Chapter Text
Day 36
Alex didn’t try to convince Margarita that day before Tribal Council. Instead, she went fishing and spent some time on the beach, gazing out at the gorgeous waters. Of course, she finalized things with Becky surreptitiously and confirmed with Aishe that they’d all vote out Francis.
They walked into Tribal Council and took their spots.
“We’ll bring in the members of the jury,” Jeff said. “Noah, Matteo and Peter, voted out at the last Tribal Council,” he said as they filed in and took their seats.
“Alex,” Jeff said, sitting down himself, “why don’t you start us off? Last time, you and Becky were both immune. What about tonight? I only see one immunity necklace out and no idols in plain sight.”
“Sure, Jeff,” she said. “Last time, we felt that Becky could be a target, so we used the idol to protect her. Tonight, we feel like Aishe will join us in our vote.”
“Last time, you said openly that you and Becky were voting for Francis. Does that hold true tonight?”
“It absolutely does. I will continue to vote against Francis until either he’s out or I am.”
“Interesting. Francis, what does this mean for you?”
“I mean, that’s what, three votes? We have four in our alliance. I feel confident enough in my alliance to say that I am not going home tonight,” he smirked.
“Margarita, one could say that you’ve been leading the Beauty alliance. How has Francis joining you affected your play?”
“He’s proved himself to us and has allowed us to take out a physical threat like Peter,” she said, waving over at Peter on the jury, who just glared. “We like having him with us.”
“But that’s arguably alienated Aishe,” Jeff pointed out.
“Arguably? Hell yes, it’s alienated Aishe,” Aishe herself agreed. “I’m happy to vote with Becky and Alex to get Francis out of the game.”
“Why me?” laughed Francis.
“Because you flipped on us and that’s why Matteo’s sitting on that bench!” Becky argued, pointing at the jury.
“And why Peter’s over there!” Aishe chimed in.
“One could say that it’s good gameplay that allowed me to put them over there,” said Francis.
“Or a good alliance,” added Margarita.
“Absolutely,” Francis said, “I wouldn’t be here without my alliances. New and old.”
Alex reserved her reaction to that, but glanced at Margarita. No, she hadn’t caught the hidden reference to a new alliance. Margarita must have been thinking that she was still part of Francis’ “new” alliance.
“With that,” Jeff said, standing, “it’s time to vote. Alex, you’re up.”
She smiled, stood and headed over to the voting area and wrote down FRANCIS on both the parchment that lay in front of her as well as the one that was to be her extra vote. She held up the first. “This one is because you flipped on us,” she said, putting it down. “And this,” she said, picking up her second vote, “this is because you thought you could use me and Becky to vote out Margarita.” She put both votes into the urn and replaced the lid.
They all took their turns in voting, then Jeff went to collect them. Alex was remarkably calm, despite the fact she didn’t have the immunity necklace on her. Well, she was calm until Jeff revealed the first vote.
“Alex.”
She swallowed. Either that was Margarita’s lone vote or everything had gone awry and she was being blindsided. As always, seeing her name caused any uncertainties she might have to be magnified and she wouldn’t feel relaxed until after all the votes were read.
“Second vote, Margarita. We’re tied, one vote Alex, one vote Margarita.”
He pulled out another vote. “Francis. We’re still tied, one vote Alex, one vote Margarita, one vote Francis.”
Alex held her breath as he pulled another vote.
“Margarita. Two votes Margarita, one vote Alex, one vote Francis.”
Jeff reached into the urn for another one. “Francis. We’re tied again. Two votes Margarita, two votes Francis, one vote Alex.”
She let herself breathe, since the second of the Francis votes wasn’t in her handwriting. Things might work out. They should work out.
“Margarita. Three votes Margarita, two votes Francis, one vote Alex.”
Alex looked at Margarita. She was frowning and Alex could tell she was doing the math in her head.
“Francis. Tied again, three votes Margarita, three votes Francis, one vote Alex, one vote left.”
There was a murmur at that. Alex glanced at the jury and Matteo smiled at her and gave her the thumbs up. He’d figured out that she’d used the extra vote.
“The twelfth person voted out of Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty 3, and the fourth member of our jury, Francis. Francis, please bring me your torch.”
Alex beamed and high-fived Becky and Aishe, while Margarita just stared in shock. Francis grabbed his torch and slammed it down into the spot for Jeff, clearly upset.
“Francis, the tribe has spoken. It’s time for you to go.” Jeff snuffed the torch and Francis stalked off into the jungle without so much as a goodbye.
“Well,” he said, addressing the six of them, “I think it’s fair to say that tribal lines keep getting rewritten. Something to think about as we approach the end of the game. Grab your stuff and head back to camp."
Alex was exuberant, as were Becky and Aishe, celebrating their victory in voting out Francis, chatting animatedly about how great it was to get rid of him and get their revenge for Matteo as well as Peter. She was still aware, of course, that Margarita was quiet and so were Lincoln and Nicole. She decided not to rub Margarita’s nose in it and let the other woman come to her first.
They got back to camp and Alex headed right for her hammock. The adrenaline had worn off by then and had left her wiped out. She clambered in and Margarita joined her silently a few minutes later.
Alex decided to break the silence. “How are you feeling?”
“Feeling a little like I got kicked in the gut,” she admitted. “Or maybe the face.”
Alex inhaled through her teeth. “Yeah, I get that,” she said. “You want to talk about it a bit?”
“Not really,” she said. “I, uh, I wish I could just go home, have a couple of drinks and lose my cool.”
She reached out and squeezed Margarita’s knee, gently. “I’m here, if you want to talk. Okay?”
“Thanks,” she said.
Alex patted her leg and then folded her hands across her stomach. “You’re not alone, Sunshine,” she said. “G’night.”
“Night.”
***
Day 37
Alex had done the math. She knew that they needed to eliminate three people before the final day. That meant at least one elimination that day and at least one the next, though they absolutely had to end with four people by the end of voting at Tribal Council the following night, so that they could do the fire-making challenge at the final four. It was going to be a rough final slog, but at least she felt relatively confident that they could get rid of Lincoln, with or without Margarita’s help.
They were instructed to head out for a challenge around midday. Though production wouldn’t say which kind of challenge, Alex knew it would be for immunity.
