of the forest without getting lost."

And as Amy finished commenting on her tribemates, she finally came to the one that she seemed to have the most trouble with. She finally came to Henry. And she wrinkled her nose, slightly, as she tried to word her phrasing very carefully. She didn't want to say this poorly, and come off the wrong way. But it was still something that she had to get off her chest.

"Henry is..." She paused for a moment, then re-started. "Henry has disappointed me a great deal. And it's too bad, because my impression of him on the first day was higher than my impression of -anyone- else on the tribe. We all thought he really had it on the ball. But the guy just blows up at the drop of the hat and he never really apologizes. He makes me incredibly uncomfortable at time, he says things he has no business saying and quite frankly he's just unpleasant to be around." She sighed. "And worst of all, I can't trust him."

Beth and Amy had discussed this just last night, late into the evening, with Amy coming to a realization. An epiphany had suddenly hit her, just as the words had come tumbling out of Beth's mouth.

"Have you noticed," Beth had whispered, "That with all the drama ... Henry is always right there? He's always involved somehow."

"Yeah!" Amy agreed. "I've noticed! I think drama and chaos are his two closest friends." She laughed. "But I always worry that you guys would link me in with him. I mean, I -know- we fight, but it's usually for a reason."

"No, no," Beth had said, looking concerned. "You just put out the fires. Henry just drags you there. You just happen to say what everyone else wants to say to the guy."

"You just don't realize," said Amy, now looking a bit devious, "how much he pushes my buttons sometimes. He works my every last reflex... and I -don't- mean the one that would put my knee into his groin."

Beth giggled and with that, the two women had made an agreement. They just weren't going to put up with any more Henry shenanigans. Beth and Amy were simply tired of it. From here on out, David wasn't going to be able to save Henry anymore if he crossed the line. Henry Jenkins was officially on double-secret probation, and that meant Amy was now planning to step up and take control of this tribe. She was ready to step up and finally take over a leadership role among the Satos.

And she was going to start right now, by waking her team up. No more sleeping in. This was getting ridiculous.

"Wake up guys," she announced loudly, as she poured some water into a pot to be boiled. "Stuff to do. Things to get done." And then she launched into song. It was a song the teachers used at her children's school, to get the day started off right. It was called "The Wake Up Song," and the tribe would be getting used to it in the days ahead. Love it or hate it, -this- was going to be their new morning ritual.

"Get up!" she sang, "Wake up! Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!"

She was smiling now, as Hogan rolled over to block out the noise, groaning. She could see it was working. They were all starting to stir.

"Get up!" she continued. "Wake up! Wear your smile without fail! Let the world know who you are! Let it shine and you'll go far..."




^^



As Sato tried to re-energize themselves, their opponents across the island were still reveling in their victory. Kamiya was having a cocky morning, and the tribe in yellow was mainly just basking in their triumph right now. And chief among the gloaters were Christopher and Michelle. Because the two of them were currently running this game. They ran this tribe, they ran the Angels, and they were the King and Queen of Okinawa. But the funniest thing was that only -they- knew it, and none of the guys in charge did. The guys were about to get blindsided, and only Christopher and Michelle knew what was about to happen.

And -that-, to Michelle, was simply hilarious.

"You never want to throw a challenge," she explained, "But I'll be honest. I wouldn't have minded if we had lost yesterday and gone to Tribal Council. I so wanted to walk up there and vote out Dave Roth's sorry ass. And yeah, sure it's great to be one man up on the other tribe, but that would have been so funny."

She laughed now, as she put her water jug down for a rest. She was currently on water patrol... orders from Mike, of course... and she explained how her mindset had changed once the game had started.

"You know, I came into this game wanting to play it cool." She panted, still catching her breath. "I wanted to lay low, but not -too- low. Be nice but at the same time, be distant. Listen to everyone, make suggestions, but make everyone feel that my ideas were actually -their- ideas." She grinned now, looking up through sweat-stained hair. "Well, all that changed after day one and the evil Dave alliance. I -never- thought I would have to lie until it was absolutely necessary. But I was wrong. This is a -game- of lies and you need to do it to win. You can hate it with a passion, but if you want to survive to the next day, you have to tell a lie here and there or else you are toast."

Michelle was referring to an event that had taken place just last night, an event that had troubled her at the time. Because the guys had asked her into their alliance. It had been Murtz, it had been Ryan, and then it had been Mike. All three of them, in turn, had mentioned it to her.

They told her how there were only five strong people on Kamiya, and they all needed to stick together.

They mentioned how Joni and Emma were disposable, and how Danielle was "weird." Murtz went so far as to say that Danielle had no business playing this game.

And had Christopher not tipped her off to their plans, Michelle probably would have fallen for it. No, she -would- have fallen for it. Because they were good. The guys were very, very good at making a case for an alliance... and Michelle probably would have bought it.

But luckily Christopher had warned her. And he had done it in his own inimitable way.

He had put words in their mouth.

Mean ones.

"Oh by the way," he had casually mentioned. "The guys want you in. They say they could use a fifth sheep just in case. Plus Dave says you have a cute ass, and he wants to stare at it all day. He said maybe if you play along, he'll make sure you get fifth place. Which is pretty good. You know, for a girl."

So Michelle was quite ready for the alliance offer and quite willing to lie her way into their good graces. She had said yes, sure, no problem. Joni is worthless, Emma is an idiot, and Danielle is a freak. Sure, I got it. Count me in.

And now, the Angels' revenge was going to be -that- much more delicious.

"Hey Hottie!" said a voice, as Michelle sat down to take a breather. It was Christopher, her friend, her partner in crime. He was walking through the brush with Isabella, the two Angels laughing and giggling over some inside joke. And they were coming over to talk to her.

"What's up, Sugar?" she said, calling Christopher by his nickname. But then she saw Isabella, and quickly toned down the act. Isabella wasn't supposed to know that Christopher and Michelle were so close. That would be bad. Despite the fact that they all considered Isabella to be a tad slow, Michelle wasn't going to take any chances.

"I just got back talking to Roth," said Christopher, a wide smile on his face. "Wait till you hear what Pee Wee's Playhouse Alliance is up to now."

"Oh goodness this is funny," laughed Isabella, clapping a hand over her mouth in mock embarrassment.

"Dave is getting scared of Mike now," said Christopher. "He's worried because Mike doesn't hate Danielle like the rest of them do. He now thinks Mike isn't loyal anymore and that Mike has aligned with Dani instead."

"With Dani?" asked Michelle, in surprised. "I don't think Mike has even talked to her yet!"

"Dave's paranoid," smiled Christopher. "All you have to do is drop a hint that someone is after him and he'll go flying off the handle. He's now running around wanting to make Mike prove his loyalty. It's beautiful." He laughed. "Maybe tomorrow I can have him paranoid about the gnome. The gnome's going to vote you out, Dave! Watch out!"

Michelle laughed now, a good loud hearty guffaw. She loved it. She -loved- the way Christopher toyed with people. It was beautiful, it was hilarious, and it was flat out evil. And sometimes there was just no other way you could say it: Christopher was simply the devil. And she loved him so much for it.

"Dave's a sniveling little prick," Christopher added. "What a hosebag."

And with that, Christopher and Michelle started their first of many bash-sessions today against the guys. It had been growing worse and worse lately, and by this point they talked freely and openly in front of both Isabella and Joni. And it was clearly evident to -all- that Christopher and Michelle just flat out didn't like the men of Kamiya. And as always, it began and ended with Murtz Jaffer-- The one they knew as Dave Roth.

"I hate that guy," Michelle now said. "And hate's not really a strong enough word to express how much I hate him. He has no honor. He treats this like it's life or death and he uses everyone! He doesn't even treat people like humans! Like we're somehow beneath him."

Isabella nodded, silently agreeing. She wasn't the biggest fan of Murtz, to be honest. She found him nice enough but she -had- seen his paranoid side as well. He was very, very jumpy. As she had said on day one, "He just has a lot of nervous energy. We don't have coffee out here, but every time I've talked to him it's like he just drank a couple pots too many."

But one thing Isabella -didn't- like to do was take sides. She preferred to keep her options open, and the fact that Kamiya was essentially split into two always made her laugh. Because there was no -way- the two sides would ever align, not after that first vote. Michelle-Christopher-Joni was simply not going to be compatible with Mike-Murtz-Ryan, even though Isabella liked people from both sides. She had -ties- to people on both sides. In particular, she had a soft spot in her heart for Mike, the big guy who so few people seemed to understand. Isabella already had plans to get to know him better. Because there was something about him that she admired. Some sort of quiet understatedness. And she definitely planned to get to know him in the near future.

But for now she just listened, and nodded. Isabella was no fool. She might as well just play along when Michelle and Christopher started the mud-slinging. After all, that seemed to be what they did best.

"Hey," asked Christopher, "Are you going to talk to Danielle today? To bring her into the fold?"

"Yeah," nodded Michelle. "But I haven't done it yet. Do you know if she can really be trusted? I mean, how well do you know her?"

"I just know that she's weird," Christopher said, shrugging. "And I mean weird. Like -Deliverance- weird. But we need her."

"What about Joni?" interjected Isabella, suddenly. She was very careful about making sure the Angels didn't forget about Joni. Because Isabella knew Joni was sharp. They all did, they -all- knew she was a player... and Isabella was always careful to remind them of this. "Is there any chance the guys could have gotten to her already?"

"No way," said Michelle, shaking her head. "Mike won't talk to her because she's a teenager. And she can't stand Dave."

"Jones is solid," nodded Christopher. "She's an Angel to the end."

"She's great," said Michelle. "I love her."

"Yeah," nodded Isabella. "I think y'all are right. She wouldn't turn."

But in her mind, Isabella was remembering her confessional this morning. And something she had said about their young Mormon tribemate. Because a few things made Isabella nervous in this game. Well not -nervous-, per se, because Isabella knew she was going to win. That much wasn't in question. But there were three obstacles that she saw in her way on Kamiya, and young Joni was definitely one of them.

The first was Danielle.

"Danielle is sickeningly sweet," Isabella had said, as she had named off her obstacles in this game. "She's a bit strange and erratic and I don't care for her at all. But she -also- happens to be our other food searcher and if I have my way she'll be the first one gone from Kamiya. I don't really need the competition."

The second was Ryan.

"He's simply a snake." She had said. "Actually no, not a snake-- because a snake slithers with dignity and ferocity. No, Ryan is more like a rabid weasel. Despite what he thinks, he is -not- the king of the play. He is just the slimy court advisor, kissing the king's ass while dreaming of the glory himself." She laughed. "I don't respect Ryan nor like him very much, but I -do- think he's playing a good game. The only real mistake he's made is that if he wants to kiss the King or Queen's ass to the top-- he should be kissing mine. He is playing an exceptionally good game, except for how he's handling me, and that will be his downfall."

And the third obstacle in her mind was Joni. Joni, the young girl that the Angels seemed to have fallen in love with. The one that the audience was going to love. And -that- was the obstacle that she could see was going to be a problem.

"Joni's a sweet, young, innocent girl," Isabella had explained, as she sat by a rock on the beach. "And she's smart too. She has a good head on her shoulders and I believe others will underestimate her."

Then she had smiled-- Her sweet, happy Isabella smile-- The one that held many daggers behind it.

"-They'll- underestimate her. But -I- won't."



^^




The day stretched on at Sato, as the intrepid little band of seven tried their best to get their feet back on the ground. This was the day that all things were going to change. The drama was over and the game was going to start, for good.

The first step-- get their shelter fixed and in a workable condition. Because quite frankly their home right now sucked. It was cold, it was cramped, and it was wet. And things would get -immensely- better if people started sleeping better at night.

"Make sure you get it on tight!" said Matt. "You need to make sure it's tied down, or the flag will blow away."

The young redhead was currently standing in a light rain, watching as his tribemates worked together to fix the roof. He stood with hands on hips, watching, as David and Henry finally shored up a massive leak in the left side, and helped cover it with David's large American flag. And with that, it appeared to be done. Matt stepped back, appraising their new home. He was the builder here, the only one with -any- sort of construction skills at all, and it would have to pass -his- inspection before he gave it the okay.

Matt now walked around the rear of the lean-to, inspecting for leaks and cracks. Amy stood off to one side, cooking the tribe's lunch. Beth was by her side, helping her out. And David and Henry were now rinsing off their hands, which were covered with sand and dirt from the heavy lifting. But the four other members of the core Sato alliance watched as Matt finished his inspection.

They stood by with baited breath as Matt came around front. And then he flashed them a quick thumbs up. He liked what he saw. And he added just one word, smiling.

"Groovy."

And with that, the first major hurdle at Camp Sato had been traversed. Four days into the game... and they finally had a home. And to be quite honest, it was all because of Matt. Without the building skills of Matt Carter, half the tribe would probably be dead by now. He seemed to be the only outdoorsman they had. And this had been a major surprise to many of the Satos, who had expected more from Hogan in that department. Being an Eagle Scout, they had expected Hogan to step up and help out with tasks as well. But as they were finding out, Hogan was all but worthless around camp. And sure, the kid was strong, smart, and good in challenges... but he was all but lost out here in the wild. So it had ended up being Matt or nothing... and luckily the young man with the hockey mask had come through when it counted.

"Where is Hogan by the way?" asked Beth. "I haven't seen him all morning."

"He went fishing," said Henry. "Lance needed help bagging the fish up, and I didn't want Hogan to go out and fall into the latrine or something." The rest of the tribe laughed at this, because Henry wasn't kidding. Hogan had a habit of ending up in harm's way when left alone. "So I told Lance to go babysit him for a while. Keep him safe for the challenge."

"Ah, good move," said David.

David looked over at Henry and smiled, proudly. Because Henry appeared to be doing better today. The young writer from Cambridge -really- appeared to be trying to fit in with the tribe. And so far, it seemed to be working. Because at the moment Henry Jenkins was still hanging in there-- very tenuously-- with the alliance's power core. But he was definitely putting in a better effort now. Henry seemed to have turned over a new leaf, and David was glad. Because this was something David felt was absolutely essential to the success of Sato in this game. They -had- to stay together as a group, and they -had- to keep Henry around. No matter what Henry said, or did, that was inappropriate or just plain rude, Henry had to be kept around. And David had told him so just this morning.

"So," he asked, as he had sidled up to Henry by the beach. "Were you surprised by the vote last night? Or did you know it was going to be Lis?"

"Not too surprised," smiled Henry. "I thought that was -probably- the way it was going to turn out. Vote for vote, anyway. But I was still holding my breath just a little at the end."

"No kidding," said David. "But you know you were never in any danger, right? I mean, this alliance is strong. We may fight, but we stick together. Just keep that in mind."

"Oh I know," said Henry, "I know the only issue is with Amy and me. Beth and Matt, I get along with fine. But Amy's been the problem. Just Amy."

David nodded, although he knew that was not the case at all. If anyone, -Matt- was the biggest critic of Henry at the moment, not Amy. Matt seemed to simply hate the guy's guts. But it was true that Amy and Henry seemed to be fixated on one another, for whatever reason. And in David's mind, the Amy-Henry rift seemed to be the only obstacle still in the way of team harmony. And it needed to be fixed. Right now.

"I mean, they've -all- been pissed at me," Henry admitted. "But I still worry that Amy's gonna try to switch me out for Hogan or Lance and boot me out. I can feel it. She doesn't want me here."

"No way," said David, sternly. "I would be against it and she knows it. She wouldn't even try. And she'd be a fool to try to swap two people in anyway." He shrugged. "Besides, I wouldn't even -want- Hogan or Lance around. They're outside the alliance already and that shows they simply aren't strategically competent. So why would I want them in my alliance?"

"Good point," nodded Henry. And once David had him on board, it was time to move in for the kill.

"I want to propose something, Henry," he said under his breath. "Right now, I want to make a deal." He paused. "I want you and me to be the final two. Right now, let's make this pact. You're the guy I want by my side."

Henry looked up at him, surprised.

"I'm serious, Henry. You're the guy I want to go with me all the way."

"What about Amy?"

David had shaken his head.

"Amy's too well liked. She's got Matt and Beth wrapped around her finger. And besides, none of us could beat her at the end. She'd have too many friends on the jury."

Henry nodded. But he was still skeptical.

"I don't believe you'd vote out Amy," he said. "You two are too close."

"That's -exactly- why she needs to be taken out," said David. And he wasn't kidding. He could already see how powerful she was growing, and how confident she was becoming. So yes, David was already preparing to take Amy out down the road. If he had to, of course. And he knew she wouldn't see it coming.

"But I want -you- to make me a promise," added David. He was leaning over now, trying to impart the seriousness of this request to Henry. "You shape up your act and try to fit in better. No more fights. No more drama. Just lay low and fit in. Get along." He smiled. "Do that for me, and I'll do this for you. I'll get you to that final two. And if we have to take Amy out, she's as good as gone."

Henry smiled, and that had been that. So now David had a secret sub-pact. A final two alliance-- with the guy that everyone here seemed to have written off. A guy who would be a slam dunk opponent in the final two. And as the Satos worked on the shelter, David smiled at all of Henry's attempts to fit in. Because Henry was learning.

Henry was the most important piece of them all.

And now, since there appeared to be harmony at the moment--- David just had to make sure the alliance would have no more speed bumps along the way. He had to make sure this group was set in its unity for a while. He -didn't- want Amy and Henry going after each other anymore.

