Remember

Chapter 6

I dream about being stuck in a bag, carried I don't know where. I start getting scared because I hear what sounds like a boat horn. Suddenly, I'm falling, falling, but instead of hitting the ocean, I hit solid wood floor. I scream, still tangled in something. I hear laughter, and Alan lifts my blanket off of me. 

"Are you okay?" he asks. The sound which I realize now is a fog horn, continues sounding. 

"What time is it?" I ask, seeing that it's still dark outside. 

"Uhh, Two forty five." says Ray, checking the clock on the counter. 

I shiver. "It's cold."

I go to the bathroom and change into some yoga pants, then go down to where everyone is. It's summer, but tonight is freezing. I keep shivering. Alan comes and walks down next to me, and wraps his jacket around my shoulders. "Thank you." I say shakily. 

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Wake up gentlemen, it's late! It's three am in the morning! Alright, listen up! You will follow Doc, myself, and the other coaches, we're gonna take a little run through the woods. " yells Boone. "If you get lost along the way, don't bother coming back to camp, you just hitchhike your hindparts on home. Any questions?"

"Coach, this is a high school football team." says Yoast. "We're not in the Marines here. Are you sure Carrie should even participate?"

"Carrie, you up for a run?" Boone asks me. 

"I can do it." I assure him. 

"Let's go!" he says. He starts of at a slow jog, and we all follow. It's all good, until he starts leading us to the deep woods. 

"Where are we going?" Ray asks, catching up to me. 

"I don't know. He didn't tell me anything." I reply. 

"How could he not tell you?" asks Alan. I stop when we get to a creek. I'm still shivering. I go to run across a little ways down, but Alan grabs me and carries me over. 

"There we go." he says, setting me down and continuing to run. 

"Thanks" I say, keeping up. We break through some greenery, and onto a little road, with a little mill at the end. We run down until we reach the mill, then down a hill behind the mill. I notice Blue stopping, leaning against a tree. 

"Come on Blue, I say, panting heavily. I grab his arm and pull him along with me until he keeps running. 

We reach the bottom of the hill, and Boone stops. I push through to the front of the crowd and collapse onto the floor. The smell of all the sweaty teenagers is disgusting. 

I sit up and sit cross-legged on the floor. 

"Anybody know what this place is?" asks Boone. 

No one responds. 

"This is Gettysburg." continues Boone. "This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg." He looks around at us all. "Fifty thousand men died, right here, on this field. Fighting, the same fight that we're still fighting amongst ourselves. Today. This green field, right here, painted red, bubbling with the blood of young boys. Smoke, and hot lead pouring through their bodies. Listen to their souls. I killed my brother, with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family. You listen, and take a lesson from the dead. If we don't come together, right now, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed. Just like they were. I don't care if you like eachother or not, but you will respect eachother. And maybe, I don't know, maybe, we'll learn to play this game like men." 

~

"All right! We'll be out here all night t'ill we get this thing right! Let's go!" yells Boone. I check my watch. It's ten o'clock pm. We've been awake for nineteen hours. I stifle a yawn and go back to watching the game. I watch as Ray, yet again, fails to block for Rev. 

"What was that, Ray?" yells Gerry. I sit up and watch. This could be interesting. "Whatever it is, it ain't blocking!" 

"Give me a break, man!" says Ray. 

"You want a break? I'll give you a break!" says Gerry, getting up in his face. 

Coach Tyrell goes to break it up. 

"Wait, wait. Just see what happens. Let them handle this." says Yoast. 

"If they get to Rev once, just one time, I swear I'll hit you so hard that by the time you come to, ooh boy, you gonna need a new haircut!" threatens Gerry. "You understand?"

Ray angrily nods and gets back into position. 

"Get the ball, let's run it again!" says Boone cautiously. He, Yoast, and I share surprised looks. 

"Ready, set, hut!" yells Gerry. 

I watch the ball. It's passed to Blue, who pitches it to Louis, who throws it to Petey, who is tackled by Julius. They hit the ground with a loud "Ahh!"

"Woohoo!" says Julius, smacking Petey's back. "I love me a little contact Petey!"

"You really stuck him, Campbell!" laughs Gerry. He playfully shoves Julius. "This is left side!"

Julius watches him warily. He shoves him back. "Strong side!"

"Left side!" yells Gerry again. 

"Strong side!"

"Left side!"

"Strong side!"

"Left side!" 

"Strong side!"

"Ahhh!" They run at eachother and bump helmets, laughing.