It's a relatively normal day for once, in fact, it's an above average day. Rod got up and dressed before Coach started practicing on his trumpet, and, for a wonder, with plenty of energy. He actually kept up with Mark and the other reasonably fit Reds on the obstacle course!
At breakfast, the food wasn't half bad. The pancakes weren't burned, the eggs weren't runny, and the bacon actually tasted like bacon! As unbelievable as it is, he breezed right through his chores without having to take a single break, (and got a lot more done than usual!)
Everything was going so smoothly Rod could have sang! Well, maybe not in front of anybody, but he could have!
Heck, he probably would've made it through today's battle without the constant feeling that he was going to wet himself, that he had felt the first time. In fact, he was eagerly anticipating the battle!
That's how the day was going, until...
"We're not going to be in the battle today?!" Rod says disappointedly.
Mark says, "Yeah, whoever lost in the previous battle isn't involved in the next. Coach and the Doc flip a coin to see which of the other two teams faces the winners."
Rod asks in a resigned tone, "Well, who's gonna face the Greens today?"
"That'd be the Yellow team today, partner."
Rod looks in the direction the voice came from and sees a kid about Leo's age, Benjamin Crockett -- who's always claiming that he's descended from Davey Crockett, king of the wild frontier -- is a rather unimpressive wannabe cowboy, his black hair is about an inch long, and combed down flat against his head and his face and hands are the only parts of him that are tanned. Over his hair, he's wearing a Stetson, and around his neck he has a red bandanna. He is also so skinny, that his long-sleeved, red plaid shirt and blue jeans are simply hanging on him, and his boots have cobras drawn in marker on either side. However, he makes up for his looks, (and the fact that he always needs to hike his loose pants back up so they don't fall down,) by being the sharpest shot and the fastest draw in the camp.
The first time Rod saw Ben was during the second day of camp, tailing Mark as they made their escape from the Green team's base with the flag... and then stepping on a land mine.
Mark asks, "They flipped already?"
"Flipped? They're already starting! We're gonna miss it if we just keep standing here!" Ben says urgently.
Mark, Ben and the others from the Red Cabins run from the field of outhouses that they were cleaning out, over toward the Manager's Cabin, Rod following with a puzzled expression on his face.
Just as they are about to turn the front-left corner of the cabin, Rod asks, "What do you mean, 'miss it?' I thought nobody but the teams that are fighting are supposed to be back there."
Rod's question is answered the moment they reach the front of the cabin, out on the front porch, -- which was built sticking out past the edge of the roof, sort of like a stage -- he sees that several dozen monitors have been set up, with wires running inside.
Rod's mouth moves, but no words come out.
Doc. Otto comes out of the Manager's Cabin, his hair is a greasy black mop and he has five o'clock shadow and green eyes. The Doc's white tank-top is blotched with oil stains, and his black cargo pants have holes worn in the knees.
The Doc leans over by the monitors and plugs a few cords in, then stands up and presses the power buttons on all the screens. One by one, slightly flickering images of different locations in the woods show up on the screens, and Rod's growing fear is realized, people had seen him as frightened as a mouse through the whole battle last week!
Mark looks around for a moment, then cups his hands around his mouth and says, "Hey Shawn!"
Shawn a slightly smaller version of his Dad, the Doc, sixteen years old and dressed completely in red, turns around at the sound of his name, and comes over from the front of the crowd of other campers.
"Shawn, I'm gonna go grab some snacks, fill me in on whatever I miss?"
"Sure."
Mark starts heading for the Cafeteria, then Shawn says, "Second thought, I never really like watching a battle anyway, just reminds me that I can't be in it. I'll go get the snacks."
Mark says, "Um, okay."
"Be back in a jiff!"
Sam and Eric, wearing camouflage suits and army helmets, run into the hangar where the small fighter-planes and mini helicopters are, followed by some of their team-mates. The two of them both run to the nearest jets and hop in. The others scramble to claim their own after tying a yellow cloth to their tail-fin, or to pile into a chopper.
Eric settles in and pulls out a coin, "K' bro, heads or..."
"Tails."
The same moment Sam says that, Eric flips the coin.
"Heads!" Eric announces after catching it.
"I'm flight leader this time, Sam, you're my wing-man, we're flying V formation. Ted, you take the other one, choose a wing-man, and follow my lead. Any questions? No? Good. Let's move!"
By this time, all the choppers the others took are out of the way, so they take off.
Once outside, they veer up over the trees and fly toward the lake.
Back in the hangar, one of the Yellow team's members is still trying to start his plane! He revs the engine a few times, "Come on, come on!"
