Camp Wacko: The Drones of Summer (12 page)

I could see Dustin more clearly now. His crew cut was growing out and his wavy locks of hair had returned. He continued to stare straight ahead. “So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” he asked.

Taking a deep breath, I confessed to following Dr. Wacko and the boy to the golf course, describing the strange robotic movements of both the boy and the members of his little army. Once this was said, I really didn’t want to stop. I wanted to tell Dustin about True’s suspicions about Candy, the truth about Cameron’s death, and even my involvement with the FBI. Still I forced myself to wait, allowing everything I had told him so far to sink in.

He didn’t say anything for a minute or two, picking up a rock and skipping it across the water. After three or four skips, it plunged into the lake with a soft plunk.

“Maybe that’s what my father meant when he said he has a surprise for me. He’s supposed to be showing me later today.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I should have been paying more attention.”

I nudged him with my elbow. “Yeah, you should have. I understand why you didn’t, though.”

Dustin smiled sheepishly. “It’s not what you think, you know. I’m not just spending so much time with Candy because I like her. There’s something kind of strange about her. I can’t really explain it. I’ve been trying to figure out what it is. I guess I got a little too sidetracked.”

“I see.”

This time it was my turn to skip a rock. After one measly skip, it plopped right into the water.

“You know,” I said, “True thinks there’s some kind of secret group amongst the attending campers, focused on getting out of here. According to her, your girlfriend might be a member. Sounds kinda crazy, doesn’t it?”

He finally looked at me, but I continued to focus on the spot where the rock had disappeared into the water.

“No,” he said slowly. “It doesn’t. The people around here aren’t stupid. That’s why they’re here. They know something isn’t right and they want out. I mean, you do too. Right?”

I nodded. “Right.” Dustin was still staring at me. “Lily, is there anything else I should know?”

Without thinking about it, I brought my hand up to my arm. The tracking device was supposed to be there, but for all I knew it wasn’t even working anymore.

“When you came to me that night at the dance, I wasn’t telling you everything,” I confessed quietly. “Someone else had come to me first. Someone who was supposed to help me get out of here. Now I think I’m on my own again.”

I took a peek up at Dustin through my eyelashes. He frowned. I could almost hear the gears turning in his head as he tried to make sense of what I had just told him.

“Just who is this someone?” he whispered.

The second I took a breath to speak, I knew I was going to tell him. Then maybe he could help me figure out why I couldn’t get into contact with Agent Cooper.

Before I could say anything, my eyes strayed to the watch on his wrist. I nearly had a heart attack. There was only ten minutes left until the wake-up calls. I had to get back.

With this in mind, I jumped up. “I have to go.”

Dustin said something to me, but I had already begun to book it out of there. In a matter of seconds, I could hear his footsteps echoing mine behind me.

“Lily, wait!” He caught up, grabbing my shoulder and forcing me to stop for a minute. “Who’s supposed to be helping you?”

Shrugging his hand off, I just shook my head. “I have to get back. I’ll tell you later.”

Taking a step back, he nodded. “Fine, but this conversation isn’t over.”

I flashed him a quick smile before turning and running the rest of the way, praying that I would make it in time.

Beginning of the End

LUCKILY, I MADE it just in time. Somehow True was already there, seemingly fast asleep in bed as if she had been there all night. When I questioned her about where she had been, she told me she had been simply looking around to see if she could find any kind of information that would help with our plans of escape. Unfortunately, she hadn’t found anything very promising.

As usual, all campers made their way to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast before training began. Rumors of an upcoming training session in the woods had already begun to circulate, sending a sense of anticipation rippling through the group. Since every day was different and seemed to escalate in weirdness, there was a great possibility the rumors were true. If some campers had still thought this was just an ordinary camp, they weren’t thinking that now.

“Hey, Lily.”

I turned to find Candy at my side. Since Dustin and I had that little talk, there had been no sign of him all morning.

“I just wanted to thank you for helping me last night. We had a great time.” Her smile faded and she leaned in a little closer. “You and your friend are right about me, you know.”

I nodded slowly, lowering my voice. “Have you guys made any headway?”

She smirked. “Nice try. I have a friend who would like to meet you. Both of you. I’ll let you know when and where later.” Then she was gone, lost in the sea of hungry kids.

As it turned out, the rumors had been correct. Right after breakfast, a selected group of us were ordered to pack up our training gear and follow the counselors into the forest. This time, True and I made sure not to lag behind. We were just as eager as everyone else to see what waited for us at the end of the trail.

We came to a small clearing that was obviously man-made. Where the tress stopped, clusters of stumps began. However, that wasn’t the main focus at the moment. Standing before us in perfect formation was the little army I had seen the other night. Their leader stood at the head, hands clasped behind his back and mouth curled into a permanent grimace. To his right, nearly as expressionless as the other soldiers, was Dustin.

The other counselors stepped forward to join them, creating a wall.

“I guess you are all wondering what you’re doing here.” It was Dustin who had spoken. “You have all been chosen for a specific training course. This is meant to test your combat abilities. Bring you to your limits. We are very close to the end of training and the beginning of our ultimate mission.”

