I’m back, with
loads of chapters and stuff that I’ve done while taking my one-month leave!
Plus, I’ve finally resolved how the story’s going to end… Don’t worry, it’s not
for a really long while, but I quite like it. It’s one of those types where you
wring your hands and ask “WHY SARAH, WHY?” but you can’t imagine it ending
different anyways. To conclude, sorry that this chapter is super boring and it’s
all about Logan “thinking”; it’s a slow start, but it’s needed.
Logan
sat cross-legged in the new camp. It was a small dell – and by small, I mean small. There was barely room for the four
of them, but it was the only acceptable, half-dry place far enough from
McGregor’s farm. They had to role up the sleeping bags and pile all the
supplies; food, pots, extra firewood, and Evan water bottles in the corner so
there was room to sleep at night. Still, it was like sardines in a can.
The
February air was damp and chilled Logan. He wished it were March, because
though the rain would be miserable and it would be difficult for them to keep
dry, it was better than this half-rain half-snow combination.
I’m bored, thought Logan. Bored, bored, bored. Both Saraha and Flo P were off
walking, which they did most of the time now. Ji-Ji was taking rides in her
beloved Casper’s Alfa Romeo. Logan knew it was a car, but that didn’t impress
him much, no matter how old or how hard the edition to come by was.
Usually,
while he was all alone guarding that camp, he thought about things, and sorted
them out in his head, one by one, neatly and organized. Logan would feel great
about himself, for a short while, and plan to put his ideas into action –
things like having Campfire Bonding Night – but they would be shot down
immediately by an irritable Saraha and an uninterested Flo P. Ji-Ji usually
wasn’t there to participate.
While
he thought, he decided to put his Flo P wooing on hold. Logan knew he wasn’t
getting very far, and even if he tried, nothing would become in this forest.
Though they were protected from Commander Brack, it made the Quad Squad feel
nervous, like rats in a trap; just waiting to leave and get out into the world
again. As long as Flo P felt like that, Logan also knew that she would brush
his advances to the side.
On
Commander Brack, Logan couldn’t quite place his feelings. Logan felt as if he
was underestimating Commander Brack, and that he was heading into trouble
because of it. It was almost as if the obscure Commander was goading them,
letting Logan and his friends hide out in a wet, uncomfortable forest while he
was hiding right outside their doorstep, with fancy technology and weapons,
ready to jump and capture them if they wandered one step out of the Safe Haven.
When
he heard twigs thwack, he looked up to see
Ji-Ji, enthusiastically brandishing a plastic grocery bag. The words “Farmer
Ben’s Happy Food Mart” were stamped into the front in thick, bolded, red type.
Ji-Ji plopped the bag on the ground next to Logan, and pulled changed her
clothes from what appeared to be an emo disguise.
“How
are you?” she asked him.
“Fine,”
Logan lied. “And you?”
“Oh,
brilliant as usual!” Ji-Ji grinned.
Logan
began work on starting a small fire. Flo P had perfected a way in making sure
the smoke wasn’t easily visible, and Saraha a way to capture most of the scent
of the food while cooking it. As he was working, Ji-Ji sat on a log behind him
and watched.
A
couple minutes later, Saraha and Flo P crashed through the trees. “Oh, look,
Miss Flower Power’s back from the void of utter happiness and freedom,” said
Saraha when she saw Ji-Ji, with a slight hint of a sneer on her face. “How was
basking in the sun of bliss?”
“Great!”
said Ji-Ji, oblivious to Saraha’s attempts to dragoon her. “It’s a pity you
can’t come, you would’ve loved it, Saraha.”
In
response, Saraha just stomped off to rifle through the grocery bag. Flo P
nodded a curt hello, and went to help prepare the fire with Logan.
Logan
wasn’t the type to become jealous, but he was definitely feeling a little
frazzled that Ji-Ji got to have all the fun, while they were stuck in the
fricking muddy camp with nothing to do. There weren’t even books to read! It was hard not to feel a
little resentful.
“There’s
really wonderful things to see in Thorn Valley! Casper took me in his car –
it’s an Alfa Romeo Spider, and nearly one hundred years old at that! – and we
saw these really cool cliffs. They’ve got lots of waterfalls, and they looked
spooky today because it was so misty,” Ji-Ji babbled. “He also said he thought
my emo disguise didn’t suit me at all, but I know he was just saying how nice I
looked, in his roundabout way, I could feel it.” She continued to rant on.
“Hey,
Ji-Ji, look up a minute,” broke in Flo P.
“Mhmm?”
she asked, startled out of her Casper tirade.
Flo
P said: “We don’t really ca– ”
“Are
you high or drunk or something?” Saraha interrupted. “Because if not, you have
gone terminally insane. No offence, but we’d rather not hear about your
wonderful Snuggle Boy, Casper, or your fun frolicks in the outside world.”
“Yeah,
lay off, Ji. You always come back with stories about how great Thorn Valley is,
but can’t you see we’re wasting away in this damn forest, while you get all the
sweet golden glory?” Flo P added bluntly.
Ji-Ji
looked shocked, sighed, and then appeared normal once more. The other three
hadn’t seen a “normal” Ji-Ji in a while, and they almost stepped back at the noticeable
difference.
“You
no longer look like a love-struck puppy,” said Saraha. “Good. I see my rudeness
has gotten through to you.”
Flo
P grinned; “Welcome back Miss Calculating.”
Ji-Ji
frowned. “Calculating? What’re you talking about…? Never mind, don’t tell me, I
have a distinct impression that I wouldn’t be too thrilled with it.”
She
paused. “I suppose I’ll have to apologize for being such a –”
“Braggart?”
suggested Logan.
“Farse?”
said Flo P.
“Ninny?”
added Saraha.
“Okay,
okay, whatever,” Ji-Ji said, waving her hand about. “I’m a bad person, I know.
Now cook me my dinner, and otherwise, leave me alone.”
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