This is the war story that was wildly popular at the 2nd WWn and the iSoaker forums. THis is the original, and the biggest. I will try to update about once a week or every other week.



The Battle for the Whitehead Mountains

Copyright©2003 Andrew DeCoster

Written be Andrew DeCoster
10-25-03



A soft yellow sun settled over the horizon. The light turned a dark red, and a blanket of darkness spread over the town of Hanson, California. I watched this all from our house’s porch on Richards Avenue. Located about 35 miles northeast of Oakland, Hanson, was a quiet suburban town. 45 streets of pure two story, Spanish tiled roofed colonials. Each one had a minivan and a sleek sedan in the driveway. The houses almost looked the same apart from the address numbers. The town consisted of Food 4 Less, a movie theater, and a small mall off the freeway. The free way lay to the west of Hanson, stretching up to Oakland and the Bay Area, and stretching down, nipping Los Angeles. To the east lay the Whitehead Mountains, inadequately named mountains, due to the fact they were merely foothills, paling in comparison to the towering Sierra Mountains behind them. The mountains were densely covered in Coniferous pine which blanketed the yellow hills with a dense green cover. A Red Tailed hawk swooped overhead in a loose arch pattern, circling the ground for unwary prey. A tree nearby exploded with sparrows, and a rabbit shot out from under a dense bush. This was my home, and I was happy here.

The year was 2005 and I was 15 years old. I attended Hanson High. All of this may seem good, but the best was coming. My friends and I had developed a small team around two years ago. We nicknamed it the Aqua Warriors. We used water guns (super soakers) to engage the only other fortified team in the area, the Red Vipers. We usually had our “wars” in the small forest behind Hanson called Jacobs Forest. Then forest was bordered by a picnic area, and a small playground, but past that, where the trails and hiking paths did not go, lay 8 square acres of basically untouched forest. There was a lot of leaves cover, and there were a lot of bushes. Many of the trees was pine, which were excellent to climb, but stunk in the tree house building objective, we had pursued this goal from the start of our organization, and the goal was now finished. The last nail had been driven in two weeks ago, and our team was eager to go back and play on it. But the weather had stopped us; It had been raining on and off for the past few weeks, and only today did the rain stop and the sun shine through to start to dry the place off. Our main concern was that the roof was leak proof, but we were confident in our structure. It was vital to have a strong out post in Jacob’s forest that rivaled the one the Red Vipers had built a year earlier. In all of our matched we were crushed, not because of lack of ammunition, weaponry, or skill, but due to the fact they ad a major tree house bordered by a trench and a small fence. It just wasn’t fair, until we finish ours. Our walls had been made with ¾ inch thick oak boards that could survive 20 mph winds. The roof and been made of 6 strong slabs of wood that met in the center to form a point, and runoff for rain water. There were two doors, a main door and a trap door, and a small but sturdy walk around porch. There was a rope ladder to get to the main door, and another to reach the trap door, that could be brought in. There were four windows, one on each side, and it was to our surprise when we found out that we could put actual glass windows in the frames. The tree house had no electricity or running water. But they were two battery powered lights. We kept non perishable food up there for eating, and bottled water. The trap door both had a deadbolt to lock them, and the main door had a lock to lock from the outside. When we left we had rolled the rope ladder on both entrances up, and locked the doors. Our tree house was safe secure, and best of all, high. It stood approximately 30 feet off the ground, and was surrounded by trees on all sides. It was as we had imagined. The next day was Saturday. My alarm started beeping at 8:30 in the morning. It was unusual for a high school kid to wake up that early on a weekend, but my teammates and I were no normal teenagers. We were teenagers with a tree house! I took a quick shower, got dressed in blue shorts and an orange T-Shirt (It was the middle of June), pulled on my Nikes and fed my dog. My dog streak was a part German Shepard, and part Sheltie. She wagged her tail enthusiastically as I opened the door and let her out. She never barked. Usually I would walk her, but today I pulled out my 21 speed Diamond- back, and let her run beside me. My bike ran smoothly over the cracks in the sidewalk as I cut across Richards Avenue and over to Hector Street. My friend Rob met me outside his house at 3879. He was already on his bike and together we rode off toward Maxwell Avenue with streak in the lead. It always amazed me how fast she could run. At 3476 Maxwell Avenue, My other friend Jake opened his door. His Cocker Spaniel, Sara, darted out and immediately started to smell my dog. They got along great. He got out his own bike and we ushered Sara inside. Once that was done, we rode off in the direction of Ivy Street, the road in front of Jacob’s forest. When we got there the place was empty except for a woman jogging and about twenty squirrels darting all over the place. We rode through the benches near the front and into the forest. We followed the main Trail, which lead the deepest in, and when the trail turned back, we kept going, avoiding trees along the way. After about a 5 minute bike ride, we found a small beaten path that we had made our selves, and followed it. In about two minutes, it led to a huge pine. In front of the pine was a clearing, and in the middle of that stood our tree house. We quietly got off of our bike and leaned them against the huge pine. We started to jog towards the tree house, while Streak ran around the tree with a large branch in her mouth. I went up the rope ladder, and when I go to the top, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

The place was just as I had left it. The roof hadn’t leaked, and the place was dry and warm. A huge shag rug covered the middle of the room, and the wooded boards that made up the rest of the floor were cold, but sturdy. A small beanbag chair was in one corner, and a small black and white battery powered TV stood on an overturned cardboard box. A chair sat in front of a small cabinet which held most of our things. A large bin on the floor, held our soakers, and the larger CPS were hung from hooks on the walls. In the middle, stood the prize of our possessions: a small couch. One team member’s (Lee) father worked at a furniture store and gave us the old one for free. It had been hell getting it into the tree house, we had to use pulleys, but once there, it looked great. I had just started towards the window when Jake and Rob opened the door. They stepped in, and gazed in wonder at our construction. The plopped down on the floor in front of the TV and began to play cards. In the next ten minutes, two more team members showed up, Aadit and Sean. Next Matt came in. Soon, so did Lee. We were only missing one now, Fred, our heavy gunner. He had fractured his ankle last weekend skateboarding, and wasn’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon. So, apart from Fred, the gang was all here. The unanimously elected leader was Rob because of his strength, bravery, and cunning in the field. I was the sort of second in command. Aadit was the long distance gunner (a sniper) because of his steady had. Sean was our scout since he was the fastest and the smallest. Jake, Lee, Matt, and I were the grunts of the force, but Lee specialized in mechanics he was known to open up and put back together a CPS in under 8 minutes. This was our group, and we had trained near perfection. Our weaponry consisted of:

CPS:
2000 (customized by Fred not in use)
2000
2500
2500(specially modified with a smaller nozzle and more power for Aadit)
3200
4x 1000(for the grunts)
3x 1200(for the grunts)
And one painted CPS 1700 for Rob, our leader.

