SurvivorZ: Grave Harbor

48

MAUREEN

Listening to the girls quietly reading together on Danielle's bunk, Maureen began to drift away for the night. She was almost asleep when an unexpected visitor came knocking at their tent.

"Knock, knock," a deep voice called from the partially opened tent flap. "Mind if I come in?"

"Drew!" Emily cheered.

"Hey, Drew," Danielle greeted him.

"Hi, kids. How are things going?"

Maureen opened her eyes, watching as the big man entered. She sat up with a yawn, swinging her legs around to the side of the bed. "Evening, Drew."

He nodded back. "Maureen. Sorry to bother you at this late hour. Would you mind if we took a walk? I need to speak to you in private."

"Can it wait? I just got back from the clinic. I'm wiped."

"Not really," he replied. "It's important."

Maureen exchanged looks with her daughters. "Well, in that case, why don't you have a seat and we'll discuss it here? I don't keep secrets from my girls."

Drew glanced at Danielle and let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. This concerns them too." He lowered his bulky frame onto the end of Maureen's bunk and planted his hands on his knees.

"What's on your mind?" Maureen asked.

"Secrets," he replied. "I was hoping to set the record straight before we end up regretting it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Danielle and her friend were spotted leaving the camp," he informed them. "Were you aware they were doing that?"

"Spotted? Who—?" Danielle started. Her features darkened as she immediately realized the answer for herself. "Judith."

"How'd she find out?" Maureen asked.

"Was she following me?" Danielle cawed. "What's she doing following me?"

"That's not the point. What's important is that we weren't kept in the loop," Drew said. "What you do here matters. If our hosts find out some of us are breaking the rules, we'll all get bounced out of here. Seeing as how everyone has a stake in this, it's only fair that Robin, Judith, Charlie, and I have a say in things too."

"Charlie knows," Danielle admitted sheepishly.

"Not making me feel better about being left out in the cold," Drew retorted. He regarded Maureen. "I thought we were a team."

"We are," she said. "I just wanted to give you guys an out, in case something happened. They couldn't hold you responsible if you weren't in the loop."

"You think the people running this camp care about that?" Drew argued. "They have far too many mouths to feed to worry about technicalities like that. They'll label the whole bunch of us as troublemakers and toss us out on our..." He caught himself at the last second, throwing a quick glance at Emily. "Um, throw us out."

"I'm sorry, Drew, but I figured the fewer people that knew the truth, the safer we'd all be." Maureen narrowed her eyes. "I suppose it doesn't matter anymore. Now that Judith knows, none of us are safe."

"Whoa! What? Where did that come from?" Drew wailed. "I know you guys have your differences, but she'd never—"

"Never?" Maureen barked. "Really, Drew? Are you so wrapped around her pinkie that you can't see what she's like for yourself? I wouldn't put anything past her at this point."

"What are you talking about? What do you have against her?"

"I think she might've killed—" Maureen almost blurted out. She froze, gaping at her children with a face as white as a bed sheet.