Chapter 21
After walking through most of the night, the two men finally managed to make it out of the forest and took in a view that they were sure had to be a mirage—an empty summer camp that sat on the edge of a calm lake. The chance to rest for a short while in an empty camp was far too promising an offer for either of them to pass up.
“Do you think we’ll be able to get in?”
“Probably,” Austin nodded as they headed to the gates. The sign at the front said Camp Placid. “And besides, I doubt anyone has used this place yet this year. It won’t do any harm for us to crash here for a few hours. Let’s hope the place lives up to its name.”
Austin was utterly exhausted. The pounding in his head had intensified with each passing hour that they had walked through the darkness, not helped initially by the shouting match he’d been forced to endure to find Samuel and reunite with his friend. Despite taking a number of painkillers that he’d picked up back in the city, he could still feel the throbbing, lulling him into a daze when he walked but making him uncomfortable and short-tempered whenever he focused on it. Sleep, he knew, would do him a world of good.
“Place is deserted.” Samuel said as they walked through the open gates and into the middle of the camp. The campfire area was all set up with wooden logs situated around it and the occasional haybale, but there were no laughing children, no camp counselors and no one to tell them not to make themselves at home.
“I’m not surprised,” Austin replied, “first thing I’d be doing was getting my kid back from camp if they were out here. Not sure I’d want Bowie out here at all to be honest.”
“Valid point,” Samuel nodded, now used to Austin’s increasingly worsening attitude now. He could tell his friend was in pain and suffering from what had happened; Samuel didn’t know what to say to make him feel better though. Austin had literally put his life in danger to save his, Samuel was now more indebted to him than he could’ve ever anticipated and he didn’t know how to even begin repaying him.
“Boys’ dorms, this way,” Samuel pointed out, reading from a wooden signpost. “Why don’t we go and crash for a bit, then see if there’s anything else around here we can use?”
Austin didn’t do much more than grunt in response, angling toward the boys’ dorms with a scowl on his face. He slammed his shoulder into the wooden door upon finding it locked and forced his way inside, practically collapsing onto the first bed he came to and rolling onto his side. His rucksack slipped off his back easily with one of the straps still broken and landed on the floor with a thud. Austin was asleep before he heard the sound.
Walking in behind his friend and shutting the door to the dorm, Samuel picked up his friend’s rucksack and set it at the end of Austin’s bed, before sitting down himself and taking a deep breath. It was weird being in a children’s summer camp, especially as he’d never even been to one when he was younger, but it was a bed and a place to rest and that was all either man was bothered about. Lying down on the thin mattress, Samuel closed his eyes and he too quickly succumbed to a peaceful sleep.
The hot sun streaming in through the window woke Samuel a few hours later. It had just been threatening to rise as they entered the dorm and now by its position in the sky, Samuel guessed that it was nearly mid-morning. He’d probably had about four or five hours sleep and while it might not be what he was used to before the crash, it was more than enough to prime him for the day ahead.
Austin was still passed out. Samuel figured he could let him sleep for another hour at least. In the meantime, he’d scout out Camp Placid on his own, so that when Austin woke up they didn’t have to delay their journey any longer. Arming himself with a protein bar and his flask of water, Samuel crept out of the dorm and made his way out into the campsite.
In the light of day, the forest seemed different from the night before. The wind whistled cheerfully through the trees as birds sang their morning songs. It seemed friendly and welcoming, not dark and foreboding. The State Park was probably one of the few places untouched by Trident’s disaster. The trees would still grow without money in the bank and the shimmering water on the lake would still be cold and refreshing.
Samuel knelt down at the edge of the lake and splashed his face a couple of times, further waking himself and washing away the memory of the night before. He didn’t want to think about it any longer. The main thing that had allowed him to push on each and every day since Trident went down was that he hadn’t been focused on the negative stuff. It had happened. It was over and done. Neither he nor Austin could change it and they simply had to keep going forward, focusing on the things they could change, not what they had no power over. Today was a new day and Samuel was determined to make it a good one.
The boathouse further around the lake caught Samuel’s eye and he figured that was as good a place as any to start the search of Camp Placid. When he got there, the boathouse was also locked. Upon turning over a rather out of place looking rock beside the door, Samuel found the key and was able to unlock it.
The boathouse was filled with
