Archive of Our Own ^beta

Henry wasn't having much fun at Camp Sunshine.

His parents had sent him here with the request that Henry at least try and make some friends, and he'd overheard them telling the camp counselor that they also wanted him to learn a bit of responsibility, if possible. Henry had scoffed indignantly. He was plenty responsible!

But after a grueling first few days, Henry had had just about enough of being ordered around by the bossy camp-counselor-turned-drill-sergeant, Captain Crunch, and had organized a couple different ways of escaping the camp so he could get home. None of which worked.

Sneaking out in the middle of the night hadn't worked. Convincing Peter and Al to join him hadn't worked either. Just when Henry thought he'd be on his own trying to escape, Bert stepped up to join him, much to Henry's surprise. Henry was grateful for Bert's company, even if the larger boy was a boy of few words. He wasn't exactly friends with Bert, but they were classmates and Henry felt like they got along well enough.

Their latest escape plan was to sneak off during the ten kilo hike in the morning. Since none of his other plans had worked, Henry had been convinced that this one wouldn't work either. But much to his surprise, when he and Bert were able to sneak Henry's skateboard onto the hike, and had both jumped onto it so they could break away from the group and dash off into the nearby woods on the skateboard, no one shouted at them to come back.

They had been going so fast that they crashed the skateboard into a few large rocks, sending both kids flying off and tumbling to the floor.

Unfazed, Henry recovered quickly, sat up, and looked around. "We did it!" He cried in disbelief, watching the backs of the other campers disappear over a hill. Captain Crunch hadn't seen them. "We escaped!"

Henry looked at his partner in crime, who had landed roughly from the skateboard's rocky crash, and was still recovering where he sat.

"You okay, Bert?" He asked, patting his shoulder.

Bert looked up at him with a gleam of excitement in his eyes. "I dunno!" He chirped.

"Well, we can't just sit here," Henry reasoned, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "Let's go before they come back!"

They made their way through the woods together, pushing deeper and deeper until the trees were thick and instead of a nice dirt path for them to follow, there were only meager patches of dirt scattered through the grassy floor, and it was getting hard to follow.

Hesitating when it seemed like they were going further into nature instead of reaching civilization, Henry turned to Bert. "Er, which way is home?"

Bert blinked owlishly, looking left then right, then left again. "Uh…" he eventually hummed, "I dunno."

Henry's mouth pressed into a firm line. He didn't have any better ideas. "Let's just keep going straight, we're bound to get somewhere eventually."

Together, they continued walking, watching the sun reach its highest peak before they decided to take a small break because of the heat. They sat under the shade of a large tree, waited for the sun to move a little farther along in the sky, and then they continued on their way.

Henry really tried to keep track of where they were going. He wanted to be sure that they were going the same direction the whole time. But after they were walking a while longer and his feet started to hurt, Henry wanted to suggest another break. Only, when he leaned against a tree, he recognized it as the same one they'd taken their first break hiding beneath.

When he realized it, he jumped up, startling Bert. "We've been here already!" He cried, tugging at his hair. "No no, we're meant to be going straight! We're lost! W-What if we can't get out of here?!" Eyes wide, Henry's mind raced and words tumbled from his mouth as all of his anxieties came bubbling to the surface. "What if they never find us? What if we get eaten by wolves?!"

Bert glanced around the small clearing. He recognized it too, and winced. Henry was right that they were going in circles, and he didn't like the sound of wolves being nearby. "I dunno," he responded in a stressful, clipped tone.

Henry slumped to the ground, frustrated. "This is pointless," he groaned. "We're just going 'round in circles!"

He flopped onto his back, scowling up at the treetops. Bert came over to sit down next to him, looking just as defeated.

They stayed there a while as Henry attempted to come up with a new plan. "Maybe we should just stay around here until Captain Crunch comes looking for us? She's bound to realize we've gone missing, and she'll send a search party sooner or later, right?"

Bert frowned worriedly, and Henry's expression fell.

"Oh no, what if she's got nasty sniffer dogs? What if she sends them out for us, and they attack us for trying to escape?!" Henry bit his lip, terrified at the thought of being eaten alive by some kind of dog. He wasn't sure what was worse: wolves or sniffer dogs. Both seemed like horrible ways to die, and he didn't want to risk either one.

Before he could decide if they should stay put or keep going, there was a noise in the bushes next to them. Henry perked up, tipping his head back to follow the sound.

"Hang on, did you hear that?"

Bert only shrugged.

There was another unmistakable sound of a small rodent creature gnawing on something it found, and Henry's stomach rumbled painfully.

"Well, we missed breakfast, but if we can catch an animal, then we can have lunch! What do you think?"

"Eh…" Bert looked uncertain. "I dunno."

"Come on." Henry led the way, putting a finger over his lips to indicate Bert to be silent. He found a large stick for Bert to hold, and had him stay back. Henry went ahead, planning to scare the creature toward Bert so he could hit it.

At first, Henry thought he'd lost the creature, but as he circled around the area he last heard it, he caught a glimpse of white amidst the bushes and branches. There! A rabbit!

He lunged at it, trying to catch it with his bare hands. It easily saw him and darted out of the way, scurrying off straight towards Bert. Just as planned.

The big kid raised his stick, readying himself, and just when the rabbit was within range, he closed his eyes and brought the makeshift club down as hard as he could.

"Ow!!" Henry cried, and Bert opened his eyes just in time to see Henry staggering where he stood, eyes crossing slightly as he wavered. Then, without warning, Henry's eyes rolled up and he collapsed backward onto the rough dirt.

Bert gasped sharply and dropped the stick, rushing over and grabbing Henry, trying to shake him awake. Henry's face scrunched up a little, but he otherwise didn't respond. He was breathing okay though, and Bert could hear his heartbeat when he listened to his chest.

Bert's stomach groaned at him, and he winced. He had a feeling Henry would be okay for a small while, so until he woke up, the least Bert could do was finish the job with the rabbit and have something for them to eat.

Henry cracked his eyes open slowly. His head was pounding and his vision was double. Squinting, he struggled to understand where he was.

Right, he was still with Bert, running away from summer camp and trying to find their way back home. Although, now it was a little darker than it'd been before. The sun was very slowly beginning to set. They hadn't had a rescue party sent out for them yet? Henry was grateful for no sniffer dogs, but at this rate, he wasn't sure how they were going to get out of here.

