"Ay Red, Magnet. Time to get up. Warden's on her way." The two of us looked up at Squid, the other's beside him, including Zigzag. I looked away, the two of us standing up and started to make our way out of the hole. I felt someone looking at me, but ignored it since, since the incident all of them have been looking at me. I started lining up with the others. Standing off to the side of the others. Zigzag being right next to me followed by Squid and Armpit the other two standing standing around them. Caveman and Zero stood in front of the water truck side by side, us facing them and them facing outwards. The Warden soon parked, Mr Sir in the passenger seat. They got out and the Warden stood before us, looking between everyone.
"Well?" She demands, waiting for someone to speak.
"Basically Zero almost killed Ricky." Mom explains, missing much detail. I side glanced the others beside me, Zigzag standing with his arms folded before him, a shovel leaning against his shoulder and Squid standing cross armed. The rest standing straight waiting for the Warden's reaction.
"Basically?" She asked. Armpit takes small step forward.
"Uh, uh. Ziggy was beating up the Caveman, right? And then Zero started choking Zigzag. I had to pull Zero off of him. " He explains.. Poorly.
"Yeah, I mean, you know Zig just got a little hot. Out in the sun all day the blood starts to boil." I gave a quiet scoff at X-Ray's excuse, Zigzag turning to me before his attention was brought back to the Warden.
"Is that what happened, Zigzag?" I saw Zero make a face as he disagreed, it was clear the Warden was gonna buy the excuse.
"Yep. Like X-Ray said, you know, working all day out in the hot sun, you know. While Caveman sits around all day and does nothing."
"Excuse me? Caveman digs his hole just like everyone else."
"Sometimes."
"Excuse me?"
"Ma'am, Zero's been digging a part of Caveman's hole every day." Squid says this time. The adults suddenly all turn at Caveman, wondering why he hasn't been digging.
"You're not diggin' holes no more? Huh" Mr Sir asks getting in his face. Caveman stammered for a second trying to find the right words.
"I.. I'm teaching him how to reach."
"What?" Mr Sir asks dumbfounded.
"He's a smart kid." Caveman defends.
"Smart!? Oh yeah? Hey, Zero what does c-a-t spell?" Mom suddenly asks, the mock evident in his voice. I huffed under my breath, rolling my head. Zero stared at him, saying nothing.
"Yeah he's a real genius. He's so stupid, he's doesn't even know he's stupid." The Warden cuts in trying to get mom to stop mocking the poor boy, though sympathy wasn't there at all.
"Okay, from now on, I don't want anyone digging anyone else's hole. Is that clear?.. And no more reading lessons." She demands, asks and then states all in one go, getting up close to Caveman.
"Why? I mean, if the hole gets dug, who cares who's digging it right?"
"You know why you're digging holes?! 'Cause it's good for you. It teaches ya a lesson." Mr Sir yells.
"If Zero digs your hole for you, you're not learning your lesson, are you?"
"Well why can't I still just dig my hole and teach him how to read?" Caveman ask, not wanting to give up on the kid.
"'Cause I said so."
"We know you mean well, Stanley. But the mental stress just causes his brain too much of a challenge. That's what made his blood boil, not the sun." Mom once again mocks the boy.
"I'm not digging anymore holes." Zero suddenly says. I feel like he's talking about more than just helping Caveman with his, at this point..
"Good." The Warden says as mom walks up to us, ripping the shovel off on Zigzag's shoulder. I take a step forward out of reaction.
"I mean, you might as well teach this shovel to read. Go ahead, Zero. Take it." Mom tosses the shovel to Zero who looks down at it, before his eyes looks back up at mom as he drops his water bottle on the ground beside him.
"It's all you'll ever be good for. D-i-g. What's that spell?" Mom continues taunting him. Zero looks off to side like he was thinking about it. The shovel was then drawn back quickly, slamming into the side of mom's head. The two beside me jump back, as mom falls to the ground before us.
"Oooh!" The boys chorus.
"Yeah!" I yell out throwing my hands up. A short surprised laugh coming out with it.
"Dig." Zero mocks the now unconscious mom on the floor. He turns on his heel, running as fast as he could carrying the shovel with him. Mr Sir running after him.
"Go Zero! Go! Run , Zero!" Caveman cheers for him. I see Mr Sir pull out his gun, still running after the boy.
"Don't shoot! He can't go anywhere." The Warden warns him. He suddenly stops looking back innocently.
"You think I was gonna shoot him?" The Warden walks to him but I ignore them walking crouching beside mom.
"See? This is what I like, adults like you getting what you deserve." I heard some of the others laugh beside me.
"Man, he out cold."
"Is he dead?" I look back seeing the Warden head to us so I stand up, the others backing up as well.
"I want round-the-clock guards on all water sources." The Warden yells, dumping water over mom's face. He slowly stirs, out of it, as the Warden starts to walk away. She stops in front of Caveman, almost giving him a dirty look. She says something to him before I look down too see mom try and get up from the ground.
"I'll have the chicken tenders, Warden." He stands up half way, before falling forward. His face kissing the dirt quite beautifully. We all laugh at this as Mr Sir starts rushing after the Warden.
