"See you later", Derek waved me off as he went back to his patrol. I nodded, heading back to mine.

Rumors had begun to spread around-something about a raccoon, a turtle, and a hippo attempting to destroy all of our hard work-which was why I was even out here. The boss was getting a little paranoid, so he tightened the security. To be honest, I didn't believe the rumors for a second. It had to just be the heat getting to everyone. I thought about our lemonade bar out here, briefly wondering when my break was.

I couldn't remember.

Anyways, after a few minutes of walking around in circles(stupid patrol), news spread around that the koala known as "The Guru" had been freed. I took the safety off of my gun. I had no clue about what this Guru person could do, but I was going to be prepared, nonetheless.

A few more minutes passed, and nothing eventful happened. I began to relax a bit. The other guys had probably just been trying to psych me out. I don't blame them. It was boring out here.

"-Oh! Derek! Hey Derek!", I shouted, noticing my friend. He was running very fast. Maybe a bit too fast, as he didn't seem to hear me. I watched him pass, merely shrugging at his odd behavior.

"Guess he was too busy...Doing...Whatever he was doing..."

I stood around a bit longer. Derek had not passed by again...

Hearing an odd noise, I shook the thought of my friend out of my head, and went to go check it out. It had come from the area with our "mini-drills". To my utter shock, one had been broken. Derek was lying near it.

"Hey!", I called out, "Sleeping on the job?"...He didn't respond.

"Hellooo?", I examined him, then had to swallow a few times to keep from puking. His head was cracked wide open. It was a bloody, disgusting mess, and I no longer wanted to even think about it, let alone look at it.

Crack!

"Who's there!?", I demanded, swinging my gun around as I looked behind me.

There was nothing except for a rock that I could have sworn was several feet away from me earlier.

"Oh ha ha...Very funny guys. You can come out of hiding now!"...Nothing. "C'mon guys! This isn't funny!" When I still didn't get even a sneeze, I sniffed the air.

There wasn't anyone near me.

"Get a grip, mate", I berated myself, "You're losing it!"

I turned around, intending to get back to my patrol, but a sudden pressure on my back and head made me stop. "Run", a small voice in my head commanded. It sounded...Calming, peaceful. Before I knew it, I was running as fast as I could. I wasn't real sure about where I was going, exactly, but I didn't entirely care.

My body started to go a little haywire, and I found myself shooting random things for no reason. It didn't make any sense why, and quickly attracted the attention of my comrades.

I shot them too.

Strangely, it didn't bother me in the slightest. The destroyed area, the spill of blood and guts...My mind did not seem to process this as alarming. It was fine. As long as that voice was with me, everything was fine.

Soon I was directed to a mini-drill. It took a minute for me to realize that if I didn't stop, I was going to run right into it. And that would not only hurt me, but it would probably kill me! The image of Derek's cracked head appeared of my mind. I knew I didn't want to end up like that.

Panicking, I tried to stop...Except...My legs were no longer listening. My heart began skipping beats as I neared the drill.

Sensing my fear, the voice spoke again. "Don't worry", it assured me, "This won't hurt at all." I felt calmer again. I stopped panicking, my brain giving trust back to the voice. It felt better than worrying about what might happen to me. I allowed my legs to run me head-first into the drill. And you know something? The voice didn't lie.

I didn't feel a thing.

-

"Good work, Guru! Only two more to go!"