Henry groaned as he sat up, peering around himself. They were in a new clearing, one he didn't recognize, and Bert was sitting nearby, making a small face as he nibbled on something pink. Henry's stomach growled and he licked his lips as he crawled closer to the other boy.

"Found some food, huh Bert?" Henry asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Eh," Bert hedged, holding it up and showing it to Henry. "I dunno."

"What's that?!" Henry leaned in, staring in horror at the grisly, bloodstained bone. There was a little blood on Bert's hands, and as Henry looked to the side, he saw the gruesome remains of a rabbit that had been carefully picked apart and sectioned off into pieces of meat.

Henry felt bile rise to the back of his throat and he clapped both hands over his mouth. "Bert, don't tell me you're eating it raw!"

"Uh…"

Henry held back a few miserable gags. "C'mon, the least we could do is try and make a fire so we can cook the food, yeah?"

Bert made a small, strained face, looking pointedly to the side of the clearing. Henry followed his gaze and saw the remains of what he assumed Bert had tried to turn into a campfire. But all that was there was some dry sticks, twigs, leaves, and rocks. No fire.

"Oh," Henry muttered glumly. He'd never made a fire before, he wasn't even sure how to do it. In movies, sometimes they just had to rub two sticks together. Maybe if he did that–

Henry was startled out of his thoughts when he heard Bert cough and gag.

Sympathetic, Henry stepped closer and awkwardly patted the boy's hunched shoulder. "Yeah, I've been there. Food poisoning, mum called it. She said that's what happens when food is left out too long and starts to turn."

Bert moaned loudly as his stomach rejected almost all of the raw rabbit he'd tried to eat, with Henry standing a whole arm's length away, not looking as he offered comfort from a distance.

When Bert's stomach settled down, Henry gave the leftover rabbit carcass an accusatory glare. "Maybe we should find something besides meat. Something that doesn't need to be cooked."

Bert only hummed thickly, still feeling nauseous.

Henry looked around them, trying to find out what else they could eat. "Hm, we could eat the tree leaves," Henry suggested with a tone of disgust. "Or– Oh! Eureka! What if we just find berries or nuts instead?"

Without waiting for Bert to agree, Henry darted off into the edges of the clearing, shoving the plants out of the way and looking for anything remotely edible.

Most of the berries he found were rotten on the floor, or they'd been picked over by birds so there was nothing left. He was starting to lose hope, when he pushed a bush out of the way and saw a branch with a large clump of bright red berries at the end of it.

"Perfect!" He cried, snapping off the branch and holding it up for Bert to see. "Look! I found some berries!" He eyed them closer. "At least, I think they're berries. They look more like olives," he said more to himself, with a hint of disgust. He wasn't sure if he'd be okay with eating an olive right now, but he was very hungry, so he was willing to try basically anything.

Tentatively, he took a sniff. They didn't smell as powerful as olives, thankfully. They smelled almost sweet. "Hm," Henry plucked three or four off their branch and tossed them into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

As soon as he got a taste of the berry's juice, he immediately gagged and spat them out with a groan of disgust. "What the–? They taste awful! Like watery, slimy goo!"

Bert, who was still looking a little nauseous from the rabbit, only gave the berries a suspicious glare, and took the branch from Henry's fingers so he could toss the rest of them away. He didn't want to risk it. They could find something else.

Henry didn't argue, and together they tried to continue on.

Bert was moving slowly because his stomach was still bothering him, and at first Henry had to keep snapping at him to keep up. It was getting dark quickly, and he wanted to be somewhere recognizable before nightfall. But after maybe fifteen minutes of that, Henry realized that Bert wasn't lagging so far behind anymore, and that they were at about the same pace.

Another fifteen or so minutes after that, and Henry realized that he was the one lagging behind, while Bert had to keep turning around to make sure Henry was still following him.

When Bert turned around for the fifth or sixth time, Henry opened his mouth, about to whine that Bert was going too fast, but everything in his vision suddenly blurred and swam, and Henry stumbled to his knees, bracing himself on all fours as he struggled to blink his vision clear.

"Bert…" Henry choked out softly as he stared at his hands pressed against the ground. He watched his own hands blur and waver, and he couldn't get them to focus. What was wrong with him?!

He felt a hand on his back, and he flinched. "Nghh," he groaned, sinking lower until his forehead was pressed to the dirt.

Bert tugged on his arm, trying to get him back up, but Henry's knees couldn't support himself, and he crashed back to the floor, nearly dragging Bert with him.

"Sorry, sorry," Henry slurred, his tongue feeling heavy and thick. Fear raced through him and he desperately tried to figure out what had happened to him. He was fine just an hour ago!

Bert made a concerned sound and crouched next to Henry, pressing both hands onto his back and trying to check if Henry had any injuries. There was nothing he could see, but when Henry turned toward him, his eyes were glassy and his face was pale. Something was clearly wrong, but Bert wasn't sure exactly what had happened.

Henry's eyes slid closed and he whined weakly, shaking his head and struggling to stay awake. Bert glanced around them, unsure what to do. He didn't know if it was safe or not to stay here, but he didn't have any better ideas, so he sat on his knees next to Henry, watching him with ever-growing concern.

Henry suddenly slumped to the side, breathing shallowly.

Bert gasped sharply, reaching over and shaking Henry's shoulder. The smaller boy didn't respond. "Ah…nh," Bert panted anxiously. He released Henry's shoulder and watched as Henry rasped in soft, weak breaths.

Tentatively, Bert reached out, wanting to pat Henry's head for comfort, but decided against it at the last second just before his fingertips would have touched the messy brown hair.

Instead, Bert decided that it would be more comfortable for both of them if he was able to make some kind of bedding for them to sleep on for the night. Already, it was getting cold, and he could see Henry shivering a little.

Bert got to his feet, ignoring his stomach still feeling a little queasy, and began to search for something he could use to pad the ground so it wouldn't be so cold.

He searched for a little while, when he found a decent layer of moss that was growing on the dirt and creeping up a tree. Along the top of it, there were some vines. Bert pulled the vines away, scowling when they were sharper than they seemed, and tried to get to the mossy ground underneath.

He tossed the vines and ivy away, and gathered handfuls of moss, peeling it up and trying to hold as much as he could.