XP:
4x 70
300
5x 310
4x 270

SC:
2x 500
2x 600
Power Pak

This was our artillery, and if you think that was a lot, you should see the Red Vipers artillery. They had 12 people, and a half more weaponry than we did. The only thing that stopped them from winning was their stupid Jock leader, Brian Jennings. He made stupid adrenaline filled charges all the time, and the only smart thing he ever did was build there tree house, and the only reason he did that was with major advisement from their chief engineer, Tom Higgins.

When everyone was gathered, in the middle of the tree house, I spoke to them from in front of the TV. “The Red Vipers have held power for too long!” I yelled. “Today with our new tree house, and our skill, we will over run the Red Vipers and leave none of them dry!” As I finished, our team cheered and clapped excited, as Rob stepped forward. “New intelligence reports have shown the Brian Jennings’s family might be moving to Colorado. If so, then the RV’s would need to elect a new leader. In the past, we have seen that they usually elect leaders for brawn and not brains. But this is something new. They have elected Samuel Green.” No one showed recognition to the name. “He is new to this area, moving from West Virginia. Today is his first day in charge, and I propose an attack to show him what we got! Who’s with me?!” Everyone stood up. “Sit down. Now Green was elected two days ago, and the first thing he did was start to work on his base’s defense system. He dug trenches, put up fencing, and we also think he stationed his men in various tactical positions. He seems much smarter than Brian, but let’s hope not. I want two men staying behind to guard. Aadit and Lee.” There went our sniper and mechanic. “The rest follow me. Move out!”
We followed Rob down the rope ladder and met him at the bottom. “Now, chances are the campers (our nickname for the Red Vipers which is abbreviated to RV which is a camper) aren’t even there yet. It’s just a raid. I want Matt to be point. Andrew take front right, I’ll take left. I want Jake to guard our rear Sean, take center. Let’s move!” We moved away from the clearing keeping about two meters away from each other.

Matt stayed ahead with a 1200 draped along one shoulder. Tyler pointed his 1700 in the left direction. I cautiously moved my 1000 back and forth.

We followed a path parallel to Eagle’s path, one of the hiking trails. Eventually, Eagle’s path turned away, and we started off into the denser part of the woods near the edge of Sky Valley. The Sky valley is a basing between two hills, one being known as the Eagle’s nest, for no apparent reason since eagles never nested there, and the other lacking a name but a small hill leading up to the Whitehead Mountains. Back in the 50’s and 60’s hippies used the place as a meeting ground, and in the 70’s it was a camping area for a while. In 1973 however, the camping ground was closed, because it was ruining the natural wildlife’s habitat. None went there anymore, but the Aqua Warrior’s and the RV’s staged some pretty dramatic fights along this basin. Past the Sky Valley, lay Blue Stone River. The river was one of the last unpolluted rivers in the Hampton area, and the river was cool, clean, and fresh. Down the river, near the park, families would sometimes, swim in the river, but no one swam up here. It left the river all to the RV’s and Aqua Warriors. There was a big rock, and sometimes we would jump off of it into the deep water. A huge fallen red wood tree had created a very sturdy bridge across the 12 foot wide river. Most could swim across, and in a lot of areas, the river was so shallow, you could walk, but if you didn’t want to get wet, you could just walk across. The Aqua Warriors did not want to get wet. When they crossed the river they headed up the shore a bit towards the towering mountains. A cool mountain breeze billowed, carrying the sweet scent of forest pine wafting in the air. We headed up the rocky shore, and turned into a small path leading deeper into the forest. We walked for about a minute east, when we saw through a clump of trees, an outpost. Built on top of a ledge of dirt, the out post was basically just a box on struts with a railing, and a small roof. Just big enough for two people, we saw no one there, and heard nothing. They continued past the out post and followed the River. The “river” was not really a river with water, but a dried up river basin, with eroding shores. Beating and cutting a path, was hard work, and the River proved helpful, when one wanted to move quickly. They followed quietly until they spotted a redwood. This huge tree marked the clearing where they’re base was.


As we went around the tree, we saw their tree house. It was a large tree house, larger than ours, but closer to the ground. It held a main floor and a tiny observation booth for one person above. One rope ladder dangled from a small balcony, and other, than a main door, there did not seem to be any other entrances. The place was deserted, and the only sounds came from the birds and the forest wildlife. Rob moved back and spoke quietly to Matt. Matt dashed forward, grabbed the ladder and dashed up it. In two seconds he was at the door. He pushed against the knob, and the door swung open noiselessly. His mouth dropped in surprise and he look at Rob for further instructions. The obviously were not expecting the door to be unlocked. Rob pulled out a walkie talkie, and switched to a private channel. “Matt, come in! This is Rob. I want you to enter cautiously, and look around. If you see anything interesting, report back to me. Over and Out.” Matt flashed him a thumbs up sign, and put away his walkie talkie. He slowly entered and closed the door. We waited for a bout ten seconds, when I heard a creaking sound and a spray on my back. I turned around in time to see Sean stagger forward, a 5 inch diameter spray mark on his back. “Evasive action!” Rob cried. “The place is hot!” Jake turned around and sidestepped in back of a tree. I pulled behind an old oak tree, and Rob pulled Sean behind a ledge. I saw a kid my age clothed in red and white, dash down carrying a 2000. “Uno with a Missile!” I cried our code words for one person with a heavy weapon ex. A 2000 or 2500. Rob pulled up and fired a shot through some dense bush. I saw a red movement past an oak tree about 10 yards away. I yelled to Jake, “You’re 3 o’clock!” He turned around and blasted the area. I heard a suppressed cry of surprise, and gave Jake the thumbs up sign. Suddenly I felt a shot slam into my lower back, and the cold drip of water. I turned around and blasted the guy who shot me but he moved and I missed. I saw Rob stand up and chuck a water balloon at the guy who hit me. He fell to the ground, and crawled away. Rob was easily the strongest person on our team, and perhaps one of the strongest in our entire school. I wouldn’t want to get hit by a water balloon thrown by him.

