Camp Apocalypse: An Apocalyptic Thriller, page 11
Will suddenly felt his chest tighten up. He wanted to go home, but not like this. Something felt off. Something was wrong.
“Wyatt, you broke the rules; you’re going home.”
“What?!” His face filled with terror.
Will ignored it, sighing with relief; finally, some justice.
“As for the rest of you, don’t let this happen again, or you’ll be sent home without a refund. I’m sure your parents will be thrilled at that.”
“Okay, you got it,” Noah said as the others nodded.
She stood. “The rest of you can go. Wyatt, you stay here while I call your parents. Then, you can go get your things.”
Will and the others left her office, and Ellie closed the door behind them.
Will lingered behind as she closed the door, hearing the first few words Condie spoke to Wyatt.
“Will isn’t the one who took your note...”
The door latched shut.
“‘Note’?” Will wondered. Did she say ‘notebook’?
The others headed for the Mess Hall, and Maddie and Jamie rose from their seats in the lobby, joining him as he followed.
“What happened?” Maddie asked.
“You aren’t getting sent home, are you?” Jamie asked.
Will shook his head. “Wyatt is.”
Maddie smiled. “Good! He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Will nodded with a small smile.
“That’s a good thing, right?” Jamie asked.
Will looked at her with a shrug. “I don’t know. Something just seems weird.”
“Like what?” Maddie asked.
“I don’t know.” He began. “All that weird stuff with Jim, the mountain lion, something about Wyatt having a notebook or something. He really wanted that back.”
“Notebook?” Jamie questioned. “What for?”
Will shrugged.
As they walked, they passed Anabelle, Sofia, and Tanya, who barely looked at him.
Maddie cleared her throat uncomfortably.
“What’s going on with them?” Will wondered.
“They think you’re weird,” Jamie said.
“Jamie.” Maddie scolded.
“What? It’s true.” She replied.
“There’s a better way to say it,” Maddie said.
Will felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach.
“Sorry, Will,” Maddie said. “I know you liked Anabelle, but it’s their loss; they don’t get to know what a good friend you can be!”
“I guess someone who sees things isn’t the ideal boyfriend.”
Maddie put her arm around him. “You’ll always have me. Me and Jamie.”
Jamie smiled. “Yeah, we’re here for you, bro.”
He smirked. “Thanks, guys.”
At dinner, Will sat at the end of the table, away from the rest of the class. He felt awkward now like nobody liked him or wanted him around.
Of course, Maddie was always cool, and Jamie was his sister; she had to hang out with him. Vince and Noah were also kind enough to hang around.
The girls seemed to be keeping their distance from him, and Sam, Justin, and Ben had done that from the beginning of Camp. Even Ted seemed to be avoiding Will, probably because Will had broken the rules.
At least Wyatt was gone. That was his biggest consolation.
“All right, everybody!” Ellie said, standing on a chair. “I have an announcement. Tomorrow is the free day, which means no class.”
Everyone cheered.
“It also means you can do what you want. There’ll be counselors at the lake, so you can spend time there or use the zipline. You can use the grassy field for games, play in the arcade, go to the library, use the computers, anything!”
Will was grateful; he needed to rest after his fight with Wyatt.
“In the morning, you won’t come here for breakfast because breakfast will come to you! So, make sure you fill out a form on your way out.” She held one up. “They’re by the door. Fill it out and put it in the dropbox. They’ll bring it to you at eight o'clock to give you a chance to sleep in.”
Will looked over at Noah and Vince, who were already planning the meal even without the forms.
“And, this is the best part, in my opinion,” Ellie said. “When the sun goes down, we’ll be going into the woods and camping in groups. This’ll be the only night where you can stay out past dark!”
Everyone cheered.
Will felt his chest tighten. “Camping? Out there?”
“That’s awesome, man!” Noah said.
Maddie looked at Will. “I’m sure they’ll have ways to keep us safe. They wouldn’t do this if they didn’t feel like we’d be safe.”
Will nodded, breathing deeply. “I hope so.”
“And, of course,” Ellie concluded. “The following day will be a rest day to recover from all the fun.”
The cheer grew louder.
“Wanna ride in the canoes tomorrow?” Jamie asked Will.
He sighed. “Sure, Jamie.”
She smiled. “Awesome. I’ll come find you.”
After dinner, they put away their trays and headed for the door.
“What are we ordering?” Noah asked.
“Whatever you guys want,” Will said.
Their expressions had never been so giddy.
“All right!” Vince grabbed a form. “Let’s see...”
They finished up and headed out the door.
Will lay on his bed, looking up at Vince’s bunk, groaning softly at the pain in his back.
“This is nice.” Noah declared.
Will smirked. “What? No Wyatt?”
“Yeah,” Noah replied.
“Seriously.” Vince agreed. “I can get used to that.”
“No more snoring!” Noah said, relieved.
“No more nasty farts,” Ted added.
They burst into laughter.
“No kidding!” Vince agreed.
“I never got to ask.” Will looked up at Vince. “How did you get him off me? It didn’t even look like you struggled.”
