Chapter Two

~ Remy ~

Morning came way too early for this college boy.

I rolled my very unhappy ass out of bed at five o"clock so that I could take a shower because I wasn"t sure when I would get another one. After getting back to my room, I dressed in the clothes I had set aside the day before and then grabbed something to eat.

Yeri had been gone when I woke up so I figured he was finalizing plans to go up to the camp. I didn"t start to worry until it grew closer to six o"clock. Maybe it had been canceled and I could go back to bed.

I could hope anyway.

When the door opened and Yeri walked in, I wasn"t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. "I was worried you wouldn"t make it."

And wouldn"t that be a shame?

Not.

"Let"s get this stuff downstairs," he said as he started grabbing the bags we had packed the previous night. "Don"t forget to bring a hoody and a heavy jacket. You never know what the weather might be like up on the mountain so better to be prepared for both."

I walked over to the closet and grabbed a zipper hoody, pulling it on. I would wear that while packing my jacket. I grabbed my backpack, grunting when I slung it on my back and pulled it on.

Yeri chuckled as he watched my struggle under the heavy pack. "Don"t worry, we don"t have far to hike, just a few miles."

I was going to die.

When we got downstairs and outside, there was a black Jeep Renegade parked out on the street in front of the building. I grew confused when Yeri headed right to it since I knew he didn"t own a vehicle.

"Yeri, where"d you get the Jeep?" I asked.

"I rented it for our trip."

"A Jeep?"

"We"ll need it." Yeri snorted as he waved his hand toward the fancy charcoal grey BMW X7 parked behind it. "I told Brad he would need an all terrain vehicle to get up the dirt road leading to the parking area. That was not what I meant."

It was a pretty fancy car.

"Come on, let"s finish getting the bags down here."

I absently nodded as I walked over to the Jeep. I set my backpack down near the rear of the vehicle and then walked to the front to take my hoody off and put in the front passenger seat.

I was claiming it now.

It took two trips for Yeri and me to get everything we had packed downstairs and get our dorm room locked up. Yeri handed out the extra bags we had packed for everyone before packing our stuff into the back of the Jeep. When Akio arrived, Yeri packed his backpack in the jeep as well.

I guess they were riding with us.

"I think Levi and Olivia are riding with Brad and Margot," Yeri said. "We just need to wait for Charlie and Cindy to get here and then we can be on the road."

I hoped they brought a better vehicle than a BMW.

I opened the passenger door and hopped up into the seat, leaving the door open so I could turn sideways and hang my legs out, resting my feet on the black step bar attached to the underside of the vehicle.

"You ever been up there?"

I glanced over to find Akio standing beside the Jeep. I shook my head. "No, but Yeri"s told me a lot about it."

Akio looked a little hesitant before asking, "It"s it true that we have to use an outhouse?"

I grinned as I nodded. "That"s what I heard."

Akio shuddered.

I knew just how he felt.

"You got your backpack?"

"Yeri brought me one yesterday and told me what to pack." A frown appeared between Aiko"s almond colored eyes. "I"m not sure why I need a tent if we"re going to be sleeping in a cabin."

I shrugged because I really didn"t know either. "Yeri knows more about this stuff than I do. If he says we need a tent, I"d believe him."

I hadn"t been looking forward to camping even if it was in a cabin. I was looking forward to camping in a tent even less. Where was a good five star hotel room when I needed it?

Room service was a thing, people.

"Looks like Carmine, Charlie, and Cindy are here," I said when a newer blue Ford Bronco pulled up behind Brad"s car. It wasn"t a Jeep, but at least it was better than a BMW for mountain travel.

I was right. Carmine, Charlie, and Cindy climbed out of the Bronco. Carmine had a backpack which he carried over and set down at the back of the Jeep.

"I"m riding with you guys." He nodded his head back toward Charlie and Cindy. "Those two don"t need to go camping. They need a motel room."

I glanced at them, curious. Okay, I could see it I guess. I hadn"t spent that much time with Charlie, but I considered Cindy one of my closer friends. I did notice the flirty looks Cindy kept giving Charlie, who seemed very interested.

I could see the appeal. Charlie was a stunning man. Very "boy next door", and that was nice, but he just wasn"t my type of man. I liked my men tall, muscular, maybe a little on the rough side, and gay. They especially had to be gay.

That part was very important.

"Here." I handed Carmine one of the bags of supplies Yeri and I had packed the night before. "Yeri and made some care kits for everyone."

"What"s in here?" Carmine asked as he lifted the bag a couple of times. "Feels like bricks."

I chuckled because he was right. Those damn bags were heavy. "Some extra rations, water, medical supplies, toilet paper, things like that."

"Brought toilet paper but forgot a medical kit."

"Can never have too much toilet paper." I shuddered at the very idea. "Yeri mentioned something about moss and twigs or some such shit."

