The bang and screaming had Carlos running
toward the smoke faster. Quickly he emerged from the forest and saw cabins, a
flagpole, and a bunch of running and screaming children. “Everyone, away from
the fire!” he exclaimed, and he broke the lock on the extinguisher before
running to the tree. He started to blast the fireworks inside with cold CO2
foam.
Anglea was surprised when she realized she
recognized the labcoat and the black hair not unlike her own. “Daddy!” she
cried, running up to him.
“Angela??” Carlos said, shocked. “Angela, stay
back! Does anyone have a phone!?”
“David does!” Angela said. “Where’s David?”
She looked around at the other campers. “Is he tied to the flagpole again?”
Carlos looked at his daughter incredulously. “What??”
Panic had set in, though David couldn’t place exactly why he was feeling so terrified. Why all this felt so familiar. He was feeling utterly, hopelessly constricted when Nikki seemed to decide the situation was out of hand and that David needed help.
Things were out on control and so much more different than usual. Even with the new adult helping, she knew she needed to get David out.
She was quick to work at the knots they had tied, struggling with how tight they were with trembling fingers. The adrenaline rush wasn’t as fun as she would have hoped. Finally though, he was freed.
David fell to his knees, gasping for breath while Nikki seemed to be trying to pull him up.
“David, come on! David!” She was trying to get him to move but something seemed really wrong. She looked around, really starting to worry. Was there such a thing as too much chaos? “Somebody!?”
Angela perked up, hearing Nikki yelling. She
looked over at her father worriedly. “Daddy…?”
Carlos groaned. He set the nozzle down and
reached into his pocket to grab his phone. He handed it to Angela. “Find
another adult. If you can’t, call 911, mijita.”
Angela nodded, shaking but determined. “O-okay,
daddy!” she said and she turned around to hurry away.
She went to the flagpole first and was
relieved to see Nikki and David.
“David! My daddy’s here taking care of the
fire, but he said we need to call the police!”
He spotted Angela and grinned. “Mijita, you’re so cute! I love the coat and the flannel!”
Angela grinned back up at her father. The girl had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and dinosaur studs in her ears. She was currently wearing a lab coat over a pair of denim jeans and a mustard colored shirt. Obviously, she was dressed up as her favorite scientist for the holiday.
“Hi Papa!” she greeted excitedly as she took candy from the offered bowl before stepping out of the Office to give him a hug. “Halloween is fun! Mama’s taking us around to her friends and then we’re gonna go to a town she knows and trick or treat there!”
Carlos knelt down, still holding the bowl out
for the other children, and gave her a one-armed hug. “That sounds amazing,” he
said to her, grinning widely. He turned to press a kiss to the side of her
head. “Make sure your mom knows how much you appreciate her taking you all out.”
Angie heard yelling and looked around. Where
was David? Was that his voice?
Ered was lighting a spark fountain and Nerf
had found a big, red, funny-looking Firework with no label. They lit them and
ran away to watch with the other kids.
Suddenly though, the red firework let off with
a loud BANG! that had Angie’s ears ringing. Most of the kids fell over from the
force of the bang, or from shock, and when Angie was back on her feet she saw
that one of the trees had fallen over onto the fireworks. The spark fountain
was going off within the branches, and a couple of the kids screamed.
“It’s going to catch fire!” Neil shrieked.
“Oh no! Where’s David?” Angela asked. “We need an adult!”
He couldn’t see what was going on but that horrible bang scared the hell out of him. David’s heart was pounding, his ears aching. Where was the quartermaster? Where was anyone that could help? He silently hoped that Cameron would come in and save the day again.
“Kids!” David called as loud as he could, struggling against the ropes and feeling the uncomfortable burn start to form on his skin from it. “Someone, untie me, please!”
There was the fear for the kid’s safety but something about what he said and the fact he was bound set off a wave of panic he couldn’t place. The situation hit him with inexplicable deja vu. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, tears stinging at his eyes.
“Help me!”
The bang and screaming had Carlos running
toward the smoke faster. Quickly he emerged from the forest and saw cabins, a
flagpole, and a bunch of running and screaming children. “Everyone, away from
the fire!” he exclaimed, and he broke the lock on the extinguisher before
running to the tree. He started to blast the fireworks inside with cold CO2
foam.
Anglea was surprised when she realized she
recognized the labcoat and the black hair not unlike her own. “Daddy!” she
cried, running up to him.
“Angela??” Carlos said, shocked. “Angela, stay
back! Does anyone have a phone!?”
“David does!” Angela said. “Where’s David?”
She looked around at the other campers. “Is he tied to the flagpole again?”
Carlos looked at his daughter incredulously. “What??”
The Perfect Scientist 