“It’s a pretty basic takedown.” He shrugged. “Pretty amazing what people will do when you have control of their wrist.”
“Well, that sounds like something I need to learn!” Will replied.
Vince smiled.
“Thank you,” Will said. “I don’t think I could have taken much more.”
“I got your back, man.” He smirked. “Literally!”
“Will you guys shut up?” Sam called from the other side.
Will, Vince, Noah, and Ted laughed as they got ready for bed and were soon asleep, with Will on his stomach to avoid the bruises on his back.
Day 9: Saturday
A knock on the door brought Will from his light sleep. Time for breakfast. When Noah and Vince continued snoring, he stepped to the door, opening it to reveal two counselors with full arms.
“Breakfast is served.” One said.
Will stepped aside. “Come on in.”
All of Will’s cabin mates jumped from their bunks as the counselors placed their trays on the table by the window.
“Enjoy!” One said as they left them to their meal.
Nobody hesitated.
Will joined in, making sure he’d be able to claim his food before it was scarfed down by his ravenous roommates. Between seven boys, they had ordered enough food to feed a small village.
Will had ordered his usual: toast and some orange juice.
“Best day...” Noah said between mouthfuls. “Ever!”
Vince agreed wholeheartedly, refusing to swallow first.
Soon, the plates and bowls were empty, and they looked longingly at the trays, apparently wishing more would somehow appear.
“What are we going to do with our ‘free day’?” Will asked.
Vince and Noah looked at each other and shrugged.
“We should play soccer till it’s too hot,” Vince said.
Will grinned. “So I can kick your butt?”
Noah laughed. “Don’t you do archery?”
“Yeah,” Will admitted. “But, I can kick a ball.”
“There’s a bit more to it than that, mate!”
Will smirked.
“Then, we’ll play on the lake,” Vince said, continuing with the plan.
“How about the zipline?” Noah asked.
Will frowned. “Nah.”
Vince raised an eyebrow. “Why not? It looks awesome, and I still haven’t done it!”
“You guys can. I’ll just be at the lake.”
“Suit yourself!” Noah said.
“I’ll need to digest before we start playing,” Will said.
Will went to the bathroom to check his bruises from Wyatt. They looked terrible, darker, and wider, but they didn’t hurt quite as bad.
Soon, they headed up to the grass field to play around. It wasn’t long, though, before Will remembered his promise to Jamie.
“Hi, Will!” Jamie called across the field. “Ready to go canoeing?”
Will looked at the others, then back at her.
“Let me get ready.” He replied.
Jamie smiled. “I’ll be there!”
“Let’s all go to the lake now,” Vince suggested.
Noah and Ted nodded, and they all headed to the cabin to get ready.
Will looked at the shore while he and Jamie paddled aimlessly around the lake. Maddie, Winnie, Rachel, and Molly from their class sat on the dock, fishing. Anabelle and Sofia were nearby on towels, sunbathing.
Will groaned.
“Been having fun?” Jamie asked after a long while.
Will shrugged. “Oh, yeah! It’s been great. You?”
She smiled. “Yeah!”
“You’ve been making lots of friends.”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “Everyone’s pretty nice.”
“How’s your cabin?”
She shrugged. “It’s good, but yours is basically the same, huh.”
“Yeah.” He said. “Is there anything going on in there?”
“Like with Anabelle or Sofia?” She asked.
“No, I just mean like fight-wise, like we had Wyatt.”
“No, girls aren’t really like that, Will.” She replied. “Haven’t had anything like that.”
“At all?”
She shook her head.
Will looked up as Noah, then Vince sailed overhead on the zipline, splashing down into the middle of the lake.
He leaned forward, placing the paddle in his lap. “Have you heard anything...” He searched for the right word. “Weird happening at night?”
She looked at him a moment, then shook her head.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I am still freaked by that whole Jim thing, and then there’s the basement. What the heck is in there?”
“No idea,” Jamie said. “Well, I guess I saw Mrs. Condie and Ellie talking, holding clipboards, once on my way to the bathroom during class; they stopped what they were doing till I passed.”
“By the basement?” Will wondered.
“Yeah, probably just getting ready for the next day or something.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“You all right, Will?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know; I feel like the basement and Jim are connected. I’m seriously dying to know what’s down there.”
She laughed. “That’s why your birthday is so hard! Christmas too!”
“I like to know things.” He grinned.
She leaned back contentedly. “I’m so glad we got to come here.”
“I’m still not convinced, but it’s been fun.”
“I told you. You would probably have believed me if you read the information before we got here.”
“It was too much reading.”
“Yeah, well, mom and dad had to read it like eight times before they said I could go.”
“Why?”
“I guess they thought a camp called ‘Camp Apocalypse’ was a little weird.”
He shrugged. “Well, honestly, it has been.”
“Anyway,” She went on. “Once they realized it was a camp teaching us about emergency preparedness, they decided it was a good idea.”
He smiled, looking up from the boat toward the shore. However, his smile vanished when he saw Ellie, standing on the dock, watching... him?
