Excerpt from Devil's Playground
We packed as much as
we could of our luggage and survival supplies to the far side of the building.
Carla and I made a second, then third trip to get the rest of our stuff,
Octavia and Lucy went around gathering chunks of concrete and rock to make a
circle to contain the fire, and Zoey put up the tent. Then we all gathered as
much dry brush and wood as we could find. Zoey started the fire just as the
last rays of light disappeared from the sky and the cold set in.
With the light from
the fire, we were able to inflate all the pillows and matresses. The tent ended
up only being big enough to fit 2, maybe three people, and only one air
mattress. Zoey and I offered to sleep outside on one air matress so Octavia,
Lucy and Carla could sleep in the tent on the mattress. Carla declined, of
course, wanting to sleep on the ground beside the fire. Her parents used to
take her camping all the time, so she was used to sleeping under the Arizona
stars. So that left Octavia and Lucy sharing an air mattress in the tent, Carla
on the ground by the fire, and Zoey and me on the other air matress next to the
fire.
“So, we’ve been out
here for hours and I don’t see a Port-O-Potty. Did you ladies find a bathroom
in there?” Octavia asked.
“Honestly,” I
replied, “we didn’t look.”
“Here, take the
lantern and the wet wipes my mom packed, and see if there’s a bathroom in
there,” Zoey offered.
Octavia took the
lantern and wipes, then disappeared around the building.
“Really, someone
should have gone with her,” I said, looking after her.
“Aw, she’ll be okay.
No boogeyman tonight,” Lucy said, plopping down on the ground next to the fire.
“Let’s eat, I’m starving.”
We each took one
ready-to-eat meal and a protein bar, and we shared a gallon of water. We set
aside the same rations for Octavia for when she got back.
We finshed eating,
and had moved on to mindless gossip, and before we knew it, an hour had passed.
“Oh, my God,” Lucy
said, looking at her nearly dead cell phone. “It’s been over an hour and a
half. Has anyone seen Octavia since she went off to find a bathroom?”
We all looked
around, Carla checked the tent in case she had snuck past us and we hadn’t
noticed, but there was no sign of her.
“Lucy, Carla, you
two stay here and guard the tent and supplies. Zoey, you come with me, we’re
going to look for Octavia.”
“You two can’t go
out there alone!” Carla exclaimed.
“Don’t leave us
here, Savannah!” Lucy squealed.
“Look,” I said, “I
already feel guilty enough that it took us so long to realize that she’s
missing. If we all stay here, we’ll never find her. If we all go, we risk
having all our supplies stolen or eaten by wild animals. If we split up, we can
find Octavia and still keep our supplies safe, and none of us will be alone
doing it.”
“She’s right, we’ve
got to find Octavia, and whether we do or we don’t-“
“NO!” Lucy screamed,
standing and marching over to where Zoey and I stood, flashlights in hand,
ready to head out to find our missing friend. “We’ve eaten, we have a truck to
keep us safe, if we lose the supplies, oh well. I am NOT going to be left
behind to be slaughtered, and I’m not letting you two run off to get yourselves
killed. We all go together.”
I stared back at her
a moment, then realized she was right. If we lost all the supplies, Mrs.
Firesoul might be out a couple hundred bucks, but at least she’d have her
daughter coming home to her. But leaving two of us behind was stupid, we needed
to stay together. It would be harder to take down a group of four than it would
a group of two.
“You’re right.”
“What?” Zoey asked,
confused.
“She’s right. A group
of four is stronger than two groups of two, and if we lose the supplies, we
always have the truck to sleep in. It won’t be comfortable, but it’s safer
anyway.”
“It’s about time
someone realized how smart I am,” Lucy said, indignantly.
“You’re not smart,
you got lucky,” Carla said.
“Bite me.”
“Everyone grab a
flashlight or glowstick, and let’s get going,” I said.
Okay, there you have it. Wanna find out what happens? Stay tuned.
~With Love and Insanity~
