Disclaimer: I certainly do not own Zero ((but he's sooo cute)) nor do I own many other things Louis Sachar and Walt Disney have made up. HOLES belongs to Mr. Sachar, THINGS-YOU-DO-NOT-RECOGNISE probably belong to me.

My Angel, My Only

Chapter Three ll Camp Green Lake

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Hector didn't think the handcuffs were very necessary. It wasn't as if he was a potential criminal, or anything. And anyway, the handcuffs were hurting his wrists.

He slowly shuffled off the bus. He didn't have any belongings with him. The guard that had rode on the bus with him took the handcuffs off of Hector, who began to massage his hands.

Hector glanced around the scenery. Complete desert. He saw some grey tents and a few rundown buildings. In the distant, there was a cabin with the only two trees.

He felt the sun beating down on him.

It was horrible. So dry and hot. The bus had been the frying pan.

Now he was in the fire.

And where was the stupid lake?

"This way," the bus guard grunted, leading Hector past a sign that was a load of mumbo-jumbo to him.

Hector walked into an air-conditioned building, where he saw another man. He was chewing on something; occasionally spitting the shells back out.

Hector tuned out while the bus guard and the new man began to talk. He didn't care. Camp Green Lake was a phoney. There was no lake. What kind of camp was this, anyway?

He watched as the bus guard handed the new man some papers. He looked at them critically, spitting some shells into an old mug on the table.

"Hector Zeroni," the new man repeated, raising his eyebrows, "What kinda name is that?"

He looked over at Hector, who felt nothing. He was emotionless. He didn't even blink as the man stared at him, chewing on whatever he was chewing on.

The bus guard said something, then waved goodbye.

"My name is Mr. Sir, Hector," Mr. Sir said scathingly, laughing a bit, "And you will address me by my name at all times. Understood, Hector?"

Hector looked up at him, square in the eyes. He didn't find anything funny about his name, and what was more, he didn't find any meaning in his name.

"My name is not Hector, Mr. Sir," he said quietly, almost in a whisper, "It's Zero, Mr. Sir."

Mr. Sir only looked taken aback for a moment. Then he laughed and clapped Zero on the back, "You've got guts there, Zero. You're not in the Girl Scouts anymore."

"Yes, Mr. Sir."

---

Zero received his uniform from Mr. Sir; orange jumpsuit, orange T-shirt and long white socks. He received two sets of these, one for work, one for relaxation. He also got a little army hat to protect him from the sun, and a plastic canteen.

Mr. Sir led him to D-tent, where he was going to sleep. He met the other six boys there, and his tent counselor, Mr. Pendanski.

"Hello Hector!" he said brightly, while Zero stared at him quizzically.

Mr. Sir just laughed gruffly, spitting out the shells of (Zero finally found out) his sunflower seeds, "His name's not Hector. Gotta nickname before he even met X-Ray. He's Zero, he is."

"Zero," Mr. Pendanski repeated, putting out his hand to shake hands with him. Zero just looked at it.

"No, hey?" Mr. Pendanski said, dropping his hand as Mr. Sir left, "Well then, why don't you go and meet your tent mates, huh, Hector?"

Zero still said nothing.

"Rex! Come over here and say hello to Hector! And you five!" he called to the group of boys that had just came into the tent.

Zero really wished he hadn't. He didn't want to meet anyone.

The six boys were introduced to Zero by Mr. Pendanski as Rex, Theodore, Alan, Ricky, Lewis and Jose.

But they called themselves X-Ray, Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Barf Bag and Magnet.

"You're Hector?" the black boy called X-Ray said, with a smile.

Zero shook his head, "No, I'm Zero."

"Hey man, he's got a nickname already!" Squid said with a grin, holding his hand up to Zero for a high-five.

Zero ignored him. He had suddenly became aware that his throat was immensely parched and dry. The bus trip has been nine hours long.

"Where can I get some water?" he asked quietly, looking at the six boys.

"At the showers, there's a little spigot on the side," Magnet finally said, after there was some silence.

Zero said nothing. He nodded slightly and left the tent.

"What a weird little dude," Zigzag said, as soon as Zero had disappeared.

