A/N: I know the Animorphs aren't really close, but this is more my idea of how they would act if they all chilled out a little and really enjoyed themselves. I do not own anything pertaining to the Animorphs. Those all belong to K. A. Applegate. Travis and Dave are my own characters.
Chapter 3: The Tide Comes In…
Later that evening, after all the tents had been put up and the sun had gone down, Dave assembled the group for an emergency meeting.
The normally serene Dave looked rather pale and nervous as he confronted the students:
"We just got word of a really bad storm comin' this way. It might hit us and it might not, but we might want to secure our things and/or move to higher ground. What say you?" Dave asked Mr. Dixon.
"What are the chances of the storm hitting our area?" Mr. Dixon asked.
"About ten percent, but it's a really bad storm," Dave said anxiously.
"Oh, only ten percent? Well, we'll stay here, then," Mr. Dixon said casually and turned back to the marshmallows he was roasting.
"It's your call, dude…your call," Dave muttered and went back to his tent, glancing at his favorites.
Jake turned to the rest of the group, "Okay, guys, ten percent isn't at all threatening, but if the storm is as bad as Dave says it is, we might not want to take the chance."
"Yeah, but ten percent? Come on, buddy; we just set up the tents!" Marco said. He had struggled with his tent for an hour and a half before he would allow me to help. Jake and Rachel had to laugh as they watched me pound in the stakes and whip the tent up in record time.
"Alright, so we stay here?" Jake asked.
"I vote here," Rachel said, her usual fearless self.
"I second," Marco added, not to be outdone.
"Thirded!" I said enthusiastically, warming up to the group. Having Marco ask for my help setting up the tent really helped me overcome a great deal of my shyness.
Jake turned to Cassie and raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Well, I guess I don't mind staying here," she said reluctantly.
Jake nodded and said, "I pronounce this motion unanimous."
As the group ate dinner, the wind that had been sighing through the trees behind them and gently ruffling the water began to reduce to a whisper. The air began to be thick with humidity.
"Well, time to turn in, guys. We've got the class III and IV rapids tomorrow," Cassie said excitedly. We said good night; Rachel and Cassie went to their tent while Jake, Marco and I went to ours.
"You look all bright and cheerful," Cassie commented as she and Rachel entered the tent.
"Well, Jason smiled at me tonight and said hi as I passed him in the dinner line," Rachel said with a grin as she rolled out her sleeping bag.
"Awesome!" Cassie said with a grin, "I hope you didn't stick your foot in you mouth with your reply." Inwardly, she was glad Rachel was interested in someone else. She hoped whoever it was would get Rachel's mind of Tobias. Her friend had been in kind of a rut concerning boys and dating since Tobias had been permanently stuck as a hawk, even though that was over a year ago.
Rachel pretended a hurt look and said reproachfully, "Not at all; I smiled, said 'hi' and walked on."
Cassie laughed and said, "That's my bud. You'll have him eating out of the palm of your hand in no time."
Jake and Marco were asleep in their tent before their heads hit the pillow. I was uneasy as I lay restless in my mini tent between the girls' tent and the other boy's tent. My own tent was barely big enough for me to stretch out in; I'd have to talk to Dad about upgrading when I got back. I eventually fell asleep, listening to the lap of water on the beach.
Nobody noticed the water beginning to ebb from the beach during the early hours of the morning. Around two o'clock, about 6 feet of riverbed had been exposed and a soft roar could be heard upriver.
I awoke and abruptly sat up in my sleeping bag, hitting my head on the low ceiling of the tent. Something was very wrong. There were soft patters on my tent that could only be rain.
"Jake….JAKE…" I said urgently, hoping my voice carried between the two tents. "Wake up, Jake!"
Jake sat up groggily and fumbled for a flashlight, "Wasamader?"
"Come on, we've gotta get the girls; something's not right," I said and unzipped the flap of the tent, rushing outside. It was really dark, but the rain was already slacking off and the full moon was a round circle behind the clouds. It would fill out into a ball as the clouds dispersed.
I took two steps through the light rain and pounded on the walls of the girl's tent.
"Wake up, wake up….Rachel, Cassie!" I yelled, rocking the tent.
"What in the world are you doing, Travis?" Rachel asked sleepily indignant as she stuck her head out of the tent.
"We've gotta get up; something's wrong," I explained.
Cassie appeared, fully dressed in her customary crusty overalls, alert and holding a flashlight. "Yes, something is wrong," she agreed.
A red-tailed hawk flew low over their heads, screaming a warning: "Tseeeeer!"
"Look at the water!" Marco exclaimed, looking out at the receding water.
I tore astonished eyes from the hawk now backwinging to land nearby and gazed at the river.
"Tidal wave?" Rachel asked sarcastically, still wiping the sleep out of her eyes.
"Don't be silly, we're on a river, not the ocean," Jake said, looking as if he doubted his own reasoning.
"No, LOOK!" I yelled and pointed upriver. Everybody spun around and stared up the river.
A wall of water twenty feet high was moving towards the little camp.
"Get to the trees," Jake said quietly, heading for the edge of the plateau as the rain intensified.
"What?" a sophomore asked, her face pale with fear.
"Just go," Cassie said and followed Jake down the plateau, pushing the girl towards the trees.
"WAKE UP!" Jake, Marco and I bellowed, sprinting between the tents. "WAKE UP!"
"Jake, there's no time!" Cassie yelled moaned, gesturing towards the river.
"Get to the trees!" he yelled again.
"Come on, guys," Rachel yelled and led the way to the dark trees, banging on tents as she went.
Sleepy heads poked out of tents and then disappeared with screams of terror as the occupants saw the watery wall heading for the little encampment.
Mr. Dixon appeared frantically dragging students from their tents.
"Mr. Dixon!" Jake yelled, "Make the students go to the trees!"
His horrified gaze fell on Jake and he seemed unable to comprehend what he was saying.
"The trees, Mr. Dixon, the trees!" he yelled again.
This he seemed to understand and pushed a nearby student towards the misty tree line, screaming, "Trees, trees!"
The terrified student ran for the trees through the relentless rain, grabbing a friend along the way.
The others and I grabbed panicking students and directed them to the trees as Jake charged towards them.
"Come on, we have to go!" he yelled, gritting his teeth and pushing them towards the trees.
They sprinted for the trees as the water raced for the bank.
Cassie paused at the edge of the trees, watching the majority of the campers struggling out of their tents still, screaming in terror as they spied the water rushing towards them.
The rain stopped suddenly, making the rush of the water the dominant sound at the moment.
"Jake, we need to help them," Cassie said, grabbing his arm and speaking low into his ear.
Jake frowned and then nodded. "Ok, Travis is in a tree, so we should be able to do this discreetly. Tell everyone to go back into the trees. Dolphin morph."
Cassie nodded and grabbed everyone. I saw them head into the trees and gasped. They'd be killed for sure! There was plenty of room in my tree still. I called frantically to them, but Cassie just looked up at me and shook her head. Stunned, I began to climb further up the tree to watch.
A girl right below me began to climb up. She grabbed for a branch, swung herself up to another and slipped on the rain-slick tree branch, falling back to the ground with a thud.