I own it not.
X-Ray was the first to gain his senses. Ripping his eyes away from Squid who was writhing on the ground he started running, yelling wildly. "Mom! Mr. Sir! Mom!" He saw the water truck turn around and start heading back his way. X-Ray waved his arms wildly, still yelling at the top of his voice. He started gibbering as Mr. Pendanski got out, directing him towards Squid.
"There was this snake and Squid got bitten and it looks like there's going to be trouble..." he kept going, the normally composed X-Ray gone, taken by this scared, confused look-alike.
Mr. Pendanski's eyebrows came together and he frowned. "This is bad, boys. Stanley, Rex, get him into the car." He wiped his hand over his forehead, looking nervous.
"What's wrong?" Armpit asked tentatively. "I mean, it's only a rattlesnake. You can cur those. It's not like it was a lizard or nothing."
Mr. Pendanski's eyes flicked to Armpit. He sighed, looking at the truck that Squid was being loaded into. "Usually we treat the victim of snake bite here. They have to be administered the antidote within twelve hours or they die. We did that with Lewis."
"So what's the big deal?" X-Ray asked, coming back to them. "Just give him the stupid antidote and he'll be fine." The old X-Ray had returned. He was in charge again.
"And normally we would." Mr. Pendanski assured the boy. "But after Lewis got bitten we never got another case of antidote. We ordered one but it never got here."
An eruption of sound came from all around him and Mr. Pendanski held up his hands, shouting over the noise. "I'll call a hospital boys, but I don't know if we can get someone out here in time." He turned away, acutely aware of six boys' eyes on his back. "Keep digging." He reminded them over his shoulder.
"What do we do?" Magnet asked nervously, looking at X-Ray after the truck with Squid in it drove away.
X-Ray jumped into his hole and started digging feverishly. "Hurry up with your holes. Zero, help Caveman since you're almost done. The sooner we finish the sooner we get with Squid." He scooped the dirt out of his hole, thankful that the barrier kept the guys from seeing his tears.
What would happen if Squid dies? X-Ray asked himself. He let the thought linger for only a second before pushing it away. He's not going to. He told himself furiously. He can't. We're so close.
Above X-Ray, Armpit was about to jump into his own hole when he noticed Zigzag just sitting on the ground, muttering. He knelt down next to him, close enough to here the words repeated over and over. "Oh no...oh no...oh no...oh no..."
Armpit lifted Zigzag to his feet, muttering to him in a low, steady voice. "Listen man, I know it must be rough right now, but just another half-hour of digging and I bet you'll be done." He glanced at Zigzag's hole, noticing that it was quite deep. "Then we'll go see Squid."
Zigzag seemed to crumple under Armpit's words. "What if he dies Armpit?"
Armpit steered Zigzag to his hole, putting the shovel into his hands. "I swear to you that he won't die. We won't let him."
Armpit walked away, hearing the crunch of a shovel being thrust into the earth. He tried to smile as he passed Magnet but couldn't manage it. Tears were coming to his eyes. He wiped them away impatiently. You have no reason to cry. He chided himself. You're not the one dying.
He jumped into his hole and started lifting the dirt. He was going to finish this hole, then he was going to kill Squid for ripping them all apart.
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