Divagate

Chapter 30

Lia
•••••
I follow Vince and Charlotte as they stroll into camp. Despite my dislike for Charlotte, I can acknowledge that it was a nice gesture for her to help me with my period.

She and Vince had waited on the other side of the truck while I cleaned up, switched products, and stuffed the trash into a plastic bag. I was thankful that there was some hand sanitizer in the truck. It feels nice to be somewhat clean, but I'm in desperate need of a shower.

Doing my best to untangle the knots in my hair, I scan the camp in search of my friends. Lincoln and Darwin are sitting by the smoldering fire pit, with Darwin lazily twirling a twig between his fingers. On the other hand, Lincoln looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"How's my patient doing?" Charlotte chirps, the smile on her face becoming apparent in her voice. Lincoln shrugs,

"Pretty much the same as when you left." Charlotte nods with a sigh. As she turns towards the tent, I catch a glimpse of her frown forming.

During her secret phone call yesterday, I never heard Siggy's condition brought up. Of course, I only caught the end of it, but if Dr. Myer knew that Siggy's currently unconscious, there's no way that he would have agreed to giving Charlotte three more days.

Well, I guess it's down to two.

Anyhow, telling someone that their experiment—which took thousands of hours of work and millions of dollars—might die doesn't sound like it would end well. Even for someone as charismatic at Charlotte.

"Aw man, looks like we're almost out of firewood," Vince says, sitting beside Darwin. I catch the slight wrinkling of Darwin's nose as he begins to peel the bark from his stick.

"I'll get some," Lincoln pipes up, seeming all too eager to leave. "Anyone want to join me? I could use an extra pair of hands." I'll admit, the side-eye in my direction could've been more discreet.

"I've got hands," I effuse. Lincoln smiles,

"Cool, let's go."

"Oh no, I'm not going," I say, earning a confused look from Lincoln. "I was just pointing out that I had hands." In my peripheral, I catch the tiniest smirk from Darwin. Lincoln, on the other hand, continues to look confused,

"You're joking, right?" He whispers. I can't help but laugh. He's so fucking gullible it's cute.

"No, not at all." His face falls. Oh my god, this is too easy! "Of course I'm joking!"

"She got you good, Linc." Vince laughs. I do my best to give a polite laugh, but it comes out more like a very forced "haha".

Yikes.

To avoid any questions from Vince, I grab Lincoln's arm and attempt to haul him off the log as I walk away. Much to my dismay, he doesn't budge. Instead, he turns to Vince,

"The hatchet's still in your tent, right?" Vince nods, and Lincoln finally gets up. After retrieving the hatchet from Charlotte, we head off.

"Do you want to chop or carry the wood?" Lincoln asks, offering the hatchet to me. "Or I could try to do both, if you don't feel up to either."

"No, I can carry wood." We continue walking in silence until we're out of earshot of camp. Lincoln glances over his shoulder,

"Alright, we've got some stuff to discuss."

Wonderful. I knew this was coming, but it still makes me nervous. I just hope he doesn't bring up Darwin. Lying to Lincoln isn't something I'm too keen on. Telling the truth isn't very appealing, either.