Chapter Text
“Alright, Everyone on the Bus! We’re going to Summer Camp!” Lucy shouted, as she shoved Charlie Brown, Rerun and Linus, and all of their luggage onto the bus. Sally, Franklin, Marcie, Peppermint Patty, Pig-Pen and Schroeder were already on, and half of them were just as unimpressed as they were.
“Where are we going?” asked Rerun.
“There should be brochures on the seats.” Said the bus driver, a portly man with a well-conditioned moustache and receding hairline. Charlie Brown and Linus sat next to each other as they both picked up their brochures from under their seats. Linus was additionally holding his blanket, he was content enough not to need it most of the time now, but there were still moments it proved to be useful, like after a nightmare.
“Squirrel Woods Camp.” Charlie Brown read out the title on the brochure.
“I wonder what it says inside.” Linus replied, opening it up. He was about to read the details of it when he was interrupted by an announcement from the bus driver.
“Please fasten your seatbelts, we will be leaving in 5 minutes.”
“Do you think we can high-tail-it off the bus in that time?” Rerun asked from the seat behind.
“Not with Lucy here, no.” Linus responded bluntly, still looking at the brochure.
“This brochure is very light on information.” Linus said to Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown looked at his own copy of the brochure. It read:
~New Buildings!
~A Variety of Activities!
~Learning and Friendship!
Accompanied by a few pictures of the empty campgrounds.
“It’s a bit sparse, isn’t it?” Charlie Brown replied. The bus driver interrupted again.
“Okay kids, we’re going!”
“It hasn’t been five minutes!” Sally complained.
“Doesn’t matter, you’re all buckled up. Say goodbye to your parents.” The bus driver replied, as the bus began to accelerate. Charlie Brown and the others waved as their parents smiled and waved back. The bus journey was rather long, and reading the brochure didn’t help, as the location wasn’t printed on it, but the bus driver seemed to have the location on his GPS, so Charlie Brown didn’t question it.
Peppermint Patty and Marcie were sitting opposite them, and having their own conversation about camp.
“You hoping for any specific activities, sir?” Marcie asked.
“I’m hoping for Baseball, swimming, anything sporty, maybe rock climbing? I hear it’s near a mountain.” Peppermint Patty said.
“I heard it was near a lake, sir.” Marcie replied.
“Please stop calling me sir.” Peppermint Patty grumbled.
“I’m hoping there’s some musical instruments. Maybe we can have an orchestra instead of just me on the piano.” Schroeder piped up from the row behind.
“I wonder what the counsellors are like?” Pig-pen asked, from even further behind.
“That’s if there are any counsellors at all. The brochure doesn’t even mention them.” Franklin said sceptically.
The bus trundled along a highway for what seemed like forever, before coming to a stop on a picnic stop on a back road just outside a forest. “Alright. Everyone off the bus.” The bus driver directed.
“Did we do anything wrong?” Linus asked, looking at the emptiness of the picnic ground outside.
“It’s on foot from here.” The bus driver replied. Charlie Brown and friends took off their seatbelts off and shuffled their way towards the front of the bus in single file. One by one they got off the bus and stood at the picnic table. Charlie Brown turned to face the bus driver.
“Aren’t you coming with us?” Charlie Brown asked.
“Got jobs to do.” The bus driver replied. “Just follow the path, you’ll get there.” The bus driver told him, closing the door and driving off. Charlie Brown and friends stood in bewilderment as they realised they were on their own.
“What’s going on here?” Franklin asked.
“What do we do now? Asked Rerun, trying to work out what was going on.
“What are you all looking at me for?” Charlie Brown asked.
“There’s a sign over there, Charlie Brown. That might help.” Linus suggested.
“Alright.” Charlie Brow walked over to the sign. It appeared to have been written in very scrawly handwriting, and it was messily stapled to the post it was on.
