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Episode 7: "This Can't Be Happening"

Previously On Survivor…

Leon returned to tribal council angry at Shelby turning on her tribe, and unsuccessfully tried to control his temper. The next morning, Shelby's laziness bothered John as the two got into an argument, but John was able to walk away from the incident without losing it. On Ivindo, Eve showed Eric the immunity idol, and offered him a plan: for her, Eric, and Jerry to go to the final six with Steve, Dennis, and Rachel, and for her to use the hidden idol. The only thing Eric has to do is convince Steve that Patty should go instead of Eve. At the challenge, the tribes discover that they will be attending a double tribal council, and that the winner of the challenge will not only go on a reward, but will choose someone from the losing tribe to go to Exile and skip tribal council. The Ivindo tribe wins the challenge, and Eric makes the decision to exile his former ally Leon, making Sherry the obvious target for Echira. Leon enjoyed his time on exile and discovers that somebody has already found the idol, while the Ivindo tribe enjoyed a feast with the indigenous Kota tribe. However, the Echira tribe is forced to go to tribal council first, where Sherry tries to convince John, Heather, and Rosie to vote out Shelby instead of her. She is successful, and Shelby is blindsided and voted out at tribal council. Ivindo prepares for tribal council next, where Eric convinces Rachel that he had a conversation with Steve where he told him that he planned on taking Rachel out to weaken the strong alliance of her and Dennis. When she confronts Steve about the idea of taking Patty out, he blows her off, angering her to the point of convincing Dennis to vote with her and vote out Patty. At tribal council, Steve's allies leave him in the dark and Patty was voted out. 11 are now left, who will go next?

Steve couldn't be less happy on return from tribal council. "Can I ask you guys what happened? Why was I left in the dark at this vote?" Rachel decided to field this one. "Steve, if you thought about some of the things you may have said behind my back and Dennis' back, maybe it will come to you." Steve was confused. "What does that even mean, Rachel?" Rachel started to quiz him, "Steve, did you or did you not tell Eric that you were planning on taking me out down to road to cut the alliance of Dennis and I so he would be less powerful?" Steve furrowed his eyebrow. "What? What does that even mean? This is all heresay anyway, Rachel, where's your proof?" he asked her. "Yes or no, Steve, did you or did you not say that? And keep in mind that there are people who can verify this, so be honest." Steve continued to beat around the bush, "Well, whatever I said was probably taken out of context, so…" Rachel continued to quiz him, "Yes or no, Steve?" Steve decided to give up and be honest. "Okay, yes, I said it. Happy now?" Rachel shrugged. "Not happy. But now I know. Now we all know." After this, there was an awkward silence. "Rachel made a poor judgment based on emotions", Steve said to the camera. "It doesn't mean that I can't trust her. I just have to fix things before they get out of hand. I mean, she was right, I did say something like that to Eric, but the fact that she didn't ask me about it before going to tribal shows that she wasn't thinking clearly." After her fight with Steve, Rachel went to bed. "Right now, I have to think about all my options", she said to the camera. "I don't trust Steve a hundred percent anymore. I don't. But sticking with him might be my best option. For now."

The next morning, Steve made a concerted effort to patch things up not only with Rachel, but Dennis, as well. He called Rachel and Dennis to take a walk with him, and while Dennis was up quickly, Rachel was apprehensive, but decided to, anyways. "Look", Steve said to his allies. "I think we all made mistakes. I really don't want to splinter us, because while it hurts that you guys kind of deserted me last night, I understand that you guys were acting on what somebody told you." Rachel and Dennis both nodded. "But honestly, you guys should have both gone to me and asked me directly. Because you two and I both know that we're playing a game, and I'll say things to Eric just to keep him on my side." Rachel nodded, "So you're saying that you were just saying that so he would go along with us?" Steve nodded. "Yes, Rachel, I know what I'm doing here, and I think right now, with Patty gone, we're at a severe handicap, and I think that it's crucial that we stick together from here on out. You have my absolute word on this, okay?" Dennis nodded and shook his hand. "Alright." They both paused, as a pensive Rachel wasn't sure whether to put her complete trust in him just yet, but she finally decided that it was not only in her best interest, but Steve's, so she shook his hand, and then gave him a hug. "I think that I kind of got what I needed to stay in this game longer, because Steve doesn't have a choice but to keep both me and Dennis around now", Rachel said. "Before he had Patty that he could replace with me, but now that she's gone, I can't be replaced in his eyes." Steve was relieved that he had his alliance back. "We're a team, and while they kind of went behind my back, I still feel like we need to stick together. I trust both of them completely now."

