RS: Ack, I'm sorry this came so late! I forgot to update, as pathetic as that is. Anyway, I won't waste anymore of your time. Here are the shoutouts and the story.

crazycatluver: I know what you mean. Most of my writing's done when I'm half asleep.

Hannah: Thanks, I was worried people would complain she was OOC.

Manda9212: Thanks, n' don't worry the updates come fast. I update weekly.

da baddest chic: Bad chic: thanks, I was worried everyone would think she was OOC. Sexy chic: read and reviewed!

Chapter 5

The First Hole

Kat's POV

"This is where you'll be digging." Dr. Pendanski stated blandly, pointing to a space on the ground. I looked down to where he was pointing and nodded. Turning, the middle-aged man walked back to his truck and drove off back to camp.

I decided to take a look around before starting. There wasn't much to look at, just dirt and holes really. The boys had already begun to dig, so I sighing and decided to do the same. I pulled on the thick, standard issue gloves I'd been supplied with. Everyone looked up when they heard me move my shovel in order to watch me start my first hole, I suppose, though I don't know why that would be so interesting to watch.

At first I tried to just push the shovel into the ground. It barely even scratched the rocky surface, so I attempted lifting the shovel up high with both hands and driving it into the dirt. I managed to get the tip in, but that was hardly any help. I thought about placing the end of the shovel on the ground and jumping onto it, it was worth a shot. Hopefully the increased weight would force the primitive device further down.

Jumping high, I landed perfectly on the back of my shovel… and bounced off, falling flat on my ass. My shovel fell beside me, not having gotten any further into the ground than before. The laughter of D-Tent surrounded me as they pointed and mocked. I could feel myself blushing and looked down, tears pricking my eyes. I shook them away.

Whenever someone laughs at me, I start to cry and feel depressed. My friends back home would joke that I had an inferiority complex, so that's why I was a crybaby when I was younger. I supposed it was true, but that hardly made me feel any better. I willed myself to stay strong, never let them see you sweat… or, in my case, shed tears.

Another pair of dirty, brown boots invaded my line of vision causing me to raise my head slightly. I wondered who was there. The chuckling that once filled the air dissolved into silent wonder as a gloved hand was extended before me. Looking up, I noticed a quiet Zigzag standing there, arm outstretched, waiting for me to accept his help. I did. Placing my hand in his, he yanked me up and handed me my shovel.

"Usually there are cracks in the ground, look for one and start there." He advised simply. (1) I smiled back and nodded.

"Alright, thanks." I looked down and did a three-sixty, causing my smile to fade.

"Shoot…" I muttered under my breath. He must've heard my voice from where he was digging, not far away, 'cause he looked up at me questioningly.

"Um… Zigzag," I asked shyly, "what if there aren't any cracks to start from?" he walked back over and looked around at my space, brow furrowed. At this point, Magnet and Armpit had come over too. They all looked at each other nervously.

"There's never not been some kind of a crevice before." The largest, smelliest boy stated blankly.

"Yeah, chica, we're not sure what to do." The Latino smiled sheepishly and went to put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I turned away as if not to notice that he was about to move, so he couldn't touch me. I still wasn't ready for that.

I stood watching as the boys walked back to their holes, except for Zigzag and Magnet who went to ask Squid and X-Ray what they thought I should do. X-Ray didn't seem to care and just waved them off, but Squid looked thoughtful for a moment. The three conversed for about a minute, before cracking identical grins.

"Try softening the ground." advised the tall blond as he and Squid walked back to me. Magnet returned to his hole. I cocked my head confusedly, not having a clue what he meant. Leaning down, the brown-haired boy unscrewed my canteen and splashed part of the ground with it. He waited a few seconds before triumphantly plunging my shovel into the moist ground. (1)

"Thank you so much!" I grinned up at them, before turning to call out, "You too, guys!" All of D-Tent, sans Zero and X-Ray, blushed a bit and sent a slight wave in my direction. The thick spectacled boy who hadn't given me a second thought glared into the ground, though I'm not sure why.

"Better get to work, chica," Magnet advised, grinning, "the first holes the hardest." The boys howled with laughter at his comment while I smiled politely. Zigzag returned to his hole chuckling and we all went back to digging.

I tried not to focus on how hard the work was. I let my mind wander and daydreamed about random things, not really thinking about what I was doing. I figured that my work would be easier if I wasn't completely focused on it.

After a while, my arms began to feel heavy and I stopped for a rest. My hands felt like they were on fire from the shovel chaffing, my legs ached from standing; my back throbbed from being hunched over. I leaned back, earning a satisfying crack from my back, before clicking my knuckles and rolling my wrists for the same effect. I rolled my neck to release the tension while flexing my knees a bit. Sighing tiredly, I sat myself on the edge of my hole.

Glancing down at my watch, I notice it read 8:00. I thought for a moment. We woke up at 4:30 with twenty minutes to get breakfast, listen to Mr. Sir, etc. Then, it took about ten minutes to get to our digging site. So, me n' the boys had been goin' at it for three hours.

I looked down and estimated the size of my whole by comparing it to my shovel. I surmised that it was about three or three n' a half feet in diameter and 1 foot deep. That wasn't great considering how much further I had to go. The boys already had the length across finished and were just a bit deeper than myself.

I wanted more than anything to complain. To moan and scream and yell about how hard this was and how worn I felt would have made my day. But I didn't have the heart to. The boys had to dig a much larger hole everyday and they seemed fine. What right had I to start going on and on about something I got lucky at. I thought for a moment.

"Hey Magnet," I called out.

"Si, chica?" the Latino looked up, along with a couple of other boys.

"What time is lunch?"

"11:30 if you go by what they say, but it takes a few minutes to get lunch passed out to the tents before us."

