"Water?"
They go down the line saying check.
"Meds, Jenna and Rory?"
"Check!" They chorus together.
I glance around without seeing my fellow camp counselor. Not surprised, I march the kids out of the tent, into the rain, and next door to the mess hall. We're the first there, for once, and the scents of barbecue are thick in the air. My mouth waters at the thought of pulled pork sliders and cornbread.
And then I remember Katya's healthy meal plan. With some reluctance, I go to the food table designated for our team by a blue flag and take in today's surprise. A smiling cook is waiting to scoop whatever this shit is onto our plates.
"This is what?" I ask, indicating the main dish, which looks like barbecue, if meat came in cubes.
"Tofu-cue!" the cook says cheerfully. "Homemade tamales, refried chickpeas, organic cornbread and almond-soy custard for dessert."
"Fucking A." First my bacon, now my barbecue. If Katya is using food to wear me down, it's working too fucking well. Trained to lead by example, I present my plate anyway. "Load me up."
The cook fixes up everyone a plate. I'm pretty sure the cornbread is all that I'll be able to choke down. Like usual, the food isn't bad. It's not what I want right now, and it doesn't taste like real food, even if the consistencies and coloring are similar.
The kids don't complain, even though almost all of them avoid what the cook called tofu-cue. I don't even know what tofu is, except that it can't be anything that grows naturally. It's definitely nothing I've seen served in a mess hall.
Too occupied trying to understand what I'm eating, I don't notice that Katya isn't there to enjoy the menu she picked out until I'm done. I finish before the kids, who aren't used to eating quickly like I do in the field.
Bet she's secretly eating a pulled pork sandwich and laughing. Twisting around, I assess Katya isn't at dinner at all. I don't think even she would wander off from this place, especially in the rain. It's not like her to be absent. She may not like it, but thus far, she's gone everywhere the team has.
Brianna is here, which makes me relax some, until I start to think maybe Brianna won their face off and buried her in the forest. Katya has heart, but I spent an hour with her teaching basic self-defense. If Brianna has an ounce of training, Katya isn't going to win.
Harris isn't here. The hair on the back of my neck rises the way it does when I've walked into a surveillance web. I tell myself it's nothing. He may be in his tent or something. This isn't a war zone, Sawyer. We aren't surrounded by people trying to kill us.