Chapter 28: Guilt, Nasty Thing

3rd POV

Brooke sat up in the infirmary cot, her head resting in her hands, her pale skinned fingers shaking around her tresses of hair. She didn't know what he body was doing, why her whole body would flash from freezing cold, to agonizing hot; she wanted to wrap a blanket tightly around her body, and yet at the same time she wanted to rip off all her clothes to give herself some relief.

She hadn't been feeling great before, but that had been because of her shredded palms, however, suddenly after eating she had felt worse. Her hands still ached terribly, but it was nothing compared to her blazing hot then cold fever, the shakes in her muscle that she just couldn't stop, the pounding pain in her skull, and the nausea turning in her stomach. She hadn't planned on sleeping anyways, not in the same room as the boy who raped her, unconscious or not. But now she knew there was no way that she would get any slumber, because every time she tried to lay down the nausea became worse.

"Brooke, you should really get to bed," Mom stated as he walked into the room, grabbing her now empty tray. Brooke knew it wasn't because he was concerned about her well being, but because the longer she stayed sick, the more she wasn't able to participate in "character building." But the fact that he was here, bugging her about sleeping, when it was the last thing on her mind really annoyed her, however before she could voice her irritation, another blast of sickness hit her.

"I feel horrible," Beast groaned, panting slightly from both the urge to puke and the fever causing her body to, once again, become uncomfortably warm.

Mom frowned. He took in her curled over form, her panting breaths, and her shaking muscles. "Well it shouldn't be an infection; I already gave you something for that, and it would've taken it longer for you to react like this if the medicine hadn't worked… Hmm." He leaned forward, touching her sweaty forehead, pulling away with a grimace. He dramatically wiped his hand on his shirt, and if Brooke hadn't been feeling as horrible as she was, she would've made a snide comment at his pathetic display.

Mom then asked her to open her mouth, and stuck in a thermometer. His frown deepened as he pulled out the device. "Your fever is dangerous high," he observed, and from the deepening crevices in his forehead, and the genuine look in his eyes, he was, for once, actually starting to show a bit of worry about her condition.

Brooke then suddenly lurched over, vomiting all over the floor. With wobbly legs, the girl found herself slipping off of the cot; now crouched on the ground, Brooke continued to vomit violently, feeling as if all of her insides were being ripped into two with each violent upheave.

After what felt like forever of vomiting, Brooke started dry heaving, her stomach now completely empty of anything. She vaguely felt Mom hovering over awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do with her. With panting, pained breaths, her body slumped completely onto the ground. Brooke was unconscious.

3rd POV

"What the hell!" Armpit exclaimed loudly over the many annoyed and confused groans filling the room.

"Ugh, its too early," Zig-zag grumbled, desperately trying to tug the pillow firmly over his head.

"Where is that sound coming from," X-ray moaned as he sat up, rubbing his temples.

The entire tent had jumped awake to a sound blaring throughout the entire Green Lake, and the thing about being stationed in the middle of the nowhere, at night it was usually deadly silent, so any small sound woke anyone easily. However the sound currently going off did not belong to the usual "alarm clock" they were used to now, causing all of them to wake up in both confusion and curiousity.

The rest of d-tent rose from their cots tiredly, exchanging annoyed looks with one another. Squid in particular looked ready to burst; he had been so stressed recently with everything going on with Brooke and Rattlesnake that he was exhausted; he really needed all the sleep he could get. Especially since he still has to dig two holes a day due to the whole thing with Michael. Glancing around the tent, Squid's entire body froze when he caught sight of his girlfriend's empty cot.

He remembered not seeing her at dinner, and not seeing her in the tent after they all got back, but Alan had assumed that she was just simply somewhere else, either brooding, giving them both the space they needed, or both. But now, seeing the empty sheets and realizing she most likely didn't come back after disappearing instilled fear inside of him.

"Where's Beast?" Squid thought aloud, capturing his all of his fellow camper's attention.

"I… I didn't see her get back after dinner…" Magnet trailed off.

"Guys, I think that sounds an ambulance," X-ray observed, causing Magnet and Squid to exchange wide-eyed looks.

Squid was the first out of his cot, leaping up to his feet, and storming towards the tents flaps, determined more than ever to find where his girlfriend is, internally denying that this ambulance has anything to do with Brooke. However, just as he got to the tent flaps, Mom burst end, nearly shoving the teenager back.

"All campers are to stay in their tents at this moment, no one's allowed out. Just… head back to your cots and go to sleep, everything is all right," Mom assured, though his voice held no warmth or comforting tones. Instead it was rather blatant and uncaring, yet demanding.

"Is Brooke hurt," Squid demanded, leaning his face closer to the frailer older man.

"Well-"

"Where is she!" The southerner yelled, grabbing Mom by the front of his shirt.

"Let go of me this second-"

Squid shoved the man to the side, rushing out of the tent in miraculous speed, storming up the main core of the entire camp. Apparently no other tent listened to Mom for many of the other campers were coming out of their own tents. Alan stopped dead in his tracks as the ambulance pulled up into the front of Camp Green Lake, paramedics streaming out through the back of the automobile. He felt as if his whole world stopped at the moment the medics went into the camps medical ward, and a body strapped onto a stretcher was pulled out, a body with all familiar black hair with a pale bluish tint.

