“Okay, folks, we’re going to jump right in with a game of Predator and Prey,” Maggie said. She was standing on some tree roots so that she could see everyone. For such a tiny lady, she sure looked tough.
It was our first day at the wilderness site, our home base for the next five months. Other than a phone call at the crack of dawn, Lardface didn’t have to come to my house that day. I even brushed my teeth before I ran the five miles to the site. But not because I was excited to start identifying bear crap or anything. It was because of Lisa.
I scanned the crowd, looking for her. She and another girl were sharing a juice box near the front of the group.
“This team-building exercise will warm you up and help you get to know each other better,” Rick said.
I groaned. Team building? These teacher types were always into everyone getting to know each other. The Granolas were gazing up at Rick and Maggie, their faces shining. Except Chris, who looked like he’d had a rough night. I jogged over to stand near him at the back of the group.
“Why’re you here?” I whispered.
“This or Derbin,” he grunted, not looking at me.
“Same here,” I said. “Wonder if anyone else here has that problem.”
Chris surveyed the group. “Doubtful.”
The corners of our mouths went up. Chris started to laugh, but ended up having a coughing fit instead.
“Here’s how it works,” Maggie was saying from her perch. “Some of you are predator animals, like eagles, wolves and bears. Some of you are prey animals, like chipmunks and deer.”
Chris snickered. “Chipmunks.”
Rick held up a green armband with a drawing of a rabbit on it. “You’ll get these armbands. Not all of you are predator or prey animals. Two of you will be diseases, which can harm anyone. When you see a disease, run like heck.”
Maggie walked around, handing out maps and armbands. “The object of the game for the prey is to visit all ten feeding stations and collect food tickets from each one. Prey, you are holding maps of the entire site. These show elevations and landmarks so that you can find the feeding stations.”
I glanced down at my map in panic. All those lines and circles—I had no clue how to read the thing. The Granolas were all looking at their maps and pointing around the site as if they knew exactly what was going on. Some of them even pulled out compasses. They were all experts already.
“And predators and diseases,” Rick said, “your goal is to tag your prey and collect their life tickets. Each prey animal gets life tickets that clip on your belt. You can’t tag the same prey twice.”
I hated games. They made me nervous. I always worried I’d get the rules wrong and then get laughed at.
I glanced over to see what armband Lisa got.
A deer. Same as me.
Chris got a chipmunk.
“Remember, it’s a good idea to team up with other predators or other prey,” Rick said. “There’s strength in numbers. Except if you’re a chipmunk. Teaming up with another chipmunk won’t do a dang bit of good.”
Maggie held up an air horn. “When I sound the horn, the prey get a running start. When I sound the horn again, it’s the predators’ turn. The third time, the diseases are on the loose.”
A girl with blond dreadlocks giggled with her friend. They both had disease armbands on.
“I can run away from you any day, gangrene!” It was Lisa. Beautiful and funny.
“You have two hours to play,” Maggie continued. “Have fun.”
Hoooooonnnk. First air horn. I waited to see what Chris would do, but he just stood there, slouched against a tree.
The Granola prey tore off in every direction, maps in hand. Lots of them already seemed to be in pairs. I saw Rick start to stride over to Chris and me. We were still rooted to the spot.
But then I did what I usually did in these situations. I began to run. I just spun around and ran into the trees, trying to make sense of my map as I dodged branches.
Hoooooonnnk. Second air horn. Predators. I could hear more crashing through the bushes as the wolves and bears and cougars made their way toward us. I never thought I’d be so scared of a bunch of hippies.
I ducked behind a big stump, totally breathless.
I looked up. A feeding station was right ahead of me. I could run there in twenty seconds.
The leaves crunched beneath my feet as I slowly stood up.
“Hi-ya!” I felt a swift tap on my left shoulder.
It was the dreadlocked disease. How did she get there? If I had been running she never would have caught me.
“I’ll take one of those precious life tickets,” she said, holding out a small hand. “Bwa ha ha, now you only have one.” She clipped it to her belt and ran off.
This is why I hated games. I’ve never been any good at them. I have no strategy.
“Feeding station, feeding station,” I chanted to myself.
No one but me had found feeding station nine yet. I grabbed one of the food tickets and stared at my map again, hands shaking. Predators weren’t allowed to hover around the feeding stations, so I had a minute.
I could feel the adrenaline racing through me. I couldn’t believe I lost a life ticket in the first two minutes of the game.
Wait a minute. Was I actually buying into this? I heard more crashing through the bushes and a girl’s laughter. “Can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!”
It was Lisa. At feeding station nine.
“Yo! Hooded Fang!” She grabbed my hip and spun me around. Oh my god, she touched me. “Lost a life already, I see.”
She already had two feeding-station tickets and both her life tickets dangling from her belt.
“Uh...how come you—you’re not paired up with anyone?” I said.
“He speaks!” She grinned. “I like to be a free agent. But I also like to help out my own species. And you, my friend, need help. Quick!”
Predators were on their way. Lisa grabbed my arm. Her hair flicked in my face as we ran. I didn’t mind.
“I know a place we can hide,” she said.
She pulled me around the corner to a hollow with moss hanging all around it.
We knelt and she pulled out her map. “Okay, fellow deer, we’ve got to backtrack to the last two stations. You’ve got to get caught up. See, here’s number seven. I was just there. It’s over the little bridge. See? Here.”
She pointed at the map. Why can’t maps have you are here magically written on them?
Lisa looked at me with those big brown eyes. “So which direction is that?”
Was she testing me? “Well, I don’t, uh...”
Run. Just run.
“That’s okay. My dad taught me everything I know about maps. It takes time to learn.” She pulled her compass out of a small black bag around her waist. “Right now we’re facing north, and the bridge is west.”
Lisa showed me the compass and the map. I still didn’t get it, but it was nice of her to show me.
“Let’s go!”
On the way to feeding station seven, we were caught between a wolf and a bear. Lisa darted into the bushes, shouting, “Mike, turn right, you’re almost there!”
The boy bear was only a few steps away. So was the wolf.
“I’ve got you now, deer!” The bear shouted. He whipped out his arm. Too close.
Run. Just run.
I leaped over a fallen log, which blocked the predators for a second.
Feeding station seven. I made it. I grabbed the food ticket. Now I had two!
Then I got to stations six, four and three.
“Wow, can you ever run, Longridge!” Lisa said on the way to feeding station two.
And then...oh crap. Three cougars, right in our path.
“We’ll go around,” I breathed to Lisa, making a swift left turn.
I ran like heck. I found myself laughing my head off all the way. Those cougars were in the dust. I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed like that.
Lisa turned and winked as she grabbed us each a food ticket.
I liked this game.