“Welcome,” Jeff said, as the six of them stood assembled on their mat, “to Day 37. Today’s challenge will consist of you working to untangle some ropes. Untangling them will release a key. You’ll use this key to open a chest. Within the chest will be sixteen differently sized and shaped ladder rungs. You’ll place the ladder rungs, one by one, in order, until you get to the top of the structure. Once there, you’ll have to solve a slide puzzle. First player to solve their puzzle after having correctly built their ladder, wins.” He smiled. “Wanna know what you’re playing for?”
Alex raised an eyebrow at that. They were playing for immunity, weren’t they?
“The winner will get delicious, hot, gooey pizza delivered to them at camp. Oh, and there’s also this little thing,” he said, pulling a sheet down to reveal the immunity necklace. “The winner also wins immunity, is safe from tonight’s vote and is guaranteed a one in five shot to win a million dollars and the title of Sole Survivor. Worth playing for?”
The six of them cheered loudly.
“We’ll draw for spots and then get started,” Jeff said, heading over to them.
“Survivors ready?” called Jeff. “Go!”
Alex ran to her bunch of ropes and began unbraiding the larger ones. She got into a good rhythm, the ropes whipping around freely, then she spotted the key. Its keyring was embedded in smaller braid within one of the large ropes. She methodically unbraided the large rope and released the key, though Lincoln had beaten her through to the chest and Margarita was right behind her. Alex focused, pulling the pieces out of the chest, looking carefully at the widths and lengths and the size and shape of the indentations where the runs would fit on the structure.
“Lincoln, Alex and Margarita have opened their chests. Remember, you have to put the rungs on in order ,” Jeff stressed.
“Fuck,” muttered Alex, as she bent to examine the first spot more carefully.
“Lincoln tries and fails on the first one, while Nicole and Becky are now on the chests. Aishe is just now getting her key. Margarita is trying a first piece and it fits!”
Alex tried two pieces before she got a match. By the time she was halfway done, Margarita was almost all the way done, Lincoln only had a couple left and the other three hadn’t yet caught up to Alex.
“Lincoln finishes his ladder first!” called Jeff. “He moves on to the puzzle!”
Margarita raced up her ladder with her final rung and slotted it into place. “Margarita gets the ladder done, she moves on to the puzzle!”
Alex was tired as she climbed up with another rung, knowing she had at least three more to place. At least she was relatively confident she had the right piece.
By the time she got to the top, Margarita was zipping through the puzzle, sliding pieces around with confidence. Lincoln, at least, looked completely confused. Alex took a breath and gave it a shot, though slide puzzles were never her strength. She made good progress, having easily identified the image as being the season’s logo. She was nearly finished when she realized she had two pieces in the wrong place. She groaned inwardly. She’d need to redo part of it.
“Jeff!” shouted Margarita.
He ran over to inspect it. “Margarita wins immunity!” he called.
Alex leaned forward over her table, slumping in defeat, resting her forehead against her forearms, while Lincoln sat down and leaned back against his table.
Moments later, back down on the ground, Jeff awarded Margarita the immunity necklace. She smiled hugely, showing off those dimples of hers and Alex couldn’t help but smile back.
“Margarita’s got immunity and is safe at Tribal Council tonight,” Jeff said. “You’ll also get fresh, hot, delicious pizza delivered to you at camp. But it’s not really a pizza party with just one person, is it? Margarita, choose one other person to join you.”
Alex was legitimately surprised when her name came from Margarita’s lips.
“All right, pizza coming for both you and Alex. Grab your stuff, head back to camp, we’ll see you tonight at Tribal,” he said, dismissing them.
Alex went right up to Margarita. “Uh, not that I’m, you know, complaining,” she said, “but why me?”
“You let me see my tia,” she said, simply.
***
The pizza was amazing. It was accompanied by beer and soda. Seated a ways from camp, Margarita and Alex sat down to eat. They clinked beer bottles and both took deep drinks before starting in on devouring the pizzas in front of them.
“This is amazing,” Alex said, around a mouthful of food.
Margarita nodded. “I really needed a cold beer, too,” she said.
They ate quietly for a bit, chatting about the food, favourite restaurants, food they missed from home, before Alex ventured to broach the topic of the vote. “So, who are you thinking of voting off tonight?” she asked.
Margarita chuckled and swallowed her mouthful of pizza. “Is this where you come to me asking me to form that women’s alliance?”
Alex grinned. “Maybe,” she said, taking a mouthful of beer.
“Well, the way I see it,” Margarita explained, “I have, on one hand, two people who tried to vote me off and who have backstabbed me.”
Alex nodded.
“And, on the other hand, three people I don’t trust in the least, most of whom I’ve actively tried to eliminate myself.” She took another swig of beer. “I can’t trust any of you.”
She considered that with another long pull at the beer bottle. “I guess that’s fair. Except that I tried to warn you.”
“No,” she laughed, “warning me would be saying ‘hey, Margarita, by the way, Francis is gunning for you’.”
“I couldn’t do that,” Alex argued, shaking her head. “If you found out, then he’d find out and then you’d all vote me out.”
“Right. And? I’d still be in the game,” she grinned.
“But so would Francis,” Alex said, “and he’d still be out for you. Face it, Sunshine, the only reason you’re still in this game is because I played my extra vote to break the tie and vote him out.”
“You didn’t vote him out to save me,” she challenged, “you voted him out for vengeance.”
She shrugged. “Maybe I voted for Francis for both reasons.”
Margarita leaned back against the nearby tree trunk and raised an eyebrow at her. “No. You didn’t. We’re enemies, remember? I tried to vote you out last night.”
“And yet, I saved you.” She shrugged and snagged another piece of pizza. “Look, I’m voting Lincoln tonight, and so are Becky and Aishe. That’s our plan. Either you vote with us or you vote with them and there’s a deadlock.” She took a bite.
“Unless there’s an idol in play.”
“You have an idol?”
“I’m just saying, I might know who has one.”
“Get out, no one has one,” Alex said, waving her hand disdainfully.
“Are you willing to risk your position in the game on that?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not going to vote with you,” she said.
“And who are you voting for?”
“You.”
Alex sputtered on her beer. “Me? Why me?”
