"Daddy!"
Carla ran into her father's arms. Dirk caressed his daughter who he has missed dearly in the days they've been away from each other. Dirk kissed the top of her forehead.
"Did you do what I told you?" Dirk asked her sweetly, brushing her hair away from her eyes.
"Yes…I told the whole entire camp, except for D and G tent of course. But the only problem is --"
The Warden cut her off as she entered the room, "It didn't work." she said coldly.
"What didn't?" Dirk asked, a little too loudly.
"She didn't kill herself. Oh yes….she thought about it. But then that smart-ass kid came and got her out."
Dirk cleared his throat, "I don't suppose--"
"What're you BLIND?" The Warden shouted. Dirk jumped, "Rachel is STILL HERE! Oh well I guess you must not have seen her digging her hole." The Warden scoffed.
Throughout this whole argument, Carla moved her head back and forth from each person.
"But now that the camp knows about that night, she's bound to try again. I mean, come on…who wouldn't? Her life is hell here." Carla said, budding in. But for once, The Warden considered it.
"Yes….yes, you could be right. But we have got to get that boy out of the picture. He's only making things more difficult." The Warden put her hands on her hips, biting her lip with her head down.
An idea buzzed inside Carla's brain, "Ooh, I……could get him out of the picture," she said, slow and seductively.
The Warden moved her hand up and down within inches, "Yes…yes! Make him a Rachel-hater. I bet…if he's really the sick boy he makes himself up to be…than he would fall for any girl. Especially someone sexy." The Warden put huge emphasizm on that last word. It was the key-word. An evil grin eased across Carla's face.
"Showtime." She muttered.
Dirk looked around, "Huh?"
The Warden slapped him across the face. Fortunately, on Dirk's side, the rattlesnake nail polish was already dried.
"You idiot. Carla is going to seduce Squid. That way….he will no long be in the picture." The Warden nodded, extremely happy and convinced with Carla's idea.
Dirk nodded in agreement as he finally understood their evil scheme.
"I like it." The Warden said.
"Hah! Believe me…" Carla paused, "Me too." Dirk just cackled.
----
Rachel's heart pounded as her breathing accelerated at immense speed. She dropped her shovel to the ground. All of the girls turned their attention to Rachel, instead of the incoming truck.
"What is it? Rachel?" Cate asked, a worried look rising up onto her face.
Rachel was shell-shocked, "It's….my father." she said in disbelief.
Most of the girls were as confused as Rachel was, not knowing what the big deal was. Who knows, maybe Rachel will even be able to get out of there. But none of them except Cate knew about Rachel's father, what he had done to her, and how he and Carla were definitely in on something. Cate dropped her shovel.
"Will somebody please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Babygirl said, with a dazzled look on her face.
"It's Rachel's father." Cate said. It's all she could say.
"Well we know that!" Babygirl said sarcastically. The others didn't say anything, but listened intently.
"Just wait!" Cate said, looking to Rachel for guidance as to what they should possibly do next. Rachel swallowed.
"He's going to kill me, Cate." Rachel said, fear taking over her entire body and state of mind, "He's going to kill me."
"We won't let that happen, Rachel!" Cate said, hopefully informing Rachel that it was the truth, and that it was completely obvious that they would protect her.
"Hell, Squid sure won't let that happen. And the rest of the guys, too." Shorty said.
Rachel nodded unconvincingly. "Just promise me that you won't get in his way. He'll kill whoever is in his way." Somehow, what Rachel just said completely coincided with what happened with Officer Mansley. But she had no idea that he was lying in the dirt on the side of the road.
"Should you hide, or something?" Honey asked worriedly.
Rachel shook her head, "No. He will only make it worse for me if that's what I do."
Lucki and Courtney, who were standing next to Rachel, grabbed each one of her hands. They reached out and the rest of the girls made a chain, linking their elbows to each other.
"You fight….we fight together!" Strings said independently. But Rachel knew it was helpless.
All of the girls started walking defiantly to camp, giving up their responsibility with hole-digging. What was the point when they were going to die anyway?
