Authors note;;; hello! so this is my first td fic ever, and one of the only fics ive ever been able to create and share, so my usual standards apply, please no constructive criticism at all unless it's smth harmful/offensive that needs to be changed. im the kinda person who was rly good at writing in school but the education system pushed me waaay too hard and totally burnt me out, so every time i write smth now its a baby step towards making it a hobby i can enjoy and feel confident in again. Still, i absolutely love horror so i hope i can do this concept justice! Thank you for reading !
Trigger warnings: vague suicide and drug references
There was a tree, (there was a tree) In the middle of the woods, (in the middle of the woods) The prettiest tree, (the prettiest tree) That you ever did see, (that you ever did see), and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around!
The past hour and a half had been filled with the discordant noises of 13 teenagers crowded onto a bus, that occasionally broke out into song as most long bus rides tend to. Summer was approaching on its toes, the trees were vibrant and the warm breeze came like waves. It was hard for most to sit still, the mood was excited, almost impatient to be roaming outside and experiencing the environment.
A timid boy, with not much help from his meek voice, makes his way to the front of the bus. It's a miracle the driver could hear him over all the noise, but being observant was more or less what he considered to be his best skill.
"Uhm. . . Chef- Mr. Hatchet, sir. . . I have to. . . 'empty the tank'."
"We're almost there, Cody." he mutters.
"But I really -"
"Do you see a bathroom?"
With a defeated sigh, the young man carefully makes his way back to his seat, before a taunting voice heckles him, catching his attention.
"Is it an emergency?"
Following a moment of bewildered confusion, his eyes scan to where the voice came from. The speaker makes a silent gesture for Cody to look behind himself. Scanning again, he locks onto the object in question. The emergency exit door. It now appears the comment was a dare. He lets out an apprehensive laugh.
"N-no, I can't do that. . ."
The daring man shrugs and leans back, his neon green hair and the edgy skull on his t shirt now starkly visible, adding harshly to the peer-pressuring effect.
"Then brace yourself for a full bladder and another 20 minutes of potholes."
He would, but time seems to drag by much slower when you spend the morning before an important trip anxiety-chugging an entire Gatorade. Another 20 minutes sounds like a personal hell. In desperation, he decides to gather some confidence, albeit a horribly misguided amount, and trek towards the back of the bus. Despite the jokester's previously relaxed position, he can't help but watch the circumstances unfold with a look of surprise, and perhaps vague regret for saying anything.
As the songs begin to die down, they're suddenly replaced with a loud buzzing alarm, raucous laughter and groans of distaste. This sudden mood change catches the attention of the frustrated driver, who upon looking in the rear view mirror, notices that same timid boy at the back of the bus with the emergency door wide open. And his fly down. Not so timid anymore, it would seem.
"Boy, have you lost your mind ?!"
The bus screeches to a sudden halt, propelling him towards the middle rows of seats, all eyes on him and the small sliver of Fortnite boxers peeking through a zipper. Of course, the one who suggested the brilliant idea in the first place discreetly looks away from the situation he has caused, much like a guilty dog standing in front of a broken family heirloom. The increasingly irate Chef pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales.
"Allright. We're taking a 5 minute break. Everyone, either stay on the bus or go for a bathroom break. And you ,"
He points to the guilty dog in question, who points to himself for clarification.
"Are Cody's bathroom buddy."
"What? "
"Your bad influence, your responsibility."
"How do you know it was my-"
"I see everything on this bus."
After a dramatic eye roll, he gives in and picks the dazed teen off the floor.
As they exit through the front door (this time), Cody starts to run far past where the other stops. Instead of following, he cups his hands around his mouth and shouts.
"Where the fuck are you going?"
"I don't want you to hear!" He shouts back, not stopping.
"Oh. Right. You got me. I set up this whole thing so I could listen to you gently piss on the forest floor."
He's nearly out of sight now, having to yell at the top of his lungs.
"Don't Make It Weird! "
With a sigh, he lowers himself to the ground and settles in.
"Whatever."