Two guys jumped out from behind a clump of Fir tree and started blasting away with a pair of 2100s. Rob signaled Jake and me to cover as he and Sean ran for the river. We followed in close pursuit. As we backed away the guys with the 2100’s followed us. One got a clear shot that nicked my shoulder. Jake shot him and he fell behind. As we pulled away, Jake tripped on a tree root and fell backwards. I ran over to him and knelt down to help him as I lowered my blaster and shot the other guy. He fell back and took cover behind a tree. I pulled Jake up and we ran off after Rob and Sean. As we got to the middle of the River, we started to run up the path in the direction of the mountains. We were heading for another deserted outpost further up the River. We headed for it in hope of taking shelter behind it. As we got near it, two guys got up from behind us and opened fire. We dodged the rain of shots and took cover behind two trees on separate sides. I was with Sean and Rob was with Jake. I leaned down and whispered to Sean, “Run real fast and draw their fire. I’ll try to pick them off. He ran off and I heard the squeak of shots. I leaned around the tree and fired two quick shots at the guy on the right. I noticed he was holding a CPS 2000 before I turned back around. I hoped Sean was running really fast. I saw Rob lean around and fire off a couple shots with his 1700 at the guy on the right. I heard a cry of surprise as the other guy took off. Now it was 4 guys on the dude with the 2000. I leaned around and saw that he was furiously trying to pump the 2000 back up to pressure. This was my chance. I leaned around and squeezed the trigger as hard as I could. Nothing. The gun was empty. Aside from a bit of mist exiting the orange nozzle, nothing. I gulped as I realized that I was far into the open now, too confident about my gun’s abilities had had stepped out about 3 meters form the tree. I looked up. The guy with the 2000 was done pumping and was looking at me with a menacing gleam to his eye. I knew that the 2000 was fully pressurized. He raised the gun and fired. But the shot missed by about 4 feet. It is a bit hard to aim when you get hit point blank in the back with a modified CPS 2000. As the guy fell down, the wind knocked out of him, I saw Fred standing behind him with his prized CPS 2000 clutched in one hand. I ran forward to thank him. “Hey Fred!” I cried enthusiastically. “Hey man!” He waved and we high fived each other. “Fred I though you’re ankle was fractured.” I looked behind me and saw Rob loping up. “Yeah, it was,” answered Fred. “But it was only a hairline fracture.” For the first time I looked down to his right leg. Below the khaki shorts, was a white brace covering his lower shin. “How did you get out here?” asked Jake. “My mom drove me out here after I saw you guys leave. She dropped me off on the other side of the river where the trails end. You guys were not that hard to find.”
“Will you be able to play some more?” I asked. “Probably.” He answered grinning. “My leg doesn’t hurt at all as long as if I don’t fall on it, and I can run and everything. I was going to ride my bike over here, but my tires were flat.”
“Well, it’s good to have you back.” smiled Rob.
“Good to be back.”


* * * * *


After the small war, we trudged back to our tree house without further confrontation. Along the way, we talked about the RV’s new leader.
“Sounds like he smart.” Answered Fred thoughtfully, after we had updated him on what was happening. “He is.” answered Rob. “I checked him out. Comes from Winston private school in Freedman West Virginia. Basically a straight A student. His mom works at the mall with my mom. His dad is in the military. Let’s hope that he doesn’t have the same skills that hid dad might have.” We all laughed at that one. “Well, at least we have one thing to loom forward to. This is the last week of school!” Jake shouted. We all cheered. An entire two months of fun, sun and water warfare. I was looking forward to it. As we crossed sky valley, Fred spoke up. “Hey, I haven’t seen the completed tree house yet.”
“That’s right,” Rob said, “We got to show him!” We walked in silence for a few minutes before nearing the tree house.
“This is it!” Sean exclaimed. Aadit was on the round throwing a stick and playing with Streak. Lee was on a log nearby examining the components of an opened up CPS 2700. “Hey guys!” Fred shouted. Lee looked up and smiled. He ran over to greet us. As Aadit came over he looked curiously at the huge wet spot on my shirt. “I thought it was going to be a small mission.”
“There was a CPS 2000.” I explained quickly. “Ahh. That explains it,” he turned his gaze to Fred, “hey Fred, what happened with your ankle?” Fred explained it to him, and Aadit was glad that he would be able to fight along side us again. Lee spoke up, “Hey guys! Look what I found at the dump yesterday.” He gestured towards the 2700.
“Who in their right mind would throw away something like that?” Jake asked. “Not me,” I spoke. “I used to have one and they are real good guns.”
“One more blaster to our arsenal.” Rob said simply. We started to head up the rope ladder to the tree house. “Will it hold all seven of us?” Fred asked curiously as we advanced. “Easily.” Jake answered. We got into the tree house and grouped on the rug. Lee was the last one in. “So what do we do now?” Jake asked Rob. “I’m not sure,” Rob said quietly, “I didn’t expect them to be prepared for us. This leader is something new. He seems to be way smarter than Brian, so we have to keep our eyes open for anything new he might try to pull. All we can pray for is that he doesn’t know about the tree house yet. Surprise is always a good thing to have on your side.”
“What about recruiting some more members?” Sean asked. “I don’t know,” Rob continued, “The members we have now are the some of the best I have ever seen.” We all grinned. “And I don’t think I could hope for better. Eight is plenty for now, and we should focus more on improving what we got not getting more than what we need. “Quality over quantity,” Rob repeated his favorite lines. “The next meeting will be next Tuesday at 3:30. Meet here after school. If your folks aren’t okay with it, make sure to tell me by Monday.” We all agreed and started to pack up. “And one more thing,” Rob blurted. “Try to keep out of trouble. Something tells me a big fight is coming up, and I don’t want any of you stuck in detention missing it. We are going to need all of you if it does happen.” We exited and slowly climbed down the rope ladder. I climbed on my bike and clapped my hands together. Streak ran over and we headed off to my house with Jake with me.

