Survivor: Punk-Rock Style

As our host Lexi is setting things up for the next challenge, our tribes are keeping themselves contained on their respective buses.

**Mike Shinoda's POV**

I'm wondering how Chaz is doing on his bus. I know how much of a drama queen he can be. Those poor boys have their work cut out for them!! I guess the people in my tribe are ok. I haven't really hung out with any of them before. Tony, David, Tom, and Travis seem to be the crazy ones here. This is most definitely gonna be interesting. Chuck, well, he seems kinda reserved. I have the distinct feeling that's gonna help us win. What a minute! What the hell are we playing for? I wasn't paying attention when they were telling us all this stuff. Let's what the others are up to?

I look over to Billie Joe. He seems to be staring out the window. Probably trying to find a way out of this. He looks deep in thought, so I'll leave him alone. I don't wanna piss him off! Paul seems to be staring longingly at the food box. I think I see a trail of drool blazing down his chin and pooling on the floor. **Mental note to self, keep an extra close watch on the food box** Chuck, Joel, and Tom are trying to arrange their beds. Really now! It's a fucking sleeping bag and pillow!!! How much "arranging" can you do with the things?? Silly boys. Um, Tony, Quinn, and David are currently engrossed in some sort of conversation. They get quiet when people walk by. Hm, could they be forming alliances? That may not be such a bad idea! What's Travis doing? Ha! He's taking a nap. Like he needs one! The 5 of us who participated in that challenge are the ones who could use the nap. Lazy bum.

"Hey man! Are you ok? You seem like you're in a daze or something. Care to talk?" Chuck asks as he sits down next to me.

"I'm fine. Just taking everything in, you know?" I reply, studying him closely

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You guys did an awesome job earlier. I don't think Billie Joe was quite ready when everyone started yanking on the rope." Chuck said, laughing slightly

"Yeah, at least he was our only casualty. They had 2!!" I reply, laughing with him.

"Hey, I'm gonna try to take a nap. You never know what the next challenge could be. Later." Chuck said as he got up off the ground

"Later." I quietly replied as I layed down on my own sleeping bag.

**No one's POV, several hours later**

The camera panned around Tribe Punkarocker one last time. Nothing much had changed from an hour ago. There was no fighting, no yelling, no blaming, no laughing either. Most were staring out the windows seemingly to be deep in thought or they were sleeping. **'Well, this is only the first day. Things will start to develope shortly' The cameraman thought to himself as he radioed the host.

Lexi watched half-heartedly as the lazy afternoon drug on. Tonight would be interesting. They were gonna have to learn how to cook with no heat. Or get fans to buy them dinner. This was great!! 'I wonder what lines they'll use?' She thought to herself. We're gonna have to get this on tape, the guys begging people for food. Well, I don't feel bad for them, it was written in black and white the terms of this game.

**Billy Martin's POV**

By the time we stopped, I was fucking starving. I thought we were gonna have to lock up the food box so Nick wouldn't just 'help himself'. My tribe seems to be getting along pretty well. We have apparently stopped at a truck stop and will either have to somehow cook the food we have or get someone to buy us dinner. This is gonna be fun. Not! I hate exploiting people like that. I guess I'll figure out how to cook something.

"Lil Billy! Aren't you coming? We're getting reports that there's this drunk guy who'll buy you anything you want if you ask him nicely!!" Benji exclaims, jumping up and down like he's won the effing lottery.

"Dude, we're using people! I can't do that. Besides, I don't think they have much vegetarian food here." I reply, looking down

"There's a Subway on the other side of the truck stop. I'm sure we can get the guy to buy you something from there. I know you can make a veggie meal there dude. Come on, I don't want you to starve." Benji said with a hint of finality to his voice.

There was no point in arguing with him. He always seemed to have a comeback. I obediantely followed him into the truck stop. Sure enough, my entire tribe was huddled around this guy listening to his stories and laughing at his stupid jokes. In return they politely asked if he could spare change for something to eat. He told them to order whatever they wanted for 'It's on me tonight boys!'. I feel so......low. My tummy is starting to grumble. Again. What do I do? Before I realize it, Benji has us standing in the "order here" line at Subway. I guess my decision's been made.


