A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! It made me finish this chapter quicker.

Chapter 4

There it was. Magnet sighed, relieved. ZigZag's heartbeat was steadily pulsing.

He lifted Zig from the half-dug hole and laid him on the level, dehydrated earth. The whirling sand was encrusted in Zig's unruly blonde waves, and brushed over his long lashes. Magnet was surprised to see a streak of white skin through the dirt on Zig's face. He realized it was a tear, but not one that ZigZag cried.

He dried his eyes quickly and glanced around him at the gaping D-Tent boys. Mr. Sir was staring at Zig, baffled.

"What in tarnation...?" he pointed at the blood that was streaming from the back of Zig's head. Magnet looked, horrified, to his hands that held Zig's neck. They were drenched in blood. X-Ray turned, determined, to Mr. Sir. "Get your medical supplies." To his dismay, Mr Sir. chuckled.

"Medical surplies? Ain't got no medical surplies! If it ain't bad enough for a hospital, it ain't gonna get treated. Now, wake him up and get back to work! This ain't no Girl Scout camp!" Mr. Sir bellowed. He turned to leave as he spat a sunflower seed shell at the ground.

A deep growl echoed from X-Ray's throat. "What kinda place is this?" He tore a shred of fabric from his bandana and knelt beside Magnet, who was absent-mindedly caressing ZigZag's forehead. X-Ray lifted Zig and propped one knee behind ZigZag's back. He then felt around for the wound on Zig's head. There wasn't one.

"What the---" X-Ray muttered. "There is no wound. It's like someone poured blood on Zig's neck. But no one did." He was truly baffled. It was his duty as D-Tent leader to always have the answer to every question.

Regardless of Mr. Sir's hollered commands from the water truck, X-Ray soaked up all the blood in the shred of fabric. He then nudged Magnet. "Watch out for him." Magnet nodded hurriedly, just as one of ZigZag's enormous blue eyes slowly opened, followed by the other. He blinked.

"What happened?" he managed to croak. He sat up on the sand and held his head in his hands, oblivious to the blood.

"Man, why didn't you tell me you were feeling bad? Why did you hide it?" Magnet inquired, hurt. "You fainted. What happened out there?"

"I-I don't know..." Zig stammered, "I couldn't see anything but black dots and it was sweltering! Even more hot than usual. I felt cold liquid flow down my neck. Then.... I don't know.... it's all a blur." He then felt the back of his neck, eyes wide as his fingers were stained red. The D-Tent boys watched in dread as his eyes slid out of focus. Suddenly, ZigZag pushed himself up from the ground and dove for the nearest hole, which was Squid's. His head hung limply over the edge as he vomited, his whole body convulsing.

Magnet grit his teeth and grabbed his shovel. "I'm digging his hole."

Caveman, thoroughly stunned by the quickly occuring events, said slowly, "The Warden'll get you in real trouble."

"I don't care." Magnet shot back. "You're all finished digging, get Ziggy back to the tent. Lie him down. Get him water. I'll be back once I'm done his hole." He tossed a shovel of dirt over his shoulder and didn't say another word.

Caveman shrugged and turned to Armpit and Squid. Armpit bent down to lift Zig, as Squid made sure Mr. Sir was distracted by X-Ray's request for more water. Mr. Sir was postively fuming, but had his back turned and eyes averted from the boys.

Armpit slung ZigZag's retching, half-conscious body gently over his shoulder and slowly edged away from the digging site until Squid gave him the signal to break into full-sprint, 'till he was sure Mr. Sir had disappeared behind the truck. Armpit dashed towards the tent, trying desperately to keep Zig's lolling head from bouncing painfully. Caveman and Squid were hot on Armpit's heels.

When they had reached D-Tent, Squid tore through the flap and beckoned Armpit to hurry. Mr. Sir may have seen them, but no one had stopped to check.

Inside the tent it was shaded and much cooler than outside. A tiny breeze fluttered through the tent flap and ruffled the occupant's hair refreshingly. The first breeze in a long time.

Armpit laid Zig carefully down on his mattress. ZigZag groaned and coughed weakly before it turned into retching again. Squid ordered Caveman to retrieve a bucket. "Don't want any of this on the floor," Squid said, grabbing the bucket from Caveman's hands. "Mom would be furious." he placed it under Zig's chin and held onto it for him as his hands were bleeding and blistered. ZigZag hurled the disgusting breakfast he had eaten into the bucket, and Squid turned his head and grimaced.

ZigZag chuckled lightly. "Did ya look in a mirror, Squid?"

Squid grinned, but tried to look menacing. "If you weren't sick I'd beat all those dumb jokes outta ya!"

ZigZag laughed, but was cut short when X-Ray entered the tent, looking crestfallen. "What's up, X?" Caveman asked from his mattress.

X-Ray shook his head sadly, "Magnet found something." he was bombarded with questions.

"What was it?"

"Did he show it to Mr. Sir?"

"Does he get the day off?"

X-Ray sighed. "It was some sort of... silver chain. Mom took him to the Warden."

Caveman looked puzzled. "A silver chain? Why would anyone care about that?"

X-Ray shrugged. "It was in Ziggy's hole. Had some sort of inscription on it. Dunno what it said."

Squid chimed in, "Why's that so bad? You looked kinda upset when you walked in."

"I just have a bad feeling about it."

The boys turned to the tent flap as Mr. Sir entered, face crimson and eyes filled with fury.