On The Run by mersey
Summary: Lost in the woods and chased by men who wanted them dead, will the boys find a way out? *written in 2001*
Categories: Fanfiction > Backstreet Boys Characters: Brian, Group
Genres: Action, Adventure
Warnings: Violence
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 23 Completed: Yes Word count: 40208 Read: 47188 Published: 12/28/04 Updated: 12/28/04

1. 1 by mersey

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1 by mersey
Chapter One

I don't know where we are right now, which state or town we're in, but I do know that we're heading back to New York. I can only be thankful that we're in our tour bus and not the plane; no matter how comfortable it is, flying isn't one of my favorite things to do.

All I remember is that we had an interview with a radio station about an hour ago- the last of the hundreds we have had for the past few weeks of promoting Chapter 1 and Drowning. I just can't wait to get back home, in the open arms of Leighanne.

"Where are you heading to?" I asked Nick, seeing that he had suddenly got up from what we called the 'chill out' area, in front of the TV.

"Sleep, this flu is bugging me." Nick said in disgust as he rubbed his red nose. I watched as he disappeared to the back of the bus, where our bunks were. Winter is slowly approaching, I can feel it in the air.

The tour bus is much more peaceful than usual as all of our entourage have taken another bus, which leaves us with more space and privacy. In fact, they were driving just ahead of us.

"There is nothing but trees and more trees outside, this is boring!" AJ exclaimed as he stared out the window.

"Where are we anyway?" Howie asked. Hmm… and I thought I was the only one losing track of where we were. No one really answered because no one really knew. Kevin however mumbled something about trees and how beautiful they are. Kevin definitely didn't have a lot on his mind.

ררררר

"Bri stop doing that, you're giving me a headache!" AJ cried when Brian kept switching the channels back and forth.

"I can't believe there's nothing on TV." Brian sighed.

"I'm hungry." AJ said, patting his flat stomach.

"There is some pizza left in the fridge." Howie said. "But it’s Nick's."

"Oh what the hell, he can eat when we get to New York. He's gonna sleep all the way there anyway." AJ claimed and started for the fridge.

"I wonder why you're not the one with weight problems Bone. You eat almost twice of what Nick eats." Kevin pointed out.

"It's called high metabolism Kev. I'm full of it and Nick has none." AJ replied.

"Nick isn't that bad, I prefer him like this than all scrawny." Howie said.

"Oh yeah, he looked so anorexic when we first started!" Brian laughed. “Of course he was still growing up, what’s your excuse?”

"How come he didn't get stuck with Bone and I did back then?" AJ wonders.

"That's one more for Backstreet's Unsolved Mysteries." Kevin murmured under his breath.

ררררר

I decided to check on Joe our driver, since there was nothing for me to do. I could go to sleep but I wasn't sleepy. Besides, I needed to ask him how much longer it was going to take before we got there and just to make sure that he wasn't dozing off. That would not be good for us.

"Hey Joe, wassup?" I yawned. Not a good way to greet someone who's driving.

"Nothing much." Joe yawned. See, never good.

"Where's the other bus, I thought they were right in front of us?" I asked when I noticed that we were the only bus, better yet, the only vehicle on the road.

"They just turned the corner. Don't worry; I know this road even with my eyes blindfolded." Joe assured me.

"I'm sure you do but let's not go there." I joked. Joe laughed. Good sign, he wasn’t sleepy.

"What the hell…" Joe cursed, his wide eyes staring at the road in front of him.

"What?" I asked, as my gaze darted to where he was looking at. I think I gasped. Yeah, I think I did. Just a mile away, four men stood across the road, and if Joe did not stop now, they were going to be steam rolled for good.

2 by mersey
Chapter Two

AJ nearly fell off the sofa when the bus screeched to a halt. Thanks to good equilibrium, he didn't. Howie wasn't as lucky, he fell butt first. Kevin, who was standing, knocked his head on the edge of a cabinet.

"What the fuck!" Kevin cursed as his hand went straight to the bump on his head.

"Nice fall Howie!" AJ laughed. Howie stood up rubbing his cheeks, ignoring AJ.

"Hey Joe, why are we stopping?" Kevin yelled.

"We're still in the middle of nowhere." AJ said to himself as he looked out and found more rows of trees.

Howie heard the door being opened and found it strange. Joe needed to pee? But we have a toilet in this damn bus. "Hey Rok, what's goin' on up there?"

Brian appeared seconds later, with four strangers. And one of them had a gun pointed to his head.

ררררר

Nick was having one of his bad days. The flu didn't go away as he had expected and a light headache was making its' presence known to him. Drowsy and tired, he decided to sleep all the way to New York.

He could still hear AJ whining when he got to his bunk and it was worsening his headache. He put on his headphones, System of A Down banging in his head, and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

Nick felt the bus' sudden halt but ignored it. Flat tires, he assumed and shifted deeper into the bunk and dozed off. It's a wonder how he could do it easily while listening to heavy metal music, but he did.

ררררר

"Sorry to crash in like this but we need a ride." The man who was pointing the gun at Brian said with a smirk. AJ, Howie and Kevin froze.

"Don't let us stop you from sitting down." Another man said, pointing his gun at them, motioning them to sit.

"Ted, tell that old goat to start driving or I'll blow his brains out!" The man with Brian instructed one of them. 'Ted' walked away and seconds later, after some abusive shouting, the bus started again.

"This is a very comfortable bus, you people famous or something?" The man next to Kevin asked.

"Sort of." Kevin replied.

"Great, more stuff to take." The man replied, smiling.

"Nice move Kev." AJ whispered.

Brian saw one of the men heading to the back of the bus, and he remembered Nick. "There's nothing back there, just our instruments!" Brian shouted.

He felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and before he could register what had happened, he blacked out.

"No more shit or you'll get it too!" The man who had struck the gun at the back of Brian's head shouted to Howie, AJ and Kevin.

"Stop snooping around Matt; just take care of the goods."

"Oh come on Brad, we could get more from 'em. They're famous people you know." 'Matt' said.

"I don't give a fuck who they are, just stop being a prick." Brad ordered. Matt gave up, much to the boys' relief.

"He must be dead asleep." Howie whispered and AJ nodded discreetly.

Kevin pulled his cousin to his side. He felt something moist on his hand and pulled it out from under him. Blood.

"Oh God, Brian, wake up." Kevin whispered as he wiped the blood away on his shirt.

AJ grabbed a towel on the sofa and quickly passed it to Kevin. "Here, quick, stop the bleeding."

"Oh man, I can't handle blood." Howie whimpered.

"Come on B, wake up." Kevin whispered loudly.

"Can you shut up! I'm counting here!" The fourth man shouted at them. He was counting bundles and bundles of money from a black bag. Robbers! Kevin thought to himself. We're the hostages? How did that happen?

3 by mersey

Chapter Three

I don't know what hit me but it was definitely one hell of a ride. Stars circling my head or so it felt, I just didn't want to open my eyes. But the voice that lingered, urging me to wake up made me do so. Kevin was always our morning wake up call. Only that it wasn't morning anymore.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to get up but the sudden wave of pain that spread through every vein in my head made me stop.