By the time they got here…The Warden, Mr. Sir, Mr. Pendanski and Danielle, hand in hand by the way, Carla Harrison, and Dirk Harrison were all standing just as defiant as the girls were. The rest of the camp's counselors were somewhere inside the tents or the Wreck Room. Not one of them wanted to get into a bloody fight in the middle of a hot sunny day.
----
"Guys, hey guys!" X-Ray shouted, and he pointed over at camp.
"What the hell is going on?" Armpit said, scratching the top of his head.
"I don't know, but it ain't good." X-Ray said.
The rest of the boys dropped their shovels and looked over at the horizon. Zigzag couldn't do anything but stand there with his shovel, wide-eyed, until he saw Cate's elbow locked with Banana's, standing defiantly with the rest of the girls.
"We've gotta do somethin'." Zigzag said, paranoia leaving him alone. This time, it wasn't any conspiracy theory. It was a real bona fide conspiracy.
Squid took his toothpick out of his mouth and threw it to the ground, and started to run in the direction of camp.
"Yo what do you think you're doing?!" X-Ray yelled.
"I am not leaving Rachel hanging." Squid shouted back. Instantly, in that very moment, each one of the girls popped into the boys' minds and they all followed Squid. Possibly to their doom.
"Get out of our way." The Warden said, clenching her fists.
"No."
"Now!"
"No!" The girls yelled again. This time they had formed a circle around Rachel.
"You can't get away with every damn thing." Shorty said, extremely casual, as if she were talking to anybody about nothing.
"Excuse me?" The Warden said. Shorty rolled her eyes. The Warden's stupid little sarcastic sayings were getting incredibly old.
Suddenly loud sounds of running footsteps emerged from behind the girls. All of them turned their heads. It was D-Tent, not even close to being out of breath yet. They were all extremely in shape from all the digging, and didn't even notice the heat anymore, only on occasional hot days.
"Rachel!" Squid yelled from the middle of the group. Some of the girls moved away as Squid ran to her, grasping her into a safe hug.
"Squid." she whispered, wrapping her arms around him.
"I will not let them hurt you." He whispered in her ear. And for once, Rachel believed him. They pulled away and the boys joined the girls, making a large group of people compared to the short adults. Including Carla, who scowled at all of them, not being able to wait any longer to get this over with.
The Warden, for once, looked anxious.
"Maybe we should just kill them in their sleep?" Mr. Pendanski said. He sounded like a wimpy little puppy-dog, begging for mercy. Except the puppy would be cuter.
"No! We are going to finish this once and for all! All of my plans have gone to hell and you can not weasel your way out of this one, buster!" The Warden shouted, "And you too Danielle!" Danielle just hunched down, as pathetic as Mr. Pendanski…if not more. They made an unusually good couple.
The kids just stood there, intimidating.
"Aww come on, you wimps!" Carla shouted, and ran at the group. The adults followed short after. It all happened in a matter of seconds. Carla jumped on Strings, giving her an instant black eye. They rolled over, Strings on top, punching Carla in the face merely out of self-defense. Carla limped over, unconscious.
Dirk went straight for Rachel. Almost all of the kids got in front of them first. Courtney in the front. Dirk landed on her, breaking her leg. She yelled out in pain, clutching her leg. Dirk kicked her aside and lunged again, coming in contact with X-Ray and Armpit. Dirk fell over, spraining his ankle.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pendanski and Danielle fled to the Wreck Room with the other counselors. The other counselors weren't babies, they just wanted to get out of that camp and return to their regular lives. They didn't care about some treasure, or what The Warden kept demanding them to do. The sooner The Warden got hers, the better. Than they could leave. But it was a whole different case with Danielle and Pendanski, they did not want to get even a small bruise.
The Warden stood back and waited until she could get her hands on a particular boy. Squid.
