"You can do this Milton! Push it!" Rudy encouraged Milton who was trying to lift a pair of neon pink dumbbells.
Milton strained and grunted as he tried to lift them over his head, "Two!" he exclaimed in victory, allowing the dumbbells to fall back to his lap, "Thanks for sharing, Tina," he handed them back to the six year old girl he borrowed them from.
"You are welcome," Tina smiled and Azalea ruffled the little girls hair as she passed her.
"Are you done playing?" Jack asked, annoyed, "I've been waiting to use that bench for like an hour. I don't know what's more depressing. Watching you lift weights or watching Jerry read."
They all turned to look at Jerry who whines as he tried to read a book, "That's two," Jerry said, turning to the next page before closing the book, "Thanks for sharing, Tina."
"You are welcome," Tina told him.
"I don't even wanna know what that girl tells her parents we do when we are supposed to teach her karate," Azalea said, plopping down on the couch.
"Hey!" Joan entered the dojo with a box, "Anyone want to guess how I made $100 in fifteen minutes going 'he-yup'?"
"He-nope!" Rudy and Azalea said at the same time and the red head stood up again to help her brother and boyfriend fold the newly washed towels.
But then Jack left them, clearing his throat as he walked towards Milton. "What are you doing?"
"Here we go again," Azalea sighed in annoyance.
"Clearing your stuff out of my locker," Milton said, "Hair products, zit cream-"
"Why don't you find your own locker?" Jack snapped at him, pushing Milton away from his locker.
"No way! This is the biggest one in the dojo, and I was here first," Milton said.
"Holy Christmas Nuts!" Jack said in a mockingly high pitched voice, "Jack stole my locker. Gah!"
"Oh, you probably shouldn't have done that," Milton said in a mockingly deep voice.
"You know what? That is it! I'm so done with you!" Jack yelled while walking away only for Milton to attack him from behind by jumping up on his back.
The two fell down to the floor in a wrestling match that Rudy ran over to interrupt, "All right, all right. That is enough! Get up!" he pushed the two apart, "You two have been at each other's throats for weeks. I know exactly where you two need."
"Me too," Milton snapped, "Time apart."
"Fine with me," Jack yelled back.
"Actually, I was thinking of something a little different," Rudy said smugly.
"Suckers," Azalea snorted.
"And you are coming with us!" Rudy told her.
"Oh, man," Azalea whined, "Where?"
☆★☆
"Road trip!" Rudy said excitedly, standing beside a very old RV. "Yup, nothing brings friends together like 16 hours crammed inside the back of an old RV." Rudy patted the RV and leaned his weight against it only for it to start rolling away.
"This is your fault," Jack grumbled.
"How is it my fault?" Milton asked in disbelief and the two broke into an argument.
"Forgot the parking brake," Rudy said, holding onto the back of the RV like that was going to stop it.
"Mine! Mine!"
"My locker first!"
"This is gonna be great!" Rudy yelled as the RV rolled away, dragging him with it, "Great I tell you."
"What did I do to deserve this?"
☆★☆
"Hoooo! Camptown ladies sing this song. Doodah, doodah," Rudy sung as he drove down some dark road in the middle of nowhere, "Camptown racetrack five miles long. Oh, the doodah day. Take it!"
Jack and Rudy who sat next to each other in the double passenger's seat just glared into the air and Azalea who sat in the backseat was looking out the window while wishing she could be anywhere else.
When Rudy realised that no one would take over he continued, "Got to run all night. Got to run all night-"
"RUDY!" all of them yelled at the same time, fed up by his singing.
"It has been eight hours," Milton snapped, "I can't take anymore singing."
"You know what you two need?" Rudy addressed the boys, "A little fresh country air." He opened the window and stuck out his head.
"Rudy, as a passenger I would appreciate if you kept your eyes on the road," Azalea told him and when Rudy's head came back in it was covered in dirt and flies.
"Uh - oh, yeah," Rudy grimaced, "Nothing like that fresh country air." He wiped his face with his hand and continued driving. "Just four more hours and we are gonna be camping on the edge of the gorge."
"Four hours?" Azalea exclaimed in horror, "Rudy, you said it was going to be a short trip. I'm going to die in this car."
"Rudy, I'm getting hungry. And I know Zalee is getting hungry which isn't nice for anyone," Jack said while looking at the map, "And look, there is a Waffle Hut up ahead."
"They only serve breakfast," Milton said, "I don't do breakfast for dinner."
"Here we go," Jack muttered in exasperation.
"My digestive system plays by the rules, Jack," Milton said, "Unlike you and your renegade bowels."
