Survival: Part 1

Roxy

I pull up to the parking lot my aunt said to meet at. There were a lot of college kids there; I guess I wasn’t the only sucker. I get out of my car and pop the trunk. Most of the stuff I brought is art supplies. I take my suitcase out and slam the trunk shut. I stand there for a minute, taking in the crowd. “People watching” has been my favorite pass-time, besides art of course. Most of the crowd were carbon copies of each other, but I noticed a few looked out of place: A tall red head wearing all black, a taller, muscular guy, another guy who dressed like he was fifty, and a girl with something sleeping on her shoulder. I sigh a little: this is where I’ll end up if I’m not alone. I start towards the bus, wishing I didn’t have to do this. Lost in my thoughts, I wasn’t looking where I was going and bumped into someone.

“I’m so sorry,” she says. I mumble my response and bend over to pick up my bag. Looking up, I notice that it’s the girl with that thing on her shoulder.

“I’m Cavern. I’m really sorry,” Cavern says holding her hand out to me to help me get up. I take it. For a girl it was really rough, scratch that, it was really rough for anyone. I noticed little bumps and scars on the hand that helped me up. On the other arm however, was a long glove. It looks like it slipped from our encounter. From the elbow down, was something that I couldn’t fathom. Her arm was made out of rocks! She slides the glove back up her arm, a little ashamed about it.

“Are you going to Survival Camp?” I ask trying to stop thinking about her arm.

“Yeah,” she says starting to walk towards the bus. I hurry to catch up; her legs were longer so I almost had to run to keep up.

“What’s your name anyway? I feel like I should know because you know mine,” Cavern says smiling at me.

“It’s Roxanne. Call me Roxy,” I say to my shoes.

“Roxy,” she says emphasizing it, “Cool name.” We get to the bus and put our stuff on the ground. I was standing on her right side for the first time. I realized that that thing on her shoulder was a bat! I gasped and Cavern turned to look at me.

“That’s usually everyone’s first reaction to Edgar. He’s my pet bat,” she says patting its little head. I smile nervously at her; she’s a bit strange with her bat and rock arm. This’ll be a strange trip.

 

Alexander

I get over the hill and into the parking lot just in time. The bus hadn’t left yet and I was pretty tired. I hadn’t made a hike like that since…..well since I left. I throw my pack over my shoulder and head towards the bus. Making my way over, I notice a guy who looks like he could be about fifty with a girl on his arm. I shrug, maybe that’s his thing. The participants create a semi-circle around the bus and wait for the “councilors” to give the first orders. I follow suit, trying to find a spot in the circle. I pry my way into a spot next to the older guy. The girl was pretty, I noticed, but he looked a lot younger for his clothing choice. He was a little shorter than me, but carried a lot more confidence. Some other guys pushed their way into the circle, making the other people fall to the right. The guy bumped into me as I bumped into a girl next to me.

“Oh sorry,” he says trying not to fall over. I use my body as a shield and steady him.

“Thanks…um,” he says trailing off.

“Alex,” I say.

“Jerry,” he says putting his hand out to me. I shook it, smiling at him. Suddenly, I remembered about the girl I bumped into.

“I’m really sorry,” I say trying to get her attention; she was talking to the girl next to her. She turns and my heart stops. She was really pretty with chocolate brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wasn’t that much shorter than me, which I liked.

“It’s okay,” she says smiling at me. Okay, that really did it for me. I was hooked so to speak. Now there are two reasons to like Survival Camp. This’ll be great.

 

Scorpion

I get on the bus before anyone and take my seat. It really was my seat. Whenever I’ve been on a bus, it’s always been the same seat. In a few minutes, all of those kids will get on the bus and be stuck in a nature preserve for six weeks. I can’t wait.

Cavern

It’s been about three hours on the bus. Everyone is itching to get off. I got to sit next to Roxy and have been learning a lot about her. Well, maybe not a whole lot. All I know is her name and why she’s here; I guess that’s how she wants it. She keeps staring at my arm though. I knew this would happen. She’d be like everyone else, distant and revolted by my arm. I hope this doesn’t end our…..whatever you’d call this.

Jerry

I’m in heaven. I get to be with Jessica for three hours in a confined space. It’s wonderful! Even though I love talking to her, I keep looking at another girl. She’s beautiful, in a plain sort of way. She has crazy red hair, but it looks dyed. She’s only a few seats away. I really want to talk to her, but we can’t move until we get to the reserve. I need to meet her.

Roxy

We finally got there, but we had to go over a bridge which was kind of scary. It didn’t feel sturdy under the weight of the bus. I got off behind Cavern, but in front of the boy who talked to her. He looked like a nice person, but you never know. Stepping off the bus, I look at the place where I’ll be for the next few weeks. It looked really pretty, and the artist in me wanted to start sketching right away. I go to the back of the bus to grab my suitcase but got stopped on the way there. A girl stopped in front of me, blocking my path.

“Excuse me,” I mumble trying to go around her. I pass around her and hear “You’ll be first.” I whirl around, but the girl was gone. All I remember about her is her red hair against her pale skin. I noticed when I passed her that there was a tattoo of a scorpion on her shoulder. I shiver despite the hot air. Cavern comes up next to me and put her hand on my arm.

“Are you okay? Who was she?” she asks.

“Fine. I don’t know,” I reply. I grab my suitcase and start towards the cabins. This trip is getting weirder and weirder.

Scorpion

I talked to her. She looked perfect, not noticed and vulnerable. No one would miss her.

Alexander

Our first exercise is quite easy, for me at least. I noticed that the girl from the parking lot was the only other one not sweating. I walk over to her, hoping that she’ll talk to me.

“Wasn’t that easy?” I asked causally.

“Yeah. My mom taught me all this stuff before she died. Piece of cake,” she says wiping her hair away from her eyes. I smile and we start talking. I learned that her name is Cavern. That’s so cool. At the end of the day, I feel happier than I’ve felt in years.

Jerry

“Maybe this was a mistake,” I mumble to myself, massaging sore muscles I didn’t know I had. I really like Jessica, but this is too much. I can’t leave though. Sitting on my bed, I hear a clap of thunder and a crash of lightning. I love thunder storms, even more than women. I lay back just in time for the power to go out. I sit up abruptly, blinking in the new found darkness. I get up slowly, trying not to trip, and go to the door of my room. Suddenly, a scream fills the night with horror. I gasp, I would know that scream anywhere.

“Jessica,” I yell into the night. I get to her cabin, running at full speed. I tear open the door to find her on the ground, pooled in her own blood. Written in the blood is the word “Scorpion”.