Survivor

S4E1

Karen's POV

I was standing on a green mat surrounded by four other strangers that I've never seen before.

The cast this season was small, only fifteen people. I wonder why, maybe ratings went down so they needed less episodes.

"Welcome to Survivor: Strength vs Social vs Strategic!" Jeff announced as we all clapped in excitement.

"You, in the blue shirt with the blonde hair, what's your name?" Jeff asked someone on the social mat.

"Holly." The woman responded with a smile.

"Holly, anything surprising about this cast?" Jeff asked her.

"Um, it's kind of small Jeff." Holly said with a laugh as she moved her hair behind her ear.

"Why do you think that is?" Jeff asked as he pointed to me.

I was caught off guard.

"I- I'm not sure, maybe there's another hidden tribe of five people." I blurted out.

"Close, but not exactly. You are not the entire cast. This season, you'll be joined by three returning players that embody the very elements of the game that each tribe represents." Jeff said as I saw out of the corner of my eye a small motorboat carrying three returnees on it.

As they got closer, I was able to identify the returnees.

"For Strength, Monty, who played a physical game last season and placed eighth." Jeff said as Monty got up onto our boat and hugged us all.

"Karen, nice to meet you!" I said politely.

Although I'm on the strength tribe, I have social skills as well. I'm the head of construction in Chicago, and that not only requires strength, but people skills as well.

"For the social tribe, Duke. He played in season two and placed tenth after a blindside at a double tribal council." Jeff said as Duke climbed onto the boat with a smile on his face, embracing his tribe mates.

"And for the strategic tribe, and original player who's time was cut short in season one, Alyssa. In our very first season, she placed eleventh after blindsiding Elaine's ally, Lillian. Her elimination was pure revenge." Jeff said as she giddily ran over and hugged the five newbies on the purple mat.

"Monty, how does it feel to be back here right after last season?" Jeff asked him.

"It feels great. This game is amazing, and being able to be one of the first returning players is an honor." Monty responded.

"Alright, you all know your tribes, grab your stuff and head out to your beaches." Jeff said to us as he tossed us all maps to our beaches and we loaded up onto our rafts.

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When the six of us got back to camp, we all introduced ourselves and formed a plan to build a shelter, with a lot of help from Monty, as he's already built a shelter before.

"I think we're gonna need more bamboo, wanna go get some with me?" I asked Earl.

"Sure." He responded in a southern accent.

Earl and I were walking towards some thick areas of bamboo with our machete.

"So, what do you think of the tribe so far?" I asked him as I grabbed a piece of bamboo and started hacking away at it.

"I like everyone, I feel like we're gonna do well in challenges." Earl responded to me.

"I like everyone too, except I'm not too sure about how I feel that Monty's back." I told him as the bamboo broke.

"I think it's a good thing. He's strong, he has experience, I think we were lucky to get him." Earl said as he picked up the chopped pieces of bamboo.

"Yeah, what about Lisa, Ellison, and Nicole?" I asked him.

"Lisa's kinda quiet, she seems unapproachable." Earl told me.

"Practically read my mind. I'm glad we're on the same page, I hope we can work together." I told him as we dragged bamboo back to camp.

"I hope so too." Earl told me with a smile.

"We're back!" Earl announced as we walked through the trees. Ellison and Lisa were positioning the bamboo while Monty was nailing it on with a rock and Nicole was tying palm fronds together to make a good roof.

"Great, could you guys put the bamboo next to Nicole? Monty and I can break it up in a second." Ellison said as he grunted from the weight of the bamboo already nailed together.

Brenden's POV

This tribe is full of crackheads. Griselda is old, Holly gives me rawr xd vibes, Duke has so much toxic masculinity that it's dripping out his ears, and Alejandro didn't stop talking about his kids and how he rose from poverty in Mexico to give his kids a better life. It isn't a bad thing, it's just that he doesn't stop mentioning it.

The only normal one aside from myself seemed like Amelia, but I don't want to be associated with someone else this early, so I didn't go off to talk to her.

Eventually, it became nighttime and our shelter was far from finished.

Alejandro was able to make a fire from literally sticks, so maybe he's not so much of a crackhead after all.

The six of us were just sitting around the fire talking about ourselves since we had nowhere to sleep.

"Let's get personal, why is everyone here?" Amelia asked as she flipped her hair out of her eyes.

"My family. Even though we aren't in Mexico anymore, I still want them to have the best possible life. All three of them are so young, so impressionable, I don't want them to have hard lives." Alejandro shared.

"I'm here because I want the title and the following." Amelia said to all of us.

"So you're not here for the money?" Griselda asked her.

"No, it doesn't look like you're here for the money either." Amelia said as Griselda looked down at her pearl necklace and nice clothes.

"I am, my husband and I need it." Griselda told her.

"Really? It looks like you're sitting pretty on some cash." I interjected.

"Looks can be deceiving." Griselda said as she looked at me.

"Redemption. I'm here to prove that I have more to bring." Duke answered.

"To buy a house on the beach, just my son and I." Holly responded.

"How old is your son?" Griselda asked her.

"Fourteen." Holly responded.

"What about you?" Amelia asked me.

"I love this game, I've watched the very first episode and I fell in love with it instantly." I responded to them.

The fire was starting to die out.

"How do we sleep?" Alejandro asked us.

"We're gonna have to find a comfortable spot on the sand, I've had to do it before. It isn't awful, just rinse off in the ocean in the morning." Duke told us.

I rolled over onto my side and closed my eyes.

Ralph's POV

We were all laying in our shelter, but I couldn't sleep. The bamboo was uncomfortable and I was too excited for this game.

Being a lawyer, I really think I'll be able to thrive in this game.

I haven't had any one on one conversations with anyone, but I really like June. I think she could be a valuable ally.

Alyssa scares me. She was an original player, she knows what she's doing. I don't like that she's here, she had her chance.

Chastity seems entitled, but Hudson and Mick seem fine.

This tribe should be interesting, but I feel like I've fallen into the leader role even with Alyssa being here. I ran the construction of the shelter tonight, and I'm really excited for more to come.