When he hurried back to where he'd left Henry, he tried to spread out some of the moss in a thin layer next to him, planning to make Henry's bed first. But as he released the soft grass, his fingers and palms burned and ached, refusing to cooperate with him.

He grunted and shook his hands free of the moss, and peered at his palms in the dimming light. He made a noise of surprise and fear when he saw angry red spots littering his palms. And all along his fingers and hands, all the way up his arms, was red and irritated as well with a dark rash.

Horrified, Bert threw the moss away, shaking his hands out and whining when he couldn't get the angry, burning rash to ease up. If anything, it began to burn even more.

Bert rushed to a clean patch of grass and dragged his hands through it, alternating between wiping them off in the grass and wiping them on his shorts.

Slowly but surely, the fierce burn in his hands eased a bit, but the angry rash remained.

Sighing wearily, Bert got to his feet and staggered back to Henry once more, eyeing the moss suspiciously. He avoided it as he sank to his knees and slumped down to sit next to Henry.

He looked over Henry's body once more, trying to see if he was feeling any better, and his gaze landed on Henry's face, which was strained and sweaty, and his lips had a tinge of blue on them.

Finally feeling brave enough when he saw how miserable Henry looked, Bert slowly brought the back of his hand down onto Henry's forehead, brushing the stiff hair away from his forehead and feeling his heart warm up when Henry's expression softened and he leaned closer to Bert's touch.

Bert petted Henry's head for a little while, feeling slightly better as he smoothed Henry's hair back and listened to his soft, irregular breathing. The sky was growing darker and Bert moved closer to Henry, comforted ever so slightly by the warmth he was radiating.

The moonlight was helpful to allow Bert to see, even as the sun disappeared behind the treetops. He blinked tiredly down at the other boy, watching as Henry's face scrunched up and he groaned softly.

"Mm?" Bert grunted, sitting up straighter and peering down at Henry more closely.

Henry's eyes blinked wearily open and stared blindly forward, breathing harder. His eyes were dark and blurred, and Bert lifted his hand from Henry's head so he could lean over into Henry's line of sight.

Henry's breath wheezed softly as he blinked at Bert. Neither boy spoke, but Bert's face was beaming with relief as he grinned down at him.

The smaller boy had only barely managed a small twitch of the corner of his lips when there was a crack of thunder that made both of them jump.

Henry blinked as the first few droplets of rain began to fall, and he and Bert exchanged a look.

"Think we need to find some shelter for the night," Henry muttered, shielding his eyes from the rain.

Bert grunted in agreement and both of them slowly got to their feet. Henry braced his hands on his knees, fighting to keep the world from swaying beneath him, and asked in Bert's direction, "Alright, which way?"

"Ehm," Bert looked around the clearing, but eventually turned back to Henry with round eyes. "I dunno."

Henry sighed heavily and looked around himself. He pointed toward a thicker patch of trees. "Maybe we can find something that way," he suggested, and Bert easily agreed.

Henry took a few shaky steps, but stumbled and had to catch himself on a tree before he could collapse. He shook his head while squeezing his eyes closed, trying to get himself to focus. All it ended up doing was rattling his brain inside his skull, and he groaned weakly.

Bert was suddenly next to him, and was offering his elbow and shoulder for Henry to hold onto.

"Mn, thanks," Henry trusted Bert to lead the way, since his vision was too blurry to see clearly.

They walked for a while, with Henry's legs growing numb after a bit as he squeezed his eyes shut and dug his fingers into Bert's shirt. The rain was coming down harder, and Henry was shivering and wet. Bert was wet, but he wasn't shivering as badly as Henry was.

Henry felt them slow down after a while, and when he cracked his eyes open, he saw that Bert was standing curiously in front of a small burrow, dug out next to a large tree.

"Oh," Henry blinked in surprise. "Shelter!"

Bert carefully lowered Henry down so he could kneel in front of the den, and both boys squinted through the rain to look inside.

"Hello?" Henry called, cupping his hands over his mouth. If there was an animal already living here, he wanted to know now, rather than find out after he and Bert were inside.

There was no movement from the burrow, so Henry turned to Bert and shrugged. Bert shrugged back.

"I'll start clearing it out, yeah?" Henry suggested. "You go find something to help us dig and make it bigger."

Bert nodded and rushed off to his task.

Henry turned his attention back to the burrow, wiping some of the rain from his eyes. "Right," he mumbled to himself as he crawled forward, ignoring the way his hands sank into the mud, and started slowly clearing away some of the large branches and leaves that were obscuring the entrance, trying not to make himself dizzy and sick again.

He pulled on a large branch that had a thick bush of leaves at the end of it, but it didn't budge. He frowned and pulled harder, and felt it give a little bit, but then it was being tugged back into the den. "What?" Henry cried, frowning harder and pulling as hard as he could.

Finally, he tore the large branch free from whatever it was stuck on, and cheered triumphantly.

But when he turned back to the den, his grin disappeared. From inside the burrow, he saw the reflections of two shiny eyes.

And they were angry.

Without warning, a large black and white creature rushed forward, straight for Henry's face.

Henry shrieked and hurled himself backward, feeling his head pound and his stomach roll with nausea. He threw both arms up to protect his face from the attacker, while his feet kicked uselessly at the soft, muddy ground.

The creature reared back to avoid Henry's flailing legs, but then it rushed forward once more, and Henry screamed when he felt its sharp teeth pierce his shin.

"AGH! Help! Bert! Help!!"

Henry wailed and tried to kick the creature off of himself. Tears had sprung into his eyes and he couldn't see what kind of creature it was. Was it a skunk? He bashed its head with his tiny fists, realizing with horror that his hands were the same size as the monster's head.

"No, no!" He cried as he felt the animal biting harder and shaking its head back and forth as if he were its prey. Was it a wolf?!

Suddenly, the animal yipped painfully and Henry felt the teeth dislodge themselves from his leg. He immediately drew it up to himself and hugged his knee, hissing painfully. He peered up and saw that Bert was standing over him with a thick piece of wood held defensively in his hands as he glared at the retreating creature.

Henry blinked, dazed, and watched the animal retreat back into its burrow. "A badger," he identified after what felt like too long. "Bloody badger."

