Part 18 - Oh no

Pugsley

"Okay so then I put the marshmallow?"

I honestly have no idea why I've never done this before, making smores was awesome. Though I suppose it wouldn't have been as fun if I was just doing it by myself. 

After the earlier camp fire had started to disperse, a few of us went off into our little groups to have smaller little fires and just to do our own thing. A couple of other people had joined us when we left, Steph and Zak, and we made a small fire away from everybody else as we talked and hung out, and Y/n was doing as she promised,

Teaching me how to make the perfect smore.

"No no, you put the piece of chocolate, then the marshmallow. That way it'll melt nicely."

I had figured that part out already by myself, but I liked hearing her talk. She never made me feel dumb about not knowing something, or asking a question that might have been stupid, she was just so understanding.

It was a nice change.

I followed her instructions on the proper way to build this sweet treat, and I could see her smile grow when I got it right. I was glad that she had forgotten about the pain in her leg, now she was just her usual happy self.

I had given her the mystery meat in hopes that it would ease her discomfort, but I hadn't imagined it would full on heal her leg to the point that it did. It was a long shot, and it ended up working out in her favor.

Plus she didn't seem that mad at me that I had basically forced her to eat it.

Actually she was being more clingy than normal. And I'm not complaining or anything, it was nice, I tried my best not move while we were sitting at the camp fire in case it spooked her and made her stop, but it made me wonder why.

Maybe she was finally getting more comfortable around me?

I'd like to think that we were already pretty comfy when it came to each other, but maybe this whole thing just caused her to be more affectionate. It wasn't really something I was used to, coming from anyone, but from her it felt right.

Although now she was sitting with her legs up against the edge of the makeshift fire pit we'd made out of rocks, and she was patiently waiting with a smile for me to try the smore in my hand for the first time.

It did look really good, I won't lie.

Alright, I've made her wait long enough.

I take a bite out of the corner of the sugar sandwich, and holy shit.

I think Y/n could tell that I enjoyed that bite, because she just grinned at me, laughing when she saw my face.

"It's good right? You'll never find anything like it, smores are a right of passage when you go camping."

I practically inhaled the rest of it, and I think it was safe to say that these were my new favorite food of all time.

"Sho goob."

My mouth was still full of smore, and it made my words come out all muffled, which made her laugh even harder until she was clutching her stomach.

Her laugh was infectious, and I had to focus on swallowing my food instead of spitting it out laughing along with her, meaning I had to turn my head away from her. Even just seeing her happy made me happy, it was insane.

She finally calms herself down, breathing to get her laughter under control, and I turn back to look at her. Her cheeks were tinted pink, and the soft light from the fire made her look even more...well, I don't even know how to explain it, she just had this vibe to her that I've never seen in anybody else, it drew me in.

I hear Eugene make a small mock coughing sound from next me, and the sudden noise made me realize just how long I'd been staring at Y/n.

Jeez Pugsley pull yourself together, don't be weird. I must be tired.

I pull my gaze away from her, hoping she didn't notice my staring, but she seemed preoccupied with making her own smore now.

I turn to look at Eugene, who for some reason had a smirk on his face.

"So, Pugsley, what did that cadet do that was so bad?"

Oh man, seriously? I was really hoping I wouldn't have to go into the specifics of what happened. Especially while Y/n was right next to me, I didn't want her hearing the disgusting things that guy said about her.

I shrug.

"Nothing, he was just being an ass, that's all."

Eugene groaned in disappointment.

"Oh come on dude, you gotta give us more than that. I mean you literally got into a fist fight with the guy, he must've done something pretty awful. We're your friends, you can tell us."

Wait did he actually just admit that he and I are friends? Awesome. I still didn't know what to say though, if I told them the truth they might think I was overreacting...

I glance at Y/n again, who had an expectant expression, she obviously wanted to know the details too.

I sigh.