As I turned into the driveway, my little brother stepped out of the house. He was accompanied by his friend Chris. I waved to them before walking my bike into our garage. Jake did the same. We walked into my house. E very houses structure was the same in our town, so Jake knew where everything was. He headed to my room and waved to my mom as they passed each other in the hall. She waved back. She was used to my friends dropping by. As she entered the kitchen I glanced at our microwave clock. It was 11:36. “Hey mom!” I hugged her and she felt the wet spot on my back. “Did you get into another water fight with those red Vipers?” She asked. “Yup.” I smiled. “Well next time you fight them make sure to shoot them once for me.” I smile and shook my head. \Out of most of the mom’s I knew my mom was one that understood the most what we were about. I stopped quickly to feed my dog before heading into my room. Jake was lying on my bed waiting for a game to load up on my TV screen. I sat on the floor and plugged a controller into the Playstation. We played for about 30 minutes before one of our favorite shows came on. American Funniest Home Videos was the greatest, and this time the theme was stupid vacations. It was hilarious. We watched for 30 minutes before the show ended and a boring show about gold fish came on. We switched off the TV and headed out of my room. In the kitchen we made our selves some sandwiches, and headed for our rec room. Our rec room is a room in our basement that has the exercise equipment, a TV a pool table, an air hockey table, and the Kings Chair. The Kings Chair is another gift from lee’s dad. It is and old cloth recliner that is….well….old. It is an ugly green, and it squeaked. My mom thought it was the ugliest thing so she said we could only keep it if we put in the rec room, which only me, my friends, and Tim go in anyway. The thing might be the ugliest thing from the outside, but it the greatest chair ever. When you it in it, you sink about a foot and a half into the old fluff, and the recliner part got loose, so it goes up higher than usual, It’s so comfy, its unreal. We fought for it for awhile before I got it. Jake settled for a blue bean bag. We thought for awhile which movie to watch. Eventually we decided on an old Chinese Kung Foo flick dubbed over in English. We watched the movie and ate our food. The movie had no point to it what so ever, but it was quiet entertaining anyway. After a while, we finished it and brought our plates up stairs. We placed them in the dishwasher. I yelled to my mom in the living room that we were going out. She said okay and we hurried into the garage to get our bikes. In five minutes we were pedaling fast down Main Street, one of the busiest streets in our neighborhood. We kept to the sidewalk, and veered to avoid pedestrians. As we were passing the high school field, we saw the varsity football team practicing. We stopped and pulled over. We watched them for awhile. In 8th grade I had wanted to try out for the high school football team so bad. But my knee had some major problems and I never made it in high school. Now I knew that since I wasn’t on the team, my friends and I had a lot more free time on our hands than the football players did. I stilled played football with my friends, and was pretty athletic, but I just never got the hang of all the rules. We still had a good time though. Playing quarter back in the small scrimmage however, was Brian Jennings. I wondered how he felt now that he wasn’t commander of the RV’s anymore. I couldn’t see his expression from this far away. We pedaled off in the direction of the movie theaters and a seven eleven. Along the way, I spotted Rachel Dafine. I had a major crush on her ever since grade school. Almost everyone knew this. I had always wanted to ask her out, but she was always surrounded by about two gazillion friends and I had figured out that it wasn’t worth it, and when the time came, I would ask. As we passed her she raised her hand and waved. I returned the wave and we continued on. We passed the seven eleven, and saw Daniel Shane walk out. He was part of the Red Vipers, and I didn’t like him very much. We stopped and he walked over to us. He spoke out in a loud, clear voice, “Next Wednesday, something big is going to happen. Do you think you will be up for it?” he did not say anything else and just walked away. Jake and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders as we pedaled off. Little did we know how big this event would really turn out to be.

