Ward Z: Revelation (5 page)

“Let's just assume so,” Lizzie replied. “Come on, I think I want to get back to the cabin as fast as possible.”

As they made their way through the undergrowth, the squirrel scurried around one of the trees and then stopped again, as if it was listening for something. It turned its head first one way, then the other, before scurrying to another tree and -

Suddenly a long, thin tentacle whipped out from the nearby foliage and wrapped itself around the squirrel, quickly pulling it into the shadows. A brief cry was heard, before being cut short. A moment later, another sound could be heard coming from the darkness: flesh and fur being torn apart.

***

With Laura limping along on her crutches, it took twice as long for her and Lizzie to get back to the campsite, and the faintest smudge of dawn was already starting to show on the horizon. They moved as quickly as possible between the cabins, making sure that no-one was around to see them, before finally opening the door to their cabin and slipping inside.

“Home sweet -” Lizzie began to say, before seeing that all the bunks were empty. “Huh.”

“I guess there must have been a party after all,” Laura said as she made her way to her bed. “God, we really
are
uncool, aren't we? I bet it was the best party ever.”

“Where are they?” Lizzie asked, heading to the dirty window and peering out.

“They're probably at that guy's cabin.” Checking her watch, Laura sighed. “What was his name again? Beefcake McSausagepants? The blonde girl's probably draped all over him, and the quiet mousey one's probably sitting in the corner feeling miserable.”

“I don't hear a party,” Lizzie muttered, still looking out the window. She turned to Laura. “They should have been back about three hours ago.”

Laura pulled her shirt off and climbed under her duvet. “I'm sure they're -”

Before she could finish, the door burst open and Kirsty stumbled through, stopping as soon as she saw that she wasn't alone.

“Hey,” she said drunkenly, clearly struggling to stay upright, “how the hell have
you
two been?” Before anyone could answer, she burst out laughing.

“Are you drunk?” Lizzie asked.

“Todd and his friends might have smuggled some beer into camp,” she replied, “but I couldn't possibly confirm or deny any such report.” Taking a few faltering steps over to her bed, she collapsed in a heap. “I need to sleep,” she continued, rolling onto her back. “Oh God, do I need to sleep...”

“Where's Beth?” Lizzie asked, heading over to her.

“Beth's right here,” Kirsty replied, looking over at the empty bed before pausing for a moment. “Oh no, that's right, Beth was too slow on the walk home so we left her to make her own way.”

“What do you mean?” Lizzie asked, sitting next to her and hauling her up. “Where exactly did you leave her?”

“It's absolutely okay,” Kirsty beamed. “We just left her in the forest, but she knew her way back.” She let out a hiccup. “She's right behind us.”

“That was hours ago. She's not here!”

“She's not?” Looking around for a moment, Kirsty seemed momentarily surprised before her smile returned. “Well, she's right behind us. She'll be here in two shakes of a lamb's...” Another hiccup. “Two shakes of a lamb's.” And another. “You know what I mean. She's right behind us, I promise.” With that, she slumped forward, landing against Lizzie, who eased her down onto the bed.

“It's been about four hours since they left us by the lake,” Lizzie said cautiously. “Beth should be back by now.”

“Maybe she went to another cabin,” Laura suggested. “I mean, it's possible...”

Lizzie turned to her.

“Fair point,” Laura continued. “She doesn't really seem the type to go off on her own, does she?”

Turning to look back out the window, Lizzie stared at the dark forest for a moment. The sun was slowly edging up the morning sky, but the forest still looked as foreboding as ever.

“What if she didn't make it back?” she said finally, turning to Laura. “What if something happened to her out there?”

Chapter Six

“We have to tell someone,” Lizzie whispered the next morning as she and Laura made their way across the breakfast area. The rest of the campers were sitting at open air benches, chatting excitedly as they tucked into the buffet. “She's not here!”

“You'll just get her in trouble,” Laura replied, leaning awkwardly on her crutches as she reached for a croissant. “Beth's probably hungover in someone else's cabin. It's a good thing. She's coming out of her shell.”

“You don't know that.”