**No one's POV**

Some of the members of Tribe Punkarocker seemed to have struck some luck with a group girls. Joel, Tony, David, Mike, and Quinn were eating a hearty meal thanks to the young ladies. Billie Joe said he wasn't hungry and went back to the bus. Chuck, Paul, Travis, and Tom were asking a group of elderly church-goers if they might be able to spare some change for them to eat. When the elderly group didn't seem to want to give in, Chuck came to the rescue.

"Sir's, Ma'am's, we're very sorry to bother you. Especially while you're eating. It's just, we're supposed to be meeting the rest of our own church youth group in New Mexico for a youth trip. We thought we had enough money for gas and food, but as it turns out we don't. We don't want to call our youth pastor and give him bad news about not being able to make it. Anything you could spare would be greatly, greatly appreciated and most definitely not forgotten." Chuck said, looking each and every person in the eyes as he spoke.

"Young man, you are so polite. We wouldn't want you to miss your youth group activities. Here, take this money and buy a nice meal for yourselves. May God be with you." One elderly lady said as she handed Chuck an $20.

He gave her a hug and shook hands with all the gentleman as if to close a business deal. As the group of 4 walked over to Subway, they were all patting Chuck on the back for pulling through like that.

"Yeah, but I hate lying. Especially to elderly folks. More especially to honest, Church-goers. It just feels wrong. But greatly appreciated since now my stomach will quit making noises." Chuck replied as he looked over the menu.

Well, with everyone having gotten a nice dinner, they headed back to their respective buses. Lexi instructed them to wait outside the bus, since she had an announcement to make. With everyone comfortably full and happy, they stood outside joking, laughing, and making fun at their competition. Soon, Lexi came out of the truck stop smiling at the boys.

Lexi: "How was dinner? Everyone seemed to make out pretty well. I just want you all to know that the second challenge of the day will be held in one hour. You see that lake over there? We're gonna have a swimming contest. About half-way through there's a marker. You will swim out to the marker, swim around it and make your way back to the shore bank. All members will be participating in this challenge. The tribe who has the most members to swim out and back will win. You have a 1 hour time limit. Swim trunks have been placed in your buses along with towels. You have 1 hour to get ready. I'll see you in an hour gentlemen."

As the boys got ready, Lexi made sure everything had been set up properly. The markers were clearly marked and visible. Lights were on the shore bank so they could see the shore and their tribes cheering them on.

In the meantime, the contestants changed into their swim trunks. Most noticed that each one had a cd case with his name on it. After changing, they grabbed their towels and headed outside to wait Lexi. They all seemed to be having a good time, at least for now. The camera panned each and every face. They were laughing, joking, having a good time. Some were even giving the their competition a hard time about the previous challenge and the challenge that was looming ahead. Not one person noticed Lexi walk up.

Lexi: "Is everyone ready? Good, then let's go!" She said cheerily

They made the 10 minute walk to the lake. A sigh of relief could be heard from most of the guys who thought they would have to swim in complete darkness. Everyone sat their towels down and formed 2 single-file lines as Lexi went over the rules once more.

Lexi: "Remeber, you have 1 hour to swim out there, round the marker and get back to shore. The tribe with the most members who have completed that wins. If it's even after the hour mark, we'll go into tie-breaker. Everyone ready? Alright Mr. Lovato and Mr. Bennington, get ready! Get Set! Go!!"

(The Tribes' swimming order went like this: Tribe Punkarocker:Tony, Billie Joe, David, Joel, Quinn, Mike, Chuck, Paul, Tom, and Travis. Tribe Travelandplay: Chester, Matt, Benji, Billy, Pierre, Bert, Mark, Nick, Mike, and Tre.)

