Author's Note: Muah. I'm back to torture your favourite characters.
Yay. Lol. ^_^
What can I say about this chapter? Depressing, but they finally get official help from the 'authorities'. Sort of. Well, you'll see. More blood, more gore. Not for the weak of heart. More Stanley torture. More D Tent goodness.
I'll try to get another one up real soon. Ok? Ok.
Review at the end of the chapter! Or, what the hell. Review now, too. Just review, that's the main thing. ^_^
Keep spreading the Holes love, the Holes Posse. You know who you are. Or maybe you don't. I don't really know. Lol.
You know what? I met a guy named Ziggy in real life, and burst out laughing every time someone said his name. My mom thought I'd gone insane. He played on my brother's basketball team and it was fun to yell "Yeah Zig!". What? It was! ^___^
Oh, and the reasons for their nicknames, among other things, aren't correct according to Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake simply because at the time when I wrote the last chapter I had yet to read the Guide.
My lovely reviewers, you made me SOO happy. You don't know the epitome of happiness until you've received a good review. Each one I read about four times. You guys rock.
And now to answer my reviews:
Celestra: Hey! Yeah, Stanley is a LITTLE dizzy, to say the least. Heh, I'm so sad, I was dizzy the other day and tried to put it into words for the purposes of my tragic writing. It's so pathetic. Actually, yeah, I didn't have the Guide when I wrote it so just took a wild guess. I had no idea what I was going to say for why Squid got his nickname, so I got to that part and was like, oh crap, what I'm I going to say now? Lol. Aw! It's okay! Yay, good sploosh! ^__^
Burnin': Wowie. Lots and lots and lots of reviewses. Aw, Stanley I'm sorry! -_- Makes me feel all awful seeing you twitching on the ground like that. -_-; Hey, you told off all my imaginary friends! Mental Mole, random person...Okay, so random person wasn't really my friend. Just an annoying random person. O_o But I liked my mental mole...*sniff* I think you spell good, Zero! *huggles Zero* yay! Wiseness! And Burnin', you rock. You review, so you rock. ^_^ Maybe I should say you burn, what with you being a pyro with Ziggy and all. Just add water! *falls over laughing * Hehehe... *huggles Stanley* Sorry hun. And yeah, you should probably remember Zero that that stuff hurts you. Remember those evil stomachaches on the mountain? Those were from the Sploosh. That sure as hell is gunna smart. *shakes head * Poor, poor Stanley. Oh wait, it's me who doing it to him isn't it? Whoops. Sorrry, Stanley. -_- "Spell Duh". Man, that is AWESOME Zero! ^_^ Alright, The other readers are getting restless, see ya!
Eldalie Lavinia: I always have trouble typing your name! I'm glad I made you happy! Oh wait, now your sad. -_-. Have mood swing much? ^_~ lol. Uhm, I don't know if that will work. Did it? I don't really know. Lets just say yes, yes it did. ^_^ Thank you for reviewing! Inspector Gadget...lol, I used to watch that when I was little, hhehhheh. Really? You have it printed out? Eek, how much paper did it use? Ack, lol. Why were you lying on the kitchen floor? My advice is to go get some sleep, dear. You'd better go now, parents have that evil tendency to take away computer capabilities!
Sixstars: Yupp, if nothing else, I'm creative. Lol. Allright, thanks dude! ^_^
Drowchild: Yeah, I thought about that, but then figured that I was right all along. One of the major rules at Camp Greelake is, don't ask questions. So everybody ignored the blood. The only people who would ask would be the people in his tent, who already knew. Also, they probably though he got /very/ slammed in the tent door. (lol, I don't know if you've read the Guide or not, which means whether you get that) Thanks!
Squid: Thanks a bunch!
Obsessed Elijah Fan: Thank you! Poor Stanley is right. *shakes head sadly *
Wheeler Chick: Hey Aly! That girl had problems. Seriously. I SO envy you!! *sobs * I want the DVD so very badly, but it doesn't come out until September! *cries some more * I love the D Tent boys too! They rock! But you already know that. Lol. Hey, good idea! *pokes Stanley with Aly * Live! LIVE! Heheh. Poor Stanley! Ack! Erm, yeeeah. Don't worry, Stanley. Aly....will...uh.....save you. O_o heheh. The Sun is my favourite Maroon 5 song! It's great! Thank you for suggesting it to me! ^_^ Thanks for the review!
Ziggy the Paranoid Pyro: Well, I guess you could take a shower and that would get rid of the blood. I'm glad you like how I write about Ziggy, I love him. ^_^ Thanks!