* * * * *

I was walking in the forest, at nighttime. At least I thought it was night time. It was very dark, and I couldn’t recognize many things. I thought it might have been Jacob’s forest, but it could have been any forest on the planet, for all I knew. Huge pine trees rose out of the darkness, their gnarled and twisted limbs stretching out, as if in an attempt to grab me. I quickened my pace. My mind was a bit cloudy and confused I did not know where I was walking, or what my destination would be. I felt something hard slap against my side. I looked down and noticed that my 1200 was strapped to my shoulder. At least, that was something familiar. I started to hear more crunching sounds. I looked behind me. Rob, Jake, Sean, Aadit, Lee, and Fred were all walking behind me. They were all carrying their super soakers and had blank, vacant expressions on their faces. We were all walking rhythmically, and I wondered what this was about. I did not know what time it was, or for that matter what day, month or year. We continued walking until we got to a muddy ditch. We followed the narrow strip of mud for about two minutes; at least I thought it was two minutes. I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Then we neared a huge fallen red wood tree. Behind the tree, I heard voices. Unfamiliar voices. I raised my soaker out of instinct and training. Suddenly I heard a hiss in the darkness. I turned around and saw Lee fall down with a huge wet spot on his back. He had been shot with a powerful soaker. But from where? I looked around expecting to hear his attacker. But I only saw darkness and shadows. I turned around and gazed at Lee. He still had the vacant expression, as if he didn’t know what had happened. He wasn’t moving, I wondered why he didn’t get up. I heard another hiss, and turned in time to see Fred fall down. Our group scattered. I did not know where they had gone. I hid behind a tree. The mysterious voices and murmurings continued, this time at a much more faster and louder. I looked around for an attacker. I heard another hiss, and a thump. Another of our teammates had fallen. Then I heard crunching from behind me. I turned around, and was met with a blast of water so forceful it knocked me down. I tried to cry out, but I could not open my mouth. My cry rattled throughout my head. I tried to move but I couldn’t. All I could see were shadows, and then blackness …. blackness……… BRING BRING!!!!!!!
I awoke with a start, the horrible dream still vivid in my imagination. I noticed that my bed covers were tangled at the foot of my bed, and that I was extremely sweaty. The fan in my room blew cool air across my bare arms, causing goose bumps to rise. My skin prickled. It had only been a dream. I looked over at my alarm clock. 5:26. Why had I awoken so early? Why did my alarm go off? I didn’t remember setting it. Suddenly memories flowed back through me from last night. I had accidentally knocked over my alarm clock before going to bed. That might have accidentally set it. I reached over and turned off the blaring alarm. I hoped that it hadn’t have waked someone. I opened my window shades and saw that it was still pretty dark out side. The birds were not even chirping yet. In the distance I could here a car, but other than tat, only the sounds of the crickets and the rustling of the wind through the grass. I got up, and slipped on some pants and a sock. It was pretty warm outside, about 65 degrees, so I put on a T-Shirt and went out of my room. The night light in that hall was on, so I didn’t trip going down the hall. I leaned into my brother’s room, and heard his steady snores. As I went downstairs, I stepped lightly on the floor, not wanting to wake my mom, though our thick rug muffled my footsteps. I leaned to my mom’s door and heard her light breathing. She was asleep as well. As I went into our kitchen, my dog looked up from her bed in the corner. She got up and quickly began to pant and claw at me wanting food. I can never keep her asleep. She always wakes up whenever someone is near her, no matter what the time. At least she didn’t bark. I quietly fed her, and leashed her up. As I stepped into the warm, fresh morning, air the smell of summer washed over me as a wave would wash over a rock. I was engulfed by the smell that I was so familiar with. The smell of, cooking, lawns, pools, and fresh flowers. The wind brought everything together, and made into a unique smell, unlike another. Damn, I thought to myself, I am lucky to live here. I gazed off into the distance. I could see the white capped rocky slopes of the Sierra Mountains, rising up closer then one might think. They seemed to be a million miles away, not just a few. I walked Streak around two blocks. I rounded the last corner and walked up my driveway, leading streak inside and following her in. I wrote a quick not to my mom, explaining that I was going on a bike ride into Jacob’s Forest and that I would be back around eight o’clock. I went back outside and shut the door. I went into the garage and strapped on my helmet. I swung onto my bike and pedaled out. I rounded the corner onto Ivy Street. I crossed it and entered Jacobs’s forest; I swerved in and out of the benches and headed into Path 1. As I did so, the sun began to rise, casting a bright orange tint that wavered in the air and illuminated specks of dust, making the entire scene look surreal. I pedaled on. The sun lighted my way, casting long shadows over fallen logs and rocks, as well as warming the air around me, until I felt as though a heavy sweater and been draped around me and pulled tight. I pedaled faster until I met the end of the bend in the trail and continued on dodging trees and bushes. I pulled to a stop in the clearing, and pushed my bike onto its side against the huge tree. I took my helmet off and placed on the handlebars. The sun shone through the clearing brightly, illuminating the ground in an orangey-yellow. I jogged up to the tree house and began to climb up the rope ladder. I reached the top, and climbed onto the porch. I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of the eight keys to the tree house, every person in our army owned. I turned the key in the lock and heard a click. I pushed the door opened and found my self staring at everything just as I had left it. I pulled onto a coach and lay down, my back facing the window so that a ray of sunshine fell across me. I picked up the book I had dropped yesterday, the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I read for about 45 minutes uninterrupted, when I heard in the distance, a cry of a bird, followed by several more chirps. The birds started to sing and the air was filled with their melodic sound as the town awakened. I continued reading until I heard a crunching outside. I got p and looked down to see Lee leaning his bike against mine, his Raiders cap on his head. He walked over to the rope ladder and climbed up he stepped in, and looked at me. “Hey man.” He greeted me. “Hey.”
“I wondered what you were doing here so early.” He asked looking at me. “Just reading I replied holding up the book. “Aah. I see. I was coming to try and fix the 2700. You can continue reading. I shouldn’t be that noisy.” I nodded in acknowledgement, and returned to my book. About 30 minutes later I heard a hiss and a slight spray of water. Lee had evidently gotten the 2700 working again. “Yeah!” He cried. Soon, we will have more guns then the RV’s!” He got up and went to the door. He pumped up and shot a few time just to make sure everything was working. Satisfied, he returned inside and hung it on our wall. “Man that looks good.” He commented. We know had 1000s, 1200s, a 1700, 2000s, 2500s, a 2700, and a 3200, all in order. I got up and went outside. The day was bright and the sun was up. The birds had stopped their morning singing and were now chirping along with the cries and sounds of other forest animals. A breeze of wind ruffled my hair. I glance at my watch. It was 8:15! I yelled and ran inside to tell Lee I had to go. I basically zoomed down to rope ladder and was already pedaling as I strapped on my helmet. In about 5 minutes I broke out of the forest. The wooden picnic tables blurred past me and the wind wiped my face as I turned the corner and rounded onto my street. The last 50 yards zoomed past as I ripped into my driveway barely avoiding my mom’s car and an almost certain concussion. I leaned by bike against the wall, and took off my helmet. I quietly opened the door and slipped into my kitchen. My dog was sitting on the living room floor scratching herself, and the TV was on. I stepped into the living room and saw that the TV was switched to cartoons, and my brother was wrapped in a blanket curled up on the coach watching the TV with groggy eyes. He had just awoken. I stepped into the hallway and saw that my mom was pulling clothes out of the dryer in the laundry room. I stepped up behind her. She turned around and gave me the look that only mothers can give hat tells you that she loves you, is concerned about you, and that you are about to get grounded. But she loved you. I opened my mouth to speak but she silenced it with a hand gesture. “You’re 30 minutes late young man.”
“I lost track of time…”
“No, that isn’t an excuse. Do you know how much can happen in 30 minutes?” I decided not to say anything. “A lot can happen. You could have been kidnapped, killed, or worse……” I wondered what was worse. “I’ don’t want to punish you since it was an honest mistake, but next time, try to keep track of time. Now help me with the laundry.” My mom made me drag three loads of laundry into the living room. By that time, the TV was off and my brother was on the ground playing with Legos. “A little help would be appreciated Tim.”
“You need a little help keeping track of time.” He said simply.
Finally there was no laundry left, so I jumped over the coach and turned on the TV. I switched to a News Station. All my friends tease me because I watch the news willingly, but I think it is sometimes interesting. And what I saw then was way more interesting then a video game. They were talking about a slush avalanche at Windbreak ski resort, on the other side of the closet Sierra Mountain. I had been there twice before, and knew how steep the slopes were. Even in June, the slopes were layered with tons of snow, but, with the warmer weather, the snow had started to melt. It turns into slush with is much more susceptible to an avalanche than regular snow, and is almost just as deadly. They showed aerial views of two destroyed homes near the ski resort, and they said 4 homes had been destroyed. They said that no one had been killed, but one man was in the hospital with a broken leg, and two were still missing. Jeez, I thought. Glad I wasn’t there. I switched off the TV. I got off the coach. My mom was in the kitchen writing a letter to my grandmother. I went to the fridge and pulled out some water. I poured my self a glass and downed it with one gulp. We went to church later, and after that came home. I called up Rob but he wasn’t home, and neither was Jake or Aadit. Sean was at his Aunts this week, and I forgot Lee’s number. I didn’t know Fred’s. So I just sat around all day. Doing. Nothing.

