Sole Survivor

Day Thirty-Three

I wake up suddenly with a jerk. Blinking slowly in the early morning light, I can't remember any specific dream that might have awakened me. Maybe it was a noise outside or in the shelter.

I stretch my arms above my head and turn to look around the shelter. It looks like everyone's still asleep. Malfoy's arm, which was lightly draped across my stomach, tightens around me when I move. Looking down at him, I can see his lips moving in his sleep but I can't make out any words. After a few more moments his arm relaxes again, and I can pull myself away and quietly step out of the shelter.

It looks like it rained a little in the middle of the night – the trees and bushes sparkle in the morning sunlight and the sand is a bit damp. I put a few minutes into uncovering the embers in our fire pit and sparking them back to life. It's harder to do it without magic, but in a way more fulfilling. I'm glad I grew up learning to do things the harder Muggle way, so I could really appreciate the ease of magic.

I putter around the camp for a while, tidying things up and gathering a little bit of firewood. Soon there's a rustling near the shelter, and I see Ellen emerge. She stretches and comes over to me with a smile.

"You're up early this morning."

I grin. "Woke up early, so I figured I'd get started on chores."

"Well, you've taken away most of my early morning chores ... want to get some coconuts?" I nod, and we set off through the underbrush. Once we're far enough way from camp, we start talking more seriously.

"I'm glad you had a good time on your reward yesterday."

"It was nice. But I hear that things weren't exactly pretty back here."

She grimaces. "Pete. He's a strange one, that boy. But ..." Ellen pauses for a long moment.

I set another coconut in our pile. "But what?"

She appears to think over her words. "Pete made me an offer. He's been talking to Sheryl, and wants to bring us in on an alliance. The three of us against the rest of you."

I think about this. "Well, that's something. Ellen, I can't tell you what to do. You know that I'm in with Kiki and Draco, and if things go as planned you'll be in the final four with us. But from then on, it's everyone for themselves, and I can't guarantee you better than a fourth place finish. But if you go in with Pete and Sheryl and you make the final three, you're also risking the possibility of Pete winning the million."

"I know, and that's what's holding me back. I don't want that boy winning anything."

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Talk to Kiki about this, and she'll back up what I've told you – with us, you're definitely in the final four. From then on, we'll just take it day by day. I won't tell you what to do."

Ellen gives me a hug, thanks me, and we take our coconuts back to camp. Malfoy and Kiki are sitting by the fire, but neither of them looks happy. As soon as Kiki sees me, she hops up and runs over.

"Hermione, you're going to love this one." She leads me back to where Malfoy is sitting. "Tell her."

Malfoy rolls his eyes. "He said it was an accident, Kiki." She shakes her head and stares at him. "Fine. Pete accidentally stepped on my ankle when he was getting out of the shelter this morning. He apologized all over the place."

I look down and sure enough, Malfoy's ankle looks a bit swollen and red. Kiki looks ready to burst. "I can't believe you'd accept that 'accident' nonsense. I'm sure he did it on purpose, Draco."

"Either way, there's no way you can prove anything, Ki." He shifts his eyes out toward the water and I follow his gaze. Pete and Sheryl are in the boat, trolling with the net and having what looks like an animated discussion.

I pull Malfoy up by his arm. "Kiki, you should go talk to Ellen. She has some very interesting information. Draco, you need to soak that ankle. Come on." He's actually limping as I lead him over to some rocks where he can put his foot into a tide pool of salty water. I hop down and hold his ankle, gently massaging it. I have to turn my head away from the cameraman to whisper a healing spell while holding Malfoy's ankle. When I'm done, I can see him relax as the pain fades.

"Accident, eh?"

"Oh, you know it wasn't an accident." He grins ruefully. "Gave it a good hearty stomp, he did. But as you so eloquently put it, there's no way we can prove anything." He stands up and tests his weight on the offended ankle.

"I'm concerned about him. Maybe we should get rid of him tonight if we can."

"We'll get rid of him soon ... I just want to beat him fair and square at a physical challenge."

I give him a light punch on the arm. "You and your macho male posturing."

He looks around for other players, then leans in and gives me a quick but passionate kiss. "Ah, but I'm your macho male." With a grin, he theatrically limps back to camp, putting on a show for the cameras.

o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o

Kiki is sitting next to what looks like a stack of notepads, and Ellen has gone down to the waterline to beckon Pete and Sheryl back to shore. Once we're all gathered around the fire, Kiki reads the instructions. We each get a notepad and answer the questions inside, and those answers will form the immunity challenge. Everyone takes a pad and we spread out around the camp, each seeking our own solitude.

The questions are all personal opinion, and it's a challenge to decide which other player is "most trustworthy" or who "works the most around camp". I finish up and turn in my notebook to the designated production assistant. When we're all done, we're warned to not discuss any of our answers. The notebooks are whisked away and we sit around waiting to be called for the challenge.

Pete shifts around in his seat. I look in time to see his usual glaring expression turn to one of incredibly phony sympathy. "Hey Draco, man, how's that ankle?"

Malfoy grimaces in imaginary pain. "Still hurts a lot, man."

"Man, I'm really sorry about that. Really I am."

"Yeah, well, good thing this sounds like a mental challenge and not a physical one, huh? My lucky day."

Pete turns away, his standard sour expression back on his face. He sees me watching him, and our eyes meet. His already dark eyes seem to get even darker, and his lip curls in a sneer. Just as he's about to say something, a producer comes over and tells us it's time to saddle up for the challenge. We all get up and make our way down the beach, me pretending to support Malfoy's weight and Malfoy pretending to limp.

