Rock Climbing Conundrum

Chapter 1: A World Without David

It was another summer day at Camp Campbell. Max was being just as miserable as he always had been, Nikki and Neil still had the guts to stick by his side, all seemed to be normal. ...Except for one thing. 

"And that should do it." Said David as he slammed his suitcase shut. "Camp sure isn't gonna be the same without you, David." Gwen admitted. "And I don't think I'll be the same without camp!" David replied. David had never taken any vacation time from his role as camp counselor. But today was a first since there was a family reunion that he couldn't miss, and he would be gone for the entire week, leaving Gwen to manage not just Max, but at least 10 or so other kids. "I wonder what Max will think once he finds out you'll be gone for the week." Gwen said. "Oh he'll probably think nothing of it, Gwen." David replied as he began to pull his suitcase to the cabin door. He stopped in his tracks for a second. "...Something wrong?" Gwen asked. David frowned and turned his head to face his fellow co worker. "...Are you sure you're gonna be able to run the camp without me?" He questioned. "I could always cancel my flight-" He was cut off by Gwen putting a finger over his lip. "David..." She stopped him. "I know this reunion means a lot to you." Gwen quickly flinched her hand away. "You deserve this vacation more than anything." She said with a reassuring smile. "But what about the kids?" David asked. gwen rolled her eyes in response, "Uh hello? Didn't you forget I'M a counselor too?" She said before elbowing David. David gave a weak smile in return. "I suppose you're right." They both stopped as they heard the bus pull up. David looked out the window and saw the Quartermaster waving him down. "Well... there's my ride." He said. He turned back to Gwen one last time and gave her the camp salute. "Campe Diem, Gwen." He said before slowly opening the door and exiting with his suitcase. Gwen closed the door behind him and looked out thw window as she watched David head towards the bus. 

David got on the bus and looked at the camp one last time. "Goodbye, Camp Campbell..." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "You ready to go?" The Quartermaster asked, waiting for David. "Yeah.... Let's go." David sighed as he slouched in his seat. Gwen watched as the bus slowly drove away. She pressed her hand against the window, "Campe Diem, David..." She said to herself before being caught off guard by a knock on the door. For a second, she thought it could have been Campbell going back into hiding once again, God she only hoped not. The counselor sighed and made her way to the front door, she opened the door slowly as she began to speak. "Alright, Campbell. Let me get your sleeping bag for the atti-" She monologued before looking down to see Neil and Nikki. Nikki was her usual energetic self while Neil was anxious. "Whaddya want, kids." Gwen said in her bored, monotone voice. "Nikki spilled one of my experiments on her arm!" Neil confessed. "It didn't even hurt, Neil! It's not like it melted my skin or anything." Nikki chimed in. Gwen sighed, "Alright, Nikki. Rate it from one to ten." Nikki thought for a moment. "Hmmm.... 1." She said. "Alright best I can do is give you some anti itch cream." Gwen said before gesturing Nikki to come inside. "You wanna come in, Neil?" She asked. "No thanks, Gwen. I'm gonna get back to my experiment before Space Kid finds it." Neil replied before leaving.

That evening, all the kids were gathered in the mess hall. Max barely touched his food while Nikki finished her plate in seconds. She looked over at Max and leaned in slowly. "...You gonna eat all that, Max?" She asked, only for Max to shove his tray towards his friend. "Ooh thanks!" Nikki said excitedly. "...Say, have either of you seen David?" Max asked. "I haven't seen him since this morning." Nikki and Neil looked at each other with confused glances. come to think of it, they hadn't seen David that much either. "We haven't seen him either, Max." Neil replied. Max found this strange as David would usually be all in his face about how wonderful camp was. But the fact that he was absent was something he had been looking forward to for a long time. "Maybe Gwen knows something that we don't?" Nikki suggested. "Good idea, Nikki." Neil replied. "Alright, well you two have fun looking for David. I'm gonna sit back, relax, and enjoy the peace and quiet." Max grinned before resting his head on the wooden table. He began to close his eyes for a few seconds before a familiar voice was heard. "Not so fast, you little shit." Gwen spoke, causing Max to bolt up in a panic. "David may be on vacation, but that doesn't mean you're free from dealing with me." She stopped and noticed Max was triggered by her choice of words and sat next to him. "S-Sorry, Max. I didn't mean to scare you like that." She said apologizing for her choice of words. "don't you EVER startle me like that again, you bitch!" Max cussed. Gwen was used to Max's "colorful" vocabulary at this point, so she didn't even bother responding to it anymore. So she tried to shift the subject. "...I don't see Nikki and Neil around here." She said, trying to start a conversation. "Yeah... They just left." Max replied, starting to calm down. "Speaking of which, where the fuck is David?" Gwen was caught off guard. She'd never expect Max to ask about David's whereabouts. "Well, Max. If you really wanna know. David is on vacation. He's gonna be gone for the rest of the week." Gwen said, picking at a salad she took from the cabin. Max froze, the noise around him fading out. Was David, the annoying counselor, FINALLY gone? He couldn't believe his ears. So he asked, "Gone? As in... Not here? Not at camp?" He said, his voice cracked a couple times as his eyes beamed with excitement. "Yep. All week. But that doesn't mean you're-" Gwen said before being cut off by Max running in a cloud of dust. She thought nothing of it before she, and the other kids for that matter, hearing Max scream "DAVID'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!!!" at the top of his lungs. The rest of the campers went outside and saw Max doing what appeared to be a victory dance, Gwen couldn't care less. 

"David's... Gone?" Nerris said. "That's like... So uncool." Added Errid. "WHO FUCKING CARES!" Max shouted. "We're finally gonna be living the best life possible!" The other campers looked at each other with concerned and sad glances. "A world without David? That's something I never really thought about." Nikki said as she approached the group. "Let's go to the lake to celebrate!" Max said gesturing the other campers to follow him. Only Nikki and Neil followed him while everybody stayed behind. As Max marched off with his two friends, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks as someone grabbed his hood. "Nobody's going to the lake!" Gwen announced. The 3 kids moaned in disappointment. "Yes, David IS gone. It's only for this week and he'll be back before you know it." She announced to the other campers, while Max kicked his little legs to try to get Gwen to put him down. "Until David returns. I'LL be running the camp in his place." Gwen said before finally dropping Max. The other kids cheered, including Nikki and Neil. Max didn't exactly like Gwen that much, but he certainly found her more tolerable than David. So he was ok with her running camp. ...Not like he had much of a choice to begin with. 

"So with that, there's gonna be one small change that will only be temporary." Gwen said, the other campers were silent as they waited for her to continue. "Since David is gone, that means one of you can have his bed until he comes back." The kids still remained silent. "Wow... You guys are REALLY uninterested in this offer, huh." She questioned. "Wouldn't you like to sleep in an ACTUAL bed for a change instead of a-" Gwen was once again cut off by kids raising their hands excitedly. Gwen was quite literally backed into a wall as her body hit the front of the mess hall. She was overwhelmed with the eager crowd that she just decided to blurt out the first name that came to her head. 

"MAX!!!"

Then, came a pause. The kids stopped and looked over at Max, who quickly moved his head up. "...ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" He protested. "Grab your bags, Max. You're moving into the cabin for the rest of the week." Gwen said taking Max by the hand and following him to his tent. This would be the start to a week that no one was expecting...