Estelle Yavetil: Thank you!
Person: Thanks for the review!
Ziggy: I'm glad you liked how Ziggy got his name, lol. ^_^ Thanks.
Rattler: Aw, thanks! I know X-Ray told Stanley he got his name from Pig Latin, but thanks for the lesson anyway! ^_^ I just figured that since X- Ray said his vision wasn't that great and he didn't really have x-ray vision to Stanley, he didn't necessarily say it to the rest of the Tent. So when Stanley was talking to the whole table, he used the more common reason. Make sense? Heh, writingly challenged, I like that one. Thanks for the review!
Incubus4lotr11: Hiya! Aww, poor Pitty! Yeah, I felt bad for him. Did I review and tell you how awesome it was that he met Jose? I hope I did, I meant to. It was great! I loved it! Thank you!
Juice: I think he'll just have to be bandana-less, the poor soul. ^_~ Thanks!
Vi: Okay, I have to tell you that your review meant so much to me! I couldn't believe it that someone liked my story that much. Again, like I told Eldalie, it must have used a lot of paper! Eek! Lol. Erm, okay. I don't speak Spanish, I speak only a little French because I'm Canadian. So I tried to find the closest thing to 'I'm sorry' and 'Siento lo que hice' is the closest I could find and it means 'I feel for what I did'. Basically, Magnet was just saying he was sorry. Eep, I hope I didn't confuse to many people! Yes, Ziggy has goodness! ^_^ Lol, that's okay. I worry about fictional characters too! I wouldn't want your fanfic world to come crashing down on you! A quote I like is "All the good males are either involved, gay or fictional characters." Lol. Don't worry; we all like the fictional guys! Thanks!
And now on to the fic, enjoy!
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Two brown boots stepped out of the truck, crunching down onto the hard lake bottom. A small cloud of dust and dirt formed a small aura around the shoes, blown up by a non-existant wind.
"Hey Mom." X-Ray said to Mr. Pendanski as he stood at the front of the line for water.
"Hello, Rex." Mr. Pendanski replied brightly, and then turned his head from left to right as he frowned. "Where are Zero and Stanley?"
X-Ray glanced behind him, and then turned back to Pendanski. He shrugged.
"They'll come when they want to." X-Ray said vaguely.
Pendanski nodded, and filled X-Ray's canteen.
Stanley was weak with relief. Although, as he told himself rather comically, he was weak anyway. Heck, he was weak even before he got gutted with a shovel. Before he came to Camp Greenlake, even. He had always been pretty pathetic.
"Stanley. Come on, the water truck's here." Zero urged. He grabbed Stanley's arm and tugged upwards, trying to pull him to his feet.
"Yeah. I'm coming." Stanley murmured. The world was spinning and a sharp, throbbing pain was coming from his abdomen. His wound hurt now more then it did after he first got it, which as far as Stanley was concerned, wasn't good. He knew he must be bleeding to death because he had the evidence all over him.
Somehow, with Zero's help, Stanley managed to get on his feet. But when he was up, his knees almost buckled. Arms caught him from behind. The Hispanic skin tone gave his rescuer away.
"You okay now?" Magnet asked, supporting Stanley with his arm.
"Yeah," Stanley said breathlessly. "Thanks, man."
"Don't mention it," Magnet said with a sideways grin. He helped Stanley over to his place in line.
"You'll be alright if I let you go, si?" He asked, glancing back at his hole. Stanley nodded, and Magnet gave him a pat on the back as he left and went back to his hole.
Stanley ignored the slowly turning world, and concentrating on the water truck in front of him, tried to bring Mr. Pendanski into focus. Also not throwing up on Pendanski would be good, too.
"Hurry up, Stanley. Hand me your canteen."
Stanley couldn't figure out why Pendanski sounded so annoyed. Then he remembered the order of the line up for the water truck. X-Ray, Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, him and then Zero. Magnet was just one in front of Stanley. Pendanski must have been waiting for him to get over here from his hole. So that's why he was so annoyed.
"How's the hole coming?" Pendanski asked as he filled Stanley's canteen.
Stanley shrugged one shoulder and tried to see through the blurry haze that was his vision. Mr. Pendanski suddenly shoved the canteen into the unsuspecting Stanley's arms, and Stanley choked as it jolted his abdomen.
He willed his body to stay upright, for the pain that was ravaging his body to go away. For his mind to stop feeling like it was full of cobwebs, and the sick, weak feeling to leave his limbs.
