*Picture of Julie above*

Rylee's POV

"Do you think they'll shoot us too?" Julie asked fearfully as the three of us followed Dr. Powers through the dusty streets of the Lowly Camp. 

"Not if we lay low and do what they say," I said, more to allay my own fears than Julie's. 

"Ooh!" I heard a loud whistle and turned around to see a guy who looked to be in his early twenties standing in front of one of the muddy brick buildings in a threadbare brown shirt and cargo pants. 

"Look! Steve! Rick!" He called, and two other men stepped out of the shadows. 

"More newbs! How fun!" One of the other men- either Steve or Rick- jeered. 

"Yeah! Look at the scrawny little things," the other let out a raspy laugh. "Won't last a day in 'ere!" 

"Got that right," the first man guffawed, and they began to laugh. 

"Sup, Doc," he waved sarcastically to Dr. Powers as she passed by, and she returned it with a deathly glare. 

"Ignore those three," she said apologetically, turning to us. "They're nothing but trouble. Think they're special because they were some of the first ones here. Not everyone at this camp is like that, though. You're sure to meet lots of nice people." 

"Something about that Dr. Powers makes me think she wouldn't care if those three guys dragged us behind a building and beat us up right now."

"I know, but she said not everyone here is like them," I shrugged. Optimism is never a bad thing. 

"Alright, these are your dorms," Dr. Powers gestured to a set of two brown buildings, identical to those that filled the rest of the camp. "Go on and get inside, choose your rooms. I don't care who's in what room as long as there's three to a room."  

April, Julie, and I followed the crowd of new Lowlies up the stairs into the building, which looked even worse on the inside than the outside. 

Every time I took a step, the floorboards creaked, as if any second, the hardwood planks were going to give. 

We ended up getting a room on the top floor, with the longest climb down to the only bathroom, because we weren't exactly the strongest or the fastest of the new Lowlies. 

"This place is tiny," April sighed as we stepped inside, looking around the small room. There was barely enough room in the cramped area for three metal-framed cots and a chest which held three sets of clothing and underwear for each of us. Seeing how they didn't even bother to check our sizes, we short sixteen year olds were probably going to have a problem with the length of our pants the next day. 

"Cardex would like to relay a message to Rylee from Dr. Powers," my Cardex said. "All STCC residents please come downstairs for dinner and briefing. 

"We just got here!" Julie grumbled. "Now we have to climb back down all those stairs." 

"It's fine," April sighed as she opened the door and we began to descend the many flights of creaky stairs. "Just one more annoying thing about this place." 

By the time we were down, we saw a throng of people dressed in clothes identical to the ones in the chest in our room all running toward a huge circle of tables and benches covered by a tattered awning. 

"It's dinnertime, ya Lowly scum!" A man who stood in the center of what I assumed was the dining area placed a gigantic pot of steaming who-knows-what on the middle table and excited camp residents started grabbing trays and holding them out to him. 

"This reminds me of the school cafeteria," April rolled her eyes, pointing to the guys ahead of us who kept shoving each other out of the way to get their food first. 

"So does the food," I turned away in disgust at the sight of the mashed up, brown stuff the man glopped into people's trays. 

"Yep," Julie sighed as we grabbed our trays and received our serving of mashed whatever-the-heck-it-is. 

As we began to look for a place to sit, I turned around at the sound of a guy screaming and a bunch of people laughing. 

"Hey, David! There he is!" It was that annoying jerk from earlier! 

"Kevin, please, I didn't do anything wrong!" The younger boy whimpered, standing back, only to be kicked in the stomach.

"You messed with my Indie!" The jerk- Kevin- put his arm protectively around the waist of a beautiful blonde girl who stood beside him. "As long as I'm here, anyone in this camp who gets anywhere near Indie Sofia Jacobs will pay!" He spat. 

"Chill, man, I only said hi!" 

"Hi's enough for me," Kevin growled, slamming his fist into the guy's side. 

"Hey, leave him alone!" I yelled, balling my hands up into fists. 

"Well, what do we have here?" Kevin sneered. "A little girl, standing up to the King of the Camp?" 

"Last time I checked, Dr. Powers was in charge of this place." 

"Not when her little Moderate friends aren't around, she ain't," Kevin hissed. "Listen, newb, I'm gonna let you off easy 'cause it's your first day here and you're quite pretty, but I'm not normally this nice to people. This hand here has broken more faces than you've probably ever seen!" He held up his fist. 

At this, Kevin's friends, Steve and Rick, began to laugh like crazy, and the three of them, along with Indie, walked away. 

"Hey, thanks, kid," the boy stood up with a grunt, clutching his stomach. 

"No problem," I smiled. 

"Hi, I'm David," he shook my hand. 

"I'm Rylee."

"And I'm his sister, Deanna, but everyone calls me Dee," came a high pitched voice from behind David. I stepped to the side to see a girl who looked almost exactly like David. She had cropped, straight black hair that came up to a little above her shoulders and warm brown eyes. 

"We're twins!" David and Dee said simultaneously. 

"Well, these are my friends, April and Julie," I gestured to the two girls who stood beside me and they nodded. 

"Let's find someplace to sit," Dee skipped off to find us a small, circular table in the back. 

"So, what dorm are you guys in?" David asked as the five of us sat down, eating our brown mush. 

"3Z," I said, recalling the letters on the front of our building. 

"Oh, that explains it," Dee laughed. "You're new here. If someone talks back to Kevin Morris, they're either really brave, have a death wish, or are a newb."

"What even is the deal with them?" I asked, looking at the table in the center, the only one which wasn't super crowded, where Steve, Rick, Kevin, and Indie sat. 

"Kevin has always been in charge around here," Dee shrugged. "He was here long before any of us. Steve and Rick were his buddies in school, and I guess they were all lucky enough to be sent to the same camp. Indie used to be a regular camp kid, until she started dating Kevin." 

"I swear, he treats her like she's made of glass," David sighed in annoyance. "He once almost killed a guy for shaking her hand! Dr. Powers had to send the paramedics in and everything!" 

"So they let Kevin do stuff like that, but they shoot a guy for trying to run away?" Julie raised an eyebrow. "Their judgement doesn't seem very great." 

"They shot someone for trying to run away? While you guys were getting off the bus?" Dee asked. 

"Yeah," April nodded. 

"That's weird...a couple of kids get away every time a bus of fresh newbs comes in, entry is the weakest point in the security system. They've never shot anyone before, though. They chase 'em for a while, and if they can't catch them, they just let them go. There's nowhere to run in this godforsaken place anyway." 

"Wait, did the kid happen to say anything while running away? Anything of consequence?" David inquired

"Yeah, he said-" 

"Ssh!" David cut me off, putting a finger to his lips. "Don't say it. If it is what I think it is, it'll throw your Cardex into full panic mode. Now, look at this." 

He turned his finished styrofoam tray over and began to etch a message into its soft surface with his fingernail. 

Did it have anything to do with "Operation Trump Dump," or "The Eagle?" 

I nodded, surprised. How did he know? 

"Oh my gosh, it's real!" David's eyes lit up with hope, and he exchanged excited looks with his sister. 

"What's real?" April asked. 

"Meet us tomorrow during First Break," Dee grinned. "Behind the Camp Director's building. You'll know where that is by then." 

"Why?" 

"Because if that kid really said that before running...let's just say there's an old Lowly rumor going around, and it just might be true."

A/N: This story is ranked #918! I cannot believe this dumb little story is ranked!!! Thank you everyone who's reading this, you're awesome! 

As always,

#letsdumptrump