“You’ve played a great game, Alex,” Margarita said, before taking a bite of pizza and chewed. “I’d be foolish not to vote for you. Though it still might end up at rocks.” She took another drink of beer. “Tribal Council’s going to be interesting tonight, that’s for sure.”
They finished their meal shortly thereafter and Becky, Aishe and Alex all went for a walk for water.
“So she flat-out told you that she was voting against you?” Becky asked, confused.
“Yes.”
“Do you believe her?” asked Aishe.
“I don’t know, honestly,” she said, grumpily.
“Well, either Lincoln or Nicole has an idol,” Becky said, “she all but admitted it.”
“She is so infuriating !” Alex complained as she trudged down along the path.
That night, at Tribal Council, they had the first tied vote of the season, with three votes for each Alex and Lincoln.
“Okay, here’s how we do this,” Jeff said. “We’ll revote. Alex will not vote. Lincoln will not vote. The rest of you may only vote for Alex or Lincoln.” He handed the urn to Margarita. “You’re up,” he said.
A few tense minutes passed and soon Jeff was tallying the votes again. And, once again, it was a tie, with two votes for each Alex and Lincoln.
“Here’s what we do now,” Jeff said. “Margarita, Nicole, Aishe and Becky will have an open discussion as to who should go. If they can come up with a unanimous decision between Lincoln and Alex, that person gets voted out. If they can’t, we have a deadlock. In a deadlock, the two tied players become immune and the remaining non-immune players will draw rocks where the person who picks the black rock gets voted out.”
“Nicole, Margarita,” Becky started in, “vote Lincoln out. Why not vote him out? Let’s make this all-women’s final five happen.”
“What, and potentially let Alex win immunity tomorrow? We can’t let her into the final three,” said Nicole, “she’ll beat us all.”
“No, it’s Margarita we can’t let into the final three,” argued Aishe. “And Alex is our best chance to keep Margarita from winning immunity.”
Margarita considered. “I’m a woman without an alliance,” she said, “but Lincoln did screw me over. So I’d be willing to switch my vote from Alex.”
“Oh, so now you decide to consider swapping your vote,” Alex grumbled. “ After a revote.”
“Swapping your vote now is strategic,” Margarita pointed out. “Doing it on a revote is a chicken move.”
“Doing it on a revote doesn’t have as much drama to it,” Becky said with a chuckle. “She’s obviously posturing for the jury.”
“Who, moi?” she asked, grinning.
“And, she has nothing to lose by forcing a deadlock,” agreed Aishe. “She has immunity. She’s not going to draw rocks.”
Nicole frowned. “Well, shit, I didn’t think about that. There’s no way I’m drawing rocks. And,” she added, “I also don’t want Margarita to get credit for this. I’m changing my vote to Lincoln.”
Lincoln’s jaw dropped. “What?!”
“You heard me,” she said. “And besides, with you out, I have a better chance of winning immunity.”
Jeff stepped in. “So, are we unanimous? Nicole, you and Margarita are now voting for Lincoln?”
“Yes,” said Nicole.
“I suppose,” said Margarita, nonchalantly, perhaps a bit annoyed that her showing off wasn’t going to have the intended effect.
“Becky, Aishe?”
“I vote Lincoln.”
“Lincoln,” said Aishe.
“It’s unanimous,” declared Jeff. “Lincoln, you’re the thirteenth person voted out of the game and the fifth member of the jury. Please bring me your torch.”
Scowling, he brought it to Jeff and didn’t even wait for it to be snuffed before leaving the set.
“Well, ladies, you’ve put five men in a row on the jury,” Jeff said, “and I can’t imagine any of them are happy about it. Grab your stuff and head out. We’ll see you tomorrow. G’night.”
Back at camp, Alex got into her hammock, soon to be joined by Margarita.
“Interesting move,” she said, as Margarita climbed in.
“Hm?”
“Amping up the drama to let the jury see that you understand the mechanics of the game extremely well and can use them to your advantage.”
She grinned. “I told you, people discount me based on my looks. I have to make it obvious for dummies like those guys to actually see that I have a brain.”
Alex nodded. “I get it. You weren’t actually out to get me out — you just wanted to make a production of it.”
“Clever girl,” Margarita chuckled.
“What am I, a raptor?”
“Damn, nerd, you do know your 90s movie trivia.”
“Of course I do.” She tugged the blanket back her way a bit. “Of course, I definitely prefer the quote about dinosaur eating man and woman inheriting the world," she smiled.
"That's definitely a good line," she agreed.
Alex sighed. "On a serious note, I’m pretty sure that whichever one of us doesn’t win immunity tomorrow gets the boot.”
“You’re probably right,” Margarita admitted. “It’ll be nice to have the hammock to myself, tomorrow night.”
Alex smacked Margarita’s leg under the blanket. “I think you mean that I think it’ll be nice to have the hammock to myself , tomorrow night.”
“May the best woman win,” she smiled.
“May the best woman win,” Alex smiled back. “Night, Sunshine.”
“Goodnight, Alex.”
***
Day 38
The immunity challenge was a massive maze, with six stations, each containing a bag of puzzle pieces. The players had to navigate the maze and then get a bag, drop that off at their workstation at the start of the maze, then go back out to get the next. The first player to finish their puzzle would win individual immunity and be safe from the vote that night. The puzzle was three-dimensional and a completed puzzle would display the image and be completely flat, he warned.
They all lined up at the start and took off on Jeff’s cue.
It was hot out and the maze was enormous. Alex dropped from a run to a quick walk, still trying to get to any of her bags of puzzle pieces before the others, but not wearing herself out. Nicole and Becky got theirs before Alex got hers, but Alex beat them to the maze’s exit. Margarita had gone long, going for one of the sets of pieces at the end of the maze and Alex frowned, wondering if that made sense. They crossed paths as Margarita re-entered the maze after depositing her first bag while Alex brought back her second. It wouldn’t be like Margarita to make a tactical mistake. Theoretically, it should all take the same amount of time. She dropped off her second bag and headed out for one of the far ones. At the very least, having shorter distances to travel for the last couple of bags would be useful.
