Camp Cannibal by Clay McLeod Chapman

Author:Clay McLeod Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2014-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

DAY THREE: 0800 HOURS

eashooter stood before the wet embers of the bonfire.

Very quietly.

Firefly shifted his weight from one foot to the next, waiting for him to say something. Anything. But Peashooter refused to acknowledge his existence.

The rest sat on their logs and watched Peashooter’s fists continuously clench and release as he stared at the soggy black paste at his feet.

“What happened to my fire?” he asked.

This was a parenting ploy I was pretty familiar with—I’m not mad at you…I’m just disappointed.

But I wouldn’t put it past Peashooter to pop his top at any moment. I must admit, the confines of my cage were feeling pretty cozy right about then. This was the first time I was thankful to have a set of bars between him and me.

Peashooter finally turned away from the fire pit and faced Firefly.

“Your orders were pretty clear, weren’t they?”

“Well, yeah—”

“What were they again?”

“Never let the fire die out.” Firefly’s voice wilted under the intensity of Peashooter’s glare.

“Exactly. One very simple order.”

“But…”

“But?” Peashooter leaned into Firefly’s face. “But—what?”

“It…rained.”

“Should I get somebody else to take care of my fire?”

“No!” Firefly cried. “I can do it. I swear.”

Peashooter addressed the rest. “Some of you have taken advantage of the Tribe’s kindness. Haven’t we given you your freedom? A place to call home? All the food you could ever eat? All we’ve asked for in return is allegiance—your devotion to our cause. That means preparation. Training. We need to take care of our home.”

“You mean housekeeping?” Capone muttered.

Peashooter shook his head. “Parents’ Day is only a couple days away. We need to be ready to welcome your families with open arms.”

“What’re you going to do?” I asked. “Imprison our parents?”

Peashooter grinned.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Why not? Isn’t that what they’ve done to you all of these years? I think it’s high time we turned the tables on Mom and Dad….Wouldn’t you agree, cannibals?”

The roar of approval from the rest of the campers made me shrink back.

“He’s crazy,” I tried to implore to the others. “You all know that, right?”

“We’re all mad here,” Peashooter quoted Alice in Wonderland. “I’m mad. You’re mad….You must be…Or, you wouldn’t have come here. Isn’t that right, boys?”

The Tribe cheered even louder this time.

“Don’t worry, Rat,” Peashooter said. “We’ve got a very special surprise in store for your mom and dad.”

I gripped on to the cage and shook the bars. “If you touch them, I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll what? What could you possibly do to me?”

“I’ll…I’ll…” I had nothing. I felt completely flustered. “Why are you so bent on making everybody else’s mom and dad pay for something they haven’t done?”

“They’ve done plenty.”

“To you?”

“To all of us. Parents are the same, no matter who their children are. Now, everybody—up on your feet!”

Newly galvanized, the cannibals formed a line before Peashooter. Only Capone grumbled, but nobody paid him any attention.

Today’s military drill: marching.

“On my command,” Peashooter called out. “For-ward, march!”

His ragtag battalion of cannibals shifted their weight onto their right foot while stepping forward a full thirty inches on their left.

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