"Don't get up; you were hit on the head. You're bleeding." Kevin whispered. Why is he whispering, I asked myself and that was when everything came back to me. The four men, the hijack. We've been hijacked! Now that's new.

"Hey Bri, nice to have you back." Howie smiled.

"Got a nice dream to share? I'm having a nightmare right now." AJ said. That's typical AJ, making jokes at a time like this. Then I remembered Nick. What happened to him?

"Nick, did they get to him?" I asked softly.

"No, I bet he's still asleep with his Discman on." Kevin whispered.

Just when I was trying to take my second attempt at getting up, the bus bumped wildly on the road. It felt like we hit something big and hard. The bus started to sway uncontrollably. My mind was losing it, what happened?

"What's going on up there?" The man who had hit me shouted to the front. The bus still swerved dangerously. Ted came to the back with an alarmed look on his face. "We hit something sharp back there, the tires are flat and the fucking driver can't control it!"

"This is fucked up man, we're going straight for the edge, its' a dead end!" Matt shouted. "We're going to plunge to our deaths!"

Plunge? Deaths? No, this can't be happening. He might as well have shot me then. I don't want to die like this. Nick. He wouldn't even know what hit him. Well, maybe it's best for him, less painful. But, we can't die. Not now.

"We are not going to die. Grab your stuff; we'll take a hike before this damn bus falls!" Brad ordered. The other two men quickly grabbed their things and went straight for the door. "Well gentlemen, thanks for the ride, have a nice way down. Break a neck."

I have to say that Brad sure sucks at humor. He jumped off the bus with Ted and Matt, leaving the fourth guy behind to grab all the cash that he was counting.

"Hey Brad, wait for me!" He shouted, but the three had already jumped off.

"We have to get out of here!" AJ screamed.

"There's no time." Howie said to himself.

I saw Kevin rushing up to Joe, trying to help him control the bus but Joe was freaking out. So this is how we die. True to our words, brothers to the end.

"We're going down; grab something to break your fall!" Kevin shouted. In my panic, I registered what he said and quickly held on to a leg of the table, which was fastened to the bus. I saw Howie next to me and he gave me a weak smile.

I saw Kevin and AJ in front of me, holding on to each other and to a pole. That's a sight you never get to see often.

"Hold on Cous!" Kevin shouted at me.

The bus swerved violently and I saw the fourth man frantically trying to grab something. I don't know if he managed to and to be honest, I don't care.

A loud crash, a bang and Joe screaming and all the way down was like a roller coaster ride. I hate heights and this is how I'm going to die.

Nick, I didn't get to say goodbye to him. Poor Nick, he won't know what hit him. I hoped the bus wouldn't burst into flames cause Nick would be right at the back with the engine. I can't even begin to imagine the state we'll be in when they finally find us. Dead.

Leighanne baby, I love you. I'm sorry it has to end this way. The bus nose dived all the way down, crashed head first and then landed on the side. I hit my head again, didn't even scream. Blackness engulfed me. Dying sucks.

4 by mersey

Chapter Four

When the bus started swaying uncontrollably, Nick didn't even care to wake up. It had happen before, especially on uneven roads. But when it felt like the bus had hit something and he got the feeling that it was nose diving, Nick woke up alarmed. He felt himself being dragged down. He grabbed the handle on the side of the bunk but lost his grip when the bus suddenly shook dangerously. Nick crashed on his stomach first and ignored the burning pain that was searing his body apart. He had to get to his brothers.

"Brian!" Nick screamed, trying to pull himself up but all he heard was screaming. He heard AJ and Kevin, shouting something. What the hell happened?

"Kevin! What's going on?" Nick screamed, only to be muffled by the sound of another crash. He hit his head on the edge of the bunk and blacked out. I'm dead, Nick thought.

ררררר

When I woke up the pain in my head woke up too. And I thought that you feel nothing when you're dead. There was smoke and dust everywhere. I coughed and my head throbbed heavily. I looked around and found myself still on the wrecked bus. The Angels must have been too busy to get me. I turned to my left and saw Joe crushed to his seat. It nauseated me. Joe is dead! Which means, I’m not?

I saw the fourth man slumped on one of the seats, his neck turned in an awkward angle. Break a neck. Yeah, right. I quickly got up (which wasn't an easy feat) and found Kevin and AJ sprawled next to each other. Howie was crumpled on the side.

"Howie, get up!" I shouted, slapping his face lightly. It didn't take me too long before he woke up. Howie has always been a morning person.

"Oh God, that hurts!" Howie cried.

"You okay man?" I asked.

"I think so." Howie got up and inspected himself. Ironically, a few scratches and pieces of broken glass, most probably from the mugs that we had left on the table, pierced his body. Nothing that he couldn't handle.

I heard Kevin move and went up to him. He had cuts and bruises on his face, it was full of blood. "Kevin, oh God, you look bad."

"My face hurts." Kevin groaned.

"How could you be bleeding this much?" I asked, shocked. It was just minor bruises after all.

"It's not Kev's." Howie said, next to AJ. Part of his shirt was torn off, revealing the back of his right shoulder, skin literally torn off, raw skin and blood.

"Oh no…" Kevin quickly grabbed a kitchen towel and covered the wound with it.

"Get the first aid kit, quick!" Howie got up and came back with the box. "Get the gauze!"

While Kevin was attending to AJ, who was still unconscious, I remembered Nick.

"Oh no, Nick!" I rushed up to the back and found him slumped on the side of the bunk, bleeding on his forehead.

"Nick, wake up! Please! Wake up!" I screamed. Nick coughed. I thanked God.

"Come on Frack, we've got to get out of here." Nick was still in a daze. I didn't wait for him and pulled him out of the bunk. Nick gave out a yell and it suddenly occurred to me that he might be hurt.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"A little… Wait, I can get up on my own." Nick definitely was struggling but he didn't look like he was hurt, other than the head. Maybe that was it; the dizziness was slowing him down. Just like me.

When we got back to the front, AJ had already woken up although in a daze. Kevin had done a great job with the bandage. He tossed AJ a sweater to keep him warm.

"You guys smell that?" Nick asked suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"Gasoline." Kevin said.

"This bus is gonna blow up, we have to get out of here." Howie said as he appeared with our backpacks, where we kept our personal belongings, away from the band's luggage. "We're in a clearing, somewhere in the woods and winter is coming. It's already six, we need to get moving."

I don't know how Howie did it but I had new found respect for the guy.

"Can you get up AJ?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah." AJ said, struggling to get on his feet. "I'm scarred for life."

"Hey, have you taken a look at my face lately?" Kevin asked. I managed a smile, which was short-lived.

"We've got a problem." Howie said as a line creased his forehead.

"What?" We asked in unison.

"The door is on the ground, we're trapped."

5 by mersey

Chapter Five

"We have to break a window." Kevin instructed, already grabbing a foldable chair while the rest were still trying to grasp the idea of standing on the side of the bus.

"Looks like WWF live." AJ said in a daze. Everyone ignored him and Kevin slammed the chair to the glass window as hard as he could but nothing cracked.

"It's made to withstand millions of fans." Brian reminded him.

"Damn it!" Kevin cursed under his breath.