Becky, Nicole and Aishe were all out getting their fifth bags as Margarita headed out for her sixth. Alex deposited her fifth and ran out hard to get the sixth. Margarita would get back first, for sure. She’d outsmarted them, by going for the far ones while she was still fresh. The miscalculation could be a million dollar mistake on Alex’s part, as her last bag was one of the two bags placed at a medium distance, though not as far out as the others’ last bags. She picked it up and saw Margarita jogging at a relaxed pace through the mouth of the maze, dropping her final bag by her workstation.
“Margarita has all her bags! Everyone else is out retrieving their last bags,” announced Jeff.
Alex charged back towards the start of the maze, nearly getting caught going the other way by mistake. She finally made it out and Margarita had already emptied all of her pieces on to the large workstation. Alex started untying knots, flying through them. It was her or Margarita tonight, she felt, knowing she couldn’t rely on Nicole and she wondered if Aishe would stand with her and Becky or not. No, she had to win to be certain she’d stay.
It was a 42 piece puzzle, as each of the six bags held seven pieces. Alex barely even knew where to start. The pieces were uneven and she had to build layers into it. It would be completely flat when finished, she remembered from the instructions prior to the start. She turned to look over at Margarita and saw Margarita’s back to her. She scowled. Margarita was on the end, so she was standing to the side of her workstation to shield her puzzle from the prying eyes of other players.
Son of a bitch, Alex thought to herself and threw herself into the puzzle.
It was complex, to say the least. Every time she thought she had it, a couple of pieces would stick up through the top, forcing her to start over again.
The others had also started in on their puzzles, but Margarita had the lead and never relinquished it. “Jeff!” she said, raising her arms.
“Margarita wins immunity!” Jeff shouted.
Alex slammed the palm of her hand against the workstation in frustration. “Shit,” she muttered to herself.
***
Back at camp, Margarita was in the shelter, Alex in her hammock, while the others were out on the beach.
“Hey, Alex, c’mere,” she called.
“What?” she asked, annoyed. “I’m trying to enjoy my last few hours here.”
“Just… would you just get over here , nerd?” she said, from the shelter. “Jesus,” she muttered, in frustration.
With an exaggerated sigh, Alex sat up and got out of the hammock, walking over to the shelter. She leaned on a tree, arms folded. “Yes?”
Margarita looked up at her and opened her backpack. She reached in and pulled something out and handed it to Alex.
She furrowed her brow. “Is this…?”
“An idol. It’s a hidden immunity idol, Alex.”
She frowned. “Well, it’s not a fucking stick, but how do I know it’s not a fake? Where’s the note?”
“I tossed it. It would be too conspicuous.”
Alex sighed. “If I play this, am I going home, Margarita? Be honest.” It couldn’t actually be a hidden immunity idol, could it? Why would her biggest competitor be giving her immunity?
“Look, Alex,” she said, standing up and approaching her. “I could either go home with a nice souvenir, or I could make sure that a good player who hasn’t backstabbed me actually gets a chance to play for a million dollars.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” she said. “You could just vote with us to take out Nicole if you don’t want me to go home.”
Margarita raised her eyebrow at her. “You’re smarter than that.”
“Ah,” Alex said, the pieces sliding together with a click in her head. “You can’t vote against her so you can still get her jury vote. But you can give me an idol so that we still manage to vote Nicole out.”
She smiled. “Smart chicks are so hot,” she said, walking away, leaving Alex confused as hell. Not about the idol, but about her comment.
Naturally, Alex told Becky all about the idol.
“More jury posturing,” she said, nodding. “She tries, you gotta give her that. Assuming it’s real, of course.”
“Here’s hoping,” she said, pocketing it again.
***
Finally, they were at Tribal and the votes were being counted. Jeff returned with the urn.
“If anyone has a hidden immunity idol and would like to play it, now would be the time to do so. Remember, this is also the last time you can play an idol.”
Alex nodded and stood. “Jeff?” She walked over to him and brandished the idol Margarita had given her. “I’d like to play this for myself tonight,” she said, her hand shaking. Oh please let it be real, she thought, for the millionth time.
He nodded and took it from her as she walked back to her seat. “This is a hidden immunity idol,” he confirmed and she exhaled in relief. “Any votes cast for Alex will not count. I’ll read the votes.”
He pulled out the first piece of parchment. “Nicole.”
Alex nodded to herself. She was safe. No matter what, even if it had been misplayed, she was safe . Guaranteed a one in four chance at the million dollars.
“Alex. Does not count.”
He pulled another vote out. “Nicole. Two votes Nicole.” He pulled the next out. “Alex. Does not count. That’s enough. The fourteenth player voted out of the game and the sixth member of our jury is Nicole. Please bring me your torch.”
She sighed and picked up her torch and brought it over to Jeff. “The tribe has spoken,” he said, snuffing the torch. “It’s time for you to take your seat on the jury.”
She frowned, but headed over to the jury, instead of exiting the Tribal Council area, as most people did.
“What the hell?” asked Aishe.
“We’re going to have an immunity challenge right here, right now,” Jeff said, “because there’s one more jury seat to be filled.”
Alex raised her eyebrows. She’d known that they’d need to whittle people down to three, but an immunity challenge at Tribal Council? That was exceedingly rare.
“I’ll take back the necklace, please, Margarita,” he said.
She unlatched it from her neck and handed it to him.
“For the last time,” he said, “individual immunity is back up for grabs. You’ve been out here for 38 days. Let’s see how well you know your fellow tribemates.”
“Oh shit,” Becky cursed.
Jeff handed them each a chalkboard slate and a piece of chalk. “You get a point for each right answer. First person to ten points wins immunity, gets to pick who goes with them to the final three, while the remaining two make fire to earn their way to the final three.”
“Oh God, we’re going to do all that tonight?!” asked Aishe.
“Yep,” Jeff said. “Survivors ready?”
They nodded.
“First question: Where did Margarita grow up?”
Alex blinked rapidly. She knew this. It was a tiny town. In Nebraska. Where the hell was it? Water Springs? Blue Water? Blue Springs? She scribbled down an answer.
“Reveal,” Jeff said.
“The correct answer is Blue Springs, Nebraska. Margarita gets a point, Alex gets a point. No points for either Becky or Aishe.”
“Next question: What is Alex’s occupation?”
She wrote down biologist and waited for the instruction to show their answers.