Chester and Tony took off, diving as far as they could into the icy water. Having just eaten over an hour ago and both having taken a nap earlier in the day, they were both fairly fast swimmers. Tony rounded the marker first, with Chester hot in his wake. Tony hit the shore about 15 seconds before Chester. Both were out of breath, but happy with their turns. As soon as they hit the shore, Billie Joe and Matt hit the water. Matt was a much stronger swimmer than Billie Joe. Billie Joe made it around the marker about 2 minutes behind Matt. As Matt made it to shore, Benji hit the water. David was a much, much better swimmer than Benji. Benji was heavier and hadn't swam in over 6 years. David, being smaller in size and weight swam on a regular basis. Even with Benji's massive head start, he rounded the maker first and then to shore. Joel quickly took his place. But being like his twin, he hadn't swam in over 6 years either. As he was rounding the marker, his swim trunks temporarily snagged on it. Billy took Benji's place and was just about to reach the point where Joel was when Joel got free of the mean marker. He swam, head-to-head with Billy. They made it to shore about the same time. Pierre and Quinn hit the water next. Pierre took a moment to let his body adjust to the water's temp.

"Pierre! What the fuck are you doing? Swim!!! Quinn's getting ahead of you! Swim!" Benji yelled, shivering.

With that, Pierre took off. He wasn't much of a swimmer, but had extraordinary upper body strength from all his work-out sessions. He quickly gained on Quinn. Before Quinn could react, Pierre passed him. Quinn kicked harder, trying to catch up. Pierre reached the shore about 20 seconds before Quinn. Mike hit the water about the same time as Bert. Mike, being the bigger between the two, naturally swam slower. Mike was still a fast swimmer, though. They rounded the marker about the same time. As they got closer to the shore, Bert found the energy to swim ahead of Mike. He made it to shore about 30 seconds before Mike. Mark started wading out into the shallow bit of water as Bert was still swimming up. When Bert made it, Mark took off. Chuck was a fast swimmer as well, with a decently toned upper body. Mark had a head start, but Chuck kept up as best as he could. Mark and Chuck would switch places during their swim. For a while Mark would be in the lead. For a while Chuck would be in the lead. Anything could happen. In the last few moments, Mark came out ahead and hit the shore first. Chuck quickly followed a few seconds later. Nick had waded out like Mark had. He took off as soon as Mark hit the shallow part of the lake.

Nick, being slightly bigger than Paul, who had taken Chuck's place, was the underdog between the two. He swam fast, but Paul was faster. He hadn't yet made it to the marker by the time Paul had. Paul was only a few seconds ahead. If Nick could only get a sudden burst of energy. He could hear the cheers of his tribe, doing their best from shore to help him along. Suddenly, he felt like he could fly and proceeded to catch up to Paul. The hit the shore at the exact same moment. Tom and Mike Dirnt took the next spots in the swimming contest. It was no contest who was going to win this round. Mike was much fast than Tom and made it to the marker fairly quickly. He seemd to slow down after making the marker, almost to let his opponent catch up to him. He floated for a moment to smirk at his tribal oppenent before taking off again. Tom came in about 3 minutes after Mike. With that much of a headstart, Tre didn't swim as fast as he could. He looked like he was taking a leisurely swim in his pool. Travis looked like he was exerting all his energy into catching up to his bandmate and opponent. But Tre had too much of a headstart and made it to shore without being out of breath.

When Travis made it to shore, his tribe congratulated him on his excellent swim and helped him wrap himself in his towel. Everyone was shivering as the lake water was quite cold and the night air had dropped several degrees since they stopped for dinner.

Lexi: "Well, that was most interesting! Tribe Travelandplay won that challenge. Congratulations to you. You're starting out on an even scale. You're free to head back to your buses for the night. Tomorrow will more or less be a free day for you all. We will still have to stop a few times, for water and such. But there will be no challenges tomorrow. Remember, all the challenges from here on out will either be for rewards or immunity from Tribal Council. Good night gentlemen."

The shivering tribes slowly made their way back to their own buses. Tribe Travelandplay being in a celebratory mood after their victory, stayed up, giving a play-by-play about each other's performance. Tribe Punkarocker remained quiet as they boarded their bus.

Lexi: "Well, we had our second challenge a short while ago. Tribe Travelandplay won their first victory. It was quite interesting as at several points, the swim could have gone either way. I think this boosted the moral of their tribe a great deal. Tomorrow is a free day for them. We have no challenges. However, for the members who want to, we will be having a scavenger hunt a park in the next city we stop at. They will be hunting for things like cans/boxes of food, oil lamps, more blankets, a small, charcoal based camping stove, cooking pots/skillets. Things they could really use. Until next time, this your host Lexi saying good night for 'Survivor: Punk-Rock Style'"