"Wait, we nose dived right? So the driver's screen must have cracked." Brian pointed out.

Everybody's face lit up.

"Quick, this bus could blow up at any time!" Kevin shouted out his orders.

Nick saw Joe's lifeless body crushed on his seat, his eyes still open, in shock he assumed. He turned his head, unable to accept the truth.

"Oh my God, Joe's dead?" Nick said, tears stung in his eyes.

"Nick, concentrate, we have to get out of here." AJ consoled him as he watched Kevin say a silent prayer and close Joe’s eyelids.

Howie gave a hard kick and a small portion of the windshield broke into tiny glass. Another kick made a decent hole for a person to pass through.

"Try one more time, let's make a bigger hole." Brian said. Nick secretly thanked Brian for that. He wasn't sure if he could pass through the hole.

Howie tried one last time but it didn't budge. Kevin tried too but to no avail. "There's no time, we have to make do."

Nick watched as Howie threw their bags out and then passed through himself, followed by AJ. Both went out unscathed. Kevin was next and as big as he is, he didn't get stuck.

"Okay Bri, let's go. Watch for the glass, some is quite sharp." Kevin said.

"Why don't you go first Nick?" Brian suggested.

"No, I'm not even sure if I can pass through that, it's too small for me." Nick said.

"No way, if Kevin can do it you surely can too."

"I've got big ass." Nick whined.

"Girls love that." Brian said.

"Now it sucks." Nick cried.

"I'll help, come on." Brian urged.

"No, I might slow us down, you go first." Brian didn't argue and went through first without any difficulties.

"Okay Frack, your turn. I'll be out here to catch you, come on."

Nick went through head first, like Kevin did. Brian and Kevin held each arm as he tried to wriggle his way out. But true to his prediction, Nick got stuck from the waist down.

"Come on Nick, why are you stopping?" Kevin asked. Howie had gone to the back of the bus, checking the engine.

"I can't, I'm stuck!" Nick screamed in panic.

"Okay, we will pull you." Kevin said. "Brian you pull the other side."

"Okay, on my count," Brian said. "1…2…3…" They pulled Nick out but stopped when he screamed.

"Stop, that really hurts!" Nick shouted.

"Come on Nick, just bare with it for awhile okay?" Brian consoled him.

"No, the glass is poking on my stomach!" Nick wailed.

"We've got no time, the gas is leaking and I saw sparks, it's gonna blow. Pull him out of there now!" Howie shouted.

Kevin looked at Brian and he nodded. "I'm sorry Frack, you'll thank us later." Brian whispered. Without any warning, Kevin and Brian forcefully pulled him out. Nick screamed with all his might but they took no notice of it.

They dropped to the ground, panting. Nick was grabbing his stomach, crouching in pain.

"Get up! It's gonna blow!" Howie screamed as he and AJ made a run for safety.

"Come on Frack!" Kevin shouted, pulling Nick up with Brian's help. Nick tried his best to run; he didn't want to burden his brothers more than he already had.

"Over here!" AJ shouted behind a huge boulder. Kevin was behind Nick, pushing him all the way to run faster. A second after they made it there, the bus blew up into flames. Kevin, who didn't quite manage to make it behind the boulder, dropped to the ground from the force of the blast.

"Kevin, you okay?" Brian came out from hiding to get his cousin. He felt relieved when Kevin stirred. He smelt the fumes that fed the blaze and found it hard to breath.

"My arm." Kevin whined. His left arm was burnt, black soot covering edges of the seared skin. Raw, scorched skin revealing pure red blood.

"We need to get out of here." Brian said. Kevin nodded and broke into a staggering run to get to the boulder. His eyes felt stung and his lungs raw and scorched, but he still ran for dear life.

"It could have been us." AJ said to no one.

"It could have been me." Nick said. "Thanks guys." Brian and Kevin nodded.

"You sure have a big ass." Brian agreed. The boys laughed as they made their way into the woods, trying to find a way up to the highway again.

Meanwhile, up on the highway, three men were watching them closely.

"They made it, now we have to stop them." Brad said with clenched teeth. "We can't have witnesses that will not be good for us."

6 by mersey
Chapter Six

"Tell me again why we are in the woods?" AJ asked as he tried to catch up with the rest. Thankfully for him, Nick was staggering at the back too.

"It's the only way to go." Kevin said.

"Why can't we wait at the crash site for help?" AJ asked.

"Did you see any cars pass us by the whole time we were on the road? I don't think so." Kevin pointed out.

"Okay then, but at least slow down, my shoulder is killing me. I think Nicky here needs a breather too." AJ whined. Unlike the others, AJ could only sling his bag on his left shoulder.

"Don't call me that, bonehead." Nick hissed. AJ took no notice.

"You okay Frack?" Brian asked as he stopped to wait for them.

"Yeah." Nick replied unenthusiastically.

"Did you hurt yourself when we pull you out?"

"Nah, just a little scratch I think." Nick replied.

"And he cried like a baby." AJ added.

"I did not! I didn't cry!" Nick protested.

"Yeah, but you screamed like one." AJ said.

"Try having sharp things poking at your stomach and then you tell me!" Nick fumed.

"Try having your skin torn off and bleeding like hell!" AJ said.

"Guys, shut up!" Howie shouted at the front. "I'm tired and I don't need to hear you two bickering like grannies!"

Nick and AJ fell silent immediately. They knew it was a stupid argument, no point protesting against it.

"How deep are we? What time is it anyway?" Brian asked, panting. His head had begun to throb.

"I think we're in the middle. We should find a spot to spend the night; it's going to be dark soon." Kevin replied, staring up at what little sky he could see beyond the tall trees.

"It's gonna be cold, I hope we have sweaters in the bags." Howie said, looking at the muddy ground. Edges of puddles had turned to ice.

The guys walked on in silence for the next fifteen minutes before Kevin stopped under a very huge tree. The clearing was dry and free from grass, a perfect place for them to stay the night. The guys didn't protest and started searching for twigs and small branches to start a fire.

"We would be warm if we stayed near the bus." AJ whispered to Nick. He couldn't help but let out a small laugh. It hurt but he couldn't help himself.

The fire was up thanks to AJ's lighter. The boys wanted to ask what he was doing with it but were too tired to even talk. Kevin had done a great job at nursing AJ's wound and Brian had not complained about his head, although it was bothering him. They had found a bottle of anti-septic in the first aid kit and had treated Kevin's burn fairly well. Nick's bleeding forehead turned out to be a minor cut, much to everyone's relief.

"Look, we can't go on with these bags, they're slowing us down. I suggest we take only those that are necessary." Howie suggested.

"Okay, let's start digging shall we?"

"You guys have sweaters?" Kevin asked.

"I have one." Nick said, waving a white Nike sweater.

"Me too," Brian said, pulling out a blue one. Howie, Kevin and AJ already had theirs on.

"I have some new socks, another pair track pants and…two chocolate bars." AJ claimed.

The boys looked at him quizzically.

"Erm…snatched em' from a hotel room, somewhere." AJ grinned.

"I've got some bath towels too." Nick grinned.

"You guys do this often?" Brian asked sarcastically.

