Chapter 4 The Wild Exercise Run
The next morning, Evan woke up, showered, had breakfast and brushed his teeth. He noticed Josh was outside on the deck and decided to join him.
"Yo, yo, yo," Evan greeted.
"Sup," Josh said.
"You sound tired as hell, dude," Evan said.
"I have no idea what I ate last night, but my stomach killed. I was tossing and turning. Didn't get much sleep at all," Josh explained.
"When do you ever get sleep?" Evan goofed.
"True," Josh said.
"But hey, I feel you, man," Evan sympathized. "You feel better today?"
"Much better now, just tired," Josh answered.
"Dude, I passed by that bathroom downstairs, it still smells like death in there," Evan laughed.
"Yeah, I was hurting last night," Josh chuckled.
"Hey, have you seen Noah at all this morning?" Evan asked.
"No, why?" Josh said.
"I was just wondering. He, uh, he looked pretty pissed after his fight with Jina yesterday," Evan explained.
"Is she the one with the short, pink hair?" Josh asked.
"Yup," Evan answered.
"What happened? I have no idea, I just walked right in on that," Josh asked.
"So, we were all playing Sorry and Ticy had grabbed us some snacks. Apparently, Jina got pissed and accused Noah of taking that last cookie that her friend Rattle wanted," Evan said.
"Rattle?" Josh questioned.
"Yeah, that Indian girl with the large hair clip thing," Evan said.
"Oh, ok, gotcha, I seen her," Josh said.
"Honestly, man, I don't think Noah's enjoying it here too much," Evan said.
"I would think he'd still prefer this over work," Josh said.
"Yeah, well…" Evan said.
Margaret walked out the front door and greeted the two.
"Good morning, Evan. Joshua," she said.
"Sup," Josh said.
"Good morning, Margaret, how are you?" Evan said.
"I'm doing well, thank you," she smiled.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Evan asked.
"We will be going on a walk throughout the camp," Margaret said.
"Like an exercise thing?" Evan asked.
"Yes. We will be going around multiple times," she said. "Think of it as our exercise day."
Josh went wide-eyed.
"Uh, I don't do the whole exercise thing," he said.
"Everyone here is joining, Joshua," Margaret said. "So, it would only be fair for you to join as well."
"Aaaahhh, friggin' balls and ass," Josh said.
Margaret sighed.
"Well, I'm a fitness guy, so I'll definitely be joining," Evan said.
Noah and Yu-Mi walked out the front door.
"Morning, Yu-Mi," Evan said.
"Good morning, Evan," she greeted back.
Everyone turned to Noah, who had a dead look on his face.
"Hey," he said monotone.
"You look like complete hell?" Evan joked.
"I feel it," he said.
"I guess that answers my question," Evan said.
"You're not alone, I feel a little like hell, too," Josh said.
"Well, either way, both of you get ready for a day of fitness," Evan said. "We're doing an exercise walk around the camp today."
"…I'm going back up to my room," Noah said.
"Noah," Margaret said sternly.
Noah stopped in his tracks.
"Everyone will be doing it," she continued. "That means you, too."
Noah looked at Josh and Evan.
"Both of us are going," Josh said.
"Mhm," Evan agreed.
Noah was silent for a few seconds, then sighed heavily.
"Fine, whatever," he said.
'"That's the spirit!" Evan pumped his fist.
"Evan, please stop talking," Noah said.
"…alright," Evan smiled.
Josh laughed.
Later that day, everyone stood outside the clubhouse.
"Ok, now," Yu-Mi started. "Today, we will be doing a fitness walk to strengthen not only your legs but your minds as well. We will be going around the camp multiple times."
Rana raised her hand.
"Yes, Rana?" Yu-Mi said.
"Will we be all together or splitting up into groups?" Rana asked.
"We will be splitting up but into groups of two," Yu-Mi answered. "I have already made the groups. They will be Satellizer and Ganessa. Elizabeth and Arnett. Rattle and Jina. Creo and Attia. Roxanne and Amelia. Chiffon and Ticy. Josh and Noah. Charles and Rana. Cathy and Julia, and Evan and Ingrid."
"What? Why do I have to partner up with her?" Ganessa shouted, pointing at Satellizer.
"Because I said so," Yu-Mi said.
"Ugh! Fine!" Ganessa said.
