Chapter 15: Only Hope

Pulling open the door to the office, I ran as fast as I could across the compound and hated it. I had never run away from a fight before, or let someone get hurt in my place…

Damn you, Dylan! Why did you have to go and play the hero like that?!

This was affecting me more than I thought… I guess I really did care about my team members more than I let on, even to myself. I hope that Mary at least managed to make it out okay, though I couldn’t imagine that she would easily fall for the head counsellor’s tricks.

As I ran, I noticed that other campers were filtering out of their dorms and examining the pieces of paper on the ground. Good, at least Dylan and Tyler’s work wasn’t done entirely in vain, although I didn’t remember them printing off this many copies…

…Tyler!!

I had to find Tyler, they’d come after him next and I couldn’t have two people I was unable to save on my conscience.

Distracted by my thoughts, I skidded on a pile of paper and fell to the ground hard. A sharp pain shot up my right arm and I heard myself cry out. I looked around to see if anyone else had heard, but thankfully (or not, depending on your perspective), everyone was now much more focused on the paper I had slipped on than my pain. From the sounds of things, people were beginning to figure things out.

Freaking took them long enough!

I attempted to push myself up off the ground from my position of embarrassment, but another wave of pain wracked my arm and it buckled beneath me, sending me face first onto the pavement.

As I lay there, I came face to face with… myself. There was a picture of me under my face, along with the rest of my group members. At first, it looked exactly the same as when I’d last seen it, after Dylan and Tyler had shown it to me earlier. But as I used my elbows to push myself up, I noticed something was very different.

All of our question marks had been replaced with ticks.

“How… no, when did this happen?!”

Thankfully, everyone was now too busy checking their own pictures and those of their friends to hear my crazy sounding sentences.

Clutching the piece of paper in my good hand, I managed to stagger to my feet just in time to see Tyler race past me. I tried to call his name, but I couldn’t seem to get my mouth to form any words. What came out were some stuttered syllables and a lot of air. The world started to go splotchy in front of my eyes and I felt my legs give way.

No…

Before I hit the ground again, I felt hands around my waist and a blurry face appeared in front of me.

“She’s one of them.”

“What should we do with her?”

“We can take her, right? I mean, look, she’s totally defenceless right now.”

“Don’t be disgusting.”

Just before I lost consciousness completely, I heard crashes and screams coming from all around me.

“We’d better get her out of here. If they find her, there’s no telling what they’ll do to her.”

The first things I felt when I opened my eyes were pain and nausea. I hadn’t felt this bad in a long time, not since the one time I got myself into a drunken fight. If that wasn’t the stupidest thing I ever did…

No, coming back to this place was definitely the stupidest.

As my senses returned, I noticed for the first time that I was lying on a bed in one of the dorms. I could hear the voices from earlier talking about the papers outside and the people’s reactions. Clearly they’d been doing a little research of their own. Nice to know we weren’t the only normal ones in this otherwise crazy camp.

“Are you alright?”

A girl with short red hair was bending over me, her hazel eyes clouded with concern.

“Yeah, I’m alright.”Well done, Chloe, you got some words out this time.

I slowly sat up, being careful to use only my left arm, keeping my right arm as still as possible. Even this movement however sent shocks of pain through me and I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from crying out.

When I was sitting safely on the bed, cradling my sore arm, the red haired girl smiled. “I’m Alice.” She stood up and gestured to a group of boys sitting on the floor in the middle of the room playing cards. “Those guys over there are my team mates.”

I recognised one of the guys as the blurry face I saw before I passed out, though he was quite a bit clearer now. He had short cropped blond hair with a single piece that kept falling onto his forehead. He was the first to notice me.

“So you’re up.” He took a card from the pile in the middle of the floor. “Feeling better now?”

“You were pretty out of it back there” the guy on his left interjected, peering over his cards at me. His comment sounded innocent enough, but something about the way he kept looking at me made it seem… how should I put this… creepy.

The blond guy shot him a look, and then turned his attention back to his cards. “Don’t mind Jessie over there. He’s a bit of a creep, but he’s alright.” For the first time, he turned his attention to me. “Unlike you.” He uncrossed his legs to stand, then paused and placed his cards face up on the floor. “I win.”

“No!” Jessie threw his cards in the air and the brown haired guy across from him hung his head, shaking it in disappointment as he said “Damn you, Luck, this happens every time!”

Luck laughed. “And yet you insist on playing with me.” He glanced out the window. “It looks like things are getting pretty hairy out there.” Turning back to the other two guys, he said “Jessie, Sean, you guys head out and make sure that no one knows about Chloe being here. Alice, you keep an eye-out for the head counsellor and his lackeys. They’re probably looking for her.”

Alice nodded, smiling at me before she headed out the door after the two guys.

I watched her go, feeling somewhat sad that one of the only people who had showed concern for me at this camp was now leaving me. I hadn’t even known her that long!!

And yet…Man, this camp was screwing with my head.

I was brought out of my musings when I noticed that Luck was rummaging through a tiny cupboard attached to the wall of the dorm.

“What are you doing?” I curled my hand protectively around my injured arm. What if this was some kind of trap? After everything else that had happened at this camp, I doubt anything would have surprised me.

