Chapter Two - Kaleidoscope
By the time Mr. Sir came with the water truck, Madeline's hole was about one-fourth of the way finished. Seeing the other boys climbing out of their holes, she did the same and got in the line they were forming near the back of the truck, behind Zero.
X-Ray was the first to get his canteen filled. His hole was by Madeline's and he noticed her progress with her hole.
"Geez, Harris, you're a fast digger for a new kid," he commented. The rest of the boys looked, their eyebrows raising.
"Are you like Zero or something?" Squid asked her, sitting on the edge of his hole. Zero stared at him and then looked at Madeline.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"Zero likes to dig holes," Armpit said simply. "I can't see how anyone could... he's always the first one done... but he's one weird dude so yeah..."
Madeline looked at Zero, who was climbing back down into his hole. Armpit was right... Zero seemed weird. But it wasn't in a bad way. In fact... she actually kind of liked it.
***
By the time most of the boys were done, Madeline was about a half a foot away from being finished. She didn't expect them to wait around for her, and they didn't. Not that she really cared. The brunette figured this would be basically the only time she would get to herself.
This gave her time to think about things. So she was stuck in the middle of nowhere for almost two years. This seemed so impossible to stand, but she wasn't a quitter. She would rather die before giving up on something that was impossible, no matter how much sense that didn't make.
***
"So how was the first hole?" ZigZag asked Madeline at dinner from across the table.
"Okay I guess... it wasn't too bad... but damn, I got some shitty blisters from it," she cursed, showing them her cracked hands.
"Yep, but they'll go away in a couple days," X-Ray said, taking a drink from his metal cup. Madeline rolled her eyes and let the boys go back to their conversation.
Twirling her fork around in the brown mixture of unidentified "food" on her tray, she looked around the mess hall. Most of the boys were eating and talking, a couple stealing glances at her. She didn't no what the big deal was. She was just a girl.
***
While the camp was in the Wreck Room, Madeline used the time to take a shower. She just stood under the water, feeling the cool water run over her body, feebly pushing the heat the pulsated off her tired body.
Afterwards, she changed into a t-shirt and shorts and walked back to the tent. She figured she would be alone, but Zero was lying on his cot, staring at the ceiling. He looked at her for a fraction of a second when she came in, but his attention averted back again to the ugly green canvas above him.
Madeline looked at him intently. There was something about Zero that just fascinated her. Maybe it was because he was so quiet and different from everyone else. But she just couldn't figure him out.
Pulling out her pad of paper again, she looked over at him again and smiled. She had finally found it.
***
The next day was the same, they were awakened at 4:30 in the morning, walked out to the lake and dug their holes, only this time Madeline was a little bit more tired. Sure, she was a quick digger, but she felt exhausted from the lack of sleep.
When Dr. Pendanski came around with sack lunches, she was too tired to get up out of her half-dug hole. Her eyes were barely open as she tried desperately to stay awake.
Pulling all the strength out of her body that she could muster, she lifted herself up out of the hole and slowly walked over to the line for lunches.
Madeline ate her lunch quickly and climbed back into her hole. She grabbed her shovel from its place near the edge of her hole, but suddenly the world lurched before her. Grasping the shovel tightly, she managed to stay standing, leaning up against it for support.
"Are you okay?"
She tiredly looked up to see Zero staring down at her, concern in his eyes. Sighing, she nodded and rubbed her head. He nodded and went back to his hole.
'I have to get this done... I have to... I can't give up...,' she thought. Pulling herself up straight with the shovel, she took a deep breath and began digging again.
***
The brunette finished her hole around the same time that she did the day before. Her body aching, she slowly made her way back to the camp compound. The recent dizziness had yet to pass and she felt like she was looking at the world through a kaleidoscope.
Miraculously, she made it through dinner without anyone asking her if she was okay. Chances are she wouldn't admit that something was wrong anyway.
After the meal, most of the boys went to the Wreck Room. Still needing to take a much needed shower, Madeline hazily started making her way back to the tent to grab a clean pair of clothes.
As she was walking, another wave of dizziness came over her and suddenly everything went black.