He stumbled forwards, forcing his broken and beaten body back to his hole. Or where his hole was supposed to be, anyway. Arriving at the stop, his body collapsed into the dirt. He clutched his knees to his chest and rocked back in forth in agony.
"Ahh." He groaned. "Ah."
His head pounded from the sun. Overall he felt like crap, and that was putting it mildly.
The sounds of a shovel being shoved into the hard earth right in front of him made him raise his head. Squid was digging Stanley's hole.
"Don't do that," Stanley said quickly, his shock briefly cutting through his pain. Squid stopped digging.
"What, you gunna dig your own hole, Caveman? Hate to break it to you, but you can't even stand up."
"But you have to dig your own hole." Stanley objected weakly.
"I know." Squid said as he continued digging. "each of the guys are going to dig a foot, except for Zero. Zero dug your hole yesterday."
Stanley watched, guilty, as first Squid, then Magnet, Zigzag, Armpit and X-Ray dug a foot of his hole. After Zero spat in his hole, he came and sat beside Stanley. First he said nothing, then turned to Stanley.
"X-Ray is digging the most."
"What?" Stanley asked, his arm wrapped around his stomach.
"The hole. Squid dug a foot down and across, but had to dig a little more to get the dirt out. Same with Magnet, but he had even more extra dirt. X-Ray is digging the most."
Stanley stared at him, then started to laugh. Suddenly, his laugh turned to a cry of pain and both his arms clutched his stomach. His face turned even more pale, and he lay his head down on his knees as he shook in pain. An agonized groan escaped his lips.
"Mom!" X-Ray yelled, who had been digging the final foot of Stanley's hole. The other boys were all just finishing up. D Tent crowded around Stanley.
"It's okay Caveman, Mom was coming with water anyway. We're going to get him to do something." Zigzag said quietly to Stanley, glancing up at X- Ray who nodded.
Zero grabbed one of Stanley's rust coloured and shaking hands.
"Spell brown." He whispered to Stanley. "Spell brown."
"B-b...r....o...-Ahh!" He cried. Stanley continued to spell out the word through his pain. "W-w...n!" He finished quickly as his eyes screwed shut against another wave of pain.
"Ahh!"
"Mom, you gotta do something. Take him to the Warden." X-Ray said urgently to Pendanski. Pendanski scratched his head.
"I don't know, Rex..."
"I do!" X-Ray insisted. "She wants us to be able to dig holes, not dead!"
"Alright. Get him in the car." Pendanski sighed, as if this was a major favour he was doing.
"Pit, pick him up!" X-Ray said, coming back to the group of boys. Armpit looked up at him, and then nodded.
"Sorry, Caveman." Armpit muttered as he reached down and picked up Stanley. Stanley yelled out in pain, and grabbed onto a fistful of Armpit's orange jumpsuit.
Zero watched the truck drive away trailing a cloud of dust and dirt. He put the shovel up on the back of his neck, and followed the water truck back to camp.
"Think Caveman'll live?" Magnet asked, leaning on his shovel. "That kid gotta be okay."
X-Ray stared after the cloud of dirt in the distance. "Depends on what the 'authorities' do."
"Well, that's a comforting thought. Nothing like having the life of your friend in the hands of a couple of fuckin' bastards." Squid muttered, spitting into his dirt pile.
"What are they playing at, anyway? It was Mr. Sir who hurt him in the first place." Zigzag said angrily as he dug.
Armpit stared at the blood covering the front of his orange jumpsuit. "They'd better do something soon.
****************
"MRS. WALKER!"
The door to the Warden's cabin swung open with a soft screech and a tall woman pulled a cowboy hat low over her eyes. She took a few steps out onto the porch and let the door swing shut, a long loose braid of red hair coming to rest on her right shoulder.
"What the hell you going on about?" She said roughly to the small councillor in front of her.
"Uh, Stanley Yelnats -Caveman- is bleeding to death." Pendanski stuttered.
Fires burned in the depths of the Warden's eyes behind her dark glasses. She took a few steps down the porch steps, her tall brown boots making hollow sounds on the old wood.
"Excuse me?" She asked, raising a perfectly manicured hand and lowering her glasses.
"Er...Stanley Yelnats, Ma'am." Pendanski murmured, taking a step backwards. "He's...dying."
"Well, you'll just have to do something about that, won't you?" The Warden said calmly, staring at the councillor.
"Me?...yes-....but-"
"Excuse me?"
"I mean, yes Ma'am." He said quickly.
"I thought you did." She said; she took another steps towards him. "How did it happen?"
"The boy's wound?" Pendanski stammered, "Fighting, I expect."
