A/N- Just thought I'd say this, but I've been officially writing this for a year!! Actually, that's kinda pathetic considering it's not done yet, but oh well. So thanks to everyone who's stuck with me.
Chapter 27
Day 8 – Morning
Kelsi woke up in the morning with her back hurting more than her ankle. She struggled to stand up, feeling old, but perked up when she realized the pain in her ankle had gone away enough where she could walk but still bear the pain. She noticed Trent kneeling by the river, filling the container and limped over to him.
"Hey, need any help?" she asked.
Trent jumped up, nearly falling in the water, "Oh, hey, you're up. Yeah, there's another cup over there." He pointed to a spot right near where Kelsi had been sleeping seconds before. She began to hobble her way over, but he stopped her, "On second thought, you use this one; I'll go get the other one." He lifted himself up and jogged to go get it.
Kelsi and Trent spent the rest of the morning getting the container filled. The cups they were using were bigger than the ones Sharpay had used, but still weren't very effective. Trent snapped on the lid when the job was finally done.
"I was walking along the river early this morning," he said, "I found the marked path about half a mile upstream. We're probably better off using that instead of going straight to the woods and not knowing where we are. "
"Alright," Kelsi agreed, "Sorry if I slow us down. I can walk, but I limp."
"It's fine. We can take breaks. Ready to go?"
Kelsi nodded. Trent lifted one end of the container and began dragging it along. The second container had been left back at camp accidentally when the whole 'Zeke's Sick' scene had started. This was good, because with a limping Kelsi, what took Trent fifteen minutes this morning, took the two forty-five minutes.
"The tree's right there," Trent said. He set the container down and took a seat, "I think it's time for a break."
Kelsi sat down next to him, "Good. My ankles killing me." Suddenly her stomach growled.
"I think I remember seeing some berries over there," he said, getting up to find them.
A few minutes later he came back with two handfuls of bluish-purplish circles. He dumped one off into Kelsi's hands.
"Thanks," she said, popping one into her mouth.
"We can't stay too long," Kelsi suddenly said, "Zeke's counting on us. It's life or death."
"I almost forgot about him," Trent said, shoving the rest of his food in his mouth, "Let's go. You can eat while we walk."
"What's with the sudden motivation?" Kelsi asked, slightly amazed.
"I've hurt a lot of people, both physically and mentally I realize now. I don't want to do it again, even if it's not necessarily my fault," he explained, "I've decided I'm sick of being the monster."
"Glad you've learned you're lesson," Kelsi said, smiling. Maybe this is why we crashed, because Trent needed someone to help him learn, Kelsi thought.
HSM HSM HSM HSM
Midday
Zeke and Martha were in the tent, Zeke still sick.
"Are you sure this is the last of the water?" Zeke croaked.
"Yeah," Martha said glumly, "Go ahead and drink it."
"But you guys haven't had any all day."
"We're fine. We've been eating fruit, there's water in that. And Kelsi and Trent will be back, soon."
Zeke still didn't look convinced, but he took the last sip anyway.
"If you get thirsty again, we'll see if you can hold down some fruit. That should help," she said, "Just call if you need something." Martha left the tent, ready to give the group another update.
"How's he doing?" Ryan asked. Even he was being affected by this.
"He's the same as before. He just finished the last of the water, though," she explained.
"Kelsi and Trent should be back any time now," Taylor said, "Hopefully they got an early start this morning."
"But what if they don't come back 'til later?" Chad asked.
"We can try giving him some fruit. I don't know if his stomach will be able to hold it down though."
"Well when was the last time he… um… threw up?" Gabriella asked.
"Yesterday morning. He hasn't really had anything but water since then, though," Martha said.
"Well if it's the only thing we've got for him, we'll have to try it," Troy said.
Sharpay stayed silent. She looked like she was about to cry.
HSM HSM HSM HSM
Evening
Zeke awoke in the tent, startled by his surroundings. For some reason he thought he was in his bedroom.
His throat burned and he began searching for his water bottle with his hands. Oh right, it's gone, he remembered.
On cue, Martha walked into the tent.
"I heard you moving around," she said, "Need anything?"
"Are you sure there's no water?" he asked.
"Me, Taylor, and Gabriella were just looking around camp again. We didn't find anything. Do you wanna try some fruit?"
"Guess so," he mumbled.
Martha disappeared for a moment and came back with some slices of mango.
"You can just suck the juice out if you want," she suggested.
Zeke did that, afraid that eating food would cause him to get sick again.
Suddenly a commotion could be heard from outside.
"I'll be right back," Martha said.
When she left the tent, a huge grin spread across her face when she saw Trent and Kelsi with a container full of water.
"You're back!" she cried, running up to them.
"Why weren't you back earlier?" Sharpay asked. Even she, who had been depressed all day, was glad to see them.
"I twisted my ankle last night," Kelsi explained, "So I was limping all the way here."
"We should start boiling this so we can get it to Zeke," Gabriella said.
"Is he ok?" Kelsi questioned.
"He's gotten worse since you left. And he finished off the water earlier today. I was just giving him fruit juice when you got here," Martha explained.
"I'll start boiling," Taylor offered, going to get the pot they used.
Martha decided to go tell Zeke the news.
"Zeke! Kelsi and Trent are back! They have water!"
"Can I have some?" he asked, "This stuff is good, but I'm still thirsty."
"Taylor's boiling some now. We'll get it to you soon."
"Thanks again, Martha."
"No problem."
A/N- Yay! They're back! But Zeke's still sick. He's not gonna just magically get better because Kelsi and Trent came back. Reviews please!!
Oh, by the way, I'm probably going to be changing my pen name to xForever-Dazzledx sometime this week. I'm starting to get ideas for more than just Flight 29 Down related stuff, so I figured I needed something more flexible. It might not be exactly that, but that's what I hope for it to be.
One more thing, Happy Thanksgiving to anyone in America!