“Reveal.” Jeff looked at the answers. “The correct answer is biologist. Margarita gets a point, Alex gets a point, Becky gets a point.” He turned to his next card. “Question three: how old is Becky?”
Alex wrote her answer quickly, knowing that Becky was 27.
“Reveal.” He looked across their boards. “The correct answer is 27. Margarita gets a point, Alex gets a point, Becky gets a point. So far, Margarita and Alex are three for three. Becky has two points, zip for Aishe."
Aishe glared at him for that one.
“Question four: What is Aishe’s sister’s name?”
Alex paused. She had no earthly idea. She knew she’d been there at the challenge, but she’d come out after her dad had. She hadn’t paid any real attention to her. She sighed and wrote something down.
“Reveal,” he said. “The correct answer is Miriam. Margarita gets a point, Alex does not, Becky does not, Aishe gets on the board.”
“I’d be pretty worried if I didn’t know that one, Jeff,” she grinned.
He smiled and then continued. “Question five: What is Margarita’s occupation?”
Alex wrote it down quickly.
“Reveal,” he instructed. “The correct answer is public defender, but we’ll also accept lawyer. Everyone gets a point. Margarita is five for five, Alex has four points, Becky has three and Aishe has two.”
Alex nodded to herself. She had a chance.
“Question six: What is Alex’s dad’s name?”
She smiled and wrote it down quickly, then revealed on Jeff’s command.
“The correct answer is Jeremiah. Margarita, Alex and Becky get points. Aishe does not.” He flipped cards. “Next question, number seven: what’s Becky’s mom’s name?”
Alex wrote that one down quickly, too. Everyone got that one right.
“Margarita is seven for seven. Alex is at six points, Becky at five, Aishe at three. Next question is number eight: what’s Aishe’s occupation?”
Alex scribbled it down, remembering it from a conversation back at Viribus.
“Reveal,” instructed Jeff. “The correct answer is manager of a fitness club.” He looked at the answers. “Margarita misses her first question. Alex gets a point, Becky and Aishe get points. Margarita and Alex are tied at seven, Becky making gains with six and Aishe has four. Next question, number nine: what is Margarita’s aunt’s name?”
Yet another one that was easy for Alex, though at least Margarita and Becky would also get that one right, without a doubt. Jeff confirmed they all got points on that one. “Question ten,” he said, “what colour rock did Alex select to break the tie for the advantage during the auction?”
Alex wrote the answer down quickly.
“Reveal,” he said. “The correct answer is red. Margarita and Becky are wrong, Alex and Aishe are right. Alex is in the lead with nine, followed by Margarita and Becky at eight, Aishe in last at six.”
Alex took a breath.
“Question eleven, where did Becky grow up?”
She frowned. It was Canada. She knew it was Canada. But, she reasoned, Jeff would want them to be specific. Where the hell in Canada was she from? It was west, she thought, something about cows? She wrote down a guess.
“Reveal,” Jeff said. “The correct answer is Calgary, Alberta, Canada,” he said. “Margarita gets a point, Becky gets a point.”
“You thought I was from Edmonton !?” Becky elbowed Alex.
“Sorry, I remembered cows, but didn’t remember it was Calgary,” she apologized.
“Margarita and Alex both at nine points, Becky at eight points, Aishe at six. Question twelve, how old is Aishe?”
Alex realized she didn’t have the foggiest idea. She wrote down a number and hoped for the best.
“Alex or Margarita could win it right here,” he said. “Reveal.” He looked at the answers. “The correct answer is 33,” he said. “Becky and Aishe get points. We have a three-way tie at 9 with Aishe at seven. Question thirteen, where does Margarita currently live?”
Alex smiled as she wrote down the correct answer.
Jeff confirmed that she and Margarita both got it. “Okay, tie-breaker, for Alex and Margarita only: who was the very first person voted out of this season?”
Alex froze. She didn’t know. She knew it wasn’t a Brain. Had it been a Brawn or a Beauty? She remembered with a flash of insight that it had been a Beauty, because she’d been pleased when she’d realized it hadn’t been Margarita, but she had no idea what her name was. She wrote down “The Beauty girl who wasn’t Margarita or Nicole” and hoped for the best.
“Reveal,” Jeff said, then he laughed. “She has a name , Alex,” he chided her, “and her name is Holly, which Margarita knew. Margarita wins immunity!”
She shrugged. “I tried,” she grinned.
“All right, Margarita,” he said, “you have an important decision to make. Who are you taking with you to the final three?”
She looked around. “I’m going to take Becky,” she said.
Becky looked more surprised than anyone. “Thanks,” she said.
Aishe looked super disappointed. “This is your fault, Francis,” she called to him.
“All right, Alex, Aishe, you’ll now try to make fire.” Production assistants brought in the fire-making stations. “You both have a bunch of coconut husks for tinder, some small twigs and kindling, then some larger sticks. You need to create a fire that will burn through the string that’s strung up at a height of 18 inches from the base of your station. Once the string burns through, the flag pops up. The first player to do so becomes the third in the final three and the loser goes to the jury.”
A few moments later, they were seated at their stations.
“Survivors ready? Go!” he called.
Alex organized some of her coconut husk in the center part of her station, then she started chipping away at the flint with the knife, coating the tinder with it, before she started hacking away at the flint to produce sparks. She’d done it many times before at camp, but never under so much pressure. Finally, the tinder caught and she blew gently on it, encouraging the embers to form a flame. She added more husk and a couple of small twigs, one of which finally caught. She exhaled in relief and started piling the twigs in a pyramid formation, then building some larger sticks in a pyramid over that one. Soon, Alex had a roaring fire that was almost high enough to burn through the string. She noted that Aishe had a decent fire, too, and it was tall and growing. Carefully, Alex added another stick to the fire, angling it up a bit. It caught and she watched as the flames slowly moved closer and closer to the string.
Finally, her string caught fire and it snapped, raising the small flag.
“Alex wins fire-making!” Jeff announced, raising his hands, just as Aishe’s own fire snapped her string.
Alex shook hands with Aishe. “Good game,” she said.
“Nice fire,” Aishe said. “You won fair and square.”
“All right. Alex, you’ll join Margarita and Becky in the final three. Tomorrow night, the power shifts to the jury,” he said, “including Aishe. Get a good night’s sleep and start thinking about what you’ll have to say to the very people you voted out tomorrow night, while trying to convince them that you deserve a million dollars. Grab your stuff and head out.”
