Nikki stood by one of the beds on the far end of the room. Every now and again she would glance up to see if she had moved at all, but no such sight greeted her weary eyes.
An intelligent looking boy came up to her, took a peek at the girl in the bed, and then looked back to Nikki. He had short, oak hair and a pair of worn, ivory frames that accented a pair of cool brown eyes.
"Is she going to be okay?" Nikki asked worriedly.
"Look, I'm not a doctor. None of us are. The only stuff I know is from my dad - he was the one who dealt with a lot of injuries and the such. I learned a lot from him, but don't expect my predictions to be right. From what I can tell, she only has a bit of damage to her head, must have been hit on the way down or something. She's not going to die or anything. I'd expect her to wake up within the next day or so. What was her name again?"
"Jenna," Nikki answered, relieved.
"Right. Well, I should be going. The guys are bothering me about a splinter situation. You'd think they'd be man enough to pull it out themselves...they're lucky I keep a pair of tweezers in my pockets." The boy rolled his eyes, waving as he left down the corridor. Nikki looked back to Jenna, trusting the boy's word that she would be alright. As soon as she woke up, Nikki knew she would have to prod her for answers. Had the girl done this to her? It made her sick. She knew that she should have pushed harder for her to stick with them. Nikki gazed at Jenna. Her face was peaceful and serene, with no stress or care in the world.
"Hey, Nikki! Guess what the chute popped out!" Wendy called from afar. Nikki, with a last glance at Jenna, dashed down the lines of beds, sliding through one set of glass doors and coming face to face with two familiar faces.
"Mark! Kaedyn! You two are alright after all." They both looked really ragged, most likely from the journey through the chute. Mark had spots of dirt and grime all over him, with an especially noticeable spot on his nose, and seemed to had adopted a light blue beanie atop his head. Kaedyn was dirty, too, with her hair in a tangled mess and her hands marked with filth. Nikki wondered if she had tried to slow her fall by using her hands.
"That has to be one of the best roller-coaster rides I've been on in a while," Mark laughed, dusting some of the dirt off his arms and legs.
"It was more like a free-fall, I'd say." Kaedyn fiddled with her hair, shaking some of the dirt out and making it a bit more manageable. "It looks like we're some of the last ones to drop in though, huh?"
"Yeah, I think there's only a couple others that we'd be missing." Wendy confirmed. "But hey, don't let it get you down! We're all planning on having a hang out party later once everyone is here. Can you imagine it? The entire camp - boys and girls - just having a night of fun? I've been waiting for this moment since forever!"
"But what'll we do for snacks?" Kaedyn inquired. "It can't be much of a party without food!"
Wendy scratched her head. "Well, that's true. Unfortunately we don't have any access to a supply of food at the moment. We're not even sure how we'll all survive this if there's no food for a while. All we can do is hope for something else to happen." Nikki felt a stone sink itself in her stomach.
"No food?" she repeated. Wendy nodded glumly.
"I know it's bad, and we should probably look for some grub and everything, but the guys have already tried searching for a way out. There is none."
"What about at the very end of the bed corridor?" Nikki suggested. "Surely there has to be something other than wall there, right?"
"Well, there is some futuristic-looking metal thing. It looks like it would be a door, but there's no gap in between it or anything, just a huge, thick slab of steel in our way." She blew a flap of hair out of her face. "Shit happens."
"Are you sure there's no way to open it?" Kaedyn bit her cheek.
"We tried everything. Chett was even willing to use the old 'Open Sesame' trick. That didn't work either." Wendy sighed gravelly. "But, if this is one of our last nights together, we might as well make it a good one, right?" she struggled out a smile.
"Yeah," Kaedyn worked herself up enough to express a tiny grin.
Nikki's thoughts turned onto a dark path. No food? They would all starve, if they didn't resort to a more morbid appetite instead. Nikki felt a little sick, as if she was doomed to never feel at ease again. All she wanted was to have a week of fun. Make some new friends, create memories, and go home. Now it seemed like she may never see the light of day again.
It was dark now, with the lights of the torches stationed at every few beds the only source of visibility. Nikki wasn't sure if the light they were seeing was natural light or not. It seemed to replicate the passing of day and night though, so Nikki could only assume as such.
There were people of all sorts talking among themselves, with no regard for normal camp rules. Boys sat with girls and cracked jokes, others cuddled together in the dim rays of the torches, it was a wonderful sight. For the first time all day, Nikki noticed that people seemed to be happy. Sure, they weren't under normal camp situations, but everyone was together and expressing joy. It lifted her spirits a little.748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBBLeoyJX5
"Hey, Nikki. We're going to play a game of truth or dare. Want to join?" Ellie came up to her with a grin on her oval face. Her brown hair fell just below her chin, and the chocolate eyes shimmered at her.
