haha. i'm glad you likey.

Believing that he still had the chance to live, Squid ripped off part of his shirt and hurriedly squeezed out the poison that was seeping into Ricky's bloodstream.

"Come on Ricky, you're going to make it, come on," he yelped, desperation creeping into his voice as the frizzy-haired boy on the ground did not respond.

Then, Ricky opened one of his eyes. "Squid. It hurts."

"Don't worry," Squid told him. "You'll be ok."

"I think I'm ok," Ricky told him.
"YOU JUST GOT BITTEN BY A YELLOW-SPOTTED LIZARD – YOU ARE NOT OK!" Squid sobbed.

"It had eleven spots," Ricky said, falling into delirium, "black teeth, a white tongue, red eyes. It was so pretty." His voice sounded dreamy.

Squid sniffled. Picking Ricky up in his arms, he carried him back to the tent. If he was going to die, he would die belonging to the rest of them.

xxx

Squid stumbled into the tent, carrying Ricky. It wasn't that hard. Despite his huge, lanky frame, Ricky didn't weigh that much. At most, around eighty or eighty five pounds. Squid noticed the kid didn't eat that much. Now, he even knew why.

"It's not time to wake up yet," grumbled Magnet when Squid shoved him.

Squid dropped Ricky into his own cot, and shoved Magnet again.

"Stop," murmured Magnet.

"Keep it down," muttered X-Ray.

"I'm trying to sleep," put in Barf Bag.

Squid sat down next to Ricky and started to cry. Sniffling quietly first, and then more loudly and desperately.

"Squid man, what's wrong?" Magnet asked, concerned, finally getting up.

Squid pointed numbly at Ricky who was now moaning feverishly and coughing – shivering, even though it had to be at least ninety degrees.

"What happened?" Barf Bag said, rubbing his eyes sleepily, joined by X-Ray.

"What's wrong with him?" demanded Armpit.

Squid covered his face and didn't answer.

Magnet pushed him. "SQUID WHAT HAPPENED?"

Squid was sobbing now; even Zero looked up.

"Y-yellow spotted l-lizard," he finally managed to gasp. "It tried to bite me, and he took it instead."

"Oh no," said Magnet quietly. "It bit him?"

"I'm not sure – I think so," Squid said breathlessly.

"Squid," whimpered Ricky. "It hurts." Then he giggled furiously. "I ate an onion today Squid." He laughed. "I hate onions." (The onions managed to fight against the poison somehow. Onion Sam and his tonic?)

"He's delirious," diagnosed Barf Bag.

"No, he's just crazy," put in X-Ray.

Zero got up. The boys looked at him. He went over, looked at Ricky and said simply, "He'll live."

The other boys were flabbergasted. They had never heard Zero say a word before.

"What do you know?" Armpit asked.

Zero shrugged. "He'll live."

He was right, too. Ricky was alive the next morning, though he was more feverish than before.

"What are we going to do?" asked Squid. "He can't go out and dig holes; he's too sick."

"He didn't even sleep last night," put in Barf Bag.

"We should ask Mom," said X-Ray. "Maybe he'll give him a day off?"

"Yeah right," scoffed Armpit. "They'll never do that. 'This is not a Girl Scout Camp,'" he said, mimicking Mr. Sir.

"And besides," reminded Magnet. "He didn't finish his hole yesterday."

"Yeah," said X-Ray. "That's why we didn't give him a name. Every person has to actually dig a hole first."

Ricky coughed harshly on the cot. Magnet slammed him on the back. Perhaps this was supposed to be a gesture of kindness, but it caused Ricky to start whimpering.

"I think he deserves one," pleaded Squid. "I promised him he'd be one of us. Please. He took that lizard for me. Isn't that better than digging a hole?"

X-Ray shrugged. "Yeah ok. Zigzag's a good guy."

The newly named Zigzag coughed hoarsely again.

"Wait," said Barf Bag. "Here's Mom."

Approaching Mr. Pendanski, Squid asked, "Does Ziggy have to dig? He's sick."

Mr. Pendanski scoffed. "What do you think this is? A Girl Scout Camp?"

"That's Mr. Sir's line," Squid said.

Mr. Pendanski ignored him. "He'll dig. But today he has to dig two holes. He didn't finish the one from yesterday."

review? i'm sorry this chapter is a tad bit short.