before i start this chapter, i want to remind you of a few things in this story.(just in case you skipped to the last chapter-i always do that)
1. ZigZag is most indefinitely hurt. He's like a bruised apple that has been shallowly sliced on its back repeatedly.
2. Chanele was ATTACKED by the mayor of her town, but was sent to CGL on false pretenses(fyi-they didnt believe her)
3. So far, there is no romance.
4. A big fight just happened at CGL-not your regular fist fight. People could be seriously hurt- and in serious trouble.
okiedokie, now that that is settled, lets get on with the story!
Chanele had gotten used to the waking-up-at-4:30 by her third morning.
Sort of.
But what she definitely wasn't used to was having THE WARDEN(a/n: dun dun dun) storm into the tent, rip everyone's covers off, and scream at the top of her lungs. "ALL OF YOU! COME TO THE MAIN OFFICE NOOOWWWW!" Chanele was so shocked she almost didn't notice the Warden was a woman. But as she lazily pulled the orange jumpsuit on and tied around her waist, she grimaced in disgust. High waisted jeans...western style shirt...cowboy hat and boots...flaming red hair and thousands of freckles? 'She is the scariest woman I have ever seen...' Chanele thought as she numbly walked out of the tent without helping any of the boys up.
D-tent clustered together tightly in the main office, where Mr. Sir, Dr. Pendanski, the Warden and what must be the Texas Attorney General where standing stiff. Squid had his hand gripped tightly on ZigZag's shoulder. It seemed to be the only thing keepingZig standing up. Magnet rubbed his black eye, and Armpit spit a little blood on the ground. Some A-tent guy had sucker punched him in the jaw, causing him to bite down on his tongue fiercely. It was still bleeding.
"I need Ricky to sit in here for a second. The rest of you, wait outside. Alan, will you wake up the other counselors and get them to bring the other tents out here?" Mr. Pendanski said in a slightly less-than-cheerful tone. Squid nodded solemnly, then guided ZigZag to the rickity chair sitting in front of Mr. Sir's desk. Zig mumbled a thankyou to Squid. As soon as the rest of D-tent was out, they heard Mr. Sir yelling. Magnet leaned his ear on the wall so he could repeat what was being said.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF TROUBLE YOU'VE CAUSED, BOY? WE GOT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IN HERE, TAKIN' PEOPLES JOBS! ARE YOU LISTENIN?" Mr. Sir screeched in ZigZag's ear. ZigZag, overcome by pain and still drowsy from the sedative mumbled, "Yes Mr. Sir," but it came out more as "Yes, Miss Dirt." Magnet heard a 'SMACK' and grimaced. Mr. Sir should know better than to slap a kid in front of the Attorney General.
"Ricky, Mr. Sir is trying to say that you have crossed the line. One of those boys is in the HOSPITAL, Ricky. With a SERIOUS coma. We aren't sure if he'll ever wake up. Do you understand, Ricky? You almost killed him. You-" Pendanski was about to continue when the Attorney General spoke. "And you let this happen! In your camp! This camp is supposed to teach boys to be better! Not have them be worse! I'm sorry, Miss Walker, but I'm afraid that I'll have to let you go."
The Warden turned to Pendanski, infuriated. "DID YOU HEAR THAT? This is MY lake! MINE! This would've never happened if you would give the boy his medicine!" She whipped her head around to the General. "You don't wanna do that, Mr. Avery! Fire Pendanski! This boy is supposed to be on vital medicine! He has a condition!"
The Attorney didn't budge. "You are in charge of everything, Miss Walker. Now I'm not sayin' this is permanent. But we need to bring someone else to be in charge, for the time bein'. If the delinquents are just as bad, or worse, you will get your job back. Now come on with me. Marion, you'll be in charge until the temporary replacement comes. It'll be a good, respectable officer from Florida. Mayor of some city. Someone they can look up to." With that, the Texan grabbed the Warden gingerly by the arm and led her out the back door, away from the growing crowd of orange-clad convicts out front.
Mr. Sir slammed the screen door of the office and stepped out, with a sense of pride and authority seeping out of every one of his pores. He was holding ZigZag up roughly by the back of his neck. Mr Pendanski shuffled out after him, popped open a bottle of pills, and while ZigZag was yawning, dropped them into Zig's mouth. ZigZag instantly tried to spit them out, but Mr. Sir tightened his hold on the back of his neck, leaned his head backwards and used the back of his hand to smack ZigZag's mouth shut, forcing him to swallow.