The three of them headed back to camp and started up the fire again.
“That was a close fire-making contest,” Margarita said. “I really wasn’t sure who would win.”
“I told you, Sunshine,” Alex grinned, as she gently laid more kindling on the campfire, “if you were going to be there at the final Tribal Council, I’d be right there next to you.”
“I guess you did warn me,” she smiled.
“We made it,” Becky said, high-fiving Alex. “From that moment ten minutes in on the beach to now, we made it!” She grabbed the canteens. “Just gonna go grab some water before bed.”
“Sounds good,” Alex said.
Margarita looked at her across the fire. “The game’s almost over.”
“Well, it’s basically over, isn’t it?” Alex asked. “No more challenges. Just talking to the jury, answering their questions, pleading our cases.”
“Still fighting one another for the million, though.”
“Which we won’t even know if we won for what, another ten months?” Alex said.
“Yeah, something like that.” She rubbed at her chin with her index finger.
“What?”
“Hm?”
“You’re thinking,” Alex said. “I know that look.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I was thinking.”
“About what?”
“Tomorrow. The feast in the morning. Spending all day rehearsing what I’m going to say.”
Alex nodded. “The physical challenge is almost over,” she said, “but the mental one continues.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Well, look, I’m going to turn in. You, uh… You can have the hammock to yourself, I suppose,” she smiled. “If you want.”
“Oh,” Alex said, trying not to appear as disappointed as she felt. “Uh, I mean, you know, I don’t, uh, I don’t mind. I’m kind of used to you at this point,” she smiled.
Margarita chuckled. “All right. Wake me when you come to bed.”
Alex swallowed and nodded. “All right.” The idea of truly sharing a bed with the other woman never failed to elicit a reaction from her.
When Becky came back, they chatted for a bit, but Alex decided to get some sleep not long after. It would be an early morning, after all, and a long day.
“Did Margarita steal the hammock?” she asked. “You can sleep in the shelter with me, if you want. There are going to be so many pillows and blankets!” she grinned.
“Uh, you know, I think it’s fine, I’ll share with her,” she said.
“Really?”
“Yeah, uh, it’s, you know, the bamboo, it’s super hard on my back,” she said.
“Ah, okay,” replied Becky. “Have a good night. See you in the morning for the feast.”
“Yeah,” Alex smiled. “I’ve loved playing with you, Becky,” she said. “Good luck tomorrow.”
“You too, Alex.”
She stood and headed to the hammock and lightly tapped Margarita on the shoulder. “Move over,” she said.
She did so and Alex stretched out in the hammock, Margarita’s warm legs against her, her own legs against the other woman’s side. She tugged the blanket over her. “You know something?”
“Hm?”
“I’ve had fun with you as my nemesis,” Alex smiled.
“Me too,” she said. “It’s been good playing with you… or, I guess, more accurately, against you.”
“I’m, uh, looking forward to hanging out with you outside the game,” she said, a bit shyly. “You know, when we’re home.”
“I think it’ll be fun,” Margarita agreed. “Get some sleep. The sooner you sleep, the sooner you feast.”
Alex chuckled. “Goodnight, then, Sunshine.”
“Goodnight, Alex.”
***
Day 39
The feast was amazing. Eggs, bread, fruits, vegetables, hash browns, bacon, orange juice and champagne, along with butter and jams awaited them.
The first order of business was, of course, making mimosas. Becky handed Margarita and Alex each a champagne flute filled with orange juice and champagne and then picked up her own.
“To the Final Three and to Day 39!” she said, grinning widely.
They all clinked glasses and took healthy swallows before starting to fry up some eggs and other ingredients to make omelets.
They spent the rest of the day mostly apart. Margarita had made herself comfortable on a far portion of the beach, while Becky was pacing around camp. Alex, of course, spent much of the day in the water.
Once more, that evening, they headed to Tribal Council, their speeches bouncing around in their heads, trying to make sure they had the perfect arguments for why they, and not the other two, should be awarded the million dollars and the title of Sole Survivor.
Alex barely heard Jeff’s pronouncements at Tribal Council, but she knew he was talking about how the power had now shifted to the jury of seven who would decide which among the three of them would win the million. She was going over and over her arguments in her head and hoped that she could get them out coherently.
“Becky, why don’t you start us off?” Jeff asked.
She nodded and turned to the jury. “Brains don’t typically do all that well in this kind of a game,” she began. “Weak people, particularly weak women, generally get voted out early on, and weak tribes go to Tribal Council more often than the stronger ones.” She smiled. “And yet, here I am, on Day 39. So how did I get here?” She nodded. “Good question. On day one, I formed alliances with Alex and Francis.”
Alex blinked at that. She hadn’t been aware that Becky had been allied with Francis.
“It was these alliances, which I held on to, that allowed me to get here. With Alex, we orchestrated a good number of eliminations, including Ryan and Francis. Using my old alliance with Francis, I was able to gain his trust after he’d betrayed us, when we were on reward together with Lincoln at the spa, and was able to use the knowledge he shared against him. Strategizing with Alex, we elected to use her extra vote advantage and take him out. This also saved Margarita, which is a reason I feel she selected me to be in the final three with her.” She paused for a moment. “I didn’t win much. I didn’t win immunity, I won a black rock for $500 at the auction and I only had a couple of rewards. I made it here without a ton of advantages and I made it here by properly executing strategy and making use of strategic alliances that began ten minutes after we arrived at our beach. I have outwitted, I have outlasted and, ultimately, I think I have outplayed.”
“Thanks, Becky. Alex?”