“It says, Squirrel Woods Camp, that way.” Charlie Brown read aloud, pointing at the path leading into the woods. Charlie Brown followed the path into the woods, and the others followed behind him. The path was a direct line forward, with no looping bends to easily get lost in, and Charlie Brown was relieved to see everyone was still behind him when they got to the other end of the trail.
In front of them was a camp site unlike any they had seen before. The tents were already set up, and the permanent buildings were clean and well presented. Still, however, there was no sign of a camp counsellor anywhere.
“Where is everybody?” Franklin asked. “Every camp should at least have a counsellor.”
“Well, the brochure didn’t say anything about the counsellors.” Linus checked the brochure again. The ten of them looked at the mess hall, as if expecting their camp counsellors to appear. The door opened, and a squirrel, dressed much like a certain other camp counsellor, appeared. The squirrel squeaked in surprise at the bunch of new faces staring at him, before he calmly scurried off back into the mess hall. A minute or two later, he returned, carrying a notebook in his paws. Sally noticed this and took interest, crouching down to his level.
“Are you the one who wrote the brochure?” Sally asked. The squirrel just nodded, and handed Sally the notebook.
Sally picked up the squirrel’s notebook, and read it.
“We moved here after the other camp built it for us. For months it was the time of our lives. But then winter came, and we didn’t have enough acorns to sustain the numbers we had. I’m the only one left here now, everyone else has either died or left for pastures new in the spring. Please enjoy your time here. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a warmer welcome.” Sally read out.
“Brutal winter, huh.” Rerun said. The squirrel looked up at him, and spotted a hawk, which screeched in hunger. Panicked, it bolted into the forest undergrowth. The ten of them stood there, bewildered for a few seconds.
“Now what?” Linus asked.
“We’re in a camp, in the middle of nowhere, without anyone to lead us, and nothing to do. Some well-planned camp trip this is.” Schroeder complained, eyeing Lucy with fierce sarcasm.
“Why don’t we go inside?” Charlie Brown suggested, pointing at the mess hall. “Maybe we can work out what to do from there.” The ten of them went inside, and Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and Franklin all sat at one of the tables.
“This looks like the place where we eat chow.” Peppermint Patty commented. “Why don’t you see if there’s any food around here, Chuck?”
“Alright.” Charlie Brown replied, walking towards the kitchen area, checking all available places where food could have been stored. Alas there was nothing, except for a shoebox full of acorns, and 10 bulging sealed envelopes. Charlie Brown came back to the mess hall empty handed.
“I’m sorry, there’s no food there for us.” Charlie Brown apologised.
“Well, what do we do? How are we gonna eat, Chuck?” Peppermint Patty demanded.
“Why are you asking me? I’m not the one who organised this trip!” Charlie Brown protested in frustration. He thought for a bit. “I’m going to try and see whether there’s anyone nearby that can help us, and if anyone wants to help, they can come along with me. But if you don’t want to help, I would much prefer it if you’d stay here and out of trouble.” Charlie Brown asserted. Everyone bar Lucy was up on their feet, who eventually stood up after the others stared in disapproval, arms crossed.
The ten of them walked outside, back into the empty campground. “There must be somebody around here.” Charlie Brown complained.
“But where?” Lucy asked sceptically. The quiet in the air was quickly disrupted by the sound of children playing.
“That definitely sounds like there’s people near.” Schroeder commented. Linus listened a bit more closely.
“I’m sure I’ve heard those voices before.” Linus said.
“Yeah, me too.” Charlie Brown added. As they spoke, a tennis ball soared in from above, bouncing in between them as the lot of them looked at it. Rerun went to get the ball as it rolled along the ground as the rest listened in the direction of where the ball came from.
“Jesus Christ, Nikki. For the last time, Tennis is not the same as golf.” They all heard.
“Relax, Max. It’s not like the ball went far or anything.”
Charlie Brown and his friends heard rustling in the bushes.
“See, it’s just through here…” Nikki said, peering through the shrub. “Oh.”
“Nikki?” Linus asked, surprised.