Campsite Unknown is a book that I started writing in May 2024. The book is a fantasy, action-adventure, thriller and romance. I would definitely recommend this book for all teenagers who love reading like me.

The book follows a 19 year-old Will Rode as he gets a new job away from home. The CU, which is a development programme for young adults, is high paying and dangerous with Will nearly losing everything, everyday. Sacrifice and heart break with a side of romance

This book is suitable for people above 12. Below is a sneak peak of Campsite Unknown:

 Prologue

The single man walked through the dense forest, the rain hammering against the dry snow. Each careful step made a crunch and that he didn’t like. His tentative eyes stared into the endless darkness. 

One of the native animals cackled from afar in the pitch black forest. They all sounded the same by now and the man knew neither, friend or foe. It was a bad idea to split up just to find a man who hasn’t been seen for months. Eaten by a brute. At least, that was the rumour that was spread. Blocking the man’s torch light was a close tree. The darkness engulfed him. A growl roared from just metres away and the man turned around in fright. Nothing was there except for an oddly shaped paw print in the disturbed snow. The growl came closer and closer until … BANG!! His torch flew out of his hands, it ran out of battery and the scene went pitch black. The man was on the floor and a large bear-like creature sat near the man, its large mouth smothered in blood. The snow around the man was turning a dark, rose red. 

The large creature dragged the body across the rough snow. The walkie talkie in his front pocket said, ‘Medic, medic man down, man down location: three clicks west of outpost one’ before the disgusting creature smashed it with his front paw and continued gnawing on the man’s flesh.

Chapter 1

The CU

“No, I don’t want you here, you’re fired. You come in on time once this week, it’s Thursday. It’s not good enough! Please leave, you’re not coming to work tomorrow. You can collect your paycheck on the way out,”

He ran out of the coffee shop, stuffing his paycheck into his bag which he swung onto his back, before grabbing his bike out of the rack and cycling down the road. He held back tears, he had screwed up his favourite job he had ever had. 

As much as he tried to prevent it, tears spilled down his face. He wiped them off his face and sped on. He was only late as he had to leave at half ten to get there for eleven. The sun was burning on his neck. His skin had always been pale and fragile around the sun. His apartment was in view as he crossed the road. It was nearly eleven thirty by the time he was back in his apartment. He sent a text to his mum with the news of his job.

He went to find something, food wise, in the fridge to see it half empty. He had missed breakfast because he was in a rush to get to work, which he was late to for thethird time that week. He sighed and walked back out the door to go to the local store near Will’s apartment.  

Will Rode was in a corner shop. He was 19 years old and he had short brown hair, it stuck up in places and covered his forehead. He went to the counter with his bag of food and gave it to the large, bald-headed man at the till. The soles of his feet hurt from the journey there and Will would have to take another four-mile long journey home. The cashier was friendly and always had at least a grin on his face. He smiled and said,

“How are you, Will?” In a jolly tone.

“Not too bad, thanks, how are you?”

“I’m fine, how’s uni?”

“I don’t go to uni, Gary,” He said, finding it slightly funny. Gary was his name.

“Oh yes, you told me last week when I asked the same question,”

The worker said playfully.

“There you go then,” Gary said passing over the purchased food, “Catch you soon, son,”

He said waving Will off. 

Will liked that man. He was kind, funny and happy all in one. It was midday when Will got home. He pulled out all of the items from the bag needed to make a quick sandwich for lunch. Will liked the basics.

He sat on the sofa with his sandwich and watched the news. There was nothing interesting apart from at the end when they said something about a newprogramme called the ‘CU’ that started last year. It’s probably just to get people’s attention. He thought disregarding the idea. 

“The programme will restart for this year in two days on the 1st of April. There will be two new recruits. That’s all for the one o’clock news, good bye.” 

Will left the sofa and put his plate in the dishwasher.

He was wondering if he could get a job at the ‘CU’ programme to make his mum forget that he was fired at his job today. He shrugged because it would be very hard to get the job.

Will went to bed that night and fell asleep before he could hit his bed, which he fell into.

He began to snore which was very unusual for Will, he must not feel too good but the day that had just happened was very, very tiring. He walked and cycled a combined distance of ten miles. 

Will woke up suddenly. The moon was blinding and it shone straight into his face. He thought that he could hear a ring from a phone but it was

way too early to take a call now. 

    Chapter 2

                The  caller

Will lay in his bed, still wearing his clothes from the previous day. He was oblivious to the phone calls he had been getting all morning since nearly three. He knew that someone had been ringing but who? was the question. Once again the phone rang but Will reached for the phone on his bedside table. 

“Sorry, too early for a call please call me back la …”

But Will was cut off by the caller,

“Sorry sir, this is a top secret call from outpost one in a remote island near Canada,”

Had Will heard right? Who would call him at quarter to six in the morning?

“William Lucas Rode,

Is that your full name, sir?”

In shock Will replied, 

“Ye-yes, it is,”

Will’s eyebrows were raised in awe that the caller had known his name.

Wasn’t there something on the news about two lucky calls to go to the CU? Maybe that was a complete coincidence, or maybe not. 