Bert gave him a chastising glance for his language, but said nothing as he dropped the wood and knelt to look at Henry's leg. Both boys were wearing their exercise uniforms, so their legs were exposed, so it was easy to see the two deep fang-marks in Henry's leg, along with all the other sharp little teeth the creature used when it bit down. Already, there was a dark bruise around the bites, and Henry watched a drop of blood bead up and roll down his leg, encouraged by the rain that was still pouring relentlessly.

"Nnh," he whimpered, closing his eyes and shaking his head to get rid of the awful sight.

Bert suddenly slid his hands under Henry's knees and behind his back, making Henry jump at first until he realized that Bert was trying to pick him up.

Henry managed to wrap his arms around Bert's neck as the larger boy hoisted him up against his chest.

He saw Bert wince to himself as he struggled to hold him, and Henry felt guilty. Was he really that heavy?

"Sorry," he whispered, but Bert only gave him a confused look.

Bert's hands were aching from the ivy and moss, and even though it was dark and cold, he could feel the angry rash that was blistering on his palms. He held onto Henry as best he could, being careful not to drop the kid. He was light as a feather, so it was easy, even with the rash hindering him.

Bert trudged through the rain, squinting through the dark trees and trying to find something useful.

In the distance, he thought he saw a light. He started to speed up, trying to get there quickly. Was it their rescue team?

He kept his eyes locked on the flickering yellow light, and broke into a sprint, holding Henry tightly. Henry made a small noise of complaint and glanced up at Bert, asking silently what he was doing, but Bert wasn't fully sure himself yet. The light didn't seem to be getting any closer.

Bert's foot all of a sudden landed in a soft, slippery patch of mud. Instantly, it gave way beneath him, and his foot was caught in the mudslide that followed. His leg slid down a slight hill, which pulled Bert off-balance, stumbling and struggling to regain his footing.

The ground sloped down into a small ditch, and before Bert could stop himself, both he and Henry were tumbling head over heels into the muddy bank. He tried to toss Henry out of the way when he realized that he was going down, but he couldn't see where the smaller boy landed because Bert's ankle caught in a tree root, and as gravity continued to yank him down, his ankle was held up by the root, and it ended up wrenching his ankle out of place with an agonizing crack .

Bert instantly screamed, feeling his whole body stiffening up from the agony, and barely managed to rip his foot free so he could land on his shoulder in the mud at the bottom.

He blubbered loudly, clutching at his broken leg and feeling tears spilling hotly down his cheeks.

Nearby, Henry had landed face-first into the muddy ditch, and the landing had jolted his already-pounding head, as well as made his leg burn with a fiery pain. He was sobbing too, his body aching and feeling soaked to the bone. He couldn't even sit up at first and just laid there with his face turned to the side so he could breathe and cry.

His bite was stinging horribly and he could feel mud and grit already getting into the open wounds and making his leg feel hot.

"Bert…!" Henry whined accusatorily after a few minutes of catching his breath, feeling frustrated and scared. Why had Bert dropped him?

He forced himself up onto his elbows and searched for the other boy.

He found him covered in mud as well, wailing as he clung to his own leg. Great. Now Bert's leg was hurt too.

Henry grunted and made his way toward Bert, very quickly realizing that Bert's ankle was swollen to twice the size it should be. Henry winced, feeling his anger disappearing. "That doesn't look good," he admitted sympathetically. "I don't think we can walk much more."

Bert shook his head in agreement, sniffling miserably.

"Can we at least get out of the mud and just lay down up there?" Henry asked, gesturing to where they'd fallen from.

Bert looked wary. "I dunno."

Henry sighed. He should have known better. "What about this way?" He asked instead, gesturing somewhere that didn't look quite as muddy.

Bert and Henry struggled on hands and knees to drag themselves out of the muddy bank, and Henry noticed how Bert kept favoring his palms, instead crawling on his elbows or the sides of his hands. Henry realized that Bert had another injury he didn't know about. But he knew that if he tried to ask him about it, he'd only get another 'I dunno' in reply.

Eventually, they made it out and flopped onto their backs, side by side.

After taking a few minutes to breathe, they examined their new surroundings. They were in a small clearing, and the rain was falling directly onto them.

"Shelter…" Henry murmured, reminding both of them of their goal, and Bert sighed heavily and got to his knees with a wince.

The two of them began to scavenge the small area, crawling on hands and knees as they searched for anything they could use to make a shelter. Large branches or sticks, large leaves, basically anything except moss. As it was, Bert's hands were still aching and itchy with pain, and he could barely lift the sticks, let alone set them up into anything that could resemble a shelter.

Henry wanted to help, if he could, so he tried to help Bert arrange the sticks and leaves into a teepee shape so they could hide inside it.

It took a little longer than either of them had planned for, and both of them were trembling with exhaustion and pain, and were completely soaked through by the time the makeshift tent was done.

It was a tight fit, but even though Henry was a little uncomfortable being pressed so close to Bert, the larger boy didn't seem as bothered with the closeness, and almost immediately flopped down and sighed exhaustedly. Henry hesitated, kneeling at the entrance to their small shelter, but Bert cracked an eye open and lifted his arm invitingly, and Henry was too tired to argue. Henry turned around and carefully laid back, hesitantly laying in front of Bert's body, and blinked in surprise when he felt Bert wrap his arm around his middle and drag him backward until they were pressed together, with Henry's back to Bert's front.

Henry still wasn't feeling great, and his leg was throbbing painfully, but it did feel better to be laying down. And with Bert pressed to his back and his arm wrapped around him, Henry was already starting to warm up.

His eyes were heavy and he began to doze off, when he heard—and felt—Bert's stomach growl loudly.

Henry chuckled weakly. "Yeah, me too."

How long had it been since they'd eaten last? Henry remembered that they hadn't been allowed to have breakfast until after they did their hike with the camp. So they hadn't eaten since yesterday. He vaguely remembered having dinner before that, but they'd gone to bed so early, that Henry was pretty sure dinner was as early as 5:30pm. And they hadn't been allowed any snacks or sweets or anything after that.

Just thinking about food was making Henry's stomach groan hungrily. He wasn't a stranger to going hungry, so he knew that he could handle it. But Bert whined softly behind him just before his stomach growled loudly again.

His tummy probably hurts, Henry figured sympathetically. Something that usually helped him when he had hunger pains was to imagine his favorite foods in vivid detail, and then imagine himself eating it, sometimes even while biting into a pretend version of it.

