"Looks like you finally made it." Wendy outstretched her hand to Nikki, who was sitting on the floor. She took her hand, getting to her feet.
"Where are we? Nikki asked, bewildered and disoriented by her fall.
"If only I knew," she said. "We've all been flying through that stupid chute for the past hour. Half of the camp is already here! Zoe and Chett just landed...oh, boy, just wait until you see how many people are crammed in here." Nikki gazed around at the now cramped room she was in. It was a bunker - but instead of your standard eight or so beds, there had to be at least a hundred. Row after row of beds were everywhere, separated by walls of glass with glass doors after every eight beds.
It was astounding just how many beds there were, but also very mystifying. The beds themselves were plain and simple. A rock-hard pillow with thin looking navy blue sheets. Nikki was even willing to bet that the mattress was like a stone.
"This is amazing. How could one even fit this many beds in one place?"
"Beats me." Wendy put her hand on her hip. "But what I do know is that it seems we're all going to be staying here for a while - the entire camp! Just think, there's no rules, so the guys can hang out with us, too! I've been dying to give Mark a sharpie mustache..." Nikki gazed over to where Zoe and Chett were recovering. Zoe had already jumped onto Ellie, and Chett was getting his share of bro-hugs from his other cabin mates.
"At least we're all together again," Nikki said with a sigh.
"Hell yeah," Wendy grinned. "I'm ready to party! But - hey, where's Jenna? Did you see her at all?"
"Ah - yeah, I saw her. We came to the doors and she said that she'd go back to find other people. I don't know if she'll be coming back. I hope so." Wendy's grin faded. "Oh, no...that's rough. She has to have some way of finding the door again, right?"
"Well, there is this weird little girl that she stuck with."
"Kinda creepy and wears a Princess shirt?"
"Exactly! So you saw her too?"
"She's the reason we got out of that crazy dump. Now we're just in another, slightly better looking dump." They laughed.
"Well, you said that a lot of the camp had been coming out through that tunnel, right? If people keep piling through then that has to mean that Jenna and the other campers will be here soon enough, right?"
"I suppose." Wendy scratched her head. "But there might be some who don't find the door." Nikki furrowed her brow. "But that girl brought us here...maybe she wants to make sure that everyone makes it out safe. I - I don't know. I'm just kind of throwing out ideas."
"Ideas are all we got, sister." Wendy shrugged. "Let's just hope for the best. Now come on, get in on some of the fun! I bet there's going to be a party all night. Like I said, no rules, no witch, it's almost like a dream!" Nikki smiled. Maybe it would do her some good to relax and have fun. She tagged alongside Wendy as they walked around, getting introduced to other people she hadn't met yet.
Along with Chett was a guy called Zach, who had extremely messy hair, Noah, who lay on a bed and stared at the ceiling, and another guy who had a sixth toe. Wendy kindly referred to him as Toey Joey, aka TJ, and he didn't seem to mind it much. Nikki noticed that Britney was here as well, but there was no sign of Kaedyn or Mark. She briefly wondered if they were still in the room, and was a bit unsettled to think that they were wandering around with nothing but themselves to keep them sane. It didn't rest well with her, but she tried to keep an open mind.
"I swear, it's like people these days don't appreciate good comedy!" Mark had gone off into a rant again, and Kaedyn was more than happy to listen. "It's like...like I say a good joke, right? Maybe a pun to lighten the mood, but no, this pure gold isn't enough for them! All I get is the stare - you know it, right? Well, the stare just pierces me, and that's when I realized that society as we know it is probably facing a downhill slope." He ended this breathlessly, hair strewn from his constant messing with it and the sweat still running down his face.
"Well, it sounds like you're pretty passionate about it, anyway." Kaedyn was grinning. She had been for a while. "But don't you think that realization escalated a little quickly?"
"It happens every time I crack a joke, though. Every time," he stressed.
"Ah," she said. "Well, on another completely different note, I finished it."
"Finished what?"
"What I was making. Here, try it on. It's homemade." She handed him the freshly woven yarn. Mark put it on his head. Kaedyn stared at him for a while, giving him a thrice-over.
"Well?" Mark broke the tension.
"I think blue is a nice colour on you. Especially the lighter one. Why don't you keep it? I have dozens more at home." Mark touched the soft beanie on his head. "Are you sure? You spent all that time making it." Kaedyn chuckled. "And you spent all that time ranting. I think it has your soul permanently woven into it, there's no turning back now. Keep it."
"Okay," the faintest of smiles crossed Mark's face. "It's, uh, warm."
"That's generally the purpose of a warm hat. Glad you noticed." She was tucking her knitting needles into a very large pocket.
"Now that we have those boulders off our shoulders, what do you say we try and find a way out?" Mark gave her a confused look. "But I thought you said it was a better idea to stay here and have patience. Why change your mind?" She shrugged.
"My legs hurt from sitting so long. Let's walk." She stood up, leaving Mark to blankly stare at her. He got up, too. "Fine, have it your way. Where are we going?" She shrugged again. "Hell if I know."
Tip tap tip tap. Came the girl's footsteps. Mark and Kaedyn didn't hear her at first, but turned when her footsteps drew close. She was alone. Her hair was tied in pigtails, and she seemed to be about their age. The only difference was that this girl was so pale, her skin was almost transparent. Her eyes sank into her skull, her lips chapped and thin. She looked like death itself.
"A-Are you okay?" Mark asked, wary of the girl.
"Come with me," she said. "I know the way out." Kaedyn glanced at Mark, who gave her an uncertain look.
"I don't know," Mark said uncertainly. "doesn't this seem suspicious?" 869Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhaaK4d2fs
"Of course it is," Kaedyn sympathized. "But I'm not exactly sure we have much of a choice. Sitting won't show us the way out, and we sure don't have the slightest idea where to go. Maybe this could be the reward for our patience, who knows." Mark's brow knitted together worriedly. "Well...okay. I don't really like it, but I'll stick with you. Any sign that this girl is going to hurt us and I'll punch her lights out - er, no offense."
The girl was silent. She turned around and started to walk. Mark and Kaedyn followed, sticking together.
Jenna felt herself falling. Down, down, down. Her body felt heavier than lead, groggy like she had just woken up. She felt a warm liquid running down her face, obscuring part of her vision. Blood? She couldn't remember getting hit at all, but then again, she could barely remember a thing.
She was walking with the little girl, searching for more people. Then...oh, what had happened? She scanned her mind vigorously, searching for the answer. They didn't find anyone, that was for sure. The girl was whispering something, something she couldn't hear. When she bent down to hear her, she said something, and then she fell down.
She couldn't have been hit, could she? The girl didn't make any sort of move to hit her. In fact, the girl stared right at her as she fell to the ground, and then the floor opened up and consumed her. Wait, that didn't sound right. How could the floor have just opened up on its own? Jenna was puzzled. She didn't know where this odd tunnel was taking her, but it seemed to have a fairly good idea of where to go, for the turns it took her on jerked her this way and that, and Jenna felt like she was going to be sick.
And then it all stopped. She was staring up into the dark hole she had came out of, which seemed to be some sort of chute, and gasping for air. There were murmurs of voices surrounding her, and everything she saw seemed to be in slow motion.
"Jenna!" That was Nikki's voice. She was at her side in an instant, and Jenna felt herself smile. They were together again. Jenna took a deep breath, slowly closing her eyes and falling unconscious.
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