Carmine leaned in closer to me and asked in a low voice, "Is it true that we have to use an outhouse?"

Akio and I both nodded.

"It"s true," I added.

"Huh." Carmine cocked his head. "I"ve never used an outhouse before."

I doubted many of us had. "I"d advise checking it for snakes before sitting down." I had heard some real horrors stories from Yeri.

"Okay, everyone is here," Yeri said in a loud voice. "Let"s mount up. We have a bit of a drive in front of us."

I waited for Aiko and Carmine to climb into the back of the jeep before getting into my seat and putting on my seatbelt. Safety first and all that stuff.

I wasn"t looking forward to this little road trip. I was sure the drive would be nice, but I wasn"t sure what kind of condition I would be in for the hike afterwards.

Once we were on the road, I reached over and turned on the radio. I kept the volume low in case anyone—minus the driver—wanted to sleep. Most people tended to try and sleep through long drives.

I knew I would probably pass out at some point, but I wasn"t there at the moment. I wasn"t jittery exactly, but I wasn"t exactly relaxed either. Something was jittering along my nerves, but damn if I knew what it was.

"Tell me more about this swimming spot you mentioned."

"You mean the swimming hole?" Yeri asked.

Wasn"t that the same thing?

I nodded anyway.

"Well, like I said, it"s just down the trail from the cabins. I think my grandfather built them up the hill because that creek turns into a raging river when the snow melts."

"Has it ever reached the cabins?"

"Not that I know of," Yeri replied. "The creek is down in like this little valley I guess you could say. You have to take the trail up the hill to get to the cabins."

"They"re on a hill?"

"No, no, the cabins are built on flat land. It"s just higher than the creek."

"Okay, so tell me more about this swimming hole."

"It"s the most glorious waterfall you"ve ever seen in your life and it drops into this huge swimming hole about the half the size of a basketball court. And the water is so crisp and clear that you can see all the way to the bottom."

That really sounded nice.

"How cold is it?"

Yeri"s mischievous chuckle was enough to tell me that I was probably going to freeze my balls off if I went into that water.

"The nice thing about this place is that it is totally off the beaten path," Yeri said. "You basically don"t know about the place unless someone takes you up there. The creek is on maps, of course, but the campground and the swimming hole are not."

My eyes widened just a bit. "The campground isn"t on a map?"

"Nope." Yeri shook his head. "Oh sure, the land is in my family"s name, but my great-great-grandfather built those cabins before building permits were a thing. And since you have to hike in, and the camp is built in the middle of a forest, it"s another one of those things that you don"t know about unless someone shows you."

"Why would your grandfather do that?"

Yeri glanced at me for a brief second. "Do what?"

"Build these cabins all the way up here?"

"Like I told you, my great-great-grandfather built these cabins after he got home from the war. He wanted a place where he could get the family away from all the hustle and bustle of city life."

"Yeah, but..." This seemed a little extreme.

"You have to remember, after World War II there was a lot of paranoia about the communists and atomic weapons. I never knew my great-great-grandfather, but from what my great-grandfather said, his father wanted a place in the middle of nowhere that his family could hide in case the Red Menace ever invaded."

I lifted an eyebrow. "The Red Menace?"

"That"s what my great-great-grandfather called communists." Yeri"s eyes rolled dramatically. "Apparently, they were everywhere back in the late forties and fifties."

I"d read something about that in my history books, but it had faded under all my other classes. "So, he built a retreat in the middle of nowhere to escape the Communists."

Yeri snorted. "Pretty much."

"And later generations of your family turned it into a vacation spot."

"Yep," Yeri replied with a heavy emphasis on the "p".

Yeah, okay.

The rest of the drive was a mix of chatting, listening to music, taking in the view, resting, and wondering if we were there yet. We made two pit stops along the way for gas, munchies, and so we can use a regular bathroom for the last time in a week. After getting a smell of the gas station bathroom, I almost preferred an outhouse.

By the time Yeri parked the Jeep in a small open area at the end of a dirt road, I was more than ready to see the outside of the vehicle.

My butt was numb.

"Well, this is it," Yeri said as he turned the engine off. "We"re walking from here."

Oh, yippee.

I grabbed my hoody and climbed out of the Jeep, going around to the back so I could get my backpack. The other two vehicles pulled up next to the Jeep, music blaring from the BMW.

After opening up the back of the Jeep, I pulled my backpack out. It was a little after noon, but I could already tell it was going to warm up today so I put my hoody inside my backpack for later use. If I needed it, it would be easy to get to.

I rolled my eyes when I heard Margot"s shrill voice. I don"t know what crap she was spouting, but the woman did not sound happy. She probably chipped a nail.

If I had been straight before, women like her would have made me gay.

I pulled out the rest of the backpacks and set them on the ground next to the wheel of the Jeep while Yeri went over to talk to the others. I had no desire to even speak with them.

This was going to be a very long week.