Dirk easily pushed Banana and Babygirl aside, one screaming in pain…the other unconscious. Cate and Rachel battled Carla once again as she regained her consciousness, slowly. Zigzag and Caveman ran at Dirk, this time The Warden coming to his rescue…scratching Caveman across the face for the second time that week. He yelled in pain, and put his head down, putting his hands across his face. Zero ran to Honey and Babygirl, keeping watch. Rachel came up behind Carla and swung a punch into her back. She fell to the ground, perfect for Cate and to put her down for hours.
The Warden and Dirk finally knocked out Caveman and Zigzag. Dirk, The Warden, Squid, Rachel, X-Ray, Armpit, Lucki, and Shorty were the only ones left standing. The others were either in too much pain or were unconscious.
Before anybody could do anything, Dirk swung a right-hook, and then a left. Sending Armpit and Shorty toppling to the ground. Some girls and boys yelled out. X-Ray and Squid jumped on Dirk, holding onto his neck swinging from side to side. The Warden reached up and clasped her hands around Squid's neck and pulled him to the ground. Dirk swung X-Ray off of him, who managed to land on his feet. Dirk swung his fist into Armpit's face, breaking his nose. X-Ray lunged again, but fell to the ground…defeated.
"No!" Banana cried out, unable to do anything with her arm…which was now broken. Cate lay lifelessly on the ground with numerous other girls.
Rachel heard a scream from the opposite direction. She turned and saw Squid struggling with The Warden, both of them bloody and in pain.
"Stop it!" Rachel cried and started to run in Squid's direction. Dirk reached out his arms and grabbed her in mid-air. She landed on her feet, twisted her ankle, right in front of Dirk's towering shadow.
"Now….we finish this. Come home with me right now and do what I've always told you to do!" Dirk yelled.
"Never." Rachel said, and made one more attempt to go help Squid. Dirk hit her across the face. Rachel lowered her head in immense pain.
"Stop your bullshit and finally become one of US!" Dirk demanded, shouting right in Rachel's face.
"I'm not like you. I'm not. I never will be! Now get the hell out of my life!" Rachel yelled. She was putting her life on the line for what she believed in. Something she would've never done the same day that she left the house, after she thought she had killed Dirk.
Rachel's eyes widened. The shuffling and yelling noises from The Warden and Squid had stopped, and a deafening silence surrounded the entire camp. They could hear a pin drop. Rachel dared herself to turn her head in the direction of the cat fight between Squid and The Warden. She glanced over there, wincing at the thought of Squid lying on the ground….but instead, The Warden's bloody face was sitting in the ground. She was still breathing, but unconscious. But where was Squid?
A gunshot fired, the noise affecting the whole camp. Dirk remised and shouted….his leg buckling down from underneath him. Revealing, alive and well, Officer Alex Mansley…holding the gun that saved Rachel's life. He still had on the bullet-proof vest that knocked off the bullet that Dirk sent to his chest. The vest prevented his death, but left him a nasty bruise. Next to him stood Squid, broken down and beaten, but still alive. In the midst of everything, Squid flashed Rachel a small comforting smile, as if everything was going to be all right. And finally, Rachel knew, everything was going to be all right.
----
Song for this chapter!
"Put Me In The Car" by Ryan Gosling
Shadows are my friends
And the light hits my face
It hides behind the clouds
In its institute of grace
And our children warm their beds
With dreams of growing old
But deception has run rampant
And their futures have been mistold
Chorus:
Just put me in the car
And drive so far
Until I'm free again
And whisper in my ear
That all these years
I've been dreaming
And then kiss me goodnight
And it'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all that I have ever asked of you
Darkness thinks I'm pretty
And the rain covers my soul
But the women think I'm ugly
They care not for hearts of gold
And freedom teaches nothing
If only to create
Lately innocence is jaded
Only preachers hate
Chorus:
Just put me in the car
And drive so far
Until I'm free again
And whisper in my ear
That all these years
I've been dreaming
Then kiss me goodnight
And it'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all that I have ever asked of you
Just put me in the car
And drive so far
Until I'm free again
Then kiss me goodnight
And it'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all that I ever asked of you
Yeah oooh...
Yeah oooh ooh oooh...
