YN P.O.V

Edward did it again.

He took a camper to claim as his own. Apparently, according to the gossip I've been hearing, the campers tried to get him to take some gross kid. I guess Pikeman had his mind made up before they even won the stupid game.

When him and the rookie showed up a few minutes ago I could already smell the kids rebellion a mile away. Too bad he would probably be broken in the first few days. It's a shame, really. He looked like he would've had a unique personality.

"YN! Come here, I need to talk to you," the acne-faced teen called out. I sigh, already knowing he was probably going to assign me to the new guy. I jogged over to Edward, standing up straight in a salute in front of him. Saluting me back, he continued, "This is Maxwell. He's the same age as you and he's going to be our new recruit. You know I trust you, YN, so I'm putting him under your wing. Mess up, and there'll be a severe punishment for the both of you."

He squinted his eyes at me slightly, before pushing Max forward slightly, hand gripping his hood.

"Yes, sir!" I say, glancing over at Max. He was a little bit shorter than me, which may help in keeping him under control.

Edward nodded to himself, smiling creepily down at Max, "If he's any trouble, feel free to punish him yourself when you can't find me."

I smirk slightly, seeing the fear bubble in Max's eyes. I could see that he was about to say something, and as he opened his mouth I cut him off, "Alright rookie. Grab your bag and come with me. I don't wanna hear a peep outta you, understood? Good. Hurry up now."

Max glared at me, turning slightly to grab a small blue bag from behind him. He shrugged it onto his back and shoved his hands into his hoodie, walking over to stand beside me.

I raise my eyebrow at Pikeman, pointing to the hoodie and obvious Camp Campbell shirt underneath it. He caught my gaze and nodded slightly.

"The uniform will be delivered to your shared tent. Good luck camper," We saluted each other and I watched him walk away. When he was out of earshot, I let out a deep sigh and looked down at Max.

"You alright kid?" I questioned, beginning to walk to the tent with Max beside me.

A look of confusion flashed across his face before he quickly replaced it with frustration, "What the fuck do you think?! I just got taken from a stupid camp to a stupid prison! Of course I'm not alright!"

I rolled my eyes. I guess Max was the kind of kid who is actually gonna need some authority in his life.

"Maxwell-" I begin, going to give him another chance.

"Fuck off! I don't need another David in my life! Just leave me alone and we'll be fine!" He scowled at the dirt path in front of him, dragging his feet slightly.

Alright then, no more miss nice YN. If he's gonna be difficult, I'm gonna be tough.

"Rule one. No talking back. If you talk back, you get punished," I say sternly, "Rule two. Do not speak unless spoken to. If you break this rule, you will get punished. Rule three, you do as I say. If you don't, you get punished. Rule-"

"You really think I'm going to follow your stupid rules? As if! I'll be escaping this fucking nightmare of a camp in no time!" He cuts me off, smirking to himself and staring up at me.

I stop walking, causing him to stop as well in slight confusion. I hold out my hand, gesturing to the bag. He cautiously takes it off, slowly handing it to me. I kept a blank face and grabbed a camper walking nearby. We saluted each other, and I gave him the bag. He jogged in the direction of my tent, and I turn my attention to Max.

He was standing there awkwardly, confusion settling into his green eyes. I gesture for him to follow me, and I begin walking away to the ropes course.

Max hesitated before jogging over to my side, "Uhm, what's going on?"

I looked down at him and we locked eyes. Sighing, I stop. Glancing over to the course, I crouch down next to Max.

He raises an eyebrow and takes a small step back, crossing his arms. I close my eyes in a pained blink and look down at the dirt.

"Listen, kid-" I begin, before getting cut off rudely by Max.

"Don't call me kid. We're the same age." He rolled his eyes and looked to the side, kicking a small rock. I look up at him, staring into his teal eyes, searching for some kind of emotion other than anger. He looked back down at me, eyes widening slightly when he caught my gaze.

I smile, tilting my head slightly, "You have very pretty eyes, Maxwell."

Standing, I glance over to him before gesturing for him to come. He stood still for a moment before shaking his head and looking over to me. Clearing his throat, he rushed over to my side, again.

I watched in amusement as he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at his feet, trying to hide his small blush. I let out a breath of air before letting my expression fall blank.

As we near the ropes course, I tense up slightly, furrowing my eyebrows. It almost seemed too dangerous for a scrawny little boy like Max, but it was all I had.

After all, it was against Pikeman's rules to overwork a rookie to the point of near death. Although, now that I think about it, there had to be a reason that that rule was even made in the first place.

My eyes widen for a second before I return back to my blank expression. It wasn't really surprising actually. This camp shouldn't even be able to pass a simple safety hazard test. I guess they found a way around those.

"We're here. If I were you, I'd take off the hoodie," I look down slightly at Max as we stop at the entrance to the ropes course. He scoffed and made his way to the first part, "That's an order."

He glared over at me and growled, mumbling under his breath as he pulled off the blue hoodie, tossing it carelessly into some mud.

"Happy!?" He yelled sarcastically. I stare at him with a stern look, making him squirm uncomfortably.

"Don't break the rules, Maxwell," I say in a monotone voice, "Go through the course twice, run four laps around it and then come here and do push-ups until I say stop."

We glare at each other for a few seconds before I lower my eyebrows.

"Go," I growl out, watching his eyes widen as he stumbles whilst turning around. He starts the first part of the course, which consisted of crawling under knotted rope with shards of glass carelessly tossed in to make it harder.

Longtime campers knew where all the glass was and found a simple path to avoid it all. But Max wasn't a long time camper, so he just went in a straight line, getting small cuts all over his body.

I heard his quiet hisses of pain and I winced, hoping he would let me fix him up afterward. He finished the first part before sitting up slightly to pull out glass stuck in his skin.

He was soon stopped by campers on the sidelines calling out names and daring him to go further, easily convincing the conceited boy.

The next part of the course was more dangerous; an upwards climb with gaping holes and fraying rope. One wrong step and he would fall to the ground, which was also, unsurprisingly, covered in glass.

Looking ahead I see a rope maze with lots of sharp, rusted nails keeping the rope together for some reason, a rope climbing thing, where Max will have to climb up unrealistically high then climb across a rope-based monkey bar setup, followed by a rope- jeez this course has a lot of rope.

Max should feel lucky he's not doing the metal course today. But if he's bad and breaks the rules again, he'll become very acquainted with all the dangerous courses and punishments the camp has to offer.

• • • •

Welp there ya go

I know I didn't say I was gonna make this book at all but, I love camp camp and Max is my favourite character!

This book might get angsty and gorey but there will be fluff, don't worry.

Oks slán!

• • • •

Unedited

Final word count: 1 473