The 16 remaining contestants all loaded into the Main Lodge, after Chris' announcement on the loudspeakers. Chris met them there, standing with Chef Hatchet and DJ.
"DJ, please go lock the front door and the back door," Chris instructed.
"What's going on?" Sammy asked.
"Let's just say that this isn't the first time we've had this problem," Chris began. "After a sighting from a few contestants and our own footage from the Jumbo Jet cams, we can confirm that… Ezekiel is back."
"That deranged freak is on the island again?" Scott gasped. "First Scarlett and now him! What's next? Fang?"
"What is he doing here?" Blaineley questioned.
"Wow, what a great question, Blaineley," Chris remarked, rolling his eyes. "The challenge today is a race to find and capture Ezekiel. The first team to do so will win."
"Another team search?" Heather asked. "Why can't you guys come up with anything else? Like seriously, first challenge was a hunt for stupid Chris statues. Then we had to find keys to a hotel room, that stupid coin that probably wasn't even real gold, then we had that I spy challenge, the night challenge where you drugged us with melatonin then made us go searching for you, Scott and Bridgette had to risk their lives to search for Courtney, and then yesterday we had to go looking for Dawn and Gwen."
"Don't act like looking for Gwen was so stressful for you," Trent barked.
"This is neither the time nor the place to be discussing this," Heather stated.
"Oh right, you'd rather discuss this in private, huh?" Trent replied. "Where you can lie to my face instead?"
Eva Confessional:
"Sitting back and watching this unfold is like music to my ears. Is it messy? Perhaps. But as long as it works in the end."
"Can you please continue, Chris?" Heather asked, drowning out Trent.
Chris cleared his throat. "Since there is still a FERAL BEAST roaming the island right now, each team will be given a cage. Get Ezekiel into your cage to win the challenge. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as it happens. Cages are located on the end of the tables. The challenge starts in 3… 2… 1… and GO!"
The Exaggerated Eagles stepped out of the cabin, with the cage in Jasmine's hands. While the Jagged Jaguars were more 'get up and go', the Eagles liked to strategize their best options.
"Alright, raise your hands if you've dealt with Feral Ezekiel before," Jazelle began. Scott and Sierra raised their hands. "Okay this isn't the best of numbers… but that's not all that matters."
"The last place we saw Ezekiel was at the Jumbo Jet," Devin stated. "I think we should start heading that way."
"If that's the lead that we have, we should stick to it," Bridgette agreed. "Let's go that way, but remember to keep your eyes out for Zeke along the way. He's sneaky and could be anywhere."
"Ezekiel is insane," Eva began. "He could really be anywhere."
"While that is true, he is still smart to an extent," Harold said. "Zeke is a creature of revenge. That's why he keeps coming back, even after so long."
"Well the person he's got the biggest grudge against is Chris," Sammy responded. "Stay near Chris… and Ezekiel may arrive?"
"It's the best shot we've got," Mike agreed. "We could find Chris and ask if we can stay near him for the duration of the search."
"Sounds good, I assume he hasn't left the Lodge yet so we can go in there and ask him." Carrie said. The team filed back into the Main Lodge and as they figured, Chris was inside.
"What part of go find the Feral Beast did you not understand?" Chris yelled.
"Zeke has a strong hatred towards you…" Harold began.
"Yeah, as in wanting me DEAD!" Chris exclaimed.
"So because of that," Harold continued. "If you come with us we can protect you as a group. And with you being you and Zeke being Zeke, he's likely to come after you. You'll be the… bait for our plan."
"Good idea, but I'll pass. I can watch the search go on in my safely locked office. Good luck finding something else, though." Chris replied as he walked into his office and locked the door behind himself.
"We have to think of something else!" Heather said.
"Thanks Sherlock, how long did it take you to figure that out?" Trent quipped.
"What if we tried looking into one of the supply closets and see what we could use to help us?" Harold suggested.
Heather nodded, "Good idea, Harold. Let's go in there and take a look at what's inside."
Dawn Confessional:
"I feel I am in the exact same position that Sammy was in yesterday. I know I can help the team by talking to Zeke. I understand him. If we lose, however, then Sammy or Heather won't risk being eliminated. But if we win… who knows what could happen to them?"
"Alright, who wants to go in first?" Blaineley asked as they arrived at the Jumbo Jet.
"Maybe you should go first, if anybody is gonna get killed it might as well be dead weight," Jazelle smirked.
"I'll do it," Jasmine said, pushing them aside. She climbed up to the door and entered the plane.
"We can't just let her go in there by herself," Bridgette said. "This is a team effort. We should follow her."
Bridgette, Devin, and Scott followed Jasmine inside, as everyone else stayed behind.
"Where did you see him last?" Scott asked as they had caught up with Jasmine.
"We were behind in the elimination area," Devin responded. "Jasmine caught a glimpse of him."