"Well, he-"

The sharp sound of a whistle, quickly followed by an explosion from above us, caught everybody's attention as all of us looked up to see the colorful sparks of fireworks in the sky.

Good timing I guess, maybe this will distract them from the cadet thing.

It's odd though, I don't remember Principal Dort saying anything about-

Oh crap.

My head whips to look at both Eugene and Y/n, and in unison,

"Slurp."

Eugene and I quickly scrambled out of our seats, but after only making it a few steps, Y/n called out to me.

"Wait! Don't just leave me!"

Shit- I forgot, she was right, I couldn't just leave her here, but with her leg she wasn't going to be much help in catching Slurp.

I point to Zak, who looked utterly confused on why we were in a rush to run away from the group.

"Get her out of here, somewhere safe."

I'd only just met the guy an hour ago, so I didn't entirely trust him to keep Y/n away from any danger, but I couldn't think of any other ideas on the spot, and it was better than leaving her here.

He just nodded to me, and I turned back towards where our tent was.

"Pugsley. No."

Y/n glares at me. This was new...

"I'm coming with you. Slurp is my problem too."

The way she was looking at me made me realize there wasn't any changing her mind about this, and I just sigh in defeat.

"Okay, fine, do you think you can walk?"

She pulls herself up from her chair, and she scoffs.

"Dude, I could run if I had to. That mystery meat is a miracle worker."

She walks over to me, and her limp was basically gone now. Huh, I guess she's right.

"Guys come on!"

Eugene yells at us, already racing down the hill towards our tent.

I grab Y/n's hand and pull her along with me as we follow after him.

««« ♪ ♪ »»»

"I knew we should've told someone. Slurp was always more of your friend anyway."

Okay, sure. That's fair. I guess Eugene wasn't as involved compared to myself and Y/n. 

And the disturbing sight of the cadet master Kruger lying dead on the floor in a pool of his own blood was definitely not a good thing, but there had to have been a reason Slurp took a bite out of his brain. I mean, what was Kruger doing in here in the first place?

I felt Y/n shift uncomfortably on her feet, whilst staring down at the scene before us.

Right, dead guy. Probably not bringing up too many fond memories for her right now.

I lean in closer to her and whisper,

"Hey, you okay?"

She nods, though her face was still portraying quite clearly how disgusted she was.

"Yeah, I just- I think his brains got on my pillow.."

She grimaced and turned to look away, but she jumped back as someone appeared from thin air beside us.

"Harboring a murderous zombie will get all three of your butts expelled for sure."

It was that redheaded girl from earlier, the one who's been hanging around my sister. What did she want?

I hear a scoff come from Eugene, and I could practically feel the glare from Y/n over my shoulder directed at the girl. Agnes? I think that was her name.

"What are you doing here?"

Agnes' eyes move away from Y/n's disinterested look, and she focuses on me.

"Proving myself to your sister, by handling her low-priority tasks. Like keeping you alive."

Before I had a chance to respond, Y/n steps out from behind me and move directly in front of Agnes.

"Thanks, but we don't need a babysitter. We can deal with our zombie on our own."

Agnes just smiles creepily.

"I wasn't asking."

Okay, if I didn't step in now, I'm pretty sure Y/n would do something drastic.

I grabbed a hold of Y/n's shoulders and moved her away from Agnes as I took my spot between the two.

"Ladies, ladies, please. Can we just, hold off on the passive aggressiveness for a second? Okay, we need to find Slurp." 

The room is silent for a second before Eugene sighs and shakes his head.

"No way. I'm out of the zombie business."

Okay, I think maybe he was being a little dramatic.

"Relax. Slurp never tried to eat my brains."

I tried to reassure him, but Agnes spoke from next to me.

"Because that would be empty calories."

Geez, ouch.

I could see Y/n out of the corner of my eye basically staring daggers at Agnes. She had a pretty short temper when it came to mean words I guess.

But it's not like Agnes was saying them to her, so why was she getting so mad?