Carla ran into her father's arms. Dirk caressed his daughter who he has missed dearly in the days they've been away from each other. Dirk kissed the top of her forehead.
"Did you do what I told you?" Dirk asked her sweetly, brushing her hair away from her eyes.
"Yes…I told the whole entire camp, except for D and G tent of course. But the only problem is --"
The Warden cut her off as she entered the room, "It didn't work." she said coldly.
"What didn't?" Dirk asked, a little too loudly.
"She didn't kill herself. Oh yes….she thought about it. But then that smart-ass kid came and got her out."
Dirk cleared his throat, "I don't suppose--"
"What're you BLIND?" The Warden shouted. Dirk jumped, "Rachel is STILL HERE! Oh well I guess you must not have seen her digging her hole." The Warden scoffed.
Throughout this whole argument, Carla moved her head back and forth from each person.
"But now that the camp knows about that night, she's bound to try again. I mean, come on…who wouldn't? Her life is hell here." Carla said, budding in. But for once, The Warden considered it.
"Yes….yes, you could be right. But we have got to get that boy out of the picture. He's only making things more difficult." The Warden put her hands on her hips, biting her lip with her head down.
An idea buzzed inside Carla's brain, "Ooh, I……could get him out of the picture," she said, slow and seductively.
The Warden moved her hand up and down within inches, "Yes…yes! Make him a Rachel-hater. I bet…if he's really the sick boy he makes himself up to be…than he would fall for any girl. Especially someone sexy." The Warden put huge emphasizm on that last word. It was the key-word. An evil grin eased across Carla's face.
"Showtime." She muttered.
Dirk looked around, "Huh?"
The Warden slapped him across the face. Fortunately, on Dirk's side, the rattlesnake nail polish was already dried.
"You idiot. Carla is going to seduce Squid. That way….he will no long be in the picture." The Warden nodded, extremely happy and convinced with Carla's idea.
Dirk nodded in agreement as he finally understood their evil scheme.
"I like it." The Warden said.
"Hah! Believe me…" Carla paused, "Me too." Dirk just cackled.
----
Rachel's heart pounded as her breathing accelerated at immense speed. She dropped her shovel to the ground. All of the girls turned their attention to Rachel, instead of the incoming truck.
"What is it? Rachel?" Cate asked, a worried look rising up onto her face.
Rachel was shell-shocked, "It's….my father." she said in disbelief.
Most of the girls were as confused as Rachel was, not knowing what the big deal was. Who knows, maybe Rachel will even be able to get out of there. But none of them except Cate knew about Rachel's father, what he had done to her, and how he and Carla were definitely in on something. Cate dropped her shovel.
"Will somebody please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Babygirl said, with a dazzled look on her face.
"It's Rachel's father." Cate said. It's all she could say.
"Well we know that!" Babygirl said sarcastically. The others didn't say anything, but listened intently.
"Just wait!" Cate said, looking to Rachel for guidance as to what they should possibly do next. Rachel swallowed.
"He's going to kill me, Cate." Rachel said, fear taking over her entire body and state of mind, "He's going to kill me."
"We won't let that happen, Rachel!" Cate said, hopefully informing Rachel that it was the truth, and that it was completely obvious that they would protect her.
"Hell, Squid sure won't let that happen. And the rest of the guys, too." Shorty said.
Rachel nodded unconvincingly. "Just promise me that you won't get in his way. He'll kill whoever is in his way." Somehow, what Rachel just said completely coincided with what happened with Officer Mansley. But she had no idea that he was lying in the dirt on the side of the road.
"Should you hide, or something?" Honey asked worriedly.
Rachel shook her head, "No. He will only make it worse for me if that's what I do."
Lucki and Courtney, who were standing next to Rachel, grabbed each one of her hands. They reached out and the rest of the girls made a chain, linking their elbows to each other.
"You fight….we fight together!" Strings said independently. But Rachel knew it was helpless.
All of the girls started walking defiantly to camp, giving up their responsibility with hole-digging. What was the point when they were going to die anyway?
