When Lief and Carrie returned to the circle of light of their camp, they encountered a scene of total defeat.
John had just returned from the creek bank and was walking dragging his feet, with the fishing rod hanging gracelessly over his shoulder and a blue plastic bucket swinging in his hand.
The hollow sound the bucket made hitting against his leg betrayed its content: air and disappointment.
And upon seeing them, John let out a sigh dropping heavily into his folding chair.
"Wow..." Sarah extended a glass of water to him, struggling to suppress a mocking smile. "What happened to the Grand Master Fisherman of the Connors?"
"Don't ask," grunted John, taking a long drink of water as if it were whiskey. "The fish in this creek aren't normal. They are elitists."
He wiped his mouth and pointed accusingly toward the darkness of the creek.
"I swear to you they are too smart. It's not that they weren't hungry... it's that they were making fun of me. I saw one, I'm sure. He looked at me, looked at the bait and turned around."
Sarah let out a chuckle shaking her head.
Even Carrie had to bite her lip not to laugh seeing John's indignation.
Around the fire, the girls were still in their own world.
"Tough crowd... this family is a very tough crowd," murmured John, looking at the indifferent faces around him. "No one appreciates my horror stories, no one respects my pain for the failed fishing... You are philistines."
He stood up with a grunt of effort, brushing off his knees.
"Forget it. I'm going to sleep."
With that final declaration, he headed to the small tent he shared with Lief, unzipped it and locked himself in, isolating himself from the cruel world that gave him no fish.
With his withdrawal, the camping night came to its natural end.
"Alright, girls, show's over," announced Sarah, picking up the last remnants of dinner. "Teeth brushed and into the sleeping bags. Tomorrow will be another day."
She guided Carrie and the three girls toward the large family tent.
Lief stayed outside a moment longer.
He threw dirt over the bonfire until the last embers drowned and then slid inside his own tent.
The night passed without incidents.
...
The next morning.
Before the sun finished rising, Lief woke up.
And although he felt a little groggy, the habit of being alert got him out of the sleeping bag, beside him, his father snored rhythmically with an arm outside his bag.
Rubbing his face, Lief unzipped the tent carefully so as not to make noise.
The cold morning air hit his face pleasantly, clearing the remnants of sleep from his system.
He stepped out, stretched his arms and exhaled a cloud of white steam, while his gaze swept the camp.
Everything was quiet in his area... but it didn't seem so in the distance.
Lief pricked up his ears.
In the Detox Camp, located to the left, chaos reigned.
Normally, at that hour there should be silence or an exercise routine, but the scene was one of total disorder.
The teenagers in the gray uniforms, who the day before looked like zombies, were now grouped in small circles, whispering among themselves with expressions that mixed confusion, fear and, in some cases, a morbid excitement.
In the center of the commotion, the fifty-something man in the coach uniform was walking back and forth, visibly agitated.
His face was red and he held the megaphone tightly, shouting toward the treeline and toward the empty tents.
Lief's hearing caught every word.
"Daniel! Daniel Czajka!" roared the coach, his voice tinged with real panic. "If you can hear me, come out from wherever you are right now! This is not funny, son! Don't think that by hiding I'm going to give you back your phone! Come out now!"
"Daniel?"
Upon hearing that name Lief arched an eyebrow, which quickly transformed into a smile.
The unconscious man from last night was named "Daniel."
He returned his gaze to the opposite bank of the creek where the incident happened last night.
The tent was still there, and the sleeping bag remained open on the grass. However, Daniel was no longer there.
And what was more crucial: the compressed mass that Carrie had dropped to the ground had also disappeared without a trace.
In its place, only some dark marks remained.
His mind began to work.
Had Daniel woken up, and upon seeing the dead creature, had he thrown it into the creek or buried it in panic before running away?
Or perhaps the furious woman returned and, upon seeing the scene, alerted someone? Or, what was more likely, were there more of those mutant creatures that came to retrieve their unfortunate companion?
But despite all these theories, Lief shook his head, dismissing the theories.
Deep down, Daniel's fate did not have the slightest importance.