Back inside the bus, a fixated young girl skims brochures quietly to herself. A few loose strands of auburn hair hang down as her eyes scan, word after word, paragraph after paragraph. She's read over it plenty of times already, but with a one track mind and a long time to wait, there isn't much else to exert her energy on.
A beach blonde in a sky blue hoodie to the seat directly in front of her turns around, giving her a polite smile, which is quickly returned.
"What's that?" The bookworm lights up.
"The brochures for Camp Campestris. They have a list of how to identify some of the most common mushroom species in the area, I'm trying to memorize them. Yknow, in case there's any mushroom hunting activities, then I'll have an advantage."
"Woah, you're thorough. . . Does that say 'over 50 different varieties'?"
At this point, a few other bored teens seem to be listening in for the sake of having something to do. She brandishes the papers out for all to see.
"Mhm, something about the environment just lets the mushrooms take over the forest floor. There isn't a lot of wildlife in this area, so I guess there's nothing around to eat them."
"Haha, not for longgg~" a boy in a puffball beanie grins. She's unable to contain a quiet scoff.
"Ezekiel, there aren't gonna be any hallucinogenic mushrooms growing on property purchased for a summer camp . If you eat them, you'll just get sick." She emphasizes.
"We'll see." He leans back, resting his head on his crossed arms, taking her final sigh of exasperation as a win.
Outside, Duncan is still sitting and waiting, kicking at rocks on the side of the dirt road, growing more impatient by the second.
"Codyyy, for the love of god , hurry up."
He receives no response, but the hum of the engine.
"Cody." He repeats, louder.
Begrudgingly, he forces himself up, brushing himself off and setting out on a rescue mission. He should have known, there's no telling where someone like Cody could end up unsupervised.
As he approaches the woods, he can't miss the small empty trail right at the edge of the treeline. It's the most immediately obvious landmark, which for a teenage boy usually means the most pee-able spot. Though when he arrives at the trail, he comes across a strange sight. Tiny white mushrooms growing on either side of it, fencing the walkway it in, almost like a big arrow. He smirks, and gives a hardly audible remark of awe.
"Cool . . ."
Letting his curiosity temporarily distract him, he follows the trail downhill. The mushrooms seem to get bigger, and less spaced out as he advances. They spiral through the woods in a distinct pattern, as if they're truly guiding the way, trying to let those who find it in on some secret. His feet are moving on auto pilot now with his eyes glued to the ground, all the way up to the gnarled roots of a small oak tree, an intricate ring of fungi growing around it like a bullseye. The line of mushrooms seemingly diverts and juts out in the front, almost forming an oval. There's something peaceful about coming across it, but more so ominous. Like calm before a storm.
A gentle gust of wind comes, blowing a dark circular shadow over the boys face. Catching his eye, he looks up to inspect it's origins.
Back at the bus, things are dying down as calm is replaced with restlessness, when in bursts the young man with more excitement than an 8 year old receiving his first Gameboy for Christmas.
"GUYS, I JUST FOUND A NOOSE!"
"What?! " The teenagers screech at once, much to the dismay of the driver. A line soon forms at the door as they funnel out to see the spectacle.
"NO, Everybody Stays On The- HEY! Duncan, I am this close." Chef growls out.
Ignoring the threat, Duncan quickly leads the group to his discovery. The trail is just as ethereal as before, and the tree stands with an outstretched branch, wrapped gently with a necklace of rope. The lanky one in the beanie speaks up again.
"Woah. . . you think somebody died here?"
DJ, the strongest of the group yet the most faint of heart makes an observation.
"Y-yeah, look, it's in the shape of a body . . ."
"Okay, no offense, but if somebody died I'm calling my mom." A girl with long black hair, who already looked annoyed to be on the trail, apathetically states. The studious brunette rolls her eyes at the group's collective imagination.
"Oh whatever. The only thing deadly about them is their species. They're Deathcaps."
"Pardon?" A nerdy redhead at the back of the crowd prompts.
"Deathcaps, they grow around tree roots like that all the time. It's not anything out of the ordinary. As long as you don't eat them, you're fine."
The troublemaker is quick to challenge her dismissal of his discovery.
"Well then genius, how do you explain the noose?"
She replies with a sarcastic shrug.
