"Remember to smile, Max."

knock knock knock

"Hello, I'm here for the job listing?" He called out, hoping that there would be someone on the other side.

A few moments later, a woman answered the door, opening it with a wide from on her face.

"Yes! This is..." her voice trailed off.

He smiled, "Good morning!"

The two standing on the other side of the door saw that the moment she locked eyes with the adult, the smile fell off her face. The blond brushed it off, breathing in and out, and having the kid standing next to him do the same. It ticked the woman off on how in sync they were, as if they had done this more than once.

"Smell that fresh mountain air. Gosh, now that's the kind of nature you don't just find in any 'ol neck of the woods."

"Oh dear lord no-" she muttered.

A tall redhead that was standing behind her poked his head out to see what was going on. Seeing the man standing there, he raised an eyebrow.

"Hello?"

"Oh, well, hello there friend!"

He gave the kid, still standing next to him, the small silver briefcase that used to be in one of his hands. Instead of the kid making some remark or showing any kinds if distress, he happily took it, and made sure he didn't drop it.

"Oh, where are my manners?" He asked the two, "My name is Daniel, your camp counselor applicant. I hope I'm not too late to submit my resume."

"Too late?" The redhead grinned, "You're the first one!"

He gave a small laugh, "Are you pulling my leg?"

"No leg pulling here, but we are keen on handshakes." The man wiggled his eyebrows, and stuck out his hand as an offer for the other to shake it.

"Well, who isn't?" He gladly took it, and shook his hand.

"The name's David."

"Pleasure to meet you, David."

"The pleasure's all mine, Daniel." They dropped their hands, "So, what sort of experience do you have?" David asked.

Daniel frowned. "Well, sadly, my old camp was recently shut down." He ruffled the kid's hair, but got no response out of him, "And ever since, we've been searching night and day for a new group of eager young kiddos I can help to educate and reach their full potential."

"Did you hear that, Gwen?" David turned, and jabbed a thumb towards Daniel, "I think we just hit the jackpot! This was a great idea!"

"Y'know, I think now's the perfect time for me to use my vacation days." The woman answered in a low voice.

"Aw, Gwen, are you sure?" David and Daniel asked in sync,

Gwen had driven off in an old car not much later.

"Well, more fun for us!"

Daniel plucked the suitcase out of the kid's hand, obviously not expecting to have his arm grabbed so he could be pulled into the counselor's cabin.

"Come on, Daniel! I think you're gonna fit in here just fine."

The kid's eye twitched, but did nothing else in response to what David did when he saw that Daniel wasn't being threatened.

"I think so too, David. I think so too..."

Max did, though, pick up the newspaper he dropped when David dragged him in.

ENTHUSIASTIC CULT LEADER LEAVES ENTIRE COMPOUND DEAD!

The newspaper got thrown away after he tucked it in, so the help wanted was facing the front.

"Max?"

At the sound of his name being called put by someone who wasn't Daniel, the boy adorned in all white clothing almost broke his neck to face where the sound came from. It made a disgusting cracking noise, and he noticed that it disturbed the poor kid that only wanted to get his attention.

The one who called his name didn't look familiar in the slightest.

"Hello." He responded to the kid, now revealing itself to be a small boy with a fishbowl on his head, presumably another camper among all the other kids there.

"What are you..." the boy trailed off, staring at the space behind Max as if there was something standing behind him.

Max looked confused at first, thinking nobody was behind him until he felt someone grip his arm, and drag him inside along with the other 2 cheerful counselors.

"I hope you don't mind if my little helper here joins the camp program, do you?"

"Not at all." David crouched in front of the kid, "And what might your name be?"

Max gave Daniel a look. He was smiling, but his eyes showed that he was a bit too nervous to continue without permission.

"Go on." Daniel pressed.

He looked back at David.

"My name is Max."

"Nice to meet you, Max!" He reached out to ruffle his hair, frowning a little when he saw Max step out to prevent him from doing so.

"Nice to meet you too, camp counselor David."

David stood again.

"Go ahead and hang out with all the other campers while I talk to David, Max. I'm sure they'll enjoy your company." Daniel smiled.

Max ran off, dragging a backpack with wheels along with him. Dear Old Daniel didn't specify how long they would be staying. Every time they hopped from camp to camp, his stuff was already packed, just in case they stayed longer than a night.

Max dug into his pocket, pulling out an inhaler-type object, and blowing that shit into his mouth like it was addictive. He held his breath for a minute, but the moment the object touched the bottom of his pocket, he blew out what looked like steam.

All the other kids were out on a field. Some playing a game of baseball, others watching with curiosity to see how bad the damage would be.

A grenade landed gently in front of Max, causing everyone to stop and stare at him.

Max picked the grenade up with no fear, lightly tossing in his hand.

"Who are you?" Some kid asked.

"Hello everyone. My name is Max, and I am a new camper here at Camp Campbell."

He knew the same guy who called out to him earlier in the day was nearby, but he didn't even spare him a glance.

"Hi Max..." Some greeted him.

"I was told to hang out with the other campers. May I join your game until we are all called in to meet your new counselor?"

"Sorry, we were just finishing."

His face stretched out a little, but the smile planted on it didn't slip.

"Oh, I see."

He tossed the grenade back to the nearest person paying attention, pivoting on his heel, and walking away.

It was only a few moments before-

"Max, wait!"

He froze for a minute, turning only his head to see who else had called out to him. It was a girl with a vibrant green hair color, one he didn't even notice was in the crowd until she was staring right at him.

"Yes?"

"How long do you plan on staying here?"

Max paused.

"I'm not sure."

"You need a tent?"

"I think so."

"My pal Neil could share with you-"

"What!" The male next to her protested.

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Nikki, I am not-"

But she simply ignored him, and walked back towards Max. She grabbed his hand, and lead him towards a large tent that was one of many, all being identical to one another. Max wondered if he should put something in front of or near it to tell him that this was his tent.

Neil showed up moments later, just in case something happened.

"This is the only tent with one camper in it. The one you will be staying in." The girl opened it up.

Inside, there were 2 cots, both on opposite sides of the room. Max could only assume that the empty one would be his.

"Is there any reason why you didn't want me staying in here?" Max asked.

"He enjoys his privacy, whatever that means."

Neil mumbled something under his breath.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, Neil." Max smiled.

"I didn't have much of a choice."

"My name's Nikki, by the way." The girl held out her hand.

Max stared at it for a minute, then looked back up at her.

"I don't have anything to give you..." He mumbled, hoping that she hadn't found out about the dangerous items residing in his pocket.

"What? No, silly, I just want to shake your hand."

"Oh!" He took her hand, and shook it with as much excitement as he could muster.

The sound of a trumpet being played in the distance made all three kids jolt in surprise.

"Wonder what David wants." Nikki pondered, still clinging on to Max's hand.

"Didn't you say something about a new... counselor?" Neil asked.

Max nodded, "His name's Daniel. He's really nice."

"Let's meet him, then!" Nikki changed her grip from holding his hand, to holding his arm. He winced, but let himself get dragged by Nikki towards one of the cabins that the rest of the campers were filing into. Neil wasn't too far behind them, wondering if this 'Daniel' was going to be able to handle all these kids, much like David and Gwen had been doing.