“Perfect,” he said in an amused tone, “Now let’s get started:

Occupation: Unemployed, as of yesterday.Age: 19 years old

Location: Apartment 444, nova apartments, Seattle.

Is this correct?” 

He asked almost robotically after listing all of Will’s personal details over the phone.

“What happens if I say yes?” Will asked nervously.

“We will carry on,”  The person said plainly.

“But what if…”

“No buts, just yes or no!” The man said quite impatiently now.

“Yes, that is all true,” Will said, now scared about how much this person knew.

“Will, I am here to offer a job opportunity,” he said clearing his voice, “I am Ben Smith, one the few workers of outpost one and two at the North quarter of Campsite Unknown,” he said.

“What exactly gives ‘campsite unknown’ its name?”

He inquired sarcastically.

“The native species of animals and the unusually dark nights,”

“And what do I have to do with all this to be called at 6 in the morning for a job I didn’t know existed 2 minutes ago?” Will exasperated as he sat up in bed, his phone still pressed against his ear.

“You’re on the list…,”  He said as if it was the first time he read it.

“For what?”

“To work in outpost two on the north side,”

“And what exactly do I do?”

“Guard the outpost and secure the perimeter of the base, just a side note welost a security guard last night in the escape so you will be with just two other security guards,”

“What base? This is mad?”

“Just think that it’s 57,000 dollars a week,” He said, positive it would bribe Will.

“Keep talking,” Will said grinning, he now paid a lot of attention.

“Are you in?”

“How do I get there?”

“Flights are covered, oka…”

“I’m in,” he exclaimed, cutting across the man.

“When are the flights?”

“They’re at 11:30 AM tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you at the airport, I may not be there so you might just have to walk to camp; you just follow the mud path at the exit way in the front, and we will arrive at camp by midnight tomorrow. See you then.”

The phone cut off and Will lay his phone down on his bedside. The grey alarm clock on his bedside said that it was quarter past six. Will couldn’t sleep and turned over several times thinking about his new job over and over. By eight he gave up and just went to the kitchen. He picked up a cereal bar and sat eating it slowly as he stared blankly into space. 
Later that day, Will was on the sofa on his phone when the apartment door bell rang loudly, who would be at my door at this time? he thought. He put his phone down on the side table and walked over to the door. The person at the door banged loudlymultiple times before Will shouted, “Coming!”

When he opened the door he saw nobody was there before looking down the corridor to see no-one in sight for miles. 

He stepped out onto his doorstep, he accidentally kicked something on the floor. He looked down to see a cardboard box just sitting there. It was heavily taped in red tape that had ‘TOP SECRET’ written in bold across it. Will picked it up and turned it over in his curious hands. On the side was his address with Will’s full name. He had a strange feeling it had something to do with his new job. 

He walked back into his apartment and put it on the table in the kitchen. He peeled the tape off to see scratches all over the box. Will opened it to see a note and a hoodie. Eyebrows raised, Will picked up the note and read: 

Dear William Lucas Rode,

The contents of this box include: Campsite uniform trousers, hoodie, long sleeve shirt, Winter coat and woollen hat.

Plane tickets are in the box.

Yours sincerely,

 Benjamin Preston Smith.

Will put the note down and hastily unfolded the hoodie. That was quick, thought Will as he looked at the uniform. It was dark blue and very thick. The plane tickets were underneath and looked like the cheapest tickets on the entire flight orthe only tickets on the flight. He put  everything back in the box and closed the lid before putting it by the front door for the very next day.  

Will went to bed that night excited and nervous for his new job. At least it pays well: Is what he would tell himself every time he would get bad thoughts about the campsite. The TV was loud but Will didn’t notice as his thoughts drowned out the noise. He picked the remote up off the bedside table and turned it off, rolling over in his bed. Will closed his eyes but couldn’t sleep until nearly midnight.

It was dark and Will was tied to a tree by rope in a snowy woods. He had no idea where he was but he somehow knew that he wasn’t safe. Howls and cackles echoed through the dark, foggy woods.

The sun was nowhere near rising and it was hard to see his hands which were free but tied together and sweating. A sudden rush of cold air sent a shiver down Will’s spine which unnerved him. Out of nowhere a disgusting creature on all fours went towards Will. It was staring him down in a way that made him look like food was on its mind. It was like a vulture ready to clean up. It howled to the moon like a werewolf: like Will heard earlier. It viciously circled the scared boy, keeping its hungry eyes locked upon him the entire time. Will was getting very sweaty as the animal stopped and bared its teeth at him which were very yellow and blood stained on its giant canines. It slowly neared Will andgrowled. Closer and closer it went straight at him. It was almost three feet away. One step closer, another step closer… It pounced, but before it sank its teeth into him, he opened his eyes. He sighed the biggest sigh of his life, ‘just a dream,’ he told himself as he sat up looking at the time on his alarm clock. It was half four in the morning. The colour came back to his always pale skin. He laid back in bed but didn’t sleep at all.

Hope you liked that clipping of my book. If you are interested in the story, subscribe for when I post more CU content.