I DO NOT OWN ZERO DAY. SHOUTOUT TO 90THEGENERAL09 FOR INCLUDING MY OC IN THEIR STORIES.

The next day.

After getting a good night's rest, John continued to write. Meanwhile,Dr. Robertson continued to read over everything and make comments about what John had told him. John could see that the doctor was treating him with skepticism over his claims of ignorance and it was getting pretty old, pretty fast.

"So even as you saw Andre and Calvin so easy around firearms, no red flags were raised?" The doctor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean, I was definitely worried about Andre, but I never thought that Cal could be like him." John replied as he had honestly thought that Cal had only stayed with Andre out of loyalty; not a shared sense of vengeance.

"So, what happened after you went shooting?" Dr. Robertson questioned John as the young man squirmed im his seat under the Doctor's piercing gaze.

"You mean, when was the next time I saw Cal or what happened right after?" John questioned in return.

"Either or." Robertson replied with a shrug as he clearly was looking to get more details out of John; whom he felt was withholding information.

"Well, the next time I saw Cal was a few days later. He and his family were going on a camping trip over the weekend and he asked me if I wanted to come." John explained with a sigh as memories of the trip flooded his brain.

"So, you went with the Gabriels on this camping trip. If I recall, when the district attorney was considering whether or not to press charges, the conversation you had with Calvin was used by investigators to insinuate that you knew about Zero Day." John looked out the window in despair.

"Yeah..." he said quietly as the memories came back.


August 25th.

After I'd gotten permission from my parents, I packed my bags and headed over to Cal's Place where his parents were loading up the van. Cal's family did a lot of outdoorsy stuff and they asked Cal if I would care to tag along. At first, I was curious as to why Cal hadn't invited Andre. It was later that I learned that Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel didn't particularly care for Andre Kriegman. There was just something about Andre that made Pam and Steve feel...uneasy.

They got along well with Andre's parents, but they just never hit it off with Andre. I asked Cal why they let him hang out with Andre and he told me that as far as his parents knew, Andre wasn't a bad influence and had never been in trouble with the law. So, until they got proof that Andre had a negative effect on their son, they weren't going to ruin a friendship because of a gut feeling.

We got to their usual campsite in the late afternoon and I had to admit that it looked like a cool place to rough it. There weren't too many bugs and it was real close to a cool looking waterfall.

"You kids ready to have fun?" Mr. Gabriel asked excitedly.

"Yeah!" Eric and Madelyn shouted as they raced out of the van. While Pam and Steve busied themselves by setting up camp, Eric and Madelyn were messing around just being kids. Once the tents were set up, we began roasting weenies and making s'mores. I had to admit, it was pretty fun. My family had never gone camping, so this was a new experience for me. As I ate, I heard Cal talking to Eric about old people and their canes and how they could whack or Schmomo you with said canes and start an worldwide insurrection that way. It was pretty stupid, but it was interesting seeing Cal as a big brother. He was never like this when Andre was around. As we filled ourselves up on weenies and s'mores, I couldn't help but think about how my parents were different compared to the Gabriels. After dinner, I took a walk down to the creek. I'd eaten way more than I should've and I was just hoping that it would all stay in. Cal soon joined me, having put his camera down for a brief moment.

"Hey John." He said as he sat down next to me as we looked out over the water.

"You had enough of your siblings yet?" I asked with a smirk.

"Eh, they're Ok." Cal replied with a smirk of his own as I admired the sunset.

"Look at us, two friends admiring the beauty of nature." I remarked as Cal looked on.

"Too bad it won't always be like this." Cal replied as I saw a twinge of regret pass over his face.

"What are you talking about?" I wondered as I looked to him.

"You know...things change and shit hits the fan; just can't predict what could happen." He replied with a shrug.

"I suppose that's true." I admitted with a shrug.

"I mean, imagine if we were at school and is and all of the horrible people just...vanished into thin air?" Cal asked with a bigger smirk as I turned to him.

"Why would that happen?" I inquried as Cal suddenly switched gears and was smiling again.

"Nothing, i'm Just screwing with you. You want another s'more?" He asked as I didn't think to press the issue. I just assumed that Cal was just in one of his philosophical moods again like he had been that day at the cemetery where I met Rachel. Plus, the second he said S'mores, I couldn't think if anything else.

"You know it." Cal and I headed back to the campfire. The exchange went out of my head. I didn't pry into what Cal had meant by his remark. I wish I had.

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