His main mission was simple: guarantee that the Connor family camping weekend continued in the most calm and peaceful way possible.
He withdrew his gaze from the distant commotion and focused on the breakfast that was being prepared.
His mother had lit the portable gas stove and the sweet smell of fried eggs with bacon invaded the air.
John came out of the tent, and after a full night's sleep, the drama of his failed fishing and his family's lack of appreciation for his stories had vanished.
He was radiant.
"Good morning, Sarah! Good morning, family!" He said with a loud voice, "Today you really are going to see my true talent!"
"Last night the light was poor and the fish couldn't appreciate the art of my bait. But with this sun rising, it is the golden moment for fishing! I guarantee you that today's lunch will be the freshest grilled fish you will ever eat in your life."
"Alright, Captain. I will be anxious to try the result," Sarah replied with a knowing smile, serving him a plate full of crispy bacon.
Thus, once breakfast was finished, John grabbed Sarah's hand and they loaded the complete fishing equipment and walked upstream along the creek, with the declared intention of looking for a "privileged spot" and enjoying a bit of two-person "fishing."
In the camp, only the children remained.
The atmosphere instantly became quieter.
Lief took a folding deck chair and placed it under the shade of a large tree. The early awakening was beginning to take its toll and he reclined comfortably, crossing his arms behind his head.
"I'm going to stand guard from here" he informed Carrie and the girls, briefly closing his eyes to rest his eyes, "You all go play or do whatever you want."
"..."
Carrie remained still looking at Lief's reclining figure.
She felt like staying.
She wanted to drag a chair and sit beside him in silence, but her feet seemed glued to the ground and the words were stuck in her throat.
Furthermore, the three girls weren't making things easy for her...
Emma was sitting cross-legged in the grass and had stopped carving the branch to give it a general shape and was now dedicated to polishing the tip with slow and rhythmic movements of her knife.
Esther had walked away toward the creek bank, collecting flat stones, she weighed them in her hand and threw them into the water with force.
"Hey! Let's go explore over there!"
Lillith's voice broke their silence.
She ran toward Emma and Esther with a radiant smile.
"I heard Dad say that on the forest's edge there are pretty flowers and colored mushrooms! Let's go look for them! We could weave a flower crown for Mom before she comes back!"
"..."
Emma stopped her knife dead and looked Lillith in the eyes.
There was an exchange of glances that lasted a fraction of a second and without saying a word, Emma closed the knife, put it in her pocket and stood up, shaking off the shavings.
Esther dropped the last stone into the water without throwing it. She turned slowly and, walked to join the group.
"Lief! We're going to play over there for a while! We promise not to go too far!" shouted Lillith in his direction.
"Mmm... have fun," murmured Lief without opening his eyes, waving a hand.
With Lillith they didn't need a babysitter, the forest would need protection from her.
The three girls began to walk toward the treeline.
Carrie, who had stayed behind, felt a prick of anxiety in her stomach. She saw how they were walking away and Mrs. Connor's voice resonated in her mind: "Could you keep an eye on them?".
She looked at Lief one last time, noticing that his breathing was deep and regular.
He seemed to have fallen asleep.
Carrie hesitated but her sense of duty won the battle against her desire to stay.
"Wait! Wait for me, I'm coming with you!"
Lillith turned her head and for an instant, when she saw Carrie approaching, the corner of her lips curved into a mysterious smile. But by the time Carrie reached her side, the smile had become angelic again.
And so, the most dangerous and dysfunctional group that had ever set foot in Oak Creek entered the thicket: a demon, a miniature sociopathic assassin, a psychotic thirty-year-old woman trapped in a child's body, and a shy teenager with the power to crush bodies with her mind.
A "Squad" worthy of a nightmare.
"..."
Back at the camp, everything became silent.
Lief lay motionless under the shade.
His chest rose and fell with a constant rhythm, the perfect image of the relaxed mid-morning nap.
However, the precise instant their figures disappeared behind the dense bushes that marked the entrance to the forest, one of Lief's eyelids lifted, revealing an alert eye.
________
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