“But it's the most likely thing,” Laura continued. “It's far,
far
more likely than anything else. I mean, what exactly could have happened to her out there in the woods. Do you think she was attacked by a pack of rabid squirrels?”

“She might have got lost.”

“In which case she'll find her way back and -” She stopped as one of the camp's staff-members passed nearby for a moment. “Face it,” she continued once the coast was clear, “Beth got drunk last night and now she's sleeping it off in a ditch. Kinda cool if you ask me. She'll emerge around lunchtime looking like hell, and the last thing she'll need at that point is to be interrogated over what she was doing last night. Let her learn from her mistake the hard way. Haven't you ever got totally wasted?” She took a bread roll and dropped it onto her plate. “She struck me as the do-gooder type. Last night was probably her first real taste of alcohol. You know what I say? Good for her. We're all living under a death sentence anyway, we might as well have fun while we can.”

Lizzie opened her mouth to reply, but at the last moment she held back. She knew Laura was
probably
right and that Beth was
probably
fine, but still... In the back of her mind, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, and that somewhere out there in the huge forest surrounding the camp, she might need help.

***

“I
told
you,” Kirsty said, with shadows under her eyes as she struggled through a hangover-tinged breakfast, “we just left her behind.” She took a bite from a croissant, before setting the pastry down on her plate. “I swear,” she added, with her mouth full, “I'm about to vomit.”

“Where
exactly
did you leave her?” Lizzie asked, keeping her voice down so that no-one would overheard them.

Kirsty held her hands up, as if to indicate that she had no idea. Clearly annoyed, she began to spit the pieces of croissant out into the palm of her hand.

“What is this crap?” Laura asked, snatching a tub of make-up from next to her. “Are you kidding me? That's not how you spell Maybelline!”

“Give that back!” Kirsty hissed, grabbing the tub.

“Where exactly did you leave her?” Lizzie continued. “Was it near the lake? Was it halfway, was it almost at the cabins?”

“It was... after a while, you know?” Kirsty muttered, sipping cautiously from a glass of orange juice. “She kept pace with us at first, but to be honest, she was kind of getting in the way and she knew it.”

“You mean you wanted to have some alone time with Todd?”

“Duh.”

“So you ditched Beth in the middle of a pitch-black forest?”

“We didn't
ditch
her. She just started lagging behind, and eventually we got tired of slowing down to wait for her so we told her we'd meet her at the cabin. She seemed fine with that, so off we went. We even told her we'd share some of Todd's stash with her when she arrived.”

“And how far from the cabins were you at that point?”

“I don't know, it took maybe... Thirty minutes more?”

“So at least a mile. That's a lot of forest for her to cover by herself.”

“What the hell?” Laura said with a grin, picking up another of Kirsty's make-up pots. “None of this stuff is genuine! It's all cheap Chinese knock-offs!”

“I do
not
use cheap Chinese knock-offs!” Kirsty hissed, grabbing the pots back. “Seriously, you obviously know nothing about quality make-up, cretin.”

“I know the real way to spell Maybelline, L'Oreal and Chanel. Those are decent make-up brands, but this stuff you've got here is just a cheap counterfeit!” She grabbed another pot and read the label for a moment. “Petrol! These counterfeit versions actually contain petrol! Jesus Christ, do you have any idea what kind of stuff you're using on your skin?”

“Can we focus on what's important?” Lizzie asked. “Beth's missing!”

“She's not an idiot,” Kirsty pointed out. “She's probably absolutely fine.”

“But she didn't show up at the cabins later? She didn't join you for a drink?”

“I already told you that.”

“And there weren't any other parties going on, were there?” Glancing around at the other tables, she looked for some hint that other people were hungover, but out of the rest of the campers, only Kirsty and Todd had the telltale faces of people who'd been up drinking. “She didn't get drunk,” Lizzie muttered, “so she's not sleeping off a hangover and she's not -”

Before she could finish, she heard a horrific groaning sound, and she turned just in time to see Kirsty leaning over the back of her bench and throwing up.

***

“Let me get this straight,” Crystal said as she sat behind her desk in the main cabin. “On your very first night, five of you snuck out of your room and went to swim in the lake without permission. You'd barely been at the camp for twelve hours, and already you had to rush out and break the rules.”

