Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.
The four remaining kids sat around the smoldering campfire that afternoon. Cindy and Sheen sat next to each other, staring at Jimmy. Carl was twiddling his thumbs, wondering how he always got himself into these messes. Jimmy sat staring at the ground, sucking on the pit of a peach. He didn't have to look up to see Cindy and Sheen's cold gaze on him.
Jimmy spit the pit into the firepit and took out his gun. He rolled it over in his hands and felt the cold metal with his trembling fingers. He still refused to look at Cindy and Sheen.
Finally, Carl couldn't take any more. "I can't take it any more! I'm turning myself in!" he shouted while jumping up.
Jimmy allowed his eyes to turn upwards. He gazed at Carl thoughtfully while Cindy and Sheen started to yell at him.
"Are you crazy?" Cindy shouted. "After all of this, you're just going to walk over there and turn yourself in?"
Sheen jumped up and stared down at his friend. "You saw what those creeps did to Libby. You think they're just going to let you walk up to them? That Smith dude will shoot you dead before you get ten feet!"
"Jimmy, tell him he's being ridiculous!" Cindy said while turning to Jimmy for help.
"Yeah! Tell him!" Sheen said while also staring at Jimmy.
Jimmy put his gun back in the back of his waistband and stood up. He smiled slightly as he stared at his friends. "Carl should turn himself in."
Cindy and Sheen looked at each other. Sheen held up his hand. "I'll say it." He turned towards Jimmy. "Are you insane!"
Jimmy shook his head. "The cops know we fled into the woods. They also know we nearly killed four of their men. We haven't heard any sign of them in nearly twenty-four hours. That means they're not looking for us here. If they're not looking for us, they're waiting for us. That means they've circled the woods. They're waiting for us to exit the forest so they can ambush us again."
Cindy smiled a little as she realized his logic. "So you're saying that we send out Carl as a decoy? They get distracted while us three circle back and exit a different way?"
Sheen elbowed Carl. "Do you ever get their plans?" Carl shook his head.
"Close," Jimmy said as he walked closer to Cindy. "These guys know the two of us are geniuses. They know we might try to trick them. That's why we've got to get more creative," he said with a smile.
He turned towards Sheen and pointed at the gun sticking out of his friend's pocket. "You know how to use that?"
"Yeah," Sheen said with a smile.
"Are you afraid of blood?"
Sheen thought back to Libby's red-stained shirt that he had seen yesterday. He bit his lip and shook the image out of his head. "Nope."
Jimmy smiled wider and grabbed Sheen's shoulder. "Time for you to play the hero, Sheen." Sheen smiledwider thanhe ever had in his life.