He began to pace. “Get into a line.”

A few of us just stood there, wondering just who put him in charge. What I wanted to know was why he had started parroting his father again. One moment he was talking to me about getting out of here and shutting this whole thing down, the next he was acting like he owned the place already. Sometimes I couldn’t keep up.

He turned to face us, eyes in slits. “Did I not make myself clear? Get into a line.” His voice had turned to ice, hard and cold.

We quickly formed a line without a word. True stole a glance at me, raising her eyebrows slightly. I shrugged, eyes quickly scanning the rest of the line and finding Candy amongst the group. She was staring a hole into Dustin’s head, probably wondering where her boyfriend had gone.

“Now that’s more like it.” Dustin began to slowly move down the line until he reached me.

“You will all be paired with a few different sparring partners. We will see how you do and start from there. But first”—he turned his attention to me—“Lily, would you please come forward and face me for a moment?”

Confused, I did what I was told, trying to search his face for answers. I found nothing.

He turned his attention back to the line. “Lily and I are going to demonstrate a little bit of what you will be doing for the next week or so.”

We faced each other again. Pressing his right palm against his left fist, he slowly bowed. I did the same, keeping my eyes trained on him. My heart had begun to beat faster in anticipation.

The second he straightened back up, in one fluid movement he came at me. Fortunately, I was ready for him. In a flash, it was as if we were back in our old routine as teacher and student. Only this time the student had upgraded. I knew practically every move he was about to make and had an automatic defense response to each one. He knew my moves as well, blocking them easily. I really didn’t see the point in this. We could go on for hours without stopping.

Something hard slammed into my back, sending me flying into Dustin. As a reflex, he caught me. We locked eyes for a split second before he pushed me back upright. I whirled around just in time to see a fist sailing straight for my nose. The world slowed to a crawl and I ducked, swinging my leg out in hopes of tripping them.

I succeeded in tripping Dustin, but the other guy kept coming at me. It was the boy I had seen riding in the patrol car with Dr. Wacko. His face was absolutely emotionless as he threw punch after kick after punch without stopping. It was like he was a machine. I tried to block him as best I could, but he got enough hits in to create bruises all over my body. Just when it seemed like he was finally slowing down, Dustin was back, coming at me with everything he had.

After a few minutes, it all became too much. I had to slow down. The boy machine saw an opening and took it. Before I could get out of the way, he caught me in the stomach with a flying jump kick. I hit the ground hard, feeling like the wind had just gotten knocked out of me. For a few terrifying seconds, I couldn’t breathe. Spots filled my vision, my head swimming.

Shaking the dizziness away, I slowly sat up to find the boy machine marching toward me to finish the job. Panicking, I tried to get up, clutching my stomach.

“Stand down, soldier.” Dustin placed a firm hand on the boy’s shoulder.

The boy machine obeyed, pausing for a minute before going back to stand in front of the other weird robotic kids.

None of them had moved an inch the whole time.

Dustin came to crouch in front of me. “Are you okay?” “What do you think?” I snapped, still breathless.

He actually appeared to have some remorse for completely humiliating me in front of the whole group. “I’m sorry. That had to be done, for reasons I can’t tell you right now.” He stood, holding out his hand to help me up.

Glaring at him, I got up without his help and limped back to the line. Every step hurt terribly, but I tried not to show it. After all, everyone was staring at me now. They watched with a mixture of pity and horror as I went back to my place next to True.

“What you just witnessed is the first lesson you will learn during this training course. There is always someone who can beat you. What you have to do is make sure they aren’t aware of this. Once you show any sign of weakness, they will take the opportunity to defeat you.” Dustin made eye contact with every one of us, except for me. “Each of you will be paired with one of these guys. If you’re as good as Lily here, you’ll be paired with more than one. I’ll be walking around to check up on how you’re doing. Let’s get started.”

And so it began. Just like the headmaster’s loyal son had said, we were each paired with one of the Mean Machines, as I liked to call them. None of them showed any sign of humanity. It was as if they really were robots, programmed to act as our punching bags. Only these punching bags could fight back, and they didn’t fight fair, either.

The awful training seemed to go on forever. Thankfully, these Mean Machines weren’t as ruthless as their leader.

When they got you on the ground, they waited until you got back on your feet. Once you were up, it was time for another round of pain until you were back on the ground again.

After what felt like hours of getting beaten up in every possible way, Dustin finally announced that we were done for the day. Time to hit the showers and head for the infirmary if need be. Some kids had to be carried out on a stretcher. I wasn’t there yet, but I was close.

As the counselors led the way back through the woods, True and I lagged behind as usual, supporting each other. Well, it was more like she was supporting me. I barely had the strength to stand on my own. That “demonstration” had seriously wounded me, and the following combat training only made things worse. My head was killing me and don’t even get me started on the rest of my body.

“What do think got into him?” True asked.

I shrugged, wincing at the movement. “ I don’t know. All I know is I need rest and a long shower.”

“Amen to that,” she answered.

Laughing hurt too much, so I merely smiled. If we didn’t get out of here and find a way to stop this soon, this training would either kill us or put us all in wheelchairs.