Wanting to help, Henry whispered over his shoulder, "What's your favorite food, Bert?

"Ugh," Bert groaned, shifting his legs uncomfortably as his stomach gave another loud growl. "I dunno."

"Well, do you like pizza?" Henry tried to prompt.

"I dunno," repeated Bert.

Imagining food was making Henry's stomach ache with hunger, but he pressed on. "Aw c'mon, if you had to pick your favorite–"

"I dunno!"

"–pizza or chips?"

Bert's tone changed slightly as he said again, "I dunno." It was as though both were really good options to him, and he genuinely would have liked either.

Hearing the tone shift and wondering if he could somehow get Bert to be decisive for once in his life, Henry added on, "Burger! Pizza, or chips, or burger? If you had to choose…"

Bert hesitated. "Um…"

It was working! Henry had a feeling he knew that Bert preferred pizza over burgers, but he waited with bated breath for the bigger kid to say so himself. "Yes?" He encouraged when Bert was quiet a little too long.

"I dunno."

Henry growled loudly, frustrated. He wished he could actually talk to Bert, instead of trying to guess what he wanted. It made life much more difficult, especially in situations like this.

He wanted to ask what had happened while he was asleep, wanted to know how Bert was feeling after eating the raw rabbit, wanted to ask if Bert had any idea how to get home.

But he couldn't ask him any of it, because the other kid never knew anything.

He sat up sharply, feeling like he needed to get away from Bert before he did or said something horrid, and accidentally bumped his head on the shelter, causing it to wobble and topple over, landing in a mess of sticks all around them, and allowing the rain to begin to pour down onto both of their heads once more.

Henry cried out even louder, and all of his self-restraint shattered.

He whirled on Bert, who was now sitting up, and snarled, "You're the absolute worst person to be stranded with, do you know that? I hate it out here, I hate being with you, I hate the rain and the mud," his voice rose higher and his hands balled into fists. "I hate always needing to make all the decisions because you can't even decide what sort of bloody imaginary food you want to have! It's really not that hard! Why can't you make one–" he raised his fists "–SINGLE–" and slammed them down onto Bert's chest "–decision?!"

With a guttural cry, Henry pounded on Bert's wide chest again, as hard as he could, trying to make the words stick.

Bert watched him quietly, only barely wincing at Henry's tone. As Henry tried to punch him, Bert didn't even flinch. Henry was far too weak to cause any real damage, and Bert was a tough kid. Henry may as well have just placed his hands onto Bert's chest.

Slowly, Bert rested his aching palms over Henry's tiny fists, looking down guiltily. He knew he was indecisive, but he hadn't realized just how much it was affecting Henry. Bert was scared, and he knew Henry was too, and now he felt even more guilty.

"…sorry," Bert whispered, his voice almost too quiet to hear.

A few seconds of tense silence went by, before all of a sudden Henry was raising his head to stare at Bert, bewilderment in his teary eyes.

"Whu…what?" Had he heard him correctly? Had Bert finally said something other than 'I dunno'?

Bert swallowed thickly and shook his head, gently patting Henry's hands with his own and looking away, that same guilty expression still lingering on his face. At that point, Henry knew he had heard Bert clearly, and he himself frowned shamefully.

Shakily, Henry pulled his hands away from Bert's chest and rested them in his lap. He stared downward, only risking peeks up at Bert every few seconds. The bigger boy looked lost and afraid, and Henry felt even worse for snapping at him.

Finally, Henry sighed and wiped a few of his wet bangs from his eyes. "…I'm sorry too."

Bert quickly shook his head. He wanted to tell Henry that he didn't need to be sorry, that most of the bad things that had happened to them were his fault. But all he could do was place a wide hand on top of Henry's, shaking his head again while looking at the smaller boy with desperation in his eyes.

Henry wasn't sure what to say, but he knew going back and forth wasn't going to help them in any way right now. So he sighed, gave Bert a tight smile, patted his hand with his free one, then glanced up at the sky.

"…we should find somewhere else to shelter." He suggested, already feeling the ground beneath them becoming cold and muddy.

Bert nodded, and together, they helped each other to their feet. Bert managed to stand up first, mindful of his ankle, and reached down to let Henry grab his arms and tug himself up as well. Henry gave him a grateful look, and didn't protest when Bert wrapped an arm around him and helped him walk forward. Leaning on each other, they stumbled out of the mess of sticks and twigs and began searching for another place to keep dry.

It was a little frustrating and very painful to limp through the muddy bushes and the soggy forest floor, but soon enough, they stumbled across a large tree with huge branches that shielded them from most of the rainy weather, and they decided to settle there.

Bert carefully lowered Henry to the ground then sat down beside him with a huff. Henry glanced at him wordlessly, then gazed around at their new refuge.

The dirt was mostly dry, albeit a little uncomfortable to sit on since there were small stones and rocks scatting the clearing. But it wasn't horrible, and Henry was too exhausted to complain about the rough terrain.

Both boys jumped at the sound of an owl hooting in the distance, and Bert unconsciously scooted a bit closer to Henry, eyes wide as he stared off into the sky.

Henry gave him a sympathetic frown. "It's all right Bert, owls don't eat kids… I think." 

Bert stared at him, eyes round and fearful.

"Uh, I mean– owls definitely don't eat kids. So we're safe."

Bert looked unconvinced, but he appreciated Henry's attempt at reassuring him anyway and nodded with a forced smile.

They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying being out of the rain for once, before Henry suddenly yawned.

Bert looked at him worriedly, really not wanting to be alone if Henry decided he wanted to sleep. But the shorter kid quickly shook his head to wake himself and rubbed at his eyes.

Henry managed to keep himself awake a little longer, but it was clear to Bert that Henry was exhausted after such a long day, and he felt bad for wishing Henry would stay up with him.

So, silently, Bert looked around the clearing until he spotted a few chopped logs not too far from where they were seated. He glanced at Henry, who was close to nodding off, then quickly stood up to go and collect one of the logs and roll it over. He wasn't sure how comfortable it'd be, but he planned for them to use it as a headrest.

When Bert got back, Henry was looking up at him through heavy, confused eyes. 

"Bert..? What're you..?" Henry trailed off, watching quietly as Bert rolled the log into position behind Henry, then gave the thick bark a few pats.

