CHAPTER 3

Mel jerked awake to someone shaking her.

'I don't think she's ever going to wake up, man,' she heard Armpit say.

'I'm up, just wait a minute,' she grumbled, rolling over and snuggling deeper into her pillows.

'Don't think we're going to save some breakfast for you just because you're a girl,' Squid teased. Mel sat upright so fast her head swam.

'Breakfast? Geez, why didn't you say so?' she grumbled. She trailed after them, still yawning when they entered the Mess Hall. She grabbed a tray and lined up behind everyone else, and was surprised when X-Ray made an offer for her to go first. She said thankyou with a quick smile and took her place at the front. She was served a bowl of soggy cornflakes, a glass of milk that didn't smell too good and an apple with a large bruise on the side. Hmm, not too bad, she thought to herself. It could be better, but it could be a lot worse. She waited patiently for X-Ray to be served, unsure where to sit. He smiled at her and led her over to a table at the far end of the hall. Another group of guys were seated right next to them and she noticed more than one of them looking her over as she sat down in between X-Ray and Zero. She listened quietly to them talking, only talking when spoken to or asked a question. She wasn't in a very talkative mood and D-Tent seemed to have picked up on it. She used a knife to cut of the bruised area of the apple and then bit into it.

'Hey why did you cut that bit off?' Squid asked.

Mel was surprised. 'Because it's bruised,' she replied, after swallowing. He reached over and taking it from her tray, popped it into his mouth, smiling.

'It tastes fine to me,' he said. Mel shrugged and pushed her milk aside. Squid drank that too. Mel shook her head in amazement. It was obviously not fresh and yet here was everyone drinking it as if it was the best thing in the world! The bell rang and she looked across to Zigzag questioningly.

'That's the bell that tells us to clear out and get to the digging site,' he explained.

'We'd better hurry or we'll be digging in the hot part of the day.'

When they arrived atthe digging site, they were each handed a water bottle and a shovel, Squid taking one with red tape stuck to the end of it.

'I swear it's shorter,' he told her with a wink. Mel frowned.

'Why does it matter if they're shorter?' she asked, puzzled.

'Because you have to measure your hole first, three shovels wide, five long, five deep,' Armpit told her, passing by. She watched the others for a few minutes and walked over to what looked like a soft part of the ground. Here, the surface was a slightly darker colour than near the others. She stuck her shovel deep into the ground, and found that it gave way easily. She measured her hole quickly and drew a rough line in the ground, outlining where she was to dig. Digging in themiddle until there was a reasonable sized hole, five feet deep, she then began making it longer. Looking across to the others, she noticed they had all dug differently to her, digging along the entire top, but not very deep. She took a few sips of water and laughed when Squid's hole collapsed and the side filled in. Curses filled the air as the others dug deeper, to collapse at the sides. Still laughing, she got back to work on her own hole,but stopped only a short while later when the water truck came around. Mr. Sir refilled everyone's water, X-Ray again offering for Mel to be first, and then sent them off digging again. By the time the truck came around again she was almost finished, and laughed when she realised that everyone else was only about halfway there.

'Whoa, Mel where did you learn to dig like that?' Squid asked. 'Or did you have a shorter shovel,' he added in suspiciously. Mel smiled.

'I found a softer part of the ground, like Zero, and I dug from the middle, so it wouldn't collapse. And trust me, I have never dug like this in my life – look at my hands!' She held them out to him, showing him the blisters she had gotten.

'Hmmm,' he commented, moving away. She returned to her hole and finished just as the truck came back around. There was a new person in the driver's seat and he parked right next to her hole, and he honked loudly when he saw she had finished, giving her such a suprise thatshe fell into her hole.Mel braced her arms onthe edges ofthe holeand pushed herself up, only to fall back down when the side chipped off. Zigzag was the first to reach the truck and laughed when he saw her stuck in her hole.

'Would you mind?' she asked, holding up a hand.

'Aw but I kind of like having you at my mercy,' he laughed, grabbing her hand to help her out. It was warm and calloused, from the digging, and made hers feel tiny. She smiled back and placed her foot at the edge of the hole, and using his hand, levered herself out of the hole. She found herself close against him. She looked up into his eyes, meaning to say 'thankyou' but found that no words came out. His blue-grey were filled with warmth, his mouth still curved in a smile.

'I'll bandage your hand when we get back, otherwise it will be worse tomorrow,' he advised. She mumbled a quick thankyou and handed her bottle to the stranger to refill. He was young, in his late twenties, with an open, friendly face.

'Ah, Melanie Rogers, I don't think we've met before? I'm Mr. Pendanski, the Counsellor; we'll be having a meeting tonight. I'm sure the boys would have told you all about it by now? No? Well come along tonight with the others, it's always so much fun,' he smiled. 'You did a good job with your hole and now that you've finished, you can come back with me, there's no point in you staying out in the sun when you can be back at camp having a shower!' Mel instantly liked this man, he seemed fair, and friendly at the same time. She thanked him and shouted goodbye to D-Tent as the truck drove off.