At Echira, Leon arrived at camp early the next morning, and was ecstatic to see his friend Sherry still in the game. He gave her a great big hug and lifted her off the ground. "You made it!" he said to her. "Yeah, I survived", she said back. "I couldn't have been happier when I rolled into camp", Leon told the camera. "I was so scared that it was going to be Sherry's time, but she's still in it, and I got my number one ally still in the game, so it's all good." But when Leon walked further into camp, he realized that not everyone was in good spirits. Rosie was sitting at the side of the shelter, continuing to throw up as she had been yesterday. Heather was holding a water jug for her, coercing her to drink. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night", Rosie informed the camera. "I was pretty much throwing up all night." The entire tribe was concerned for her, especially Heather who was close to being in $+%#%. "Rosie's been like a mom to me. And a couple years ago, I lost my real mom to breast cancer. So seeing Rosie like this-it's kind of like reliving it all again." John was worried, also, as Rosie's weakening health wasn't good for the tribe. "Rosie's an integral part of the group. She works hard around camp, she has a positive attitude, and she's in my main alliance. If we lose her, it could be disastrous", John said, and quickly added, "Of course her health comes first, and that's my number one concern, but I'm definitely worried about what might happen to us if she has to be evacuated."

Steve and Rachel took a walk to check their tree mail and found a slingshot inside. Both were excited, as Steve considers himself an excellent sharpshooter, and after her impressive showing at the last challenge, Rachel hopes that she can show her tribe even more of her skills. "This is going to be awesome", Steve told Rachel. "We don't have to deal with John and Leon's huge physical strength in this one. It's all about precision." Rachel nodded. "I'm an excellent sharpshooter. I've been one ever since I was a kid", Steve told the camera. "I can hunt with a regular rifle, shoot with a bow and arrow, even blow darts. But my specialty is slingshots, which is what we're doing today." Rachel was excited as well. "I'm pretty good at darts and stuff", she said casually. "I mean, slingshots are totally different, but I think they both involve precision, so I imagine I'll get one or two down." The two gave each other a high five for good luck and went back to their tribe to tell the news. Everyone was excited, especially Jerry. "I always threw slingshots when I was a kid, kind of as pranks. You know, use them to throw rocks into people's windows, or to hit a squirrel. So yeah, I'm probably the expert of the tribe." Everyone had their own opinion on how well they could do, but they all knew that this challenge was important. "We've won the last two challenges", Dennis said to the camera. "If we win this challenge, we can keep our momentum going."

The Ivindo and Echira tribes arrived at their next reward challenge. Jeff greeted them, and informed them of the latest new eliminations, Shelby and Patty. Eve was disappointed about her former ally going, but John and Heather shrugged off Patty's exit. Before he explained the challenge, Jeff noticed that Rosie had been carried into the challenge by John and Heather, and he asked what happened. "I've just been feeling under the weather", she told him. "I think I ate something bad or something." Jeff nodded, "Well, after the challenge we'll get someone to take a look at you, sound good?" Rosie nodded. "Okay, let's get to the challenge. It's very simple. There are 20 ceramic tiles on the board in front of you, 10 green and 10 blue. You will try to shoot down all 10 of your tribe's tiles with a slingshot. The first tribe to get all 10 down wins immunity, it's as simple as that. Sound good?" Everyone nodded, and Jeff then told tribes what they would be playing for: a chance to go to the beautiful Ivindo waterfalls on a helicopter, where they would be able to wash themselves off with soap. There would also be a small feast waiting for them. Everyone was excited, and then Jeff told the Ivindo tribe that because they have one extra member, they are sitting someone out. They decided on Eric, since he considered himself a terrible sharpshooter.