Marcus is waiting for us in a nice shady area with some benches set up. As Pete returns the immunity necklace to Marcus, I get Malfoy settled and take the seat next to him. Each of us has a chalkboard in front of us.

"Before we get started, what happened to you, Draco?"

Malfoy gives a thin smile. "Oh, just an accident around camp. Pete took a wrong step in the shelter and my ankle was in the way."

Marcus looks at Malfoy for a moment, then looks at Pete. It looks like he wants to say something, but instead pauses for a moment. Then he clears his throat. "Well, good thing this isn't a physical challenge today."

We're instructed to pick up our chalkboards, and find pieces of chalk underneath them. "After I ask a question, you'll have twenty seconds to write down your answer," Marcus says. "Then you'll show me what you've written. The first person to get ten answers right wins immunity. The questions come from two groups – the surveys you filled out today with personal opinions about your own teammates, and also informative questions about your teammates who have been voted off."

A couple of people seem startled, and I'm suddenly glad that I'm both social and nosy.

We settle in with our chalkboards, and Marcus asks the first question. "Which former player has two children named Julia and Anthony?" I think back, then quickly write my answer down.

We reveal our boards. "Ellen, Hermione and Kiki all have it right. The answer was Bob. One point to each of them." We erase our answers. "Next question. Which one of you was voted 'Most Trustworthy' by your fellow players?"

This one is a toughie. I go with the answer I wrote down in my notebook, Kiki.

We show our boards again. "Draco, Sheryl, Ellen and Kiki all have it right. The answer is Hermione." I look over at everyone else, and they're all smiling at me. Except for Pete, glaring down at the ground as he holds his chalkboard with "Ellen" written on it.

"Ellen and Kiki are now tied with two points each. Hermione and Draco each have one point."

We make our way through a couple of occupations, a couple of hobbies, and a few opinion questions. I'm doing all right, but Ellen is really cleaning up. Finally, Marcus brings us to the last question.

"All right, Ellen is in the lead with nine points. Kiki is right behind with eight, Draco and Hermione each with seven, and Sheryl and Pete are tied at six. If Ellen gets this one right, she's won immunity." He pauses for dramatic effect, then asks the final question. "Which player thinks they're smarter than they really are?"

I can only go with my previous answer from the questionnaire. I write down Pete's name and wait to be told to reveal it. Marcus tells us to show our boards, and I flip mine around.

"Ellen, Kiki, Draco and Hermione all have it right, the answer was Pete. Ellen wins immunity!" We all stand up and Marcus puts the immunity necklace around Ellen's neck. Pete stands off by himself, not congratulating Ellen. I'm sure his feelings are hurt, having the four of us openly state that we don't think he's very smart. Thanks, producers and game designers. That will sure help the mood at camp.

We're dismissed for the afternoon, and get back to camp in time to do some chores and start cooking dinner. Pete and Sheryl walk down the beach for a conversation, leaving the four of us together.

Draco clears his throat. "So, um ... Pete or Sheryl?"

"Sheryl was the original plan, I think we should stick to that." I pause and shake my head. "I know nobody likes Pete, but we need to get Sheryl out in case she has a sudden winning streak. I'd rather take on Pete in the final than Sheryl, because I know nobody here would vote for Pete to win."

We toss a few more thoughts around, then spot Pete and Sheryl returning. During the cleanup after dinner, they manage to pull Ellen away down the beach. Kiki and I carry the dirty plates down to the water and watch them walk away.

"I hope Ellen sticks with us."

Kiki scratches her head. "Well, nothing we can really do about it now. She knows where we stand, it's up to her."

We finish rinsing the plates and take them back to camp. Everyone but Ellen spends a few minutes packing up personal possessions, and we're off to Tribal Council.

o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o

Malfoy's limping less, putting off the air that he's working at recovering from the injury. Just watching him slog his way down the beach with a phony limp makes me want to laugh, but I have to keep it in. It just might turn hysterical. Once again, my fate in this game rests in the hands of others – specifically Ellen.

The question-and-answer session seems to go on forever, with Marcus grilling Malfoy about the severity of his injury and asking Pete about his feelings for the challenge. Pete's answers are highlighted with a barely contained fury, and I can see Toby, Carla and Chet squirm around in their jury seats. Finally it's time to vote, and we walk that familiar path one by one. When Ellen goes up to vote, Malfoy reaches over and takes my hand.

Marcus brings back the votes and starts going through them one by one. A delicate, feminine script for Draco. My own handwriting for Sheryl. Familiar angry block letters for Draco. Malfoy's handwriting for Sheryl. Kiki's flamboyant style for Sheryl.

"That's three votes for Sheryl, two for Draco." Marcus reaches in and pulls out the last vote. He reads it to himself and pauses. "The eleventh person voted off, and fourth member of our jury," he turns the paper around to show Sheryl's name. "Sheryl, please bring me your torch."

We head back to camp, just the five of us. Pete stays away from the rest of us, probably wallowing in what he feels is betrayal by Ellen. I give her a quick hug before we settle down in the shelter for the night. Malfoy falls quickly asleep beside me, but I lay awake for quite a while, thinking about the game. That's the only reason I know why it was a long time before Pete came in from outside to go to sleep.

Whew, that took a while. Sorry for the long delay in updates, especially since we're so close to the end. I'm back in writing mode and will hopefully update MUCH more frequently so we can all find out what's going to happen in this final week.