“Yes, but -”

“Do you realize how dangerous that is?” Crystal continued. “Four young women and one young man, out alone in the dark forest, making their way to a dark lake? Did you all have your medication with you?”

“I don't know, I -”

“It's a three-mile walk to the lake, through difficult terrain. Even for healthy people, that would be a challenge, but the five of you aren't exactly in peak physical condition, are you? We have one case of bowel cancer, one -”

“I get it,” Lizzie said firmly, interrupting her, “we were dumb, we shouldn't have done it, but can we please focus on the fact that Beth didn't make it back?”

Sighing, Crystal leaned back in her seat.

“I'm sure she's fine,” Lizzie continued, “and Kirsty thinks she probably just had too much to drink, but -”

“Excuse me?” Crystal asked, leaning forward again. “Is there
alcohol
in this camp?”

“Uh...” Lizzie paused. “No.”

“This just gets better and better,” Crystal continued, opening the lid of her laptop. She clicked on the mouse a couple of times. “No internet connection. Great.” Closing the lid again, she took a deep breath. “Well, when life gives you lemons... First off, I'm going to announce an alcohol amnesty, after which anyone caught with even a drop is going to face sanctions. I set this camp up to help people and to improve the lives of sick teenagers, so believe me, I hate having to get tough, but a little discipline needs to be restored.”

“What about -”

“Second,” she continued firmly, with a tone of voice that indicated she didn't want to be interrupted again, “I would like you to tell your friend Beth, when she finally surfaces, that she is to come and see me immediately. I'm sure she's just out exploring the forest, but -”

“She's not really the -”

“I'm sure she's just out exploring the forest,” Crystal said again, fixing Lizzie with a deathly stare, “and that she hasn't given due consideration to the fact that people might be worried about her.” She forced a smile. “That said, she needs to think more clearly about the fact that there are individuals at this camp who have a legal and moral responsibility to look after her. She can't just go wandering off whenever the mood strikes her.”

“But if -”

“There's nothing out there that can hurt anyone,” Crystal continued. “This is England, not the wilds of America or the Australian outback. There's nothing poisonous in the forest, nothing with sharp teeth, nothing that might want a taste of human flesh.”

“What if she's sick?” Lizzie asked. “She's got hairy leukemia, or whatever it's called. What if she collapsed? She might be out there right now, needing medical attention!”

“I'll ask our landsman to keep an eye out.” She checked her phone. “When he finally bothers to show up, at least. He'll head down to the lake and check the area thoroughly, but I'm quite sure that nothing so dramatic has happened. Miss Bondell's condition shouldn't cause her to pass out so easily.” She paused. “You know, we gave great thought to the idea of tagging all the campers this year with little electronic devices. We didn't do it because we figured people would be upset about privacy, but right now...” Running her hands through her hair, she let out another sigh. “Thank you, Miss Miller. Please tell your friends that between you, you've conspired to make the first full day of camp a real nightmare.”

“Sorry,” Lizzie muttered. “It wasn't even my -”

“And you're sanctioned,” Crystal added. “Do you know what that means?”

“Punishment?”

“It means that while everyone else gets to have fun this afternoon, you're going to be cleaning out the portable toilets.” She paused, eying Lizzie with suspicion. “Just you, Miss Miller. On your own.”

“Me? That's not fair!”

“Beth Bondell will join you when she shows up, but for now you two are the only ones who I can
prove
did anything wrong. I doubt Kirsty Cross, Todd Donarchie and Laura Marshall would confess if I dragged them in here, so...” She forced a smile. “Mr. Marlowe will help you find a mop and bucket after lunch. I hope you'll use the time to reflect upon your actions, and I'm quite certain that I won't need to discipline you again during your stay here at Camp Everbee.”

“No,” Lizzie muttered.

“Now get out of here,” Crystal continued. “I don't have time to be dealing with all this crap.”

Heading out the door, Lizzie stopped for a moment in the corridor.

“Great,” she said with a sigh. “This is what I get for trying to be social.”