"A strategically placed prop for scary campfire stories?"
"20 minutes from the camp ?"
The adult finally cuts them off, bringing attention back to the situation at hand.
"Okay, everybody put a lid on it, Duncan, where is Cody."
"Uhhh, does that really matter right now? There's a NOOSE-"
"Yes, because now , we got a boy who peed out of an emergency exit door, running around by himself in woods with poisonous mushrooms."
It's in that moment that everyone takes on a surprisingly good impression of the grimace emoji, before beginning an enthusiastic search for the missing camper.
Meanwhile, said camper has found himself down a rabbit hole. Or rather, in the outskirts of the woods, a good long walk from camp, in an unknown direction. In his attempt to avoid open terrain, he had spotted a thin river in the distance, assuming it to be a good private spot to use as a bathroom. Unfortunately, the path back wasn't quite as memorable. He hadn't seen enough Animal Planet documentaries to know what to do next, but he had seen just enough to know that he wasn't gonna fare well if he stayed lost.
Just as things start to seem dire, in a jarring turn of events, he comes across another camper peering down over the river on the opposing side, as though she's transfixed her own reflection. He almost lets out a yell, but after firmly assessing that she hopefully was not looking when he peed into the river 50 feet away, he decides the best outcome is to put himself in her hands.
"Hey. . . can you help me?! Do you know how to get back to the-"
It's then when he realizes, he doesn't remember actually seeing her at any point on the bus ride. He doesn't remember her getting on, or getting off. Were there 13 campers? Or just 12?
She glances up, and he feels frozen in place. Something about her eyes has him in a trance, unable to form thoughts. Though to be fair, most girls do have that effect on him. And boys. And the generalized, basic daily tasks of modern life. Still, this is different. Calm before the storm now feels as though the storm is approaching.
"Cody!"
With a shout, the spell is seemingly broken. He's met with a very frustrated group of faces. And since luck is obviously not on his side today, when he turns back, the girl seems to have vanished.
"Seriously dude, you were in the woods for like 12 seconds. How did you manage to get lost?" A boy in a green handprint t-shirt chides.
"Uhh . . . I saw a girl"
". . . Liiike. . . A human girl?"
". . . Maybe?"
The look he's given is somewhere between dumbfoundedness and concern. A brazen girl approaches the lot, with fiery hair and sparkling green eyes, and gently sets a hand on his shoulder as if she's about to drop some truly profound advice.
"Don't get lost again, you'll probably definitely die next time." With that, she walks past.
After finally making their way back to the bus, the air shifts into something organized again, at least temporarily. The driver once again takes his seat, praying to himself it will be the final time until they reach their destination.
"All right everybody, Roll call. CODY."
He hides himself in his hands.
"Here. "
"Bridgette."
"Here!"
"Courtney."
"Present."
"Dawn."
"Here."
The voice that responds is oddly soft and saccharine, but when Cody turns to where it came from he almost leaps out of his seat. If a real life reaction could be bass boosted, his would be. It's the girl from the river. When did she get on?!
The man in the green shirt leans in.
"Hey, hate to burst your bubble casanova, but most girls don't love being stared at."
Realizing how strong his gaze was, his eyes rush to the floor. "R-right. . ."
"DJ."
"Here!"
"Duncan."
The reminder he gives for his presence is a quiet hand lift, barely enough to catch anyone's attention. Soon, the names start to fly by.
"Ezekiel."
"Gwen."
"Harold."
"Heather."
"Izzy."
"Trent."
"Noah."
"Not here." he says, without looking up.
With a cough, Chef mutters "Yeah, never heard that one before," He clears his throat one more time.
"Allright then, that's everybody. Strap in."
Harold taps at the plastic of the seat with indignation.
"This is a bus, there aren't any seat belts."
"Then pretend to strap in."
"Why do I need to-"
Before he can continue, the driver points towards him menacingly. Harold raises his arms in surrender.
"And for the love of god, keep all the doors and windows closed ."
And with that, things are finally back on track. The rumble of tires on gravel brings back the cacophony of voices trying to get to know each other as they advance towards where they'll be spending the rest of the summer. And what a long summer it would turn out to be.