SURVIVOR - Palau

DAY 20 - Last Gasp

UNIVERSAL POINT OF VIEW:

"Come on in guys!" Jeff Probst calls out standing on a pontoon in the ocean. It is the time of morning where the tide is beginning to rise

The castaways row in, and all position themselves on the army green mat, adjacent to the one Jeff stands on. Leon places the flag in the ground. Jeff looks at the green flag and reads the new tribe name,

"Juntos" Jeff reads, "where did the tribe name Juntos come from Courtney?"

Courtney shrugs, "Harrison came up with it"

"Harrison?" asked Jeff

"Yes, when I taught in Primary Schools in Mozambique, they spoke Portuguese, and they always said 'juntos, juntos', which means together. We have all come together, merged. So I felt Juntos sounded relevant and nice" Harrison explains

"Well, Juntos, in todays challenge you must swim under a steel grate and stay above the water. As the tide rises, you will run out of breathing room. If the fear of drowning is too much, you can bail out. The last person still in the grate wins immunity.

"Well, Bennett, I am going to take back Tribal Immunity" Jeff demands taking the small statue, "now you will play for individual immunity"

Jeff takes a sheet of a podium, to reveal a beautiful necklace that is individual immunity. Decorated in different sized beads and colourful feather. Everyone gasps at the desperate want of that necklace around their necks.

"The winner of today's challenge will also be winning reward" Jeff announces and everyone slouches of the thought of being rewarded, "the winner will receive a Palauan feast delivered to your camp"

Everyone's eyes widen at the thought of having such a reward

"Worth playing for?" Jeff asks

"Oh yea!" Kyle says above everyone else's agreement

"Winning this challenge, will give you a one in nine shot of winning one million dollars" Jeff says, everyone smiles.

"Lets draw for positions and get started" Jeff says and all the castaways jump in the water ready for the challenge.

***

"Okay, this challenge is under way" Jeff says in a much quieter and softer voice.

The tide is quite low at the moment, but it is surely getting higher and higher. Each person holds on the grate and they have about fifteen inches (38 centimetres) of room for their head from the surface of the water and the grate. There is little room between each thin bar on the grating, although enough to get your nose and mouth through for a little more breathing space.

"How you feeling, Courtney" Jeff asks. Courtney's teeth a clatter.

"Yea, it is very cold" Courtney replies

"Hang in there Court!" Ricki encourages

It is twenty minutes in and the castaways have about ten inches of space. The water really starting to creep up to there face. Many people have begun to throw their heads backwards, as there is little room looking forward

"This challenge will show how well you can handle fear" Jeff says, but no one makes a noice. Everyone focused on keeping there head above the water.

Fifty minutes in and everyone is looking at the sky, there is no more room to keep your head vertical. Water has closed in around their ears and is making there way to their nose, eyes and mouth. Creeping up the sides of their face people begin to panick. In a flimsy movement, Erika lets go of the bars. She rises up to the surface of the water, out of this challenge.