Chapter Text
It was a warm mid-morning in the forests outside Camp Campbell. David and Gwen had taken the campers out here on a hike but, as expected, none of them were particularly enjoying it, except for Nikki. Somehow, David and Gwen had got separated from the rest of the group, and the campers had carried on going forwards regardless. Max, however, was starting to get cranky.
“Jeez, how far does this forest even go?” Max asked in frustration.
“I don’t know, but judging by the sunlight poking out over there, I’d say we’re coming up to a clearing.” Neil answered.
“Oh, thank God.” Max replied, seeing the light through the trees. The group walked up to the edge of the clearing and saw that the forest stopped there. At the bottom of the hill they stood on, they saw what looked like houses and roads and street lights.
“Is that, Civilisation?” Neil asked.
“It’s definitely people.” Nikki answered.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Ered asked. “Let’s go down and see what’s up!” everyone around her agreed, and they made their way down to the town in front of them. The streets were lined with houses, but other than that, the streets felt practically empty. Seemingly nobody was outside save for a few parked cars, and only the sound of birds chirping on nearby trees could be heard.
Out of the corner of his eye, Max spotted a young boy wearing a green shirt and black shorts, playing with a yo-yo whilst leaning against one of the houses. The group walked up to him.
“Yo, kid. What’s going on around here?” Max asked. “Seems awfully empty around here.”
“Oh, hello there.” The boy replied back. “I take it you’re a group of campers or scouts or some other thing?”
“Yep.” Max replied. “That’d be us.”
“The rest of the kids in this neighbourhood just got back from their summer camp late yesterday, so most of them are still asleep. You’ll see them all eventually. Name’s Shermy, by the way.”
“They must be exhausted.” Neil commented.
“You bet.” Shermy replied. “Summer camp this year was up further north, and rather wet, so, not fun.”
“Then why are you up?” Max asked.
“I didn’t go. There weren’t enough spaces on the minibus for me, thankfully.” Shermy replied.
“Is there anything to do out here?” Nikki asked. “I’m getting bored.”
“When the other kids are out, there’s a lot, but other than that, there’s a tavern not too far away with some root beer.” (Assuming Snoopy hasn’t drunk it all, Shermy thought). Nerris’s ears pricked up at this.
Shermy led them to the tavern, and the 11 of them ordered 1 root beer each. When each of their root beers had arrived, the campers got around to introducing themselves.
“So, I’m Max. she’s Nikki, and he’s Neil.” “I’m Nerris.” “I’m Harrison.” “And I’m Preston.” “I’m Nurf.” “I’m Dolph.” “I’m Ered and next to me is Space Kid.” “That’s all of us.” Max finished as he drank. The rest of them finished their drinks at varying speeds, Nikki chugged hers down in record time, whilst Nerris quietly drank hers as if it was a fine wine. Space Kid didn’t drink any at all. Shermy then asked a question.
“I take it you have camp Counselors, right?”
“Yeah.” Max replied.
“They’re not here though. David and Gwen got lost in the woods, I think.” Nikki replied.
“Oh, man.” Shermy exclaimed. “Those woods aren’t exactly safe.”
“You’re telling me.” Neil agreed. “The longer I can stay out of there, the better.”
“Not much of an outdoor person, are you?” Shermy asked, getting up out of his chair.
“No. he’s more of a science nerd.” Nikki pointed out.
“You should speak to Marcie then.” Shermy suggested. “You two have some common ground there.”
“I’ll look into that.” Neil replied. “Where are you going?”
“Oh, I’m going to a friend’s house, I promised I’d be there on time.” Shermy replied.
“Bullshit.” Max muttered under his breath.
“I heard that.” Shermy retorted, turning to face the campers again. “And by the way, we don’t really use swears here.”
“How so?” Neil asked.
“We kind of have our own separate vocabulary which is just as effective, but not offensive per se, you’ll work it out eventually. Goodbye.”
“Bye, Shermy.” Replied everyone, bar Max and Neil. The lot of them watched as Shermy left.
“Before we bore ourselves to death sitting around here, we should probably go out and find something to do.” Max suggested.
“Like what?” Harrison asked.
“I dunno. Go out, explore! I’m sure we’ll each find something to do. If David and Gwen haven’t gotten themselves unlost and found us by 6 we’ll rendezvous here and work something out. Until then, we can do whatever the hell we like.”
“Well don’t cause too much chaos.” The bartender told them, cleaning his glass.
“That is highly dependent on what you call too much.” Neil replied, causing the bartender to sigh.
“Just don’t trash the place.” The bartender stated. At that, the campers began to hand their empty drinks to the bartender, before getting up and leaving the tavern. Outside, the group of campers turned to look at each other, unsure what to do.
“Let’s split up. I’m sure we’ll find something cool to do if we look in more places.” Ered suggested. “We’ll be back at the tavern by 6, okay?” She continued, checking the time. The campers then dispersed in different directions and walked amongst themselves around the town.
In the forest David was noting down descriptions of flora and fauna, and had just finished doodling a ladybird, when Gwen approached him.
“Jesus, there you are, David. I almost thought you were lost.”
“I was just taking a look at all the stuff growing here.” David explained.
“We don’t have time for that, David, the campers are impatient enough as it is without us holding them back.” Gwen told him.
“You left them unsupervised in the middle of the woods?!” David realised.
“I told them to stay still, they should be just over that way…
…Goddamn it.”