Wacko Academy (10 page)

We both looked at Cattie.  For once, she seemed completely silent.  She refused to raise her eyes from the floor.

Then she began to speak, stating that it was different for her, since her mom had sent her here.  Maybe this place wasn’t so bad and maybe we were wrong.  She had even heard rumors that we would eventually be set free.

Putting my hands on her shoulders and staring straight into her eyes, I told her about the day Dustin and I had come across that scary building.  In detail, I described the stretcher and the little girl that lay unconscious on it.

With a grim expression, she appeared to make a decision.  “I’m in.”

So now all we needed was a plan.  True came up with the idea that I should gain Dustin’s trust and then, when he least expected it, knock him over the head or something.  I asked her what the heck that was supposed to do.  Then Cattie calmly stated that I would need a gun.  Uh-uh.  That was out of the question.

But before I could protest, she talked over me.  “Don’t worry.  I’ve seen all the James Bond movies and stuff like that.  It’s usually that the woman’s captured; she, like, knocks him over the head or something.  Then she takes his gun and pulls it out on him, forcing him to release her.”

I loathe guns.  This is why James Bond and all action movies aren’t exactly on my top ten list.  I insisted that there had to be another way.  Something that didn’t involve guns.  

Both True and Cattie scrunched up their faces in concentration.  In about five minutes they came up with a verdict.  There was no other way unless I could persuade Dustin to help me.  We all knew that was highly unlikely.  So grudgingly I gave in.  Now we just needed to figure out how to gain access to the weaponry.

Soon the girls and I had come up with a ludicrous outline of what was to happen.  The watches went off once again.  Just like before, everyone got up and headed out the door in single file.  Someone informed me that it was time for lunch.  Despite the things I had been told, images of slop and mystery meat came to mind.  My stomach grumbled in hunger and disgust.  

When we entered the lunchroom, I was pleasantly proven wrong.  The tables, chairs, and floors had not a speck of grime.  Children and teens alike were sitting down, chatting excitedly about their day.  Despite the cold, dreary atmosphere of the camp, this room felt warm.  Inviting, even.  Although some tough-looking men and women surrounded the perimeter, all stood at ease.  

Our bunk stood in line for food.  I observed that we were not served, but rather chose for ourselves.  There was a long salad bar filled with different greens, veggies, dressings, toppings, and fruits.  Standing next to it was a sandwich bar with a surplus of cold cuts and every kind of bread known to man.  Next to that, I could see an assortment of soups, chilies, and other hot foods.  Finally, at the end of all that were the drinks.  The choices were water, iced tea, Gatorade, lemonade, and fruit punch.  For some reason, seeing all that food made it very hard for me not to smile.  The same thing seemed to be happening to everyone else too.  

I chose a seat by the window, my plate full, but not too full.  I didn’t want to look like a pig or anything.  Cattie and True soon joined me.  Since we were all really hungry, we ate in silence for a while.  I figured that the suited people bordering the walls were there for intimidation.  It was working.  Every few minutes a person would stop eating for a second and steal a quick uneasy glance in their direction.  I too eyed the stock-still strangers.

When I was done eating, my eyes drifted to the window.  Not a cloud in the sky.  The grass was no longer frozen.  It looked rather tempting.  I found myself longing to go outside.  

True followed my gaze.  “Oh, we’ll be going outside soon enough.” She didn’t sound too happy about that.

“Yeah,” Cattie chimed in, “to do some drills or something.”

I made a face.  That didn’t sound very fun.  What did I expect?  This was boot camp after all.  For the rest of lunch, we chatted about silly stuff, like the first thing we would do when we got out of this place.  We talked about sleepovers and birthday parties.  I told them about my family and friends back at home.  They giggled at the funny things I said about Louis, and were solemn when I remembered the time Malerie’s dog died.  As I laughed and ate with them, I realized that these girls reminded me so much of my friends.  They had my back and made me the happiest I’d been since I’d arrived at this dreary place.  It was hard to believe that I had just met them that morning.

Lunch ended and soon after came the drills.  Our afternoon was spent doing push-ups, crunches, knee-highs, sit-ups, weights, and running laps.  I had never worked so hard in my life.  Gym had never been nearly as grueling as this.  