"Okay, Milton, you pick a spot," Rudy decided.
"Why does he get to pick?" Azalea complained, "I'm the innocent bystander that was dragged into this mess. I should get to pick."
"Milton is picking this time," Rudy said firmly.
"What about Garden Patch up in Pahrump?" Milton suggested, "I've heard really good things about their pickled jicama."
"Uh, I don't eat pickled jicama," Jack protected, "You know why? Because I'm a dude!"
"Oh, really?" Milton mocked, "Tell that to your hair!"
"Oh, he went after hair," Azalea whispered to Rudy, "Shit it about to get real."
"What? You are just jealous!"
"Yeah, you look like a girl!"
The two started fighting and Rudy yelled, "So help me, if you keep this up, I will turn this RV around."
"Please keep it up," Azalea begged them
"Good!" Jack yelled.
"Do it!" Milton added.
"Oh, oh, yeah. You would like that, wouldn't you," Rudy laughed without a trace of humour, "Well, I'm not turning this RV around and we are going to have fun."
"Camptown ladies so this song. Doodah, doodah," Rudy started to sing again, "Camptown racetrack five miles long. All the doodah day. Take it." There was no response. "I SAID TAKE IT!"
"Got to run all night," Milton and Jack started to sing, "Got to run all day. I'll bet my-" both started to mumble when they didn't know the words, earning a death glare from Rudy, "bet on the bay."
"You don't even have to stop the RV. I can just roll out of the window and hitch hike home."
☆★☆
They had finally reached the campsite and was now sitting gathered round the campfire. The mood definitely hadn't improved and Azalea doubted it would any time soon.
"Would have been nice to have stopped at the supermarket since we didn't have lunch," Jack said bitterly.
"When you are out camping nature is your supermarket," Rudy told them, "Does anyone want another helping of gravel stew."
"I'm good," Milton said, clutching his stomach, "Still trying to digest my pinecone calzone."
"I bet you wish we stopped at the Waffle Hut now," Azalea muttered, glaring at the fire. She had always been grouchy when she was hungry or if she didn't get to follow her eating schedule.
"Rudy, come on," Jack begged him, "Can we just go home?"
"Let's go home," Milton agreed.
"I can't wait to be away from you," Jack told him.
"Oh, seriously?" Milton glared at him.
"Yeah, you drive me nuts!"
"Nag. That is all you do!"
"ENOUGH!" Rudy yelled, "I've had it with you two. I'm going to go into the RV and get a good night's sleep. You there can stay out here."
"What the hell did I do?" Azalea asked.
"You are going to make sure they don't kill each other because if someone dies I just know I will get blamed," Rudy said before storming inside. "Tomorrow morning we are going home."
"Great," Azalea muttered as they walked over to their sleeping bags. Jack purposely stomped on Milton's before crawling into his own.
"Are you happy?" Milton asked as they all zipped up their sleeping bags.
"Yeah, I kinda am," Jack snapped at him before lying down, "It's kind of rocky out here."
"It's called camping, Jack," Milton taunted, "Why don't you just man up and rough it like me?" He pushed a button and an air mattress filled up underneath him.
"You gotta be kidding me," Azalea said from her place between the boys.
"What is that?" Jack asked him.
"It's the latest in camping comfort," Milton said smugly, "The Nature Napper 5000. It's made of a space-age polymer. The salesman said it's 100 percent indestructible-"
While he talked Jack picked up a stick that he shoved into the air mattress that immediately popped and emptied of air.
"I guess the salesman didn't have a sharp stick," Jack smirked.
"GAH!" Milton screamed before throwing a bag towards Jack only to hit Azalea instead.
"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Azalea yelled angrily, "One night. You two don't even have to look at each other for one night so I can have an okay sleep. After that I don't care what the hell the two of you do. So both of you, go to sleep or I will knock you out."
With wide eyes both Milton and Jack lied back down again. "Wise choice," Azalea muttered, lying down as well. She felt an arm wrap around her, pulling her back until her back was pressed against Jack's front.
"Goodnight, Zalee," Jack muttered in her ear, pressing a kiss against her neck.
"Goodnight, Idiot."
☆★☆
The next morning Azalea woke up for the millionth time with a terrible backache when Milton decided to blow his nose. Again.
"You've gotta stop doing that!" Jack yelled, "You kept me up all night."
"You think I like this," Milton asked him. "Do you know how many kids suffer in silence from the heartbreak of honking rhinitosis?"
"There is nothing silent about it," Jack scoffed.
