They traveled for a while, following the river. Gomamon was swimming while the rest were walking along the side. Amaya stuck close to Matt and Alopexmon stayed close to her as they walked along.
"These trees are beautiful." Amaya heard Sora say from behind her
"Yeah, they're really different," Izzy agreed "And I just thought they were subtropical."
"Whatever they are, they're aggravating my hay fever." Joe did sound rather stopped up, but Amaya was getting tiered of his complaining.
"Hey Joe," Matt called back "Is there anything you don't complain about?" Gabumon and Amaya chuckled slightly.
"Digital monsters, exactly who came up with that name anyways?" Izzy inquired
"Just call us digimon," said Tentomon "We like that."
"I only asked because your composition isn't at all machine like." Izzy continued
"Oh really…" Tentomon's voice held a warning before he fired up an electrical current around his wings, slightly blinding Izzy who was walking beside him.
"Hey, watch it!" Izzy cried, covering his eyes.
"So Patamon," T.K. began "Can you really fly?" Amaya grabbed Matt's hand, but when he turned and opened his mouth to ask what she was doing she shook her head and put a finger to her mouth before speeding up her walking pace slightly. Her grip on Matt's hand made it so he had to speed up too, causing them both to be walking slightly closer to T.K., before beginning to walk at a normal pace again so not too get too close. Matt's eyes lit with understanding and he nodded before looking forward again and continuing to walk.
"Of course," said Patamon, jumping into the air and beginning to fly, except that not only was he struggling but he was also going backwards.
"Wow, that's cool. But you're going the wrong way." Amaya chuckled slightly
"I'm faster than that. Watch." Now Biyomon was trying too, this time both Amaya and Matt laughed slightly as they watched the two digimon struggle to fly, and fail spectacularly, going backwards instead.
"Wouldn't it be faster to walk?" asked Sora as both the digimon land on the ground, panting slightly in exhaustion.
"Palmon," began Mimi "I've been meaning to ask. Who does your hair?"
"It's natural," Palmon replied "I wake up in the morning like this."
"Wow," Mimi cooed happily "Maybe you can let me work with it."
"Do you think you put too much emphasis on appearance?" Palmon asked
"Well…" said Mimi "honestly I've never really thought about it."
"Honestly, I kinda like my hair the way it is…" said Palmon, Amaya could tell that she was slightly embarrassed.
"Once I get back this is gonna make one great story." Amaya heard Tai mutter from up front "Yep, but of course not a single soul will ever believe me." Amaya had to agree, she was having trouble believing it and she was living it.
"That kawagamon back there…" Amaya looked towards Izzy, was that what the big bug was called? "He was huge."
"And he's not the only one," said Tentomon. Gabumon stopped, causing both Matt and Amaya to stop as well, and sniffed the air.
"Ah…nothing like the ocean." He said.
"Haha, everybody in the water!" Gomamon laughed happily.
"Hey, let's build a giant sand castle!" called T.K.
"Oh…I forgot my bathing suit," moaned Mimi causing Amaya to sigh in exasperation. Suddenly the sound of ringing could be heard from a short ways off.
"Wait a minute!" Called Matt "listen! What's that?"
"A phone," said Tai
"Either that or we're all hearing things," said Sora. The group hurried along until they could see along the beach. There, on the beach, sat several pay phone booths in a row. The group started running towards them, excited.
"I told you!" cried Joe "All we needed was a phone! We're saved!" As they ran towards the phones Amaya could feel the excitement rolling off of the other children, but she could also feel the confusion from the digimon. Amaya herself wasn't sure what she felt, did she want to go back? She wasn't sure…
Tai was the first one to reach the phones and opened the sliding glass door to answer it, but once he did it stopped ringing.
"Huh?" Tai was confused.
"Why'd it stop ringing Tai?" asked Agumon
"Wrong number?" Tai guessed
"Well that's bizarre," said Sora
"My theory is aliens," said Izzy, causing Amaya to turn and stare at him "They've set these phone booths out as a trap."
"If we can find a place that delivers, let's order pizza." Matt called, ignoring Izzy.
"Whatever you get, no anchovies for me," said Mimi
"The question is; what are these doing here at the beach." Sora pointed out.
