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10 3 1

by trashmouthbelle

by trashmouthbelle

Malcolm opened his eyes. His back ached from lying on the floor. He lifted himself up and saw Connor returning with a few peaches. "Found a peach tree." He said semi-happily. Connor threw a peach to Malcolm. The other boys started to wake up. Everyone nibbled on their peaches and talked about what they should do. "I think we should stay where we are." Said Finch. "If we keep moving around they'll never find us." Everyone shrugged. "What if we never get found!" Frowned Johnny. "If we try to find our way home now we could go in the wrong direction, get hit by a car.." Martin said. "Yeah, and if it took 8 hours to get here on a bus, who knows how long it will take to walk!" Connor chimed in. "But we could get eaten by a bear!" Johnny said, not wanting to lose the argument. "We're not gonna get eaten by a bear, Johnny!" Finch exclaimed. John huffed. "We're gonna starve!" Johnny exclaimed. "Don't worry, John," Finch retorted. "IF worse comes to worse we'll eat you." Johnny frowned. "I'm going home." He said, turning to walk into the woods. "No!" Connor said. "If we don't stay together we're going to end up dead." Everyone gave sorrowful looks to each other. "For now we're going to have to put up with being in the middle of nowhere." Connor finished. The boys nodded in agreement, even Johnny.

The boys made their way down to the lake, crawling through the bush. All of them stripped down to their underwear except Finch, Who was much too injured to go swimming. The boys cleaned their wounds with water and then splashed around. Malcolm was not in the mood. He sat up beside Finch. The two watched the others play Marco Polo and Various other water games. "How's your leg?" asked Malcolm, trying to break the silence. Finch sighed. "I mean, I can barely walk," He said. "But It's fine." Malcolm smiled weakly. "I just wanna go home." He exhaled. Malcolm patted him on the shoulder. "So, Jules is a good artist, right?" Malcolm said. "He's amazing," Finch said. "He was pretty embarrassed when you called him out yesterday, though." Malcolm felt his cheeks flush. Malcolm didn't know how to respond. "He's grown on me." he half whispered. Finch snickered. "I've known him since Kindergarten," He said. "You'll grow to love him, trust me." Malcolm flashed Finch a smile and turned around to watch the boys.

****

The boys trotted back to the camp. They sang merrily to keep each other going. "100 bottles of milk on the wall,100 bottles of milk! Take one down pass it around, 99 bottles of milk on the wall!" they chanted. Malcolm sighed. "Can we get food now." Johnny groaned. Martin sighed. "Malcolm, Connor and myself will gather some." He said. "Finch, you're in charge, bring the others back to camp." Finch nodded. "Who died and made him leader of the group?" Johnny huffed. Malcolm rolled his eyes. "Um, everyone on that god damn bus." Malcolm replied. Johnny frowned. Malcolm, Connor and Martin made their way through the trees. Malcolm looked at all the twisted, bendy forest paths. "It's a bit dark." Malcolm implied. Connor shrugged. "It's okay, just stick together." He said. Malcolm hesitantly nodded. "Look! Spring water." Martin said pointing at the stream of water. "Hey! We won't die of thirst!" He remarked. The three boys giggled. Malcolm joined his hands together, Just like he would when he got Holy Communion at church. He brought the water up to his mouth. A cool sensation slid down the back of his throat. Refreshing. Suddenly a howling noise stung the boy's ears. "W-what the hell was that!?" Martin said jumping to his feet and looking around him. Malcolm stood frozen in fear. "I don't know." Connor said. Malcolm fixated his eyes on a shadow from behind a nearby tree. Sure enough, It was that 'thing' he saw with Jules the other day. Malcolm opened his mouth to scream, but it was too big to let out. Connor noticed his expression and looked in the same direction Malcolm was looking in. He saw it. "Oh my god!" He shouted pointing at the thing. he tugged on Malcolm's sleeve who quickly sprung back to life. "Let's get out of here!" Connor shouted. "Martin!" He said looking at the spot Martin had just been in. "MARTIN?!" He screamed. Another piercing howling noise erupted from nearby. "Come on!" Malcolm said dragging Connor along. Tears streamed down Connor's face. "NO! WE HAVE TO GO BACK FOR HIM!" He shouted pulling away. "You're going to get yourself killed, Connor." Malcolm told him. Connor was lost for words. "B-but I-" Connor broke down in sobs. Malcolm pulled Connor into his chest. "It's going to be okay, Connor," He reassured the crying boy. "We're going to get out of here, all of us." Connor rubbed his eyes. "What was that thing, Malcolm?" He whimpered. Malcolm shrugged. "It looked like a person with an old sheet over their head." He said. Connor nodded.

The boys made their way back to camp. "How long did you know Martin for?" Malcolm asked the shivering boy. Connor paused. "Our Mom's knew each other," He said ignoring the lump in his throat. "We were Best Friends since birth." Connor wiped the tears from his cheeks. "We live next to each other in Wisconsin." He told Malcolm. Connor chuckled recalling all the memories. "He would climb into my window at night," He said as he stared off into space. "We would stay up all night debating which one off us would go out with Jenny Hawkins." The boys giggled. "Sounds like a nice friend." Connor smiled. "Yeah, he was."

"What are you doing back so soon? Where's Martin?" Johnny asked as they entered camp. Malcolm sighed. "He's gone," Malcolm said. "That thing from the other day got him." He looked at Jules. "I thought that was just our imaginations." Jules said in a concerned manor. "It's not, I saw it too." Connor told the group. "We need to get out of here." Johnny said. Malcolm shook his head. "There's no point, we're in the middle of no-where." Malcolm said. Johnny furrowed his eyebrows. "What do we do then?" He asked. The group looked up at Malcolm. "We kill it." Malcolm sighed.