Unfortunately, nothing happens.
Finally he just gets too frustrated, says, "Oh, forget this!" He takes his gun back out of the cockpit and runs to catch up with anyone who went on foot.
Joe and those who he didn't set to guard the flag or provide air support, stalk through the underbrush of the woods, Joe, unlike mostly everyone else, isn't wearing a shirt. Any girl who likes muscle-bound, action hero types would swoon at the sight of him... if not for the fact that he still has a nasty poison-ivy rash from the day before, which is even affecting his speech.
Soon they hear a loud buzzing noise, they look up, and half a squadron of fighter-planes flies overhead. Suddenly, there's the sound of someone running through the bushes, and one of their own comes out.
"Jewwy, what are you doing hewe?" Joe says in a garbled, yet unnervingly calm voice.
"You'we ouw best piwot and, no offense, virtuawy usewess in a gwound fight."
"Stupid plane wouldn't start! And the others were long gone, so I decided not to bother with a different one."
Joe ponders for a moment, then says, "Fine. You hewp them manage 'the bag." Joe points at three guys on a four-wheeler, one of them is at the handlebars, the other two are holding down a big burlap sack with something rather large squirming around in it.
Suddenly, a human hand thrusts out of the bag, and lifts one of the guys holding it down by the collar of his jacket. Jerry rushes over and smacks it, it lets go of the guy and Jerry shoves the hand back in.
"I'm guessing that's Phil?" Jerry asks.
The guy driving the ATV mutters, "It was."
Shawn throws the doors of the cafeteria open and shouts, "Hey Auntie, you in here?"
A voice like chimes echoes from the kitchen, "Yes, I'm in here. What do you need?"
"The Greens are fighting the Yellows, we're gonna need some chips!"
"Oh of course, didn't the last one between them last three days straight?" She says as she searches the cupboards.
Unlike the other two lunch ladies, "Auntie," is young, about mid-twenties. Her shoulder length hair is strawberry blonde and her eyes are blue.
"Ooh, here we go. How about cheddar flavored?"
"Sure!"
Auntie reaches up to grab the chips, then suddenly she twitches, "AH! Oh, ow, ow!"
"What's wrong?" Shawn asks with a concerned expression.
"Nothing! Nothing. It's just a weak muscle in my back. I'm supposed to get a massage twice a week to treat it, I have one scheduled today, I've just been putting it off for a while." She says reassuringly.
"Shawn, you can reach them can't you?"
"Yeah."
"Good, I think I need to drive down to Beatrice's so she can give me my massage for today. She's probably going to give me an earful while she's at it. 'You need to take better care of yourself!' I won't hear the end of it for a week."
"Do you need any help getting there?"
"Oh no, I'm fine. It isn't quite as serious as it sounds. I'll be back later."
"Okay, if you're sure." Shawn says just before the door swings shut behind her.
Shawn grabs the chips and shuts the cupboard, then starts hurrying back.
Halfway back, Rod comes running up to him, "I came to see what was taking you so long."
"It took me this long, because that's how it's written."
"...What??"
"I'd elaborate, but then I'd be breaking the fourth wall. Isn't that right, reader?" Shawn says staring up at the sky.
"Shawn, sometimes you outdo yourself at being weird."
"Pine leader to Chartreuse leader, anything yet?" One of the Green team pilots says into his radio.
"Nope. Nothing here, Pine."
"Peridot, what about you?"
"The same... wait a minute. Yellow-bellies at two o'clock!"
"This is Chartreuse. Pine, Peridot, you scramble, I'll lure them in!"
"Copy that Chartreuse, Pine and Peridot out."
All but one of the Green pilots spread out and start flying up near their maximum altitude of two hundred and fifty feet, while the other one flies a few feet above the tree tops, towards the enemy.
The Yellows are just cruising along, then Eric says, "Ya' know, I'd think we would have found some Greens by now."
Then a Green plane pulls up hard in front of them, turns upside-down, and flies away to their right, back the way he had come.
"Whoa! That maniac could've hit me!" Eric says, frustrated.
"Don't sweat it Eric, We got him!" Ted says, turning to chase down the Green.
"Ted, wait!" Sam says as he and Eric veer their formation to follow Ted's.
Finally the Green jerks his plane vertical, with Ted on his tail.
They follow up and up and up, then realize they're surrounded by Green pilots! Yellows fly in every direction trying to get away, but to no avail. Whirling, spinning, weaving. Nine Yellow team pilots, against fifteen Green.
"There go the twins." Leo says as Sam and Eric's planes disappear from the monitor. One Yellow left, hounded by one of the remaining Greens, off away from his team mates.