"Alright, the first two up are Steve for Ivindo and Heather for Echira. Survivors ready? Go!" Steve and Heather both made their shots, and while Steve completely missed the mark, Heather got a point as everyone cheered. Rachel was next for Ivindo, and Leon for Echira. Rachel made her mark, and shot square in the middle of a blue tile and knocked it down. Leon followed suit and knocked one over as well. "Echira leads 2 to 1!" Jerry was up next against Sherry. Jerry foolishly hit Echira's tile, and Sherry missed. "Jerry gives Echira a point, Echira now leads 3 to 1!" Jerry shook his head "I guess I aimed wrong." Eve shot back at him playfully, "Yeah I guess you did." She took her slingshot, and was up against long-time hunter John. Once again, Echira connected, but Eve did not, and Echira now lead 4 to 1. Dennis and Rosie were the final two up, and both took a long time aiming for their target, and while Rosie missed, Dennis connected and put another one on the board for Ivindo. The score was now 4 to 2, and it was back to Steve and Heather. Heather didn't take a lot of time setting her shot up, and it cost her when she missed, and self-proclaimed expert sharpshooter Steve once again missed. It was back down to Rachel and Leon, and both lined up their shots carefully, and once again, Rachel hit a blue tile square in the middle, and scored a third point for Ivindo. Leon hit a green square, but it only knocked the ceramic tile off one of it's hinges, so it didn't count. Jerry went up again against Sherry, and this time Sherry was able to hit a green square. Jerry was, too, as he, for the second time, hit the wrong square. "That's two points in one round for Echira, Echira now leads 6 to 3." Steve burrowed his head in his hair at the train wreck that was about to occur. John and Eve were up again, and while Eve missed, John was able to finish off the tile that Leon started, making it 7 for Echira. It was back to Dennis and Rosie, and both Rosie and Dennis missed their mark, making the score for the end of the round 7 to 3 for Echira.

The game went on, and Steve continued to miss, but Rachel surprisingly turned out to be the best of the group, as she scored another one for Ivindo. For Echira, neither Heather nor Leon got their mark, making the score 7 to 4. Jerry went up against Sherry, and Jerry decided not to even try this time, as he pointed his slingshot completely off course. Sherry was able to connect again, but it was for the other team, and Ivindo caught up a little more, 7 to 5. John hit a tile for Echira but once again, it only nicked a corner, so it wasn't enough. Dennis did the same thing for Ivindo, but Rachel slyly said as she went up, "I'll finish it off for you", and she did, once again hitting it square in the middle and narrowing their lead, 7 to 6. While Steve continued to fail, and Jerry basically gave up, Rachel began to dominate her tribe, as every time around, she hit a tile exactly in the middle, surprising herself every time. By the end of Round 4, Echira had slowed down as well, as only John was connecting for Echira, and the score was now 8 to 6. However, Rachel responded with another hit in the next round, making it 8 to 7. It became a battle between Big John and little Rachel at this point, as on Echira, Leon continued to have bad luck and only nick one side of the tile, and the weak Rosie's hands had begun to shake from exhaustion, that she had basically given up like Jerry. When it came back down to John's turn, he realized he needed to get this one to keep the edge. However, he only nicked it, and it wasn't a full connection, giving Rachel a chance to tie the score. She did, and the score was now 8 to 8. As the next round came, everyone continued to miss, as it was getting harder to find a target with so few tiles on the board, and when it got down to John's turn, he made the mistake of picking a green tile that was right next to a blue one, and instead knocked a blue one for Rachel. "The score is now 9 to 8 for Ivindo. Steve, if you get this, you win for Ivindo. Wanting to prove his worth to his tribe, he tried his best, but once again, missed, and after Heather missed again, it was Rachel's turn. "Rachel, if you get this one, you win for Ivindo." The confident Rachel stepped up to the plate and hit the final blue target for Ivindo as everyone cheered. "Ivindo! Wins reward!" Everyone was ecstatic, and Jerry and Dennis held up the small Rachel as Steve sulked, wanting to prove himself but failing miserably. "Ivindo, you are going to Ivindo Falls for a spa to get clean, and maybe a little food will find its way there, too." The Ivindo tribe cheered again for Rachel as they walked to their reward. Meanwhile, the medical team went to check out Rosie's condition.

The entire team huddled around Rosie as the doctors checked her out. "She seems to have a bacterial infection", the doctors told them. "Right now, it appears to be mild, but it could worsen over time. I'm going to give her twenty-four hours to see if this doesn't get out of her system." The Echira tribe nodded, and Rosie, while somewhat relieved that she wasn't being evacuated quite yet, was still worried. "If this gets worse, I could seriously be in trouble", Rosie admitted to the camera. "So I guess we'll see what happens."