The awkward silence in the room is interrupted by Eugene continuing with his reasons on why he doesn't want to do this anymore.

"Look, the last time I was alone with a monster in the woods, I ended up in a coma."

I'm not entirely sure what he was trying to get across with that statement, but it honestly just made me a little jealous that he got to experience that.

"Stop bragging."

I reach over and grab him by the wrist, pulling him along as the four of us walked out of the death tent.

Once we step out onto the grass, I let go of Eugene and sigh. 

I didn't want to have to do this, but I couldn't risk her.

I turn to face Y/n, and she had a thoughtful look on her face.

"So where do we look first?"

I place my hands on the sides of her arms, and I look at her apologetically.

"Look, Y/n. I know you want to help find Slurp, but if the dead guy in there is any indication, then I don't think it's safe to be around him right now. I'd feel better if you got away from here, somewhere safe. I'm serious this time."

Her expression didn't falter, and I knew to get past her stubbornness I'd have to say something I was definitely going to regret.

"Agnes is here, so she can help me and Eugene, okay? I don't..."

Dammit.

"I don't need you."

And there it was.

It hurt her. Her eyes told me that much, the regret I already felt for saying it was crushing my chest. But I had to keep telling myself it's for her safety.

She blinked a few times and nodded before pulling away from me, and my arms fell back to my sides.

"Yeah. Fine..."

She takes another few steps back, turning away from me and walking in the opposite direction.

The amount of apologizing I'd be doing later would be unmatched.

««« ♪ ♪ »»»

"Anything??"

I call out to Agnes and Eugene, who were over on the other side of the tower, which was still lit up by hundreds of glowing lights, giving us illumination to search around the area.

The two of them just shook their heads before looking back around in the distance.

Where could he have gone...

I look over my shoulder at the bathroom block, stationed not too far from the tower,

And I almost didn't see it.

At first glance the figure just looked like another normal person walking up the steps to the showers, maybe some really tall kid needing to piss after drinking one too many sodas,

But I'd recognize that uncoordinated stumble anywhere.

Slurp.

I'm already moving my feet towards the block as I shout out for the two of them to follow me.

"Guys! Over there!"

I glance back and see the both of them look up before making their way in the same direction, Eugene obviously looking scared of what's to come.

But it would be simple, get Slurp, get out, tie him up back at the tent, and do all of it without anybody seeing us.

Suuuper simple, he's got nothing to worry about.

They catch up to me as we approach the stairs to the block, and I could hear faint music coming from inside.

That's weird, it sounded a lot like the music my dad plays back at hom-

SHIT.

I disregard any sort of plan that might have been in the making, and I bolt up those steps as fast as my legs would go,

Which considering there actually weren't that many steps, it took like 2 seconds tops.

I hear a few sounds of confusion from behind me, but they didn't matter right now.

"Pugsley wait! What are you doing we need a plan!"

I didn't respond, and immediately made way for the door into the block.

And footsteps from behind me could be heard, meaning they were coming with me anyway.

I frantically push open the door to the showers,

And there he was.

Had he gotten taller?

No, doesn't matter.

What matters is the fact that he's standing outside the door of a broken shower, with an axe in his hand as he tried to reach for the person inside,

And that person was my dad.

I panicked, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I didn't want to hurt Slurp, but I couldn't let him eat my father.

I only intended for it to be a small shock, but when I used my power to shoot Slurp away,

"No Slurp not my dad!"

It was more than I'd planned, and Slurp went flying through the wall and out onto the grass outside, and the wood got a gaping hole as it splintered into pieces.

But my dad was okay, that was the important part.

Though I didn't exactly want to look at him right now, as he was kind of butt naked.

I walk over to the wall where Slurp had fallen through, because I knew that something that big would have definitely caught people's attention.

And I was right, a crowd was starting to form, and they saw the whole thing.

It didn't look like anybody had gotten hurt though.

Until I heard a scream.

Oh no...