The Yellow team pilot is veering this way and that, trying to shake his pursuer, but eventually, he's hit. The plane goes into "crash-mode," the controls for the weapons on his plane lock, and he has five minutes to land before the engine dies and it can't be started up again.
The Green pilot flies a few circles to see if he can find his squad, but finds nothing. He decides to return to base, and a few minutes short of it, sees Joe and his troops moving in on the base in force.
He swoops low, and drops a barrage of "Gnat swarm" bombs on the invaders. Many of the Yellow troops are left laying on the ground, itching all over.
After a few passes, he runs out of bombs, and flies back to base, though it isn't over for the surviving Yellows. The noise of the bombing attracted the attention of nearby Green foot soldiers, who arrive in very short order, led by Jeffrey Harty leader of the Green team himself.
Normally dressed like a Carpenter, Jeff is sixteen and has the devilishly good looks of a hot-shot pilot from an eighties TV show, close cropped hair and a chin that you can't not notice. Jeffrey's Achilles heel, is that his sense of direction is non-existent, he occasionally gets lost in his own house!
Acorns are flying through the air, and the Yellow team is on the verge of defeat, that's when Joe shouts, "Rewease the secwet weapon!"
In the few seconds that follow, no one outside of the battle can tell what's going on. Green Cabiners are scattering in every direction and a blur rushes across the two screens showing the area.
Rod says, "What the heck!?"
Mark notices that in the corner of one screen, there's an ATV with three Yellow guys sitting on it, watching, and on the ground is a sack large enough to fit a full grown man.
Soon the battle is over, with the Yellow team the victors. Most of the Green team members who come out look dazed, some even a little jumpy.
For a change, Jeff is actually with them instead of being lost back in the woods. Mark runs up to Jeffrey and asks, "What happened in there Jeff?"
Jeff, with a shaken expression, says, "I'm really not sure Mark, it was so..." Jeff shudders and keeps walking.
In Yellow Cabin One, Joe has the guys carrying the bag put it down and open it.
"Come on out Phiw." Joe mumbles.
Out of the bag, crawls one of the most disturbing things, an average sized guy, (average by Yellow Cabin standards meaning huge,) with black, buzz-cut hair, four entirely black eyes, six, five-foot long arms and teeth all an inch long!
Joe says with a sinister smile, "Things awound hewe awe gonna get weaw intewesting."
At breakfast, the food wasn't half bad. The pancakes weren't burned, the eggs weren't runny, and the bacon actually tasted like bacon! As unbelievable as it is, he breezed right through his chores without having to take a single break, (and got a lot more done than usual!)
Everything was going so smoothly Rod could have sang! Well, maybe not in front of anybody, but he could have!
Heck, he probably would've made it through today's battle without the constant feeling that he was going to wet himself, that he had felt the first time. In fact, he was eagerly anticipating the battle!
That's how the day was going, until...
"We're not going to be in the battle today?!" Rod says disappointedly.
Mark says, "Yeah, whoever lost in the previous battle isn't involved in the next. Coach and the Doc flip a coin to see which of the other two teams faces the winners."
Rod asks in a resigned tone, "Well, who's gonna face the Greens today?"
"That'd be the Yellow team today, partner."
Rod looks in the direction the voice came from and sees a kid about Leo's age, Benjamin Crockett -- who's always claiming that he's descended from Davey Crockett, king of the wild frontier -- is a rather unimpressive wannabe cowboy, his black hair is about an inch long, and combed down flat against his head and his face and hands are the only parts of him that are tanned. Over his hair, he's wearing a Stetson, and around his neck he has a red bandanna. He is also so skinny, that his long-sleeved, red plaid shirt and blue jeans are simply hanging on him, and his boots have cobras drawn in marker on either side. However, he makes up for his looks, (and the fact that he always needs to hike his loose pants back up so they don't fall down,) by being the sharpest shot and the fastest draw in the camp.
The first time Rod saw Ben was during the second day of camp, tailing Mark as they made their escape from the Green team's base with the flag... and then stepping on a land mine.
Mark asks, "They flipped already?"
"Flipped? They're already starting! We're gonna miss it if we just keep standing here!" Ben says urgently.
Mark, Ben and the others from the Red Cabins run from the field of outhouses that they were cleaning out, over toward the Manager's Cabin, Rod following with a puzzled expression on his face.
Just as they are about to turn the front-left corner of the cabin, Rod asks, "What do you mean, 'miss it?' I thought nobody but the teams that are fighting are supposed to be back there."