"ALRIGHT, alright, QUIET DOWN! Stop chattin' like this is some Girl Scout Camp. I got some news. The Warden has been temporarily called to duty somewhere else-" Mr. Sir stopped when he heard someone coughing. Magnet put his hand halfway over his mouth. "Cough-she-cough-got-cough-fired-cough-cough..." The boys around him snickered with amusement. Chanele rolled her mismatched eyes. It only took one menacing glare from Mr. Sir to make Magnet stop. "So, until her replacement gets here, I'M in charge. And my first order will be that after you finish your hole,you willl shower, and you will go directly back to your tent. DIRECTLY. No long walks through the park-" he paused to glare at Chanele, "You will wait there until every one of your tent mates has returned. If they do not return before dinner, you may go without them. Pendanski will bring them to dinner. THERE WILL BE NO VISITS TO THE WRECK ROOM. You will return to your tent after dinner, and stay their until lights out. And you WILL be quiet. As for punishment-D and A tents- you are now under lockdown. You will not get water, shower, go to the bathroom, walk to the Mess Hall, or anything that doesn't keep you in the confines of your tent without a counselor accompaning you. And ZigZag here- you get to dig an extra hole, just for Shrimp-you caused all this trouble." ZigZag stared at him tiredly.
It seemed like time had barely passed when the water truck arrived. Chanele took all the energy in her body to lift herself out of her shallow hole. 'I'll never finish...' Chanele thought hopelessly. She looked over to ZigZag, who was much farther than her, and her jealousy was suddenly turned into pure guilt. 'It's my fault he has to dig another hole...' Chanele's mind wandered while she stood in line, behind Zero.
Chaneles POV
I had decided what I had to do. I had to let Ziggy know how much it meant for him to protect him.
I'm gonna help him dig those damn holes.
Yeah, I know. I am probably the worst digger in this camp. More likely the entire world. But whatever...if ZigZag has a brain he'll know it means more to try and help.
Ok, he's staring at me all wierd again. I hate it when he does that. I get this feeling that when he looks at me that way, it means he wants me to leave. But what am I supposed to do? I'm stuck here for 18 months. Besides, I know he'll like me better after I help him. And thank him.
Normal POV
"Hey, Zig!" Chanele greeted, attempting to sound enthusiastic, which came out more as sarcastic. "Look, I want to help you with your holes. I mean, you totally shouldn't have to dig two holes. Shrimp started it. And well, I know your hurt and everything...I just wanna help." Chanele's voice wavered when she saw the skeptical stare etched into ZigZag's handsome, dirt-caked face. "I'm not that hurt, Princess. I'm fine. Besides, you can't dig. Your worse than Caveman was 'en he first came here. And that's pretty damn bad."
She could tell he was lying. His body was slumped against the wall of his hole, and that still didn't support him very well. His body swayed and his eyes were glazed over, and he only had to turn slightly for Chanele to see that the scars on his back were reopening from bending over. She approached him authoratively, then put one of her tiny hands firmly at his elbow, to stop him from swaying and so he would look at her. "You're very hurt, Ziggy. Just let me help you..." She looked down at her feet before she finished the sentence, quietly-
"I just want to thank you."
With that, she looked up with puppy dog eyes. When he mumbled "Fine," she squealed with excitement and before she thought about it, stuck her shovel in the ground, stepped on top of it on her tippy toes, and placed a sweet, short, chaste kiss on his lips. Chanele looked up at him with a smile, only to see him expressing pure confusion. He touched his lips for a second. crossed his arms, and cocked his head to the side.
"What in the hell was that for, Princess?"
Chanele stared at him in shock. How could ZigZag ask her a question like that? With a small huff, Chanele spit out "Forget it," and stomped back to her hole. She looked up and crossed her arms tightly across her chest, looking out onto the neverending holes. That's when she saw a black Jaguar speeding towards Camp Green Lake.
The new warden.
It was past dinner time when ZigZag returned to camp.