"Hey guys," he said. "Let's gather 'round. Amy, Beth, come on over here."

The five members of the Sato alliance huddled up near the shelter. It was still raining a bit, so the droplets of rain dripped from their hair and clothing as David made his pitch. He first checked to make sure Hogan and Lance weren't looking, of course. And they weren't. And now it was time to say something that absolutely needed to be said.

"Look guys," he said. "I know we've had some issues in the past. I know some of you were unhappy with Henry... and I know we've all had some squabbles." He swallowed now, trying to phrase this next part just right. "And I know we're going to approach things differently at times, so I just need to make sure we're all gonna trust each other to stand firm. Because this is an alliance. This is -our alliance-."

"Agreed," said Matt.

"One hundred percent agreed," nodded Amy.

"And I think we need to come up with some guidelines," added David, "In order to avoid any problems or disagreements." He nodded. "For example, I propose that from -this point forward- we deny the existence of our alliance to any member of the other tribe. It's our word against theirs and they don't need to know."

Henry nodded emphatically. So did Beth. Amy shot Henry a look, but no one seemed to catch it.

"I also propose," said David, "That we downplay its existence around here and look for a way to make Hogan and Lance believe it is falling apart or has sundered. And I'm just putting my thoughts out there. This is up to us as a group to decide."

But David knew they were going to agree. And they did. One by one the alliance members voted. Beth. Amy. Matt. Henry. And then David. And the motion was unanimous. From this point on... there would be no mention of the Sato alliance. Its very existence would now be a secret only they would talk about. From here on out... mum would be the word.

"Well, that being said," smiled David. "I say congratulations to everyone. We're all still here and our aim was perfect. Lis is gone, we're all safe, and thanks for being so solid. I love you guys!"

The players all put their hands in a circle and made the pact final. And then the meeting adjourned to hugs and slaps on the back. It was still wet, it was still cold, but now it was getting fun. And it was great. It was a truly nice, team-oriented moment. David had helped draw them together, Henry was getting along, Amy seemed happy, and things were looking good. Things were looking -wonderful-.

Until Henry broke the cardinal rule of the alliance approximately seventeen minutes later.




^^




Lance McHale sat on a rock near Sato beach, just resting.

The young man from San Diego was already a bit tired of this game, and he would be the first one to admit it. He just didn't find it to be as pleasant an experience as he had hoped. And it wasn't the competition... no, that wasn't the problem. Lance loved competition. He -lived- for competition. And so far -that- part of the game had lived up to his every expectation. Lance loved the fact that he was on Sato, he loved the fact that he wore the green buff, and he loved the fact that they were competing against the hated Kamiyas.

But what Lance hated was the lying. And he hated the alliances. And he really, -really- wasn't fond of the way his team had played thus far. He didn't like how they lied about the existence of an alliance. He didn't like how he had been pushed aside. And he didn't like what they had done to poor Elisabeth.

So he sat now, holding his fishing pole, just staring out to sea. He was technically fishing, but he wasn't paying much attention to his pole. Or the water, for that matter. No, he was sitting here talking-- Just spilling his guts about his time in the game thus far. And he had a lot to say.

Because he knew his time in Sato was just about up. Lance knew he was next.

"I know that I'm the next one up on the block," he said absently. "And it shouldn't be a surprise, because I was the only one to vote along with Elisabeth last night. So they'd be fools to let me stick around-- and I know they aren't. These are smart people, and there's not much they'll do to save me if I'm supposed to be the next one to go."

He sighed now, as he reeled in his line.

"If we lose the next immunity, I'm going to be sent home faster than I can blink. And really all I can do now is just put my all into -every- challenge from now on. I don't see how I have a choice. So if you see me slacking around camp, that's pretty much why. I'll be resting up. For when I need to save myself."

He nodded now, as he stood up. It was time to head back to camp.

"There's an alliance back at camp... and they want me out. But I won't suck up to them and play second fiddle. And they aren't going to like it, but I'm here to win. I'm here to stay. And unless a twist or merge saves me, this is pretty much all I can do. And I guess that's that."

He looked over now, to see what Hogan was up to. And Hogan was resting happily on the beach, reading his book. Reading War and Peace. Like he seemed to always be doing.

"I'm heading back to camp!" said Lance. But Hogan didn't seem to hear. So Lance just shrugged and walked back to camp.

He trudged back, lost in his thoughts.

And while the walk was strenuous, Lance didn't seem to mind. He liked the tranquility out here. He liked the sense of inner peace he got from the jungle. And when he reached Sato, he was almost disappointed. Because now he had to start playing the game again. He sighed, and walked back into the campsite.

The first person he passed was Beth. The middle-aged woman was sitting by the campfire, boiling a pot of water. She looked up and smiled, and he couldn't resist a quick jab at the alliance. The "mystery" alliance.

"So," he asked, "Did the alliance decide on who would be booted next? What's the plan?"

Beth looked up now, not expecting to be hit right off the bat. She got a deer-in-the-headlights look, but tried to cover as best as she could.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Alliance?"

Lance just smirked as he walked by, but he didn't say another word. Whatever, Beth. But now as he neared the shelter, he saw Henry and Amy. The two of them were standing near the shelter entrance, apparently engaged in some sort of argument. No surprise there, so Lance simply walked past them and laid down to rest. He didn't even say a word.

But as Lance tried to doze off, he noticed that Amy and Henry had lowered their voices. They were trying to talk without him hearing, and apparently thought he was out of earshot. So he listened, of course. And he caught the unmistakable sounds of Henry trying to flirt with Amy. And Amy trying to change the subject.

Lance laughed to himself. Because Amy had predicted such a thing would happen just this morning.

"Watch this," she had told him, "With Elisabeth gone, Henry's been bored. He's been turning to me for his female attention now. Just watch him, he gets bored and that's how thinks he should let off stress."

And sure enough, Lance could hear it. Henry had just requested that Amy make a bra out of coconuts to wear around camp. Lance rolled his eyes, laughing. Amy was ignoring him... and then Henry told her she looked "coconuty" right now.

Lance chuckled... and now he -had- to watch this. So he rolled over, being careful not to let them see, and now he was watching their every move. Lance watched as Amy changed the subject... which made Henry mad. All of a sudden Henry was upset with her.

"Well what -else- can we talk about?" he complained. And now his voice was a little louder. "You people are so boring. This tribe is so boring! We can't even talk about the alliance! Like Lance and Hogan are idiots or something. Do you honestly think they don't know about it?"

And with that, Amy's face went red. She was furious. She simply turned towards Lance and pointed at him. Because she knew that he had overheard. Henry saw Lance looking and his face blanched. He had forgotten Lance was even there. And Lance, for his part, simply smiled. He lifted a hand and waved.

"Hey guys," he smiled. "Don't mind me. I'm just sleeping here. You guys can talk alliance if you want, don't worry about me."

And with that, Henry Jenkins' status in Sato was ruined forever. Because Amy was already gone. She was on her way right over to David with news that Henry had already broken the pact, and now they would have to do damage control.

Again.

And by the end of the day, Amy would let her feelings be known to David. Henry was going to be the next one to go, and she wasn't going to let David save him this time. This time, Henry had crossed the line for good.



^^



Sato's evening was now ruined, but Kamiya was still on top of the world. Across the island, the tribe in yellow was still in great spirits, completely unaccustomed to any setback or hardship in this game. They had simply yet to be tested.

Ryan Rebez spent the evening firebombing roach nests. It had taken him a few days, but he had -finally- located the third and fourth little mounds, and now the little bastards were going to pay. Kamiya already had enough sleepless nights and gross-out moments from the roaches crawling over them on the ground, and it had been Ryan's job to terminate the intruders.

And now the moment of truth was here.

"Dani," he said, "One fireball, please."

Ryan smiled over at Danielle, who was helping him out today. And that was great. Because out of all the players here, Danielle seemed to be the most receptive to his nice guy act thus far. Danielle seemed to be the easiest to fool, and he had milked this for all he could. She seemed to think he was a great guy. And it made Ryan laugh. -Sucker.-

"You got it," she said, as she handed him a small rag tied together with twine. It had been doused with kerosene-- from their survival kit-- and she placed it into a large hole Ryan had dug into the last nest. And in moments, the fireball was in place.

Danielle stepped back.

And Ryan lit the rags with his torch.

-WHOOMP!-

The nest was engulfed in flames as the fireball lit up. Roaches were cooked instantly, with some of the panicked ones flying off into the sky. But in seconds the nest was gone. Obliterated. And it was beautiful.

"I kinda feel bad in a way," Ryan said, putting on his best puppy dog eyes. "I mean, just because we're camping here doesn't mean we should have the right to destroy their home. It's not -really- their fault we came here."

"Yeah," sighed Danielle. "But they -are- roaches. So I don't feel too badly for them."

"I guess you're right," smiled Ryan. "Good, cause I don't want to regret anything I do out here. I don't want to play like that."

Danielle smiled.

And Ryan smiled.

And he -so- had her hooked.

Ryan Rebez had a master plan in this game-- and that was to cause chaos. That was all he wanted, that was what he lived for, and that was what he had promised himself when he was cast. He was going to be a troublemaker. He was going to be the villain. And he was going to make people so confused they weren't even going to know their own name when he was done with them.

Dealing with Dani was easy. Deep down, he thought she was an amazing person... but she was still always about a half step behind what was really going on around camp. And he didn't particularly like trashing her like Murtz did, that was just something you had to do to fit in with the guy. But Dani was expendable enough, so Ryan wasn't too worried about her.

But as for the rest of his tribe... well, Ryan didn't mince his words when he talked about the rest of them. Even his own alliance mates. Ryan didn't seem to have a lot of respect for -anyone- out here.

"Dave and Mike like to call the three of us the 'Three Musketeers.'" He laughed, as he had been perched up in a tree, giving a treetop confessional. "But we're really more like the Three Stooges." He grinned. "Dave runs around in a straightjacket, claiming he’s Nero, and trying to find a fiddle to play or a Rome to burn. Mike marches naked through the streets of the city, stupidly happy, modeling the emperor’s new clothes. And I'm starting to feel like a frickin’ yo-yo running back and forth between these people."

Ryan laughed. He wasn't much a Murtz fan, few people were. But the one Ryan really had issues with was Mike, their leader. Mike had already seemed to rub a lot of people the wrong way, and Ryan was certainly ready to see the big guy take a fall in the future.

"Mike, Mike, Mike," Ryan had said, shaking his head sadly. "You poor, naive simpleton. I’m sure you’ve got a strategy, Mike. I betcha it’s even a good one. Hell, you might have the best, most strategy-est strategy of all strategies ever strategized." Ryan paused. "But guess what? You're still screwed."

Ryan sometimes got angry when talking about Mike, and he started to do so now. Sometimes Ryan's cool, collected facade could peel away just a bit, and that's when he started to get a little scary. That's when Ryan's true nature would begin to pop out.

"Mike, I can’t believe you’ve got the balls to try and sit on the throne this early, Yes, big guy, we’re all comfortable within our little alliance. Sure, we’ve got nothing to fear, at least in theory. But the -worst- leaders are the ones who are omnipresent and reviled. The best leaders, my friend, are the ones who barely anyone knows exist. And you certainly don't fall into -that- category."

Ryan had laughed, but then his thoughts had turned to Isabella. And that is when his eyes grew a little darker. Because she -still- troubled him. That ditzy blonde woman from Georgia was still a huge source of conflict in his mind. And the fact that she flirted with him so freely made him even more nervous.

"Emma is..." and then he had stopped. He really wanted to get this part just right. "From day one I knew that our little Georgia peach was probably a bit more cunning than she let on. I mean, come on, let’s review here... Tina, Mama Kim, Jenna, Isabella... there have been a -ton- of past Survivors who have tried the “Tee hee, I’m just a girl” -- and did it well. So why not one more?"

He shrugged.

"I know she's got her claws in somewhere. And that's why I keep a close watch on her. Because she's an enigma. Emma is an enigma."

And then he smiled.

"But fortunately... I -excel- at difficult puzzles."



^^



As the day wound to a close, the enigma Ryan spoke about had a few things to take care of. Isabella had a lot to do before bed tonight, because she knew big things were about to happen. By tomorrow morning, this tribe was going to be ripped apart at the seams. And she had some stuff to take care of first.

"I'm telling Dani about the alliance," Christopher had told her. "Tonight, before bed. I'm spilling my guts and she's gonna find out what the guys think of her and what they say about her. And then their asses are toast."

Isabella had smiled happily at the time. Because this was -great- news! Well, for Christopher anyway. But for Isabella this would be a tragedy. Because she didn't want Danielle around at all. No way. Danielle had to be taken out and had to be taken out first.

So it was Isabella's job tonight to make friends on the other side. Just in case this Dani thing caused trouble, she wanted to be in the with the guys. Better to be safe than sorry.

Her first task was to go talk to Murtz. And as much as she tired of his constant paranoia, she knew he called a lot of the shots around camp and that he was also a player to be feared. So she wanted to make sure she was one of his best friends out here... just in case.

"Hey Dave," she called, as she saw the enigmatic man in glasses walking near camp. "How are you feeling tonight?"

"Oh hi, Emma," he smiled. "Still not so good. Thanks for asking."

Murtz had been the first injury casualty of the game last night, when he had bitten into a rock while eating. His tooth was still sore today, and he winced as he talked.

"Okay," she purred. "I just wanted to make sure you were feeling alright."

"Yeah, it's okay," he said, as he held one hand to his mouth. "It hurts, but I just tell myself that it's nothing compared to the pain my mom must be feeling. So I don't complain."

Isabella smiled at this, although she still didn't completely buy the guy's "dying mother" story. But she was giving him the benefit of the doubt, just in case. And nobody knew this yet... but Isabella's own mother -had- died from cancer many years ago, so this was a topic that hit her very close to home. Murtz had managed to stumble upon one of the few chinks in Isabella's armor, and he didn't even realize it yet.

"There's a possibility," she had explained in a confessional, "That he's strategically lying, but I'd rather believe him just to be safe. It's a very delicate subject, and if he's telling the truth, then I have prayers, sympathy and the best wishes for him and his mother's situation. I know what it's like and it touches a place deep inside my soul."

"Aww," she said, smiling, "Your mom most be real proud of you. I bet she is."

And then Isabella did something she didn't characteristically do. She reached over and she gave him a hug. And it wasn't just a strategic hug either, this one was real. This was one from her heart, because she knew what he was probably going through right now. She had been there herself.

"Hey Emma," said Murtz, now smiling. Because he had her fooled. She was so snowed it was almost making him pee his pants. It was just too funny. "You want to like go for a walk with me tomorrow? Just you and me? I want to talk about some stuff with you."

"I'd like that, Dave," she smiled at him. And if she wasn't mistaken, she thought the guy had a bit of a crush on her.



^^



After Isabella dealt with Murtz, she moved on to the big man.

Mike Ruff was sitting by the Kamiya shelter, re-tying some of the knots that had come loose during the morning's rain. And as always, he was alone. Mike seemed to spend a -lot- of time alone, lost in thought, and it had always intrigued her. Because he seemed like such a big, strong overbearing guy at times-- almost scary-- and he had rubbed a lot of people the wrong way thus far. But Isabella knew that there was another side to Mike, and she knew he hadn't shown it to anyone yet.

And she wanted to be the one to see it first.

"I like Mike," she explained in a morning confessional. "He's... quirky. And his condescending tendencies can be annoying, but I believe it's more from a lack of social strength than trying to dominate. I believe that he's really a sweetie who just wants a little affection, just like any human being." She shrugged. "Mike seems to function in Mike's world, and anything not immediately in that sphere, he doesn't take the time to understand or notice, for better or for worse. In many ways, good and bad, he reminds me of my father."

And now, she was here to make friends.

"Hi Mike," she smiled, as she approached. "Need any help?"

"Oh hey," he said, turning around. "What's up, Emma? How's it going?"

At this moment, Mike was very secure in his position in the tribe. He was the leader. And even though he hated -being- the leader, he knew it was a necessary evil. Because plain and simple, Mike was the tribe's go-to guy right now. Mike was where it all started and ended, and they all needed him to run the show. And in his mind he -also- controlled the vote. He had Ryan on board, he had Murtz in his hip pocket, he was good with Christopher and Michelle-- and that was all he needed. So Mike was perfectly secure in his mind, and quite cocky about it too. Between him and the gnome, he thought he was all but set.

But that didn't mean he couldn't use -more- friends if one of them came along.

"I don't think Emma really talks to anyone but me," he had explained this morning. "And it makes you feel bad, but I can always use her if I need to. But the bottom line is-- she's a weak member all around, and the team wants her to go early. But I would -love- to keep her around since she'll do whatever I want. So if I can keep her around longer, I will."

And now Mike and Isabella started a discussion. They talked and talked for quite some time. And it was somewhat of a surprise when he finally admitted a secret that she had only the slightest suspicion of.

Mike came out of the closet.

"That's so sweet," she smiled, "Thank you for telling me! I promise I won't tell anyone though. I know it must be kind of hard for you out here."

"Oh it is," he said. And while he had already come out to his alliance-mates Murtz and Ryan, this was the first time it seemed like someone actually cared. So Mike started to talk-- about his life back home--- about his partner, Joe--- about his feelings as leader.

And Isabella listened.

And with that a curious relationship was born. Isabella liked Mike, a lot. Mike liked Isabella, a lot. And the big man from Rochester suddenly had a connection with the quiet young woman he thought was from Georgia. And with this connection came a pact. Mike suddenly made her a deal.

