Camp Driftwood

Chapter 23 - Acceleration

Chapter 23 - Acceleration

An amber glow descended over the sky as the attendants all filed out of the hall, all breaking away and drifting towards their cabins to turn in for the afternoon as John made his rounds. Evan, Kaylee and Judie stayed close, not saying much as they let their feet drag. A night's rest would be welcomed by all at this point.

As Kaylee took the first step onto the porch of the cabin, she stopped, her ears pricking as they picked up a dull rumbling in the distance. Evan stopped after a second too, and so did John. Soon all eyes in the camp were trained on the forest where the noise was coming from, growing steadily louder. Evan and Kaylee swapped a glance, and she saw a level of recognition in his eyes. He looked worried.

"We're out of time to plan," he muttered as Matthew jogged across the compound, reaching the gate and pulling it open just as a massive semitrailer emerged from the forest.

The engine roared as it passed through the gates, which were shut quickly behind it. The truck was so big that it barely squeezed through, and it took Kaylee a moment to realise that the gates had probably been made with this truck in mind. But it was here already? Looking at the sheer size of it now, stealing such a vehicle seemed a lot less feasible.

"We've got this," Evan murmured as they all watched the truck rumble in through the courtyard, "Our timeframe has moved up a little, but it's nothing we can't handle. Just stick to the plan."

She nodded, dropping a hand to Judie's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. The girl's hand reached up and gave Kaylee's a squeeze in response, but she said nothing.

"Unload the truck," John called, picking out attendants to come back from their cabins to assist with the unloading. He went along the first row of cabins, beckoning the most physically fit, including both Evan and Kaylee.

"Go have a rest kid," Evan said to Judie, walking back down the stairs with Kaylee, "We'll take care of this."

Judie hesitated, before conceding and walking through the door with the other attendants. About twenty remained outside, walking towards the truck as the engine growled one final time, before going silent. John walked around to the back of the truck as the attendants gathered, and Kaylee and Evan watched closely as he undid the latch that fastened the back doors of the shipping container built onto the truck's back. By this time Matthew had made his way back to the main group, and stood by with John, holding their guns loosely as four attendants climbed into the back of the shipping container, pushing some long crates out to the waiting arms of the others. Kaylee and Evan both grabbed either side of one of the long crates, balancing the weight between them as they followed John towards the shed.

"We unload everything and take it where it needs to be placed," Evan explained, leading the way, "Most of it goes in the farmhouse, but a few things go to the kitchen. Shouldn't take longer than half an hour or so."

"Good, I'm beat," Kaylee mumbled, stifling a yawn, "The sooner I get to crash, the better."

"We may be a little busy," Evan said subtly, backpedalling into the farmhouse after John undid the lock and pulled the door open.

Evan led the way over to a free corner of the farmhouse, one of the few spaces that wasn't clogged up with old machinery and extra crates. As they placed the crate down, pushing it against the wall and into the corner, Evan stood and looked cautiously out to John, who was standing by the door. As Ryan and one of the girls from their cabin walked in, carrying another crate, Evan spoke.

"Kaylee and I can stack the crates, just bring them to us," he said, loud enough for John to hear, before dropping his voice to a whisper. "Ryan, we need you to draw John away from the door for a minute or two, can you handle it?"