Chapter 12

                                    

                                          
    "What a disaster," Arthur declared. Larry was still silent. Peter was the one making the most noise out of all of them, though-- not surprising. Peter paced around the camp as they spoke. Well, it was more like he spoke, Arthur lamented the situation, and Larry commented with furious grunting and moans of pain from his bruises.
                          
    "This is... unbelievable!" Peter declared, stomping his way through grass and twigs and insects on the ground. "I... just, why, why did it have to happen this way?" Peter stopped and leaned against a tree. He was tired, and his head was still bothering him.
                          
    "What a disaster," Arthur repeated, frowning.
                          
    Larry moved to speak, but at the glare of the other two men, he remained silent.
                          
    "Out of all three of us, you shouldn't be talking at all after what you did," Arthur told him, fury blazing through his voice. "I can't believe that you said that, Larry. I can't believe it. Why?" Arthur took a breath, but still glared at Larry, demanding an explanation.
                          
    "Why did I tell a psychopath what he needed to hear? I don't know, Arthur. I mean, maybe I shouldn't have--"
                          
    "Gone that far when it comes to Douglas?" Peter asked, whirling around. He glared at Larry. "That's the one thing that's been driving him this whole time, you know that. You said just about the one thing you weren't supposed to say. First the running, now this. I'm surprised Travis didn't actually murder you!"
                          
    Larry gasped and reared back a little. His confusion and irritation soon birthed real anger, with some indignation to go along with it. "Wait. You're taking his side?" Larry's voice was incredulous.
                          
    "How could I not? I mean, I know-- Travis isn't thinking right at the moment, and I get that, but at the same time, you pushed him way too far-- hell, more of this is your fault than anyone's, so--"
                          
    "I know I ran. I know!" Larry screeched, and the rest of the clearing went silent. Peter had never heard him so loud before. "I guess I'll never get forgiven for that, and I don't deserve it either, really, but you can't just let that kid run around doing whatever he wants." Larry's tone turned to almost comical, mocking, laughing.
                          
    "I mean, do you really think that kid is going to be able to kill all of those things off by himself? Even if he's smart, even if he's competent, even if he has a plan? None of that matters. He won't get them all, and after they kill him, they'll find us and kill us!" Larry took a breath.
                          
    "He won't get them all," Larry repeated. "That kid is going to get us all killed."
                          
    "You don't know that," Peter said, but his voice was weak and the heat in his voice wasn't there. "You aren't really helping, either, you know! I don't want to hear shit from you."
                          
    "Even if I made mistakes that doesn't mean that I'm automatically wrong," Larry pointed out. "We need to get Travis under control. He's off the leash and he's going to do something that's going to affect us all at the very least. I'd rather not die because of his inability to deal with his anger. That's ridiculous."
                          
    There was still a lot of anger in the clearing, but it was starting to relax as they spoke more and more. Arthur brought up the next point.
                          
    "Off the leash, huh, Larry? You talk about him like he's a dog or a wild animal. Anyway, I think it'd be pretty hard to catch him. Now that he doesn't want to be found, that kid has a whole jungle to hide in. Sure, this place is really dangerous, but it's dangerous for us at the same time." Arthur paused. "Not only that, but we already shared every survival technique we knew, especially the ones that Peter taught him."