"He's bleeding to death, from a fight." The Warden repeated, staring down at Pendaski.
"Well, they were on the lake, they had shovels I expect."
"Excuse me?"
"They had shovels Ma'am. They were digging, Stanley turned up there yesterday morning."
"Why did he turn up?" She asked quietly. "Where was he?"
"Turned up with blood all down his front- I mean-"
The Warden raised her eyebrows, and took a step closer, running a red- painted fingernail down the side of Mr. Pendanski's cheek.
"Fighting, was he. And yet he turned up bloody." She whispered.
"I...er..."
"Excuse me?"
"Fine-he-was-hit-by-Sir-who-was-drunk-with-a-shovel-two-days-ago- supposedly-for-using-a-short-shovel-but-really-he-just-covered-up-for-one- of-the-other-boys-" Pendanski suddenly said very quickly in one breath.
"EXCUSE ME?!?"
Mr. Pendanski clamped his hand over his mouth, his eyes opening wide in shock. He stumbled a few steps back, almost loosing his footing and falling.
"I...I..."
The Warden turned and yelled into the camp at the top of her lungs. "SIR!"
Mr. Sir stumbled out of his office, the door swinging noisily shut behind him as he fumbled to keep his cowboy hat on in his attempt to walk quickly across the camp without looking scared.
One of the boys in an orange jumpsuit laughed at Mr. Sir, and he yelled something at them containing some creative swearing and the term 'girl scouts'.
Mr. Sir reached the Warden's cabin, where she was standing impatiently; red nails tapping on her hip. He nervously glanced around before waiting for her to talk.
"Come with me." She said sweetly, walking purposefully towards Mr. Sir's cabin.
Pendanski and Sir looked at each other before following quickly after her. She entered Mr. Sir's office, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He paused outside the door, and she turned around with raised eyebrows.
"Come with me." She repeated in that false sweet voice.
Mr. Sir tugged at his collar, and followed Pendanski into his cabin.
The Warden gazed around Mr. Sir's office, and walked over to the wall across from his desk. There was a large rust-coloured stain running down the wall and onto the floor. She looked over her shoulder, at a red handprint on the door. Again with the threatening calm, she walked over to the small fridge and pulled it open.
Over a dozen bottles of beer sat on the chilled levels of the refrigerator.
Mr. Sir was pale and shaking, sweat running down the side of his face. He wiped his arm across his forehead, staring at the Warden with fear plain in his eyes.
"Come here." She motioned foreword with a painted nail glinting a warning in the light from the windows. An eerie smile graced her features, but anger was bubbling beneath the surface threatening to break through.
Mr. Sir took a few steps foreword as Mr. Pendanski gulped. As quick and effortless as a rattlesnake, the Warden had the front of Mr. Sir's shirt in her hand. With the finger of her other hand she ran the dark red nail down the side of his face. His cowboy hat fell to the floor.
Suddenly, she shoved him towards the door, but never let go of her grip on the front of his shirt. She pushed him out the door, and into the sunlight. The Warden forced Mr. Sir's hatless head towards the sign.
The sign read 'You Are Entering Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility. It is a Violation of the Texas Penal Code to Bring Guns, Explosives, Weapons, Drugs, or Alcohol onto the Premises.'
"Can you read?" The Warden asked calmly, keeping a firm grip on the front of his shirt but studying the nails of her right hand with mild interest.
"Yes, Ma'am." Mr. Sir grunted.
"Then shut the hell up." The Warden sliced her nail into the flesh of his neck, making a small cut. Mr. Sir screamed.
"I thought I told you to be quiet."
"Euhh.."
"I thought so. Pendanski." The Warden said, letting go of Mr. Sir as he fell to the ground clutching his neck.
"Yes Ma'am?" Mr. Pendanski said nervously.
"Don't let the kid die. Do whatever you have to do, but DO NOT LET HIM DIE." The Warden said, putting her dark glasses back on. "He has family, there'll be an investigation if he dies."
"Yes...Ma'am." Mr. Pendanski said as the Warden slammed her door shut behind her, leaving him with a crowd of boys in the middle of camp. "Move along, nothing to see here!" He said brightly, as he gave Mr. Sir a nudge with his foot to see if he was still conscious. Mumbled curses met his ears telling him that the councillor was still alive.
"Bitch." He grunted.
Pendanski nodded, and scratched his head. He would have to do research on the internet and see what he could do about gaping wounds and blood loss. He might have to do suturing.
"Damn." Pendanski muttered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note: Ahem. Yeah. Review? Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?