"I'll tell you what, Emma" he said. "I can watch your back out here if you want. I hear a lot of things people discuss and I know there have been discussions of voting for you. But if you want me to, I can watch your back."

"Aww," she smiled, "That's sweet. And Mike I promise I can do the same for you too. I will let you know if I hear anything about you too, okay?"

And for the the second time of the day, Isabella sealed the deal with a hug.




^^



Day four came to an end.

Just before he turned in, Murtz Jaffer went out to give a late night confessional. Because he was happy. No, he wasn't just happy, he was -gloating-. Murtz was ecstatic over his team right now, and his game. And he loved to trash talk his tribemates any chance he got.

"In all honesty," he smiled, "Things are going pretty well right now. I love this team. I love my tribe." He grinned. "And if you asked me who I feared, I would say nobody. They are all sheep. People say Michelle is tough... but she's still a chick. At the end of the day I can sell her on the mom thing and that will take care of her."

He laughed.

"Mike is a good, honest guy and he expects everyone else to be too. In other words, he's a sap. And Joni is... well, Joni is Neleh. That's all you have to say about her."

And then Murtz moved onto Isabella. And like most everyone else in the game, it was clear that she had him completely fooled.

"I feel bad about being dishonest to Emma," he added, "But she is just so naive that I can't help it. It's like giving a prepubescent kid a porno magazine and telling him not to look at it. She said she would pray for my mom, and while I appreciate it... I am praying that she gets a clue about how the game is evolving around her."

Murtz laughed again.

"All in all, this is the place to be. Kamiya rocks. We have a couple of hot chicks around, we're eating well, and I'm being highly entertained by Ryan and Chris, who are funny as shit. It's a good time to be on Kamiya."

Murtz went back to the shelter, where he went to sleep.

But before turning in, he didn't notice that two people were missing from the group. Murtz would have panicked had he seen that there were only six people here right now. Especially if he had seen that the two missing were Christopher and Danielle.

Because Christopher had Dani alone on the beach. And he was telling her -everything.-

Christopher told her how the guys called her an idiot.

Christopher told her how Ryan and Murtz called her "Jabba the Hutt," and "Band camp girl," any chance they got. He didn't mention that he called her this too, of course. That would be unnecessary.

Christopher told her how Danielle had been the running joke of Kamiya since day one, and if you didn't play along and make fun of her, Murtz would come after -you- instead.

And worst of all, Christopher told her that Danielle would be the first one voted out. And unless she did something to stop Murtz... her game was over.

Danielle listened to all of this. She took it all in. In the dead of night the small Asian woman stood on the beach, watching the moon reflect off the dark shore of the ocean. And she cried. The tears streamed down her face as Christopher told her each and every detail, leaving nothing to the imagination. He unloaded every bit of dirty laundry he could remember, and each one was like a dagger stabbing her in the heart. And after a while, she just didn't want to hear it anymore. It was just too much to take all at once.

Danielle Wheelis never went to sleep that night.

Because she now had a lot of thinking to do.





DAY 5





Danielle Wheelis walked in the back, staring at seven people who she wasn't fond of at the moment.

The Kamiyas were walking in a single file line, on their way to the first Okinawan reward challenge. Michelle had brought back the tree mail this morning, announced it was going to be a mental challenge, and then plans had been underway. The yellow tribe packed up, ate some quick breakfast, and headed off.

Danielle had been the slowest one to pack, and the last one to leave. She had exited camp very slowly, her small frame trudging through the waist high grass as she followed the Kamiyas on their journey. And the reason she walked in the back is because she wasn't a part of this tribe. No -way- was she a part of this tribe. She was just the laughing stock. The one they all made fun of.

The Outcast.

The information that Christopher told her last night had hit her like a punch in the gut. Because Danielle simply had not seen it coming. She'd really had no clue that anyone here had a problem with her... or saw her as weird... or any of it. And it had hurt, a lot. Danielle had been incredibly hurt, the type of pain that only comes from being completely dismissed by your peers. She had been shunned, she had been mocked, and she didn't like it. And right now, it wasn't a whole lot of fun to be here.

"Hey Dani," said a voice, "Can I talk to you?"

Danielle looked over and saw Michelle standing nearby-- the tall auburn haired athlete who a lot of the guys seemed to be afraid of. You could just sense it... there was something about Michelle that made them all nervous. And Danielle had felt this too, of course. Michelle also seemed to make -her- nervous as well. Michelle was a person that she didn't especially trust, and didn't especially like.

"Oh hi Michelle," she smiled, sadly. "What's up?"

"I have to talk to you about Christopher," Michelle blurted out. "And what he told you last night."

Danielle's danger antennae suddenly shot up. Because all of a sudden -everyone- had something to say to her... or -about- her. All of a sudden Danielle was becoming the talk of camp.

"Sure," she smiled.

"I just want to confirm," Michelle said, "That everything he said is true. I can vouch for it, Emma can vouch for it, and Joni can vouch for it. The guys hate you and they want you out."

And as Michelle spoke, Danielle was suddenly reminded of what she did that seemed to stick in people's craws so much. Because Michelle was pushy. And Michelle was forceful. And Michelle seemed to always have an agenda. So whatever Michelle had to say, Danielle simply smiled and nodded. She really wasn't even listening. Because she knew Michelle was trying to get her to do something... and it was something that would benefit Michelle the most. Because Danielle had already identified Michelle as a micro-manager.

And in this sense, Danielle was dead on. Michelle -was- a micro-manager, and this was one of her faults. Because once she had heard that Christopher had spilled the beans to Danielle, Michelle had panicked.

"I was supposed to tell her first," she had complained to Joni. "Chris beat me to the punch! He got scared and jumped the gun and now he is going to scare her off! Because she doesn't know him very well! She might not even believe him! He's going to screw this up for all of us!"

Michelle had been quite panicky over the whole thing. And so she had gone right to Danielle this morning-- on the walk to the challenge-- to make sure Danielle was on board. Because if Chris had screwed this up, Michelle was going to murder him. Besides, Michelle would be -sure- that Dani was on board after this. Because she was going to see to it -herself-.

"They call you just about every name in the book," Michelle was explaining. "Everything you say, they make fun of. And Dave is the worst. Chris told you that, right?"

Danielle nodded.

"Dave hates you," explained Michelle. "Because you never ask him anything about himself. He says all you do is talk about yourself. And in Truth or Dare, all those things they make you do? That's only so they can laugh at you." Michelle looked Dani in the eyes now, trying to get this next point across. "But they don't only do it to you. They hate -all- the girls. They make fun of Joni all the time-- call her young, stupid and ignorant. And I want so much to say something but I can't! Because they think I am in their alliance."

Danielle nodded again, smiling sweetly.

"When someone has to do tasks with you," Michelle went on, "Dave and Ryan call it "Dani watch." Because someone gets stuck having to talk to you. And if someone is good, Ryan and Dave grant them "Dani immunity," and they don't have to talk to you for the day. Ryan also jokes about putting the gnome next to you while you sleep so you'll wake up and be scared."

Michelle was telling the truth at the moment. She was trying to remember every instance of Murtz and Ryan making fun of Danielle, to make sure this point got across. And as the walk progressed, she kept talking. And talking. And talking. Because if nothing else, Michelle liked to be comprehensive. She wanted to make sure Danielle knew it -all-.

"Dave decided to make you the first boot at Tribal Council if we went. Ryan and him told Mike, Chris and I that we were to all make fun of you at Tribal Council and mock you as you were voted out. And that's when I decided something had to be done. Dani, I -hate- the way those guys act. I don't like them at all!"

And then, after nearly thirty minutes of talking, Michelle finally made her pitch-- just as Dani suspected she would. Because Dani had been waiting for it. She had stopped listening about twenty minutes ago.

"Dani," said Michelle, "Don't let Dave, Ryan and Mike use you. They don't care about you at all. You are a number to them... and one they consider worthless at that. But we have -another- alliance in place, and we are ready to take them down. And we can do it with your help."

Michelle stopped now, to put her hand on her teammate's shoulder. Dani was barely five feet tall, so Michelle looked down at her as she spoke this last part.

"Chris, Joni, Emma and I want to be friends with you, Dani. We like you a lot and we've put together this alliance built on friendship. It is the four of us, and you are welcome to join. And I'm not going to ask you to vote with us but you -are- welcome in our group. We would love to have you."

She smiled.

"Because Dani, you deserve to be in this tribe and stay in the game. Because this -is- a game, and it should be fun for everyone, not cruel and mean. I promise we will all treat you with respect and not alienate you. We won't make fun of you or threaten you. You deserve to be treated with decency, and we can offer that."

And then Michelle sealed the deal.

"I hope you take all this to heart, Dani. And I know you don't have any reason to trust me... but I am asking you to just take a leap of faith and trust me on this one. Because I'm telling the truth."

Danielle stood there and waited for Michelle to wrap up. And finally... the sermon was over. Finally, Michelle was done.

"Well," said Danielle, taking a deep breath. But she didn't have a whole lot else to say. After all, what could you say after all that?

"I don't need an answer right now," said Michelle. "I just wanted you to know."

"Well I appreciate it," smiled Danielle. "I'll get back to you after the challenge, okay? I just want to think it over for a bit."

"No problem," said Michelle.

And then she remembered. She suddenly remembered some news that Danielle wasn't going to be happy with. But if it could help the Angels pull Dani on board... why not? Might as well hit her with it now.

"By the way," she added, "The guys have already decided you'll be sitting out of the challenge. But they don't want you to know, because they think it would be funnier to spring it on you. Plus Dave thinks you're an idiot. I just thought you would want a heads-up before we got there."



^^



"Come on in, guys!"

Jeff Probst stood in a clearing as the two teams arrived for the reward challenge. He watched them as they filed in now, first the yellow Kamiyas and then the green Satos. And he smiled as he saw that -all- of the players were wearing their backpacks, as had been specifically instructed in the tree mail.

"Let's go," said Jeff, "Take a seat."

One by one, the players sat down-- the Satos on the left and the Kamiyas on the right. And the Kamiyas were joined, as with last time, by their mascot-- Mike's garden gnome. Mike placed Mario down on the grass and smiled... because the gnome looked a little different today.

As a practical joke, Mike had asked to borrow some of Isabella's Play-Doh. With it, he had made a hockey mask. And now the gnome wore a white hockey mask on his face-- a direct reference to Matt over at Sato. It was the first shot fired in the battle of the luxury items... and Matt was -not- amused.

"Kamiya," said Jeff, "This is your first look at the new Sato tribe, minus Elisabeth. You guys surprised?"

A few of the Kamiyas had noticed the absence of the blonde teenager, but no one cared to comment. Joni was the only one who really seemed to care. Other than her, there were indifferent shrugs all around. Elisabeth? Elisabeth who?

"Alright," said Jeff, clapping his hands together, "Today's challenge is for reward, and is going to be based on communication." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rolled-up parchment. "You all have one of these, which was randomly placed in each of your backpacks last night."

A few players nodded. They had noticed the producers rifling through their personal items last night.

"What you're trying to do is crack a code," added Jeff. "Basically it is in seven parts. There are five parts to the code, plus one decoder, and one list of instructions. So your job as a tribe is to find -all- seven parchments, use them to decode your message, and write your answer down on that chalkboard."

He pointed to two small chalkboards, which were held up by easels on the beach.

"And let me add that this is -NOT- a race. You aren't trying to be faster than the other team. The goal here is to decode as much of your message as you can in five minutes. And if you both decode the whole thing, then you both get it done. So -accuracy- is the key here, not speed. Don't rush this, or you're gonna screw it up."

Jeff paused, smiling.

"So you wanna know what you're playing for?"

There were smiles and nods all around, so Jeff reached down and picked up a brown wooden object.

"Spices. You guys are playing for a spice rack, which I -know- will help you with some of your bland meals around here. Let's see here..." he perused the selection, "We got garlic, chives, paprika... salt... pepper..."

The two teams started to discuss this, excitedly, and then Jeff pulled out a small basket of fruit.

"And a fruit basket. Just our way of saying 'Welcome to Okinawa.'" He smiled. "Worth playing for?"

Both teams agreed that it was, so it was time to begin. And since the Kamiyas had one extra member, Danielle had been chosen to sit out. As Michelle had warned her, the guys most definitely -had- chosen her to sit this one out. And it infuriated Danielle. She was -not- happy as she moved off to the side. Because logic puzzles were her specialty. This challenge was right up her alley! She had a freaking 138 IQ, how dare they make her sit out of a mental challenge!

But sit out she did. She placed herself down on the grass and stewed about it for a while. And then it was time to begin.

"This is for Reward," said Jeff. "You have five minutes!"

He raised his right hand in the air.

"All the clues you need are in your backpacks. Survivors ready.... GO!"

The two teams turned around and frantically started to dig through their packs. They knew it wasn't a race, but they also knew they had only five minutes to get it all done. So this one was going to be intense.

"I got mine," yelled Beth, from the Sato side. She pulled out a small piece of brown parchment... and saw it was covered by nothing but ones and zeroes.

"It's in binary," yelled David, as he had also retrieved his parchment. "Binary!"

The Satos quickly retrieved all seven of their parchments and ran over to their chalkboard, just as the Kamiyas were doing the same. Murtz now pulled out his paper-- the list of instructions-- and read it aloud to the yellow Kamiyas.

"Your job is to decode fifteen words. Use the decoder to read the words, then write them on the chalkboard. Your goal is to get them all in alphabetical order, in five minutes."

"Let's go," said Christopher, as he held out the decoder. "Start picking out letters, guys!"

Jeff stood back and watched, as the two teams frantically started scribbling letters down on their chalkboards. Amy from Sato wrote down an "S" and an "H", while Isabella from Kamiya had already moved on to the third letter-- an "I".

"One minute down!" said Jeff. "You have four to go!"

Both teams appeared to be working well together, with Henry from Sato and Joni from Kamiya going through the finished letters, verifying they were correct. And by the end of the third minute, both teams were now halfway done.

"Uumaku!" pointed out Matt, picking out the ninth word for Sato. "It's uumaku!"

Amy scribbled it down on the chalkboard, just as Ryan pointed out the same word for the Kamiyas. Both teams had decoded nine out of fifteen words. Like the first challenge, this one was turning out to be neck and neck.

"All tied up," said Jeff, looking at his watch. "Two minutes to go."

With sixty seconds remaining, both teams had decoded all fifteen words, and were scrambling to write them down in alphabetical order. But Jeff spotted two errors right away. Both Sato and Kamiya had misspelled one word, and he watched to see if either of them would catch it before time ran out.

He was skeptical.

Forty seconds left... and Kamiya had placed all fifteen of their words in order. They stepped back now, to review and do last minute double-checking.

Thirty seconds left... Sato now had their fifteen words in order as well. A few of them ran back over the decoder and code pieces, looking for any last minute changes.

Twenty-five seconds... and Kamiya finally caught their error.

"It's Uehaa!" pointed out Mike. "Not Nehaa!" Uehaa! With a U!"

"Good catch," said Ryan, as he quickly replaced the N with a U. This required some last minute sorting, so the list was redone into alphabetical order. And now they double-checked again. But they didn't really have to. Kamiya now had all fifteen words correct.

Twenty-seconds left... and Sato had still not seen their error. Jeff stared at their board, unable to take his eyes off of the misspelled word. And there it was. They had spelled "deshi" as "dashi," and he didn't think they were going to catch it in time.

Fifteen-seconds...

Ten seconds...

And then Henry caught it.

"Deshi! Deshi!" he screamed. "It's DESHI!"

Amy quickly made the change, and the Satos were done. Or so they thought...

"Shio and Shinshi are out of order," said Beth, as she pointed it out. "They need to be switched around!"

It was an error that Jeff hadn't even noticed. Again, Amy made the change, and just in time too. She was done seconds before Jeff's timer finally sounded.

"That's it," he said, "Time, guys."

Both teams took a step back and caught their breath. This one had been intense-- in a short amount of time-- and they just had to wait now for Jeff to verify their results. Both teams hoped that their lists were correct. They both -badly- wanted that spice rack.

"Kamiya," said Jeff, walking forward to inspect the board on the left.

He cross-checked it with a list in his hand.

He squinted to read a few of the letters.

Then he rendered his verdict.

"Kamiya is 100% accurate. Congratulations."

The team in yellow erupted in cheers, as they engaged in a big group hug. From the sidelines, Danielle applauded and cheered them on in encouragement. Even if she still hated their guts.

"And now Sato..." said Jeff.

The green team watched nervously as Jeff went over to inspect their board. Some of them couldn't look, and stared out to sea, just listening for Jeff's announcement. David in particular looked anxious over this process.

Jeff took a long look at the Sato board.

He cross-checked with his small list and asked them to verify one of the letters.

Then he was ready to rule.

"Sato is 100% accurate. You guys both did it. Congratulations."

The green team let out a sigh of relief and engaged in a large group hug. Pats on the back were shared all around, even with Henry, as a good deal of pressure was suddenly lifted off their shoulders.

"Okay," said Jeff, "So we have a tie." He grinned. "This is what we're gonna do."

He pulled out two small pieces of parchment.

"I thought this might happen, so I brought these along. These are tiebreaker codes, and we're gonna have a showdown." He turned to the Satos. "Sato, pick your best codebreaker." He turned to the Kamiyas. "Kamiya, you too. We're gonna do a head-to-head showdown right now."