"Well," Milton stood up, "Maybe the great outdoors isn't big enough for the two of us." He walked over to the RV and banged on it with his fist, "Come on, Rudy! Let's go home!"
"Yeah, Rudy, it's time to get out of here!" Jack hit the RV too.
"Can the two of you just shut up for one moment?" Azalea yelled, turning her back to them, "I haven't gotten any sleep or any food for the past 24 hours and it's all because of you-" she stopped when she realised that the RV was rolling away, "Shit," she exclaimed before sprinting after it.
The guys turned around and realised what she meant, causing both of them to follow her, "Oh, no, no, no, Rudy!
"NO, RUDY!"
"NO, NO, NO!"
The RV continued towards the end of the cliff until it got stuck on a fallen tree halfway out. Just when they reached it the door opened and Rudy appeared, coughing with his eyes closed, not noticing the death fall underneath him.
"Rudy," Azalea said slowly, "Do not move."
"I got skunk in the mouth," Rudy gagged.
"I don't care!" Azalea yelled in panic, "You have a bigger problem than skunk mouth. So stand still!"
"No, nothing could be worst than-" Rudy let out a loud scream when he finally saw that there was no ground underneath him. "IT'S WORSE! IT'S SO MUCH MORE WORSE!" he cried.
☆★☆
"I called the park ranger," Milton told Rudy who was still standing by the open door, "But they can't get here for another half-hour."
"Forget that," Rudy said, "I'm going to slowly walk to the back of the RV."
"Rudy, you shouldn't do anything-" Azalea tried but Rudy of course didn't listen. However, he barely got one step before the RV started to rock, causing him to come back.
"Okay! Not walking! Not walking!" he screamed.
"It's too unstable. We can't wait," Jack told them, "I got an idea. I'll run five miles down to the interstate, flag down an 18-wheeler. He'll back up here. We hook it up to the RV. We pull Rudy to safety."
"That's my Jack," Rudy smiled like it was the best idea ever, "Always there when I need you."
"That won't work," Azalea protested, "By the time you get back Rudy will be splattered all over the bottom of the canyon."
"Worst plan ever, Jack!" Rudy said, "Never there when I need you."
Jack turned to Milton, "With all that stuff you packed, why didn't you bother to pack a rope instead of the stupid Nature Napper?"
"That's it!" Milton exclaimed, "The Nature Napper!"
"What are you gonna do?" Jack scoffed, "Patch it, inflate it, put it at the bottom of the canyon so Rudy has something nice and soft to land on?"
"Finally a plan that will work," Rudy said happily.
"Rudy, shut up!" Azalea yelled in frustration, "We are trying to save you here."
"No, the Nature Napper is made from really strong rubber," Milton explained, "We can cut it into strips and make a rope out of it."
"Uh, is that the same rubber that Jack popped when he poked it with his stick?" Rudy asked, not sounding convinced.
"I'm to panicked to make an inappropriate joke," Azalea muttered.
"Fine, Rudy, what's your idea?" Milton wondered.
"Oh, I don't know," Rudy said calmly, "Maybe let's just take a minute. We'll use our heads and come up with a better plan-" the RV rocked back and forth again and Rudy screamed, "WE ARE GOING WITH THE NATURE NAPPER!"
☆★☆
"All right, Jack, we are lowering you down nice and easy," Milton said after they had created a long rope out of his air mattress, "Just let us know when you are there."
"Wait a second-" Azalea said but it was too late because Milton had already practically let go of the rope that burned her hands as Jack dropped onto the roof of the RV.
"I'm there," Jack said between gritted teeth. Suddenly the RV started to tip over and to balance it out Jack stood up and climbed to the back of it. He then ran back towards Rudy only for the RV to tip towards the canyon again, forcing him to run to the back.
"Is this your plan?" Azalea asked him in disbelief, "Because it's not working."
"All right," Jack said to Rudy while lying down, "Rudy, give me your hand."
Rudy tried to reach for Jack's hand without falling out of the RV. Azalea could barely look, too scared that something would go wrong and one of them would fall. "I can't reach, Jack."
"Rudy, you are gonna have to jump," Jack told him, causing Azalea's eyes to widen in horror.
"No, he can't," Azalea protested, "He will die."
"She is right. I can't do it, Jack," Rudy said, "I'm scared."
"Rudy, it's Jack," Milton said from behind Azalea as both of them held onto the rope, "If there is anybody you should trust, it's him."
"Easy for you to say, Mr. Not-Hanging-Over-A-Gorge," Rudy snapped. A second later a branch snapped causing the RV to tip over even more.