Everyone got with their selected partners.
"Looks like we're partners," Ingrid walked up to Evan, smiling.
"We sure are," Evan smiled back.
'Well, at least she and I have something in common, we both lost our best friends to death,' Evan thought. 'We'll have something to talk about and bond over.'
"Uh, Ms. Yu-Mi?" Josh said.
"Yes, Josh?" she said.
"If either Noah or I have to poop and we're nowhere near the bathroom, can we just go in the woods or do it by a tree?" Josh asked.
Yu-Mi stared at Josh.
"If Margaret or I see any fecal matter whatsoever, on the path or in the woods, we will make you clean it up with your bare hands. Do I make myself clear?" Yu-Mi said sternly.
"Crystal clear," Josh said.
Everyone got with their partners and began walking.
"You've got some weird friends there," Ingrid said.
"You can say that again," Evan said. "Some of the others I work with at Guitar Center are weird, too."
"Do you hang out with them outside of work?" she asked.
"Not really. I've thought about it but, we never have," Evan said. "Honestly, I don't have much in common with either of them. We just hang out in work, that's it. Both they and I like metal, that's all we really get along on. Other than that, nothing else."
There was a moment of silence.
"Did you take it hard?" Ingrid asked.
"Hm?" Evan said.
"Your friend's death. I assume you took it hard?" Ingrid clarified.
"Oh, yeah, bigtime," Evan said. "I went to both the wake and the funeral. Couldn't stop crying through either one. What about you?"
"Same here," she said.
"How close were you two?" he asked.
"Very close. We were only friends for about a year or so, but we were with each other every day," she said. "How long did you know your friend for?"
"Chris and I were friends for 12 years," Evan said.
Ingrid was shocked.
"I envy you. You should definitely be glad you had all that time with him," she said.
"I'm definitely grateful," Evan said. "For what it's worth, my condolences to your friend."
"Likewise," she replied. "I hope you find another friend like him someday."
"Thanks, but I don't think I'll ever find another one like him," Evan said. "He was the only one who literally like the same things I liked."
"Either way, I hope you do," Ingrid said.
"I hope you do, too," Evan smiled. "But you know the best part about me coming here?"
Ingrid looked at him questioningly.
"I met you," he finished.
Ingrid blushed and smiled.
"Me too," she said.
Later on, Evan and Ingrid spotted Arnett and Elizabeth sitting by a lake. They went down to greet them.
"What's going on?" Evan said.
Elizabeth and Arnett greeted them back.
"How was your walk?" Evan asked.
"Peaceful," Elizabeth replied. "How was yours?"
"Same here," Evan said.
"So," Arnett started. "Did you two talk about your friends who passed away?"
"How'd you know about that?" Evan asked.
"Ingrid hasn't stopped talking about you," Arnett said. "She said she's glad she met someone who she can bond over that with."
Ingrid turned away with a blush and an annoyed look on her face.
"Well, to answer your question, we did," Evan said.
Arnett smiled and gave me a wink.
"We also talked about wh-wh-wh-what the hell are you two doing?" Evan said.
Josh and Noah were walking up to Evan and the girls with lit torches.
"Oh, we were doing the neutron dance," Josh answered.
"And pretending its medieval times," Noah added.
They all stared at the two.
"…Why?" Evan asked.
"Because we got bored with the exercise thing," Josh said. "So, we decided to entertain ourselves with this."
The group went silent.
"Wait, how the hell did you two even make those torches?" Evan asked, still flabbergasted.
"Noah was able to do the whole 'rub two sticks together' and made fire that way," Josh said. "As far as the sticks, we got them from the woods."
"Wow, that's actually impressive. I don't know anyone who has ever been able to do that with two sticks. A-anyway, can you two please throw those torches away?" Evan said.
"Aw, why?" Noah said.
"Because not only are you two gonna set your own asses on fire, you're gonna burn this whole camp to the ground," Evan said.
"Exactly, please throw those away," Ingrid said.
"I agree," Arnett said.
"Come on Evan, we're not gonna set our asses on fire," Noah said.
"Yes, we're adults, you can completely trust-AHHHHH! MY ASS! IT'S ON FIRE!" Josh screamed.
The group watched as Josh danced around and slap his ass, trying to put the fire out. Elizabeth facepalmed. Arnett fell on the ground and held her sides laughing.
