Big City Greens: I Hate Camping Now
In the middle of a forest, Cricket Green stepped out of his mom's trailer which was hooked to his dad's pickup truck. It was their annual camping trip, which her always and eagerly looked forward to.
"Ah, smell that fresh air." He sighed in satisfaction.
"You said it, Cricket." Nancy agreed with him, setting up the firewood for the fire in a few hours.
"Thanks again for inviting me over, Cricket." Remy said as he exited the trailer with his video camera in hand.
"Hey, Cricket! What do you think of the shelter Andromeda and I built?" Tilly called
Cricket walked over to the shelter and he smiled.
"Impressive." He commented. "Though, it could use something else."
He then ran off and came back a few seconds later with an armful of mud before spreading it across the roof of the shelter.
"If it works for beaver's dams, it should work for this." Cricket said.
"Genius." Tilly praised.
"It's nice to get away from the government always sticking their noses in everything." Andromeda said.
"Indeed." Tilly agreed.
Just then, Bill ran out the trailer in a frenzy.
"Ma! Where's the rest of the food?! All that's in here are graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate!" He complained.
"Ha! Who said anything about bringing food?" Alice scoffed, brandishing a crossbow. "We're catching dinner tonight."
"Yay!" Tilly and Cricket cheered.
"You think you'll get a big one this time?" Nancy asked with a giggle.
"You'll see, missy!" Alice chuckled back. "Cricket, Tilly, Remmy, Andromeda, you're with me."
"Finally, some food that has less of a chance of being a GMO!" Andromeda exclaimed.
"I don't know if I should record this or not, but whatever." Remmy said.
And with that, the group set out into the forest. The hunt had begun.
"One's close." Alice remarked, running her finger across the hoof print and tasting it. "This way."
As the kids, followed her, something else stopped Cricket dead in his tracks. It sounded like what faint whispers. He wandered farther away from the group as he followed the sounds until he got to some large bushes. When he could hear the whispers, he wasn't able to make out what they were saying. In fact, is sounded like total gibberish. He peeked through the shrubbery and found a group of people in black and red robes kneeling in a circle. One of them was standing and was wearing a gold sash as they started to chant louder.
"What in tarnation?" Cricket quietly muttered to himself.
Suddenly, two members of the group brought in a bound and gagged woman. She let out muffled screams of terror as she was brought to the center of the circle. Cricket quickly dashed away and didn't look back. As he ran, he heard his grandmother call out.
"CRICKET! There are you, boy. I caught big one!" Alice said as she and the other kids dragged the buck's carcass behind them.
"I even caught it all on video." Remy said.
"Good catch, guys." Cricket complimented with a nervous gulp.
"Are you okay by any chance?" Tilly asked.
"Did you see Bigfoot? Or maybe extraterrestrials? Or maybe a government conspiracy in action?" Andromeda inquired.
"Who? Me? No." He chuckled. "Let's just get back to camp."
He then hastily lead them back to camp, hoping to forget what he just saw.
The sun had finally set and, after a hearty meal of deer and s'mores everyone has retired to their tents for the night and were after asleep. All except for Cricket. He laid wide awake in his sleeping bag in the tent he shared with his dad and Remy. The scene he witnessed haunted his thoughts as he physically trembled at the thought of what might happen next. But that to be put on hold because his bladder had other plans.
"Nature calls." He said to himself as he exited the tent.
Once he was far enough away and found a good bush, Cricket was able to relieve himself. Just as he finished, however, a twig snapped behind him. He jumped at the sound and pulled out his flashlight. Much to his relief, it wasn't so bad.
"Whew, just a little bitty bunny." He chuckled to himself.
But that humor was promptly cut short when a hooded figure emerged from the darkness and aimed a crossbow at him. Cricket screamed and ran for his life just as the arrow whizzed past his head. He didn't stop until he was back at the campsite, but even then, he didn't stop screaming. This caused everyone to wake up, much to their frustration.
"Cricket, what has gotten into you?" Nancy groaned, rubbing her eyes.
"Weird cult! Hooded guy! Peeing! We need to run!" Cricket blurted out between pants.
"I knew we told too many scary stories." Bill sighed.
"Dad, no offense, but... your scary stories are sorta lackluster." Tilly admitted, somewhat guilty.
"They're not that bad."