"Anytime we can bro." AJ smirked.

"Anybody got drinks in there?" Nick asked. All shook their heads. "My throat is getting dry."

“Hey D, your bag comes with a compass!" Kevin cried.

"How come you didn't use it just now?" Brian asked, irritated.

"I forgot I had one." Howie grinned sheepishly. Brian rolled his eyes.

"Did anyone else bring food with you?" Brian asked.

"I've got sweets, if that counts." Nick replied, showing them a packet full of assorted flavored candies. Sugar rush, that's him.

"These things will only make us thirsty." AJ sighed.

"At least chocolate’s good. Peanuts and all." Howie remarked.

"Yes, Mr. Calorie." AJ teased.

"Why are we so concerned about food? It's not like we're gonna get stuck in this place for days, right?" Nick asked innocently.

"Who knows Nick," Kevin sighed. "We can't even remember which town we're in right now. If I can even call it that, in the first place."

"You're making me nervous. I can't stay here for days, I won't last that long." Nick frowned.

"Hey, don't say that. We are going to find our way out, trust me." Brian assured his buddy.

"How come none of us remembered a cell phone?" Nick sighed.

"No use, it's not going to work here." Kevin replied. "We're too far out."

"AJ, I don't think you should be carrying any bags on your shoulder, so put all of the useless stuff, in his. J, you can put yours in mine." Howie suggested.

Nick took out his Linkin Park CD and some tissues he had used earlier during the interview to blow his nose.

"You sure about that?" Brian asked, knowing that it was one of his favorite CDs.

"Trust me; if I had a choice, I wouldn't want to." Nick replied. Brian just nodded.

Howie took out some small gifts fans had given him after the interview and reluctantly placed them in AJ's bag. "I wish I didn't have to do this."

"I hear ya." AJ sighed, as he left behind gifts from fans too.

Kevin took out a mini camcorder and placed it in AJ's bag.

"You sure 'bout that Kev? We could be the new Blair Witch if you run that thing." AJ joked.

"Those kids didn't have a happy ending." Howie reminded him.

"Oh…yeah, never mind." AJ muttered.

Brian took out his PDA organizer. "Spent a fortune for that one."

"Hey, you're rich, you'll buy another." Nick teased.

"Don't get emotional now guys, who knows, maybe after all this is over, we could come back and find this bag." Kevin said, trying to boost his brothers' morale.

"Like a treasure hunt?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, like that." Kevin smiled.

"After all this? I don't think so." Nick cringed. "Let's just call a search party for it."

"To find the damn bag? We are such spoiled superstars!" Howie laughed.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm beat. I'm going to go to sleep before the cold gets to me." AJ yawned.

"Don't sleep too far; we should share body heat in this kind of weather." Howie said.

"Have you been camping lately D? You seem to know every survival tip there is." AJ joked.

"It's called general knowledge, moron." Howie retorted.

Howie and AJ ended up sleeping next to each other. Nick saw Kevin warming himself near the fire and he offered him a candy.

"Orange?" Kevin asked, straining to look at the wrapper.

"Got to have your vitamin C." Nick joked. Kevin nodded with a smile and took it. He saw Brian lingering in the dark, looking for twigs and decided to join him while Kevin sucked on his candy in peace.

"Are you throwing stones so we won't get lost?" Nick giggled. He was caught halfway with a light cough. It hurt his abdomen but Nick tried his best not to show it.

"Very funny Nick, remind me to laugh later." Brian retorted. "Your throat is definitely dry and your flu isn't helping."

"It's just too cold out here, come on, let's go warm ourselves, enough with the twigs already." Nick said.

"They're all wet anyway." Brian sighed, as he walked back to the others.

"Brian?"

"Hmmm?"

"Your head, it's bleeding again."

ררררר

When Nick told me that I was bleeding, panic rushed in me all over again. I ran my fingers to the cut and it was covered in blood, my blood. That was when I felt the faint. Everything just seemed to be dancing around me, making me dizzy. Before I knew it, I blacked out again.

When I woke up, I found AJ, Kevin and Howie huddled up to my left. AJ's body heat helped to warm me a little. I think he's getting a fever. Nick was wide awake, sitting up and leaning against the tree trunk. Nick told me that I was shivering in my sleep and so I got the extra socks that they found in AJ's bag and the towels, which were used as blankets.

"It's freezing, you shouldn't be sitting alone." I said. My head throbbed in protest. I shouldn't be talking?

"Not cold." He said, staring up ahead.

"Thick skin." I teased.

"Hey, not fair." Nick laughed.

"Come on Nick, lie down, there's no use keeping watch. You need sleep. It's not like there's going to be bears or something." I said as I offered the towels to him.

"No, you need them, I really am not cold. And please don't feed my imagination; it's already wild as it is."

"I'm joking all right, trust me, there's no wild animals here. Come on, we'll share the towels." I offered. Nick nodded and lay down next to me. I thought I saw him wince, like as if it took immense energy just to lie down. But it was dark and I'm suffering from a 'terrific' headache, I might be seeing things.

He took half of the 'blanket' and just as soon as his head reached the ground, he fell asleep. I couldn't help noticing the heat of his body when his arm accidentally brushed against mine. I sat up (with great difficulty) and placed my hand on his forehead, it was warm.

"Nick, I think you have a fever." I whispered.

"Sleep Bri, I'm okay." Nick mumbled with his eyes closed.

"You're lying! You're shivering for God's sake!" I whispered loudly while touching his hand. "Come on Nick, I'm serious, you're burning up."

"I know…I need some sleep, I'll be okay. Just sleep kay." Nick yawned.

I wanted to argue some more but the throbbing in my head made me lay back down. Soon, the dawn will be breaking, and we will have a tough day ahead trying to make it home safely. I am sure the other bus has reached New York by now. They will start to worry that we aren’t there this late. They will definitely send a search party out soon.

ררררר

"Bri, wake up." Brian woke up and found Howie hovering above him. "You all right? You look like shit."

"Good morning to you too." Brian retorted. Howie smiled guiltily.

"How's your head doing?"

"Headache’s killing me, other than that, I'm fine." Brian noticed that Nick was already up and was helping Kevin change AJ's bandage.

"Nick okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Howie asked. "It's AJ who isn't looking good."

"Yeah? He's body was burning up last night."

"He looked tired but he didn't complain. As long as he is strong enough to walk on his own, he'll be fine." Howie said.

"How's AJ holding up?"

"His shoulder hurt like hell. Luckily for him, the wound isn't infected. Thanks to the first aid box we found." Howie replied.

"You know, I think we should bandage that head of yours too."

"I'm okay, don't waste the bandages, AJ needs them more than I do. Just clean the wound for me and I'll be all right." Brian said.

"You girls ready, lets get moving!" Kevin called from their place.

"Who are you calling girls?" Howie shouted back. Brian laughed.

"Come on, we have to get back now, I'm hungry!" Nick beckoned.

ררררר

It was an hour or so of walking in the woods and we still couldn't find a way up.

My head was still killing me but at least I could walk. Nick's little 'episode' last night still bugged me. I swear he was burning up but today he looked fine. I mean, he staggers like AJ does but he didn't look sick to me. I don't know, something tells me there's more than meets the eye.