Meanwhile, Ivindo arrived at their reward, where they were in awe at the huge waterfalls that were before their eyes. "I've never been in a place like this before, I've never even seen a waterfall", Steve told the camera. "So coming out here and seeing this was pretty amazing." However, some were more in awe of the various soaps, shampoos, and lotions that were laid before them, as well as a shower. "I just wanted to get clean", Jerry laughed. "Screw the waterfalls, I don't care about nature, I've been living in it for 17 days!" Jerry pushed himself in front of the line, and while Steve and Dennis planned on letting the girls go first, Jerry was too excited to pass the opportunity up. "Jerry's an idiot", Eve said. "But he's our idiot. He's not going to win the million dollars, so he might as well have a little fun while he's out here." While almost everyone was pumped up for either a nice, hot shower, or the beautiful scenery, Rachel was just happy she won the challenge. "I totally carried my tribe to victory on this one", she happily told the camera. "And it feels great. I love it." Everyone was impressed with Rachel, especially her boyfriend Dennis. "After seeing Rachel perform so well in that challenge, I was really proud of her", he told the camera. "It just affirms how valuable she is to the team, and it shows what a great competitor she is."

Echira arrived back at camp in a somewhat somber mood. "I hate losing", Leon said. "And we totally sucked this time. John almost carried us to the end, but in the end, it wasn't enough." With the loss of the challenge and Rosie's worsening condition, the tribe's morale was at an all-time low. "Nobody has anything really to be happy about", Sherry said. "If we lose immunity, there's a good chance Leon or I could be next. The only thing that could save us is if Rosie gets medivacced out of here tomorrow. And that's not something to look forward to."

Indeed, that night, Rosie still couldn't sleep, and in the middle of the night, she asked her friend Heather to take her to the bathroom. As Heather was walking her into the woods, Rosie admitted to her friend that it might be time for her to call it quits. "I really want to stay in here, you know, for my family", she told Heather, as she started to sob. "But I don't know if I can do it anymore." Heather hugged her friend. "It's okay", she comforted her. "Believe me, we all have these moments. Just see how you're feeling tomorrow, the doctor said to give it 24 hours, right?" Rosie nodded. "Yeah, that's right." "So maybe tonight's the worst of it, maybe you'll just get it out of your system." Rosie nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right." Heather then gave Rosie a hug, and walked her the rest of the way. "I don't want to sound selfish, but I honestly don't think I can lose Rosie", Heather said between sobs. "She's like my best friend out here. She reminds me so much of my Mom. And my mom didn't quit, and I don't want her to quit." But while Heather was hoping that Rosie would be strong enough to stay in the game, Rosie still wasn't so sure. "I'm going to wait a day", Rosie told the camera. "But right now, even if I get better, I'm just so exhausted from this game. I really think it might be time for me to just call it quits. But for now, for the sake of my team, I might try to keep it together until John and Heather don't need me anymore."

Early the next morning on Ivindo, Steve got up and started tending the fire. He had been worrying about Eric lately, ever since Rachel confronted him about the pecking order. He had told Rachel what he said to stir the pot and get Patty out, so could be really be trusted? When Eric got up, he sat next to Steve. "How's it going, man?" he asked him. Steve nodded. "Good, but I actually have some questions. You want to take a walk?" Eric reluctantly agreed, and the two went down to the water. "I need to get something clarified", Steve said. "Sure," Eric replied. "Why did you tell Rachel that I was planning to take her out before you and Jerry? I mean, to be honest, I feel a little betrayed." Eric knew Steve was going to ask this, and had his answer ready in advance. "Honestly, Steve, it's nothing personal against you", he said. "I just had some apprehensions about whether we could trust Patty or not, and honestly, I have Eve backed into a corner at this point, and I think we can trust her more." "So you made a judgment call without my okay?" Steve asked him sternly. "No, No, it's not that", Eric backpedaled. "The thing is, it probably wasn't handled correctly, but I knew you weren't going to go along with it." Steve shook his head. "I just feel that you made a call that was in your best interest, because everyone knows that Eve will take your side over ours." Eric disagreed. "Honestly, she doesn't like me or Jerry, I think she could easily flip on your side. It wasn't like I was thinking of ways to get the upper hand at the final six", he lied, "It was a trust issue. I think that as a team, we can trust Eve more than Patty." Steve nodded. "Okay, but I just need your assurance that you're still planning to stay true with our alliance, right? Final six?" Eric nodded, "Absolutely." Steve was relieved, but knew he needed to watch out for Eric from now on. "At this point, I still can't trust Eric. He's out for himself, and voting out Patty proved that. But right now, I'm going to have to trust him to get to the next level. But once I can figure out a way to get the upper hand, I will."