"I'm not entirely sure where he could be, though," Jasmine stated. "We saw him then left."
"So he could be either anywhere on the plane or not even around this area," Bridgette concluded. "But we still have a lead, I suggest we split up a little to go searching the plane."
"There's only one cage though, so whoever has the cage needs to be sure they're within yelling distance," Scott added. "Just in case he sneaks up on us.
"I'll take the cage," Dawn said, lurking up behind the group with Sierra and Jazelle behind her. "I speak Feral Zeke."
"Sounds like a plan, guys. It's all hands on deck!" Bridgette said.
The Jagged Jaguars walked out of the Main Lodge with Harold holding a rubber dummy in his hands.
"Who knew Chris kept the dummy from Action's murder mystery challenge?" Lindsay chuckled.
"It is an interesting keep," Carrie agreed. "And I think it's perfect for attracting Zeke!"
"So the plan is… we'll go into the woods and tie the cage to the branch of a tree. Then we'll place the Chris dummy underneath," Harold began. "One of us can wait up there on the branch, so when Zeke comes to attack Chris, they can cut the rope and catch him inside."
"Allow me to cut the ropes! Get me a hat and Manitoba can be quite the stealthy and sneaky guy," Mike said.
"I have a hat in the cabin. More of a sunhat, but if it gets Manitoba out of you…" Sammy proposed.
"That'll work," Mike responded. "Let's set up near the forest entrance and you can meet us there afterwards."
"We've got this, Jaguars!" Harold exclaimed.
After thoroughly searching the inside of the Jumbo Jet, Team Exaggerated Eagles finally stepped down from the plane.
"We can confirm Ezekiel is not inside the Jumbo Jet anymore," Sierra noted.
"Well you probably know Ezekiel's pattern pretty well," Jazelle said. "Any idea where his next spot would be?"
"Ezekiel has always been out for vengeance, to ruin Chris' life," Sierra said.
"He's not the only one," Blaineley shrugged.
"One of his last memories of Chris is this plane," Sierra said, looking back at the Jumbo Jet. "Maybe he's going to these familiar places for a reason."
"Almost like retracing his steps," Bridgette noted. "When's the most recent time we've seen him during the show?"
"The collapsed mine in All Stars is the last time we've seen him," Scott responded. "After that, Zeke vanished."
"There's no mine on Stalakanava," Jazelle said.
"No, but there is a cave," Dawn replied. "And if we're going by familiarity, Ezekiel might've wound up there."
"There's no harm in checking," Jasmine nodded.
Team Jagged Jaguars were almost finished setting up their Ezekiel trap. Eva had climbed up the tree and onto the branch the team had decided to use for hanging the trap.
From the ground, Trent had finished tying a lasso on one end of the rope. On the other end, Harold had tied the rope to the cage.
Trent looked up at Eva, "Here, teammate, do you think you could catch the loop on this end if I threw it up to you?"
"I could," Eva said. "But there has to be a more efficient way to do this."
"How about you have Eva come down," Heather suggested. "Then she can drag the rope up as she climbs."
Trent rolled his eyes and looked up at Eva, "What do you think about that, teamie."
"It is more efficient," Eva noted, jumping down from the branch.
Heather Confessional:
"Teammate and teamie? It's like Trent is not even trying to hide the fact that he and Eva are secretly working together. Trent is so much smarter than this. Maybe Eva has blackmail on him too!"
Sammy walked over to the group, holding a very floppy sun hat with a flower on it, "I don't know if this is Manitoba's style… but will it work?"
Mike walked over to Sammy and took the hat, "It's not what he'd normally go for, but I like it."
Mike put on the hat, causing him to gasp sharply and become Manitoba Smith.
"Thanks wild flower," Manitoba said as he looked over to the trap. "Oh no no no. What do we have here?"
"This is our trap, Manny," Lindsay responded. "Do you like it?"
"I think it's perfect if you're trying to lose," Manitoba said. He looked up, seeing Eva sitting on the branch. "And what is that one doing up there? Last time I checked, blue wasn't a part of camo print."
"Can we get Mike back?" Eva asked. "Because last time I checked, nobody asked you."
"Calm it, unibrow. I've dealt with Tigers more ferocious than yourself," Manitoba said.
"There's tigers in Australia?" Lindsay asked.
"One question at a time," Harold interrupted. "So what do you think we should do to improve our trap?"
"You've got to camouflage it. You don't catch a grizzly by just placing a net on the ground. You've got to cover it with leaves," Manitoba responded.
"Can you help us out with that?" Harold asked.
"Sure I can. Also a scent helps to attract your prey," Manitoba said. "Can't catch anything if it doesn't want to come over."
"I know where we could get a scent," Heather said. "I happen to know where Chris is keeping his cologne."
"Great, I will also delegate Trent to go with you," Harold said with a slight nod toward Heather.
Eva watched from the branch as Heather and Trent walked away from the group and grunted to herself.