He paused, and held up one finger.

"One person. One word. One faceoff. For all the marbles. Guys, decide who you want to represent you right now."

Both teams huddled up, and immediately both teams were put on the spot. Because -nobody- wanted to have this on their shoulders. These players were far too smart to be labeled as "the smart one." And so the choice was going to be difficult.

Jeff watched with bemused fascination as player after player said they didn't want to do it. But finally Kamiya made their choice. Their four fastest codebreakers had been Christopher, Isabella, Mike and Ryan-- so it had to be one of them. And after two minutes of extended debate-- a name rose to the top. A champion had been chosen. The young man from Canada with the cool demeanor and the aqua blue eyes stepped forward.

The Kamiyas had chosen Ryan.

Over at Sato, the choice took on a much more heated nature. Because from moment one-- it was evident that Henry was going to make this into an issue.

"I don't want to do it," he implored. "Don't make me do this! Don't make me a scapegoat if we lose!"

But it was clear that Henry was one of the better codebreakers of the group. Along with David, Amy and Matt, he had been invaluable throughout the challenge. So his name had inevitably come up, and he had tried his best to get out of the spotlight.

But the problem wasn't that no one else wanted to volunteer. No, that wasn't the issue at all. The problem was that Henry wouldn't let anyone -else- go up there either. He was going to make this more difficult than it needed to be.

"Amy can't do it," he pointed out. "She's not smart enough and she isn't good under pressure."

At this, Amy shot him a look of pure hatred. Because right now, she hated Henry. She simply just -hated- the guy, and comments like this were the reason why. He seemed to make them all the time.

"What about Matt?" asked Lance.

"No," said Henry, shaking his head. "And I don't think David will do well either."

"Hey Sato!" called Jeff, annoyed, "I need a name! Let's step it up!"

"-You- do it then," said Matt, snapping at Henry. "If you don't think anyone else can."

"Yeah," agreed a frustrated Amy. "I vote for Henry."

"I vote Henry," said Beth.

And now, Henry was stuck. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to do this at -all-. But he was about to be volunteered.

"Who's your pick?" asked Jeff.

"Henry," said Matt. And before Henry could protest, Jeff called him up. He shot his team an angry look of disgust before he walked up to meet Ryan for the tiebreaker.

"Henry and Ryan," smiled Jeff, as the two young men shook hands. Ryan had an intense look of focus in his eyes, but his face was calm. He never appeared to lose his cool much. And Henry appeared to be trying to relax and concentrate. He was trying hard not to let the stress of the situation overwhelm him... even though he was -still- upset that Sato had chosen him.

"You each have the same word to decode," said Jeff. "It is seven letters and you are using the same code system as before. So once I hand you these parchments, you're going to decode and write the word down as fast as you can. First one to get it correct..." he smiled. "Wins reward for your team. You guys ready?"

"Yes," answered Henry.

Ryan simply nodded.

"This is for reward!" announced Jeff.

Both men poised at their chalkboards, chalk in hand, ready to go. Ryan on the left for Kamiya. Henry on the right for Sato. Their teams cheered them from behind.

"Survivors ready... GO!"

Both men unrolled their parchments... and were greeted with the following string of ones and zeroes: 10010100110010111011011000111100010

Ryan quickly scribbled down a letter T on his board. He knew this code like the back of his hand by now, and he recognized the first five numbers as the letter T. Then he followed with an O. The Kamiyas cheered him on loudly from the side.

But Henry was no slouch in the code department, and he had his second letter even faster than Ryan. Both chalkboards read "TO" now, as the men struggled to decode the third letter. But Henry could feel it now. He could feel the surge of confidence that said this was going to be his moment. This was going to be the moment that he redeemed himself in front of the Satos.

"G" said Ryan, out loud, at the same moment Henry wrote down a G. Then they both followed with a U. The boards now read "TOGU."

"Three letters to go," said Jeff, as he watched intently...

... and then it happened.

Ryan quickly wrote down a C and an H, as Henry was still working on his C. Ryan suddenly had a lead, and the Kamiyas were ecstatic. They could see it in his eyes. Ryan was going to win this thing.

"I!" screamed Ryan. He wrote down the last letter. "TOGUCHI! TOGUCHI!"

Ryan turned to face Jeff now, awaiting some sort of confirmation from the host.

Jeff just stood silently, looking at Ryan's chalkboard. To the right, Henry had just written down an H. And although he was just a few seconds behind, it was going to be a tad too late.

"Kamiya!" shouted Jeff, "Wins reward!"

The team in yellow ran over to mob Ryan as he held his fist in the air, triumphantly. He received pats on the back all around and felt like he was king for a day. But he had done it. Ryan Rebez had done it, and had won his team a valuable reward.

As Kamiya celebrated, a frustrated Henry Jenkins walked over to be consoled by his team. But he could feel it. He could already feel them blaming him for this. Lance consoled him, but most of them weren't even talking to him. Matt wouldn't even look at him. But Henry had predicted it. He -knew- they were going to make him a scapegoat over this.

And as Kamiya celebrated, everyone realized it had now been two challenge wins in a row. The Kamiyas were now officially on a winning streak.

"Here you go," said Jeff, as he handed the spice rack and fruit basket to Michelle. She thanked him, and Kamiya cheered loudly as they thought about the wonderful new foods Joni would be cooking up for them tonight.



^^



Back at camp Kamiya, things were about ready to come to a head.

The tribe was basking in the afterglow of their victory. They all stood around the campfire, laughing, making fun of the hapless Satos. In particular they were making fun of the two familiar targets-- David and Matt. Kamiya was making fun of the way the two of them acted at the challenge.

"It's binary!" Murtz said, mimicking David's deep voice. "It's binary, guys! Where's my flag? Did you see my flag!"

The tribe laughed as a group. Even Joni seemed to be having a good time today. Things were starting to get fun for her.

"And did you see firehead," asked Mike, as he referred to the tribe's nickname for Matt, "When he saw Mario's mask?"

Murtz laughed again.

"Dude," said Murtz, "He was -so- mad! That's why he didn't take off the mask. I bet he was crying. I think you made him cry, Mike."

"I think life makes him cry," added Christopher.

"It's binary!" shouted Murtz once again. "I cry in binary! -IT'S BINARY!!-"

As the tribe joked around and celebrated, Danielle smiled and excused herself from the group. No one seemed to pay her much attention as the quiet Floridian walked away from the group. No one seemed to care much what she was doing.

She walked past the shelter, and out of camp.

She walked down a path to the beach, and down to the edge of the water.

She leaned down, brushed off a few pieces of kelp and seaweed, and then sat down.

Because it was time to talk. She was ready to discuss all of the information she had learned, and she was ready to make her choice. But first, she wanted to lay it all out on the line. She wanted to make sure it all -sounded- right before she actually went through with it.

"Get ready for a long confessional," she smiled, as she warned the poor cameraman who would be sitting here for a while. He simply shrugged, but she had already launched into it. And once she started talking, she wouldn't be stopping for a while.

"It appears," she sighed, "That strategy and political maneuvering are finally coming out around camp. Because I've had two -very- enlightening chats with Chris and Michelle." She paused for a moment. "And I can't say I liked what I heard, but it -was- my first foray into strategy out here. Because if everything they've told me is true, then I have been missing a -lot- around camp."

She now picked up a stick from the sand, and started playing with it in her hands. Around and around she twirled the small twig, unconscious that she was even doing it. It was just something she did when she was talking. She was a fidgeter.

"Supposedly," she continued, "The guys tried to form an alliance from the very beginning, and I was their first target. And then Chris and Michelle are caught in a sub-alliance, and are stuck in the middle. And they want me to go with them and help vote out the guys."

She paused now, sighing.

And was silent.

She was silent for a long while, just thinking all of this over. Because it was a lot to take in, and it had all happened so fast.

"But I dunno," she finally said, as she looked at the ground. "All of this is coming straight outta left field and I don't know what to believe. I mean, I haven't caught -any- of this in the chats we've had around camp. I've never seen the guys making fun of me. No one's ever made a joke to my face. So you have Chris telling me that Mike and Dave are total chauvinists, and that they can't be trusted, but I haven't seen -any- of that from them!"

The small stick whirled in and out of her fingers as she continued.

"What I've suspected all morning is that Chris is just trying to appeal to my feminist streak. He knows I hate chauvinism, and knows that would make me furious. Because I like Chris, and I believed him at first. But the fact that Michelle came up to corraborate the story, without any prompting from me, makes me start to wonder. Why would she do it too? What's her agenda?"

She sighed.

"And I've been worrying all day now that the two of them are trying to lead me on-- because Michelle is a terrible liar. She's simply not believable when she talks. She's too rehearsed, too pushy, and a little too insistent for my tastes. She was there for a reason. And when she opened her mouth, I suspected immediately that she was feeding me a load of bull. There's no -way- the guys can be that bad. Because I would have seen it!"

Danielle had more or less suspected Chris and Michelle of lying to her all morning, and you could already see where she was going with this. Danielle was about to catch the Angels off guard... and was about to make Christopher the most hated man in Okinawa.

"In my mind, it's rather obvious that Chris and Michelle were lying to me to try and get me into their alliance. That way, they won't have to force a tie, and I can be their expendable fifth wheel if they ever get into trouble. They're trying to use me, and I don't like the way they are trying to do it. And I especially -don't- like how they're trying to blindside the guys."

And the person Danielle thought about when she said this wasn't Murtz. Nor was it Mike. No, although she didn't have a problem with the two of them, she wasn't particularly close to them either.

The one she felt bad for was Ryan. Her friend from Canada. Because she felt he was getting a raw deal.

"I just don't know who to trust around camp right now. But if you just consider people by their personality, then Ryan is my ideal ally out here. I mean, I just like the guy a lot. He's nice, he's candid, he's open, he's funny... and he's made a lot of the time out here easier on me because he cares what you have to say." She smiled. "And yeah, he has his opinions on camp life... and they mesh with my own pretty well. And I -don't- like that Chris is trying to implicate Ryan in this as well. Because it's not fair. Ryan isn't like that."

Danielle talked and talked for nearly an hour, and at the end she had come to a conclusion. Well, she had come to it long ago, but now that she had gotten it all out in the open, she knew this was the right decision. She knew what had to be done.

"Right now," she said, standing up, "I'm going to go wheedle some info out of Ryan. I want to see if there's any truth at all to the Dave-Mike-Ryan alliance-- because I haven't gotten a single whiff of it from him. So..." she shrugged, "I guess my course of action will depend on what I hear from Ryan. It's kinda all up to him now, and I'll just go by what he says."

She smiled.

"Because one way or another, I'm gonna find out what's going on."



^^



"I honestly don't know," said Ryan. "I haven't heard anyone talking long-term strategy yet, if that's what you mean. This is all news to me."

Ryan Rebez was on a walk with Danielle, per her request of course. The two of them had slipped quietly away from camp-- always away from the paranoid eyes of Murtz-- and she had started to ask him about what Christopher had told her. And if it was true. And if the guys really did make fun of her.

"Of course not!" Ryan had said. "Who accused us of that? That's terrible!"

Danielle was, of course, telling the truth. And Ryan's heart sank to hear how much she knew. Because she knew -everything.- Someone had clearly gone to her and spilled their guts. And Ryan winced with each new accusation she made... because every one of them was true. Every single thing she said was one hundred percent true.

And that meant there was a mole. That meant that someone in the Kamiya alliance was trying to play both sides. And Ryan had a pretty good idea who that someone would turn out to be.

"I don't want to say just yet," said Danielle. "I just want to know if the guys would do that to me."

"Well I don't know," sighed Ryan, lying. "Dave wouldn't. I know him, and he wouldn't say things like that. Mike... -maybe- Mike would do that, because he can be kind of condescending at times. But he wouldn't do it that blatantly. He's a leader and he wouldn't alienate his team like that."

"Plus we need Mike," agreed Danielle. "I don't like him much, but we'd be in trouble without him."

"I just can't say for sure," said Ryan. "But my gut tells me no. I don't think they'd be stupid enough to target you like that. That would be asinine."

And with that, Ryan's nice guy mode kicked in. He hadn't planned on it, but now it was here. All of a sudden he became Danielle's new best friend.

"Well I just want to ask this," she said, lowering her voice. "What do you think of Chris?"

And with that, Ryan had a name. The culprit had just been identified. -Chris,- he thought, -Nicely done, my friend. Nicely done.-

"He seems nice enough," said Ryan. "He's kind of a joker, like me. He's fun."

"Well just remember this," said Danielle. "Remember that he's an actor for a living. So just watch out what he tells you."

She then paused, as Ryan didn't react. He didn't say a word, so she decided to lay it right down on the line.

"Chris and Michelle control this game right now, Ryan. They have Joni and Emma on their side, and they want me to be their fifth. And they're trying pretty darned hard to do it too."

This news actually -did- surprise Ryan. So his shock was very real when he asked "Really?"

"The boot order," added Danielle, "Is Dave, then you, then Mike." She smiled. "And there is it, laid out all nice and neat."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "They each talked to me for about two hours making sure I was on board. And after a while I was just about ready to smash my head open with the nearest pineapple."

Ryan laughed.

"Well I'm sorry I don't have much to say," he added. "This is just a lot to process. I didn't have an idea that anyone was talking strategy yet."

"You should have seen Michelle today," said Danielle, "She was going on and on like it was the end of the world. Like all you guys did was sit around and make fun of me. It was awful." She shook her head. "It was so horribly overdramatic, it was totally unbelievable."

"Jeez."

And as the conversation wrapped up, Ryan was already wheeling and dealing in his head. He could see how this was going to play out. He was going to tell Murtz... and Murtz was going to be -pissed-. The mere thought of a traitor was enough to send Murtz into histrionics, and this was going to take the cake. Mike would probably want Christopher dead, and all hell was probably going to break loose.

And it made Ryan happy.

Because causing chaos was what he was all about.

This was just going to beautiful.

"Well here's my idea," he said, lowering his voice to the friendliest tone he could muster, "If Chris and Michelle are going to play Divide and Conquer... let's counter it with Unite and Persevere. Let's show them that we won't stand for their nonsense any longer."

"Yeah," said Danielle, happily.

"Let's make sure the good guys come out on top of this one," he added. "Especially when it'll be me and you."



^^



The rest of the evening at Kamiya was spent in chaos, as Ryan had intended. "Danigate" was about to begin, and none of them were going to escape from this thing unscathed. By the end of the day, Kamiya would be the lowest tribe in the history of Survivor. This would be a tribal split to end -all- tribal splits. This one was going to be epic.

As expected, Murtz had to be told first. Because he would flip out. The guy was -already- stressed out enough, and this news was going to make his head literally explode.

And Ryan wanted to see it happen, firsthand.

"We're fucked," said Ryan.

That was his opening line, and it was all it took.

"What?" asked Murtz. "What's going on?"

"We have to talk."

Ryan sat Murtz down, and then spilled his guts. He repeated everything he had just heard-- Chris and Michelle's sub alliance... Chris selling the guys out... Danielle knowing how they made fun of her... Joni and Isabella being on board with Chris...

"And then the best part," laughed Ryan. "Dani didn't believe a word they said! She doesn't know we can't stand her. She thought Chris made it up."

"That's hilarious!" laughed Murtz. But his mind was spinning. Murtz wasn't one to leave things to chance, and he knew this had to be taken care of, right now. Chris would have to be stopped, before this could get out of hand.

"I'm officially starting to freak out though," he admitted. "Do you think the alliance is real?"

"Dani thinks it is. Unless she's a really good liar."

Murtz wasn't saying anything. He just kept repeating the same phrase over and over as he thought. His mind raced with possible counter-actions as he just kept mumbling something over and over under his breath.

"I'm freaking out. Bro, I am freaking the fuck out."

Ryan remained quiet. He just sat there, watching as Murtz went into damage control mode. Plus he knew that silence would drive the guy mad. Murtz was just like that. He needed constant reassurance or else he tended to flip out. That was the trait that annoyed Ryan the most about the guy.

"We need to talk to Mike," Murtz finally said. "Make sure he is on board. But he's been pissed at me lately for making fun of Dani so much. Do you think maybe he's flipped sides too?"

Ryan shrugged.

"It's amazing you are so calm," said Murtz.

"Hey, better to see your enemies first," said Ryan. "You don't want to fight phantoms. This was probably a good thing. At least now we know who we're up against."

"Yeah."

"What we need to do," said Murtz, "Is make sure we're tight with the chicks. And not Michelle, I mean -all- of them. Joni and Emma too. We have to make sure they think they are important."

"You can do that."

"Yeah," nodded Murtz. "I have a good relationship with them. I put in the time to talk to them every day. I hate it, but they better damn well appreciate it. Cause it could pay off."

Ryan nodded.

"I just don't see why Chris and Michelle would do this," Murtz ranted. "It is totally illogical. Because Chris doesn't socialize and Michelle can't lie to save her life. She thought her tits would get her far with us, and that's the same reason why I never trusted her in the -first- place."

Ryan nodded, smiling.

"But I swear to you on my mother," nodded Murtz, "That I am with you to the end. You're my final two pact, and no one else can give you that guarantee."

Ryan nodded. Of course he did.

"Well," said Ryan, "If you don't mind, I'd like to go have a little chat with Chris. I want to talk to him like everything's a-okay. You know, just an extra friendly chat."

"Good."

