CHapter 12 Drugs

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Kat had been working here only a week now and she was already beginning to dread mealtimes because of a certain co-worker of hers...She sat looking around the room. No sign of him...yet. She did notice Mr. Cambell dozing off at his seat on the other side of the room though. She wondered briefly why he had to wear an ankle monitor and she didn't, coming quickly to the conclusion that she must not be seem like a flight risk. Realistically she had no-where to go anyway so where would she run? Running was quickly becoming an option...
"Goodmorning, Kat! Lovely day isn't it?" A loud cheerful voice broke her concentration before she felt a hand pat her back. She could tell it was only meant to be supportive...he didn't mean anything by it, but she felt an uncomfortable rush down her spine. His hand wasn't even there for more than a split second before it was gone and he sat down beside her.
"Where's Gwen?" David asked looking around like she had been moments earlier.
"Still sleeping, like she has been all week around this time." Kat smirked trying to be a little playful to ease the tension he was oblivious to. David chuckled.
"You're right. I just wish she'd help with morning cleanup." David admitted. "But I understand she needs her rest." He nodded. Now it was Kat's turn to chuckle. She still, however, was holding her left arm, squeezing rather tight.
"What is this bullshit?!" Max whined at the Quartermaster. He had brought over an extra serving of potatoes and gave Kat a stern look before dumping it out on her tray. "Why does she get extras?!" He folded his arms in frustration.
"Max, I thought you hated the potatoes..." Nikki tilted her head curiously as she shoveled a spoonful in her mouth.
"And I thought you hated silverware?" Max shot back with narrowed eyes. The quartermaster gave them all a disapproving stare and with an annoyed huff, he poked her in the side with his hook showing how her long-sleeve shirt she was wearing was baggy on her.
"Ain't healthy." He folded his arms and walked back to the kitchen. David's brow furrowed in concern. Kat sighed and continued eating her breakfast. It's not like she minded the extra helping; it was the big deal he had to make about it.
"H-hey Kat?" David called nervously. Kat looked up from her tray at him. "Don't push yourself today..." he patted her on the shoulder. She blushed looking suddenly upset as the anxiety rose up in her. It had a toxic reaction with the burn of the cravings that was already haunting her before that. He had been so touchy feely all week... David withdrew his hand. "S-sor-"
Kat raised her voice dramatically, cutting him off. "God, David! I'm your worker! You're my boss, so GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" She was red in the face and David's face quickly fell into an expression of remorse. Kat covered her mouth. Her face mirrored the same. Regret. The sound of her own voice rang through her head. Those words made her feel sick. Had she really just said that? and to who was technically her boss? Without another word she stood up and ran out of the mess-hall with her hand still planted firmly over her mouth. Max whistled, slowly clapping as the door swung shut.
"K-Kat wait!" David called standing up and running after her. He swung the door open again and ran out.
"Woah woah woah!" Gwen grabbed him by the arm as he tried to run past her. "What is going on? I just saw Kat storm out looking upset. What did you do?!" Gwen narrowed her eyes accusingly.
"I-I think I messed up, Gwen! I made her uncomfortable..." He blushed avoiding eye contact with Gwen. Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose realizing exactly what happened.
"David, you can't treat everybody like they're your best friend...some people have boundaries!" Gwen explained.
"I-I know that..." David blushed harder. "I didn't even realize I was doing it until she looked at me like that..."
"I'll go talk to her." Gwen sighed. "You stay with the kids." She tried to shove him back into the mess-hall.
"B-but I'm the one who upset her! Shouldn't I be the one apologizing?" David protested giving Gwen some resistance as he was pushed.
"We want her to forgive you, not hate you!" Gwen shoved him inside and closed the door. The sound of David's protesting to that comment became muffled behind the door. Gwen turned around and dusted her hands looking around for Kat.
"Oh shit..." Gwen sighed realizing Kat was nowhere to be seen.

Kat had fully intended to turn around and apologize to David for losing her temper on him. That is until she saw something strange in the tree line.
"Who's there?" She called cautiously at the woods. When she didn't get a response, she walked a few feet in before seeing the same yellow flash and rustle of leaves. "Come back here!" Kat commanded of what appeared to be a little kid. She followed the child getting more and more concerned by the moment. "Why aren't you saying anything?" she asked the child. At least she hoped it was a kid...She could never catch a full-on glimpse of him. He was always on the edge of her vision and always disappeared when she turned to look. She reflected on how embarrassing it would be to get caught chasing that platypus around the woods.