Kevin stopped and I almost ran into Howie. "Wassup?" AJ asked, annoyed.

"You guys hear that?" Kevin asked, motioning us to stay still.

"Hear what?" I whispered.

"Sounds like footsteps." Kevin whispered.

"Why are we whispering? It could be help." Nick asked.

"Or it could be a bear." AJ replied. We looked at him in alarm.

"Just a suggestion." AJ shrugged.

"Your suggestion sucks!" Howie whispered loudly.

Just then, I heard the first sparks explode. It sounded like firecrackers at first, but after a second and third shot, I realized it came from a gun, or two, I don't know. Someone was shooting at us!

In our panic, we ran to God knows where and were separated. I found myself with AJ and Howie, hiding behind a huge trunk. Howie told us to keep still. Like I can do anything else.

"Yoohoo…guys, come on out…where are youuuuuu?" I recognized that voice. It was the son of a bitch who had hit me. They are back!

"It's them! Why are they after us?" AJ whispered loudly.

"I think they want us dead." Howie replied.

"You think?" I retorted.

"Why would they want us dead?" AJ asked, still confused.

"Cause we didn't die in that bus. We're witnesses to their crime." Howie explained.

"Damn! This trunk won't do it. We have to get going before they get any closer." AJ said.

"Where's Nick and Kev?" I asked. I hate it when we get separated, especially right now, here, in these woods.

"I saw them running that way, we should go there too." Howie said. I wonder how he managed to see where the others were going while bullets were flying in our direction. I didn't bother to ask.

"Wait, are we just going to run for it?" AJ asked and Howie nodded.

"What? No plan from Mr. Howie?" I added.

"No time boys, we need to get going now!"

We ran like we've never run before. We looked like three athletes on a relay race. Howie was in front of us, AJ in the middle and I was struggling to catch up at the back. I heard bullets speeding past us, missing us by margins. I think I started to mumble some prayers. If I did, I sure as hell don't know what they were. AJ's was much more recognizable though.

"Oh shit, shit!" AJ shouted as he saw the bullets racing past him. See, his prayers kind of work.

"Watch out for the hole!" Howie shouted at the front.

"Wha…ahhhhhhhhh" It was too late. I didn't see it coming. It wasn't that deep a hole. Big enough for a body to fall through and trust me, deep enough to cause you problems. I fell, and my world entrapped me in darkness. Again.

ררררר

Kevin couldn't believe that they got separated. Thankfully, Nick was with him, hiding behind a gigantic boulder. He was obviously in pain and he secretly prayed that it wasn't the bullet.

"Are you hit?" Kevin asked while still keeping an eye on their surroundings.

"No." Nick whimpered, clutching his stomach.

"Then why is your face contorted like that?"

"It hurts, okay?" Nick hissed. Kevin was about to ask what hurts but went silent when he heard the voices calling out to them.

"Oh no, it's those men again." Kevin said, recognizing the voice.

"They want to kill us?" Nick asked, more to himself than to Kevin.

They heard urgent footsteps running and then suddenly they were reunited with Howie and AJ. Kevin felt safe. But then he remembered Brian. Where is he?

"Where's Brian?" Nick asked, as if he could read his mind.

"He fell…into some kind of a hole. I…I don't know what happened to him." Howie stammered. Kevin thought he saw tears in Howie’s eyes. Yes, he was crying.

"Is it deep?" Kevin asked, trying not to let his emotions get in the way.

"Looks like it." AJ said. "They saw us Kev, they saw B fall." AJ cried.

"We have to help him!" Nick whispered loudly.

"They will kill us Nick!" AJ cried.

"Wait, shh! Listen." Kevin interrupted. "He's dead. No one can survive that fall. Especially after what I did to his head in the bus." It was Brad.

"He's gone. See, he hit his head hard, there's blood everywhere." Matt said.

"Let's not waste our time with him, we should find the others." Ted agreed.

"Wait, maybe he's got some good stuff in his bag." Matt said, already tempting to get into the hole. Brad hit him on the shoulder and Matt's gun fell into the hole.

"You idiot, stop fooling around!" Brad hissed.

"Fuck man! You don't have to do that. Now I've got no gun!" Matt cursed.

"You don't know how to use it anyway." Brad said as he moved away from the hole.

"What's that supposed to mean? I shoot well!" Matt argued.

"Oh no, Brian, he's dead!" Nick cried softly.

"Shh! we can't let them know we're here." Kevin said as tears fell from his eyes.

"We have to help him." AJ cried.

"They are looking for us; we have to get out of here." Howie stammered.

"We're leaving Brian behind?" Nick asked, furious.

"No. We will come back for him." Howie said. "But we can't do that now, they will find us and kill us off."

"They're fighting; it's the best time to escape." Kevin said.

"Promise we'll get him back, no matter if he's already dead?" Nick asked.

"Promise."

7 by mersey
Chapter Seven

Nick knew that their lives were in danger; he knew that they had to get out of there before the bad guys found them; he knew that if he didn't, he would get his brothers in trouble too. But part of him wanted to stay. Part of him wanted to go back to Brian and check if his best friend was still alive. To him, they were going back on their promise. They were supposed to stick together through thick and thin no matter what. Now they are about to leave one of their brothers behind. Betrayal is a cruel thing.

Part of him listened as Howie and Kevin gave their instructions, part of him was aware that danger is lurking in every hidden corner of the forest and should he falter back, it would consume him whole. But another part of him was envisioning Brian in the hole, still and bleeding to death.

He tried to keep up with his brothers, not knowing where they were heading and not caring. He had decided he would let the others worry about that. He didn't hear anyone chasing them at the back, maybe the bad guys were too wrapped up in their argument, they really didn't take notice of their escape.

The pain in his stomach was rebelling against his decision to fasten up his pace. It felt like sharp pins poking him from the inside, forcing its way out through his skin. He knew he was burning up, had been since they left that morning, and he knew that he wasn't well, but denial was an easy game for him. Denial was the key to hoping that Brian wasn't dead too.

8 by mersey

Chapter Eight

They had been running and walking for more than an hour and AJ was truly tired. He was sure the others were too, judging by how slow they were walking. As usual, he and Nick were struggling to keep up at the back, while Howie and Kevin directed their way. AJ knew that Nick was still distraught over Brian. He had been too, but showing emotions at a time like this will not help them. He had always been the cheery one, the one who lights up other people's bad days, he tended to stay that way. At least by doing that, he could push ugly images of Brian sprawled and bleeding in a pit away to the back of his mind.

"Guys, can we rest? I can't go any further." Nick called at the back. He kept on stumbling and AJ had to stop and wait for him. It's not like AJ minded at all, he appreciated the occasional stops.

AJ's heart went out to him. He sounded genuinely scared. He might be all of 21, but he is still the baby of this group. Always will be no matter how old he gets.

"I really need to change this." AJ said, referring to his bandage. "Also, Nick's getting pale. He looks like shit ran over twice."

"I'm too tired for this." Nick sighed, giving up on AJ. Howie secretly thought that he would not know what to do without AJ, he is the one who keeps everything light and funny when things get tough and rough.