Yet what happened next did. Luck emerged from the cupboard, his hands full of bandages. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to bandage up your arm.” He started approaching the bed where I was sitting. “You can’t just leave it like that.” Instinctively, I pulled back as he reached the edge of the bed. “No, it’s fine.” One of his brows arched. “Really?” Bending over me, he reached out and flicked my injured arm. I felt a scream of pain threaten to escape, but I managed to smother it by clenching my jaw.

Luck laughed and sat on the bed. “You’re a pretty tough chick, I’ll give you that. But”, he dumped the bandage and a splint onto the bed, “you’re getting my help, whether you want it or not.” He held out his hand. “Give me your arm.”

I studied the grain of the cabin’s wooden wall like it was an artistic masterpiece. I could feel him waiting, his position unchanged, although several minutes had passed. Who did this guy think he was? That he could just sit in front of me and stare at me and I’d just cave? Well, he was not going to make me! He could sit there all day, I wasn’t gonna…

Oh, sod it, I’m in too much pain to care.

Without a word I extended my injured arm slightly. I felt him take it gently. “Thank you, Chloe.”

I shrugged. “Whatever”. I refused to meet his eyes, I was too ashamed. In just one day, I’d gone from the rough and tough Gotums chick to an injured girl who had run away from a fight. It was like this camp had even taken my identity.

In order to keep myself in control of my emotions, I focused on my injured arm, watching as Luck slowly and carefully rolled up my sleeve. He whistled through his teeth. “Impressive. You don’t do anything by halves, do you?”

From fingertips to elbow, my right arm was swollen, with blotchy purple bruises around my wrist. I could hardly bend my fingers.

“It’s useless”. As I said this, I realised that my cheeks were wet. It was hopeless, there was no way I could write with this arm, much less save my team mates. Luck, thankfully, didn’t acknowledge my tears as he strapped up my wrist, keeping it still with the splint. I wiped my face with my good hand, trying to keep any more tears from coming out. I hate appearing vulnerable, especially in front of people I don’t know.

“So, uh…” I made an effort at conversation to keep myself calm. “You look like you know what you’re doing.” Luck looked up briefly before turning his attention back to strapping my arm. “I’m a med student at Daigo University.”

“Daigo? The suburb just outside of Gotums?”

“That’s the one. My parents managed to escape the worst of the Gotums crash, though my father worked his way back up the ladder through”, he paused, “somewhat questionable means. Means that I didn’t want to be a part of.” He sighed, then continued as he reached for the clip to hold my bandage on. “So, anyway, long story short, he cut me off and I live on campus working minimum wage at some Italian dive.” Luck laughed, though not happily. “And I’m supposed to be the lucky one.” He released my arm. “There you go, that should hold.”

“Thanks” I replied quietly. It was weird to hear about someone who was suffering just as much as I was. I attempted to lighten the heavy atmosphere. “So what is up with that nickname?” I paused. “I mean, it is a nickname, right?”

Luck laughed again, this time more cheerfully. “Yeah, it started about ten years ago.” He gave me a look, and I nodded, reassuring him that I understood the significance of this. He continued. “Nothing I do fails. Ever. Whatever I decide to do, I can do. I could get on a motorbike and just figure out how to drive it without killing myself.”

I smiled. “It’s not that hard to ride a bike, you know.”

Luck blinked in surprise. “You ride?”

“Yeah, I do. I came to camp on one.”

He looked away and rubbed his chin. “That could be handy.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?” Then I suddenly remembered the first question I had wanted to ask. “And what’s with all the paper everywhere? I mean, Dylan and Tyler only printed, like, two copies.” Luck just smiled and winked at me. “You? It was your group?”

“Sure was. I’m just glad that we’re not the only ones who’ve been doing research into this camp. Although if what you’re group has found is anything like what we’ve managed to dig up…” He trailed off and glanced at me.

I shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t really know a lot about what’s going on. Dylan and Tyler were the ones who…Tyler!” I spun my feet off the bed and made my way over to the window.

“No, Chloe! You should stay away from the window!” I felt him grab me and pull me away.

“But Tyler’s in trouble! They’ll come for him, he’s the only other one left who knows!” I struggled, but Luck was too strong and it was too painful. “I can’t let someone else get in trouble for me!”Damn, the tears are coming back.

“Okay, I’ll send Alice to look for him. Will that make you happy?”

I stopped struggling. “Yes.” His grip on me relaxed. “Good.” He stepped away and pulled his mobile out of his pocket. I heard him speaking into it as I stood back from the window, rubbing my arm. It had gotten cooler since this morning and I wasn’t exactly dressed for it, thanks to Jaclyn and her trick with the scissors.

“Are you cold?” There was a rustling of fabric and I felt something warm across my shoulders. It felt like a coat. I turned around and noticed that Luck was now wearing only a T-shirt, his jacket draped across my shoulders.

“Why are you doing all of this for me? And what did you mean earlier about my bike being handy?” I knew I sounded interrogatory, but I couldn’t help it.

“What did I mean?” Luck gave me a sideways glance, then smiled and said “Well, wouldn’t it be handy to have someone who can’t lose on your side? And you’ve got some pretty mean skills yourself. Between the two of us, I think we stand a chance of taking down the head counsellor.”

He stepped closer and looked down at me. “So, are you in? Because, like it or not, Chloe, we’re your only hope.”

I hesitated, then looked up into his eyes. “I’m in.”