I welcomed the morning. I had fallen asleep extremely fast, and was glad to be in school, with something to do. In the morning, I took a shower, walked Streak, and ate a quick breakfast before dashing ff to the bus stop. I met Aadit and Jake there, since they lived closest to me. We made jokes and talked about homework. Our bus was late as usual and our bus driver was surlier than ever. We showed our passes and clambered three quarters of the ay down. Almost no one rides our bus. Only about twenty people and our stop had the most; 11. We didn’t ride in the back because it rocked too much, and we didn’t ride in the front because all the little ids on their way to elementary and middle school rode up there. Out of the twenty people on our bus, 5 are high school: Jake, Aadit, me, and two jocks in 11th grade. There were 10 people in sixth grade, two in seventh and sometimes 3 sometimes 2 in eighth. The bus ride was long and, as usual, we were late for homeroom. We got into our school, and dashed up the front steps. Inside, we opened up our lockers and slammed our stuff inside. Over the intercom we heard the familiar, “Bus five has just arrived, and I repeat bus five has just arrived. Please excuse nay students who ride bus five.” We closed our lockers just in time for the swarm of people to burst out of homeroom heading for first period. I allowed myself to be swept with the current of the crowd which carried me to my first period class, Trigonometry. It was my worst class, and our teacher, Mr. Dunham was so boring. He repeated the same things over in a mono tone voice until the words were drilled into our heads and we could repeat them in our dreams. After a nightmarish first period, I had to walk against the current of the crowd, which made me late for my second period History. As I opened the door, our teacher Mr. hector turned around from the board and looked at me irritably. “Let me guess, what is the excuse this time, Mr. DeCoster?” I replied with my usual sarcasm, “Let’s just say that there is a major undertow in the beach of education. I think we should hire some life guards.” A lot of kids chuckled, but were silenced my Mr. Hector’s icy gaze. “Sit down, Mr. DeCoster.” I took my usually seat next to Aadit, and opened up my binder. The lesson was very boring, and once again, I was swept into the crowd out side of the classroom. I think the crowd had a mind of its own. My next class was gym, and lucky for me, we were playing dodge ball. Great way to blow off some anxiety. Midway through the game, I took a dodge ball and yelled, “This is for the stupid crowds!” before I chucked it at Mike Tyrone, a big jock on the football team. Everyone who knew the joke laughed, and even those who didn’t, chuckled a few times. The day went by slowly, and boringly, and nothing exciting happened until last period, reading. I saw Rob across the room gesturing for me to come over. I pretended to go over to the waste bin to throw something away and he slipped a note into my hand on the way back. As I sat down, I pulled my text book out and opened up the note, pretending to read the text book instead. In Rob’s untidy scrawl was the words,

An RV came up to me in the hall and said something was happening next Wednesday. Got a clue what they were talking about? I don’t. Anyway, I’ll meet you after school to talk about it.

