Chapter 7 – Group 1
Heading west was the best option they had. Nyota readjusted the backpack straps on her shoulder and stared at the ground in front of her to make sure the path was clear. Pavel and Spock walked in front of her, making sure they went due west. Hikaru was behind her, ready to be a pillow if Pike fell forward. Behind him was their teacher, his arms slung around Scotty's and Bones' shoulders, both boys holding their own against the man's immense weight. Jim brought up the rear, occasionally propelling Pike forward when he faltered.
Walking on one leg must be hard, she mused. How badly she wanted to talk and break the silence, but they were in no position to talk anymore. They couldn't afford to be distracted.
She would admit that sitting and waiting would have been their best option at the start. Then Pike had caught his foot between two branches and it had snapped, eliminating any chance at waiting. They needed to move and get him to safety. The bruises on his ankle had looked horrendous when she'd glimpsed them (when he took his shoe off) and every time she closed her eyes she pictured the swollen flesh on her own skin, restricting her movements.
Now they were walking. It was nothing heroic or even glamorous. It was boring. The backpack was digging into her shoulders and her feet were tiring from walking around all morning. Rest sounded amazing, but they couldn't afford to rest, and Nyota wouldn't rest. She was a strong-willed girl and she didn't want to give in to weakness.
Spock sniffed the air. "We're near the lake. I can smell it."
Nyota sniffed too, but didn't detect anything. "What can you smell?"
"There's a kind of… fresh smell. I don't know how to explain it." He was about to continue when Pavel let out a cry of delight.
"Here ve are! Ve are close!" He turned ninety degrees and kept moving along the water's edge, his shoes squelching in the mud. Nyota was glad she had worn old shoes.
Now they had mud to contend with. Several times along the waterline the mud gave way to dense undergrowth and they had to move around it. The late-morning sun flared blindingly off the lake's surface, forcing the children to squint.
"Hold up," Jim said suddenly. They stopped in the mud and he changed with Scotty and Bones, allowing the red-faced, sweating boys a respite. The girl felt a glow of warmth for the boy she hated.
Spock tapped her shoulder. "I'll take the bag." She was all too happy to hand it over until he sagged under its weight, spluttering slightly. "No! No, it's okay. I've got it." He let out a puff of air and straightened his back, going cross-eyed as his glasses slipped down his nose. Nyota was quick to stop them, noting that his sweaty face was the cause of the slipperiness. He gave her a weak smile and moved behind her, trudging heavily.
Walking was easier now, though she was getting very tired. She comforted herself with the thought that Jim and Hikaru had it worse than her: they had to support a full-grown man. As they moved across more mud she squinted at the water ahead, fighting the glare. Was it…?
"I see people," she gasped, shading her eyes. "Yes! There are people in canoes! We're going the right way."
Pike let out a sigh of relief and his eyes fluttered closed for a second. Bones looked back at him worriedly. "Do you need painkillers? I can give you more-"
"No," the teacher said forcefully. "Those ones are very weak, and we're close enough. I can hang on." He gritted his teeth and put more weight on his good leg, crushing Jim in the process. The blonde boy didn't complain, much to Nyota's surprise.
The people were closer but no one noticed the sweaty, muddy, and downright messy group. Pavel stopped looking at the compass and walked faster, breaking into a run as the raft-builders came into view. He shot past the shocked children (who were at the testing stage of their rafts) who looked even more dumbfounded at the ragtag group that followed him.
The group leaders, Thomas Harewood and Hannity Brackett, raced up. "Do you want us to help?" the man asked.
"No," Pike murmured. "The boys are doing just fine. Stay with your groups." The two watched the six children and one adult slowly move away to the first aid cabin.
Pavel was already there, gabbling to the nurse in charge. She took one look at the group and her eyes widened at Pike's muddy ankle. "Sit," she ordered. "The rest of you wait outside."
They followed her orders and sat on the steps outside, exhausted. But one question was nagging at Nyota… "Where did you learn to splint?" she asked Bones.
"My mum is a doctor in the country. She used to take me out on jobs with her and teach me things. She had to stop when her boss found out." Bones sighed and rubbed his face. "At least we're back now. Hopefully there's no lasting damage."