"Just a few minutes more, I can't find a clearing for us to rest. This place is too wet and slippery." Kevin said.

None of them disagreed although they were dead tired. AJ didn't know how long he would last with the pain growing in his shoulder. It felt as if it mutated itself. Then he felt guilty after remembering Brian. He wasn't that bad off after all.

He noticed that Nick had been stumbling too often. It's like he couldn't walk a straight line anymore. AJ had to pull him up with his left hand to keep him moving. But when Nick stumbled again and started crying, he panicked. Nick never lost control like that. It had been a long time since he last saw Nick cry. He seldom cries anymore, preferring to keep his emotions to himself. But now, he was down on his knees and sobbing like a child, and AJ suddenly froze. He didn't know what to do.

"What's wrong Nick?" AJ asked. He was sincere and wasn't joking this time.

"Nick, are you all right?" Kevin asked as he went back to get them.

"If we stop asking, maybe he will answer us." Howie said.

"Hey, funny, that's supposed to be my job." AJ sounded hurtful.

"What's wrong Nick?" Kevin asked, squatting next to him. "Is your stomach hurting again?"

"I can't go on! It hurts too much...” Nick cried, still hugging himself.

"Okay, I found a clearing out there; we'll help you walk okay?" Nick nodded. Kevin lent his shoulder for support and the gang walked on. Nick still had his left hand clutching his stomach. Nobody knew how much pain he had to endure.

Kevin felt guilty for pulling Nick out of the bus even when the young man had protested against it. Maybe they did hurt him in the process?

True to his words, Kevin got them to the clearing in five minutes. There were bushes surrounding them so they could hide themselves well.

"Here, lie down, let me take a look at it." Kevin said. Nick didn't argue. He looked spaced out, as if he was too scared to move.

"Where does it hurt?" Kevin asked. AJ sat next to him, curious about his brother. Nick showed the right side of his abdomen.

Kevin pulled his shirt up and was shocked at the discovery. Nick had black and blue bruises going up the right side of his ribs. It looked swollen. AJ thought it was the first time Nick had seen the bruise himself, because he looked just as shocked.

"Oh no, that doesn't look good. What's wrong with me Kev?"

"I think you broke some ribs."

9 by mersey
Chapter Nine

"Broken ribs? That's not good right? I'm going to die, aren't I?" Nick cried.

"Hey, hold up a sec bro, nobody's dying okay? You just broke some ribs. Some people break their legs, you broke ribs. You're going to be okay, just a little uncomfortable." Kevin assured the young blonde.

"Look, why don't you lie back down, it will feel better." Howie suggested.

"No, if I move, it's just going to hurt. Just let me sit here." Nick muttered.

" I'm so sorry Nick." Kevin cried as he ran his fingers through the blonde streaks that were damp with Nick's sweat.

"Isn’t your fault Kev." Nick whispered.

"We pulled you out even when you said you were in pain." Kevin pointed out.

"I would be fried if you didn't. Besides, the pain was there even before that." Nick replied.

"Huh? What do you mean?" AJ asked.

"I hurt myself when the bus crashed, I heard something crack but I didn't know it was my ribs." Nick said in between gasping for air.

"Why didn't you tell us? This is serious Frack." Howie said worriedly.

"I walked all the way here by myself didn't I? I can handle this." Nick said.

"You just begged us to stop a minute ago Nick!" Howie argued.

"Are you telling me that I'm not going to make it?" Nick cried.

"Look, we're tired. Let's just take a rest. Too much noise will give us away." AJ interrupted.

"Oh God, AJ became the mediator, we have been warned." Howie mocked. AJ rolled his eyes and slumped himself down next to Nick.

"What time is it?" Kevin asked as he looked around the area.

"Almost six." Howie replied.

"It's getting colder every minute." AJ noted.

"It's going to get worse." Howie added as he placed the bag down on the ground.

"Nick needs more than a sweater." AJ claimed.

"I know but all we've got are these towels, and it isn't enough." Howie whispered.

ררררר

"That's the last piece." Kevin said as he pulled out a small glass from Howie's back. "Or at least the last that I can see in the dark."

"Great, I can't stand the cold anymore." Howie said as he pulled down his sweater.

It was already seven in the evening and the air was getting cold. They didn't dare to make a fire as it might lead the bad guys to them. AJ was fast asleep. The last time Howie checked, AJ was slowly developing a fever. The wound was infected but they had no water to clean it up except for a solution they found in the first aid kit.

"We should sleep now or we'll be too tired to walk tomorrow. Why don't you sleep first and I'll take the first watch?" Kevin suggested.

"Why don't you guys sleep and let me take the first watch? I can't sleep." Nick interrupted. He was still sitting under the tree with AJ to his left.

"But you already took the first watch yesterday. You need to sleep too." Howie pointed out.

"But I can't sleep, it would be useless to have two of us keep watch at the same time right? I promise I will wake you guys up if I'm tired." Nick protested.

"Is it your stomach? Is that why you can't sleep?" Kevin asked, concerned. "You should tell us if it gets too much."

"No, I'm fine." Nick lied.

"Is it Brian?" Kevin tried again. "Because if it is, you don't have to worry about that. We will come back for him tomorrow, when it's safe. If Brian is still…alive…he'll know what to do. He survived a heart surgery, he can survive this." Kevin assured the young one, although deep down inside, he had no idea what fate had in store for his cousin.

"I'm fine Kev. Stop worrying about me, just sleep okay? AJ and I won't last long if you two can't keep your eyes open tomorrow." Nick lied again. Brian was always on his mind. His broken ribs came in second.

"Okay, but wake us up when you’re tired." Howie reminded him.

"Yes mommy, daddy, can I go to my room now?" Nick mocked. Sometimes he just hated the way people kept treating him like a two year old. Okay, Hate is a strong word. He didn't mean that.

"You know, if you weren’t not so sick right now and we weren’t lost in the middle of nowhere, I would have personally carried you and threw you off a cliff." Howie hissed.

"Yeah, me too." Kevin agreed.

"Nah, you guys love me too much to do that." Nick replied blankly.

He heard Kevin and Howie muttering something under their breath and collapsed next to AJ. Within seconds, he could hear their soft snores. Nick was alone again.

ררררר

AJ stirred in his sleep, disturbed by the constant coughing that was growing louder by the minute. Giving up at last, he woke up. His body trembled involuntarily, acknowledging the fierce cold wind brushing past him. His throat felt sore and he knew he was slowly developing a fever.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Nick asked in between coughs. AJ looked up to his right, where Nick was still sitting under the tree next to him. He looked seriously pale and his lips were bluish. The night wasn't that dark after all.

"Dude you look pale man, are you okay?" AJ whispered, not wanting to wake the others up.

"I'm...okay… just cold..." Nick trembled. AJ realized he had the towels to himself. It used to warm Brian, AJ thought.

"Here, we'll share these." AJ sat next to Nick and covered them up with what little warmth the towels could provide.

"Your body's warm…you have a fever Bone?" Nick asked.

"I think so." AJ stammered under clenched teeth.

"Eat some of the chocolate and then…then you can take the Tylenol Howie found in the first aid kit." Nick instructed.