"Little is right," Armpit agreed "Did you see the size of that guy?!"

"I think I feel sick," Barf Bag said suddenly, running out of the tent.

The boys looked after him wearily.

"Well at least he has alot of holes to choose from," Squid said with a grin.

"Throwing up in the tent isn't sanitary," Armpit pointed out.

"Look who's talking!"

Zero had moved towards the shower stalls, which had no roof. With raised eyebrows, he found the spigot Magnet was talking about, and filled his canteen.

Taking a long drink, Zero went back to the tent. Most of the boys had gone to take their showers, but X-Ray and Armpit were still lurking around.

"Hey Zero, you don't have to be so isolated, you know," Armpit called, "We ain't gonna bite or nothin'."

Zero said nothing. He simply raised and lowered his left shoulder to let him know he had heard. He dumped his canteen on his new bed (a cot) and sat on it.

When X-Ray and Armpit had left to go take their showers, Zero laid back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, his hands behind his head.

He felt terribly sleepy...

"If only, if only,
The moon speaks no reply,
Reflecting the sun and all that's gone by.
Be strong my weary wolf, turn around boldly,
Fly high, my baby bird,
My angel, my only."

He was woken up by Magnet and Zigzag, the two boys proclaiming that it was time for dinner.

Zero just nodded and got up, not bothering to say anything. As he left the tent, Zigzag and Magnet glanced at each other. They hadn't had a kid in the D-tent so quiet before.

"Geez, does it hurt just to say one word?" Zigzag muttered.

"Maybe he doesn't know how to talk," Magnet said, walking towards the kitchens.

Zigzag laughed, "Everyone knows how to talk, Mag."

Magnet ignored him, "Not only that, his name's weird. Zero. Doesn't that mean nothing?"

"Yup. Maybe he is nothing. I dunno... but I thought Mum said his name was Hector or something..."

"Zero," Magnet repeated, "Strange name... Wonder what kinda digger that 'lil dude is."

"The shovel's probably bigger than him," Zigzag joked, laughing.

---

Zero looked at dinner distastefully. He was at a juvenile camp. What else could he expect?

His tray had a plate of splatter (possibly some kind of beef and vegetable stew), a slice of white bread and an apple.

It was worse than the food served at the shelter. At least you could actually tell what the food was at the homeless shelter, and it didn't taste that bad.

He looked around the room, and decided that he had to sit with the boys in his tent. Reluctantly, he slid into his seat next to Barf Bag, who seemed a little pale.

"You alright there, Barfy?" Squid was saying. Zero tuned out and began to fish down the food.

"So Zero, what'd you do?" X-Ray asked, after awhile.

Zero ignored him. He didn't want to talk.

He didn't want to 'get to know' anyone. He was just here to pay back to the society what he had done wrong.

Nicked a pair of shoes. Chucked them over an overpass. Nicked another pair of shoes. Got busted.

When he didn't say anything for five minutes in succession, X-Ray gave up.

Zero dragged his piece of bread around on his plate, soaking up the juice from the beef-and-vegetable splatter.

Before he knew it, he was in bed. The boys were all talking. He didn't join in. He didn't belong anywhere. Not at that birthday party at Laney Park so many years ago, and not at this juvenile camp.

He was a nobody.

He hadn't always been a nobody. When his mother was still around, he had been an everybody. Because he was happy.

He wondered what had happened to his mother. Did she disappear? Was she trying to look for him?

Zero felt like he would do anything to find her. But he couldn't even remember her name. All he knew that it was a very pretty name, and it started with an S. Sarah? Saffille? Safia?

S.... Zeroni.

Zeroni.

For some reason, he knew that it was not his father's name. It was his mother's maiden name.

Hector Zeroni.

Zero turned on his side on his cot. The other boys had finally gone to sleep.

Hector Zeroni.

Zero closed his eyes.

Hector Zeroni doesn't exist anymore.

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----A/N: This fic will have most of the book's stuff in it, rather than the movie's. I liked the movie better, but I've only seen it once at school, and I had the book with me when I wrote this story. =] But whatever I remember from the movie, I have added in. So it's kind of a mixture of both. Thank you everyone for your lovely reviews! They were really encouraging! --MSQ.