After about fifty crunches, my stomach was tight and sore.  My arms hurt terribly from the weights, and I could no longer feel my legs.  Sweat dripped down my face by the gallon.  The ground looked so comfortable, I wished that I could just lie right there and rest.  I didn’t dare, though.  Sergeant Buck would have had a fit.

The sky had turned from baby blue to indigo when we were finally allowed to stop.  Water bottles were handed out.  I drank all the water in one big gulp, wiping the sweat from my brow.  Legs unsteady, I wobbled to the line forming at the door.  All the others were just about as run-down as I was.  Some were leaning over and puking, and others had passed out.  I was close to doing both of those things myself.

Once we were back in our room, I stiffly got into my bunk, falling asleep instantly.  A few minutes later, I was being shaken awake.  I groggily swatted my hand at the gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Lily,” a voice whispered, “they’re totally gonna freak if you don’t come to dinner.”

My eyes slowly opened to find Cattie standing over me.  Wincing, I rose from the bed and followed her out.

I stifled a yawn as I stood in line for food.  I was so tired that I didn’t pay any attention to what I was putting on my plate.  When I sat down, even the hard table seemed like a pillow.  So I laid my head on the table for just a second.  The next thing I knew, a loud whistle was being blown in my ear.  That woke me up a bit and scared the living daylights out of me.  My hand automatically brought the fork to my lips, shoveling it all in.

My friends practically had to drag me out of there when dinner was over.  I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.  I was asleep before I even hit the covers.

A loud horn sounded, blowing me right out of bed.  Since every bone in my body still ached, this didn’t feel too great.  I crawled back to bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.  There was a deluge of shrieking girls, running to the bathrooms.  Water ran in the showers as people poured in.  When I finally got to the mirror and saw my reflection, I nearly jumped out of my skin.  I looked like the living dead.  As usual, my hair was in disarray.  There were bags under my eyes and I could see visible bruises from the previous day of drills.  I washed my face and brushed my teeth until they gleamed.  

Surprisingly, the shower water felt warm against my skin.  It soothed my bruises and sore muscles.  I scrubbed diligently in order to scrape away all the grit and grime from the previous day.  

After having a good wash and putting on fresh clothes, I went for breakfast.  Then I carried my tray of a buttered roll, scrambled eggs, bacon, and orange juice to the usual spot.  

“Good morning,” Cattie sang with a smile.  “You seem to be in high spirits.”

“I like the showers,” I answered.  

True nodded in agreement.  “Great, aren’t they?  Not to sound weird or anything, but I like to go there to think.”

“Really?  Okay.  I can see how that would work,” I said.

Cattie stared at us like we were a couple of whack jobs.  “You do know that you’re talking about showers, right?”

True and I broke into a fit of giggles.  Our ravings about the showers sounded like we were talking about some kind of spa.  While hugging my stomach and giggling uncontrollably, I caught a glimpse out the window.  My giggles immediately stopped.  True and Cattie turned their heads to see what I was staring at.

The sun shone so brightly you’d think it was a summer day.  Was it?  When I’d first arrived, it had been so cold that I had nearly frozen to death.  

My smile faded.  “What month is it?”

True’s face, still frozen in laughter, turned to a frown.  “I dunno.  February or March maybe?”

I’d arrived in December.  Had it really been that long?  The mood at our table changed drastically.  I didn’t feel like laughing anymore.  I felt like doing the opposite.  The effects of the soothing warm water were wearing off and my aches and pains were becoming evident again.  What was also becoming evident was the need to get back to our plan to get out.  So what if the food was great and I liked the showers?  The time to act was now.  My realization of how long I’d been here only fueled my determination.  I looked up at the girls, my fingers gripping the side of the table.  The same affirmation showed on their faces as well.  Relaxing, I sighed and took a bite of the roll.  We were all on the same page.

A loud voice made me jump.  One of the sergeants was yelling for us to get off our butts and head out.  Heart thumping, I hurried out the door with everyone else.

Bulky guys stood at the doorway, giving orders.  We stood against the wall at attention as ordered.  Then Sergeant Buck arrived.  He hadn’t come alone.  A severe-faced woman stood on one side of him, while an even meaner-looking man stood on the other.  They appeared younger than the sergeant, in either their late twenties or early thirties.

