Full Circle

After we cooked and ate those beans, it was time to move on.

“What now?” I said.

“Thea, get on my shoulders,” D.J. said. “And Veronica, get on her shoulders.” Veronica and Thea were just light enough that D.J. could support them.

I didn’t think it was going to work, but it did. Pretty soon, Veronica was pulling down that envelope and we were reading the note inside.

Yes! This was the real home stretch—the one I’ll bet everyone had been thinking about since we got on that bus a week ago.

Was it really just a week? It felt more like I’d been out there for ten years. And each one of those years was three years long.

Still, we were moving now, and we had a plan. That 2.8 miles went by faster than I thought, and all of a sudden, we were coming out of the woods and into a familiar place.

Straight ahead, I could see that climbing tower from the first day. I didn’t even mind the memory of my freak-out, because this time I didn’t have to go near it. All I had to do was smile, wave, and keep on moving.

“Hey, look!” Burp said.

A bunch of kids were getting ready to start climbing. When I looked up at the top, I could see that trunk of food waiting for them too. I wondered what was in there, since we never did get to find out.

“Ready?” some other sergeant yelled at them. “Three, two, one—GO!” And those kids started climbing like their lives depended on it. Or at least, their dinner.

“Is that… Arnie?” Thea said.

I looked again, and sure enough, it was him. I guess he got a second chance faster than anyone expected, and he was going for it. He was already yelling at everyone else, telling them how to get to the top.

And I thought, Good luck, Arnie. But that was it. None of us stuck around to see how they did. We were on the move too. Running like crazy, straight for base camp and that finish line. We were so close we could smell home.

“Let’s go, cockroaches!” Diego yelled, and we all said the next part together, at the same time.

“Move, move, move, move, MOOOOOOVE!”