Episode 8:
Fire Is Life
by
Andy Zarowny

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It's Night 18, and Ulong returns to camp.  Stephenie thanks Bobby Jon again
for not booting her.  As he builds a roaring fire, BJ tells her that she should
trust him.  He had given her his word.  Enjoying the warm of the campfire,
Stephenie still has high hopes of winning one for Ulong.

Day 19 and things are getting nasty at Camp Koror.  There are rats and flies
everywhere, feasting off remains of past meals.  Tom thinks the rats have be-
come less afraid, which is why they are more frequent around the camp.  The
rats do not fear the humans.  Coby see it as a simple problem of sanitation. 
He has suggested they keep the beach tidy, but nobody listens to him.  Coby
thinks all the women are lazy  and the rest of the men are slobs.  He is espe-
cially annoyed with Tom hanging his shark trophy in camp.  It draws many
flies.  Coby's had enough and moves it himself. 

Reward Challenge time, and it's the ubiquitous Food Competition.  This sea-
som, the delicacy is balut, a fermented duck egg with a half-born duckling. 
Four rounds of eating, with each round up'ing the ante by one egg.  Tom and
Ian compete for Koror.  Tom goes against Stephenie in the 1st Round and both
score a point by eating one egg.  Ian and BJ each score in Round 2 by eating
2 eggs each.  Tom and Steph both finish their 3 eggs and score in Round 3.
Ian and Bobby Jon struggle their 4 eggs down in Round 4.  So it's all tied-up.
Tom and Bobby Jon face each other to eat 5 eggs each.  First one with an
empty mouth wins.  BJ seemed to be cruising to victory by shoving all the
eggs in his mouth right away.  But the result was BJ having trouble chewing
the mess.  Tom stayed consistent and steady and marches Koror to another
victory.  The prize is 55 gallons of freshwater, with a shower spigot attached
to the water drum.  They also got a basket of soaps and shampoos, along
with an ample supply of Scope mouthwash.  Product endorsement!  Product
endorsement!!!

Koror returns to camp and finds the water drum set up at their shower stall.
Immediately, a disagreement ensues.  Tom believes they should use the water
for drinking purposes only.  Jennifer is annoyed by this, she was counting on
getting clean for a day.  Ian finally weighs in on Tom's side.  The victors are
victorious again.  Bobby Jon and Stephenie return to Ulong, defeated once
again.  BJ kicks himself for losing to Tom.  He takes out his frustrations on
whatever his machete can find.  Steph is concerned.  Back at Koror, Tom and
Ian discuss post-merge strategy.  Gregg and Jenn are far too cozy, and they
decide to break the couple up as early as possible.  Tom reveals to Uncle
Cameraman that he's had an alliance with Katie and Stephenie since Day Two.
He will be very happy to see her rejoin his group.

Day 20 and Steph is getting really disgusted with BJ's habits.  He's dirty,
smells, and is gross.  His vulgar ways are really getting poor Stephenie sick
and discouraged.  She laments how hard life is now with just the two of them.
They must do everything around camp.  It's a constant struggle to keep up.
Launching the outrigger is an exhausting chore.  Steph thinks she's near her
end. 

Day 21 and Ulong is still trying their best.  Bobby Jon spears a good sized fish
and also gets a large clam.  They chow down on the meat.  Tree-mail arrives
and announces the Immunity Challenge.  The tribes gather to Challenge Beach
where Jeff explains the event.  Tied under a floating pathway are four bags of
puzzle pieces.  Players will take turns swimming out to retrieve one bag at a
time.  Once all four are brought ashore, the puzzle is assembled, forming a
word search.  Once all the words are circled with chalk, the first team to spell
out a three-word-phrase with the interlocking letters wins.  Gregg and Coby
compete for Koror.  Lead is changed back and forth through the first phase of
retrieving the bags.  But Koror moves much faster at solving the puzzle and
then quickly circles all the words.  Stephenie tries to cheat by looking at
Koror's board, but Coby covers it up.  Koror wins when the spell out the
phrase, Victory At Sea.  Jeff tells Ulong as there are only two of them left, there
will be no vote at Tribal Council, but instead an individual immunity challenge.
The loser goes home tonight.

Koror returns to camp and celebrates that they are undefeated.  They have all
made The Jury.  Coby is especially happy, as he has never been part of a
winning team before.  Ulong, on the other hand, slinks back to their camp. 
Steph and BJ talk about how badly they suck.  She is very worried about the
coming Tribal Council, and about returning to camp alone.  Bobby Jon isn't
worried about either.  He hopes they never merge.  He can survive just fine on
his own.  BJ is tired of being on a team.

At Tribal Council, Jeff asks about how they feel being the last two?  It's like
a separate season itself.  Neither provide any great insights.  Both do agree
that fire is the single most important thing for surviving.  By odd coincidence,
that is the challenge, to start a fire and build it high enough to ignite a torch.
BJ gets his fire going first, but Steph is right behind.  She stokes her flame
more effectively and wins.  One last embrace and Bobby Jon tells her to go
all the way and win for Ulong.  She is concerned about being alone, Jeff says,
"We'll see what tomorrow brings."

SPOILERS:  Over at Camp Koror, Tom offends Coby, causing internal strife.
Meanwhile, at Ulong Beach, Stephenie struggles to survive alone.