Cascadia's Fault

Crappy Start

Caz didn't want to like Johnny or his smartass comments. Or his sister's laugh. However, as she sat in the shade of the giant maple with her head pounding but the nausea finally subsiding while CJ chattered on about how cool it was that Johnny had managed to literally sweep her off her feet, and Johnny being nice to the runt, she couldn't seem to help herself. She had no idea how far they were from camp, but Johnny had managed to carry her uphill the whole way and wasn't giving her a bad time about it. Johnny, Jem, and CJ were talking away when CJ rarely talked to anyone and letting Caz be as quiet as she wanted to be made a really crappy start to this whole camp experience bearable.

Interesting.

She wondered if she'd maybe been hit in the head harder than she thought.

The guy who had been giving directions before – Nils? Caz thought that was his name – called for everyone's attention, "Alright! We've checked the camp and we're clear. We're asking everyone to find a camp counselor and we'll lead the way in groups of twenty or so. If we'd had time to check everyone in, you'd all be with your team leader, but we didn't so, we'll get that all sorted once we get back to camp."

Pandemonium ensued with everyone trying to find someone in the bright yellow T-shirts. Caz just didn't have the energy and was grateful that CJ, Jem, and Johnny stayed with her until Joan came over, asking, "Will you be able to make it down the hill, or should we call in a jeep to medivac you?"

"I can make it," Caz answered, thinking, Yeah, no, let's not have trucks coming into the forest, thanks. Instead of saying that out loud, she told Joan, "I'm just sore, so I'll go slow. It'll be fine."

Joan gave her another once over, making Caz resist the urge to fidget before she said, "Okay, stay close and take your time. The camp is straight down, so it's pretty hard to get lost anyway. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Johnny and Jem held out their hands to pull Caz to her feet. "No worries," Johnny said, "we'll stay together. Right, Minion?"

CJ grinned, "Right!"

"I'll bring the rest of the group over here to make it easier," and with that Joan hiked off to corral more teenagers.

Groups began lining up to make a much more orderly hike down the wide trail than what Caz had perceived as a manic rush through the forest in her dazed state. The clearing they were gathered in was huge, so maybe the camp used it for things other than tsunami drills? She hadn't really noticed until everyone started clearing out that it was a little too perfect to be natural.

Their group, Joan's group, was the last to file down the trail with their little foursome taking up the rear. Caz's legs may not have felt like overcooked spaghetti anymore, but she was willing to give away her first million in exchange for some ibuprofen and an ice pack after walking just the first hundred yards. She was glad to see Jem keeping pace with CJ, leaning over so that he could talk about his latest quest design even as she had to stop in the middle of the trail, bending at the waist to breathe through the aches and pains stabbing at her body.

Then she realized there was a hand on her back.

"That backpack completely creamed you. I'm surprised you stayed conscious."

She wheezed out a laugh, "I'm not sure I would call that conscious, but we'll go with it. And thank you, by the way, for getting me out of there and for not making me feel stupid about it."

Caz didn't have any more room to talk when Johnny swung her up and started to carry her down the hill. "It was my fault you were distracted," he said. "It's the least I can do."

"I really can walk, you know."

"Yeah and feel like complete crap by the time we get back to camp. I'll set you back down before Joan notices so you can argue your way out of the hospital."

"How do you know I'm going to try to argue against going to the hospital? Maybe I want to go out of – what do they call it? – an abundance of caution."

Johnny psh'd, "Please. I saw the look on your face when she mentioned it. And, since I know I would feel the same way, I figure the odds are pretty good you'll tell your parents you're fine and totally snow the whole thing under since you don't want to have to be stuck with people you don't know for several hours poking and prodding you and your parents wondering if they should come down, yada yada. How close am I?"

"Shut up, Johnny," she might have smirked, but she also folded her arms across her belly rather than around his neck since that felt way too intimate, especially since he nailed her reasons right down the line.

She heard the laugh in his voice when he said, "That's what I thought."