She smiled at him and turned to face the jury. “Like Becky, I didn’t know what would be in store for us as the Brains tribe. I knew I could do well if I got to the individual stage of the game and I knew I needed to bust my ass to make sure our tribe stayed strong. We only lost one Brain before the tribe swap and I credit myself, Matteo and Becky for those wins.” She smiled at Matteo who smiled back. “When we got to the tribe switch, I was alone with one Beauty and three Brawns. I thought for sure that I was going to go home,” she said, “but I outwitted them, thanks to Margarita. She’d told me to team up with Gabe and then sent me a legacy advantage that could only be used with 14 or 7 people left in the game. She left it to me, the Brain tribe member, to use it according to my best judgment so that we could both survive that vote. And I used it correctly, guessing that I was the target. That allowed Gabe and me to vote out Brandon, who was the de facto leader of the Brawns. Beyond that, I was a physical threat in the game. I won some rewards and I won some immunities. Yet I remained vulnerable on a couple of occasions and I still managed to pull through by virtue of some strategic thinking, like using my extra vote to get rid of Francis rather than let him take out Margarita. To get here, I proved that I know my fellow tribe members well enough to get to a tie-breaker with Margarita and then, after a really, really long day, I managed to beat Aishe in the firemaking challenge. Finally, I held on to my alliances the entire way through. Matteo and Becky have been my closest allies throughout the game. I’m loyal, I’m smart, I’m a physical threat and I’m still here,” she said. “And that’s why I should be the sole survivor.”
“Thanks, Alex. Margarita, you’re up.”
“I went from basically leading Beauty from day three to being betrayed by my alliance in the last few days but I’m still here because I’m stubborn.” She paused as people laughed. “I’m stubborn and proud of it, but I’m also resilient. I’m resilient because I made friends with pretty much everyone I shared a beach with. I know your birthdays, I know your pets’ names, I know what you do, how old you are, your partners’ names. I got to know you all pretty well and my only mistake was in trusting Francis not to flip back on me after he’d flipped on the Brains. But I won three immunity challenges in a row, pulling it out when it counted. I won immunity four times in total. Not bad for a Beauty, right?” she grinned, showing off her dimples. “I was behind most of the Beauty moves, with Gabe and then with Noah, who were my two closest allies, relying on Nicole and then, unfortunately, on Francis, to help me execute those moves.” She paused and looked over the jury. “But the major reason you should award me the million dollar prize is because I orchestrated it so that I’d be sitting next to Alex. As long as Alex was in the game, I wasn’t much of a threat, until Francis decided to try to vote me out. Alex was my shield.”
Alex tilted her head at that and looked over at Margarita.
“Think about it,” Margarita said, “once Alex won those two immunities in a row, no one was looking at me as a threat, even though I beat her in the first individual immunity. So when the time came and I was immune, I gave her my immunity idol. I wanted to be sitting here next to her because I saved her ass twice. She’s only sitting here because of me. Because I wanted her next to me. So if you’re thinking of voting for Alex, you have to vote for me, because she wouldn’t be here without me.” She smiled brilliantly. “That’s it,” she said.
Alex’s jaw dropped as she realized it was true. She had played them all magnificently, first using Alex as a shield and then making sure she came along with her.
“Thanks, Margarita,” Jeff said. “I’ll now allow the jury to address you.”
Most of the questions were directed at Margarita and Alex only had to address a couple of points, while Becky only had one question posed to her. Alex wasn’t sure if any of that was good for her or bad for her.
Jeff then asked the jury to vote, reminding them that, unlike all the other votes they’d participated in, they should vote for the person they wanted to win the million dollars. Once done, Jeff nodded.
“I’ll go tally the votes.”
He returned shortly with the urn. “Thank you,” he said, “for a fantastic season. I’ll see you guys back in the States.” With that, he took the urn and headed off of the Tribal Council set. It was over.
The three of them got up and hugged each other, all together. There was a lot to be done. Production came in and got the jury, while the three finalists were brought to Dr. Joe for their exit physical exam, before they were brought to the Ponderosa camp for food and a good night of sleep before they’d all be flown back home.
It had been nice, Alex smiled, as she got into her room, after eating her fill. She happily brushed her teeth for a good ten minutes, just enjoying the ability to do so. Then, she stepped into the shower and let the hot water wash the dirt and grime from her body. She luxuriated in the warmth of the shower, poured far too much shampoo into her hair and scrubbed every inch of her body until it was red and angry. She wiped down the mirror in the bathroom afterwards, still shocked at how gaunt she looked. She’d lost eighteen pounds and she knew it was mostly muscle. It would mean a lot of time in the gym to get back to her pre-game condition, but it had been worth it.
She changed into a clean pair of boxers and a clean t-shirt, so pleased to no longer be wearing the same few items, and pulled back the covers of her bed. It was a bed. And it was all hers. She smiled widely, thinking about Margarita as she crawled in and deliberately took up the entire bed by stretching out. It felt decadent.
After a few minutes, she realized something else. As delicious as it all felt, it also felt lonely. She turned over and gazed up at the ceiling. She missed Margarita, she admitted to herself. It was definitely going to take getting used to sleeping alone. And indoors. She smiled at herself because it seemed so very odd to see a ceiling and not the stars. She turned over again, on to her side and closed her eyes.
Minutes later, she was still awake. No ocean waves, no gentle, cool breeze, and no softly-snoring Margarita next to her.
“This is stupid,” she muttered to herself. “In a comfortable bed, wearing fresh clothes, newly-showered, not ravenous, completely exhausted and, somehow, I can’t sleep.”
There was a light knock at the door. She frowned and turned on the small lamp on the bedside table and got up out of bed. She peered through the peephole and raised an eyebrow as she opened the door. “What are you doing here? It’s late.” she asked Margarita.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said, striding into the room. She’d showered and changed, too, since she’d last seen her. No more Hello Sunshine shirt, she noticed, though that shirt had been awfully ratty by the end of the game.
Alex shut the door and turned back to face her. “You okay?”
Margarita smiled up at her. “I’m okay. I just… I just needed to see you. Talk to you.”
“Sure,” Alex said, going to sit on the edge of the bed.
Margarita knitted her fingers together and paced a bit. “Everything I said at Tribal tonight was true. I wanted you by my side so I could point to you and say hey, this was my plan, having Alex next to me was a goal and I achieved it.”
“And here I thought you hated me this whole time,” Alex said, dryly.
Margarita chuckled. “I didn’t like you at first, nerd,” she admitted. “But you grew on me. I… I don’t know if I would have had the internal fortitude to fight for myself that day Beauty lost immunity. You helped me with that. And that’s really when I became a dominant leader on Beauty. Voting Holly out was how I found my game. And it was, in part, because of you.” She paced again. “But part of it, too, was… I liked playing with you. And against you.” She stopped and turned and smiled at Alex, her dimples out. “I saved you for how I could manage to play it for the jury, sure.”