Standing directly behind them was the biggest, cruelest obstacle course that I had ever seen.  There was a huge rock wall that had real jagged rocks instead of fake ones.  The monkey bars weren’t even kid safe!  With a height of about thirty feet, each bar had been made of rusted metal.  Instead of going ten bars across, it went about forty.  If you were unfortunate enough to fall off, you would drop straight into a mud pit.  Near the monkey bars were two rows of big flat tires stretched so far apart, it had to be almost impossible to hop through unless you used your whole body.  To get to the zip line, you’d have to climb over another rock wall even taller than the last one.  Once off the zip line, there was a giant shoot that led to the barbed wire, which was so low to the ground I had no idea how we were supposed to crawl under that without getting cut into shreds.  Maybe that was the point.  The hurdles came after the barbed wire.  There was simply no way anyone could get over them unless they had the skills to jump really high or had very long legs.

When the obstacle course ended, it opened into fields and fields of grass.  Placed twenty yards apart from each other stood wooden signs.  On these signs were different kinds of instructions.  For example, one said to do thirty push-ups.  

Before I could finish reading the signs, the sergeant began to speak.  “Attention!  Listen up, ’cause I’m not repeating myself.”

He cleared his throat.  Then he introduced the two people on either side of him.  The woman’s name was Lieutenant Kantanker; the man was Lieutenant Parker.  They both swept their cold unfeeling eyes over us.  They’d be stationed at certain spots to “cheer” us on.  

We were all reluctant to start, so we had to get yelled at.  The rocks scraped at my hands and knees.  I held my breath the whole time I was on the monkey bars.  I made sure that I had a good grip on each rung before moving on.  Lieutenant Kantanker screamed in my ear the whole time.  It was more of an annoyance than encouragement.  

My downfall came at the push-ups.  My muscles were still really sore from before, and I’ve never been a stellar athlete.  So after fifteen push-ups, I just dropped.  My arms couldn’t take the weight anymore.  Because I had stopped, I was forced to start the course all over again.  To have come so far and have to start again was devastating.  With a sigh of despair, I jogged back toward the beginning.

For two more hours this went on.  Even if we went through the course with no mistakes, we still had to do it over and over.  Because of this constant painful cycle, my arms were extremely tired.  This turned out to be a problem when it came to the dreaded monkey bars of doom.  I ended up covered with mud from head to toe.  

Once we went back inside, everything in my body ached yet again.  Moans and groans could be heard throughout the group.  They were quiet ones, of course, since no one wanted to get on the sergeant’s bad side.

I took as long of a shower as I could take.  Although I got all the mud off, I still didn’t feel too great.  None of us did.  True grunted in pain.

“Stupid obstacle course,” she grumbled.  “And to think, we still have to do those horrible drills soon.”

I groaned.  “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

While we complained about our many ailments, Cattie remained absolutely silent.  Of course, we noticed this and asked her what was wrong.

“I forgot to tell you something,” she confessed.  “Something important.”

“Well, come on.  Spit it out!” I urged.

“I was sneaking around the grounds last night,” she let out in a rush.

True and I stared at her openmouthed.  Was she out of her mind?   Did she realize what would have happened if she had gotten caught?

She looked down at our hands.  “I know.  I know.  It’s just that I needed a place to think, too, and I like taking walks, so I thought, why not?  Then I got to thinking that maybe while I was there I could look for weapons.  Every boot camp has a stash somewhere.” She paused to build up the suspense.  “I started tiptoeing and dodging behind walls like a real-life secret agent.  Just when I was about to give up, wham!  There they were.  Rows and rows of ’em.”

She sat back, finished with her story, obviously proud of what she had discovered.

This was indeed good news, but also bad.  Would our crazy scheme really work?  Lowering my voice, I told them my plan of what to do next.  About a day or two before we left camp, we’d have to sneak out at night.  Then we would each take one weapon for ourselves.  Someone would have to be the lookout.  That would be Cattie.  For fun, we named our plan Mission Impossible IV: Project A.  We’d take the weapons with us when we left boot camp, but we’d have to use them quickly before we were caught with them.