"Joshua! You're not doing what the firemen from grade school taught you! Stop, drop and roll!" Noah said.
Josh didn't listen. He kept dancing around and slapping his ass.
"I'm speaking perfect English, am I not?! I said STOP, DROP, AND ROLL!" Noah repeated.
Josh still didn't do it. Arnett continued laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! THIHIHIHIS IHIHIHIHIHIS PRICELESS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Arnett said through breaths.
"This is a perfect time to say this, 'hey josh, why don't you go jump in a lake'?" Evan joked.
"WITH PLEASURE AHHHHHHHHH!" he said.
Josh ran towards the lake and jumped right in.
"Give me these damn torches!" Evan said, throwing them in the lake.
Josh his head up from the water, body still down.
"Ahhhhh, that feels so much bet-AHHHHHHH! OH MY GOD! ITS GOT ME! IT'S GOT ME!" Josh screamed again.
The group looked down to see a baby snapping turtle who gripped itself onto Josh's crotch.
"HELLLLPPPP! I THINK IT'S GOT THE TIP! HEEELLLLPPPP!" Josh screamed.
Noah, Evan and Ingrid began laughing at the sight. Elizabeth chuckled and continued facepalming. Arnett was wheezing on the ground.
"PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHESE! MAKE IT STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!' she said. "I CAHAHAHAHN'T TAHAHAHAHAHAKE IHIHIHIT ANYMORE!"
"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Josh said.
Evan walked over to Josh, grabbed the turtle and yanked it off. He screamed in pain.
"You bastard!" Josh said.
Evan ignored him and looked at the turtle.
"You are one funny turtle," Evan said to the turtle. "Now go home."
Evan threw the turtle back in the water. Josh fell to the ground and held his crotch in pain.
"Hey Josh," Evan said. "Did you wanna get a BITE to eat later?"
Josh stared at Evan with evil eyes.
"If I wasn't doubled over in pain right now, I'd fucking drown you," Josh said.
"Ok let's get back to the clubhouse," Ingrid said.
"You gonna live, Arnett?" Evan asked.
Arnett laid on the ground breathing heavily, tears in her eyes and her face matching her hair.
"Yeah…just…give me…a few minutes…" she said, still holding her stomach.
Evan turned to Noah.
"We should probably take him to Elize. She can patch him up," he said.
"Oh, the nurse?" Noah said.
"No shit," Evan said.
Noah made a face and grabbed josh.
Later that evening, Elize was tending to Josh's wounds in the nurse's office. Margaret and Yu-Mi were present.
"What happened here?" Margaret asked.
"The pyro boys over here were playing with torches and Josh ended up setting his butt on fire. He also jumped in the lake and a baby snapping turtle bit his crotch," Evan explained.
Elize chuckled.
"Why were you two playing with torches?" Yu-Mi asked.
"Honestly," Noah began. "We got bored of the exercise thing and decided to entertain ourselves."
Yu-Mi and Margaret both sighed.
"Little children are easier to deal with," Yu-Mi said.
"Ah! Geez, what the hell is that acid?" Josh yelped.
"It's rubbing alcohol," Elize said, ignoring his sarcasm. "It's hurts a bit, but it kills any germs that could infect your wounds."
"That was a rhetorical question but, ok," Josh said.
Elize gave him a dirty look.
"Will he be ok?" Margaret asked.
"He'll be fine. Just a few minor burn wounds is all," she said.
Elize grabbed a tube off the counter and gave it to Josh.
"Neosporin?" Josh questioned.
"Yeah," Elize answered. "It'll sooth your burn wounds so they don't hurt as much."
"But, this is one small ass tube, won't I need more of them?" Josh asked.
"A little goes a long way. I have more whenever you need it," she said. "Want me to check your crotch area, too?"
Josh was hesitant but got and pulled his pants down. Yu-Mi and Margaret turned their heads in the opposite direction, as did Noah and Evan.
"Oh, this is fine. Just a little bit mark. You're lucky the thing got you through the jeans," Elize joked.
Josh sighed.
Chapter 4 end
A/N: Sorry about the late update to this story everyone. I recently got laid off from my job and have been looking for a new one, which is why I haven't updated in a while. But anyway, here is a new chapter! Enjoy!