By the time they got here…The Warden, Mr. Sir, Mr. Pendanski and Danielle, hand in hand by the way, Carla Harrison, and Dirk Harrison were all standing just as defiant as the girls were. The rest of the camp's counselors were somewhere inside the tents or the Wreck Room. Not one of them wanted to get into a bloody fight in the middle of a hot sunny day.
----
"Guys, hey guys!" X-Ray shouted, and he pointed over at camp.
"What the hell is going on?" Armpit said, scratching the top of his head.
"I don't know, but it ain't good." X-Ray said.
The rest of the boys dropped their shovels and looked over at the horizon. Zigzag couldn't do anything but stand there with his shovel, wide-eyed, until he saw Cate's elbow locked with Banana's, standing defiantly with the rest of the girls.
"We've gotta do somethin'." Zigzag said, paranoia leaving him alone. This time, it wasn't any conspiracy theory. It was a real bona fide conspiracy.
Squid took his toothpick out of his mouth and threw it to the ground, and started to run in the direction of camp.
"Yo what do you think you're doing?!" X-Ray yelled.
"I am not leaving Rachel hanging." Squid shouted back. Instantly, in that very moment, each one of the girls popped into the boys' minds and they all followed Squid. Possibly to their doom.
"Get out of our way." The Warden said, clenching her fists.
"No."
"Now!"
"No!" The girls yelled again. This time they had formed a circle around Rachel.
"You can't get away with every damn thing." Shorty said, extremely casual, as if she were talking to anybody about nothing.
"Excuse me?" The Warden said. Shorty rolled her eyes. The Warden's stupid little sarcastic sayings were getting incredibly old.
Suddenly loud sounds of running footsteps emerged from behind the girls. All of them turned their heads. It was D-Tent, not even close to being out of breath yet. They were all extremely in shape from all the digging, and didn't even notice the heat anymore, only on occasional hot days.
"Rachel!" Squid yelled from the middle of the group. Some of the girls moved away as Squid ran to her, grasping her into a safe hug.
"Squid." she whispered, wrapping her arms around him.
"I will not let them hurt you." He whispered in her ear. And for once, Rachel believed him. They pulled away and the boys joined the girls, making a large group of people compared to the short adults. Including Carla, who scowled at all of them, not being able to wait any longer to get this over with.
The Warden, for once, looked anxious.
"Maybe we should just kill them in their sleep?" Mr. Pendanski said. He sounded like a wimpy little puppy-dog, begging for mercy. Except the puppy would be cuter.
"No! We are going to finish this once and for all! All of my plans have gone to hell and you can not weasel your way out of this one, buster!" The Warden shouted, "And you too Danielle!" Danielle just hunched down, as pathetic as Mr. Pendanski…if not more. They made an unusually good couple.
The kids just stood there, intimidating.
"Aww come on, you wimps!" Carla shouted, and ran at the group. The adults followed short after. It all happened in a matter of seconds. Carla jumped on Strings, giving her an instant black eye. They rolled over, Strings on top, punching Carla in the face merely out of self-defense. Carla limped over, unconscious.
Dirk went straight for Rachel. Almost all of the kids got in front of them first. Courtney in the front. Dirk landed on her, breaking her leg. She yelled out in pain, clutching her leg. Dirk kicked her aside and lunged again, coming in contact with X-Ray and Armpit. Dirk fell over, spraining his ankle.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pendanski and Danielle fled to the Wreck Room with the other counselors. The other counselors weren't babies, they just wanted to get out of that camp and return to their regular lives. They didn't care about some treasure, or what The Warden kept demanding them to do. The sooner The Warden got hers, the better. Than they could leave. But it was a whole different case with Danielle and Pendanski, they did not want to get even a small bruise.
The Warden stood back and waited until she could get her hands on a particular boy. Squid.
