Third Time Unlucky

The road out to Piha surf beach was long, winding, and, in some parts, completely unsealed. The road took the class right over the Ritakere Rangers, a collection of dramatic rolling mountains that had been formed millions of years ago by a volcano, a volcano that left only its vast crater as evidence of its eruption: The world’s seventh largest harbour.

The carrier which held Darryn in it was at the front of the line, as he was the only one who knew where the group was headed. His directions took the class deep into the range, deeper than even people who lived out at Piha had ever dared venture, most of the roads he took the class through were blocked from view due to over-grown trees and little saplings that had started to emerge through the gravel. Despite their doubts, no one dared to question anything. For once, the class was completely speechless of its own accord.

After what seemed like hours of driving in silence, Darryn instructed Mr. Bunderella to pull over at a half-moon indent that lay on the side of the road- no one would have noticed if Darryn hadn’t pointed directly to it. Thus, one by one, each of the carriers pulled into the half-moon.

‘Well, guys,’ said Mitch after everyone else was out, in an attempt to redeem himself from the ‘‘your mum’’ incident, ‘what do we do now? Are these guys’-Mitch gestured To Mr. McIntire and his gang- ‘going to be coming with us, and how far it is to the cabins now, anyway?’
‘Well, according to my watch, we’ve been traveling for exactly one hour and twenty-seven minutes point zero-eight seconds-’ started an unusually tall boy, Danyon, but Darryn interrupted him- ‘Shuddup, Danyon, man!’ He said, before turning his attention to everyone.
‘Mr. McIntire and his crew told Bunderella that they would rather go back to the school and help the other kids get out to safety, so no, they won’t be coming with us, and neither will Bunderella- He wants to go back and check on his family. The cabins are an hour’s hike from here, but can take up to three hours to get back here, because it’s all uphill on the way back… so, grab all the imperishable foods… and let’s start the hike!’

The hike, as Darryn predicted took around an hour for most people, only the likes of most of the girls took a little longer, especially Marie and Morgan, who set about marking edible plants and setting traps for small game.
‘Environmental Studies are more than just hippies sitting around in a corner smoking dope, you know’ commented Laura, when the other members of the class showed their astonishment.
‘Yeah, we know, but I thought that Marie was all in to preserving all the baby bats or whatever’ said Logan, the ginger psychopath ‘I was quite looking forward to shooting some rabbits and dangling them in front of her face, watching the blood drip from its snapped neck…’

The cabins themselves were more than anyone had ever expected: twenty in all, each and every one had their own indistinguishable disguise. There were ones that looked exactly like volcanic boulders, other which were buried underground, and could only be accessed by trapdoors that were marked by artificial saplings, a few had entrances that were built into the hollows of enormous trees, one had a spiral staircase leading into it. When he noticed everyone’s astonished gazes, Darryn shrugged it off, saying ‘My family and their closest friends lived out here for six years; they had to do something to keep their spirits up’
‘Keep their spirits up they might have, but this still is extraordinary craftsmanship- wait, is that- do you have electricity?’Gasped Laura, pointing at a light switch.
‘Oh, yeah… we have hydropower, from the mountain streams, and solar power, from our panels, up in the trees, look’ Darryn pointed upwards to a very well disguised piece of shiny white metal ‘there’s one!’
‘Wouldn’t the military be able to detect the electric currents, and realize that people are living out here?’ asked Laura quizzically.
‘nah, because the electricity runs through pipes in the ground and inside the trunks of the trees, which makes the current look weaker, so would just be mistaken for game animals on a standard military radar’
‘Right, so, could we all just stop worrying about the minor details and get on with the bigger picture’ said a slightly hysterical Dayner ‘I mean, there’s a war going on! Let’s get ourselves unpacked and then contact our parents, tell them we’re all right. I don’t know about you, but if I was my mum, I’d be shitting myself!’

‘True that!’ agreed Laura ‘let’s begin to settle down. Because, if the second world war is anything to go by, we’ll be stuck out here for a very long time’