Page 26 of Freak Camp
Some days he knew better than to let Jake cross his mind.Other days, he thought it was okay to pretend that Jake was there with him, as long as he didn’t ever forget it wasn’t true.It helped the time go by to think of Jake, especially during roll call, punishment assemblies, or rock salt grinding: Jake sauntering around fearless of the guards, or complaining about how bored he was and pulling out his cards or maybe a new bag of candy to wave at Tobias until he took some.He could remember exactly how they had spent every moment of the last visit, mostly because he replayed it in his head during every morning roll call, every free moment in his day, though he made sure not to miss the guards calling his number.
Of course, the guards weren’t the only ones he had to watch out for.The other monsters, though often stupid, could be even more dangerous.
Becca had told him repeatedly not to trust—not to even talk to, if he could help it—any of the other monsters.Tobias remembered all of her lessons, but this one she had been especially fierce about.Don’t believe them, Tobias, no matter how nice they pretend to be.They’ll just take your food or blanket or anything else they can get from you.Blood or energy or worse.Don’t let them get close to you, and always watch your back.
That wasn’t hard to remember.None of the other monsters were like Becca, and Tobias could tell from watching them that they would hurt him in the blink of an eye if they thought it would get them an extra bite of food.Or just for the fun of it.
Tobias had gotten good at keeping out of sight and not getting cornered.And they never expected a nine-year-old to fight so well.He was faster than they expected (looking so much like a real had its advantages), and he didn’t hesitate to use his nails, teeth, or elbows to strike fast and hard to get out of a tight spot.At least most monsters wouldn’t start anything when the guards were watching.Tobias also wasn’t stupid like most of them; he never drew the guards’ attention.He never talked back.
He had a system, and it worked.It kept him as safe as you could be in Freak Camp.He’d never been hurt too badly, hadn’t even lost a single finger or toe, and they still hadn’t taken him to Special Research or even any interrogations with hunters.But the thing about Freak Camp was that just when you thought you had figured out how to make it not so bad, something changed.A new shipment of monsters or a different set of guards could upend everything.And it was never for the better.Because Becca’s most important, unspoken lesson, one that Tobias had only figured out after she was gone, was that life in Freak Camp always got worse.
***
The new guard, ElmerSloan, didn’t look like much.He was muscular, but not the way some of the monsters were built, like they could break their own bones just by moving too fast.He had big hands and a flat face that didn’t show much emotion while Matthew Dixon and Victor Todd showed him around the camp.But a certain blank focus in his eyes made Tobias nervous, made him keep as much distance as possible.
After the second tour around the yard, through the Workhouse and the barracks, Victor turned to Elmer with a grin.He liked messing with the new guards, especially if they were a little shocked by their first real look at FREACS.He liked it more when they got as much of a kick out of the place as he did.“So what do you think, Elmer my man?”
The new guard barely glanced at him.“Don’t call me that.”
Victor raised his hands defensively.“Hey, strictly an expression.It’s not like I swing that way.”
Elmer shook his head, eyes flickering over the yard, somehow locking on Tobias, where he was trying very hard to blend into the gray of the building.Elmer’s eyes barely blinked as he answered Victor.“No.Elmer.I don’t like that name.Don’t use it.”
Matthew and Victor exchanged a look behind his back.FREACS often attracted hunters that had gone a little wacky, one too many close calls in the dark, but this was different from the usual paranoia and itchy trigger finger.
“Sure, Elm—Sloan,” Matthew said.“Whatever you want.”
“Don’t much like that one either,” he said.“So we can do anything to them, right?”
“Within reason,” Matthew answered, cautiously.“There’s a handbook.”
Victor coughed.“So what the fuck you want us to call you, then?”
Elmer shrugged.“Don’t know.Never quite found a name that I liked.”
“Gotcha,” Victor said.“Well, I guess we’ll just keep looking for something that fits.”
Matthew glared, but if Elmer Sloan noticed that he was being mocked, he didn’t give a fuck.Instead his wide, colorless eyes followed Tobias out of the yard.
***
From the screams andsobs last night, Tobias had figured a new shipment of monsters had come in while he was working in the library.That was confirmed when he saw unfamiliar figures limping through the yard after roll call.The new ones always stood out from the way they held themselves, whether frozen in fear or still clutching some remnants of bravery or pride—which was so, so stupid.The guards could smell defiance a hundred yards away and enjoyed breaking anyone who held on to it.The new ones were always tugging at their collars too, wincing at how the leather chafed their skin.Tobias didn’t even notice his anymore, nor could he imagine what it would be like not to wear it.
He stayed out of the monsters’ way, and none of the new monsters came near him, either—until the next night in the mess hall, when a shadow moved over his plate.
Tobias looked up to see that the shadow belonged to a sturdy, dark-haired boy with a fresh bruise livid over his cheekbone and silver werewolf tags on his collar.
He’s about Jake’s age, Tobias thought, and felt a moment of uncertainty.Generally he could treat other monsters with the wariness and contempt they deserved, but he had an impulse to trust anything that reminded him of Jake.He squashed the feeling down.This was just another monster who would love to exploit any weakness in Tobias.
So he wasn’t surprised when he got the demand.
“Give me your bread,” the boy said, pointing at the roll on Tobias’s plate.
Tobias looked down at it.It was good bread for once, no maggots or weevils, just a little dry.He’d been saving it for after he swallowed the rest of the slop-stew on the off chance it would get the odd bitter taste out of his mouth.He hoped that they weren’t doing a toxins experiment again.Becca would—
Tobias shut down that train of thought.It was just him now, taking care of himself.He couldn’t trust anyone or anything (except Jake) to watch out for him.
Certainly no one else was going to deal with the werewolf in front of him.
