23

Chef PeePee had found an area surrounded by brush around the middle of the town to hide out in. Around it was a road connecting to the rest of the town and a field. They sat in the brush, rehydrated, and collected their thoughts. They hadn't been spotted by many people, at least they didn't think so.

The three had just sat there for a while, relaxing their legs and their minds. "I hope no one comes around here... It's just a field, right?" Junior said. "I don't see any cameras..."

"Yeah, I don't either dude. It looks kinda empty, so I think we'll be good." Joseph responded. "Are we leaving at the same time tomorrow? It's... 9:18 right now."

"I don't think we could any other time, unless it's between 2 and 3 pm. Even then it's super risky, and we wouldn't be able to go far." The Chef said. "We just have to be quiet so no one comes to check things out."

"Ok!!!" Junior said. He took a swig of water, and Joseph finally got his breakfast. The two boys then decided to color for a while, since it was a quiet activity. Meanwhile, the chef found some more walnuts and juggled them like he had earlier in the day. Junior was so invested in coloring he hadn't noticed Chef PeePee's talent until Joseph pointed it out. "Woah, I didn't know you could juggle, Chef PeePee!"

Chef PeePee caught his balls- I mean, his walnuts. "Yeah, I learned a while back."

"Jeez, dude. How many more secret talents do you have?" Joseph questioned, amazed.

"Yeah, first the thing with the sun and moon, then the slingshot, and now juggling?" Junior added. "How have I not seen any of this before?"

"Well, I never had an excuse to juggle or whatever back at the house. I guess being out here just gave me a chance." The chef answered.

"You know, since we have free time, you should teach us how to use the slingshot thing." Joseph said in a convincing tone, raising his eyebrows.

"Well... you know what, fine. There's nothing else to do anyways." The chef said before agreeing. Joseph and Junior cheered with joy as the chef stood up. "I need a piece of paper."

"Here." Junior said, tearing a blank page from his notebook and handing it to Chef PeePee. The chef then took one of Junior's crayons and drew 3 circles, each one within each other like a target. He went over to a tree and used one of the bark pieces to stick the paper on.

"You still have the slingshot I made earlier, right Joseph?" Chef PeePee asked. The green-hatted boy got it out of his bag and tossed it to the chef. The chef then took one of his walnuts, and took a few steps away from the tree. "The two sticks that the rubber band is on should be around your target. You also want to aim a little higher than your target, depending on how far away you are." The chef then took his shot, and just barely got a bullseye.

"Woah! You got really close, dude!" Joseph exclaimed in amazement. "Can I try?" Chef PeePee handed him the shooter and moved so Joseph could stand in his spot. He then gave the boy his other walnut, and Joseph put it in the rubber band before pulling it back a little, like the chef. "Between... then up..." He mumbled, following the instructions. He took a breath before letting go.

The walnut flew for a second before hitting a little below the bullseye. "Aww, that was really close, Joseph." Junior said.

"I know, dude. I should've aimed higher!" Joseph said with a slight angry tone. "And maybe pulled back harder too."

"You did well on your first try though. Junior, want to give it a shot?" The chef praised before turning to Junior. The ginger nodded excitedly, springing up and getting the slingshot from Joseph. He retrieved one of the walnuts that one of the other two used before standing where they did before. He pulled the nut back a little, and raised it up. "Don't raise it too high, or else you'll go over." Chef PeePee warned. Junior lowered it a little before taking the shot. It sadly went right over where he wanted it to.

"Dang, this is hard." Junior said. "How are you so good?"

"Practice. You had to learn unless You wanted to be labeled as 'easy meat.' Those kids were ruthless." Chef PeePee responded, wincing a bit. He then turned his head to something outside the brush and trees. Something had caught his eye.

A van.