Camp Camp GC Fic

She's Back.

"Nikki?" Max said her name slowly, and tried to hold back a vast amount of emotions.

She put up her arms in a cross, as if defending herself from something. Her face turned feral and angry.  "What the fuck?! Where am I?"

"Nikki, we're at camp," Max said softly.

Nikki dropped her arms slowly and looked around, still defensive. "Are you dead too?"

"What?" Max was taken off guard, then chuckled. "No. You're alive."

She looked herself up and down. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Max smiled, and his eyes filled with tears. "I missed you so fucking much!"

He ran towards her to embrace her, but she put her arms back up and backed away. 

"Max, back off," Harrison said and made his way towards them. Max had forgotten he and the Quartermaster were there. "Nikki, it's okay. We performed a ritual. Why don't you sit down and we can explain?"

"Max? Max?" A distant voice called. Max turned around quickly and saw David searching and approaching. "Buddy, are you okay?"

"Is that fucking... fucking David?" Nikki said. Her head was spinning. "What did you do to me?!"

Harrison's gaze was switching from David to Nikki. He put a soft arm on Nikki's shoulder. "Max, go talk to David, please."

Max stared at Nikki for a moment, then silently nodded his head and walked away.

Harrison and Nikki made eye contact briefly, before she looked away. 

"Are you okay? How do you feel?"

Her shifted on her feet, trying to get used to the feeling of being on the ground, and not in it. "Why would you do this? How did you do this?!"

"Let's sit, okay? Come over here," Harrison said, graciously leading her to a wooden bench. She sat down and bounced her knees up and down. "Do you remember my brother? The one who disappeared?"

She nodded slowly and bit her lip.

"We brought him back. I... well... I met some people a few years ago, and they told me about very ancient, dark magic to bring back the dead. And it took four years for me to master the spell. And then I approached Max and we performed it on you."

"Weird."

"That's all?"

She shrugged and looked around. "I don't know. I was kinda getting used to the afterlife. But now that I'm here I can't remember what that was like."

"Do you want to go back?"

She shrugged again. "Like I said, I can't really remember what it was like, so I'm not fussed either way."

"Would you like to go see Max?" He asked cautiously.

She furrowed her brow. "Maybe in a little bit. I'd kind of like to sit here and enjoy the nature, if that's okay."

"Okay," he said with a smile. "Would you like me to stay or just leave you to it?"

"You can go, thanks."

"Of course, meet me at the Mess Hall when you're ready," he explained and stood up.

As he left, Nikki called out his name. "How do we explain how I'm back? I don't really remember how I died either..."

"You were hit by a truck, and we don't have to really explain it. Just say you showed up one day. I don't think Quartermaster wants people knowing he's a grave robber."

She laughed loudly, and nodded. "Alright. Thank you Harrison."

Harrison waved and made his way back to the Mess Hall. Max was leaning against the wall, with his eyes closed and his hands in his pockets. Harrison approached him and he opened his eyes.

"Is she alright?" He asked impatiently.

Harrison nodded. "Just wanted some time to herself by the lake, to process. She's taking it fairly well, actually."

"That's good," Max said, almost silently. He teared up again and Harrison looked away politely.

"Did you let David know?"

Max shook his head. "No. I distracted him by talking to him about that camper Madison, little shit."

"Well, she's going to come back up here when she's ready. Then we can call Neil, her mother... are you okay?" Harrison caught the look in Max's eye.

"Yeah. Fine," Max insisted. "C'mon, let's catch dinner."

-

Nikki inhaled the fresh mountain air and sighed, her breezy smile returning to her. She felt... new and uncomfortable. As if she had just been born. The world felt strange, different. 

Her body felt strange and different. She didn't know how to describe it, but it was like she was in a tight costume that she couldn't wait to get out of. She tried and tried to remember what she had gone through in the afterlife, but she couldn't recall anything at all. Just that it was different from Earth. 

She thought about Max. Max, and his face when he had seen her. There was no word to describe it other than mental. Psychotic. Fucking lunacy. His hands were all bandaged up, his clothes were dirty, he smelled like ass, and Nikki wondered whether that was how he spent the entirety of the period between her dying and... then. She assumed it was summer, because David was there and it was camp, but she couldn't be sure. It could be October, or April, maybe. No, if it was April it would be colder. She decided it was most likely summer. 

Even though she couldn't remember being dead or the afterlife, there was still something there. Just like, an empty hole with nothing to fill it. Just emptiness in her brain, with an itch to fill it. The last she remembered was walking to school.

Ah, and that's when she would've been hit by a truck. She did have a tendency to not pay attention when walking in the city.

The lake's waters rippled gently. Staring at it calmed her. The sun was setting, she noticed, and a nice orange sky settled artistically over the water, and the sun set behind the little island in the middle of the lake.

It took her a few more minutes to stand up and finally make her way over to the Mess Hall.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Four heads turned. Max, Harrison, Gwen, and David.

Gwen covered her mouth in shock and David shrieked, causing the toddler next to him to cover her eyes.

"Oh my god, is that Eva? She's so big now!" Nikki commented, unaffected. Almost if she hadn't just literally come back from the dead.

"Nikki, what the hell?" Gwen said, her mouth still covered. "How?"

"I told you, magic is real," Harrison said with a wink.

Max stayed silent, a frown apparent on his face.

Nikki smiled, walked over to the table and softly said, "Max?"

Max looked up at her, still not matching her smile. "Yeah?"

"I missed you too." 

Although this was technically a lie because Nikki didn't really remember anything about being in the afterlife, Nikki was sure that she had actually missed Max while she wasn't on Earth.

Max practically flew off his seat and into Nikki's arms.