"So people can call their parents for a ride home," asserted Joe
"Parents?" asked Gomamon "What exactly is a parents?" All the children except Amaya turned to stare at him in mute horror.
"That's it," said Joe "I'm outa here."
"Does anybody have any loose change?" asked Tai
"Why?" asked Izzy
"Obviously I'm gonna make a phone call to get some help," said Tai
"Ah," said Izzy in understanding "use my phone card. The aliens can bill me. Here." Amaya was able to keep from bursting into laughter, but it was a near thing.
"Maybe there's a courter in one of the slots!" said T.K. as he took off towards another of the phone booths.
"I'm calling daddy," said Mimi as she moved towards another phone booth.
"I'm hooking up to the internet," said Izzy
"I'm calling collect," was Matt's comment.
"Dibs on booth four!" called Sora
"H-hey guys!" called Joe, running to get his own booth "Wait for me! Come on!" Amaya sat down on the ground next to Alopexmon a good while away from the phone booths to watch the others. It soon became evident that none of the phones were working as all the other children were obviously becoming annoyed and agitated, some of them moving to different booths. She was far enough away that she couldn't hear what any of them were saying, but she could feel their frustration, confusion, and anger.
Eventually, one by one, they gave up and came to sit with Amaya and Alopexmon and watch the others continue to try. After a while only Joe was left trying to call someone. T.K. was sitting next to Amaya with Patamon laying in front of him and Matt was standing next to them both with Gabumon standing with him. Izzy standing near him and Tai was sitting a short whiles away sitting with Agumon.
"Very curious…" said Izzy "does Joe always behave like this?"
"Every single day…" sighed Tai
"No matter what number or how many times he dials those phones aren't gonna work," Matt pointed out.
"Well I'm gonna keep searching for a boat or something," said Tai, standing up.
"Hey, wait a minute!" called Matt "Even though we can't call out of here there's always a chance that someone else might be able to call into us." He had a point, but Amaya didn't think it was very likely. Tai's skepticism matched Amaya's and showed on his face.
"It's a waste of time doing nothing but sitting here," he pointed out.
"I'm gonna stay here for a little while and see if anyone calls," Matt said stubbornly "besides, everyone could use a little rest." Matt had a point, Mimi was sitting next to T.K. with Palmon sitting next to her and they all looked rather pathetic. Amaya saw Tai look over and notice this and frown.
"And I'm getting pretty hungry too," said Izzy
"You know why?" asked Tai "Cause we haven't eaten anything all day. Ok, break time everybody!" Sora sighed in relief from by a ridge with Biyomon.
"Does anybody else have any food?" Sora called "I think the only thing I have is…huh?...is that gadget that fell out of the sky at camp." She pulled her gadget off of her waistline.
"I forgot all about those weird gizmos," Tai confessed, pulling his out as well.
"If anybody's got a pink one I'll trade," said Mimi, looking at hers that she had attached to the strap of her bag.
"What are they anyway?" asked T.K.
"We wouldn't have them if they weren't important," Matt pointed out
"If I could take mine apart…" Izzy trailed off as his stomach growled "Um, that is, after I get something to eat. I'm really famished." Sora began to dig through her small pouch on her waist and pulling stuff out.
"Well the only thing I got is my emergency supplies that have got a first aid kit, some bandages, and some medicine, but that's about all I've got…" Sora trailed off. Izzy took out his computer and opened it.
"I have my trusty laptop computer, and a digital camera, oh! And I've got a small cell phone too," said Izzy "Of course not one of them have worked since we got here." Tai crouched down next to Izzy.
"I can't believe you dragged all that computer stuff to summer camp," said Tai. Off to the side Amaya began slowly unpacking her bag quietly, not drawing attention to herself. The others continued without noticing what she was doing.
"And what do you have?" Izzy asked annoyed.
"Uh…let's see…" Tai dug through his pockets "There's my mini telescope."
"Sorry, but I don't have anything to eat either," Matt apologized.
"Hey, look at what I got," T.K. said happily.
"Hm?" Matt turned to look at his younger brother.
"Check it out," T.K. took off his backpack and opened it, revealing several snacks.
"Wow, look at all those goodies," said Mimi "Why don't you be a good little boy and share those treats with dear sweet Mimi." Amaya sighed quietly at Mimi's attempt at manipulation.