"Okay… what time does the water truck come?" it didn't really matter when the truck came, I was only about half way through my gallon of water. (2) But, when it came, I could dump the rest into my hole and soften up the soil.

"8:30," this time Squid answered me, pausing his work to turn and lean on his shovel, "give or take a few minutes because of the other tents."

"Alright, thanks." I decided that was a long enough break and went back to digging.

Half an hour later, the water truck arrived. There was a specific order all the boys had to get their water in, though, so I waited until everyone else was in line to step behind Zero for some water. I'd already gulped down some of what I had left and poured the rest into my hole.

Narrator's POV

Filling Kat's canteen, Mr. Sir chuckled.

"So, how's your first day of diggin'?" he asked, smirking down at the young brunette in a condescending fashion. Her hands balled into angry fists, causing her to wince. She didn't have blisters, per say, but the palms of her hands were rubbed raw.

Smiling sweetly, she answered, "Challenging, but not all around unbearable." It wasn't a complete lie, digging was challenging and she could bare it enough to finish her hole. But, she wasn't sure how she was going to get through another day of it.

'How could Magnet have said that this hole's hardest?' Kat wondered fleetingly, 'At least today I was refreshed early in the morning, but tomorrow I'll already be sore before I even get breakfast.' Shrugging, she brushed it off. She'd bring it up with him later.

"Let's see how well yer doin'. Take of yer gloves n' let me see yer hands." Ordered the man gruffly. Pealing off her hands' coverings, she put out her arms, palms down, and grinned up at him. He growled at her lack of compliance.

"Other side ya little smartass!" she turned her hands over and he grinned maliciously at her. The skin was red and irritated looking, even worn away and bleeding in some places. Once he looked away, she brought her hands back to her sides, glaring.

"Thanks." Kat muttered bluntly, taking her now full canteen from his hands. She turned and walked back to her hole, returning straight to digging. She was determined not to finish too much later than the boys; she didn't want to look too much weaker than she already did.

Time seemed to drag and fly by, at the same time. Soon it was lunch, but it took forever for mealtime to arrive. Zero was almost completely finished with his hole, and the boys were about four feet down. Kat was only about two n' a half feet down, but had widened her hole to the proper amount.

Sighing, she sat on the edge of her hole with her lunch; shovel standing erect as a result of being imbedded in the ground. Opening the bag, she peered inside to find a sandwich, apple, and carton of orange juice, filling her with sarcastic joy. The sound of shuffling snapped her out of her reverie. Looking up, she was surprised to find that most of D-Tent had moved to eat lunch with her. Zero was too much of a… would 'introvert' be the right word? And X-Ray just didn't seem to like her.

"So," asked Magnet, taking a seat next to her, "how's your first day of Camp Green Lake so far?" Kat shrugged, taking a bite of her sandwich before grimacing slightly. She was disgusted to find it was honey and some sort of meat-like substance with an unappetizing dusting of sand. She swallowed quickly and continued eating. It was either the vomit-worthy sandwich or starving.

"Not as unimaginably unbearable as I originally expected." She answered honestly, earning some bewildered looks.

"… Wait, are you not complaining or has the sun scrambled my brain?" Squid inquired sarcastically. The female turned to him, smiling innocently.

"Both… but you may not have had any brains to start out with." Armpit, Magnet, and Zigzag began laughing, while in the background Zero cracked a small grin. X-Ray looked as though he wanted to be amused, but was keeping reservations.

They sat there for a few minutes just eating and talking. On the outside, Kat was smiling. But, on the inside, she was absolutely beaming. She felt as though the boys were really starting to accept her, even X-Ray had joined the conversation, though chose not to move any closer. (3) Zero was listening intently from his hole, but not taking part in their activities. Sure, there was still some slight tension between the boys and her, being that she was the only girl on the premises, but at least she wasn't feeling quite so alienated.

"You were wrong Magnet" she called out randomly. The boys stopped to look at her.

"About what?" he asked confusedly.

"You said that the first hole's the hardest, but, the way I see it, the third one will be." The boys all cracked grins, pleased that a newbie finally applied some logic and realized that the first hole wouldn't be the most torturous, but were still a bit confused.

"Why the third?" asked X-Ray, casually leaning on his shovel. She shrugged.

"Well," she explained, nonchalantly continuing to slowly dig, "on the second day I'll be sore from today, but on the third I'll be sore from today and tomorrow while still not having adjusted to the schedule here at Camp Green Lake. By the forth day, however, I should be starting to get into the swing of things, so that will make my workload just a bit easier. Therefore, the third hole is the hardest.

The boys looked thoughtful for a moment, as though considering her logic. It made sense, in a somewhat twisted way, and they could just barely remember the suffering they'd endured on their third day. Turning towards each other, they nodded understandingly.

"S'pose you're right." Nodded X-Ray. On that final note, everyone stood up and returned to their holes. The sooner D-Tent finished, the sooner they could head to the Wreck Room and relax.

End of Chapter

(1) Okay, how come they never try any of this? The whole movie they all talk about how tough digging is, but they never stop to wonder how to make it easier. Also, do the camp workers even check how big the hole is? God, what a bunch of morons.

(2) Am I the only one who noticed that their 'canteens' were empty, 1-gallon milk containers? Okay, I don't care how hard you're working, who the hell drinks that much water in less than half a day? And then, they're still thirsty for a refill… their bladders must be the size of Lake Michigan.

(3) In case you're confused: X-Ray never seems to immediately warm-up to the new campers. At first he was angry that Kat was getting special treatment because she was a girl. But, he figured out that the other boys weren't gonna follow his example and let her rough it out so he decided to be a little nicer to her, but not buddy up right away.

RS: Sorry again for the delay, please leave a review!