"But don't worry," said Ryan, "Fucker's still taking it in the ass with my foot the first chance I get."

Murtz laughed. He suddenly felt a lot better about all this. Because Ryan was on the case. And with Murtz and Ryan working together... things were going to be okay.

He knew it.



^^



Kamiya was about to fall completely apart at the seams. And this was going to be a big deal over there... because up to now, Kamiya had been a well-oiled machine. All this infighting was new to them.

But at Sato, it was pretty much par for the course. Because Henry and Amy were at it again. The truce between the two had lasted for nearly half a day... and things were essentially past the point of no return now. Henry's repeated flirting with her and inability to keep the alliance a secret were now enough in her mind to send him packing.

"I'm sorry," said Amy, "But I can't keep him around any longer. He's bad for my sanity and he will just drag us down if we let David keep him around. I'm not gonna do it any more. Henry just has to go."

Amy was standing in a clearing with Beth and Matt, her two most trusted allies. And though she liked David a great deal... after all, he was their "leader"... she had finally decided that enough was enough. She didn't want David protecting Henry any longer. From this point forward, she was calling for a mutiny. David was about to be overthrown.

"Do you guys want Henry out, or am I alone on this? Cause I -know- I'm not the only one Henry drives batty."

"I don't -love- the idea," said Matt, "I mean of voting out an alliance member. But for Henry, I'd love to make an exception. The only reason this is even an issue is because we have a rotten apple in the bunch. So if you want to make this a four person alliance, I say go for it."

"I'm up for it," nodded Beth. "His need for attention gets kinda old after a while."

And with that, the three Satos starting listing their long list of grievances with Henry. It wasn't a short list, and they found many of the complaints were shared by all of them.

"Hogan can't stand Henry," said Amy. "Because Henry calls him 'Hoag.' Hogan doesn't like how Henry makes fun of his name."

"Henry is really desperate," said Matt, "And he hits on anything that moves. Plus he thinks he's smarter than the rest of us."

"I know!" said Amy. "Did you hear him talk to me at the reward challenge! He said I wasn't smart enough to do the tiebreaker!"

This still galled Amy, and she doubted she was ever going to forget it. To have her intelligence insulted was just about the lowest thing you could do to her. And Henry had crossed that line... repeatedly.

"You know," added Matt, "At first he was just arrogant, that I can accept. If anything, some of the greatest survivor players have been arrogant."

Beth nodded.

"But the fact that -he- can tell Lance about the alliance and we can't... that just makes me want to throttle him. Plus he's dangerous."

"He nearly sent Lance into a hissy fit last night," said Amy. "Talking about the alliance right there in front of him like that."

"He's gotta go," said Beth. She was shaking her head. "And I know it sounds vindictive, but I don't think he finished reading the play. Because Romeo dies too, you know."

That got a laugh, and broke the tension a little for the moment.

"Well if you asked me for my stance," said Amy, "I would say this. For now, our alliance is -not- safe with Henry around, and I'm not fond of the paintbrush he's using to draw a target on my back. Because when he acts up, I get blamed, and that could start to reflect badly on me."

Matt nodded.

"And getting rid of him," finished Amy, "Is the only way I can see to keep the rest of us safe from his verbal diarrhea. And that's all there is to it."

And with that, it was settled. They were going to go to David right now and tell him that Henry was the next target. And with three voices strong, David would have no choice but to capitulate. They thought he would finally hear the voice of reason. They thought he would be a fool to oppose this. They thought he would be fine with it.

And they were wrong.



^^



Nightfall came for the fifth day in Okinawa. And an unhappy group of players settled in for an uneasy night of rest.

On Kamiya-- things had gone from bad to worse. Ryan had gone to Christopher and Christopher had denied everything. Claimed he didn't have a clue. Then he blamed Danielle for making it all up, and this started a whole new wave of paranoia. All of a sudden, everyone was in the crosshairs. Everyone was upset with everyone.

Christopher was being yelled at for being a traitor.

Danielle was being yelled at for being a snitch.

Murtz was being yelled at for being sexist and mean.

Mike was being yelled at for being bossy.

Michelle was being yelled at for being a "terrible liar."

And no one really slept. The accusations went on throughout the night and threatened to haunt this tribe for the entire rest of the game. The bad feelings simply seemed to overwhelm them.

And on Sato-- Amy, Beth and Matt had now effectively taken over the tribe. David wasn't happy about the new plan, but he had said yes. He would have been an idiot not to. But deep down he was already making backup plans. Because David was always thinking. And the Satos were about to find out -just- how devious he could be when he started putting his mind to it.

He sat down for an end of the night confessional, just after sundown.

He sat on a rock and stared into the camera, his eyes devoid of emotion. Because David was not an impulsive player. He never played based on emotion, and never got too attached to people. Which was good, because Amy considered him to be a close friend. She thought the world of David McDaniel as a friend and ally. So this would have been hard for most people, but not for David.

Deep down, despite their close friendship, he knew that she had to go. Because of her status in the alliance, as well as her recent actions... Amy Twieg simply had to go.

"Certain things about Amy," he admitted, "Are starting to make me think this would be a good time to take her out. And I think she's just amazing. She's a fantastic person... but in my mind she's just a -little- too friendly with everyone." He grinned. "And that, I can handle. If it wasn't for the fact that she gets angry and tends to play emotionally."

He looked over at camp, where the rest of the Satos were sleeping.

"Right now Amy is pushing to get Henry out, despite being allied with him. And in my mind, that is unacceptable. Alliance members need to stick together. So what I am going to do is start to set the gears into motion, and see where to go with it when the time comes. Because one way or another, one of us needs to take the gears of this alliance. And I either sit back and let Amy drive what I want, or I drive it myself. We shall see."

He smiled now, and then went on to explain his whole gameplay up to this point.

"I don't like to sit here and talk about people. It's not something I do much. I just don't. And I guess it's because I came here to win. I came to play. So although I may -appear- close to people on this tribe, I'm simply not, nor do I want to be."

He chuckled slightly, and then went on to assess the skills of his fellow tribemates. And as expected, he was fairly brief and to the point. He tended to speak in business-like terms about the game... a fact that few people had really noticed yet.

"Henry is paranoid. Period. End of Sentence. He's outplaying himself. He's probably a nice guy in real life I imagine, but he's off in his own world a bit here."

He moved on to Amy, the young mom who seemed to be at the heart of the tribe. And she was too, for the most part. She also happened to be his sleeping buddy at night. But that didn't make her any less expendable, in his mind.

"Amy's cool. She's a bit geeky, but then again so am I. But she's a definite player-- almost too much so. Talk about cocky? She getting there. That cockiness will probably cost her in the end.

He smiled as he said this, because he knew Amy wouldn't see it coming. Of all the enemies in the world, she didn't realize that David was the one she needed to fear the most right now.

"I'm just getting to know Lance... and I don't think I've seen the real him. I hope it's not the real him, anyway, because it seems very flat and artificial. A complete mask of happiness and sincerity."

He shrugged.

"Hogan is our best athlete. He's young, he has great intentions and high morals-- and he'll never last. I had higher hopes for him, but I think he's a one use person. He'll definitely stay on the outside."

"Beth is someone I'm not so sure of. I don't think she's really even begun to play. She seems to have just latched onto Amy and settled in cozy until that protection is gone. Then I think we'll see the real Beth come out."

He smiled, and then moved on to the last member of the tribe. And this was the only one he really feared right now. Because he knew Matt was more clever than he let on. He could just see it in the kid's eyes... and behind his ever-present smile... Matt was on the ball. Matt was a definite player.

"Matt may be the best player after Amy. It's hard to tell with him. We'll see."

And with that, David was done. He stood up and smiled.

"So I can promise this. In the next few days I will either -save- this alliance or I'll be the one to rip it apart. It's going to be Amy or Henry, but it will be one of the two. And really... it's their own faults. Why did Henry have to push for an alliance so fast and why did Amy have to push to chip away at it so fast? What did they hope to accomplish from all of this?"

He shrugged. It was just something he was going to have to deal with now.

"I really hate that those two brought it to this point. And now we'll just have to work on it from here."




DAY 6




The morning sun broke early over Kamiya.

For the first time in a week, it looked like it was going to be a nice day here in Okinawa. For the first time in six days, there was no morning chill in the air. For the first morning ever, it was actually a bit hot out. The rain was gone and hopefully some unity would be in the air.

Nestled in its little valley, Mike's shelter stood alone. It was surrounded by a field of waist high grass, formerly the home to four cockroach nests, but was now only inhabited by eight people instead. Inside the shelter, seven players slept. Sleep had come more difficult to some, but eventually they had all agreed to let Danigate drop and just give in for the night. So now they slept.

Next to the shelter sat the firepit. A small rock-and-wood fire shelter covered it at night-- again, compliments of Mike-- and this helped keep their flame alive at night, despite the weather. They had learned the hard way on day one that wet wood will not restart, and a valiant fire-tending effort by Joni on night two had only exhausted her for the next twenty-four hours. But now the fire sat peacefully, embers smoldering in the early morning air.

And if you looked at the Kamiya campsite, it would at first glance be the epitome of peaceful. It was very quiet here. A few birds could be heard chirping in the trees, and there was the slight sound of the ocean down the coast. But otherwise it was very quiet here. At times, this campsite truly could be "The Valley of the Gods," as Kamiya loosely translated to in English. Because it could be very nice here when nobody was fighting.

But as seven players slept in the shelter, one man remained outside. One man had not slept all night-- he had tossed and turned for nearly six hours-- and now he was up.

Murtz Jaffer was carrying wood back to the campsite, taking the opportunity to get their firewood supply increased before the rains came back. The thin dark-skinned man walked slowly, very gingerly, as he tended to do when he was thinking. His rimless glasses perched upon his nose, Murtz had been doing a -lot- of thinking this morning. He had been doing a lot of reflecting.

And if you wanted to come right out and say it, Murtz had simply been humbled.

He had come into this game as possibly the cockiest of competitors. He came into this game with one purpose, and one purpose only-- to get himself to the final two. All Murtz cared about was to get himself to the final two because in his opinion, that was as far as you could control your fate in the game. That was the ultimate goal. And once there, he planned to smile at the jury, rip up the fake picture of his mother, and tell them the truth.

That he was a liar.

That he had kicked their asses.

And that they should have known better to mess with Murtz Jaffer.

"Because Murtz hurts," he was fond of saying. That was his trademark. You didn't want to mess with Murtz, because Murtz always hurts.

But as cocky and ruthless as Murtz could be, he had one great weakness in his personality. And that was that he was paranoid. Murtz was jumpy. He was high strung. And he was very -very- easy to rattle. And he had been so shaken in the past twenty-four hours by Danigate that he was hardly himself today. Murtz would be hard pressed to admit it himself, but he had been lucky. He had been in danger... he had been warned... and he had somehow managed to save himself.

And he hadn't even seen it coming at all.

"I couldn't believe it," he admitted now, as he sat down for a rest. "I couldn't believe that Chris and Michelle tried to get me out. I couldn't believe they would be so -stupid- to try something like that. And they almost got away with it too!" He paused to take a breath. This still bothered him, even today. But he had someone to thank... someone he thought he would never be fond of in a million years... but Danielle was the one who had tipped him off. And for that, he would be forever grateful.

Suddenly, Band Camp Girl wasn't looking so bad-- or so stupid-- at all.

"The hardest thing to accept," he continued, "Is that Dani is such an enigma. She's so hard to figure out, and it has been driving me crazy. She's either been playing a role of a clueless twit... which I suspected... or she's the best player out here. But beyond all that, she has guts. And I'll respect her for that. If she was indeed telling the truth about Chris and Michelle, then she had guts to come and tell us."

He paused now, thinking of the chaos that lasted all throughout the night. Right now, nobody trusted anybody. And it was hard to tether any hope to an alliance right now. But Murtz knew that at least one guy would have his back. Murtz knew that, above all else, Ryan Rebez was his partner in crime and always would be.

"Right now Ryan is the only one I trust. I trust Mike somewhat, but the fact that he talks to Emma and Michelle so much always gets under my skin. He's too sneaky. And Emma is too, for that matter."

Murtz paused, as he came to Emma's name. He definitely had something to say about her. Like Ryan... he was starting to suspect that the young woman from Georgia might be more than she appeared. Like Ryan, he could just sense that she was a little more on the ball then she let on.

"If you asked me who I wanted gone right now, I would say Emma. Case closed, there's not even a question in my mind. Because Emma will not talk game. She never talks strategy with anyone, she never gives opinions, and she just clams up if you talk about anything related to the game. And I -hate- people who won't talk game. I don't trust them at all." He smiled. "Plus, she never seems to take any heat for what happens with Danigate. Everyone else took shit last night... -everybody- else had some blood on their hands... but I just saw her sitting there, smiling."

He shrugged.

"And I've told people about this, to get rid of her, but no one ever listens. The target right now is Chris, and I don't think anyone will be sad to see him go. He tried to mess with us, he turned to the dark side, he got caught, and now he's in for a world of hurt. And in all honesty, while I was initially disappointed with the guy, I have to respect what he did. Because I -hate- passive players. I would rather be beaten by a snake like Chris than a sheep like Emma. And as much as I want to gloat about how we caught him, I know it very easily could have been me on the block instead of him."

He shuddered. It still made him queasy to think of how close it had been.

"Things can change in an instant here, and that's something I never realized until I came. I went from the being puppetmaster to being the puppet and I would be lying to you if I said I was happy with the situation. And unfortunately for Chris, I am still here. And I have Ryan and Dani to thank for it."

He then turned to the camera, because he had something to say. As much as he hated to admit, deep down Murtz -did- have a conscience, and it finally peeked out... for one small moment, anyway,

"Dani, if you ever get a chance to see this on tape, I am not sorry for what I said about you earlier in the game. That was how I truly felt about you at the time and I won't apologize for it. But if you -did- end up saving me with your information about Chris... then I owe you one. And at some point in Okinawa, I will return the favor. I promise."



^^



As the morning came, Michelle and Christopher went to go get the Kamiya treemail. And sure enough, it was here. It was time for their second immunity challenge... and this one was going to be a doozy. Because this one was going to be the gross food challenge, and nobody was really looking forward to it.

-You've come here with hunger,
You'll leave here with more.
It's time to chow down,
Though the choices are poor.
Reach down inside,
This could be a great day
... Now it's time for a trip
To the Survivor buffet.-

Michelle read the parchment out loud to Christopher, and he stuck out his tongue in disgust. But he was definitely a bit quieter today. Michelle had known the guy quite well for a week now and she could tell when Chris was upset. Normally, the guy would chat your ear off. But today he seemed to be sullen. Today he seemed to be lost in thought. Like Murtz, today he seemed to be shaken.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

But she knew. She knew that Christopher thought he was going home tonight. Because by now, everyone knew that Dani had squealed on them. Everyone knew that Chris and Michelle were together, and that they had tried to get the guys out. And everyone knew that-- if the vote were to happen right now-- the best they could hope for would be a tie.

"I don't want to go home, Twinsie," said Chris, as he used one of his many nicknames for Michelle. "It's not fair, we shouldn't have to suffer because Danielle is a moron."

"I know," sighed Michelle. "Who would've thought that she'd go run and tell the guys? What a freaking idiot."

"And I denied it too," said Chris. "I swore up and down that I never said a word to her and that she was making it up. I yelled and screamed that she was just trying to save herself, and none of the guys seemed to care."

And now he was almost whining.

"I don't want to lose my Angels, Mich. I love you guys. This isn't right."

Michelle came over and gave him a hug, because she could feel that Chris was hurting. This really, truly did pain him. The mere thought of "his girls" being in trouble would often send Christopher into spirals of anger and/or depression, depending on his mood. And this was just one of the things that she liked so much about him. Christopher could have the sharpest tongue in the world, and indeed he was probably the meanest player in the game when provoked, but he was as protective of "his Angels" as a father would be to his children. Quite simply, Christopher revered his alliance of four.

He adored Michelle, the fiery athlete he called "Twinsie." Michelle was his evil twin, his partner in crime. He would die for her if her had to.

He adored Joni, the young Mormon actress he called "Jones" or "Thespy," in regards to their similar background in theatre. He loved Joni liked he would a little sister.

And he adored Emma, the sweet young woman from Georgia who worked in a coffeehouse and was oh-so-easy to talk to. True, he didn't know Emma all that well yet-- few people did-- but that didn't stop him from calling her his "bright ray of Kamiyan sunshine."

These were his Angels. He would do anything to protect them. And God help those who tried to pull them apart. Because Chris was prepared to come after -anyone- who would try to take his little family away. And if he did... it wasn't likely to be pretty.

"After the challenge," Michelle said, "I wanna go have a talk with Dave. I have an idea."

"Ooh, do tell."

"I think it's time to start casting a little doubt on our friend Dani," smiled Michelle. "Teach her to mess with the Angels. When I'm through with her, bitch won't know what hit her."

Christopher laughed.

"I want to help!" he said. "I've been dying to go off on someone for a while. Making fun of Dave gets boring after a while. He's too stupid and it's too easy."

"Well here's what we should do," said Michelle. "I should tell Emma and Joni to go make friends with Dani. Throw her off the scent a little. Then you and I go after Dave. You just swear to him up and down that you never talked to Dani and that she made this all up. That she's trying to save herself and she's playing both sides. If anyone can convince him, -you- can. He doesn't like Dani. Never has. He thinks she's lazy and he has always said he doesn't want a slacker to win."

