Tooth and Nail (Draft In Progress - Book One)

Chapter 21 - Spicewood

Turning in to Pace Bend Park was a challenge. FM2322 Had never been an easy road, but it was an especially hard task with the narrow lanes being the final resting places of people and their RVs. Driving down the winding and hilly lane, Jezebel reminisced over the years she had spent as a camper here, weeks away from home in a place she could only describe as magical. Even in the summer heat, she had played and hiked and swam and paddled and forgotten every little thing wrong with "The Outside World". Camp Spicewood had been a paradise in a modern dystopia.

Even before the Catastrophe, Jezebel had never been a fan of the world. Zarth merely made the place the already detested something equally foul in scent as aura.

Tamerlyn and Avery had a thumb wrestling tournament at the front of the bus.

Drew drove with Allen by his side, sitting on the dash, legs hanging down into the pit of stairs leading off of the bus seating platform to ground level. The rear of the bus was filled with couch cushions, bags and backpacks, weaponry of every shape and size, ice chests and coolers packed to almost overflowing with all manner of food, and clothes were sorted into piles from smallest to largest. Avery had gone through everything they stocked, neatly organizing one bench for shirts, one for pants, one for underthings and socks, and underneath each row were boxes and boxes of shoes. Allen had waited until the lull of the bus ride put Jezebel to sleep to lean her against the window, and go to the back to sort food and other supplies. The ride had not in fact yet completely put Jezebel out, and she felt when he tilted her off of him. Her side was left cold and her head bounced against the glass uncomfortably, but she was too tired to mind. Their canine friend had his own bench, and was sleeping peacefully.

Outside, the world was darkening. Homes with the lights left on could be seen right into, trees looked menacing, clouds couldn't even be seen. When the bus did finally turn into the park, it was another mile to the section Jezebel had set their course for. Lodged in a corner off of the main road was Camp Spicewood, a Girl Scout camp since 1949 that would again prove to be home to those who needed it.

Drew maneuvered the caravan though the unlit park until a wooden sign off the road could be seen to read Camp Spicewood, All Visitors Must Check In With Main Office Upon Entrance. The driveway was gravel and littered with trash from the last group to spend their session in the sweet sanctuary of summer camp.

At the top of the driveway hill was a gate that had been locked from the inside. Jezebel jumped out, wandered only feet off the road and walked around the end of the gate to where she knew it stopped. It was effective for keeping out cars, not so much for people. She lifted the chain and pulled it from the gate, finding the padlock only for show. She pushed the gate on its hinge off the road and held it aside for Drew to pull the crew through. The parking lot on the other side of the fence was mostly empty. Jezebel recognized the green Prius closest to the office on the right side to be the camp director's, but no light could be seen in the office itself.

The core of camp was a paved teardrop-shaped loop around a loose rock and sand parking lot. Closest to the entrance at the point of the loop was the office. Following the road counter-clockwise, off to the right was a path leading to the pool, Nature Center, cabins, horse arenas and barn, and into the back of camp. Around the curve of the road, sticking out like spikes on a wheel were the Ranger's House driveway, a permanent home residence to the park manager, two paths to more cabins, and one road leading to the Dining Hall, which overlooked Lake Travis, glittering in the starlight. Even in a world as plagued as Zarth, Camp Spicewood maintained its beauty that had attracted so many visitors over the years.

Drew drove the bus down the road to the Dining Hall at Jezebel's direction and into the small lawn outside the large, white stone building. Filing off the bus one after the other, careful not to wake the dog, Jezebel lead the line to a side entrance of the dining hall. Allen leaned against the wall on the side of the door that would open. Tamerlyn ushered Avery and Drew back a few steps from the door, and Jezebel aimed at the electronic lock, praying that every movie she'd ever seen could be relied on as a knowledgeable resource of information on how to break into a code-secured building.