Rosie woke up on Day 18 feeling dizzy, so dizzy that when she stood up, she could barely walk. That's why she asked Heather to walk her once again to the bathroom. "I can barely walk now", she told the tribe, concerning everyone. It didn't take but a few feet away from camp when Rosie collapsed. At first, Heather thought it was just exhaustion, but when she saw Rosie's eyes roll to the back of her head, she realized it was serious. "Sherry! Come over here!" she yelled. Sherry ran to Rosie with a jug of water, trying to get her to regain consciousness, but she was starting to close her eyes. "She's really dehydrated", Sherry said. "And in addition to the bacterial infection, this isn't good." She forced water down Rosie's throat while John called for the medics. They came as soon as they could, checking Rosie's pulse and attempting to get her to regain consciousness. "She needs to go to a hospital right now", they informed the tribe. "Which probably means that she won't be able to return to the game. It's a combination of severe dehydration and the bacterial infection." Heather has now sobbing on John's shoulder as they carried Rosie out and into the boat, where it sailed off down the river. The final four Echira members were hugging each other, realizing that the game may have changed drastically with Rosie's removal.

Eve and Dennis went out to the tree mail box expecting an immunity challenge, but instead it was a note informing them that Rosie has been medically evacuated from the game. "Oh my god", Eve said. "Rosie's out." She looked stunned at Dennis, although he wasn't surprised. "Rosie looked terrible at the last reward challenge, so I wasn't shocked that they had to let her go. But still, it must be devastating to John and Heather, and the rest of Echira." When Eve and Dennis delivered the news to Ivindo, there were mixed emotions, some stunned, like Steve, the leader of the former Echira tribe. "Rosie's a great woman, strong and resilient. I would have never guessed she would be taken out so early. I had her on my radar as one of the people to watch the most." Rachel, was in $+%#%. "She was like the Mom to our tribe, and I was really looking forward to seeing her when we merged. It's really sad." While some were upset and some were stunned, Jerry stood out as the oddball, as he simply laughed it off and said, "So, no immunity or tribal tonight? Sweet!" He then gave a hearty laugh. "That's really inappropriate Jerry", Eve said. Jerry then got on the defensive. "Inappropriate? Come on, Eve, laughter's the best medicine!" Everyone shook their heads, Jerry being the only one who apparently thought Rosie's exit was something to celebrate about. "I mean, we got 6 on 'em, we should be happy. 1 in 6 chance of winning a million bucks, right?" Eve muttered, "Well, we'll see." This took Jerry aback, "What's that supposed to mean?" Before things got out of hand, Eric stopped both of them. "Guys, let's try to rise above this. Rosie's out, let's move on, alright?" Everyone nodded in agreement, but in his mind, Jerry wouldn't let it go. "Eve's a bitch", he told the camera bluntly. "I try to lighten the mood around her, and she has to bring everyone down again. She's such a freakin' downer. Mark my words, when it gets down to it, I'm going to make sure she never wins that top prize."

It was approaching dusk already on Day 18, and the Echira tribe bowed down their heads in prayer around the fire, with John leading. Rosie's exit has made the tribe stronger. "Right now, I think we're really cohesive", John said to the camera. "I think we all know that we have to really fight now to keep each other alive in this game, and Rosie getting voted out really put things in perspective for us." Sherry agreed. "I'm not really tied with anyone from the other tribe. I really think it's important that the four of us stick together. We all love each other, we're like family. That's something that we have that the Ivindo tribe doesn't." Heather, meanwhile, wasn't focused on the game, she was worried about her friend. "At this point I couldn't care less about the million dollars. I just want my friend to be okay", she said. As everyone else was wondering how Rosie was doing, Jeff came from out of the bushes. "Hey guys", he said as he took a seat in front of the fire. Everyone gathered around him as he explained the situation. As you all know, Rosie was taken out of the game this morning, and she will not be coming back. We took her to a local hospital, where she is currently being treated. I'm not going to lie, she was in pretty serious condition when she arrived at the hospital, but they stabilized her, and she's going to be okay." Everyone sighed in relief, and Jeff noticed that Heather was crying. "Heather, it looks like you're taking this pretty hard. How are you doing?" Heather said between sobs, "Yeah, it's like losing someone really close to you. She was definitely my closest friend out here." Jeff nodded sympathetically. "Well obviously, there is no challenge today, no tribal council. Rosie is effectively the 8^th person out of this game. I will see you guys tomorrow." Jeff then left the Echira tribe to themselves, all wondering what is in store next.

Next Time On Survivor:
The 4 remaining Echira members make a pact to stick together.
The tribes finally merge, and new strategies emerge as the Echira tribe tries to get the upper hand.
One tribe member makes a very risky decision at the immunity challenge. Will it end their game?

Hope you enjoyed it; be sure to leave comments!