Four vehicles belonging to students swerved randomly all over the fields, driven by apparently inebriated boys from several grades to serve as a distraction of some sort. Leon had noticed the wardens allowing the slow confused "joyrides" to happen for the last few days. As expected, though they watched the intoxicated boys drive around from their posts around the residence building, they didn't do much of anything to stop them.
"But why are they doing this exactly?" I mumbled into the pin on the collar of my shirt as I entered the half empty dining hall during lunch hour. I eyed the students I passed, trying my best to look laggy like some of them did.
Eddie, safely in my room and watching me traverse the school through his camera feed, garbled an answer at me around a mouth full of food. "They're going to take turns dropping supplies off at the old mansion."
Waterbridge mansion; far enough away that it couldn't be seen from the academy or the residence buildings, was where we threw Halloween parties. I supposed stockpiling supplies there made sense.
"Leon had some juniors hotwire the groundsman's truck at the old mansion. They're gonna use it to haul material from there into the woods."
"Is that safe? I mean, wouldn't they follow the tracks?"
"Love, the wardens haven't bothered the laggy joyriders all week, so why would they change now? We packed the cars overnight, so they have no reason to suspect anything, and they don't even know the old mansion exists. Robert found some old tire tracks out behind the mansion so his squad's only going as far as the tracks do with the truck. We've got it all covered, don't worry."
Easy for him to say. He was hiding out in my dorm with other Aces, out of harm's way. I was exiting the dining hall into the academy, where I hadn't been in days, and where every two feet there was the possibility of attaining detention. I moved quickly, not wanting to be caught unaware by a warden―which is why Eddie was in my ear in the first place.
I snuck past the top of the hallway that led to the teacher's offices and turned into the arts wing. Midway down the corridor was the nurse's office, and I slipped in quickly, causing Ms. Harris to jump.
"Oh! Yes!" She squeaked and then paused to catch her breath. "Eddie called to say you were coming."
I felt bad for her, she was now the only adult we knew that remained at Waterbridge, and that could not have been easy. The rest had all left prior to the drugged out detentions―she had stayed for us. Every evening she visited the residence, taking with her students who needed extra care, and returning those whose states had improved.
"I have what you asked for. Can I trust you to be safe with these?" She grimaced as I nodded, fiddling with papers into an envelope before handing them to me. "I can lose my license for this, you know?"
I smiled sadly, her normally full, cheery face, now gaunt from worry and sleepless nights. "It wouldn't be an issue if you were coming with us, Ms. Harris."
Squeezing my shoulder, she offered me a sad, wistful smile. "You know I can't do that, Honey. Who would watch the kids who can't make a trip out of here?"
She was right of course, there were too many who couldn't and wouldn't make it out of here. Too laggy, or badly affected by the drugs, they would have to remain back. I only hoped that we could get help back to them quickly.
Ms. Harris made a strangled noise as she opened a cupboard and I noticed her shoulders shaking. "Shit, I'm sorry, Honey. I don't mean to worry you," she said when she turned back to face me, wiping tears from her face. "You kids shouldn't have to deal with any of this. You're all being so strong and brave―and smarter than any of us give you credit for!"
She pulled my bag from my hands and put package after package of medications into it for things like anxiety, depression and diabetes. "They're all clearly labelled. I only had about a month's worth left for each one. Please be careful with these."
With the bag full, she set it on my back, once again squeezing my shoulders, "Thank you for thinking of everyone this way, Honey."
This would be the last time I saw her, so I held onto her tightly, like one would a mother, or older sister, before hurrying back out into the hallways.
"Got the meds, Love?" Eddie's voice came through my earpiece as I sped toward the dining hall.
"Shh, Eddie!" The less people that knew about the medications, the better.
"Relax! It's just Jess and Ash now, and they're...pretty preoccupied," he said with an awkward cough. "Don't go that way, take the stairwell!"
-.-
We were supposed to rest between our meeting in Vivienne's room and our next departure, but neither Jackson nor I had been able to. While I was turning my backpack into a pharmacy, Jackson had been stealing archery supplies and boats from the boathouse.
As we ran a new group through the forest, we took a different route, one that would bring us close to the edge of the river that cut like a dancing ribbon between the trees.
"I don't see why we need to do this." Someone grumbled, "So we get drugged in detention. What's the big deal?"
"Didn't you hear what the Elite said?" Came the incredulous answer. "We're stuck here till at least spring break. That's, like, three weeks away! I'd rather live out here than in there with those scary as hell wardens, getting drugged outta my skull."
A small chorus of "me too" echoed in the small group. I'd been hearing similar things throughout the day, and was glad that our announcement via hijINKs had convinced the majority of the student body well enough.
As the water came into view, we looked for the river runners we were supposed to meet. They emerged from the underbrush like zombies bursting from the ground and I stifled a laugh. What I didn't laugh at was the sheer amount of things we'd need to carry the rest of the way.
Using bungee cords, the river runners secured planks of wood to each of our backs. The added weight to my already heavy pack made me grimace, and I gritted my teeth as I took my corner of a wooden pallet loaded with supplies. We moved like three large awkward crabs, four to a pallet, each of our movements relying on the next person's, to keep the loads we carried level. It also made us slow and a hell of a lot more visible.
As we got closer to the Nest, others emerged from the trees to dismantle the piles on our pallets, or remove packs from our backs and run them into camp.
"Nic!" Jackson snapped when I let my corner of the pallet drop.
Shrugging his annoyance off, I examined my hands, red and swollen. "Who knew blankets would be that heavy?"
"Well, there's about sixty of them there. And, this..." the boy opposite my corner said, unfolding several blankets so tools fell out of them. Hammers and saws and an ax or two.
"You couldn't tell me that before I helped with this one?" I punched his arm.
"Relax, Nic! They all weigh the same. That's why I told you to go with Kellen's group."
"And travel with the parade of eyelash flutterers and hair twirlers? No thank you!"
Jackson tucked me under his arm, as we watched the Builders disassemble the pallets quickly and disappear the pieces into camp. "Yeah... that's why I picked this way. They're so annoying!"
"Liar! You love it and you know it, Jacks."
"Fine, I do!" He winked at a group of junior girls waiting to unpack the supplies we'd brought with us.
"Down boy!" I smacked his stomach and dragged him away as they began unpacking sacks of rice and potato flakes that we'd managed to pilfer from the kitchens.
"What took you so long?" Kellen, Mark and Emma ran at us. I glanced at my watch and frowned; we'd taken too long getting here.
"Damn, we only have ten minutes before we need to head back!"
"See, you should've come with me, Cole! I could've used you as a buffer from all those giggly freshmen and you would've been here resting this whole time." Kellen rubbed my shoulders as I tried to shake the stiffness out of them.
"It's fine." I grabbed my empty pack from the juniors and tugged it back on. "Gather the scouts and weapons. Let's get this over with."