"What if it doesn't work?" he asked. "Do you want to try and get Dave out instead?"

"No," she shook her head. "I think we need to take Dani out first. Just remove the bad apple from the tribe and then we still have majority over the guys. I talked to Emma this morning and she seemed quite insistent about it. Take Dani out first and we prove the guys can trust us. We prove that we weren't lying." She laughed. "Then we take out Dave at the next vote."

"Awesome," laughed Chris. "Little prick won't even see it coming."

He then stopped.

"You know," he said, "I'm gonna have to trash Danielle pretty bad to get this to work. I may have to trash you too, to prove my loyalty. That's how Dave works. If you hate the same people he does, he respects you."

"Trash us -all- if you have to!" she said. "Save yourself and you save the Angels. Do it for Emma, do it for me, and do it for Joni. Because if you leave, we're all next. Don't let us down, Twinsie!"

And with that, Christopher was set.

His back was to the wall, his girls were being threatened, and it was time to act. And if Kamiya lost today's immunity challenge, they were going to learn a very hard lesson indeed. The tribe-- and Danielle especially-- were going to learn that it was a very very -bad- thing to get on his bad side.

Because the gloves were about to come off and Christopher was -more- than happy to start drawing some blood.



^^



As Sato prepared for the immunity challenge, Henry sat on a rock by himself.

The rest of the tribe was packing up, but Henry sat out here, alone. And angry. He was furious. He hated his team, he hated Okinawa, he hated it all right now. And he was more than happy to start trashing them. It had been too long and he had taken too much crap. The final straw had come this morning, when David had informed him that Amy now wanted Henry out. Amy would no longer consider any other options-- it was going to be Henry or nothing-- and David could no longer get her to change her mind.

And now, it was time for Henry to start letting his feelings be known on the so-called "love tribe" of Sato. It was time for him to start venting on the cold shoulder they have given him since day one. And he wasn't going to pull any punches about it either.

"My tribe is boring me," he said flatly. "That's all there is to it. These are boring people with boring lives, and I don't really find them pleasant at all. I mean my God, why were people like Beth and Hogan even cast?"

He stopped to yawn, showing his opinion of his two teammates. And then he continued.

"If you were to ask me if I liked any of these people, I would have to think about it."

He paused.

"Hang on, I'm thinking."

He was silent for a moment.

"Okay I'm done. No, I don't like any of them. And okay, that's a little harsh. I mean, some of them have their good sides. David, for example. He's a good guy... he's just bland. There's nothing there. There's nothing -anywhere-. Elisabeth was the only Sato so far who I would describe as fun to talk to, and now she's gone."

Henry then moved on to Amy-- the woman he considered his own personal thorn in his side for the past week.

"Amy has her good days and her bad days," he said, in a nicer tone than he usually used. He was generally a bit more blunt when he spoke about Amy. "You never know what you're gonna get with her. Although personally, I think she's the Antichrist."

Henry then sighed.

"And that's the problem with this team. Hogan is non-existent. Beth's not far behind. Amy's a sad small little woman... and instead of one in a million, Matt is like one in a grocery store check out line. Add in bland David and you have the most boring tribe in the history of Survivor. -Man- they must be saying good stuff in their confessionals. Because otherwise, the casting department really dropped the ball on this one. I'm the only interesting one here!"

Henry was starting to work himself up into a tizzy now. As time passed, he had grown more and more fed up with his team. And when he started to talk about them, he often found himself getting worked up. Like now, for instance. And time and again he came back to Amy. The one who wanted him out. The one who wanted to break up the alliance. It was something that would probably anger him for the rest of his life, he didn't think this grudge was going to go away anytime soon.

"Amy is the worst. Man, I can't stand her. She's like a member of the MTV generation. She can't sit still and enjoy a good thing. If it's broken, not, doesn't matter. Gotta fix it so you have something to do. Smash it and fix it. Flip. Flip. Flip through the channels and options. That's Amy for you."

And as Henry finished up, he was now more or less bashing his whole team. Because it didn't end with Amy, it ended with -all- of them. The problem was Sato. And he was the one stuck in the middle of this cesspool of incompetence and blandness.

"I love this game. I really do. But I hate my tribe. And you know, I came here expecting to make some great friends, bond with them, share an adventure. And here I loathe them like I haven't loathed anyone in a long time. I'm on a whole tribe of drips and passive aggressives and simple minded twits. If they have a personality they're far too insecure to show it."

He had a bitter little smile on his face as he continued.

"I came here expecting to be the mastermind. But -they're- the ones micro-managing every little word that comes out of anyone's mouth and I'm the one who's playing it pretty straight. I'm the one saying "You think anyone doesn't know there's an alliance? Are you kidding? How stupid do you think they are?"

He sighed now, frustrated. It was just so hard to deal with sometimes.

"And the truth - the honest to God truth - is that I don't fit in. I'm just not petty enough and fake enough to be a member of this alliance. But I'll tell you what. As much as I'm trying to make them think I'm with them till the end-- I'm really not. If the other tribe so much as -hints- at having a personality more compatable to my own and values I like, then I'm probably out of here. And it may screw me in the long run, but I have to think I'd be happier with the other tribe. They can't be worse than this."

Henry got down off his rock now, feeling a bit better. It always felt good to vent. But he had no idea that Matt Carter was sitting for his own confessional right now, trashing Henry like there was no tomorrow. Because Amy wasn't the only one who wanted him gone. Matt did as well, and he was -ecstatic- that Amy had taken over the tribe. Because Matt simply loathed Henry, and was -not- shy about saying so.

"We hijacked the Sato tribe today," smiled Matt, "And it felt great. At the moment, we have a mutiny in the Sato alliance... and Henry is about to be the next target. You know the guy I'm talking about. Henry, the guy who basically formed the alliance. Henry, the guy who lets his emotions get wrapped up in the game. Henry, the source of every bit of drama in the tribe. The guy who tries to play Machiavelli... but is really no more than a Ghandia. Yeah, I think you know him."

Matt smiled. And his cherubic young face might look innocent, but behind the mask he had a devious side to match anybody. And he was going to make sure Henry knew what hit him when it happened. It was going to be -so- satisfying, too.

"Right now, I'm the best strategist here. The only one who could have matched me was Elisabeth, and we got rid of that young'un right off the bat. And nobody seems to really have a handle on the fact that I am more or less in charge of the Sato tribe at this point, and I am loving every minute of it."

He grinned.

"And as my first proclamation as leader, I'm just gonna say it straight up: I want Henry gone. I want Henry gone because Henry's a dick. Hogan may be immature, Lance may be weird, but Henry is just a dick. All he does is create more problems than solutions and it's really starting to get to me. He's normal one minute, then he's Elisabeth's puppet, then he's the guy leading the bandwagon to get her out. Afterwards, he becomes normal, then he goes nuts and then he becomes a paranoid psychopath. He raves about how all of us are hypocrites while he is the only pure one."

He nodded. And the smile never left his face. Because this was the side of Matt that nobody ever saw. They only saw the goofy side. They didn't see the cocky side. And that was why he was going to be winning this game. Once he kicked Henry's sorry ass out of here, anyway.

"Henry is up one minute, down the next. So did I miss something... or is he on severe medication? I'm officially calling him The Bi-Polar Kid from now on, as it has a better ring than Henry. But watching him every day, watching him rant and rave, watching him act like an idiot... it just makes you ask one question: In the name of all that is good and holy... where in the hell are the snipers of the world?"

Yes, it was going to be another loving, cuddly day at camp Sato. And before they left for the challenge, even Hogan chimed in with one of his first confessionals of the game. Hogan-- the soft spoken Eagle Scout who never seemed to get wrapped up in the politics around Sato. Hogan-- the one who had an amusingly immature vocabulary and tended to get lost around camp. Hogan-- the kid that Henry referred to as the "camp dog" of Sato. Yes, even Hogan chimed in with his thoughts on Henry today. And pure to form, he didn't get too fancy with his comments.

Because Hogan didn't like to waste words.

"Right now Henry needs an ego beating," he said. "Because Henry is a douche."



^^



It was 10:00 in the morning, and nobody was happy to be at the immunity challenge. And it wasn't the fact that this was for immunity. No, that wasn't the problem at all. The problem was that nobody really wanted to do a gross food challenge today... with the possible exception of Matt.

Because Matt, as they already suspected, was a psychopath.

"Bring it on!" he shouted, from behind his hockey mask. "I'm representing!"

This drew snickers from the Kamiyas, of course, who simply didn't like Matt at all. But now everybody was here, and it was time to see who would be attending Tribal Council tonight. Which tribe would be safe... and which tribe would be losing somebody tonight?

"Come on in," said Jeff, welcoming the players to a spot just off the beach.

Both Sato and Kamiya had arrived now, and took their places on their respective mats. Sato stood to the left, looking determined and a bit angry. The Henry drama had pretty much riled everyone up by now, and they all had stern looks on their faces. Sato clearly had come here to play today. On the left, Matt stood with his hockey mask, and peeking out from his collar was a new addition to his wardrobe.

It was a small, hand-crafted gnome's-head necklace. A response to Mike's hockey-masked gnome at the last challenge. Matt had carved it himself, and he could already see that it pissed Mike off. The big man glared at him angrily from across the sand.

For their part, the Kamiyas were also pumped up for the meeting. Mike's gnome mascot had come along, as usual, and it taunted the Satos with its bright white clay hockey mask like before.

The battle of the luxury items was clearly underway. And it was starting to get personal.

"Welcome guys," said Jeff, as he smiled from behind a small bamboo table, "To the Survivor buffet." He noticed that Murtz held the immunity idol in his right hand. "Kamiya, I'm gonna need that back."

Murtz reached over and reluctantly handed the idol back, and Jeff placed it in the sand to his left.

"Immunity back up for grabs," he announced, and then he went on to explain the rules.

"Here's how it's gonna work. You guys have already determined your eating order so, one by one, you will send somebody up here. One Sato and one Kamiya will step up and be given a random food that they must eat. If you eat it, you get a point for your team. No problem." Jeff smiled. "But if you -DON'T- eat it, you get nothing. And let me warn you that some of these suckers will -NOT- be easy to get down."

A few players shuddered.

"The team with the most points at the end of eight rounds wins immunity, and is safe from Tribal Council tonight."

And with that, Jeff brought a small treasure chest up from underneath the table.

"Inside this chest are eight plastic balls. Inside each of the balls is something to eat. So send up your first eaters, and I'll choose their meal."

The first combatants would be Matt from Sato and Mike from Kamiya. As coincidence would have it, it was going to be the owners of the two contested luxury items-- the mask and the gnome. But the two men smiled and shook hands, as Matt then removed his hockey mask. His bright red hair blew in the wind, and Mike looked determined and ready to go as well.

"First item..." said Jeff.

He reached into the chest... fished around... and pulled out a medium sized plastic ball. He peered into it.

He smiled.

"You guys are gonna love this."

Jeff opened the plastic ball slightly and pulled out a large cockroach. Its little legs scurried in the air, and its wings beat furiously, because it was still very much alive.

"A flying Okinawan cockroach," said Jeff, gleefully. "Compliments of camp Kamiya."

The tribe in yellow winced at the sight of one of the frequent visitors to their camp. But at least they were used to these things by now. Well, as used to a four-inch flying cockroach as it was possible to be. But Matt hadn't seen one of these before and, despite his bravado, his stomach dropped like a stone.

Ugh.

"You have one minute to get one of these down," said Jeff. "Matt and Mike, round one. Survivors ready... GO!"

Jeff handed a roach to Mike and one to Matt. And Mike wasted no time in getting right to it. After all, the Kamiyas had eaten a few of these before-- as an experiment in nutrition on day two. The big man just popped the roach into his mouth, bit it in half and chewed. He wasn't fazed by the moving legs in the slightest. As Mike himself would say, he was -not- going to lose an eating challenge for his tribe. One crunch, four chews and down it went.

Matt, for his part, was no less gung ho about the task. He may have been grossed out by the roach, but he had been selected to eat twice for the Satos for a reason. He was their best eater. So he just winced slightly, popped the roach into his mouth, and ate it.

No problem.

"One point for each!" announced Jeff, as Mike and Matt went back to their respective cheering teammates.

"Next round," announced Jeff, "Dave Roth and Amy!"

Murtz rubbed his hands together, nervously, and Amy didn't look all that enthused either. But the two combatants came up and took their places in front of Jeff. They shook hands and introduced themselves.

"Let's see here..." said Jeff, as he fished around in his treasure chest.

He pulled out a medium sized plastic ball... he looked inside... and he grimaced.

And when Jeff Probst grimaces, you -KNOW- you're in trouble.

"Ewww," he said. "Well, this is it. Dave and Amy, you were fortunate enough to draw the big one. Because you guys get to eat..."

He opened the ball and dumped a large insect out onto the table. It was brownish-orange, hairy, and had a -LOT- of legs and antennae sticking out of it.

"The giant Okinawan centipede!"

"Holy shit!" came a comment from one of the Kamiyans. This was possibly the most disgusting thing most of them had ever seen in their lives. The thing was huge, almost the size of a starfish. And it was dead, sure, but...

"Oh, man..." moaned Murtz. He didn't like the look of that monstrosity one bit. And Amy, for her part, simply closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

This one wasn't going to be easy.

"You have one minute," said Jeff. "Survivors ready... GO!"

Murtz reached down and gingerly touched the centipede. He expected it to move, but it stayed in one place. It was dead. So he picked it up, brought it to his mouth, and bit down.

"They're kind of juicy," said Jeff, taunting. "Pop and squirt, guys."

Coarse brown liquid gushed into Murtz's mouth, and he spat it out, legs and all. He couldn't do this. He winced and closed his eyes now, trying to draw up the willpower to get this thing down.

For Sato-- Amy had managed to get down two bites, and she held her nose, trying to block out as much of the taste as possible. It crunched, and little legs were everywhere in her mouth, but she was doing it. She just closed her eyes and munched away.

"Bacon..." she told herself, "It's just bacon."

Within 30 seconds, Murtz had already spat out another mouthful of centipede splooge. He was about halfway done, but it was becoming unbearable. He leaned over the side of the table now, his stomach lurching in horror.

"Get it down, Roth," said Jeff. "Don't puke on my table."

With fifteen seconds to go, Amy finally popped the last bit into her mouth. Her stomach seized up, and she held her hand to her mouth... but she knew she had done it. She waited for a second for the last little bit of leg to slide down her throat, and then she thrust her fists into the air. Sato had point number two.

As Sato cheered, Murtz finally gave in to the nausea. He vomited into the sand to his left, and dropped the rest of the centipede onto the table. He waved his hands now, a sign of surrender. He had failed to get it down.

"Two points Sato, one Kamiya," said Jeff, as Murtz went back to his consoling teammates. As expected, he felt rather sick.

"Next pair," said Jeff, "Christopher and Beth!"

The tall man from Santa Cruz and the bespectacled woman from Michigan strode forward to the cheers of their teammates. Beth and Chris shook hands and Jeff fished around for their meal.

He pulled out a plastic ball.

And luckily, this one wasn't so bad.

"You guys get homemade sushi rolls," smiled Jeff.

He pulled out two small pieces of seaweed and two small fish. Jeff wrapped the seaweed around the fish and placed the rolls in front of the players. Chris turned around and laughed at his teammates-- because he had mentioned just this morning how much he loved sushi back home.

"Survivors ready... GO!"

Beth and Chris each popped the rolls into their mouth. One, two bites, and down they went. Beth winced somewhat at the taste, but she hadn't had a problem. Neither of them had.

"Three for Sato," announced Jeff, "Two for Kamiya!"

"Can we bring some of that back to camp?" asked Christopher, as Jeff shooed him away.

The fourth pair came up now to eat. And it would be the youngest member of Kamiya, Joni, against the oldest male on Sato, David.

"Youth versus experience," smiled Jeff, as the two players shook hands. Jeff reached around inside the chest and pulled out their meal.

"Jellyfish," he smiled, as he peered into the ball.

Jeff pulled out two large glasses and poured a jellyfish into each of them. They would be drinking these things down like a shotglass.

"Survivors ready..." said Jeff. "GO!"

David immediately tipped his glass back and chugged the jellyfish. It slid down his throat like a piece of jello and he slammed his glass down with authority. On the Kamiya side, Joni had no problem with it either, she just took a little longer to get it down. But they both did it, and were both rewarded with a point.

"Four for Sato," said Jeff, "Three for Kamiya!"

The fifth pair stepped up, as the game was starting to get tense. The Satos waited with anxious anticipation, as they wanted to hold onto that lead. They were getting close to their first challenge win, and nobody wanted to jinx it. Nobody wanted to get too excited... yet.

"Henry and Michelle," said Jeff, as the two players stepped forward to shake hands. Henry had a determined look in his eyes, too. He was determined to win this one... especially after his loss in the reward tiebreaker yesterday. He knew he was going to come through this time. Because he knew if he lost, he would probably be going home.

"Ahhh," said Jeff, as he pulled out a brownish plastic ball. "My favorite."

Michelle stuck out her tongue as Jeff opened the ball and poured out some thick brownish liquid into a glass.

"This is mangrove juice," said Jeff. "This is the water you find underneath the mangrove roots. All sorts of shrimp and crabs and fish live in this stuff. And they also... you know what... in it quite a bit."