"Nah, I can still manage." AJ dismissed.

"You could really use it Bone, if you get sick… we will only be more of a burden for Kev and D." Nick replied. Since when did Nick become the wise one? AJ thought.

"Okay, if you say so doc." AJ mocked and went for Howie's bag where the chocolates were. He took a bar and bit a mouthful. "Haffi?" He said with his mouth full.

"I thought Denise told you not to eat with your mouth full." Nick retorted. Mom, AJ missed his mother.

"Here, take two of these." Nick spilled two tablets from the bottle and passed it to AJ.

"Dude, why are you trembling so much?" AJ asked when he saw Nick's hand shivering. "You feel like ice!"

"Cold weather does that to you J. Jeez, did you finish high school?" Nick stammered, hiding behind his own facade.

"You know what I mean! I'm worried about you, I can't have another one of you guys leaving me-" AJ stopped in mid sentence, Nick was having one of his coughing fits again. It sounded so serious that it surprised AJ that neither Kevin nor Howie woke up.

"Frack, you okay man?" AJ asked as he rubbed Nick's back. Nick waved his right hand to show that he was fine but the coughing didn't sound anywhere near that. "Anything that I can do?"

"I'm fine J, it's just a-" Nick stopped in his tracks. Even in the night, he could never mistake it for anything else. He had coughed up blood.

"Oh God! I told you this is serious, wait; I'm going to wake them up." AJ cried in panic.

"No! AJ, please, don't tell them." Nick pleaded.

"But-"

"They already have a lot on their hands J. They don't need to know this." Nick explained.

"But, what happens if it gets worse Nick, they have to know." AJ said.

"I've been thinking about this and I think that we're slowing them down. We can hardly survive tonight, I have a feeling Brian is a lot worse." Nick said as he carefully wiped his hand with dried leaves.

"You mean, you think B's...dead?" AJ asked.

"Who are we kidding J? You heard what they said. He's bleeding and not moving. With this weather, he's not going to make it." Nick pointed out. "And so will Kev and Howie if we slow them down."

"Where are you heading with this Frack?" AJ asked as he remembered the pills and quickly forced them down his throat.

"Look, I know we've promised each other to stick together till the end, but the way I look at it, that promise is no longer valid when we left B back there. Rather than all of us die and the bad guys got away, I want Kev and D to make it and expose those bastards." Nick said firmly.

"So what you're trying to say is we let them go and find help and we stay behind?" AJ asked. Nick nodded. It wasn't a difficult decision and AJ was surprised that Nick had thought about it first. Little Nicky had definitely grown up. AJ would rather sacrifice his life just so his brothers could live. It would be tragic if none of them survived to tell the whole world of the mishap that had befallen them. It would be unjustified and he knew he could never rest in peace with that.

"Okay Nick, I hear ya. What's the plan?"

10 by mersey

Chapter Ten

"This is fucked up man! It's been two days and I'm hungry and cold! I want to get outta here and spend the money away!" Matt cried as he staggered along, trying to keep up with Brad. Winter was just around the corner and they weren't even properly dressed. But then again, none of them had planned on a trip to the forest. Matt for one, had planned on leaving the country and moving to Mexico, get a huge house and a beautiful Mexican woman who will make him happy.

"Yeah Brad, we should just go. Those assholes won't survive another day out here; they are as good as dead." Ted agreed. Brad stopped in his track, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning to his accomplices.

"I will not leave until I kill them myself! If they survive, we will be on the front page of every single newspaper in this country. We don't want that to happen now, do we?" Brad hissed. He had been very patient with the two of them whining all day.

"But they won't survive, and neither will we if we don't get out of here. The last time we saw them, they didn't look too good. Hell, they were even going the wrong direction! The highway is back there!" Matt argued.

"Fine then, but let me tell you first that you won't get the remaining $100,000.00 that they took from us." Brad said coolly.

Matt and Ted stopped short. Their eyes wide with greed, their energy suddenly renewed. "What $100,000.00?"

"The one Dave was carrying. Since he's dead, we are going to have his share. Or at least, I will if I get it back." Brad flashed his devilish grin.

"But...I thought..."

"Nope, it's not burnt together with him, those assholes took it."

"How did you know that?" Ted asked, curious.

"Would you leave a bag full of money behind if you came across one?" Brad asked in return. "Besides, their bag looks suspiciously heavy."

"Damn it Brad! For all we know it's in that dead guy's bag!" Ted cried, realizing their mistake.

"No, it's not with him. His bag is too light; besides, would you let someone with a cracked head carry your money? Damn, how stupid can you be?" Brad mocked.

"Okay then, who has it?" Matt asked, challenging him.

"The one with the curly hair, he's not that badly hurt, and he's physically strong, he has it." Brad said.

"I hope you're right Brad, you know we're going to be totally screwed if you’re not." Ted replied.

"Stop worrying boys, the only ones getting screwed are them."

ררררר

Let's make a list. 1) Hit on the head unconscious 2) falling down at least two stories high in a bus 3) surviving without food and water for two days in a forest 4) surviving the ever decreasing temperature 5) falling into a pit about a mile deep

Check. Check. Check. Check. Check.

Dead or Alive? Unsure.

Test: Give a little touch to the back of the head.

Result: Ouch! Oww! And other sounds associated with pure pain.

Final Verdict: (Barely) Alive

Only minutes ago, I was struggling to hold onto whatever I could reach so that I wouldn't slip and fall back into the pit for what seemed like the hundredth time. I surprised myself with the will that I have left in me to make it out alive. Now that I did, I wish I had just stayed in there and died. No, I didn't mean that. I love my life. There's a reason why God didn't just let me die in there and end my misery. Or at least the atomic throbbing in my head.

Maybe I'm still alive cause I have to help my brothers, which I have no idea how to, looking at how physically unfit I am right now. Or maybe, it was the constant nagging I kept hearing somewhere deep inside of me shouting, "You can't die Brian! You might as well spread the red carpet for Nsync to walk all the way to the top now!" It's a mystery why our minds think of stupid stuff when we're in the brink of death. Or maybe it's just me. Arghhh! I don't care anymore. All I know is, I woke up and found myself in the pit. For a few seconds there, I thought I was already dead and buried. But then flashes of what happened came back to me. And the bright morning light glaring into my eyes helped too. Or not.

Like a klutz, I had fallen into the pit even when Howie had warned us about it. I am so accident-prone. But that wasn't even the alarming part. My sweater was covered in blood and I thought I was going to die bleeding. But the bleeding had long stopped, only clots of dried blood patched on the enormous cut at the back of my head. I guess the cold weather kind of froze it. Don't know if that's good or bad. And then there was the gun. Fully loaded, lying next to me.

I've never touched or carried real gun before and was surprised at how heavy it was. My bag was still intact too. I watched Lethal Weapon and all the sequels and I know a thing or two about handling a gun, so it helps.

Now, I'm resting under this tree. Doesn't matter what kind, as long as it's strong enough to support my weight. It had begun to snow lightly, and as snowflakes dropped and rested on the glistening black gun, I held it near my mouth and licked them. The cold stung my bruised lips, moistening them in the process. My throat felt a little moist; better than having it dry and sore. I don't know where to go next. I don't know if I could even go on. Where are my brothers? Are they safe? Will they come back for me? Do they think I'm dead?

