Inconvenience

Max's Camp

Chapter 16: Max's Camp

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Make sure to read the notes at the end for an important message.

None of the other campers had shown up in the two days since they had arrived at the camp, so David had started to do some basic camp activities to begin with. They did knot tying, fire making, fishing and tent construction. Max had been bored out of his head the whole time. He couldn't do very many of the activities himself. Not because he wasn't trying to, but because David was coddling him more than a mother did her new-born after five miscarriages. He wasn't allowed to try and start a fire, hook a worm or built a tent, David had the others do it while he listened, well, Nikki and Hunter did it, he could always hear Ered being cool a few metres away from the group despite David's insistence on her participation.

By the start of day three Max was dreading the mind-numbing boredom he'd be subjected to. He decided he's rather do any of the others' activities instead. Anime camp at least sounded more stimulating than tree examination, not that he could examine them anyway.

"You should ask David to try one of your camps today." He told Hunter as they were getting dressed that morning.

"Y-y-you think, think s-so?" He stuttered, already sounding keen on the idea. He must've began getting bored of the mundane camp stuff too.

"Beats the other shit he has us doing."

David agreed, letting Hunter be the first to go. Since the Wi-Fi was dreadful at the camp they just listened to Hunter explain the history of some Japanese magazine called "Shonen Jump" and how it was important to the anime industry. It was painful to listen to at first, it took him five minutes to get through a goddamn sentence, but after a while he took it in his stride and managed to get out the words faster and faster to the point that Max was finding it difficult to keep up. They finished with lunch, courtesy of Quartermaster, and David said they would try to get the projector working so they could all read some of Hunter's Japanese magazines.

"Max?" David said in a hushed voice. The other three were trying to get the projector set up so Max had been stabbing the table with his fork on his own.

"What is it, David?" Max replied, a little harsher than was necessary, but he was a bit pissed with David. All this talk of doing the others' camps only rubbed salt in the wound that he still didn't know his own camp. And even if he did find out what it was, he knew it wasn't going to be something proper. It was going to be something torturous, he was well aware of that, but he wanted to know all the same.

"Can I talk to you for a second in your tent?" He didn't sound nearly as chipper as usual. Max guessed it must've been something pretty serious for David to talk like that. A nagging voice in his head told him that Daniel and Sashi must've called and they were picking Max up early, but he pushed that thought aside, not daring to listen to it.

"Whatever."

David guided Max to his tent and had him sit down on his bed. He could hear the councillor pacing in front of him and breathing loudly.

"What the fuck's the matter, David?" Max proclaimed, getting more annoyed by the second.

"Alright." David exhaled, taking a seat next to Max. "It's about your camp."

Max felt a stone drop into his stomach. To have David speak like this meant something must've been off. Various nasty scenarios began to play out in his head. What could it possibly be to warrant such a reaction from David like this?