"Oh come on, Jeff," said Michelle, wincing. But it didn't look that bad. It was just water... standing water... but it couldn't be that bad.

"Hey look," said Jeff, "Henry, you get a few shrimp chunks in yours."

"Not a problem," said Henry, confidently.

Jeff handed them each a glass and it was time to go. Henry tipped his glass back and downed the nasty brown liquid in one gulp. It tasted -AWFUL- and -SALTY- but he had no problem. He put his empty glass down and smiled.

Michelle didn't have the gusto of Henry, but she wasn't going to be intimidated by a little water. She chugged it down, grimaced a little, but did it. She did it for Christopher. She did it to save her friend.

"Five for Sato!" announced Jeff. "Four for Kamiya!"

The sixth pair was called up and now they were ready to go. Hogan and Ryan shook hands cordially as Jeff choose their food item.

"Uh oh," said Jeff, as he pulled out a plastic ball. Something was inside... and it was moving.

"Baby octopus."

Hogan winced and grimaced as Jeff dumped a small baby octopus into a bowl. The thing was white, it was squirming, and it had legs. Eight little legs darted around in all directions... and it looked disgusting.

"You have one minute," said Jeff. "Survivors ready... GO!"

Ryan reached down with two hands and picked up the little white octopus. He picked it up, dumped it in his mouth, and started chewing. The sensation of little legs darting around in his mouth was disconcerting... but he did it. Munch, munch, munch, like a grape... and then it was down. It was still moving... but it was down.

But Hogan, on the Sato side, was struggling. He had placed it in his mouth, but the little tentacles grabbed ahold of his teeth and he had to spit it out.

"Let's go, Hogan!" cheered Beth from the Sato side, but the young Eagle Scout was in trouble. He was already a little squeamish, and the thought of something alive in his mouth was starting to freak him out. He tried again, and the octopus latched onto his teeth again.

"Thirty seconds," said Jeff, looking at his watch. "Get it down, Hogan."

Ryan and the Kamiyas watched on in excitement as time slowly slipped away. Hogan tried again... he managed to take a few chews on the octopus, but every time it latched on to something in his mouth, he couldn't take it. As the minute passed, Hogan had tears in his eyes but he couldn't quite do it. He had failed.

"Sato five," said Jeff, "Kamiya five! We're all tied up!"

Ryan went back to his team and was greeted with enthusiastic high fives. The Kamiyas were suddenly back in this game, and they were -PUMPED-. Now they were ready to go again. Now they weren't going to lose.

Hogan went back to his tribe and received hugs and pats on the back. But the Satos looked dejected now. All of a sudden, it would be down to the final two rounds. Four people... for all the marbles.

"Emma and Lance," called Jeff.

Isabella Smith smiled and stepped up for Kamiya. She smiled at Lance and then shook hands with the pre-school teacher from San Diego. But the two of them squared off now, as Jeff pulled out another plastic ball.

"Ahhh," said Jeff. "Hope you guys aren't squeamish."

Both Lance and Isabella watched in disbelief as two small pinkish-green objects were dumped out onto a plate. And neither one of them could quite identify out what they were eating, until Jeff explained.

"These are baby turtles. Minus the shell."

"Oh my," said Isabella, as she suddenly held a hand up to her mouth. She loved baby animals, and the thought of eating a little turtle suddenly made her ill. She didn't think she would be able to do it.

"It's like eating a cornish game hen," said Jeff. "Just pop it right in, they're really quite tasty."

Isabella closed her eyes, as she felt the eyes of the Kamiyas on her from behind. Lance wasn't enthused about eating a turtle either, but he dutifully picked it up and examined it. Yep, it was a turtle, all right. Poor little guy.

"You have one minute," said Jeff. "Survivors ready... GO!"

Lance brough the wee turtle to his mouth and took a bite. It tasted a bit like chicken, and he ate away. He winced somewhat at the fishy aftertaste, and there was more than a little sand mixed in, but he did it. Munch, munch, munch, and it was done.

Sato cheered as all eyes turned to Isabella. She had picked up the turtle and was trying not to look at it, but she was going to have a problem with this. For all her confidence and all her gusto... Isabella was simply a sucker for baby animals. She took a small nibble, but one look at the itty bitty turtle eyes caused her stomach to lurch. She turned her head to the side, as the Kamiyas tried to cheer her on.

"Let's go, Emma!" yelled Michelle. "You can do it!"

"Thirty seconds," said Jeff, as he checked his watch again. And he didn't think she was going to do it. She had that look in her eyes now-- the look that Isabella -never- seemed to get. Because for the first time since he had met her, she had the look of worry. She simply didn't know what to do.

Isabella took another bite and munched it, cautiously. She tried to swallow it, and down it went. She had eaten half the turtle now... but time was running out.

"Fifteen seconds," said Jeff.

Isabella tried to take the rest of the turtle in one bite, but she bit into a soft part and a small stream of goo spurted into her throat. And that was all it took. She spat out the turtle, along with whatever liquid it had secreted, and she was done. Isabella had failed-- and she hated herself for it-- as the Satos erupted in cheers.

"Six for Sato! Five for Kamiya!"

Isabella sadly went back to her consoling teammates, receiving hugs along the way. But the Kamiyas were down to it now. This was their last shot, and Danielle stepped up to take her place at the table. Danielle had to get this down to give them a shot... although a loss was pretty much all but guaranteed by the look of things.

Because squaring off against Danielle was Matt. The tall readhead with the gnome-head necklace was back for a second helping, and he looked ready to go.

Matt wore a confident smile as he strode up to the table for his second meal. The Satos cheered him from behind as he awaited the final plastic ball. He shook hands with his female counterpart and then they watched as Jeff pulled out one last food choice.

He opened the ball.

And dumped out two large greenish-yellow slugs.

"Okinawan slugs," said Jeff. "Big ones too. And be careful guys, because these things -BURST-."

Matt smiled back at his team and gave them a confident thumbs-up. He could do this, he knew he could. Slugs were nothing. Slugs were just long shrimp, That's all he had to tell himself. Mind over matter, that was the name of the game.

"This is for immunity," said Jeff, "Matt against Danielle..."

He paused.

"Survivors ready... GO!"

Danielle popped her slug into her mouth and munched it. It oozed all sorts of flavorful fillings into her mouth, but she knew it wouldn't be a problem. No, the problem for her was the man to her right. Because it didn't matter what she did. It was all going to be up to Matt.

And he knew it.

Matt smiled happily as he watched Danielle finish her slug. He knew this was his moment, and he waited for her to get it down. Then he picked up his slug, held it over his mouth, and dropped it in.

And it was over just like that.

"Sato!" said Jeff, "Wins immunity!"

The green tribe erupted into cheers as they mobbed their redheaded champion. Matt was handed the immunity idol and he held it aloft, celebrating along with his teammates. This was their first win, and they were ecstatic. Now they were finally safe for a few days. Even Henry seemed to erupt in celebration as the Satos mobbed one another as a group. For once, they were a team. They had won this one as a team.

"Sorry guys," said Jeff, as he came over to the Kamiya tribe. "But you know what this means."

A few of them looked sadly at the ground, with Murtz hanging his head sadly and Isabella receiving a consolation hug from Joni. This was their first loss, and it could not have come at a worse time. A vote tonight was going to be ugly... and things were already volatile enough as it was.

This one was going to -suck-.

"Tribal council," added Jeff, "Tonight. I'll see you guys there."




^^



Sato went back to their camp in celebration, with the David-Amy showdown put on hold for the time being. Neither side would have to make a power play just yet... both sides would get to hide their trump cards for at least three more days. And thus Sato was happy. Tonight would be spent in celebration and harmony... for the first time in a long while.

But at Kamiya, things were about ready to take a drastic shift. Whereas it looked like it would be Christopher or Murtz leaving tonight, things were about to change. Because Christopher and Michelle were about to start their smear campaign.

And Danielle was about to be caught right in the crosshairs.

"Wow," said the tiny Asian woman, as she sat down for a lunchtime confessional, "You wouldn't believe all the drama we've had in Kamiya the past two days. Ho-lee crap."

She smiled now, her dimples again being put on display. Because she had done it. She had effectively managed to save herself from danger... at least for now. And after a rocky start, Danielle Wheelis was starting to feel her first bit of confidence in this game. After feeling alone and afraid for most of the first week, she was starting to feel it. She could actually feel it happening now, and it was a very good thing indeed.

"I talked with Ryan yesterday," she explained, "And after a long time of hem-hawing, and both of us -wanting- to talk, but neither willing to start first, we finally had a breakthrough. I spilled the beans to him about Chris and Michelle’s plans, and it was just heart-shattering to realize how much duplicity has been going on! Apparently Chris and Mitch have been playing everyone against each other all this time."

She looked shocked as she said this, for Danielle truly had not seen a lot of the early scheming and divisiveness that had gone on around camp. She had missed a lot of the clues, so the realization about the true nature of Kamiya had really been quite a shock at the time.

"Chris and Mitch... I call them Chritch... were setting the other six Kamiyans to be bitter enemies with each other, and were just going to sit back while we eliminated ourselves. And it would’ve worked too, if it weren’t for us meddling kids..."

She laughed now, enjoying the irony of it all. The schemers outplayed at their own game. She loved it.

"So I talked to Ryan, and he pulled in some allies, and now we're set to take them apart. Because you can rest assured we weren't going to take this lying down. Ryan's my closest friend and we weren't going to let Chritch tear the tribe apart."

She stood up now, as she needed to gather some fruit. It was time to go on another lunch-gathering mission with Isabella.

"And that's really been my strategy so far. I've tried to be reactionary. Locate a threat, find a way to
negate it, and make a few allies along the way. That, and find food." She smiled. "That part's always a plus."

As Danielle was happily planning for day seven, Christopher had already started to work on Murtz. He was doing his best to destroy Danielle's reputation as badly as possible, as quickly as possible. Because right now he knew his head was on the chopping block. Him or Murtz. One of them was going to be going tonight... and Christopher knew this might his last chance to save himself.

"Dave Roth is the one I want to talk to," he had explained, "Because he's the most powerful one in camp." He then grinned. "But the guy is also the most paranoid one here. He's the biggest bully of them all, but also the biggest pussy. All you have to do is say the right thing and you can get him all riled up."

Christopher had come to Murtz right after the challenge, and immediately started to go off on Danielle. He knew exactly what buttons to push with Murtz, and he did it with style. After all... the guy wasn't an actor for nothing.

"Dani's the one who approached -me-!" he pleaded. "She's been the one trying to get you out, Dave. I don't know how you can miss that. She's the best player here. And I know you've been on a rampage that Emma is some mastermind genius, but Dani is the one you should be worried about. She acts stupid but she's got everyone figured out. -Why do you think she doesn't do any work around camp??- She just lays there because she knows she is perfectly safe!"

Murtz didn't respond right away, but Chris already knew he had him. Because if there was one thing that Murtz Jaffer hated, it was a passive player. He hated people who slid under the rader and he hated people who hid their strategy from others. So Chris decided to pound on this fact as hard as he could.

"Right now, it's going to be you or me. You or me, Dave. Look what Dani has done to our tribe! She's turned the good players against each other, she's got Mike off sulking all day, she's got Ryan paranoid of you, she's got Michelle scared to death that the guys are gonna turn on her. She's played everyone! David, she's so good at Survivor it's freaking me out. No one else is even close!"

And this was the logic that essentially saved Christopher Collins.

Murtz wasn't swayed so much by the claim that Chris had been set up. No, he was too gun-shy to believe anything that people told him right now. And deep down he believed that yeah, maybe Chris -was- trying to be sneaky. But you know what? That was what Murtz liked about the guy.

Christopher could be an ass. He could be the meanest person in the world if he wanted to. He could be a schemer... one of the few that Murtz was a bit afraid of in that regard. But at the very least, Chris never tried to hide this fact. Everyone knew that Chris was a player.

And everyone thought Danielle was not.

And in Murtz's mind, an under the radar type had no business playing this game. He didn't really care -who- was telling the truth: Chris or Danielle. All he knew was that he respected Christopher's evilness and didn't respect Dani's naivete-- whether it was real or all a big act. She held her cards too close, and it drove him nuts. At least with Chris, you knew what you were going to get. So one way or another, Murtz decided he wanted to get Danielle out of here as soon as possible.

"Lemme go talk to some people," Murtz said.

Murtz said his goodbyes and took off. And Christopher knew he was going to start checking stories. Murtz was going to go ask around and see what the real deal on Danielle was. And Christopher hoped upon hope that his Angels would come through and back up his story. Because if they didn't, he was going to be ruined.



^^



Joni was the first one Murtz came to, as she sat near the shelter. She was trying to fix a broken shoelace, and was not surprised to see him sit down next to her.

-Oh, this oughta be good-, she thought.

"Hi Dave," she smiled. "How are you?"

"Not good," he said, looking depressed. "I have to admit it, I'm not feeling really good right now."

And for the first time all game, Murtz started talking strategy with her. Normally their conversations were very superficial... very light. It was the reason she just plain didn't like the guy, because he was so obvious in the way he talked down to her. He just never talked game with her at all.

"Just because I'm sixteen," she would often say, "He thinks I'm an idiot. Like I wouldn't understand what an alliance is. And really, I'm a nice girl. I try not to lie and I don't like making enemies. But there's two things you don't do to me. You -don't- ignore me and you -don't- call me stupid! Chris tells me that Dave calls me stupid and naive all the time!" She would often get worked up when talking about this. "But you know, sometimes I'm lucky and Dave will come over and ask me about my Barbies. Oh, I am -so- honored that you would lower yourself to my level, Dave. I will proceed to wash your feet and vaccuum up the ground you walk on so it is pure. Oh please let me make dinner for you tonight, mighty one."

So with that in mind, Joni only half-listened as Murtz explained the situation.

"Joni, I'm a religious man. I'm not used to all the lying going on around here. I'm just not cut out for this sort of stuff. It's starting to get to me."

Joni nodded and waited for the pitch. And eventually it came. Murtz asked her if she had ever been approached for an alliance. And she debated her answer. For a second she almost asked "What's an alliance?" but she decided to just play sheep instead.

"No," she sighed. "I wish I had but the only one who really talks to me is Emma. She's really the only person I'm really close to. I haven't got a lot of friends yet."

"Well," smiled Murtz, "You have at least two. Cause you have me."

He smiled at her. He felt better.

She smiled at him. And she wanted to barf.



^^



Isabella gave a predictable answer when Murtz asked her. After all, it was her sole mission in this game to get Danielle out right about now.

"Because there's no way she can help me," she would admit, "And I don't need her here."

Why of -course- Dani had approached her, Isabella inferred. Of course Dani was sneaky and mean and super strategic. Everyone knew that! Even lil ol' me! She scares me, Dave!

Growing more and more confident in his choice now, Murtz went to Michelle. And as Christopher's partner in crime, her answer was rather predictable as well. She was going to protect her Twinsie at all cost.

"Yes, Dani offered me an alliance," she spat. She had toned up the anger for this one and really started to go off on the poor girl. She wanted to make sure that Murtz would be scared to death of Danielle Wheelis before Kamiya went to Tribal Council tonight. "And it was more of a threat than an alliance, really. Dani threatened me to join or she would try to get -me- out instead. I fucking hate her, Dave. She's got Mike all wrapped up around her finger and she knows she can call all the shots!"

This was an accusation that made Murtz wince. Because if there was -one- member of his threesome that he feared... it was Mike. Mike was so moody sometimes... and so quiet... he was very very hard to know. And the fact that Mike didn't like to make fun of Dani always made Murtz wonder. How well did he really know the guy? Could Mike be trusted?

And Michelle pounced on this paranoia like a tigress. That, of course, had been her plan all along.

"Dave, I'm sorry but I lost it when Dani threatened me. I’m sorry but I just lost it. I called her out. I said, you go back to Mike and tell him to go screw himself. I told her if she even -tried- to vote me out, I would go to Tribal Council and make her look like a fool. I would make her wish she had never even -applied- for this game." She shrugged. "So that was it. I haven't talked to her since. But I can promise you without a doubt that I have -never- turned on your or the 'Big Five.' Mike is the turncoat of the bunch, Dave. Not me. And Mike's got his little whore Dani right by his side."

And by the end of the day, Murtz was now convinced. Dani had to go.

But first... he had one small request to ask the members of Kamiya. He wanted to make -sure- that everyone stuck together on this. So he was going to ask everyone for a small favor.



^^



"He wants us to number our votes!" complained Joni.

She had been told the news by Christopher, and now she was incensed. Who did the guy think he -was-??

"Just go with it," said Chris. "He doesn't trust anyone right now. Dave is very -very- jumpy right now and you don't want to spook him. Just vote for Dani and put down whatever number he assigns to you. That way he'll still trust us and we can blindside him at the next vote."

"What's my number?" asked Joni.

"I don't know yet. He's coming up with a list to give everyone. Although the idiot will probably give everyone his boot order list, knowing him."

Joni grumbled. She wasn't one to swear-- she -was- Mormon, after all-- but Dave made it awfully tempting sometimes.

"You know what I want to do?" she asked. "I want to vote for -him- instead of Dani. And just write my age on it instead. A big old number sixteen. See how he likes that."

Christopher laughed. He loved his little Mormon sister sometimes. She had spunk.



^^



Just before Tribal Council, three men sat down to give last minute confessionals.

Mike Ruff was the first.

