The next morning, Brandon head out with the other D Tent boys, bagel in hand. "So'd ya' finish your hole?" Squid asked with a laugh. "Actually, yeah," Brandon replied. "Really?" asked X-Ray in surprised.
No one expected Brandon to have finished his hole. Rather, they thought he would have claimed it finished and come back early. Brandon felt quite proud of himself. All the other boys walked in front of him, hurrying to get to their dig site. Magnet patted Brandon on the back. "Good job, man!" he said. Brandon was about to thank him, but before he could Magnet smiled and said, "But the second hole's always worse than the first. He laughed and hurried along with the others, leaving Brandon behind in his gloom.
Despite the many blister and calluses he had, Brandon dug his hole as fast as he could. He had a good feeling inside: as if he was finally getting somewhere with the others, even after what Magnet had said that morning. While digging, he was chatting about this and that with the boys. He spoke about why he was there, as did they. They talked about hobbies and family. They really connected, though they still didn't think much of Brandon. These things do take time, though.
That night, Mom had the D Tent boys sit in a circle in old metal chairs in the rec. room. They sat around in the small circle and spoke of why they were at camp in the first place. Brandon took the opportunity to get to know everyone through what they had said. There were sad tales and delightfully funny ones. All the same, Mom always replied, "No, son, you are only here because of your own mistake." Not that anyone paid much attention. It was Mom's job to say things like that.
The boys headed out the door. They were heading in for the night when Armpit playingly shoved Brandon on the back. "You actually gonna get some sleep tonight, Bloodshot?"
Brandon could tell he was referring to his eyes, as he had hardly slept a wink since his arrival. "Yeah, how can you get through a single day here?" X-Ray asked, pulling his white T-shirt over his head. "Na, that's what he fainted," laughed Magnet. "Did those few minutes under suffice, Bloodshot?" asked Zigzag with a smile.
"Okay, okay," Brandon said, pretending to punch the others away with a laugh as they jokingly hit him over the head. "Enough of this 'bloodshot' stuff. I get it, I get it."
"Yo, whatchu talking about, Bloodshot?" Armpit asked, entering D Tent and flopping onto his cot. "Yeah, Bloodshot. Better get some good sleep tonight, or you'll pass out again," laughed Barfbag.
Brandon just turned and crawling into his cot and felt his back's pain as it adjusted to lying flat. He slipped off his boots with his feet. "Bloodshot, eh?" He thought so much about the nickname that he almost lived up to it by the next morning. He knew he'd have to get some sleep eventually. He rolled on his side and closed his eyes.
Brandon was under the hot sun, no one else around. It was about noon and he was busy digging his hole. He wiped his brow. He looked up to see the sun beating down. He closed his eyes, sighed, and fell directly backwards. As he did, he found himself surrounded by a great amount of dark, cold water, fish swimming all around him. He looked down to see his jumpsuit replaced by green swim trunks. He looked up and it seemed the surface of the water was a hundred feet above.
He had puffed cheeks and he clinched his throat, begging for air. Brandon suddenly looked forward to see Mr. Sir before him. He was standing, though, not swimming. Mr. Sir suddenly pulled a pistol from his belt and fired it. The bullet flew directly through the water—directly through Brandon, too. It went clean through his heart and out of his back. "You cannot hide it from me!" Mr. Sir shouted and turned away, disappearing into the water. Brandon suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," X-Ray's voice whispered.
Brandon shot up in his cot, looking up to see X-Ray at his side. "Yo, you okay, Bloodshot?" He was really awake now. "It was just bad dream or something," said X-Ray, pulling Brandon from his cot. "Get dressed, dude. We gotta go. I got your shovel."