"We can't have been out there for more than three hours," Hikaru sighed. "We were there at eight and it's not lunch yet. Lunch is at eleven. His ankle wasn't broken for that long."
"We shoulda bin payin' attention," Scotty said hollowly. "If on'y tha clues weren't so vague we coulda figured ou' tha righ' path and found wha' we were supposed to be lookin' for."
"Oh yeah… it was a competition." Nyota laughed humourlessly. "I guess Group 2 won overall. We only had two wins and they'll have three by lunchtime."
"Food…" the little Russian boy sighed. Everyone looked at him and he blushed.
Bones looked angry. "That bloody Camp food kept me up half the night!"
"Yeah, the toilet was his new best friend," Jim teased. Was it just her, or did Jim look disappointed when Bones didn't bat an eye at the jibe?
"Camp food plays with your intestines because they use bad ingredients. Don't blame me if all of yous fall in love with a toilet in the next few days." The bell for lunch rang and he glared. "Heed my warning."
The cabin door opened and the nurse looked down at them, collapsed on the steps. "Your teacher will be fine. You go have lunch and get cleaned up."
"Yes ma'am," Jim said sweetly, standing and leading the way to the dining hall, the rest of his group falling behind him. Nyota felt more warmth for the blonde boy at how calm and collected he was. He had the makings of a good leader.
They arrived at the dining hall and were caught in the rush for lunch. Seven tired children accepted whatever was put on their plates and sat together at the end of a long table. They were too weary to question why Nyota was sitting with them rather than her own friends. She just couldn't be bothered seeking them out, so she sat comfortably between Scotty and Hikaru.
Lunch turned out to be hamburgers. Spock had a vegetarian patty, but this time he didn't get smack from Jim for having it. Actually, they didn't really say anything. They had talked themselves out in front of the first aid cabin and were happy to sit there and eat. Regaining their strength seemed the smart choice of action.
Their peace was interrupted when a smug Khan passed by them and nudged Jim, knocking his face into his plate. The blonde boy wiped lettuce from his face and peered blearily at the tall boy.
"I would like to say that I'm happy for you," Khan snickered. "You're the biggest losers I've ever come across. Can't you read a compass?"
"We can," Jim yawned, "but we can't read clues."
"Is that why you slackers are so late?"
"No, Pike broke his ankle," Bones said shortly. Nyota smirked because even Khan wasn't stupid enough to pay out a teacher.
"We had ta ge' him back," Scotty continued. "He's in tha medic tent righ' now."
Khan opened and closed his mouth before curling it into a sneer. "You're still losers."
"At least we're losers who can work together," Jim said mildly. "You can't even decide who uses the shower, while we could decide on a course of action to get Pike back safely. I think we win."
"We won."
"We're a team. You're a dysfunctional twat."
Khan couldn't think of a snappy retort and stormed off. Nyota stared at Jim. "We're a team?"
"Yeah, we're a team," he sighed. He looked down at his empty plate. "The nurse told us to clean up. Let's meet up at the first aid cabin in thirty minutes. That should give us time to pack as well." They all nodded their assent and left the dining hall, Nyota branching off to her cabin that she shared with Gaila, Carol and Christine. It was empty, as the other girls were at lunch, so she was able to shower and dress in peace.
She felt so delightfully refreshed after her shower and slightly more awake. Towelling her body dry, she selected converse, jeans and a t-shirt with the Eiffel Tower on the front and pulled them on. Her hair was tied in a damp ponytail and she got started with organising her things, extracting clothes and other items from the mess on the floor. The other girls really were messy. She gathered her lose bits of clothes and stuffed them in her bag, filling it almost to the brim before remembering her bedding. So she had to rearrange everything to fit in the sheet and her sleeping bag. It took several minutes to get everything in and she cast her gaze around the cabin to make sure she had everything.
Her bag was packed. She grabbed a bag of chocolates and tucked them under her arm before heading out for the first aid cabin.
The others were already there when she arrived, looking much cleaner than they had before. She sat with them and offered out the chocolates to the grateful boys. They gobbled them up without a second thought.