"There you are!" Gwen called as she ran up to Kat out of breath. She leaned on her knees in front of her catching her breath. Kat had to catch her breath since Gwen had just scared it
"S-sorry Gwen! I didn't mean to run off!" Kat felt a knot form in her stomach. She had yelled at David and ran off. She was fired for sure... "I thought I saw a kid..." She tried to explain looking around one last time, beginning to feel like she had imagined it. "Listen, Kat." Gwen began. Kat prepared herself for the worst. "David doesn't mean any harm...I promise you...He's just...kinda dumb." Gwen shrugged. "He thinks everyone at Camp Campbell is his family and forgets that not everyone feels the same." Gwen explained.
"...Am I fired?" Kat asked bluntly not being able to handle the suspense anymore.
"What?" Gwen stood up fully. "No!" She burst into laughter. "Hell, I've broken a guitar over David's head and didn't get fired! Frankly, I would have done much worse if I were you." Gwen wiped away a tear as her laughter quieted down. "If anything, I respect you more now!"
"R-Really?" Kat blushed raising a brow. "I feel kinda bad for yelling at him like I did...In front of everyone." Kat twiddled her fingers together.
"Nah, he's fine I promise! We'll go talk to him in a second. What was that you said about a kid out here?" Gwen asked looking around.
"I thought I saw somebody...but now I'm not so sure." Kat avoided eye contact. Gwen contemplated for a moment before coming to a quick conclusion.
"It's probably one of those wood scout kids..." She sounded disgusted. Kat gave the area one more look around. Whoever it was, was gone now. "Let's get out of here... They're probably watching us right now..." She shooed Kat towards the camp. The moment they got back David was spilling out tearful apologies, all of which were unintelligibly jumbled together with his sobs. Kat felt a twang of guilt for how harsh she had been. She knew he didn't mean anything by it, ESPECIALLY no harm.
"David, it's okay...I'm not mad... I'm sorry I yelled at you like that...It wasn't fair..." She said guiltily while at the same time trying to calm the crying man in front of her. Luckily for her it worked. David seemed to calm down quite a lot. They finished breakfast without another hitch. Kat was quite pleased to find that David cheered back up pretty quickly and that she could sense no tension between them. The tension she sensed, was coming from the campers. They seemed to be a tad frightened... Except for Max, who was quite amused. The poor kid was clearly used to this... After tidying up, the kids were all lead by a undead looking Gwen to the freshly mowed activities field. Kat watched from the flagpole, rather impressed with herself for the work she'd done before the sun had even began to rise. Mowing the activities field seemed to get easier every time she did it. She could practically feel the muscles slowly building back into her legs. She then stifled a little chuckle as David marched passed her wearing a green cloak over his uniform and a plastic set of small deer antlers on his head. He had a bounce to his step as he approached Gwen and the campers.
"Alright campers, today we're going to be combining two camps into one!" David announced excitedly to the children. He'd stayed up all night planning this whole thing out. Half of the kids moaned, annoyed with his enthusiasm already. "Magic camp, and theater camp! Today we're going to have a l.a.r.p.!" He said each letter individually, causing Nerris to chuckle. "Everyone, pick out a costume!" He gestured to the theater camp's costume rack. Half of which would make no sense in a mid-evil setting. The kids all rifled through it as Kat walked over to see if she could offer help putting any face paint on the kids. Neil was the alchemist and Nikki was the warrior like the last time they quested. Their costumes were a black chef's apron for Neil and cardboard armor and a cardboard tube sword for Nikki. Max didn't care for a costume of course, he just had Kat paint facial hair on him.
"Hey David?" Max called with a sly look as Kat put the finishing touches on his face paint.
"Yes Max?" David shot back excitedly like always.
"Why don't we have Kat join us in the larp?" Max suggested in a mock innocent tone.
"Uh, that's okay, I don't want to intrude..." Kat interjected before max could say anything else.
"That's a great idea, Max! Kat, would you like to join us?" David asked sounding quite hopeful.
"uh...y-yeah sure...if that's alright?" She had a worried expression.