May the shovel be with you.
Your writingful authoress,
~Man
What can I say about this chapter? Depressing, but they finally get official help from the 'authorities'. Sort of. Well, you'll see. More blood, more gore. Not for the weak of heart. More Stanley torture. More D Tent goodness.
I'll try to get another one up real soon. Ok? Ok.
Review at the end of the chapter! Or, what the hell. Review now, too. Just review, that's the main thing. ^_^
Keep spreading the Holes love, the Holes Posse. You know who you are. Or maybe you don't. I don't really know. Lol.
You know what? I met a guy named Ziggy in real life, and burst out laughing every time someone said his name. My mom thought I'd gone insane. He played on my brother's basketball team and it was fun to yell "Yeah Zig!". What? It was! ^___^
Oh, and the reasons for their nicknames, among other things, aren't correct according to Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake simply because at the time when I wrote the last chapter I had yet to read the Guide.
My lovely reviewers, you made me SOO happy. You don't know the epitome of happiness until you've received a good review. Each one I read about four times. You guys rock.
And now to answer my reviews:
Celestra: Hey! Yeah, Stanley is a LITTLE dizzy, to say the least. Heh, I'm so sad, I was dizzy the other day and tried to put it into words for the purposes of my tragic writing. It's so pathetic. Actually, yeah, I didn't have the Guide when I wrote it so just took a wild guess. I had no idea what I was going to say for why Squid got his nickname, so I got to that part and was like, oh crap, what I'm I going to say now? Lol. Aw! It's okay! Yay, good sploosh! ^__^
Burnin': Wowie. Lots and lots and lots of reviewses. Aw, Stanley I'm sorry! -_- Makes me feel all awful seeing you twitching on the ground like that. -_-; Hey, you told off all my imaginary friends! Mental Mole, random person...Okay, so random person wasn't really my friend. Just an annoying random person. O_o But I liked my mental mole...*sniff* I think you spell good, Zero! *huggles Zero* yay! Wiseness! And Burnin', you rock. You review, so you rock. ^_^ Maybe I should say you burn, what with you being a pyro with Ziggy and all. Just add water! *falls over laughing * Hehehe... *huggles Stanley* Sorry hun. And yeah, you should probably remember Zero that that stuff hurts you. Remember those evil stomachaches on the mountain? Those were from the Sploosh. That sure as hell is gunna smart. *shakes head * Poor, poor Stanley. Oh wait, it's me who doing it to him isn't it? Whoops. Sorrry, Stanley. -_- "Spell Duh". Man, that is AWESOME Zero! ^_^ Alright, The other readers are getting restless, see ya!
Eldalie Lavinia: I always have trouble typing your name! I'm glad I made you happy! Oh wait, now your sad. -_-. Have mood swing much? ^_~ lol. Uhm, I don't know if that will work. Did it? I don't really know. Lets just say yes, yes it did. ^_^ Thank you for reviewing! Inspector Gadget...lol, I used to watch that when I was little, hhehhheh. Really? You have it printed out? Eek, how much paper did it use? Ack, lol. Why were you lying on the kitchen floor? My advice is to go get some sleep, dear. You'd better go now, parents have that evil tendency to take away computer capabilities!
Sixstars: Yupp, if nothing else, I'm creative. Lol. Allright, thanks dude! ^_^
Drowchild: Yeah, I thought about that, but then figured that I was right all along. One of the major rules at Camp Greelake is, don't ask questions. So everybody ignored the blood. The only people who would ask would be the people in his tent, who already knew. Also, they probably though he got /very/ slammed in the tent door. (lol, I don't know if you've read the Guide or not, which means whether you get that) Thanks!
Squid: Thanks a bunch!
Obsessed Elijah Fan: Thank you! Poor Stanley is right. *shakes head sadly *
Wheeler Chick: Hey Aly! That girl had problems. Seriously. I SO envy you!! *sobs * I want the DVD so very badly, but it doesn't come out until September! *cries some more * I love the D Tent boys too! They rock! But you already know that. Lol. Hey, good idea! *pokes Stanley with Aly * Live! LIVE! Heheh. Poor Stanley! Ack! Erm, yeeeah. Don't worry, Stanley. Aly....will...uh.....save you. O_o heheh. The Sun is my favourite Maroon 5 song! It's great! Thank you for suggesting it to me! ^_^ Thanks for the review!
Ziggy the Paranoid Pyro: Well, I guess you could take a shower and that would get rid of the blood. I'm glad you like how I write about Ziggy, I love him. ^_^ Thanks!
Estelle Yavetil: Thank you!
