Survival

“This is getting boring,” said Spencer after a long moment of eerie silence. He rested his arms on his legs and leaned his head against his arms.

Tim sank into his puffed sleeping bag. “What else is there to do?” he said. Inside the tent was really quiet, except for the sounds of chirping crickets and water rushing down in the river nearby the campsite.

No one spoke for a minute, until a wide smile spread across Chuck’s face. “Let’s tell scary stories,” he said with a smirk. He looked at everyone from one side of the tent to the other, but none of the other three seemed happier in any way. Andrew sighed.

Tim got out his flashlight and shone it up his chin, trying to make his face look scary. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed his mouth. “… Sorry, nothing to say,” he said quickly. His cheap joke didn’t work out so well.

Andrew took the flashlight out of Tim’s hands. “Fine. There’s nothing else to do, so I’ll go first.” He started telling a scary story. It was about an elderly woman who had to baby-sit a dog while the owner was gone. They were going for a walk until rain came up, so she and her dog ran back to the house. “So when she walked inside, she saw the dog shivering.” His face seemed to cheer up. Spencer, Tim and Chuck listened. They felt good for the first time they went to that camp out. “So she decided to put him in the oven for a minute, just to get him warmed up. She put him in there, but then the phone rang. It was her friend. They got in a conversation about things they liked and she forgot about the dog. She ran to the oven and yanked it open, but all she saw was a bloody mess.” His smile expanded. Man, thought Tim. He’s enjoying this more than Chuck. Maybe he’s just a little over excited. “Who goes next?”

Almost immediately, Chuck shouted, “I will!” He snatched the flashlight from Andrew. “There have been sightings going around about a creature called El Chupacabra. It sucks all body fluids out of animals. It was first spotted in Puerto Rico and sightings have spread as far north as Massachusetts. It was also seen in the American southwest and parts of Asia.” He paused. “I know that’s not much of a story, but I’m just warning you.” They saw that Chuck was dead serious. Could it be true?

“How about we all just settle down and go to sleep, so we can…” Spencer was interrupted by Andrew.

“Come on, are you chicken? This is cool!” Andrew straightened himself. “Anyone else want to tell a story?”

Chuck had a worried frown on his face. Even though he may be a big goof, he’s certainly not right now.

“Let me tell a story,” said Spencer. Andrew tossed him the flashlight. Spencer place the light bulb under his chin like Andrew did. “It’s not actually a story,” he said.

“What is it then?” asked Tim.

“How about we go outside and see… um… whatever Chuck told us about?” Spencer’s frown turned into an ‘evil’ smile.

Chuck had a worried expression. “Let’s just go to sleep,” he said quickly.

“Well, since there’s nothing else to do, we’ll be gone,” said Tim. Andrew and Spencer looked at each other and smiled.

“No, I’m not coming. I’ll just stay here,” he said. He hoped that his voice didn’t sound too scared.

“Tootles,” said Spencer. He waved his hand as he walked outside.

Tim ran back. “I forgot my flashlight,” he said. He grabbed his flashlight and headed back outside where his friends were waiting.

Chuck heard Andrew telling Tim to hurry up. Then he heard their footsteps heading out into the darkness. Chuck became very scared now. He was alone, with his friends gone. I wish Tim never invited me to his parent’s camp, he thought. But at least I get to kick back, enjoy, with me, my friends, and Tim’s parents.

* * *

Andrew, Tim and Spencer walked on the muddy grounds of the forest. They hadn’t said a word since they left. “Hi ho, hi ho, off to work, we go,” said Spencer out of nowhere. Andrew and Tim started giggling. They noticed that Spencer was totally blowing his tough-guy attitude.

Tim looked back over his shoulder. “Shouldn’t we be heading back? We’ve been out here for about half an hour. Besides, Chuck’s story might not even be true. He must be laughing his head off.”

“Oh, stop being such a baby,” said Andrew. He smirked.

They walked even further when Tim’s flashlight shut off. “Great,” he said. He shook the flashlight. It flickered a little bit, but then it died. “The battery’s dead.” He took out the batteries and looked at them.