Rod's question is answered the moment they reach the front of the cabin, out on the front porch, -- which was built sticking out past the edge of the roof, sort of like a stage -- he sees that several dozen monitors have been set up, with wires running inside.
Rod's mouth moves, but no words come out.
Doc. Otto comes out of the Manager's Cabin, his hair is a greasy black mop and he has five o'clock shadow and green eyes. The Doc's white tank-top is blotched with oil stains, and his black cargo pants have holes worn in the knees.
The Doc leans over by the monitors and plugs a few cords in, then stands up and presses the power buttons on all the screens. One by one, slightly flickering images of different locations in the woods show up on the screens, and Rod's growing fear is realized, people had seen him as frightened as a mouse through the whole battle last week!
Mark looks around for a moment, then cups his hands around his mouth and says, "Hey Shawn!"
Shawn a slightly smaller version of his Dad, the Doc, sixteen years old and dressed completely in red, turns around at the sound of his name, and comes over from the front of the crowd of other campers.
"Shawn, I'm gonna go grab some snacks, fill me in on whatever I miss?"
"Sure."
Mark starts heading for the Cafeteria, then Shawn says, "Second thought, I never really like watching a battle anyway, just reminds me that I can't be in it. I'll go get the snacks."
Mark says, "Um, okay."
"Be back in a jiff!"
Sam and Eric, wearing camouflage suits and army helmets, run into the hangar where the small fighter-planes and mini helicopters are, followed by some of their team-mates. The two of them both run to the nearest jets and hop in. The others scramble to claim their own after tying a yellow cloth to their tail-fin, or to pile into a chopper.
Eric settles in and pulls out a coin, "K' bro, heads or..."
"Tails."
The same moment Sam says that, Eric flips the coin.
"Heads!" Eric announces after catching it.
"I'm flight leader this time, Sam, you're my wing-man, we're flying V formation. Ted, you take the other one, choose a wing-man, and follow my lead. Any questions? No? Good. Let's move!"
By this time, all the choppers the others took are out of the way, so they take off.
Once outside, they veer up over the trees and fly toward the lake.
Back in the hangar, one of the Yellow team's members is still trying to start his plane! He revs the engine a few times, "Come on, come on!"
Unfortunately, nothing happens.
Finally he just gets too frustrated, says, "Oh, forget this!" He takes his gun back out of the cockpit and runs to catch up with anyone who went on foot.
Joe and those who he didn't set to guard the flag or provide air support, stalk through the underbrush of the woods, Joe, unlike mostly everyone else, isn't wearing a shirt. Any girl who likes muscle-bound, action hero types would swoon at the sight of him... if not for the fact that he still has a nasty poison-ivy rash from the day before, which is even affecting his speech.
Soon they hear a loud buzzing noise, they look up, and half a squadron of fighter-planes flies overhead. Suddenly, there's the sound of someone running through the bushes, and one of their own comes out.
"Jewwy, what are you doing hewe?" Joe says in a garbled, yet unnervingly calm voice.
"You'we ouw best piwot and, no offense, virtuawy usewess in a gwound fight."
"Stupid plane wouldn't start! And the others were long gone, so I decided not to bother with a different one."
Joe ponders for a moment, then says, "Fine. You hewp them manage 'the bag." Joe points at three guys on a four-wheeler, one of them is at the handlebars, the other two are holding down a big burlap sack with something rather large squirming around in it.
Suddenly, a human hand thrusts out of the bag, and lifts one of the guys holding it down by the collar of his jacket. Jerry rushes over and smacks it, it lets go of the guy and Jerry shoves the hand back in.
"I'm guessing that's Phil?" Jerry asks.
The guy driving the ATV mutters, "It was."
Shawn throws the doors of the cafeteria open and shouts, "Hey Auntie, you in here?"
A voice like chimes echoes from the kitchen, "Yes, I'm in here. What do you need?"
"The Greens are fighting the Yellows, we're gonna need some chips!"
"Oh of course, didn't the last one between them last three days straight?" She says as she searches the cupboards.
Unlike the other two lunch ladies, "Auntie," is young, about mid-twenties. Her shoulder length hair is strawberry blonde and her eyes are blue.
"Ooh, here we go. How about cheddar flavored?"
"Sure!"
Auntie reaches up to grab the chips, then suddenly she twitches, "AH! Oh, ow, ow!"
"What's wrong?" Shawn asks with a concerned expression.
"Nothing! Nothing. It's just a weak muscle in my back. I'm supposed to get a massage twice a week to treat it, I have one scheduled today, I've just been putting it off for a while." She says reassuringly.