Dirk easily pushed Banana and Babygirl aside, one screaming in pain…the other unconscious. Cate and Rachel battled Carla once again as she regained her consciousness, slowly. Zigzag and Caveman ran at Dirk, this time The Warden coming to his rescue…scratching Caveman across the face for the second time that week. He yelled in pain, and put his head down, putting his hands across his face. Zero ran to Honey and Babygirl, keeping watch. Rachel came up behind Carla and swung a punch into her back. She fell to the ground, perfect for Cate and to put her down for hours.
The Warden and Dirk finally knocked out Caveman and Zigzag. Dirk, The Warden, Squid, Rachel, X-Ray, Armpit, Lucki, and Shorty were the only ones left standing. The others were either in too much pain or were unconscious.
Before anybody could do anything, Dirk swung a right-hook, and then a left. Sending Armpit and Shorty toppling to the ground. Some girls and boys yelled out. X-Ray and Squid jumped on Dirk, holding onto his neck swinging from side to side. The Warden reached up and clasped her hands around Squid's neck and pulled him to the ground. Dirk swung X-Ray off of him, who managed to land on his feet. Dirk swung his fist into Armpit's face, breaking his nose. X-Ray lunged again, but fell to the ground…defeated.
"No!" Banana cried out, unable to do anything with her arm…which was now broken. Cate lay lifelessly on the ground with numerous other girls.
Rachel heard a scream from the opposite direction. She turned and saw Squid struggling with The Warden, both of them bloody and in pain.
"Stop it!" Rachel cried and started to run in Squid's direction. Dirk reached out his arms and grabbed her in mid-air. She landed on her feet, twisted her ankle, right in front of Dirk's towering shadow.
"Now….we finish this. Come home with me right now and do what I've always told you to do!" Dirk yelled.
"Never." Rachel said, and made one more attempt to go help Squid. Dirk hit her across the face. Rachel lowered her head in immense pain.
"Stop your bullshit and finally become one of US!" Dirk demanded, shouting right in Rachel's face.
"I'm not like you. I'm not. I never will be! Now get the hell out of my life!" Rachel yelled. She was putting her life on the line for what she believed in. Something she would've never done the same day that she left the house, after she thought she had killed Dirk.
Rachel's eyes widened. The shuffling and yelling noises from The Warden and Squid had stopped, and a deafening silence surrounded the entire camp. They could hear a pin drop. Rachel dared herself to turn her head in the direction of the cat fight between Squid and The Warden. She glanced over there, wincing at the thought of Squid lying on the ground….but instead, The Warden's bloody face was sitting in the ground. She was still breathing, but unconscious. But where was Squid?
A gunshot fired, the noise affecting the whole camp. Dirk remised and shouted….his leg buckling down from underneath him. Revealing, alive and well, Officer Alex Mansley…holding the gun that saved Rachel's life. He still had on the bullet-proof vest that knocked off the bullet that Dirk sent to his chest. The vest prevented his death, but left him a nasty bruise. Next to him stood Squid, broken down and beaten, but still alive. In the midst of everything, Squid flashed Rachel a small comforting smile, as if everything was going to be all right. And finally, Rachel knew, everything was going to be all right.
----
Song for this chapter!
"Put Me In The Car" by Ryan Gosling
Shadows are my friends
And the light hits my face
It hides behind the clouds
In its institute of grace
And our children warm their beds
With dreams of growing old
But deception has run rampant
And their futures have been mistold
Chorus:
Just put me in the car
And drive so far
Until I'm free again
And whisper in my ear
That all these years
I've been dreaming
And then kiss me goodnight
And it'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all that I have ever asked of you
Darkness thinks I'm pretty
And the rain covers my soul
But the women think I'm ugly
They care not for hearts of gold
And freedom teaches nothing
If only to create
Lately innocence is jaded
Only preachers hate
Chorus:
Just put me in the car
And drive so far
Until I'm free again
And whisper in my ear
That all these years
I've been dreaming
Then kiss me goodnight
And it'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all that I have ever asked of you
Just put me in the car
And drive so far
Until I'm free again
Then kiss me goodnight
And it'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all that I ever asked of you
Yeah oooh...
Yeah oooh ooh oooh...