I nodded to Rob to show I understood, and waited until the end of school top talk about it. We met in the big green outside of school underneath the statue of a huge book entitled reading is learning. Learning is knowledge. Pretty stupid, eh? “So what about this thing on Saturday?” Rob asked. “Jake and I saw Dan Shane last Saturday. He said something about something big happening next Saturday. We don’t have a clue what he was talking about.” U shrugged my shoulders. “Well, we should be on our guard,” Rob explained, “We need to expect anything and everything. Are you going to make it Tuesday?” He asked. “Yeah, probably. Ill ask my mom tonight, and call you up if I can’t make it.”
“Good. I am going to bring this, Saturday thing, up in our meeting. See you tomorrow. Bye.” We waved to each other, and I headed for the parking lot. I found my bus and boarded it. Jake was already sitting midway down the bus with Aadit. I sat across from them. Along the 30 minute bumpy bus ride home, we worked on homework and joked around. Finally the bus screeched to our stop and we clambered off. We headed our separate ways, as the bus roared off. I pushed open the screen door to hear the familiar squeak. I pushed my backpack onto the counter in our kitchen and went into the living room. My brother was on the floor doing his homework. My mom was on the couch filling out some papers. I went up to her. “Hey, mom.” I hugged her, “Can I go to the tree house tomorrow after school. We are having a meeting.”
“When are you coming back by?”
“I don’t know. Sometime around 5 I guess. I’m going to do my homework there, and I won’t miss supper.”
“Very well. I guess I can let you go.”
“What are you filling out?”
“Change of address forms. We are moving.” She laughed at my shocked face. “I was just kidding Andrew. Lighten up. Go and do your homework. After that I need some help in the lawn.” I grudgingly agreed, and went downstairs to the basement. I plopped down on the floor in front of the King’s Chair and opened up b back pack. Homework was light tonight and I was done in about an hour. I zipped up my backpack and went upstairs. I went into my room and threw the pack onto my bed before heading outside. My mom was already out there, mowing the lawn. She turned the machine off so I could here her. “Honey, I just need you to weed my flowers, and then you’re done.” I headed over to the tool shed to get a weedier and a kneeler. I set the bright blue foam down in front of the right side of the rose garden, and dug the weedier into the soft soil. I raked through it and in about 10 minutes had a moderately big pile of leaves next to me.
The next day flew by, and before I knew it, I was walking back with Lee, Sean, Aadit, Fred, Jake, and Rob. Sean was on his bike, but we kept up with him. We slowly made our way from the high school, to Jacob’s forest. Long the way we went to our houses to get bikes, but always stayed together. We finally reached the forest. The trees loomed over us and the sun hone green through their dense leaves, and illuminated the ground in a weird kind of way. We hurried our pace anxious to get to the tree house. We finally reached the clearing. We headed up the rope ladder, and gathered in front of the sofa. Rob stood up and addressed us all. He quickly explained the situation to them. Eventually he got to what we were doing today. “Sean I want you to scout out the RV’s tree house. I want you to check on any and all activity they might be up to. Report through the walkie talkie. I will not contact unless you contact, and try to avoid confrontation. If you are not back in the next 45 minutes I will send a search party out. Take an xp 270 with you just in case. He nodded and picked up a walkie talkie and an xp 270 on his way out. “I’m on channel four” he said before he left. “Okay, so where does that leave us?” asked Lee. “We are going to do our homework.” Rob answered. We all sighed. A bit ironic really. What had we expected we were going to do? We sat down and began our homework. Lee is the smartest one out of all of us and was done in about 10 minutes. I was in the middle of a history assignment involving the Gulf War when the walkie talkie next to Rob cackled to life. “Rob here,” Rob answered picking it up, “What is happening?”
“I went to their base and they are building something. I see building materials allover the place. Tools, materials. Nails. Lots of two by fours. And ply wood. I can see that they were walking in the River. Heading up it towards the mountains. I don’t know what they were building. Nobody is around. What do I do know?”
“Come back. We will investigate tomorrow.”
“Gotcha. Over and out.” Rob placed down the walkie talkie and started again on his homework. About 10 minutes later, Sean clambered up the ladder. “Hey guys. What do you think they were building?”
“I don’t know,” Rob admitted, “But it sounded big.”
I had no idea just how big it would actually be.

* * * * *

The next day was Wednesday, and school was a blur. As soon as I got home I opened up my backpack and worked furiously on my homework. I wanted to be done in case the group wanted another meeting. After I was done, I called up my mom on her cell phone. She said that she had a late meeting and would be home at 4:30. My mom was a school supervisor, so I was used to late meetings. As soon, as I hung the phone back up on the wall, it started to ring again. I picked up and answered, “Decoster residence.”
“Hey chief.” There was only one person in the entire world who calls me chief. A smile broke out on my face. “Uncle Dan!”
“The one and the only!” he chuckled. “So how old are you, I keep forgetting.”
“Fifteen.”
“Jeez, you’re almost as old as me. And I have Medicare.” He laughed again. He actually didn’t have Medicare; he was only 40, the youngest of my dad’s brothers, who was 51 right now. “So, is your mom home?”
“Nope, at a meeting.”
“Just as well, I wanted to talk to you anyways.”
“I’m all ears.”
“What do you think about visiting me next weekend? We can spend the weekend together; maybe go fishing at Gillman’s lake. What do you say?”
“Yeah! Sounds like a lot of fun! I’ll ask my mom when she gets home and call you back.”
“Sure. Talk to you later. Bye.”
“Bye.”

30 minutes later, I heard the rumble of tires on pavement as my mom pulled into the driveway. She opened up the car door and stepped out. I opened up the door and rushed out to meet her.
“Hi, honey!” She cried out, giving me a big hug. “Hey mom, Uncle Dan called. He wanted to know if I could go up to visit him this weekend. Can I?”
“I don’t see why not. Why don’t you call him back up and tell him you will be coming.”
“Thanks mom!”
I rushed inside and quickly dialed his number. He wasn’t there so I left a message. I then proceeded to call up Rob. “Hey.” He answered.
“Hey, I’ll be going to my uncle Dan’s this weekend. I just wanted to tell you.”
“What day?”
“Saturday”
“Well, I’ll see you in school tomorrow.”
“Okay, see you later”
* * * * *