Henry blinked slowly, his mind too tired to argue. He sighed shallowly and scooted back to lay his head down against the log, frowning as he did so. The wood was scratchy and rough, uncomfortable and a little wet, but Henry supposed it was better than laying on one of the rocks.

Bert settled himself beside him, rubbing absently as his swollen ankle while still looking around, afraid that something may pop out and try to hurt them. Henry noticed the bigger boy's anxiousness and sighed.

"How about this?" He began, grabbing Bert's attention. "I'll sleep for now, and you keep an eye out for any wildlife. And then in an hour or so, we swap. How's that sound?" 

He half expected Bert to say he didn't know, but to his surprise, the kid nodded slowly and began making himself comfortable against the log, expression serious as he gazed out into the forest.

Henry watched him with a bittersweet emotion in his chest. Even after everything, despite how tired Bert was, despite Henry yelling at him and trying to hit him, despite both of them having their fair share of injuries and illnesses, Bert was still willing to stay up to protect Henry.

For the hundredth time that night, Henry wished he was home. His stomach was hurting and he was cold and wet, and the ground was soggy and uncomfortable. He'd even just be happy to be back at Camp Sunshine at this point. Anything to get out of the terrible weather.

He swallowed thickly. This was just one night that they had to spend out in the wilderness. What if they couldn't find their way back tomorrow either, and they had to spend another night outside in the cold and the wet?

Henry's throat clenched miserably and he could feel tears burning behind his eyes.

What if they died out here?

He made a small, terrified squeak, and felt Bert move next to him. He cracked his eyes open and saw Bert looking him over concernedly with an unspoken question in his expression.

"Mh," Henry tried to gulp down the fear lodged in his throat and forced up a small smile. "Sorry Bert."

Bert only continued to frown, waiting expectantly for Henry to tell him what was wrong. But instead, Henry only let his eyes slide closed again so he could try and force himself to sleep.

He doubted he'd be able to, with how uncomfortable and painful everything felt. He could feel his mind drifting exhaustedly away from him, but he could also still feel the hard log beneath his head and could still hear Bert's soft breathing next to him. But it was as close to sleeping as he could get, so he sunk into it and allowed his breathing to even out and match Bert's as his mind continued to drift aimlessly.

The sound of the rain was soothing, in a way. Henry's mind buzzed into static, aided by the rainfall, and before long, even the log wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been before. He could still feel it if he focused hard enough, but it wasn't distractedly uncomfortable anymore.

Henry was enjoying the silent stillness around them, finally feeling himself relax for the first time.

All too soon, Bert was shaking his shoulder, startling Henry out of his heavy doze.

Henry wanted to whine and beg to keep sleeping, but when he got a look at Bert's face, he could see just how exhausted Bert was. Both of them were filthy, but Henry could still make out the dark bags under Bert's eyes, and every time he blinked, it was slow and heavy.

Forcing himself up, Henry groaned when there was a cramp in his spine from the uncomfortable position, but nodded at Bert. He'd take his turn to keep watch.

Bert smiled gratefully at him and sank down to curl up on his side, resting his head on the log. Almost immediately, Bert's face relaxed and his breathing grew heavier as he began to snore lightly.

Henry exhaled through his nose with a little smile. Bert really needed his rest, apparently.

There was no way to really keep track of the time, so Henry decided that he'd stay awake as long as he could before trying to wake Bert up so they could switch again.

To keep himself up, he sat up more and began digging his fingers into the small rocks in the dirt, trying to dislodge them and toss them aside. As he worked, his mind wandered again, and he couldn't help but think about what their plan was going to be for tomorrow.

He wasn't sure what they'd do if they couldn't find their way back in the morning. Or the next day. All at once, he wondered how long it could take before they died.

He blinked at the morbid thought, but realized that it was just a grim reality of what could happen, and he wasn't as terrified of dying as he thought he'd be. It was a fact of life, in a way. Just like how he knew that the sun was going to rise in the morning, Henry knew that they could die.

Going back to digging up the small rocks, he wondered how it could happen. There were so many things that could go wrong out here, and Henry wasn't fond of any of them. The coldness could get them, or hunger. He swallowed dryly and wondered how ironic it would be if they died of dehydration while being rained on. Or maybe an animal would get the better of them and they'd become its dinner.

At the thought of an animal finding them, Henry's heart jumped into his throat and he looked around the dark clearing for any sign of the awful badger that had gotten a taste of him already.

He didn't see it—or any animal, for that matter—but it didn't stop Henry's heart from pounding worriedly. If they were going to die, he wanted it to be fast and as painless as possible. The bite on his leg was still burning terribly, and he really didn't want to have another run-in with any more creatures.

He thought he heard some kind of movement in the distance, and he moved closer to Bert, eyes wide as he searched anxiously, suddenly remembering how he'd been worried about wolves when they'd first gotten lost, and he wondered if there really were wolves in these woods.

The owl hooted again, way up in the trees, but there was no sign of anything nearby, and Henry's anxieties began to ease the longer it went without any sign of life.

A gust of cold air blew through the trees, wracking Henry's body with violent shivers. He hugged himself, teeth chattering as he pressed his hands over the damp fabric of his sleeves, and tucked his knees to his chest.

Bert only frowned and grunted as the cold ripped through the clearing, and Henry felt a pang of jealousy for Bert having more muscle and fat on him than he did. This whole trip, Bert didn't seem as affected by the cold, and Henry wished he was the same. He leaned closer to Bert and could almost feel the warmth radiating off of the larger boy.

Hoping that Bert didn't have a fever or another sickness that was making him suspiciously warm, Henry crept closer and allowed his shoulder to press against Bert's arms. Bert didn't react to it, and Henry wanted to wake him up and ask him to take another shift again, because Henry was suddenly finding it incredibly hard to keep his eyes open.

But when he tried to shake Bert's shoulder, Bert only grunted and swatted Henry's hand away in his sleep, then continued snoring.

Henry huffed and was about to shake his shoulder even harder, when he realized that keeping watch wasn't really going to help either of them. If they were going to be eaten, having one of them awake wasn't going to do much. Besides, if they somehow survived until morning, they needed all the strength they could get if they wanted to keep searching for a way out. And that meant that they should both sleep whenever they got the chance.

With that thought, Henry released a heavy breath in a defeated sigh and tilted to the side to lean against Bert's shoulder. Bert was warm and soft, and was significantly more comfortable as a pillow than the log was, so Henry tucked his legs under himself for warmth and allowed his head to rest heavily onto Bert's side.