“What’ll we do now?” said Andrew, unexpectedly scared.

“Maybe Tim is right. Let’s head back,” replied Spencer, his voice shaky.

Tim tossed the batteries onto a bush. “Let’s just head back–”

He was interrupted by a sound of scurrying feet. They all froze. “Squirrel,” said Spencer.

But then they heard a humph noise of an animal. An angry and hungry one. They all froze. They heard heavy footsteps slowly coming towards them. They were frightened. It came out of the bushes. They nearly fainted when they saw it. It was about four feet tall, stood on two legs, had short arms, black body, and prickles that lined from its back down to its small tail. They were shocked.

It stared at Spencer, who heard his own heart thumping and was sure that the others heard it. The thing crouched in position to attack him. They heard it growl again. And to their horror, it jumped and tackled Spencer.

“Ahhh!” screamed Andrew. Tim nearly cried when that happened.

They both started running away from the horrific scene. Tim looked back and saw the thing rip at Spencer’s. Tim was shocked. Then he felt a hard pressure on his stomach and he noticed he had tripped.

He lifted his face up to see Andrew running ahead of him. “Andrew!” shouted Tim. Andrew looked back and saw Tim lying on the ground. “Andrew! Help!”

Tim noticed the sad expression on his face. When Tim looked back again, he saw the thing running towards him, coated with blood. “Ahhh!” screamed Tim. He looked forward and saw Andrew running for his life.

Tim felt something jab him on the back. Then he felt it split open. He started to scream in pain, but once he felt it jab again, it became black as death.

Andrew ran and ran until he thought he lost the thing. He looked around in circles, taking deep breaths. Where am I? He thought. He listened for the sound of the river, but there was no sound at all, except for the sound of chirping crickets.

Out in the distance, he heard a deep scream of the thing. Was that El Chupacabra? He thought. Is it going to find me?

He heard heavy footsteps coming directly towards him. Andrew looked around him in panic. The footsteps grew louder. And louder. And before he knew it, something hit his back with great force.

* * *

Chuck awoke that morning and looked around the tent. He became nervous. Why aren’t they here? He thought. He got up and unzipped the tent. He poked his head outside and looked in both directions. No sign of them. He got a little scared.

Chuck put on pants, shoes and a jacket due to the chilly breeze that passed by. He stepped out of the tent and started walking forward. He felt energized and felt he could walk for miles.

He headed into the dark trees that had so many bushes, it would seem like night during day. He started jogging, just to get the energy flowing in him. He started singing hiking songs, just to keep him in pace. He then started jogging in rhythm with his song. I should do more exercise, he thought. This is actually kind of fun.

But his thoughts were interrupted by a horrible sight. He immediately stopped and nearly tripped. There, he saw the dead body of Spencer. His face was as pale as a ghost and dried blood was splattered everywhere.

Chuck was in complete shock. His face, wide with horror. He dropped to his knees and started crying. He looked at the side of Spencer and saw a trail of blood leading to the trees. He got up and started following, slowly. His energy turned to weakness. His cheerful attitude turned into sadness and fear.

He saw Tim, lying next to a tree, with a big, black hole in his back. Chuck shrieked. He started crying harder. He then started to walk back, but then he saw something hairy crouching next to a tree.

Chuck froze. His fear became painful and his throat throbbed. It started to stand up. Chuck’s head followed the thing as it stood up at full length. Its mouth and chest was coated with dry blood that had already turned black.

Chuck watched in horror. It stared straight down at him. Chuck paused, then ran for it. He ran as fast as he could. He heard thudding footsteps gaining on him. He ran and ran and ran, until he tripped and slammed hard on his chin.

“What did I trip over? He thought. He got up and saw it. He saw Andrew’s body, nearly ripped in half. Chuck thought his heart thudded louder than the footsteps, which were coming closer and closer to him.

Chuck didn’t care. He didn’t think. He rested his head on Andrew. And once the beast rapidly leaped onto him, he fell into an everlasting slumber. 

BEST 12 YEAR OLD WRITER EVER, ALEXY - THE KID WHO WROTE THIS LOL