"Ah, you don't have to be so nice Mimi, I'm happy to share, you're the best." T.K. turned to Matt "Isn't she cute?" Matt looked rather embarrassed.
"Forget it!" said Matt
"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," Tai complained
"I'd settle for a small cow," Izzy agreed
"Mimi what have you got in that big bag?" asked Sora "Some hair brushes and makeup?"
"Uh… well let's take a look..." Mimi said, opening her bag and naming off the things as she pulled them out "Here's a compass, cooking fuel, flashlight, one of those knives with all the things, and some other stuff..."
"Wa..." Even Amaya was surprised, who would have thought that Mimi would be the other person with survival supplies?
"Why didn't you tell us you had a compass back when we needed one!" Matt complained
"I thought it might be kinda fun to see how far we could get without one," said Mimi "besides it's broken."
"Well so much for finding out way out of here," said Tai "It seems that all our compasses and stuff are broken."
"Although," said Matt "we could use the cooking fuel to make a signal fire."
"That's true," said Sora "or I guess we could barbeque some telephones."
"Hey Amaya what abou-" Matt cut himself off as he turned to look at her "Wow!"
"What is it?" asked Tai, turning to look "wow is right!"
Everyone else turned to look at Amaya as well who flushed under their stares. Sitting in front of her were all the contents of her shoulder bag, which included; a change of clothes (one thin long sleeve shirt, one pair of jeans, two pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks), three canteens (two of which were obviously full of water), a portable water filter, plastic tubing (1 inch diameter) flint, tinder, five packs of matches (inside a waterproof container) extra food (mostly dried "emergency meals"), a hunting knife (five inches long and in a sheath), the compass from earlier, a folded up plastic tarp (five foot by five foot when unfolded), a ten foot rope, a fold up bucket, a fold up spade/shovel, a one foot tall-one foot wide metal pot, two thermal blankets, a twenty-foot roll of fishing wire, two fishing hooks, a flash light (inside a waterproof container), an extra set of batteries (inside a waterproof container), a portable solar charging system (inside a waterproof container), a signal mirror, a set of five flares, a small sewing kit, a block of salt (inside a waterproof container), two rolls of duct tape, a hair brush, a new pack of hair ties, a bottle of cleaning alcohol, a small first aid kit. All of this was usually kept inside her waterproof shoulder bag in perfect order to make sure it fit. It was snug fit, but with everything in place it all fit, plus her years of physical training at a young age made it so she had no problem carrying all of it for long distances.
Amaya shifted nervously "I just wanted you all to know what I have..." she trailed off "but it might be a good idea not to use some of this food until absolutely necessary. Here we're near a food source, the ocean, and can get plenty to eat if we need to." The other kids stared at her in awe.
"Great job kit," said Matt, breaking into a smile. Amaya smiled back and gestured towards Joe who was still attempting to use the phones.
"That, and Joe has the emergency food. We should use some of that first," Amaya explained "that way the bag can be used to carry other supplies as necessary." The other kids turned to look at Joe; sure enough hanging over his shoulder was the bag of emergency supplies.
"Joe!" Tai called "Hey, Joe! You've got all the food!"
"Hey!" Joe yelled back "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone while they're on the telephone!?"
"But that bag." Izzy began
"This?" Joe asked "I just brought it to give to Mimi, today was her day to carry the bag!"
"I think he likes you," Palmon told Mimi, almost causing Amaya, who was putting away all of her supplies back in her bag, to drop the flashlight she had been holding.
"No way," Mimi denied, whether she was denying Joe liking her or the insinuation that he had a chance with her Amaya couldn't be sure. Joe came over held the bag out to Mimi.
"Mimi you have got to stop thinking of yourself and do something to help somebody else for once! Take a little responsibility!" Joe scolded. Amaya frowned, that seemed a little harsh.
"But," Mimi objected "That bag's too heavy for me."
"Listen, you never hear me complaining," Joe continued scolding. Amaya could feel the amusement coming from almost all the other kids at that.
"Guys, guys," said Tai walking over to them "listen, the most important thing now is that we've got some food to eat. So let's sit down and have some lunch."
"Mhm," Sora agreed