He could smell the dirt and grime and sweat that had been ground into the fibers of Bert's shirt, but for some reason, it didn't bother Henry one bit. He knew he didn't smell any better, and if anything, he was just grateful that there was another person here with him at all.

Henry curled up more, hugging his arms to his chest to warm them up and tucking one foot under the other for the same reason. Already, he could feel his shivering lessening as his fingertips and toes began to thaw and get a little more feeling into them.

Exhausted and unable to keep his eyes open any longer, Henry took a deep, shuddering breath and allowed his eyes to slide closed. He moved a little closer to the other boy—to his friend —while smiling gratefully to himself.

Comforted by the sound of Bert's heart beating under his ear, the warmth of being pressed against another person, and the way Henry rose the slightest bit every time Bert inhaled, Henry slipped into sleep before he could even realize that he was drifting off.

Toot Toot TOOT!

Henry jolted awake with a cry, blinking wildly in terror. Was it an animal that was about to eat them? Were they goners? Was Bert still here?

As he searched frantically for the danger, he found three shadows standing over him, and he nearly threw himself backwards to get away from them. But just as quickly as the fear entered him, it disappeared just as fast, replaced with mind-numbing relief.

It was Captain Crunch, Al, and Peter. They were saved!

"At last!" He cried, rushing forward as fast as he could on his injured leg to meet Al and his brother. Peter was holding Henry's stuffed bear in both hands, and was grinning up at him happily.

"Oh! I thought I'd lost you forever!" Henry exclaimed, clasping his hands together before reaching out with both hands toward Peter.

"Oh, me too!" Peter cried, assuming Henry was talking about him.

Henry scoffed, and quickly snatched his teddy from his brother's hands. "Not you, Worm," he spat. "Mr. Kill!" He held the stuffed toy up high and admired all of its little tears and stains, smiling a bit and comparing himself to his stuffed bear. I know how you feel, buddy, Henry sympathized internally.

"If it wasn't for your brother's tracking skills, we might not have found you." A stern voice suddenly cut into Henry's thoughts, making him peer up at their scout leader. The woman had her hands on her hips, brow raised high and an expression as cold as stone.

Henry shrank beneath her gaze and didn't respond.

Captain Crunch spoke again, "Shall we wake your friend?"

At that, Henry blinked and finally looked down at Bert, who was still sleeping peacefully on his side. Henry's face softened as he looked at him, and truthfully, he didn't know if he wanted to wake him or not. Yesterday had been such a long, agonizing day that Henry was sure the bigger boy was still exhausted. Henry certainly was.

So with a tight frown, Henry dragged his eyes away from Bert and gazed up at their captain, speaking genuinely, "I dunno." 

After Henry had given the rescue team a quick recap of what had happened to the two of them, including what injuries they'd sustained, their scout captain finally decided to wake up Bert so they could get back to camp and treat their wounds.

Captain Crunch helped Bert to his feet and let him lean on her for support, while Al let Henry wrap his arm around his shoulder for support, and together, with Peter leading the way, the five of them made their way slowly back to safety.

It took at least an hour or two, and by the time they made it back to camp, Henry and Bert were exhausted and limping heavily, so they were placed in the infirmary to heal and rest.

The nurse was a bit rough with them, poking and prodding a little too much for comfort, but soon enough she was headed out the door, leaving just Henry and Bert in the infirmary in their own separate cots.

Now, Henry peered down at the wrappings around his leg, thankful for whatever medicine the nurse gave him to make the pain go away. He hadn't wanted to take it at first since it smelled weird and tasted even worse than cough medicine, but eventually he'd forced himself to drink it, figuring it'd be better than sitting around in pain.

Beside him laid Bert in a similar state. The larger boy blinked tiredly, his hands resting on his rising and falling stomach. Henry watched Bert's expression twist slightly and his fingers pressed more firmly into his stomach as if he were in pain, and only then did Henry realize that they still hadn't eaten anything in forever.

The nurse's job was only to heal them up. Thankfully, she'd also given them water, but it probably didn't even occur to her to get them something to eat as well.

"Didn't even bring us crackers or anything," Henry griped aloud, earning a weary smile from his friend. Henry smiled sadly back. "You hungry, Bert? Want to go find some food?"

Bert sat up a little more in his cot, a bit of life rising to his eyes as he blinked eagerly at Henry. But as he tried to sit up and push himself to his feet, he let out a loud cry and crumpled straight to the floor, clutching at his ankle with his bandaged hands. Henry gasped, scrambling off his own cot as quickly as he could and trying to help Bert up.

Bert was making a wounded whimper in the back of his throat, and his face was screwed up painfully. Henry winced sympathetically. "Careful, Bert," he reminded softly. "Come on, let's get you up, all right?"

It took a while, but with Henry's help, Bert was able to struggle to his feet, leaning fully on his good leg and Henry's shoulders, and collapsed back into his cot, panting and wincing in pain.

Henry was breathing hard as well, feeling as though he'd lost half of his own energy with trying to help Bert get back up again. "Right…" he wheezed, straightening his back and feeling the muscles tensing up. "You stay here. I'll see if I can't find something."

Bert nodded, eyes closed as he focused on just breathing.

Henry used the wall, door frames, folding tables, anything he could get his hands on, to support himself as he limped out of the makeshift hospital cabin and peered around the campsite.

It was just past midday, so the other kids were probably at the assault course with Captain Crunch, which meant that the mess hall was empty.

Just the thought of walking all the way to the other side of camp to get to the mess hall was enough to make Henry's head swim. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it all the way there.

He'd been about to give up, when he saw the cabin where their bunks were. He blinked, getting an idea. Maybe one of them had stashed away some food? Henry crept toward the building, limping when he didn't have a wall to lean on for a few steps, and by the time he made it to the door, he was out of breath and could feel the bandages around the bite wound on his leg beginning to dampen with blood. He'd need to hurry, since the pain meds were beginning to wear off as well.

He pushed the door open and peered inside, and found one of the other kid's backpacks. Praying that whoever it was kept food inside, Henry unzipped it and stuck his hand in.

Nearly ready to cry with relief when his hand closed around a few packages of fruit snacks and nuts, Henry grabbed up all of the snacks out of the backpack, lifted the bottom of his shirt to use like a net, and loaded himself up with as much food as he could carry.