"Get back to work!" He yells back at us, trying to catch up with her. We wait til they're gone, looking down at mom who's still passed out.
"That was entertaining."
"Man, he'll be out til next week."
"Next year.." I glance once more at mom with a smirk before turning around and heading back to my hole.
"Hey, Red. Can we talk?" I ignore Zigzag, making it back to my hole and jumping down.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that." He tries.
"The kid almost killed me." I narrowed my eyes at him, before picking up my shovel turning my back to him. I heard him shuffle around, before coming into view on the other side of the hole I was now facing.
"He only did that 'cause you picked a fight with Caveman." He lifted his head looking to the side before looking back.
"He was having the kid dig for him, Red." He defended. I ignored him, turning around again and continued digging. I heard him sigh before hearing him walk off. I made an angry face to myself, and stabbed the dirt harshly with the shovel. I gritted my teeth angrily. Such a jerk! I kicked the side of the hole, still angry. I growled quietly to myself and punched the side this time before pushing it another few times in a burst of rage. I huffed out, trying to calm myself so I didn't bury myself in dirt. I picked up the shovel, ignoring the soreness that already took place in my hands.
I laid on my cot, arms behind my head staring at the ceiling. At dinner I had sat at the end of the table, Caveman across from me, as we made sure to put space between us and the others. Both of us having our own reasons for doing so. The other's laid on their cot, mostly ready for bed. Caveman and Armpit laid on their backs as well, look at the ceiling also. Zigzag sat on the edge of his cot as did Magnet. Squid laid on his stomach on his as X-Ray sat criss crossed on his. I tried ignoring them, them making it nearly impossible to do so.
"Man, if he's not back by morning, he'd dead." Armpit said almost with regret.
"He's dead either way. If he stays out there or comes back." X-Ray determines.
"When do you think they're gonna find his body?" Zigzag asks. I roll my eyes at them.
"What body? Man, Zero's buzzard food. You know what? They pick out the eyeballs first." Squid seems to joke, making squishing sounds at the end. The others laugh.
"I can't believe you just said that." X-Ray says as they make jokes back and forth. I see Caveman roll over, facing away as they continue.
"Learn how to take a joke." Squid defends. I get up from bed, not caring that I was only in my briefs and t-shirt, walking out of the tent. They're such children!
"Yo, what's her deal?"
"Red! Where you going?"
"You shouldn't go out there at night."
"Hey, Zig. She still mad at you?" I walked out of the tent, it being pitch black out. I didn't want to stray to far, since there was deadly animals about, so I just walked to the edge on the stairs on the tent, sitting down there. I could hear the other's talking but it sounded muffled.
"I, what!? When?" I heard Zigzag almost yell out. I brought my knees up, wrapping my arm around them and rested my head on them. I heard footsteps behind me, causing me to turn around to them. I squinted in the dark to see it was Zigzag.
"So, uh. Why'd you come out here?" He started awkwardly.
"You know why." I answered bluntly.
"I'm sure the kid's okay, Red. Trust me, he's a strong kid." He seemed to joke. I rolled my eyes as he sits down beside me on the stairs. He didn't speak for a while, just stared at nothing like I was.
"I'm.. I'm sorry I hit you. I promise if I had known I would have apologized sooner. "
"It's fine, wouldn't have happened if you didn't go picking fights though." I said, throwing the fight in his face again.
"I'm sorry, Red. Really... It just wasn't right though, you know? We work hard every day and he just gets the kid to shovel for him? It wasn't fair."
"I know, but he wasn't forcing him too. He was just helping him since he was teaching him to read. Stanley wasn't even gonna have him keep shoveling so why push it?" He thought for a minute. Shrugging as he finally looks at me to answer.
"Cause I was mad." I chuckled quietly at this, shaking my head.
"Seriously though, Red.. I'm sorry. Are you really okay though?" I nod my head, forgetting he probably can't see it.
"I'm fine. It's Zero you should be worrying about." It was silent for a while again, hearing the sounds of nature. I yawn quietly, hesitantly leaning my head on his shoulder.
"You better hope he lives. Or I'll kill you all." I half joke, he gives a short chuckle under his breath, as I felt him nod his head.
"I can tell you he's a lot stronger than he looks, Red. He'll be fine... Come on, let's go to bed. We gotta get up early." I sighed, stood up, him doing the same. I felt him place a hand on my shoulder and pushed me lightly as if to say 'you go first.' Gesturing me towards the door of the cabin. I walked back into the tent, just to see Magnet go flying off his bed.
"What in the actual hell if your malfunction." The others laugh as he throws himself up and back onto his bed.
"Nothing!" He replies almost to quickly and too innocently. Out of breath like too. I narrow my eyes at him and slowly made my way to my cot, still eyeing him suspiciously. I finally looked away, making it back to my cot and laid down.
"Night, Red." Most of them said. I rolled my head to the side, seeing most of them looking at me, Caveman being the only one not looking as he seemed to be asleep.
"Night.. weirdos." I said back, almost cautiously. Them laughing in turn to this.