"No," he muttered to himself. Pushing through the crowd that had formed, Squid sprinted to the front, ignoring the paramedic that tried to stop him from going any further. It was Brooke strapped to the stretcher, her normally pale face now deathly pale, with now prominent blue veins peaking out. Her lips were now a deathly gray, and her whole body limp.

"No… NO!" He yelled, as he got pushed back farther from the ambulance. "BROOKE!

Just as he went to run back to the ambulance, he felt a strong hand grab the back of his white shirt, pulling him farther away. Squid watched helplessly as the automobile drove away, carrying his girlfriend's unconscious body away. The teenager then turned his furious gaze to the hand that had pulled him back, belonging to none other than Mr. Sir.

"When you are given an order, you follow it." He growled at Squid, before turning his gaze to the rest of the camp. "When we order y'all to stay in your tents, you follow our orders. This ain't no prissy kindergarten, y'all won't get away with anything around here, not with me, don't think y'all get a candy for saying sorry and just slap on the wrist. As punishment tomorrow everyone will dig two holes instead of one. Now get back to your cots, its gonna' be a long day for you all tomorrow!"

All the campers groaned with annoyance, but kept from making snide comments, knowing Mr. Sir would just add more to the punishment. Squid didn't move from his spot, his feet rooted to the ground below him as the blaring siren made its way farther and farther from the camp, much to Squid's displeasure.

"Squid, what's up," Magnet questioned, the rest of the d-tent behind him. By the time the rest of the tent had managed to follow Squid with sluggish, tired steps, they had gotten stuck at the back of the crowd, unable to move through.

"It's was Beast, she was the one bein' shipped away," Squid growled, roughly running his hands through his hair. He started pacing furiously in the spot he had last seen his girlfriend, angrily clenching his fists.

"You think Michael had anything to do with it," X-ray asked with a frown, but a considering look in his eyes.

The mention of the boy caused Squid to jerk to a start, his eyes flashing up and coincidently catching Rattlesnake's, who was standing a few feet away from him, next to his own tent members. They exchanged a look, both of them coming to the same conclusion; it was Michael that was supposed to be carted away, not Brooke, meaning that the dinner that got sent to the infirmary ended up being Brookes, not Michaels.

Squid glanced down at his feet, scowling; he felt loaded with guilt, and anxiety. There's no other explanation, it had to have been because of the faulty meal… its my fault that my girlfriend is in that ambulance, its my fault that Brooke is suffering, the southerner thought to himself, his eyes darting worrying towards where the ambulance disappeared.

"Fuck," he groaned, furiously kicked a rock.

"Squid, what's going on," X-ray questioned. Alan had just opened his mouth, whether to tell the man to "fuck off" or to say "nothing," he wasn't sure, however the warden (who was out for once) interrupted him.

"And what do y'all think you're doing?" She question, her arms crossed over her chest with a condescending look on her face. "Didn't Mr. Sir give y'all an order, or did he not?"

"Well, yes ma'am, but-" Armpit started.

"He did? Well then, I suggest yell get heading back to your cots. Tomorrow's gonna' be a long day 'n all, digging two holes instead of one," the warden continued, with a hard look in her eyes that told them not to push her. "Especially for you Alan, I believe that would make three holes?"

With clenched teeth, Squid stormed past the horrendous woman, shoving the tent flaps open, and dropping onto his cot, his back facing the others as they slowly dribbled in. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep tonight, and that it would royally kick his ass tomorrow, digging three holes and all, but all he could think about was the girl that got carted away. Her unconscious form, her deadly pale skin, her lips consisting of a bluish gray hue, and her chest only slightly rising and falling; and all he could think about was that the last time he conversed with her, they had fought, something they hadn't resolved.

To be continued…

A/N: Short chapter, I know. Though I just found this to be a great spot to stop it. Don't worry I've already started working on the next chapter, hopefully I'll be able to finalize it in a couple more days. It you guys aren't aware, because I can't remember if I told you all yet, but I do have a job however because it's usually really slow in January because everyone's on trips or spent all of their money, I'm not going to have as many hours meaning more typing time!:)

To Shian1998: Yeah it's been a long time since I've read the book as well, its even make me question if maybe Barfbag wasn't even in the book, just the movie… Hmm, I really need to reread it too! You'll find out soon what was in Brooke's food, though I will say that at first it was going to be lizard feces, which as disgusting as that is, it can be very very deadly to a person, causing violent, life threatening sicknesses. Its why its dangerous to drink lake water even if you boil it. Also it will be a little while before they can rekindle and let go of their pride, though as you just read, Squid had already started to do that in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

To X Blue Eyed Demon X: Thank you so much, I hope you are enjoying the flow of the story so far.

To .2017: Thanks, please enjoy!:)

To Guest (1): Haha, that's all you can say sometimes.

To Guest (2): I wanted Rattlesnake to appear like that at first, but to show that he's not as horrible as a guy by having him work with Squid; though they will still be enemies. And like I told Shian1998, you'll see soon about what they slipped in it, and I swear it's definitely not as disgusting as the original thing I was going to have to go in her food.

To FandomAddict17: Hope you enjoy the chapter!

To CaptainCrazy25: Thank you so much, I'm glad you that you get the character depth I'm trying to do. I know my first ten chapters or so desperately need to be revised, they defiantly contrast with these chapters since I've developed a lot as a writer since then.