Read Online The Camp by kit Crumb - Free Book Online Page B

It’s just that we’re at the end of the line and when they bring things up here, there are no other stores to defray the cost.”
    Within minutes of Ed sitting, two other men arrived, both wearing wet suits. But they didn’t look the part. Smeeds was tall and trim, the other two looked out of shape with big stomachs, sloping shoulders, and lily-white hands.
    Ed’s first notion that something was wrong came when Frank didn’t show. Smeeds Said he’d gone to the store to get Cindy and some munchies and urged Ed to go ahead, saying that he was expected and that Frank would just hitch a ride with Cindy.  
    The second alarm went off as they pushed the raft into the water. Ed watched as the two newcomers stumbled and bumbled in.
    “Hey, guys—shouldn’t I have a life jacket or something?”
    Smeeds remained at the center handling the oars, looking grim.
    The one with the stomach grinned at his companion. “What’s the matter? Can’t you swim?” They both laughed like the question was some kind of inside joke.
    “Well, yeah. When does my training begin?”
    The miscreant with the sloping shoulders pointed at a large outcropping. “Just the other side of that boulder.”
    Ed looked around, but there was nothing to hang onto. There were several metal rings and a place that looked raw, perhaps from where something had rubbed. But there was no rope.
    When they hit the first rapids, Ed slipped down off the seat in an attempt to lower his center of gravity.
    “Hey, get back on your seat or you’ll throw the boat off.”
    Boat. Throw the boat off. Ed wasn’t sure what was going on, he only knew he had to get out of the raft.
    “Layton, I need to get to shore. I think I’m going to be sick.”
    No matter how much he yelled, he couldn’t get Smeeds’ attention.
    Big Belly came up and sat next to him. “I’m glad you got back up on your seat. It makes it easier.”
    Sloping Shoulders sat on the other side.
    Ed swiveled on his seat to look at each man. “Make what easier?”
    Belly smiled and patted him on the back. “Helping you out of the boat.” For just a minute, Ed felt a wave of relief until he realized that they were headed for a huge hole, a place he’d seen the television rafters stay clear of, a place where the water swirled around at the bottom of a short drop in the river.
    Then he was lifted off the seat and even though he was flailing his arms and screaming, was thrown into the hole.
    Ed’s mind shifted gears from trying to understand why this was happening to him to emergency mode. Before the first hundred gallons of water drove him down, he had taken a gulp of air, and as he descended, he opened his eyes. The bubbles and churning water made it hard to see.  
    Then his feet touched bottom and he let himself drift down further. Squatting, he pushed with all his might. His lungs burned and felt like they might explode. Then there was light and air, but this time he took a mouthful of water with the air before he was driven down again. Back up, he could feel the water slosh in his stomach as he tried to swim. Another gulp of air and he was dragged down. Before he touched bottom, he was pushed back up, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t reach the surface.
    His vision began to close in, but he refused to blow out the air. His lungs screamed orders to the brain, still he refused. The white bubbles and green rush of water were all black and white and he was seeing his environment through a pinhole as his irises begin to shut down from lack of oxygen.  
    His brain shut down and sent the oxygen, what there was of it, to his limbs and Ed felt himself drifting like a stick of driftwood. He lost control of his bowels and bladder and finally gave up the air he’d been hoarding. His eyes were big, but he could not see.  
    Somewhere in his oxygen-deprived brain, it registered that he was going to drown and at that moment he relaxed, surprised and relieved that there was nothing to do but wait.
    The raft