Camp Murder (Inanimate Insanity)

Chapter 12 - Bricked

"Who's going in the crane?" Apple asked; the height dizzied her and caused her to station against Paintbrush.
"I think Fan should," they suggested, but it seemed like more of a command. "Just wanna make sure he doesn't kill anyone else, yeah?"

Fan was struck with horror. "Are you dense? Do you want the other team to hear you?"
Paintbrush shrugged with a forced sense of apathy. "Maybe you can kill them too." they half-shouted.

Test Tube stood between them and Fan as they edged towards each other. "Paintbrush, stop it! Can you forget that you hate him until we finish the challenge?"

"Um...sorry to interrupt, but..." Yin Yang meekly pushed through the group. "THE SNOTBALL IS NOT HERE! YOU MORONS MUST HAVE LOST HIM!"
This earned a few glares from Grand Slams.

"Oh," MePad approached after hearing Yin Yang's yelling. "It appears you are short of two members. Two of the Grand Slams will have to sit out."
Two blonde boys immediately dashed away from the group in a scuffle.

"Sorry! Didn't want to BLOCK out the fun!" A short freckled boy, Cheesy, cried with an accompanying kneeslap.
Trophy growled, "Do you ever shut up, twerp?" accompanied with a thwack from his toned arm.
Cheesy sucked on his lip and rubbed his sore cheek. "Gee Trophy, no need to be a CRANE in the neck!"

By now, both teams were prepared to start. Fan in one crane; Suitcase in the other. She waved him a meek 'hello' from her seat, to which he raised an awkward hand.

"3... 2... 1... Go!" announced Toilet and MePad in unison.

The Bright Lights were the first into the forest, Test Tube a significant way behind. Apple darted past a shallow stream without noticing Knife a ways behind her. He reached out with a scarred arm, heaving her into the steam with little-to-no effort and a "Yeah!"

Yin Yang's control dropped at this - and quick. He snatched Knife's ear, pulling him down. "YOU COULD NOT BE MORE DUMB!"
Without further warning, Knife was face-first in the stream too.

Lightbulb scooped Apple out of the water, sopping wet, hauling the girl over her shoulder. "Come on team! 'Lessgo!"

A minute into running, Test Tube stopped abruptly to breathe. Her chest heaved with effort and sweat dampened her hairline. Upon looking up she noticed something horrifying- her team was out of sight; she was alone in the forest. A cold sweat overcame her. She wanted to run, but her body ached and her legs were frozen solid.

The bush rustled beside her.

'Crap.'

The scientist watched the greenery with apprehension. The leaves split to reveal a figure slowly emerge from the bush...

...Marshmallow.

The small girl grabbed Test Tube's arm and hauled her up. "Come on, we found a brick! We need to go."
Dazed and still slightly shaken, she followed suit.

Paintbrush greeted the two with pleasure, much to their surprise. The team surrounded the brick. It was half-submerged in mud, standing at the height of Marshmallow and made of shiny, colored marble.

"Oh, that looks heavy." Test Tube observed through pants.
"No kidding," Marshmallow grimaced at the mounds of wet mud covering the sides as she hooked her fingers underneath it.
"Lift!" Paintbrush cried, and the team heaved the brick into the air. It was lighter than Test Tube had expected.

Getting the brick back was going to be a breeze- if they could find their way. Apple accidentally kicked Marshmallow in the shin, Yang purposefully kicked Test Tube in the shin and Lightbulb let go of the brick multiple times to pick up some weird bugs.

Back at the crane, Fan surfed his blog. The reactions to his recent updates were mixed:
"That's not true."
"OMG!!!!! Scary! 😱"

He hated to admit it but his blog was rather underwhelming with only two fans.

'That's good, I guess. Publicity is the last thing I need right now.'

Suitcase watched in awe, gathering up all her remaining courage to speak. She knew the pair of them were both rather...awkward. "H-hello! What are you doing?"
Fan blinked and glared at her, surprised. "Oh, me? You're asking me?"
Suitcase shuffled in her seat. The height of the crane shooting her anxiety through the roof. "Y-yes! I'm...um...Suitcase."

Fan could've jumped right from the crane to go and hug her. "You're the first person from Grand Slams that's actually acknowledged me like a proper human!"
Suitcase's sweet face turned bittersweet as she flipped a pigtail over her shoulder. "They don't even acknowledge me, and we're on the same team!"

The pair giggled together at the irony as the other Bright Lights teared through the trees to the clearing. They dropped the brick swiftly.

Crunch!

Was it supposed to make that sound?

Lightbulb suddenly cried out in agony, almost like a scream. "My foot! It's on my foot!"
"Oh my god!" Marshmallow desperately scrabbled to lift it off.

Lightbulb fell to the floor and examined her foot. It wasn't bleeding, but it was bent in a weird, inhumane direction. She hadn't noticed the tears dribbling off her cheeks - but when did she ever?

Lightbulb insisted, "I-it's okay, I'm fine! See, Painty? All good!" She hopped to her feet and fell back down with a grunt.

Paintbrush insisted, "Lightbulb, stay there. We'll get the bricks." and lead off into the forest. Everyone followed them without hesitation- even Yin Yang.

The Grand Slams finally exited with their brick, bickering amongst themselves.
"We wouldn't be so late if it wasn't for Balloon!" Nickel spat. He had the brick propped against his side- having no arms and all.

They heaved the brick down, taking no notice of the clearly injured Lightbulb, and scurried into the forest to get more.

The Bright Lights weren't doing so grand (kneeslap). Their motivation decreased rapidly but Paintbrush pressed on; eventually, the team managed to obtain four other bricks.

"Okay, Fan," Paintbrush wiped sweat from their forehead. "Lift them!"
Fan pressed a button at their command. The crane moved faster than he thought, landing on the surface of a brick with a thwack. "Sorry," he muttered, clamping the crane's claws around the slippery marble surface.

"Up!" Test Tube called to Fan, who obeyed. He lifted the block up.
"To the left now, but slowly."
He moved it slowly to the left.
"Higher still!"
He lifted it higher.

The brick loomed above Apple, casting a dark shadow onto her.

"Drop!" Yang called, imitating Yin's gentle voice best he could. The salt-and-pepper boy glared at Apple with a grin. She looked back at him with confusion, then understanding - then terror.

The brick slid from the crane's claws and hurtled downwards.