The next two days went by slowly. The Aqua Warriors never met for another meeting, and the RV’s weren’t hinting about the big thing on Wednesday anymore. So, it seemed to be a normal week. How wrong I was. I woke up on Saturday morning, feeling refreshed and ready to visit my Uncle Dan. I took a shower, and packed my bags with enough clothes to last two days and one night. I called my Uncle Dan before we left, and then climbed into the car. In about thirty minutes, my mom was cruising up the mountain, and we were nearing his town. My uncle Dan lived in a small town called West Minister which was situated in a valley stuck right between four foothills rising up to the towering Sierras. The trip took about an hour. And once we got there, I looked around. The sky was bright and the air had a sweet strong pine smell. It was a bit cooler up here, but not so much cold as windy. I stepped out of the car, and rang the doorbell on my Uncle’s house. About 5 seconds later the door opened, and my Uncle came out. He wrapped me in a huge bear hug. “So what has been happening in your neck of the woods, Andrew?”
“Not much. School, is boring, but life is good. At least I get some satisfaction in knowing that school will be over soon.” He waved goodbye to y mom as she drove away, and he led me inside. I think that my Uncles house is the coolest place in the world. It was built awhile ago, and there is almost no paneling inside the house. All of the original wood makes up the walls. The entire house is carpeted in ugly green shag but the house was lofty and cozy, and you could see the rafters and support beams. The house was two stories but the second story consisted of only a porch, and a computer room. The computer room overlooked the living room, and everything was very open. There was a set of stairs leading up to the second floor, but my Uncle also installed a ladder for some odd reason. He led me to the guest room, where I plopped down my bags. I then followed him to the kitchen. We sat at the table and talked. I love talking to my Uncle. He is really easy to talk to and I just find myself pouring out to him. We talked about everything. School, sports, jobs, families, and just life in general. “So how is school with you?”
“Ahh, what can I say? It’s school. The last day is on Monday, and boy am I looking forward to that.
“Are you going to find a job next year?”
“Probably. Maybe at the CD store. Good pay. I will probably be able to go to State with that.”
“Already thinking of college are we?”
“I’m a sophomore. It’s a very reasonable thing to have on my mind.”
“I suppose your right…”
“And don’t start with another, "you need to have more fun in your life" rants again. The group and I have lots of fun.”
“Oh yes, the Aqua Warriors isn’t it? Did you finish building that tree house?”
“Yeah, and it’s pretty good. But what are we going to do tomorrow?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking and I want your opinion on this. How about we wake up early, take a long hike down to Jacob’s woods and back, and then have a swim in the lake. We can conclude the day with a barbecue outside.”
“Sounds great to me.”
“Yeah me too. How about you go and get washed up for supper. We are having lasagna.”
I grinned expectantly. Uncle Dan’s lasagna was the best, and he had a homemade tomato sauce. I was surprised however to find that it was time for dinner. I glanced out the window and noticed that the sun was already lowering deeper into the horizon casting long dark colors of blue and purple that blended into the scenery as If it was all one. Off in the distance I saw a flock of birds take off, and in the woods nearby, a deer raise its head, its eyes getting caught in the bright sunlight illuminating them a striking yellow compared to the blackness around. Shadows on shadows, I thought to myself. It looked familiar. But from where?
I shook the idea out of my mind and got up from the table. I passed Uncle Dan in the kitchen. Working over the stove whistling a tune to himself. My Uncle Dan had an interesting story behind him. He was my father’s youngest brother. They grew up together and then went their separate ways. My Dad to WestPoint, my Uncle to Yale. He spent two years their, and then dropped out and went to state instead. Got himself, a bachelor’s degree in engineering. But Nature was his true passion. He met a waitress name Lisa and they had two children, Brent and Marissa. His wife was driving home on day when she was collided with a speeding car. The man in the other car was uninjured but Lisa was dead. Dan had the kids given to his mother. He knew he would never be able to properly raise them himself, with the memory of his wife. He still visits them on and off, and they come down here too, sometimes. Sometimes I think that the reason Uncle Dan is so happy to see me every time he sees me, is that I am like a son to him, and in many ways he is a father to me. He has taught me just as many things as my Dad as taught me. That is why I love visiting him. I can always count on learning something new or exciting. I headed to the bathroom, where I washed my hands. We ate in the kitchen talking about the animals that live around here. He explained to me the major raccoon problem, and how he had almost hit a deer driving back from work the other day. We finished eating and went to bed. I continued to read the Lord of The Rings as I drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, I took a quick shower, and got dressed. I ate a quick breakfast and ran outside to find Uncle Dan. he was sitting on the porch tying his boots. We started off down the main road down the mountain and eventually turned off onto a trail. The sweet smell of pine filled the fresh air. It must have rained the night before because I could still see the drops of water on leaves and bushes that glistened in the morning sunlight. We talked as we walked, and you would have thought that we would have run out of things to say, but we didn’t. Eventually, Uncle Dan stopped and raised his hand. “We are in Jacob’s forest now.” He stated. I looked around. Nothing looked familiar. “This is Jacob’s forest?” I asked curiously. “I've never seen this part of Jacob's Forest before. And I have gone pretty far in.”
“Yes, this is Jacob’s Forest he insisted. This is the most northern tip. Probably a few miles away from where you usually go. This part is actually part of the white head national forest reserve, but on the map they map it as part of Jacob’s forest. We will turn around now, and head back up towards the lake. Did you bring your swim trunks? I nodded pointing to a small knapsack on my back. “Good. Now all I need to do is find the north bound trail. Where was it?” he headed off into a darker section of the woods following what I thought was a small trail. I followed him for a couple of minutes, searching for the return trail, but stopped when I heard voices. Human voices. Not even a definite voice but more like a whisper or an echo of a voice. I started off in the direction I heard the voice from. “Don’t go far!” Uncle Dan shouted behind me. I nodded to show acknowledgement. I made my way between two old rotting trees and pushed through some dense foliage. I was about to make my way back when I noticed something. The leaves of the trees were glowing very bright, meaning there was a clearing just a few meter beyond. I pushed forward through the branches and leaves and was amazed at what ii saw.

It was way more than just a clearing. I was standing on top of a cliff, overgrown by weeds, and trees. I glanced down and a shiver wove itself up my spine as I saw that it must have been a sheer drop of 90 feet. I glanced downward, and saw that at the bottom of the cliff a large valley stretched away meeting up with another huge hill on the other side. On another side of the valley, another cliff was exposed, and I could see the shimmer of rapids and water far below. The northern part of the Blue Stone River I thought to myself in amazement. On the other side of the clearing, there was a flat plain dotted with trees and lots of bushes that blended into Jacob’s forest beyond. But it wasn’t the actual cliff, river, valley, hill, or forest that amazed me. The valley was literally swarming with kids dressed in Red and Yellow. “Red Vipers…” I breathed. At a quick glance I estimated there to be probably about three hundred. “There wasn’t this many before!” I whispered to myself. Not nearly this many. I could see huge building materials. The kids were digging trenches into the hill and building two huge watch towers. They must have been two stories tall. I glanced towards the forest on the east side of the valley and gasped in surprise. Some older teenage RV’s were backing up pickup trucks laden with super soakers. Even from a distance I could recognize the bright colors, and reservoirs of CPS and XP weaponry. I lost count of how many CPS 2000’s I saw. How did they get so much money? Of course the answer was obvious I thought. They would charge each person who entered the group and also a lot of them were old enough to have really good jobs; more pay. There were obviously some leader type figures in the crowd below. Probably the original RV team members, I thought. They were giving orders and assigning weapons. I looked off into the distance past the forest and saw the Hanson town bridge. Very. Very. Far away. The Aqua Warriors had never ventured this far. Suddenly the thought struck me like an eighteen wheeler. This was not just an attack against the Aqua Warriors. This was an attack to gain control of all of White Mountain. And I was gazing at the battlefield right now. I was so amazed at what I saw I did not hear my Uncle calling until the third or fourth time.
“Andrew? Andrew? I found the path. Lets go.”
I turned away from seen and followed my uncle up through the forest.