He shook his head, turning back to Jamie. “Oh, that reminds me, did they sign the permission form for us to do paintball?”
She grinned. “Dad did.”
“Awesome! I can’t imagine how awful it would be to have to sit out two days of paintballing.”
“Well, you know how dad is. Plus, they didn’t like the alternative. Said we wouldn’t have fun.”
“What is the alternative?”
“I think it was watching videos or the battle through cameras, being headquarters or something.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Cameras?”
“Yeah, I don’t know.” She said. “Dad knew you’d love paintballing.”
Will smiled.
Soon, they paddled toward the dock.
“Hey, did you hear about those kids getting sick and sent home?”
Will shook his head.
“Weird, right?” Jamie shook her head. “Gosh, I hate when people are sick.”
“Well, they’re gone now, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Yeah, but imagine if something spread throughout camp. We’d all take it home and get our families sick and stuff. It’d spread like crazy!”
Will smirked. “So paranoid.”
She kicked him from across the canoe. “I’m just trying to stay safe.”
He smiled. “Of course.”
They pulled into shore and put the canoe away.
“Thanks for hanging out with me!” Jamie said, walking toward her cabin.
He smiled back at her. “Anytime!”
As he walked toward the dock where Vince and Noah had joined Maddie, he looked back. Ellie was talking to Jamie. He raised an eyebrow. Jamie looked back at him, confused, then accompanied Ellie up to the lodge.
Had they done something wrong? It seemed unlikely, but Jamie looked concerned, and that worried him. However, he didn’t want to get in trouble again, so he decided not to involve himself.
He swallowed hard, ignoring the guilt.
He joined his classmates fishing on the dock.
“Hey guys, how did you catch all this?” He looked inside a bucket packed with fish. “I can’t ever catch anything!”
Noah twisted around. “That, mate, is what success looks like.”
“Don't worry,” Molly said. “We're going to put them all back.”
“All right, my turn to catch something.” He picked up a pole and cast it as far as he could.
With Will’s luck, they didn’t catch anything for the rest of the afternoon.
Dinner that evening was the most extravagant yet.
Will was amazed as he looked at the spread, which didn’t fit on the usual buffet line. Instead, they had incredible entrees, salads, soups, sides, and desserts. It all tasted fantastic.
They ate and ate, continually going back for more food, which was endlessly supplied to them.
As Will began to reach his limit, Ellie walked past, heading toward the front of the Mess Hall.
Noah sighed dreamily.
“Noah likes Ellie. Noah likes Ellie.” Tanya chanted.
Noah eyed her oddly. “What are you doing?”
“Yeah, come on. This isn’t second grade.” Winnie said. “Why doesn’t everyone say right now who they have crushes on.”
Maddie looked at her as if she was crazy. “What is wrong with you?”
“What?” Winnie questioned. “We can be mature about this.”
“Well, then, who do you like?” Maddie asked.
Will, Vince, and Noah all leaned forward, suddenly interested.
Ted leaned back, looking away.
“Well, Vince is pretty cute,” Winnie said, nodding.
Vince glanced over at Maddie. “What can I say?”
Will chuckled.
“See?” Winnie said. “It’s not that weird.”
Maddie shrugged. “I’m not saying anything.”
“It’s not like we’re going to see each other ever again after this.” Winnie pointed out.
Will caught Maddie’s eye, but she quickly turned away.
“Oh...” Winnie said with an irrepressible grin.
Noah raised his hand.
“All right, Noah,” Vince said. “We all know who you’ve been crushin’ on.”
Noah shook his head. “No, you don’t!”
Tanya smirked. “Yeah, right! You like Ellie.”
He shook his head. “She’s like ten years older than me. I’m not that much of a freak.” He grinned. “But, you’re not wrong.”
Will laughed.
Tanya leaned forward. “Who does Vince like?”
Vince shrugged and smiled, taking a bite. “I don’t think I’m that mature yet.”
He glanced at Maddie while everybody laughed. Will rolled his eyes, and Maddie blushed, looking down.
“Quiet,” Noah said. “Ellie’s making her announcement.”
Everyone looked forward to see Ellie standing on a table.
“Listen up, everyone! We hope you had a great time today.” She said. “We’re almost halfway through camp! After today, our simulations are going to be a lot bigger than they have been. So, the fun is just beginning!”
Everyone cheered.
“Unfortunately,” She went on. “We do have a bit of a downer. The weather forecast is predicting a fairly intense cold front coming in about nine or ten days. It’ll bring a lot of thunderstorms with it, so if they’re too intense, it might mess up some plans for the final few days.”
Everyone groaned.
“But don’t worry! It is a ‘post-apocalyptic world’ we’ll be dealing with, so what’s a little rain?”
They cheered.
“Just wanted to let you all know!” She stepped down.
“All right,” Noah said, looking around. “Should we continue our conversation?”
Everyone laughed, and Will rolled his eyes with a grin.
After dinner, everyone met on the grass field where they had played the get-to-know-you games. The sun was going down, and everyone chatted excitedly, ready to get in their groups and set up their camps.
