Broken World

Chapter 6

       When the ranger, who has a blank look on his face, climbs on the bus we fall silent. He looks at all of us, then says, "I hope you all had a safe bus ride. If you all would please go ahead and exit the bus, then enter the building." Everyone stands up and heads for the exit, but I stay seated and look at my friends. They all have the same look of fear and confusion on their faces. I take the lead and stand up, motioning to them to do the same. We follow the other into the building. When we get inside we get the same lecture we got last year, so I zone out.

       "This year we'll be mixing guys and girls in cabins, and you get a say of who you want with you. Please, children, get into groups now," the lady, who I guess is the head ranger, says. I move away from everyone, and my little group follows me.

       "I had to make sure we'd be together. That's why I moved away from everyone," I say, my voice shaking a bit with nervousness.

       "Okay, you, you, and you," the lady says pointing to my group and two others. "You'll be in the same cabin. Please follow Miss Catherine." A lady, who I assume is Miss Catherine, waves, and all three groups follow her outside to collect our bags. The few bags that survived the crash consist of Max's, Zoe's, Brandon's, six kids I don't know, and mine. We all grab our bags, and Max takes mine from me. He claims 'a girl with a head wound shouldn't carry her own bag.'

       "Honestly I could carry my own bag," I protest after watching him struggle for a few minutes.

       "No, I refuse to let you carry it," he grunts trying to get up the hill.

       "Give me the dang bag, for God's sake!" I exclaim grabbing my bag.

       "No! Let go!" he objects while not letting go. I yank on the bag, and he still refuses to let go. I literally growl and start smacking his hand. When that doesn't seem to bother him, I smack him on the head.

       "Ow! What was that for?" he exclaims rubbing his head.

       "Not giving me my bag!" I exclaim, snatching my bag from where he dropped it.

       "Well you didn't have to smack me on the head for it!" he shouts, and we both start laughing at the stupidity of this argument.

       "Okay, I'm sorry for hitting you on the head, but I have a peace offer since you're so insistent on helping me. I carry one side, and you carry the other, deal?" I suggest.

       "Works for me," he says grabbing the opposite side of the bag. We make our way quickly up the hill, and get close to the cabin. That's when realization hits me like a speeding bus, and I stop walking.

       "I just realized they're mixing guys and girls. What's going on?" I ask no one in general.

       "Huh, I just noticed that too. We should ask Miss Catherine when we get inside," Max says.

       "Hey, um, Miss Catherine," I say tapping her on the shoulder after entering the cabin.

       "Yes?" she replies.

       "Why are they mixing guys and girls this year?" I ask.

       "Because we feel we can trust y'all not to do anything, and we knew some people had friends that they wanted to be with that were opposite genders," she replies, and I can tell she's lying.

       "Okay, cool," I say and head off to find a bunk and my friends. I see Zoe with an open top bunk next to hers and throw my pillow and sleeping bag up. Max has claimed the bunk across from me, and Brandon is beside him.

       "I say they try to kill each other in the night, what about you?" I whisper to Zoe, and she starts laughing.

       "Or annoy themselves to death. Oh, or maybe they'll wake you up and try to propose. Or maybe they'll play some crazy truth or dare," she says, and we double over laughing until we practically collapse. The boys and the cabin look at us concerned, which only makes us laugh harder. The boys give us curious looks, and we shake our heads.

       "It's an inside joke," I manage to get out. When I finally catch my breath and stop laughing I look at Zoe and break down again. We laugh for a good twenty minutes then climb onto our bunks and flop trying to regain our breath. We are probably getting the weirdest looks right now, but neither of us care because we get it all the time. After a few minutes we both go running for the bathroom, shoving each other the whole way. When we get in the bathroom we break down laughing again, and a few people look in with concern. We wave them off, do our business, and go back to our beds. Zoe lays back and falls asleep, and soon only Max and I are awake.