The big man from New York sat down gingerly, leaning back to rest against a tree. He looked tired. It had been a long three days for his tribe and it was starting to take a toll on him. And where he had been cocky and quite confident in his chances at winning three days ago, right now he just looked weary. Emotional toil wasn't good for him. He tended to take things personally and could be very very sensitive when things weren't going his way. And now, he reflected on the state of his tribe as they readied for their very first Tribal Council.

"There has been so much wheeling and dealing and conniving in the last two days that my head is spinning." He sighed, closing his eyes. "And I don't really know who to believe right now. Yesterday, I was sure that Chris and Michelle were the bad apples-- but right now, I think we're all being played by a four-foot Gnome wanna-be. She's got dimples and she doesn't talk much and her name is Danielle."

He chuckled slightly, thinking of the irony that Danielle was now being seen as a schemer. Because up until day five, he viewed Danielle as more or less simply over her head. He saw her as a nice enough girl... and felt bad that she never had a chance... but her fate had been sealed more of less on day one. But now, things were suddenly looking much different. Danielle was now looking -much- more sinister after certain events had recently come to his attention.

"Dani found out her head was on the chopping block, so she apparently tried to divide the five, and rally all of the outcasts. And she did it. She accomplished both goals... but hopefully we figured it out in time. And of course, we could be wrong. Chris still might be behind everything."

He shrugged. He didn't really want to think about it anymore. He just wanted to get this vote over with and get back to the peace of Kamiya. Because he missed it. More than anyone, Mike missed his old tribal unity.

"So tonight I'm heading off to vote... and then it's back to Soap Opera Island. But I'm sure we aren't done with the drama yet. I'm sure some fireworks will go off tonight at Tribal Council. Stay tuned."

And as Mike predicted, Christopher was -indeed- planning to make something happen tonight. He sat in his own confessional right now, going over his plan to get back into Murtz's good graces.

"The only way," he said, "You can bond with Dave is throught mutual enemies. That's all he understands and that's the way he thinks. You have to hate the same people... or he doesn't trust you. That's why he mistrusts Mike and that's why he doesn't like quiet people. Because he doesn't know who they dislike."

He smiled.

"So the only way to get him back on my side is to trash Dani tonight. Michelle and I have agreed to just go off on the poor girl and let him know how much we dislike her. Because our backs are kind of to the wall and this is the only way out."

He grinned now. Because even though most of it was going to be an act, he really -did- have a bone to pick with her. She was about to see the ugly side of Christopher Collins, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"But make no mistake... she -did- try to hatch a plot against me. The little witch told them the truth. We gave Dani the Hutt a chance to save herself... and she turned it down. She ran to the boys instead-- the -VERY- people who wanted her out in the first place. Dumbass. I mean, the idiot spent two of the first five days laying around camp like she was some sort of primadonna! She managed to irritate nearly everyone... while not doing a thing! Stupid is as stupid does, I suppose."

He paused, and then lifted an imaginary glass in the air.

"So here's to hoping the vote will be aimed squarely at that little parasite Danielle tonight. She's definitely going to go out with a bang."

And as always, Ryan Rebez liked to have the final word on the subject. And as he expected, it looked like it was going to be ugly. So ugly in fact, that it almost made him feel bad.

Almost.

"It's going to be horrible to watch this when it all comes out," he smiled. "Because Dani's so blind it's almost like a puppy on the train tracks. She has no idea she's about to be run over. You just keep watching, hoping she'll get away, but you can't turn away as the train gets closer... and closer... "



^^



The eight members of Kamiya sat on their benches, as Isabella had finally taken her seat. She sat on the far left, admiring the new Shinto shrine Tribal Council set. She liked it, more than the Tonga one. This one had an understated simplicity that she found very reassuring. She liked temples. She felt at home here.

"Mike," asked Jeff, "What is the state of Kamiya right now? Are you guys getting along?" He shrugged. "Any problems?"

"Jeff," smiled the big man, "We went from being a happy functional little family to a sweeps episode of Jerry Springer within the span of about twenty four hours." The rest of the tribe chuckled, and Mike continued. "But hopefully now that Dr. Phil has intervened, we can get back to our Little House on the Prarie lifestyle."

"So are you pretty much considered the leader then?"

"Well," winced Mike, "I've sort of been -branded- as the leader -- although I prefer the term "organizer." And I don't really like the fact that it makes me vulnerable, but I -do- think it is needed in this tribe. And I truly believe that -anyone- here could be the leader if they wanted... but some of their strategies have kept them from taking on the role."

A few people nodded, because Mike was absolutely correct. He was the leader, he was the one who doled out the daily tasks, and it was most definitely needed. He was by far the camp MVP through six days.

"What about you Dave?" asked Jeff, turning to Murtz. "Do you feel like you guys work together as a tribe?"

"Most definitely," nodded Murtz. "I don't think there's ever been a tribe quite like this. Our work ethic is amazing and our parties are great." He smiled. "Generally, we're all around the same age, except for Joni and Mike."

Joni shot him a glare at this. -Thank you so much for that, Dave. Love you, too.-

Jeff turned to Joni.

"So Joni, you're obviously a few years younger than the rest. What is your role here? How do you fit in with these guys?"

"I like to think that I bring enthusiasm," she said. "I mean, I'm not the strongest one here. But with Mike leading us you don't really need to be the -BEST- or the -STRONGEST-. He organizes us in what to do and we all do our roles. He knows all of our strengths and it has helped so much."

"Do you think the tribe needs improvement with anything?"

"The only thing," she admitted, "That -I- can really think of would be for those who are strong to help out the weak. For example, I'm not very good with fishing... and it would be great if someone could help me. Then I could help someone else out with things I am good at. I think it would bring everyone to a level playing field."

Jeff then turned to Isabella, who sat on the end.

"Emma, you couldn't get your turtle at the immunity challenge. Does that make you worry for your safety tonight? Do you feel like you let your team down?"

"Well," she sighed, "It was real hard to be so close and not get it down, especially with what was at stake. So yes, I feel awful and it's something I'll have to live with. I feel incredibly vulnerable."

"What about you, Dave? Do you feel vulnerable because of the challenge?"

"Oh no doubt," said Murtz, as he felt a small wave of paranoia wash over him. This was a sore spot for him and he didn't want to discuss it. "But what can you do Jeff? You just gotta look ahead and move forward. It's all you can do."

Then Jeff turned to Danielle. The young woman sat in the front row, a happy smile across her face, as always. She clearly didn't know that she would be going home tonight.

"Danielle, why should Kamiya keep you around for three more days?"

"Well," she surmised, "At -this- stage of the game, finding food is important. And you need a lot of willpower to make it through the challenges. And that, I have in spades. I may be small, and the Satos certainly underestimate me, but I can surprise anyone at times. And c'mon!" She laughed. "I've got a Southern accent!"

But Danielle's good mood was about to be changed, when Jeff finally came to Christopher. Because Christopher was about to let her have it.

"Christopher, who is the most valuable member of the Kamiyas right now? In your opinion?"

"Wow," the actor smiled. "Big question. I really don't know what to say. I think -everyone- brings something different to the table, so I can't really pinpoint one person. I -could-, however, tell you who sucks ass the most..."

Jeff looked up, sharply. That wasn't the answer he was expecting, and Christopher was just getting started.

"Let's see... Danielle is a lazy shit-stirring liar, Jeff. She's the only lazy-ass person here who lays around all day and doesn't do any work."

Danielle's mouth dropped open in shock. But Christopher wasn't done yet.

"I'm not sure if she thinks we didn't notice, or if she thinks we -like- doing extra work to feed and hydrate her. But everyone else is amazing and they all work so hard. Everyone but Dani."

"Danielle," asked Jeff, "How do you answer that?"

Danielle was speechless at the moment. She had been caught completely off guard by the comments and was still in shock. And of course, Christopher wasn't finished. Christopher started to speak again.

"A lot of stuff has been going on around camp, Jeff. And luckily, all of us started to talk... and compare notes...and that's when we realized that something was off. We realized that -ALL- of the "information" came from one person... the same lazy-ass person who's been in danger since day one. But it's going to get better tonight, because we're ridding a cancer from our system when we cast this vote."

He laughed now.

"All of us tried to make Dani comfortable, Jeff. We tried to help her out... and it came back to bite us in the ass. And it just makes me realize... I guess outcasts are cast out for a reason."

There was no word from anybody after this. There was only stunned silence. And then in the back...Murtz started to giggle. And then he was followed by Michelle. The two of them seemed to think this was funny. Despite the fact that Danielle was now in tears, the laughter continued.

"Michelle?" asked Jeff. "You have a comment about Danielle?"

"Dani was the outcast for a reason, Jeff. She made everything rough on us and tried to pull us apart. But you know what, it didn't work. All she did was make us more stronger and even more determined. We didn't let her lies destroy us."

Jeff didn't follow up, so Michelle continued.

"Jeff, the only reason we're here tonight is because of Dani the nut case. She's a lazy ass troublemaker who knows her sorry ass is on the line. So what does she do? She starts going around, telling lies, trying to turn friends against each other, and threatening people." Michelle was beet red now, so caught up in this story that she started to believe it herself. "Dani told so many lies, I'm surprised she didn't tell someone "Michelle and the gnome are in an alliance and the three of us are going to vote together." And when you have someone like -her- in the tribe, Jeff, it automatically makes you paranoid and you start seeing betrayal around every corner and behind every shadow. You start seeing things that aren't really there."

She paused.

"But it isn't going to work tonight, Jeff. All she did was bring us together and unite us. That's the best she could do."

The air was unbelievably tense now, as poor Danielle sat in the front row, head down. She hated this. She just wanted to get out of here and go home. She hated Kamiya. She hated -all- of them. Although the next comment was going to be the biggest dagger through her heart.

"Jeff," said Ryan, "The only splinter we had is being pulled out of our skin tonight."

And with that, Danielle knew it was over. Ryan was the one she liked the most. He was the one she trusted. And so she looked up now, a few tears sliding down her cheeks. Because she had something she wanted to say. So she asked Jeff if she could deliver a rebuttal.

She stood up.

She turned around.

And she looked at her tribe.

She saw several pairs of angry eyes staring at her. Michelle glared. Christopher appeared to be grinning. Murtz had a small smirk on his face. Ryan just stared flatly at her, with no emotion. But there were three who she had -not- heard from tonight, and the three of them all looked sympathetic. Joni had her face buried in his hands, unable to really watch any of this. Mike had once been angry with her, but now showed only concern. And Isabella stared at her with a look of pity on her face... because she didn't like this -at all-. She looked at Danielle as if to say "I'm sorry."

"I just want to say," said Danielle, "That if you trust Chris and Michelle tonight, you're making a big mistake. From the beginning of this game, they've been lying to -all- of us. I mean, Chris is an actor! That's what he's good at! He tells lies and makes them believable."

She was speaking mainly to the people who showed concern. Mike, Joni and Isabella. Those were the three she was hoping to reach with this. Because this was a heartfelt plea. She really hoped they were paying attention.

"Chris and Michelle began the game by playing two alliances against each other, and although I thought I had succeeding in bringing us together... well... It's obvious I didn't. So if you send me home tonight, please realize that you're choosing tricksters and puppetmasters to lead this tribe, and they aren't going to work for your benefit like I was."

She stared at Ryan now, but he wouldn't make eye contact with her. He just stared flatly at the ground.

"When I approached Ryan with this information, I believed I was in no danger. I had no reason to think anyone would vote me out, and the -only- reason I talked to him was to try and help someone I thought I liked. There was -no- strategic reason for me to do that, but I did. So if -that's- the kind of person you want to vote out tonight, fine. It's obvious Kamiya isn't the tribe I thought it was. And if I can do so, I'd just like to warn any of you who will listen. Don't trust Chris and Michelle. It may be the last mistake you'll ever make in this game."

With that, Danielle was done. Her anger was still there, of course, but some of the hurt had at least now been dissipated. Because she had said her piece. She sat down and stared at the fire, waiting for Jeff to say something.

"Well..." he began, "I know we could keep this up all night, but it -is- time to vote." He paused, still stunned by all he had heard tonight. "Danielle, you're up first."

Danielle Wheelis wasted no time in walking up to cast the first vote. Her long black hair trailed behind her as she walked up the stairs... uncapped the pen... and wrote down five letters.

"Chris," she said, holding up the ballot. And her voice trembled with a mixture of fury and hurt as she spoke. "You lied from the very beginning of this game and, when I called you on it, you lied even more just to protect yourself. You hurt me tonight, and I hope this hurts you back."

She placed the ballot in its urn.

"Fuck. You."

Danielle walked back to her seat as the rest of the Kamiyas followed with their cavalcade of Dani votes. All seven of them voted for Danielle. And their comments alternated between sympathetic... to angry... to just flat out mean, but all seven votes had one thing in common. All of them were numbered... from one to seven... so that Murtz would know who had played along and who hadn't.

And he would be happy. Because all of them had played along.

"Dani," said Joni, as she held up her ballot. A small number four was written in the upper right hand corner. "You're a sweet girl, but I have to do this strategically. It's too bad you didn't side with us, because we could have taken it all the way. Hope to see you again, but not any time soon. Good luck to you."

"Dani," said Michelle, as she held up her #5 ballot, "I really did not want it to happen this way. When this game started, I wanted to be your friend-- but you blatantly pushed away the hand I extended. When Chris and I came to you to help save you from the vote-- you once again pushed us away. But I -do- want you to know I regret the lies I told about you, and the cruelty behind those words. I was desperate and I had to do something to get people to vote for you. It was either you, me or one of the Angels... and it wasn't going to be anyone in my alliance. So Dani, this vote is for you."

"Dani," said Ryan, as he held up a #6 ballot. The words "nice try" were written underneath. "You were just a moment too late. An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness."

Mike held up his #1 ballot and said simply, "The Gnome doesn't need any competition. He wants you gone."

Murtz smiled gleefully as he cast his #2 ballot. "And one time at band camp," he grinned, "I got my ass voted out. Don't worry, I'm sure your heart will go on... but you can take your flute and shove it."

Next came Christopher, who was amused that she had implicated him in her final speech. He hadn't intended to do this, but she had left him no choice. Danielle had cast down the gauntlet, and now he was ready to deliver his final words.

"Dani," he said, holding up his #3 ballot, "You may officially be the stupidest person to ever play the game of Survivor. We came to you about an alliance that wanted to vote you out, and you decided to try and align with them anyway! The Angels tried to save you, but instead you inexplicably sold us out. I'm not sure how you thought that would benefit you... but I wish you well on the other side. I know you're gunning for me now, so if you somehow manage to get me out...no hard feelings - I'll be rooting for your lazy ass to win."

And the final vote was cast by Isabella. She strode confidently to the podium, as usual, to put the exclamation point on her first victim. And sure, she had been bothered by the way Kamiya had acted tonight... but that didn't mean it would change the way she would be voting. She prided herself on emotions never getting in her way.

"Danielle," she smiled, holding up a #7 ballot. It was her Tina Wesson smile, the one she liked to give while putting the nail in someone's coffin, "I've wanted to vote you out from the moment I first met you. You are a threat to me because you have similar skills, you annoy me and frankly, you have no use for me."

She paused.

"What you said tonight was honest, and you have been made into a scapegoat. That's exactly what I wanted, but I didn't like you finding out like this."

She put her ballot in the box and started to turn away.

Then she turned back to the camera again and smiled.

The Tina smile.

"Here's a warning for everyone in this game: Fasten your seatbelts, cause it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Danielle, -your- mistake is that you never realized that I am in the driver's seat. And now you've just been flung out and run over. Goodbye."




^^



The reading of the actual votes was quite anti-climactic, as everyone knew what was going to happen. Everyone knew it was going to be 7-1, and it was. Christopher laughed at his own name coming up... and Murtz made sure to take note of which five numbered votes were revealed... but otherwise it all went according to plan.

Mike's vote was the fifth, and it was the fatal one. It was the one that ended her game for good.

"Danielle," said Jeff, "Please bring me your torch."

The young Asian woman didn't say a word to her tribe as she grabbed her torch and walked forward. She brushed her hair out of her eyes as she then stood before Jeff, torch in hand.

"Danielle," he said, "The tribe has spoken."

He lowered the snuffer and, like that, it was over. Danielle wouldn't look at any of them as she walked out of the set, head held high. She didn't care anymore. She was just glad it was over. She exited the set, walked down a dirt path, and then was gone.

And now... the Kamiyas were down to seven.

"Well," said Jeff, smirking slightly. He didn't really know what to say. He knew what he -wanted- to say... but he was supposed to remain relatively professional. Because Jeff wasn't supposed to flat out tell a tribe that he didn't like them. Hosts weren't supposed to do that.

Although it was awfully tempting right now.

"Well," was all he said, "I know a lot of you are feeling pretty confident right now. And with good reason, perhaps. But I -will- remind you of one thing."

He paused.

"Honor is a very important concept in Okinawa. It defines the way people live... the way people act... and the way people play. So it is -very- important to show honor at all times in your Okinawan adventure, or sometimes bad things might happen to you. That tends to happen a lot out here."

He smiled.

"Pack up. I'll see you guys bright and early tomorrow. We have a big day ahead of us."




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Visit the Official Okinawa Homepage for Danielle's final words and all the cast bios. Also check out the Okinawa Message Board if you want to submit questions for Danielle's Early Show appearance. Her post-game interview is already up on the board!

Episode three ("Revenge of the Outcasts") coming next week.