"Shawn, you can reach them can't you?"
"Yeah."
"Good, I think I need to drive down to Beatrice's so she can give me my massage for today. She's probably going to give me an earful while she's at it. 'You need to take better care of yourself!' I won't hear the end of it for a week."
"Do you need any help getting there?"
"Oh no, I'm fine. It isn't quite as serious as it sounds. I'll be back later."
"Okay, if you're sure." Shawn says just before the door swings shut behind her.
Shawn grabs the chips and shuts the cupboard, then starts hurrying back.
Halfway back, Rod comes running up to him, "I came to see what was taking you so long."
"It took me this long, because that's how it's written."
"...What??"
"I'd elaborate, but then I'd be breaking the fourth wall. Isn't that right, reader?" Shawn says staring up at the sky.
"Shawn, sometimes you outdo yourself at being weird."
"Pine leader to Chartreuse leader, anything yet?" One of the Green team pilots says into his radio.
"Nope. Nothing here, Pine."
"Peridot, what about you?"
"The same... wait a minute. Yellow-bellies at two o'clock!"
"This is Chartreuse. Pine, Peridot, you scramble, I'll lure them in!"
"Copy that Chartreuse, Pine and Peridot out."
All but one of the Green pilots spread out and start flying up near their maximum altitude of two hundred and fifty feet, while the other one flies a few feet above the tree tops, towards the enemy.
The Yellows are just cruising along, then Eric says, "Ya' know, I'd think we would have found some Greens by now."
Then a Green plane pulls up hard in front of them, turns upside-down, and flies away to their right, back the way he had come.
"Whoa! That maniac could've hit me!" Eric says, frustrated.
"Don't sweat it Eric, We got him!" Ted says, turning to chase down the Green.
"Ted, wait!" Sam says as he and Eric veer their formation to follow Ted's.
Finally the Green jerks his plane vertical, with Ted on his tail.
They follow up and up and up, then realize they're surrounded by Green pilots! Yellows fly in every direction trying to get away, but to no avail. Whirling, spinning, weaving. Nine Yellow team pilots, against fifteen Green.
"There go the twins." Leo says as Sam and Eric's planes disappear from the monitor. One Yellow left, hounded by one of the remaining Greens, off away from his team mates.
The Yellow team pilot is veering this way and that, trying to shake his pursuer, but eventually, he's hit. The plane goes into "crash-mode," the controls for the weapons on his plane lock, and he has five minutes to land before the engine dies and it can't be started up again.
The Green pilot flies a few circles to see if he can find his squad, but finds nothing. He decides to return to base, and a few minutes short of it, sees Joe and his troops moving in on the base in force.
He swoops low, and drops a barrage of "Gnat swarm" bombs on the invaders. Many of the Yellow troops are left laying on the ground, itching all over.
After a few passes, he runs out of bombs, and flies back to base, though it isn't over for the surviving Yellows. The noise of the bombing attracted the attention of nearby Green foot soldiers, who arrive in very short order, led by Jeffrey Harty leader of the Green team himself.
Normally dressed like a Carpenter, Jeff is sixteen and has the devilishly good looks of a hot-shot pilot from an eighties TV show, close cropped hair and a chin that you can't not notice. Jeffrey's Achilles heel, is that his sense of direction is non-existent, he occasionally gets lost in his own house!
Acorns are flying through the air, and the Yellow team is on the verge of defeat, that's when Joe shouts, "Rewease the secwet weapon!"
In the few seconds that follow, no one outside of the battle can tell what's going on. Green Cabiners are scattering in every direction and a blur rushes across the two screens showing the area.
Rod says, "What the heck!?"
Mark notices that in the corner of one screen, there's an ATV with three Yellow guys sitting on it, watching, and on the ground is a sack large enough to fit a full grown man.
Soon the battle is over, with the Yellow team the victors. Most of the Green team members who come out look dazed, some even a little jumpy.
For a change, Jeff is actually with them instead of being lost back in the woods. Mark runs up to Jeffrey and asks, "What happened in there Jeff?"
Jeff, with a shaken expression, says, "I'm really not sure Mark, it was so..." Jeff shudders and keeps walking.
In Yellow Cabin One, Joe has the guys carrying the bag put it down and open it.
"Come on out Phiw." Joe mumbles.
Out of the bag, crawls one of the most disturbing things, an average sized guy, (average by Yellow Cabin standards meaning huge,) with black, buzz-cut hair, four entirely black eyes, six, five-foot long arms and teeth all an inch long!
Joe says with a sinister smile, "Things awound hewe awe gonna get weaw intewesting."
