Disclaimer: Yahoo! Lots of heart-warming reviews. Even if they are slightly critical, they are VERY important to me. You see reviews help me build my stories to make them better. And that helps a lot! ;D I'm in a good mood today. So I'll write some more. Sorry for the long wait…I was lacking inspiration. But now, you can read, read, read! And, oh yeah… I don't own the people ok? Ok. ;D
Chapter 8: Still lost
The hole was about 4 feet deep and about 6 feet in diameter. (A/N: Not nearly big enough to fit all 8 people!) But they were going to try to dig it like a burrow or cave, with a small entrance and a larger chamber beneath the surface. So one person dug inside while the rest waited for their turn back up in the sandy haze. Right now it was Zero's turn, and he was making the best progress of all. Zigzag poked his head down the hole and came back up saying,
"I think it's big enough to fit someone else now!"
Terry jumped down and started to help. It was cold and cramped, but it made her feel good knowing she was helping. After about 45 minutes, Zero left and Magnet came down as well. They both grunted with hard effort as they stabbed away at the dirt wall. The "burrow" was nice and big now, but it still couldn't fit 8 people. Terry was drenched in sweat by the time her shift was over. She crawled out, and then Armpit squeezed in and started to help. The sand was sticking to Terry's forehead, and she wiped it off. Remembering how windy it was topside, she took out the bandana and pressed it to her mouth. Opening her eyes for only a split second to see, they flooded with sand. She quickly wiped them and shut them tight.
'This is miserable.'
By lunchtime, the sand had died down quite a bit, and no one needed to cover their faces anymore. But the visibility certainly didn't improve. It was nighttime darkness all around. Terry could hear low, rumbling thunder in the distance.
"Hey, we're done! Come on down!" Called an exhausted voice from inside the "burrow". Zero, Terry, Armpit, and Zigzag all crawled in. It was fairly large now, large enough to accommodate everyone. But it was quite still cramped. Not that that was a bad thing…Terry was sandwiched in between Armpit and Squid. Everyone's legs were in the middle, as this was a fairly circular hole.
Through the entrance in the roof, Terry could see the thundercloud. There was a bright flash of lightning. Across from Terry sat X-Ray, his dark brown skin crusted with sweat and sand. She probably didn't look much better. The floor was lumpy and hard, but it was better than being outside in the cold. Which reminded her…
'Cold at this time of day? Oh man…'
She set her hand down on the floor, right on top of Squid's. Her eyes snapping open, she ripped her hand away, and folded it with her other hand in her lap. Squid seemed startled too, and looked at her. Her cheeks burning, Terry smiled sheepishly at him and then looked quickly away. Zero, watching, saw the whole thing. He smiled softly.
"I think it's staring to rain, guys. Look!" Said Zigzag, pointing. However, his long arm shoved Armpit, who shoved Terry, who got squashed Squid. Her head was crammed against his chest. She turned beet red again, and folded her legs up to her chest, covering her face.
"I think you're right, Ziggy." Said Magnet rubbing his head. He watched Terry and Squid with a suspicious eyebrow raise.
"What are we going to do? This little hole will get filled up with water, and then…" But he couldn't finish. Magnet, and everyone, knew it took a lot of work to dig this hole.
"We'll just have to cover it." Said X-Ray. He was serious. But everyone was too exhausted to create a disagreement, so they just took off their jumpsuits. Most of the boys were wearing T-shirts and boxers. Terry had on a grey tank top and blue shorts. X-Ray took everyone's jumpsuits and stood up. He still had to crouch a bit.
'Uuurg! Get your butt out of my face!' She thought, while rolling her eyes.
First he arranged the shovels slat-style across the hole, then stuck the layers of jumpsuits underneath. When he was done, it was pitch black in the burrow. And even with eight people squished together, it was still very cold. The only light came from Squid's watch. The rain could be heard outside, slowly growing from soft pitter pattering to a loud splish splashing. But, luckily, there was no water leaking through the roof.
"I stuck a shovel upright in the sand in case they came lookin' for us." He said quietly.
"Anyone up for a game of I-Spy?" Suggested Zigzag.
"There ain't nothin' to spy in here but black and that little glowy watch, you idiot!" Came the annoyed reply from X-Ray.
"Well, it does sorta illuminate things a bit," Said Squid. He pulled the watch off and settled it in the middle of the floor. It was on night-light mode, and had the screen light on continuously. Terry could vaguely see the other boy's faces. Their eyes were dark and a pale green glow outlined their faces. Terry shivered and pulled her knees in tighter to her chest. It was cold, and getting colder.
'This is CRAZY! This is supposed to be a digging, character-building camp, not a frikking wilderness survival camp!'
"This is all that bastard's fault," She muttered under her breath.
Armpit, who heard her, looked over.
"Who's fault?"
"Mr. Sir's. He was the one who hit me over the head last night. He was probably hoping I would be injured enough to go home. He probably thinks I'm a wimp and doesn't want me here." She growled. Armpit thought about this, and then plainly said,
"I don't think you're a wimp. The way you dumped chili all over Blake's face, that…that was sweet."
Terry couldn't help but smile.
"It served the pervert right." Armpit laughed bit.
"Hey, uh guys. I was thinking…you know about Terry…" He began.
"Ooooh! Thinking about Terry, huh? Ooo-OOF!" As Zigzag was saying this, a rock left X-Ray's hand and pelted him in the head.
"Shut up man, and let him finish!" Snapped X-Ray. All that escaped Zigzag was a small whimper.
"And…uh, I thought we could give her a name, you know, a real name," He said,
fiddling around with his hat.
"Aaaaanything but 'Girly.' Puh-lease." Spat Terry.
There was silent laughter all around, and she frowned in disgust.
"We should call you Chilly, 'cuz of the chili incident andyour chilly personality!" Said Magnet.
"That was pretty bad," Chuckled X-Ray.
"We should name her Reese…because of Theresa, …hehe get it?" Said Caveman.
"Only my Grandmother ever calls me Theresa. And only when she's scolding me…" Said Terry With a cocked eyebrow.
'God, I HATE that name!'
"I think it should be Cherry." Said Armpit. "Rhymes with Terry."
"It should be Vada." Said X-Ray. "Her file said she comes from A place in Nevada."
"You…read…my file?" Said Terry in horror.
'I'll kill him…'
"Hey, Squid here can't have all the fun, now, can he?" He said with a smile. Steam was practically pouring out of Terry's ears.
'HE READ MY FILE!'
Noticing the cross expression on her face, X-Ray rescued himself:
"I've been there once, it's nice."
The answer that came was a low growl.
What should her nickname be? You tell me. Come on! Don't be shy!