Person: Thanks for the review!
Ziggy: I'm glad you liked how Ziggy got his name, lol. ^_^ Thanks.
Rattler: Aw, thanks! I know X-Ray told Stanley he got his name from Pig Latin, but thanks for the lesson anyway! ^_^ I just figured that since X- Ray said his vision wasn't that great and he didn't really have x-ray vision to Stanley, he didn't necessarily say it to the rest of the Tent. So when Stanley was talking to the whole table, he used the more common reason. Make sense? Heh, writingly challenged, I like that one. Thanks for the review!
Incubus4lotr11: Hiya! Aww, poor Pitty! Yeah, I felt bad for him. Did I review and tell you how awesome it was that he met Jose? I hope I did, I meant to. It was great! I loved it! Thank you!
Juice: I think he'll just have to be bandana-less, the poor soul. ^_~ Thanks!
Vi: Okay, I have to tell you that your review meant so much to me! I couldn't believe it that someone liked my story that much. Again, like I told Eldalie, it must have used a lot of paper! Eek! Lol. Erm, okay. I don't speak Spanish, I speak only a little French because I'm Canadian. So I tried to find the closest thing to 'I'm sorry' and 'Siento lo que hice' is the closest I could find and it means 'I feel for what I did'. Basically, Magnet was just saying he was sorry. Eep, I hope I didn't confuse to many people! Yes, Ziggy has goodness! ^_^ Lol, that's okay. I worry about fictional characters too! I wouldn't want your fanfic world to come crashing down on you! A quote I like is "All the good males are either involved, gay or fictional characters." Lol. Don't worry; we all like the fictional guys! Thanks!
And now on to the fic, enjoy!
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Two brown boots stepped out of the truck, crunching down onto the hard lake bottom. A small cloud of dust and dirt formed a small aura around the shoes, blown up by a non-existant wind.
"Hey Mom." X-Ray said to Mr. Pendanski as he stood at the front of the line for water.
"Hello, Rex." Mr. Pendanski replied brightly, and then turned his head from left to right as he frowned. "Where are Zero and Stanley?"
X-Ray glanced behind him, and then turned back to Pendanski. He shrugged.
"They'll come when they want to." X-Ray said vaguely.
Pendanski nodded, and filled X-Ray's canteen.
Stanley was weak with relief. Although, as he told himself rather comically, he was weak anyway. Heck, he was weak even before he got gutted with a shovel. Before he came to Camp Greenlake, even. He had always been pretty pathetic.
"Stanley. Come on, the water truck's here." Zero urged. He grabbed Stanley's arm and tugged upwards, trying to pull him to his feet.
"Yeah. I'm coming." Stanley murmured. The world was spinning and a sharp, throbbing pain was coming from his abdomen. His wound hurt now more then it did after he first got it, which as far as Stanley was concerned, wasn't good. He knew he must be bleeding to death because he had the evidence all over him.
Somehow, with Zero's help, Stanley managed to get on his feet. But when he was up, his knees almost buckled. Arms caught him from behind. The Hispanic skin tone gave his rescuer away.
"You okay now?" Magnet asked, supporting Stanley with his arm.
"Yeah," Stanley said breathlessly. "Thanks, man."
"Don't mention it," Magnet said with a sideways grin. He helped Stanley over to his place in line.
"You'll be alright if I let you go, si?" He asked, glancing back at his hole. Stanley nodded, and Magnet gave him a pat on the back as he left and went back to his hole.
Stanley ignored the slowly turning world, and concentrating on the water truck in front of him, tried to bring Mr. Pendanski into focus. Also not throwing up on Pendanski would be good, too.
"Hurry up, Stanley. Hand me your canteen."
Stanley couldn't figure out why Pendanski sounded so annoyed. Then he remembered the order of the line up for the water truck. X-Ray, Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, him and then Zero. Magnet was just one in front of Stanley. Pendanski must have been waiting for him to get over here from his hole. So that's why he was so annoyed.
"How's the hole coming?" Pendanski asked as he filled Stanley's canteen.
Stanley shrugged one shoulder and tried to see through the blurry haze that was his vision. Mr. Pendanski suddenly shoved the canteen into the unsuspecting Stanley's arms, and Stanley choked as it jolted his abdomen.
He willed his body to stay upright, for the pain that was ravaging his body to go away. For his mind to stop feeling like it was full of cobwebs, and the sick, weak feeling to leave his limbs.
He stumbled forwards, forcing his broken and beaten body back to his hole. Or where his hole was supposed to be, anyway. Arriving at the stop, his body collapsed into the dirt. He clutched his knees to his chest and rocked back in forth in agony.
