Tips for Taking Over Summer Camp Chapter 24: Road Changes

Chapter Twenty-Four: Road Changes

“Link!” I screamed, shaking his shoulders. “LIIIIINNNNKKKK!”

He suddenly shot up from his position and looked at me with wide eyes. His sudden reaction sent me reeling back and onto the ground after losing my balance.

“Ah! Zombie!” I shouted, but instantly felt like hitting myself. Way to say something so clichéd.

“Why’d you have to make me up?” Link whined. “I was sleeping.”

Wha? I though. So he wasn’t dead?

“I thought you were dead or something," I replied, standing back up again and dusting myself off.

“Dead?!” Link stood up as well. “The least you could do is ask first.”

I want to strangle that kid, I thought, grinding my teeth. “If you were dead, then you wouldn’t answer, would you?”

I didn’t wait for his reply before continuing up the road. I was sick of putting up with him and didn’t want to listen to any more of his whining. Part of me wished that I had never even bothered looking for him in the first place, but I knew that thinking that sort of thing was wrong. How would I feel if I was lost and nobody wanted to look for me?

“Where are you going?” Link complained, joining my side. “You can’t leave again. You’re only going to get lost like you just did.”

“I’m fine,” I growled.

“But you stormed off last time before I could even build a compass.”

“A…what?”

“Well, if you take a leaf, put water onto it so the leaf becomes some sort of bowl, put a small piece of bark in the water, and add a piece of metal, you get a compass.”

My fists clenched. “And where would you get said piece of metal?”

“From your necklace, of course.”

I let out a sigh of frustration and picked up my pace, hoping to get as far away from Link as I could. “It’s wood, Link.”

~

The bitter wind was trying to push us back. It shook the trees in angry rage and pierced our skin with what felt like air-icicles. My hair was being thrown across my face like ever-changing ocean waves. Strands of it sometimes got trapped between my eyelids, only to slide out a seconds later.

I hugged my arms closer to my body, hoping that my thin shirt would protect me somewhat from the cold. My shoes had dried off by now, but I could still feel the slight numbness in my toes. They ached, too, along with the rest of my lower body from walking all day. I hadn’t heard Link talk since I stormed off ahead, but I had checked over my shoulder a few times to see him a couple of meters away.

What time is it? I wondered. I then risked a glance back at my cabin mate. I wonder if he has some clever way to tell the time like he did with the compass. I shook my head. No. I refuse to have anything to do with him anymore.

The landscape hadn’t changed much between the start of the paved road and the incline which we were climbing up. The trees stayed the same. The weeds stayed the same. The song of the crickets stayed the same.

Ugh! When will I get out of here?

Just as I was about to ask Link if we were going in the right direction (he might have known), I heard the roaring sound of a truck’s motor and a pair of yellow lights spilled up ahead at the top of our incline. But they disappeared as soon as they appeared and the motor was replaced by the squealing of truck tires and...was that a shout?

I stopped, my exhausted legs ready to leap out of the way in case the truck came barreling towards us. I kept still, ready, playing with possibilities in my mind.

Could it be one of the councillors looking for us?

“What are you staring at?” Link asked, appearing beside me.

“Huh?” I said, snapping back to reality. “Oh, nothing.”

Could it all have been my imagination? I mentally shook my head. No way. That had to be something. But…. What?

As we continued, I asked, “Link, did you hear a truck and see some lights up ahead?”

“When you stopped?”

“Yeah.”

Link shook his head. “No. Are you sure you heard one?”

I felt a twinge of annoyance towards him again, but didn’t storm ahead like I usually did. Instead, I stayed put and we continued our search for CALAC side by side.

~

I was shivering by the time our road veered onto a larger road that seemed much more frequently managed. An ocean of weeds didn’t boarder its sides and there weren’t as many potholes. Well, there were a few, but they weren’t as big and were very scarce.

Link and I both broke into big grins and we hurried onto it. As soon as our feet touched its slightly darker surface, we exchanged excited looks.

But my smile soon faded. “Which way?” We could either go left or right and both paths could lead us into totally different directions. Heck, this road might not even lead us to camp.

“I say right,” Link answered.

“Please tell me that your answer isn’t pun-oriented.”

“No. But I have a feeling that that direction is west, which is the direction of camp.” Once he noticed my unsure look, he added, “or we can try the compass.”

“No, no,” I said, heading in our decided direction. “Let’s go.”

After a while, we both got bored and started attempting conversation. Our first few attempts were really awkward because we knew nothing about each other, but we soon got used to our personalities and were talking like a pair of friends...sort of.

“So how did you figure out the compass thing?” I asked.

Link shrugged. “Heard it somewhere.”

“Did you actually use one? Was that why you went into a different direction?”

“No. You looked like you really wanted to get away from me, though.” He yawned. “I’m still really tired.”

I yawned as well. “Same.”

After a few moments of silence, I decided to revive the conversation. “So what got you into theatre?”

“I auditioned for a school play a couple of years ago and got into a small part. I’ve been acting ever since, but still in small parts. How about you?”

I explained my acting history to him for the following few minutes. I was getting so lost into my history that for a few moments, I forgot about my tiredness and angry stomach. I thought for a moment that I was actually beginning to enjoy his company.

“Wow. Your history is a lot better than mine,” Link said after I finished. “I wish mine was better,” he added with a defeated sigh.

We exchanged a few more words before both of us stopped in our tracks and stared at something that was right at the treeline. Our jaws fell open. I couldn't decided between collapsing from relief or running forward as fast as I could, which clearly wasn't going to be very fast. After a long stunned silence, we exchanged glances yet again before darting forward.

We had seen the CALAC sign.

~

My legs felt weak and I couldn’t help but crave sleep as we came onto the parking lot. The Milky Way split the sky above our camp in two, dividing the theater cabin and the mess hall from the other cabins, reminding me slightly of the mistreatment we had received earlier.

“Down there!” I cried, pointing to the fire pit where an intense orange glow was illuminating. I could see a couple of figures seated before the flames, their long shadows flickering and fidgeting.

Together, we both ran towards the fire. With every step, my stomach let out a soft growl and my necklace slammed against my chest. Cora and Rowan both came into sight, revealed to be the figures and I could feel a happy smile creeping onto my face. My smile was so broad that it hurt. We had done it. We finally made if home.

“Cora! Rowan!” I shouted, waving my arms around.

They both turned to me and a smile broke onto our councillor’s face. Rowan, on the other hand, just kept a blank look and crossed her arms.

“Molly! Link!” Cora shouted, standing up. “You’re back!”