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 Four ll Diggin' Holes

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They were woken up at 4:30 in the morning. Zero, although he didn't care about a lot of life's problems, thought that that was just a bit too early, even for him.

Zero changed into his work clothes, pressing his lips into a thin line. Then he followed the other boys to the Mess Hall, where they had breakfast. Cereal and orange juice. After breakfast, Zero followed X-Ray to the shower stalls, where they all filled their canteens.

After doing that, Zero continued to follow them to the shed (marked "LIBRARY"), where the boys all collected something. When Zero went up to collect his whatever-it-was, he found out they were shovels.

He wondered what they would need to use them for.

Mr. Pendanski led the boys of D-tent to a part of the desert. It was still very dark, and Zero could still see the stars. Mr. Pendanski was marking something on the dry ground. Once he had finished marking one part, the boy standing closest would shove his shovel into the ground and start digging.

When Mr. Pendanski reached Zero, he smiled grimly at him.

"Well Zero, how was your first night at Camp Green Lake?"

Zero said nothing. He held onto his shovel tightly and stared at Mr. Pendanski.

"You've done something bad, which is why you're here. I think you still have a chance at life, Zero, so you should pay your punishment here as quickly as thoroughly as possible, so you will have a clear record when you are released."

Zero still said nothing. He kept his mouth firmly shut.

"You are here at Camp Green Lake to build character. You are to dig one hole each day; five foot deep and five foot wide. Your shovel is your measuring stick. Digging holes builds character. You take a bad boy, make him dig five feet every day for a year and a half, and it makes him a good boy. If you find anything interesting, you are to report it to me or Mr. Sir, and if the Warden likes it, you'll get the day off."

Silence.

Mr. Pendanski marked the ground with a piece of chalk, "Well then, start digging. Once you finish, you come back to the compound and take a shower, and the rest of the day is yours. Good luck, Zero."

Zero stared after him as he walked away. The other boys were already flinging their dirt onto their dirt piles. For the first time, Zero noticed all the holes in the desert area. They were all adjacent and done in neat rows.

Digging holes... how boring.

But he didn't care.

When did he ever?

So Zero defiantly stabbed his shovel in the dirt, forcing all his energy and anger into it. A huge chunk came out.

Satisfied, Zero began digging away.

One by one, the other boys all stopped digging to stare at Zero in fascination. His dirt pile was big, and his hole was almost one feet deep and one-and-a-half feet wide already. And they had only been digging for about an hour.

"Geez, he's one small kid, but he sure digs one hell of a hole," Zigzag said blankly, staring as Zero continued to throw the dirt over his shoulder.

The others murmured in agreement.

"By far the fastest hole digger I've seen," X-Ray remarked, staring at Zero with faraway eyes.

The seven boys continued to dig their holes for a few more hours, occasionally yelling across at each other and taking swigs from their canteens.

Zero watched as a red pick-up truck began to come over in a cloud of dust. The sun was already up in the sky, but not too high up.

The truck stopped near the site they were digging, and Zero watched as the boys lined up. X-Ray at the front, Magnet at the end.

Zero had always learnt by copying and following others. So he got in line behind Magnet. Mr. Pendanski stepped out of the truck, and he filled the canteens from a little tap on the tank of the truck.

"How're you doing, Zero?" he asked, as he took Zero's canteen and filled it with water. He knew it was pointless asking Zero, but he was just being friendly.

Of course, he ignored Mr. Pendanski. He took his filled canteen, gave a slight nod and walked back to his hole, which was being inspected by Squid and X-Ray.

"How you dig so fast, man?" X-Ray asked Zero, when he came back.

He shrugged, then took a drink from his canteen. He set it down in the dirt and looked at his hands. There was a small blister forming on his right hand, but other than that, he felt perfectly fine. Life on the streets had made him used to harsh conditions.

The boys went back to digging. The sun came higher and higher up in the sky. Zero began to feel the heat rising up in his body. It was getting hotter and hotter.

Zero wiped the sweat off of his brow. He shoved the shovel deeper into the ground and flung it onto his rising dirt pile.

He stopped for a moment, and leant on his shovel for support. He was growing tired. It was then when he was leaning on his shovel that he realised he couldn't exactly lean on it. The shovel was a fragment of an inch taller than him.

What a world.

Grimacing, Zero held the shovel properly again and continued to dig away at his hole. When it was noon the water truck came, with Mr. Sir driving this time. He filled their canteens and gave them their lunch in burlap sacks, very much like the sack that contained his sunflower seeds.

"How's it goin' Zero?" Mr. Sir asked, turning on the nozzle.

Zero shrugged, then took his canteen and lunch from Mr. Sir.

He didn't feel particularly hungry.

Maybe he should just continue to dig, then eat later when he was back in his tent.

Glancing over at the others, Zero wished he hadn't. He had just been in time to watch Barf Bag double over, then throw up in his own hole.

Zero shuffled towards his hole and slumped down against his dirt pile. He peeked into his sack. There was a spam ham sandwich, some sort of cheese crackers and an orange.

He stuffed the food down and peeled his orange slowly. He tossed the peels into the air, and watched them fall back down. The bright orange colour reminded him of his small yellow bedroom...

Straining his memory, Zero took a slice of the orange and crammed the piece into his mouth. The sweet juice felt like heaven in his dry mouth.

His memory of his mother was starting to slip away. He could hardly remember what she looked like.

Sighing, Zero got up once again. He picked up his shovel, blew some of the brown locks away from his forehead, and continued to dig.

---

There. Five feet deep, five feet wide.

Zero was the first to finish digging.

All the other boys had crowded around to look.

"I wish my first hole had been that easy!" Squid said in awe, "I remember that hole... that was real hard, man."

