Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(27)

“We are okay,” she said as they wandered outside to join the others getting into the busses. “Aren’t we?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Will replied, studying the busses and not her.

“I don’t know.” She rested her weight on one hip, puzzling over the tense lines of his face and the stiff set of his shoulders. “I just feel like something’s bugging you.”

“No.” He clipped out the word, then turned his head to face her. “Nothing is bugging me. I just want to get out there and win this.”

Men. Melody shook her head. They would find it much easier to get through life if they were willing to make peace with those pesky emotion things and admit it when they were troubled over something. Still, maybe he was right and it really was something that a few days out in the wilderness could cure.

“Okay, folks, let’s load ’em up,” Jonathan called from the front of the line of busses. “Each bus holds thirty-five, so spread out a little. The drive to Dubois will be approximately three and a half hours.”

The mood on the busses as they headed north and then bore east was bubbling with excitement. Melody sat next to Will, but he spent most of the time staring out the window in thought or scrolling through his cell phone. She couldn’t tell if he was texting or just looking at old emails.

“You know they’re going to take that away from you before we get in the helicopter,” she said, rather than telling him outright that he should have left it at home.

“I know.” Will nodded without looking at her. “Jonathan said he’d take it back to the office for me.”

That was all she could pry out of him for the entire ride. Instead of continuing to bug him or spending the whole trip fretting that she was about to be dropped into the middle of the forest with a clam, she twisted to talk to everyone else. The conversations flying over Will’s head were much more interesting anyhow.

“It’s all about dry socks,” Natalie, one of the women from PSF who Melody hadn’t met yet, said.

“Dry socks are nice,” Ben began, shaking his head, “but keeping your matches and kindling dry is even more important.”

“There are plenty of ways to start a fire without matches,” Melody added to the discussion.

“What, like you would know, Miss Flower Power?” Katrina snapped from her seat a few rows back.

“As a matter of fact, I would,” Melody challenged her. “We used to go camping all the time when I was a kid, and Dad taught me to start fires in other ways.”

“Like how?” Katrina crossed her arms.

Melody shrugged. “With a stick. Sometimes you can find the right sort of rocks to get a spark going.”

“Aw, man, Will, looks like you got a gem of a partner,” another of the PSF guys called up.

Will was so absorbed in his phone that he didn’t so much as flinch. Melody ignored it and went on. “I’m wondering if food might end up being the most important supply we’ll get.”

“Well, they aren’t going to let us starve,” Katrina said.

Melody widened her eyes at Katrina. Why was she being so contrary? This was supposed to be fun. She decided to ignore the woman. “How much food do you really think can fit in one of those backpacks they’re going to give us?”

“Good point,” Ben said.

“Although I hear we’re getting the super over-sized hiking backpacks,” Laura added from the seat next to him.

“It doesn’t matter what supplies they give you,” Katrina’s partner, Ed spoke up, half rising out of his seat. “All you guys are going down.”

Half of the rest of the bus hollered back or laughed or burst into smack talk, but Melody had the creeping feeling that Ed wasn’t joking. There was a sharpness in the way he looked around, like everyone else was beneath him, that gave her pause.

“None of you are a match for my skills,” Ed went on when enough trash-talk had been hurled at him. “Plus, I’ve got some secret weapons up my sleeve.”

“You wouldn’t be thinking of cheating now, would you, Ed?” Laura said jokingly.

Ed smiled first and spoke second. “Of course not.”

Melody didn’t believe him for a hot second.

By the time the busses reached Dubois, everyone was bouncing off the walls with eagerness to get started.

“Okay, folks. One last check, then you can head over to the warehouse there to pick up your backpacks and make your final preparations,” Jonathan told them as they stepped down onto the tarmac of a small airport.

“You ready to relinquish your mistress?” Melody asked Will with a teasing wink as they headed to the warehouse.

“What?” Will balked.

“Your cell phone, silly.” She elbowed him and laughed. The sun was shining, her adventure was about to start, and her happy had kicked into high gear.

Will scowled. “I just wanted to take care of some last-minute business. I’m done with it now.”

“Welcome, everyone, welcome,” Howie greeted them as they stepped from the bright sunlight to the dim warehouse. Melody blinked as her eyes adjusted. “Your backpacks are lined up along the wall. They have your names on them. But do not open them yet,” he stressed. “Do anything else you need to do first. And I’m including a trip to the bathroom with that. This will be your last chance for porcelain for the next few days.”