She sat down next to Alex. “But I also saved you because… I like you.”
Alex blinked at that. “You…”
“Like you.” She smiled. “C’mon, do you really think I slept in your hammock for two weeks just because I felt you owed me your body heat?”
Alex was still trying to wrap her head around it. “Uh… yeah?”
Margarita chuckled and reached out her hand to gently caress Alex’s left cheek. “For a such a nerd, you can be pretty dumb, you know.”
She was about to argue that when Margarita’s lips were on hers. A soft moan came from deep within her chest as she kissed her back, her arms encircling Margarita’s waist, pulling the other woman towards her.
They broke apart after a few moments and held each other. “I am so glad you feel the same way as I do,” Alex murmured, “because otherwise, watching the show together would be super embarrassing.”
Margarita laughed. “Oh God, I think I told Gabe in front of the camera how hot I thought you were on day two.”
Alex pulled back, grinning. “I definitely told Matteo I thought you were gorgeous. Oh, and my dad was like so what’s going on there?” She rolled her eyes.
Margarita brushed Alex’s hair out of her eyes and captured her lips again. “A showmance would have wrecked my game,” she said. “I told my tia that.”
“Would have wrecked mine, too,” Alex agreed. “But they are definitely going to edit us as nemeses-turned-lovers.”
Margarita smiled. “Well, let’s not make them liars, then,” she said, eyes twinkling, as she crawled towards the head of the bed.
She laughed. “Let’s not,” she agreed, and joined her.
***
Reunion Show
They’d been dating since the show had ended, and it was common knowledge to the world that Alex and Margarita from Survivor were a thing. Their social media accounts were resplendent with photos of them in and around National City, over in Midvale, at some vineyards near National City, basically anywhere they went, they shared photos on social media and fans would go wild.
And still, neither of them knew who had won the million dollars.
They’d watched every episode together, and, as they’d thought, what had originally been shown as a contentious relationship, starting from that argument about cheating, had been edited to show the softer side of both of the women. The hug at the loved one’s reward, the hug at camp when Margarita had cried and Alex had soothed her, sharing a hammock for two weeks, all of it was used by the editors to build a beautiful love story.
By the time the finale was aired, they’d been together for over a full calendar year. They were in Los Angeles, at the studio, for the live vote reveal, their families in the audience. Alex was wearing a dark blazer with its sleeves rolled up over a blue t-shirt that read, in white cursive, “I’m her Nerd” and Margarita was wearing an orange t-shirt saying “I’m her Sunshine” in black cursive writing, under her leather jacket. The two of them were recognized often and it was always by people who shouted out “Hey Sunshine!” or “Hi Nerd!”. They’d embraced it, particularly for this evening.
The lights went up on stage as the final moments of the final episode finished and people started cheering, while Alex sat on a Tribal Council set, between Margarita and Becky, holding hands with both of them. All three of them smiled as Jeff made his way to his podium on the stage with the urn of votes.
“Are we ready to read some votes?” Jeff asked, grinning.
“Uh, Jeff?” Alex said. “Could I say something first?”
“Sure,” he said.
“What are you doing?” muttered Margarita.
Alex cleared her throat and turned, taking both of Margarita’s hands in her own, and sang softly.
“You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine,
You make me happy, our life’s a thrill.
You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you…
Oh, Sunshine, please say that you will.”
Margarita was smiling, but looked confused. “Will what?”
Alex beamed and pulled out a small, black, velvet box, while the audience went absolutely ape.
“Sunshine, will you marry me?” she asked, dropping to one knee, opening it.
Becky was beaming and clapping for them, along with the rest of the jury and the audience.
Margarita looked up at Alex, eyes watering. “Yes,” she said, simply, smiling, her dimples showing.
Alex kissed her tenderly and slipped the ring on her finger, then they hugged tightly. She was flying, it felt like. Who cared about the million dollars when she had this woman agreeing to be with her for the rest of their days?
Jeff wiped at his eyes. “Okay, that’s the second time that’s happened on one of these reunion shows and the second time I’ve been caught completely by surprise,” he grinned. “Can, uh, can we go back to the whole million dollar prize thing now?”
That drew a big laugh and Alex pulled back. She reached over to hold Becky’s hand as well as Jeff prepared to read the votes.
“Okay,” he said, “remember, tonight, you want to see your name on a parchment.” He reached in and pulled out the first vote.
“Margarita,” he said.
There was a cheer from the crowd and Alex kissed her cheek.
“Second vote, Alex. We’re tied, one vote Margarita, one vote Alex.”
There was another cheer.
“Third vote, Margarita.” He reached in for the next. “Alex. We’re tied again. Two votes Margarita, two votes Alex.”
Alex squeezed Margarita’s hand.
“Next vote, Margarita,” he said, showing it to the crowd. “And the next vote,” he said, pulling it out and revealing it, “Alex. We’re tied again. Three votes Margarita. Three votes Alex. One vote left.”
Alex braced herself. She knew that Becky hadn’t gotten a vote because they wouldn’t have left Fiji after the vote. Jeff would have counted it up and he would have made Becky a juror and asked her to cast the deciding vote. So it was either her or it was Margarita. She squeezed both women’s hands tightly.
“The winner of Survivor Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty 3,” he said, flipping the parchment over, “Margarita.”
The crowd went wild and Alex leapt up with her, hugging her tightly and kissing her soundly, before Margarita moved to hug Becky and congratulate her on a game well played. Then Margarita went down into the audience to celebrate with her tia Gabriella.
“There you have it, folks, the winner is Margarita. We’ll be back after the break to talk to Margarita and Alex about their relationship and how their feelings for one another might have ruined the game for them both. We’ll also talk about how I was, once again, blindsided by a proposal on this very stage! Stay tuned,” Jeff encouraged the viewers.
Alex stood there, beaming, watching her fiancée celebrate with her aunt, clapping loudly.
“Sorry you didn’t win, Alex,” Becky said to her.
Alex smiled back. “I may not have won the game, but I won big. Huge,” she grinned, as she caught Margarita’s eye. “She’s going to be my wife ,” she said. “Nothing could beat that. Not even a million dollars.”