"Rudy, it's going! Jump!" Jack yelled and Rudy jumped up. Jack caught him by the arm just as the RV tipped over completely, falling into the gorge, an echo booming through the canyon when it hit the ground.
The two hung in the air and Rudy said, "Oh, great, there goes that deposit." A creaking sound turned all their attention up, "What's that?"
"It's the branch," Milton panicked, "It's breaking!"
The branch broke causing Jack and Rudy to fall. The rope flew out of Azalea and Milton's hands and they both fell down to their knees as the scream stopped.
Azalea was in complete shock and couldn't even bring herself to scream. She was frozen, it was like her entire world was crashing down on her. Her brother and her boyfriend had both fallen off a cliff.
"RUDY! JACK!" Milton yelled from beside her, but of course there wasn't any response.
Azalea covered her mouth just as a sob escaped her lips. Tears started to stream down her face - but she didn't care. She felt to weak to move as she cried to herself.
"Why?" Milton cried beside her, "My best friend and incompetent sensei are gone."
"No, we are not gone. We are here."
Azalea didn't even register Jack's voice, thinking it was a cruel joke her head was playing on her as she continued cry, her hand covering her mouth to muffle the sound.
"I know," Milton said beside her, "but you are angels now." When Azalea realised that he too had heard the voices she froze, not daring to turn around as Milton continued to talk, "Oh, Jack. Why, Jack? You were so brave, loyal and trustworthy, like a golden retriever with better hair."
"Milton? Zalee," Jack laughed behind them.
This time Azalea turned around at the same time as Milton who stood up, "Jack, you are alive!" Milton exclaimed.
"Hello," Rudy waved awkwardly, "I'm here too."
"Oh, Rudy," Milton smiled, "Jack is alive," he ran forward to hug Jack.
Finally returning to her senses Azalea stood up and practically tackled her older brother into a hug. "You idiot," she yelled, punching his arm, "I thought you died!"
"Oh, you won't get rid of me that easily, little sister," Rudy didn't even complain about the punch this time as he hugged her close. He wasn't used to seeing his little sister this upset.
She then turned to Jack who wasn't hugging Milton anymore and she tackled him into a hug too. Wrapping her arms around his neck she gave him a firm kiss, to make sure that he was really there.
When she pulled back Jack smirked, "Maybe I should almost die more often."
"If you pull something like this again you won't almost die," Azalea threatened before kissing him again, only for Rudy to let out very loud gagging noises, making her step back, but Jack kept an arm around her waist.
"How did you make it?" Milton wondered.
"Well, we made it," Rudy said, reminding Milton that he was alive too, "when the rope slammed us into the side of the canyon and we grabbed some roots and climbed our way out."
"Those are some pretty nice things you said about me, Milton," Jack smiled at his friend.
"Well, when I thought I had lost you, I - felt like I had a hole in my heart the size of this canyon," Milton told him.
"How - how did you feel when you thought you lost me?" Rudy wondered.
Milton turned to him and monotonously said, "I was very torn up."
"I was crushed," Azalea stepped away from Jack to give her older brother another hug.
"Jack, you are like a brother to me," Milton said to him.
"And just because brothers fight doesn't mean they don't care about each other," Jack told Milton, patting his shoulder.
"I told you two this road trip would bring you together," Rudy smirked, "There is just one thing I feel bad about. My little skunk friend didn't make it. Hopefully he is in a better place and his soul will live forever this canyon."
Rudy turned around to reveal the skunk clinging to his back. "How did I miss that?" Azalea muttered, stepping away from him.
She felt Jack grab her hand and the three teenagers ran away. "Guys! Guys, why are you running?" Rudy shouted after them before he realised that the skunk was on his back and he started to run after them.
☆★☆
That night they sat gathered around the fire, "I'm glad we decided to stay the night," Milton told them.
"I can't believe you caught all this delicious salmon," Jack said to Rudy.
"I didn't catch it," Rudy said, "No, no, no, I went down to the stream and the friendliest grizzly bear was just slapping fish up onto the shore."
Azalea froze just as she was about to take another bite, "You stole salmon from a grizzly bear?" she asked him.
"Yeah, I just grabbed a couple, said thank you and he growled this big, hearty 'you are welcome'," Rudy explained followed by a bear's growl coming from the trees, "Yeah, sounded just like that."
"Is that the bear?" Jack pointed in the direction of a grizzly bear that appeared behind them.
"Seems I will be an only child after all," Azalea muttered as they started to run away.
____________
Azalea's Outfit