"Ahh." He groaned. "Ah."
His head pounded from the sun. Overall he felt like crap, and that was putting it mildly.
The sounds of a shovel being shoved into the hard earth right in front of him made him raise his head. Squid was digging Stanley's hole.
"Don't do that," Stanley said quickly, his shock briefly cutting through his pain. Squid stopped digging.
"What, you gunna dig your own hole, Caveman? Hate to break it to you, but you can't even stand up."
"But you have to dig your own hole." Stanley objected weakly.
"I know." Squid said as he continued digging. "each of the guys are going to dig a foot, except for Zero. Zero dug your hole yesterday."
Stanley watched, guilty, as first Squid, then Magnet, Zigzag, Armpit and X-Ray dug a foot of his hole. After Zero spat in his hole, he came and sat beside Stanley. First he said nothing, then turned to Stanley.
"X-Ray is digging the most."
"What?" Stanley asked, his arm wrapped around his stomach.
"The hole. Squid dug a foot down and across, but had to dig a little more to get the dirt out. Same with Magnet, but he had even more extra dirt. X-Ray is digging the most."
Stanley stared at him, then started to laugh. Suddenly, his laugh turned to a cry of pain and both his arms clutched his stomach. His face turned even more pale, and he lay his head down on his knees as he shook in pain. An agonized groan escaped his lips.
"Mom!" X-Ray yelled, who had been digging the final foot of Stanley's hole. The other boys were all just finishing up. D Tent crowded around Stanley.
"It's okay Caveman, Mom was coming with water anyway. We're going to get him to do something." Zigzag said quietly to Stanley, glancing up at X- Ray who nodded.
Zero grabbed one of Stanley's rust coloured and shaking hands.
"Spell brown." He whispered to Stanley. "Spell brown."
"B-b...r....o...-Ahh!" He cried. Stanley continued to spell out the word through his pain. "W-w...n!" He finished quickly as his eyes screwed shut against another wave of pain.
"Ahh!"
"Mom, you gotta do something. Take him to the Warden." X-Ray said urgently to Pendanski. Pendanski scratched his head.
"I don't know, Rex..."
"I do!" X-Ray insisted. "She wants us to be able to dig holes, not dead!"
"Alright. Get him in the car." Pendanski sighed, as if this was a major favour he was doing.
"Pit, pick him up!" X-Ray said, coming back to the group of boys. Armpit looked up at him, and then nodded.
"Sorry, Caveman." Armpit muttered as he reached down and picked up Stanley. Stanley yelled out in pain, and grabbed onto a fistful of Armpit's orange jumpsuit.
Zero watched the truck drive away trailing a cloud of dust and dirt. He put the shovel up on the back of his neck, and followed the water truck back to camp.
"Think Caveman'll live?" Magnet asked, leaning on his shovel. "That kid gotta be okay."
X-Ray stared after the cloud of dirt in the distance. "Depends on what the 'authorities' do."
"Well, that's a comforting thought. Nothing like having the life of your friend in the hands of a couple of fuckin' bastards." Squid muttered, spitting into his dirt pile.
"What are they playing at, anyway? It was Mr. Sir who hurt him in the first place." Zigzag said angrily as he dug.
Armpit stared at the blood covering the front of his orange jumpsuit. "They'd better do something soon.
****************
"MRS. WALKER!"
The door to the Warden's cabin swung open with a soft screech and a tall woman pulled a cowboy hat low over her eyes. She took a few steps out onto the porch and let the door swing shut, a long loose braid of red hair coming to rest on her right shoulder.
"What the hell you going on about?" She said roughly to the small councillor in front of her.
"Uh, Stanley Yelnats -Caveman- is bleeding to death." Pendanski stuttered.
Fires burned in the depths of the Warden's eyes behind her dark glasses. She took a few steps down the porch steps, her tall brown boots making hollow sounds on the old wood.
"Excuse me?" She asked, raising a perfectly manicured hand and lowering her glasses.
"Er...Stanley Yelnats, Ma'am." Pendanski murmured, taking a step backwards. "He's...dying."
"Well, you'll just have to do something about that, won't you?" The Warden said calmly, staring at the councillor.
"Me?...yes-....but-"
"Excuse me?"
"I mean, yes Ma'am." He said quickly.
"I thought you did." She said; she took another steps towards him. "How did it happen?"
"The boy's wound?" Pendanski stammered, "Fighting, I expect."