"Tough, dude," X-Ray agreed, lightly punching Zero's arm.

"How'd you do it?" Zigzag wanted to know.

Zero just shrugged. He picked up his canteen and took a long drink. The others watched him with intensity.

Then Zero gathered up the last of his saliva, and spat into his hole.

He picked up his canteen and shovel, and began to walk back to the compound.

"He is still the weirdest dude I've ever met," Magnet stated, watching Zero's retreating back.

"And how'd he know to spit in his hole?" X-Ray wondered out loud.

"I really don't like watching other people spit in their hole," Barf Bag said, looking sick. They all knew that look very well; it was the look he had before he threw up.

"Whoa! PEOPLE, RUN!" Zigzag said, scrambling up from Zero's hole and scattering away. The others all ran off as Barf Bag emptied his stomach of the spam ham sandwich.

---

Zero took his four-minute cold shower, then plopped himself on his cot in the tent. There was a Wreck Room where all the boys were allowed to go to after digging their holes, but he didn't feel like it.

He was desperately fighting his mind for the memory of his mother. If he ever forgot her, he'd never forgive himself...

Armpit entered the tent some moments later. He didn't say a word to Zero, which suited him just fine. He walked over to his crate, collected his clothes and went off to the shower stalls.

A year and a half of this, Zero thought miserably, his eyes fluttering shut, What a world...

---

A month and a half passed by as Zero continued to dig his holes. He was always the first to finish. He had become the fastest hole-digger around.

But he didn't socialize with anyone at all. He woke up at 4:30am, ate breakfast, got a shovel, had his lunch, dug his hole, took his shower, sat by himself in the Wreck Room, ate his dinner, and went to bed.

And all through that, he didn't speak a word. The others had given up trying to make him talk. Mr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir had grown used to asking him questions and recieving a nod, a shrug or nothing at all in return.

To X-Ray and the others, Zero was just another boy who slept in their tent, another boy who dug up a hole and another boy who sat at their table at dinner and breakfast.

Just another person in their group.

Not that they weren't friendly towards him; they were. But Zero stayed quiet and rarely spoke that it was hard for them to manage a good conversation with him.

While Zero was creating a barrier between him and the others, Barf Bag was growing more and more sick. He threw up more often and couldn't dig his hole properly. But none of the counselors let him rest. He had to dig his hole. He had to build character.

It was all part of the Warden's rule.

Zero wondered who the Warden was.

And why everyone seemed to follow him and his rules. He must be really tough and big.

But of course, Zero didn't care. He was just there to dig his hole. Nothing else.

Building character...

Zero stabbed at the dirt harder than necessary, and threw it over his shoulder.

Above him, he heard some yells and cries.

"What are you doingm Barf Bag?!"

"Watch out!"

"HEY, TAKE CARE THERE'S A SNAKE!"

"BARF BAG!"

Zero looked up at Magnet, who was walking past his hole, murmuring his head off what sounded suspiciously like swear words in Spanish.

"What's going on?" Zero wanted to know. It was one of the rare occasions where he spoke. Magnet didn't seemed to be too surprised, though. He was still talking in Spanish, while staring ahead at something Zero couldn't see, as he was too far down in his hole.

Magnet said nothing to him; just offered Zero a hand, which he took. Magnet hoisted him up with one lift, and Zero watched Barf Bag, without his shoe or sock, edging nearer to a rattlesnake.

"Don't do it!" X-Ray yelled.

"Holy crap," Zigzag said, staring wide-eyed.

Zero also stared. Barf Bag gave a cry as the rattlesnake stung him.

The other five boys all swore loudly and ran up to him, as the rattlesnake hissed and slithered away. Zero remained stationary, unable to believe what had just happened.

He watched rattlesnake slide away.

He wondered if he dared to let himself be bitten as well.

Was he insane?!

Zero shook his head clear and ran across to Barf Bag as well. He was moaning in pain and had grown pale and cold with sweat.

"Barfy, you alright?" Squid exclaimed, kneeling beside him.

There was no answer.

"There's the truck!" Armpit yelled, "OI! MUM! MR. PENDANSKI! BARF BAG GOT BITTEN BY A RATTLESNAKE!"

He was running up to the water truck, waving his arms about maniacally.

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----A/N: Oooh. OOOH. And it shall yet again begin! With Stanley! =] I have a guest speaker! He is completely and utterly ADORABLE! INTRODUCING...

ZERO!

Zero: ((smiles))

Not just Zero, but him at his three-year-old stage, with Jaffy and his WONDERFULLY FLUFFY HAIR! BWAHAHAHA. Hello, Zero. How are you today? Anyway, I do believe you have something to say. HINT, HINT.

Zero: I wike cwookieth.

...Not that, sweetie. The other thing I told you -- I mean, the other thing.

Zero: ...Pweathe review! The authwor will gwive cwookieth! ((grins))

...Well, yeah. The cookies. Right. ((holds cookie jar and gives shifty eyes)) Zero, please repeat to the newcomers!

Zero: PWEATHE REVIEW!

GOOD BOY! You heard the cutie, REVIEW. YAY FOR YOU! Virtual cookies to all! Hehe. PLEASE review... for my birthday? It's in a week! And I shall finally be 13! No more being the only 12-year-old left in the grade! YAYNESS! Lol.

And of course, thank you for reviewing. I mean, where would I be without you? NOWHERE! Exactly! So thanks a lot! =] I would hug you, but I probably live too far away! But if I could, I would track you down and hug you! For the time being, go ahead and hug 'lil Zero. He's sticking around for the next forty-eight hours.

Zero: ((waves))

Well, au revoir! --MSQ.