Disclaimer: I Do not own the people! Ok, I want to write now. D
Chapter 7: Lost
She was waking up. Everyone in the room sighed with relief. With a bandaged head, Terry Janzen was going to be ok.
"We're sorry for the thing about the bed, alright?" Said Zigzag, remorsefully.
"You mean you're sorry for the thing about the bed." Said Magnet. Everyone laughed with fake cheerfulness.
"Ooooh, my head hurts so much…" said Terry. "What happened?"
Dr. Pendanski, who was standing behind the boys, quickly spoke up.
"You tripped and fell on your way to the wreck room."
Something about the way he said it seemed suspicious.
'It feels like someone hit me…'
"How do you feel?" Squid asked, almost nervously. Terry noticed the way his brown eyes softened when he said that.
"Aside from my head being ready to crumble apart, I'm actually fine." She said.
"That's good. Anyways, the doctor said that it was only a surface bruise, nothin real serious. Anyways, we thought you might be hungry when you woke up, so we saved you some breakfast." He pushed a plate over to her. She noticed she was in her bed, but she sheets were changed and the tents' spare table was pushed over to the side of it.
'Maybe these guys actually want to be my friends…' Terry smiled at the thought.
"Alright boys, get ready to go out." Said Dr. Pendanski. He turned quickly and left.
The boys broke apart and went to get dressed.
"How long have I been asleep…er…unconscious?" She asked.
"Since about… 10:00 last night," said Magnet. "Squid stayed up all night watching you." Terry looked over at squid. He blushed and quickly turned around. Terry sat up and ate some of the sausages that were on the plate. They were greasy and bland, but at least it was food. She secretly snuck a peak at Squid while he was changing.
'Woah…'
Quickly she put her orange suit over the shorts and tank top she had worn. It was super-baggy, and quite heavy. Picking up the milk jug, Terry walked out with the rest of them. It was still dark, and they were all in for a long day, as they were every dayThe boys were in a lineup in front of the shed labeled library.
'What a funny name for a tool shed!'
She grabbed a shovel from one of the rusty brown racks and moved onto a table with 'snacks.' Today's morning snack were browned apple slices and sticky honey pietas. Mr. Sir was in the blue truck, and revved the engine as a sign for them to get going. He stepped on the gas as they approached, and there was an unusually loud bang, and the truck roared off. The D Tent wearily followed him, Zero taking up the rear.
"It looks like it's gonna rain today, guys." Said Zigzag with attempted enthusiasm.
"That's what you say everyday, dude." Replied Armpit flatly.
"No, guys look! It's a cloud! It really is gonna rain!" Exclaimed Magnet.
Everyone looked up, and to their amazement, there really was a cloud. But it wasn't one of those cute little fuzzy white clods. It was a menacing black stormcloud, and quickly getting closer.
"Last time it rained HERE we had to wait 4 days 'fore it stopped. Then we had to wait another week 'til the mud cleared up." Said Zigzag, loosing his smile.
"It don't rain here often, but hell, when it does…it rains hard." Added Squid. He was frowning.
They continued to walk out to a new dig site. But instead of getting hotter, the day was remaining cool and blustery. Mr. Sir's truck was nowhere to be found in all the blowing dust.
"He doesn't usually drive this far out, does he?" asked Terry. The boys shook their heads.
"Mr. Sir always drives so we can still see him, and then he parks where he wants us to dig." Said Magnet.
"Well today he must want us to get lost." Said X-Ray. At first everybody coughed/laughed, but then they realized he was serious.
"In all my 6 months here he's never gone out this far."
They stopped walking. X-Ray's words started to sink in.
"We musta lost him in all this dust," Said Caveman with a cough. The wind was picking up, and it was getting harder and harder to see. Not to mention the sky was getting darker. All around, red sand swirled and swam through the air.
Terry pulled out her blue bandanna and put it over her mouth and nose.
"Good idea Ter.." But Squid was having a coughing fit. It was even getting hard to see each other's faces, the sand was so thick. Everyone scrambled to find something to cover their face with. Terry ended up having to rip her bandana in half to give it to Zero.
'Poor little guy. He looks like he's having a hard time.'
Everyone huddled together in a circle. But the wind was relentless. It just kept on blowing harder until Zigzag said:
"What…now…Ex?"
Instead of speaking, X-Ray grabbed his shovel and plunged it into the rocky ground. The rest of the boys joined in, and so did Terry.
'He's digging a shelter!'
It was very slow progress. Sand was blowing into their hole from all directions, and it kept filling up. So X-Ray had appointed Stanley and Terry to be the 'loose sand removers.' Everyone else dug the hole.
She pushed pile after pile of sand back up onto the ground. It was an endless task, and the little bits of rock just kept coming and coming. Her shoulders were aching.
'I must have dumped ten thousand shovelfuls of sand…'
"Hey…Sss…quid..what…time..(Cough)…is...it?" She choked.
"Half…p…ast…nine!" Came the strangled reply.
'half past nine…we've been out here scince six thirty! That means we've been digging for three hours…man it's getting dark…'
It was true. The whirlwind sandstorm was letting off a little bit, but now the sky was rapidly darkening. That meant only one thing:
The storm was coming.