"He's bleeding to death, from a fight." The Warden repeated, staring down at Pendaski.
"Well, they were on the lake, they had shovels I expect."
"Excuse me?"
"They had shovels Ma'am. They were digging, Stanley turned up there yesterday morning."
"Why did he turn up?" She asked quietly. "Where was he?"
"Turned up with blood all down his front- I mean-"
The Warden raised her eyebrows, and took a step closer, running a red- painted fingernail down the side of Mr. Pendanski's cheek.
"Fighting, was he. And yet he turned up bloody." She whispered.
"I...er..."
"Excuse me?"
"Fine-he-was-hit-by-Sir-who-was-drunk-with-a-shovel-two-days-ago- supposedly-for-using-a-short-shovel-but-really-he-just-covered-up-for-one- of-the-other-boys-" Pendanski suddenly said very quickly in one breath.
"EXCUSE ME?!?"
Mr. Pendanski clamped his hand over his mouth, his eyes opening wide in shock. He stumbled a few steps back, almost loosing his footing and falling.
"I...I..."
The Warden turned and yelled into the camp at the top of her lungs. "SIR!"
Mr. Sir stumbled out of his office, the door swinging noisily shut behind him as he fumbled to keep his cowboy hat on in his attempt to walk quickly across the camp without looking scared.
One of the boys in an orange jumpsuit laughed at Mr. Sir, and he yelled something at them containing some creative swearing and the term 'girl scouts'.
Mr. Sir reached the Warden's cabin, where she was standing impatiently; red nails tapping on her hip. He nervously glanced around before waiting for her to talk.
"Come with me." She said sweetly, walking purposefully towards Mr. Sir's cabin.
Pendanski and Sir looked at each other before following quickly after her. She entered Mr. Sir's office, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He paused outside the door, and she turned around with raised eyebrows.
"Come with me." She repeated in that false sweet voice.
Mr. Sir tugged at his collar, and followed Pendanski into his cabin.
The Warden gazed around Mr. Sir's office, and walked over to the wall across from his desk. There was a large rust-coloured stain running down the wall and onto the floor. She looked over her shoulder, at a red handprint on the door. Again with the threatening calm, she walked over to the small fridge and pulled it open.
Over a dozen bottles of beer sat on the chilled levels of the refrigerator.
Mr. Sir was pale and shaking, sweat running down the side of his face. He wiped his arm across his forehead, staring at the Warden with fear plain in his eyes.
"Come here." She motioned foreword with a painted nail glinting a warning in the light from the windows. An eerie smile graced her features, but anger was bubbling beneath the surface threatening to break through.
Mr. Sir took a few steps foreword as Mr. Pendanski gulped. As quick and effortless as a rattlesnake, the Warden had the front of Mr. Sir's shirt in her hand. With the finger of her other hand she ran the dark red nail down the side of his face. His cowboy hat fell to the floor.
Suddenly, she shoved him towards the door, but never let go of her grip on the front of his shirt. She pushed him out the door, and into the sunlight. The Warden forced Mr. Sir's hatless head towards the sign.
The sign read 'You Are Entering Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility. It is a Violation of the Texas Penal Code to Bring Guns, Explosives, Weapons, Drugs, or Alcohol onto the Premises.'
"Can you read?" The Warden asked calmly, keeping a firm grip on the front of his shirt but studying the nails of her right hand with mild interest.
"Yes, Ma'am." Mr. Sir grunted.
"Then shut the hell up." The Warden sliced her nail into the flesh of his neck, making a small cut. Mr. Sir screamed.
"I thought I told you to be quiet."
"Euhh.."
"I thought so. Pendanski." The Warden said, letting go of Mr. Sir as he fell to the ground clutching his neck.
"Yes Ma'am?" Mr. Pendanski said nervously.
"Don't let the kid die. Do whatever you have to do, but DO NOT LET HIM DIE." The Warden said, putting her dark glasses back on. "He has family, there'll be an investigation if he dies."
"Yes...Ma'am." Mr. Pendanski said as the Warden slammed her door shut behind her, leaving him with a crowd of boys in the middle of camp. "Move along, nothing to see here!" He said brightly, as he gave Mr. Sir a nudge with his foot to see if he was still conscious. Mumbled curses met his ears telling him that the councillor was still alive.
"Bitch." He grunted.
Pendanski nodded, and scratched his head. He would have to do research on the internet and see what he could do about gaping wounds and blood loss. He might have to do suturing.
"Damn." Pendanski muttered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note: Ahem. Yeah. Review? Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?
May the shovel be with you.
Your writingful authoress,
~Man