He struggled to his feet, needing to use one hand to hold the shirt up, and took a moment to lean against the door of their cabin and just breathe. He hoped Bert would be okay with this. Henry's mouth was already watering at the promise of food. He wanted to tear into one of the packages of fruit snacks right away, but he'd waited this long. He could wait a little longer so he could get it back to his friend and they could share it together.

Going back took even longer than the trip out had been, and Henry had to stop and blink back dizziness every few steps. He was also sure that he'd lost a few packages of food somewhere along the way, but he'd been too dizzy and exhausted to try and find it and pick it up again.

By the time he stumbled through the door, Henry's energy was completely spent. He took one big step into the room and promptly collapsed, closing his eyes and breathing for a few minutes while he waited for the world to stop spinning.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Bert leaning way over his cot to rub his back while wearing a concerned expression.

"Mh," Henry groaned, forcing himself up onto his hands and knees and gazing tiredly at all the packages of food that he'd scattered across the floor. He shakily picked up a pack of nuts and handed it to Bert.

Bert seemed more concerned with Henry's fall, taking the nuts and setting them aside while still watching Henry anxiously.

Feeling bad for making Bert wait, Henry collected all the packages of food and dragged himself up onto his cot, giving Bert a reassuring smile.

It seemed to work, since Bert smiled back and turned to the pack of nuts Henry had given him. He picked it up, but with all the bandages around his hands and fingers, he couldn't get a good enough grip on it to open it himself.

He glanced at Henry, watched the other boy easily tear off the top of the pack of fruit snacks he'd decided on, and watched him dump nearly the whole package into his mouth.

Henry groaned blissfully, nearly drooling as he struggled to chew all of the gummy fruits. Bert licked his lips eagerly, feeling his stomach grumbling as it begged him to open the nuts so he could have some food too. He could almost taste the salt already!

He tried tearing at the pack with his teeth, but he still couldn't grip it in his hands well enough for that to work either. With a frustrated frown, he considered trying to ask for help. But even though he was trying to say more things, just the thought of asking for something made his throat tighten up with fear.

Somehow, as if he'd heard Bert's silent plea, Henry glanced over at the other boy. He raised an eyebrow when he realized that Bert hadn't opened his food yet, and quickly realized what the problem was.

"Oh! Sorry Bert." He scooted to the edge of his cot to lean over and offer his hand for Bert to pass the package. Bert handed it over with trembling hands. Henry easily tore it open for him, then handed it back, making sure that Bert had a good hold on it—especially with his bandage mittens—before letting go.

Bert gave him a grateful smile and finally was able to pour some of the salty snacks into his mouth. Saliva immediately flooded his mouth and he scarfed the entire pack of nuts down within seconds.

Henry had already torn into his second pack of fruit snacks, and when he saw that Bert was done with his first pack, Henry gestured to the rest of the food he'd brought, offering for Bert to pick out what he wanted.

Bert reached for a pack of fruit snacks of his own, but Henry's cot was a little too far away for him to reach.

Without missing a beat, Henry got up and pushed their cots closer together, then sat down heavily next to Bert so they were sharing Bert's cot together, while using Henry's as a makeshift table.

This time, Bert could select anything he wanted, and when he'd chosen it, Henry opened it for him without hesitating, and handed it to him.

Feeling emotions welling up in his heart, Bert took the snacks and gazed at Henry with a watery expression. After everything they'd been through, he felt like he and Henry were closer than before. So he was willing to try branching out of his comfort zone a little bit.

It took a few tries, but Bert was able to meet Henry's curious gaze, and stammered out, "Th- Thank you."

Henry blinked, pausing his chewing for a few minutes so he could figure out what had happened. Had Bert really said something else? He'd thanked him?

Henry swallowed the bite that was in his mouth and beamed proudly at Bert. "You're welcome," he said in the same gentle tone Bert had used. "Thank you too."

Henry didn't know what would have happened if Bert hadn't been stranded in the forest with him. Something told him that Henry might have never made it out of there alive. He was grateful that Bert had been such a loyal and trustworthy friend, and Henry was glad to have Bert there with him.

Setting aside his food for a minute, Henry threw both arms around Bert's neck, squeezing him tightly in a fierce hug. Bert laughed awkwardly, but returned the hug with just as much intensity after hardly a moment's hesitation.

"All right you two, come down to the campsite for the awards ceremony," Captain Crunch told the two boys later that night. Henry and Bert had pushed their cots to be side by side with each other, and they'd managed to both take a well-deserved nap.

Henry groaned tiredly, blinking and rolling over to ignore the captain. "No thank you," he whimpered, and Bert grunted his agreement.

"Come along you two, you'll want to hear these results."

Henry tried giving her his best puppy dog look, but she didn't break. She only stood in the doorway, expectantly waiting for them to get up and follow her.

"Afterward, can we go back to sleep?" Henry pleaded, and the captain looked surprised that he even had to ask.

"Of course you can, cadet. You and your friend are our honored campers. After the ceremony, you both may sleep as long as you'd like."

Feeling a little more lighthearted at the captain's praise, Henry perked up and glanced at Bert to see if he'd be willing to go. Bert also seemed a little more awake as well, and together they wordlessly agreed to try.

Henry ducked under Bert's arm, and they managed to lean on each other as they staggered to their feet and began to limp after Captain Crunch.

As they made their way slowly toward the campfire, Henry glanced up at his friend. Bert had a strained look on his face as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other, but when he saw Henry looking up at him, his mouth split in a friendly smile.

Henry felt his own mouth turning up in a smile to match, glad to see that Bert was feeling well enough to walk and that they both were doing better than they'd been that morning. 

As the two found an empty log to sit on, Henry felt a bit of pride when he saw how the other campers were all watching them with wide, awe-filled eyes. Word must have gotten around fast. Henry gave one more look up at Bert as they settled down and Captain Crunch began the award ceremony, hoping that Bert was as proud of himself as Henry was of him. Because if it weren't for him, they wouldn't have made it out alive.

They'd survived, and it was because they'd stuck together. His parents had wanted him to make friends and learn some responsibility? Well, Henry thought to himself, smiling as he realized that he was proud to call Bert his friend now, I did it!

Maybe Camp Sunshine wasn't so bad after all.