He limped into the Mess Hall, still holding his shovel. It held him up as he attempted to walk towards D-tent's table. X-Ray, Armpit, Magnet, and Squid were all joking around, throwing food at each other. Zero spoke quietly to Caveman, who was nodding and laughing, but also looking over in concern to Princess. She had her head down, and had pushed away her food. She was playing with her hands in her lap and wouldn't look up. A stray tear slid across her tanned cheek and fell onto the table. But ZigZag didn't notice. Every movement he made felt like he was ripping new holes into his skin. Already, campers grimaced after he walked by, because of the long, crimson streaks across his back and stomach that were stained onto his orange jumpsuit upon the reopening of his scars. He had been so hungry, he didn't stop to take a shower, so an unpleasant musk of sweat and blood trailed surrounded his body. A droplet of blood trickled down his sleeve and dropped on the ground from his shoulder when he bent down to pick up his dinner from the lunch line. And even though his tough-skinned hands and labored arms were used to digging holes, they shook while he carried the suddenly heavy tray and slid it down in front of him on the table before taking a seat. ZigZag lifted his arm so that his shovel would drop, being a makeshift support, then let himself fall onto the bench were his campmates were sitting.
It had been a long day.
ZigZag's POV
Damn, I never thought this stuff would taste good to me.
But anything tastes better than dirt and blood.
Aw, crap, Princess is crying. What could be wrong with her now? It better not be what happened earlier today. What was I supposed to say? She's like, two years younger than me. And, she's not my type. I mean, she's a PRINCESS. Sorta. Or at least she was before she came here. Plus, she's almost a foot and a half shorter than me. But whatever.
Uh-oh, the new Warden is ganna be introduced. He's from the government. And you know what that means. They're probably trying to find remote places to land aliens. Or make sacrifices to aliens! Holy shit, we are sacrifices to aliens for the government! Or what if it's just me? He is most definitely going to be one of them. I better warn the guys.
Normal POV
"Hey ya'll, just to let you know, I have a feeling that this guy is for government testing. You know, for aliens. He's probably goin' to uh, sacrifice us to them. The aliens."
Everyone in D-tent burst out laughing except for ZigZag and Chanele. Even Zero chuckled a little. ZigZag looked slightly hurt that they wouldn't listen to them. Chanele shot him a furious glance but then turned her tear-streaked face back down to her hands.
"Yo, Ziggy, you are seriously loco."
"Man, you been diggin' too much. Your blood's boiled AND turned to dust."
"ZigZag, SHUT UP. You think your soo funny with all your"-sniff-"conspiracy theories, but they are all just dumb. You don't even know who the hell this guy is."
Everyone paused and turned towards Chanele. She sniffed again and attempted to cover her teary eyes. And the instant the new Warden walked into the Mess Hall, she piled her hair on top of her head, grabbed Squid's hat, and covered her head. This gave her clearance to look up and see the Warden. Chanele's eyes widened with horror and realization and she broke into a heavier sob. You could hear her saying a muffled "I knew it" through sharp intakes of breath. She bit her bottom lip hard and looked straight to the ground. The rest of D-tent was utterly confused, but became oblivious to her sniffles when they saw the new Warden.
A sharply dressed, intimidating looking 6-foot-even man stood before the delinquents. Despite the heat, he was in head-to-toe Armani suiting. His coiffed white-blond hair was slightly receding, making his cold ice blue stare even more intense. A stern expression was etched onto his pale face, and the grin that was currently spread across his features looked out of place and slightly creepy. A smooth, crisp and demanding voice then boomed throughout the Mess Hall.
"Hello boys, the name is Thomas Morrison. But I would really like you to call me Mayor. Like I'm the Mayor of your own little civilization here- Warden sounds so cold. I'd really like to get to know you all, so I'll be visiting all the tents later this evening. I'd really rather you not go to the Wreck Room for the next couple of days. Enjoy your meal."
He then took a seat by the door and examined the room. Chanele quietly sobbed into her hands, her body now shaking. Caveman shifted a little in his seat, then got up and sat beside Chanele casually. He didn't want to attract attention. He quietly conviced Chanele to tell the group why she was so upset. Her body still shaking and while she wiped tears away in their steady flow, she managed to get out four sentences.
"That's--that's him. The mayor of my old city. My old home. That's the mayor who tried to rape me last New Year's Eve."
With that, she stuck her face back down into her hands and shook violently as she let out uncontrolled tears.
A/N: Welll? How you like it? I know it took me a while to get, but I wanted to make it good. Give me some suggestions of what you think should happen next!