"It's a snooze fest, boy." Alice said. "I'm surprised it a baby's bedtime story."
"I'm gonna have to agree." Andromeda said.
"Hello?! Did you not hear what I just said?" Cricket said. "We need to pack up and git!"
As he started frantically packing all their stuff, Bill finally stopped him.
"Cricket, Calm down." Remy told his friend. "I heard jazz can help soothe the nerves."
Suddenly, an arrow flew in and pinned itself the trailer. A few seconds later, several hooded figures showed themselves as the group screamed in terror.
"Believe me now?!" Cricket snapped.
They wasted no time in climbing into the truck or trailer before they sped off into the night.
"Who were those guys?!" Bill panted.
"I don't know! I saw them in the woods performing what I could only assume to be a demonic ritual." Cricket explained.
"Well, whoever they are, I think we lost them." Tilly said.
Just then, they felt a crash. From the trailer, Remy looked out the window and saw a pitch black car.
"Good thing I gave Cricket walkie-talkies for his birthday." He said to himself as he pulled it out. "Cricket! We got company!"
"We figured." He replied.
Several seconds into the chase, two more cars and cult members on motorcycles joined the chase.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Nancy groaned.
Up front, Bill was driving as fast and carefully as he could. He struggled to keep control as the car rammed into the them again and again and again. Suddenly, a cult cyclist roared in front of them. This caught him off-guard as he crashed into them, wrecking the bike and possibly killing the member.
"What's their deal?!" Bill cried.
"Blood probably." Alice said.
"Never thought I'd have to do this again." Bill said. "Ma, take the wheel."
With that, the two switched seats.
"Cricket... give her to me." He said.
"You mean, Ol' Reliable?" Cricket gasped as Tilly stared in disbelief.
Bill nodded as his son reached under the seat and pulled out an antique shotgun. He handed it to his father who caressed it lovingly.
"Hello, old friend." He said.
"Hey! Less sentiment, more shooting!" Alice butted in.
"Right." He said.
Just then, a cyclist caught up to them and attempted to hop into the truck's bed.
"Leave us alone!" Bill roared as he fired the gun, blowing their head off.
Unfortunately, another one was able to get on and smashed through the window and attempted to grab the kids.
"Eat s'more, fiend!" The kids said as they jammed s'mores into his eyes.
"AAAH! SUGARY GOODNESS!" He cried before being gunned down.
"Remy, how are you guys holding up?" Cricket asked over the walkie-talkie.
"Not good!" He exclaimed as one cult member was able to pry the door open.
He tried to grab Tilly when Andromeda charged at him with a meat mallet before hopping onto his back and repeatedly beating him over the head with the mallet. The cultist managed to knock her off before Nancy came in and punched him across the face and kicked him out. Tilly hugged her in relief.
"Nice going, Andromeda." Nancy commented.
"I softened him up real good!" Andromeda replied.
Just then, the leader's car (the black one) caught up with the truck and started ramming it from the side. Alice responded by ramming back, nearly driving the car off the road. In the distance, they could see Big City. A bit more and they'd be home-free.
"Eat it!" Alice bragged.
Just then, another one of the cars (a green truck) caught up to them. The passenger window opened up and shot a crossbow bolt at the front tire causing it to lose control. The Greens and their freinds screamed as they swerved like crazy before they skidded to a stop with truck and trailer tipping over, further stranding. They were so close, yet so far.
"I think I broke something." Cricket groaned as he and the others climbed from the wreckage.
Just then, the cultist rode up to them as their engines sputtered to a stop. The leader then hopped out of his car and walked up the them.
"This isn't some cover-up, is it?" Andromeda sneered.
"Of sorts." The leader answered as he pulled out a switchblade. "And unfortunately, I don't intend to let word of our group out."
Bill tried to fire with shotgun, only to see it was out of shells. Too hurt to stand, the group prepared themselves for death. Suddenly, they heard the blaring and flashing of police sirens.
"FREEZE!" One of the officers demanded.
"Evening, Greens!" One of the officers greeted.
"Officer Keys?" The group said in confusion.
"Are we glad to see you." Cricket said.
"Funny thing is I was just driving around during my night shift and I just so happened to spot you. So I decided to call reinforcements." The cop chuckled.
"Less talking, more arresting!" Nancy barked.
"Right-o!"