"Truth or dare? Hah, that old game? Sure, why the heck not. Count me in." Nikki walked over to a circle of people with Ellie. She sat down next to Chett and Jenna, who had a piece of fabric tied around her head. Nikki knew that the fabric was really just a piece ripped off of some guy's plaid jacket, but it would have to do asa bandage for now.
Around the rest of the circle were many people she knew, and many she didn't. There was Wendy, Britney, Zoe, Jenna and Chett, who sat alongside Mark, Toey Joey, Kaedyn, Zach, and even Noah were all gathered in a tight circle. 748Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmW02mcMOH9
"The more the merrier," Zach said, rubbing his hands together. "at least, that's what they always say."
"Alright!" Wendy clapped once, as soon as Nikki had sat down. "Let the games begin! As CEO of our little band here, I think it's only right if I start out." There was a couple grumbles in the circle, but no direct complaints aside from the daggers Britney shot out of her eyes at Wendy, which she willfully ignored. "Hmm, TJ, truth or dare."
TJ seemed shocked that he had been picked first. But not too shocked. He already had his answer well prepared in advance.
"Truth," he said.
"Playing it safe, I see? Well, there's no escape either way! Tell me, out of the people in this group, who would you want to kill first?" TJ looked like he was sweating. Tensions were high as he carefully scanned everyone in the circle, occasionally going back on someone again, to which the person in question would look like they were about to be executed for real. Finally, he took a deep breath.
"Chett. Definitely Chett." Chett mimicked him getting shot in the chest, promptly falling down on the ground and twitching humorously. A chorus of giggles and guffaws went around the circle, as well as a few sighs of relief. Chett smirked, sitting back up and sticking his tongue out.
"I'll know to avoid you in an apocalypse setting, then."
"No offense, man. Just gotta do what I gotta do." He shrugged, and began to wonder who to pick on next. "Hmm, okay. Britney, truth or dare?" She drew herself up in a refined position.
"Why, I wouldn't pick anything other than a dare. I can pull through anything you fire at me." Wendy snorted in the background.
"Fair enough. I dare you..." he looked at her, first from her face down to her rose coloured socks. TJ had an idea. "...to wear your socks on your hands for the rest of the evening." Britney glanced down at her socks in disgust, the thought of wearing such a thing on her hands probably repulsive to her.
"If I must," she said, and without further ado, pulled off her socks to reveal neatly painted toes and reluctantly put the socks on her hands. "There. Happy?" Everyone smiled, a couple snickering at her. "My hands are going to smell awful after this, I hope you realize. Don't expect me to not subject you to some sort of torment after tonight." The threat dangled like a loose string on a sweater. It wasn't very...threatening.
Britney huffed a sigh, choosing her next victim. An evil smile crossed her face. "Wendy," she said in a voice as smooth as caramel. "Truth or dare?" The circle was completely silent. They all knew that something was about to go down.
"I'll give you the displeasure of a truth," she smirked. Britney's lip curled into an odd sort of smile.
"Fine then. Tell us about the incident of second year." Wendy froze. Clearly, whatever this 'incident' was, it meant a whole lot more to Wendy.
"You wouldn't dare," she warned.
"Oh, but I would. Because if you won't tell it, then I will." Britney had a smug look over her face. Wendy was angry.
"Fuck no. You keep that trap of yours shut or I will end you."
Britney rested her head on her sock-covered hand. "Well, the story goes like this. It was a long day in our second-year of camp. Wendy and I were in a feud, when suddenly I - "
"SHUT UP!" Wendy outright tackled Britney, sending her to the ground with a shriek. The circle disbanded, with the two girls fighting it out with each other.
"Come on, it's just part of the game!" Britney yelled, defending herself with pitiful, sock-ey slaps.
"That doesn't mean you can just blabber about something like that!" Wendy held her arms to the ground firmly, her strength far outweighing Britney's.
"Get a grip, it happened so long ago!"
"So forget about it!"
They went on like this for a while, each yelling over the others voice. The gang decided that it would be best to leave them to their own devices and settle things themselves, so they all went to the other room where they chatted and joked about what could happen. A couple people made bets. Just about everyone voted that Wendy would beat Britney in a physical war any day.
Everyone talked through the night, trying to ignore the lurching in their stomachs as hunger started to become a slight problem. Nevertheless, they all enjoyed themselves, Nikki finally being able to relax and unwind. Her worries about Jenna were gone, as she was alive and well on her way to a good recovery. She was able to connect once more with her friends, and enjoy the moments as they lasted.
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