"So," Jim said, "I spoke to my mum and asked if I could have a sleepover this weekend. She said yes."
Hikaru blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I asked my mum if the six of you could come over to a sleepover on the weekend, as in tomorrow. She said yes."
Nyota was shocked. "All of us, like me too?"
"Yes!" He smiled wanly. "We're a good team after all. I'd like to keep it that way."
They were only children, Nyota wanted to say, but she couldn't. The warmth was back and she found herself smiling at the blonde boy. "I'd be happy to come over. What about the rest of you?"
"My parents will be pleased that I have friends," Spock said quietly, peering at Jim through his thin-lensed glasses.
"Dad'll let me," Bones said dismissively.
"Keenser's headin' ou' for tha weekend, so I'm free," Scotty said cheerfully.
"I vill ask my parents," Pavel declared.
"I will too!" Hikaru declared.
A bell rang out and they all looked upwards at nothing in particular. "What's that bell for?" Jim wondered.
"That's the bell to tell you to get your things and meet at the entrance with bags so we can get out of here." They stared in delight as Pike limped out of the first aid cabin, a crutch under one arm.
"You're okay!" Pavel cried, leaping up and wrapping his arms around Pike's waist. The man chuckled and hugged him back one-handed.
"Of course I am, thanks to you spry chickens." He grinned. "You heard the bell. Let's go! I'm sure you all want to go home and get ready for that sleepover."
They shared a look and rushed off to get their bags. When Nyota reached the entrance she dropped her bag with Gaila's, Carol's and Christine's and stood with the gossiping girls. Her eyes wandered and she saw Jim surrounded by the rest of their group. He held a piece of paper and they were each scribbling on it.
She turned to her friends. "I'll be back." She went over to Jim and accepted the pencil from Hikaru, proceeding to write her number. "I'm starting to like you," she said stonily.
Jim flashed a cocky smile. "Don't worry Nyota. I only want to be friends with you. You're too scary to go out with." Before this Camp she would have bit his head off for such a comment, but now she took it as a compliment.
"Thank you," she said, warmth entering her voice. She looked at the rest of them. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow."
"I'll call you," Jim said in a low voice as she turned. Smiling, she re-joined her friends. Gaila peered at her suspiciously.
"What was that?" the redhead asked.
"It's a get-well note for Pike. Jim asked me to sign it." Nyota couldn't say the truth because Gaila would go insane if she learned that the dark-skinned girl was friends with her ex. It was a very delicate situation.
"What happened?" Carol asked anxiously.
"I'll tell you on the bus."
Alexander Marcus stood in front of the students and they quickly gave him their attention. "We have the results of the winning groups," he said, his voice projecting. "Group 2…"
After that, all the other groups didn't matter. Nyota was disappointed that they had lost, but they had learned something more important. Winning wasn't of any significance unless it was won by the team and not just one or two individuals. Group 2 relied on Khan and Nero for their win. Group 1 had learned a lesson: teamwork was better than winning. Just winning doesn't make friends, but teamwork does. She felt warm as she thought this.
Before the Camp she didn't know any of her group and disliked a few of them. If they'd won and remained as they were before, she wouldn't feel any better. They may have lost, but they had made bonds during the duration of the Camp that Group 2 would never have.
The buses arrived, Marcus finished speaking and there was a rush to stow away their bags and get a seat. Nyota sat with Gaila and the redhead chattered on about something or other. The dark-skinned girl twisted in her seat and smiled at what she saw. Jim was sitting next to Spock, discussing a comic that the black-haired boy held. Bones and Scotty were in front of them with earphones in, listening to an iPod that Scotty held in his lap. Across the aisle from them sat Hikaru and Pavel, the young Russian with his head on his friend's shoulder as he tried to fall asleep.
Nyota faced the front and turned her head to look at Gaila. "How did you enjoy Camp?" she asked.
Gaila smiled and launched into a lengthy explanation of the experience. Nyota listened, content to converse with her friend all the way home. It had really been a good Camp; very worthwhile. Needless to say, after the weekend her friendship circle grew.