As question after question started bombarding my twisted head, I drifted into an uneasy slumber.

ררררר

"I don't think we should be making Nick walk with those ribs Kev. I think I read somewhere that the victims shouldn't be moving around." Howie said as they started packing in the morning.

"I've thought about that too D. But I'm torn here; I have to get back to Brian." Kevin said sadly.

"I know. And I think Nick would be very happy if were reunited with him." Howie agreed.

"What if you guys go instead?" Kevin and Howie turned. AJ had just woken up. Howie had checked on him earlier that morning and was glad that his fever had gone down a bit.

"No way. I'm still getting over the guilt of leaving Brian alone last night. He could have died because of that. I can't let it happen to you two." Kevin said firmly.

"Come on Kev, you know it's the only way out. Look, Nick can hardly move, if we force him, it could kill him instead. And I'm not feeling good myself. We will wait here for you guys." AJ assured them.

"You can't wait here for us, what if the bad guys find you two? I can't even begin to imagine." Howie protested.

"We will hide ourselves. Come on guys, you've done enough for Nick and I, now keep our promise and get Brian back, dead or alive." AJ said firmly.

"I wish we could make this work AJ, I really do." Kevin said as he willed the tears to finally flow out.

"It will work Kev." Kevin was surprised for the second time that day. Nick had spoken. The little boy had woke up.

"How are you feeling buddy? You want to eat? We still have the chocolate." Kevin asked as he knelt down next to Nick.

"I'm feeling better but not good enough to walk. And I'm not hungry." Nick replied in between gasping for air. Breathing had become a chore for him lately. Every time he breathed in, his chest hurt, his stomach burnt and everything else felt numb.

"How can you not feel hungry? Come on, eat something okay?" Howie asked as he dug into his bag for the chocolate bar.

"The broken ribs kind of take away my appetite." Nick joked.

"Oh my God!" AJ cried suddenly.

"What?" The others asked in unison.

"It's snowing!" AJ cried as he cupped his hands to collect the snowflakes. It quickly melted in his hand as it was still snowing lightly. "At least now we don't have to worry about water."

“Actually that’s the one thing you shouldn’t do…eat snow.” Howie pointed out.

“Great D,” AJ rolled his eyes. “Thanks anyway.”

"It's going to be too cold soon, so please, just go and find Brian. He needs you guys more than we do." Nick pleaded to Howie and Kevin.

"How can we leave you here in this weather Nick? I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you and AJ." Kevin sighed.

"If you get moving now and find Brian fast, you'll get to us even faster. Once we’re all together again, we will find our way home Kev. Please, trust me."

Howie looked on at the figures of Nick and Kevin. It had always been Kevin who gave Nick advice and solved his problems, now it looked like the tables had turned. Kevin looked like a lost schoolboy while Nick held the key to their dilemma. The boy had grown in front of their eyes without them noticing it. Nick definitely had more going on in him than they all thought.

"Promise me you will wait for us?" Kevin cried.

"Promise me you'll get Brian?" Nick asked him back.

"I will." Kevin replied. "I will bring him back alive."

"Kev, just do me one favor before you go?" Nick asked.

"Anything bro."

"If Bri's still alive when you find him, could you please give this to him?" Nick took out his diary and gave it to him. Kevin knew how much he treasured the diary. He never let anyone read it. AJ was surprised once when Nick caught him sneaking in his diary. It wasn't a good surprise.

"What's this for?" Kevin asked, still confused.

"Make sure he reads the last entry once you get to him all right? And...if..he's already dead, could you please read it? The last entry, remember that." Nick said, straining himself not to cough. He knew once he started, he couldn't stop. And Kevin and Howie would change their minds if they saw just what he was coughing up.

"Okay Frack, whatever you say, I promise." Kevin said as he started to pull himself up. Howie had already packed their bags.

"I'm leaving the chocolate and the first aid kit behind. Make sure you change your bandage and take some pills for the fever all right?" Howie said to AJ.

"I will. Thanks D, I'll miss ya." AJ said as he quickly grabbed him for a hug. Howie was cautious not to touch AJ's shoulder.

"Hey, we'll only be gone for half the day, we'll be back. Don't miss me." Howie joked.

"Look, just in case something happens before you guys get back to us, I want you to know that-"

"I love you too AJ." Howie cut in. AJ was drowned in such a wave of emotions that he cried on his brother's shoulder.

"Hey Kev, if worse comes to worse, I just want you to know that whatever happens to AJ and I, isn’t your fault." Nick said, as Kevin was about to go.

"I love you, you know that right? All the lectures, all the scolding, it's just part of my du-"

"I know bro, I know. And I love you too. I could never ask for a better brother to look out for me, you're the best." Nick smiled.

"Just…hang in there…okay? For me?" Kevin reached down and kissed his forehead. It felt icy cold. Nick felt a tear drop on his forehead. He felt the tremble of Kevin's body as he cried, unable to hold it back; Nick held onto Kevin's arm and cried.

"I love you bro, just don't make this trip a waste, I want you alive when I get back." Howie said as he kissed Nick's forehead. Hugging him could prove fatal. "Nicky, d'ya hear me?"

"Yes D, I hear ya. I love you too." Nick smiled weakly. Howie never thought he would see the ever-hyperactive prankster be in that state.

"I know you can take care of yourself, you've always been responsible for your own actions, so I trust you to take care of Nick too." Kevin said to AJ.

"I will Kev, don't worry 'bout it." AJ replied.

"Just don't give up all right; we will come back as soon as possible. Nick...he's.."

"Nick will be fine; we will take care of each other. You guys better watch out for the bad guys too k?" AJ assured him.

"I love you man!" Kevin said, finally surrendering to a hug.

"Kev, if by fate, Nick and I didn't make it, make sure you guys catch the bastards who did these to all of us. Could you...could you also tell my mom that I love her?" AJ cried.

"Why would I want to do that? You're going to be there to tell her that J, you're not going to die." Kevin said stubbornly.

"I know, but if-"

"But if, I will." Kevin cut in. He couldn't bear to hear AJ speak of death. He has had enough of the negative talk from the two of them.

"I guess this is it then. Take care okay. Make sure you two don't go all crazy now and attract unwanted attention. AJ, I do not want to see you up on that tree when I'm miles away from here." Howie joked, trying to make the separation as bearable as possible.

"I don't know, can't promise you anything." AJ replied, flashing his sly grin.

"Don't worry guys, this monkey ain't goin' nowhere." Nick smiled.

"Some things just don't change." Kevin muttered as they made their way into the woods.

Nick looked on as the two figures walked further and shrank. He never lost sight of them until they looked like two black dots floating and then vanished.

"Are they really gone?" Nick asked.

"Yeah." AJ replied.

"Good." Nick collapsed on his side and started to cough badly.

AJ knew that the coughing fits were coming with a vengeance. He knelt down next to Nick and started rubbing his back. Nick closed his eyes, this time grimacing in pain. He had held it all inside when Kevin and Howie were around, but now nothing could stop him from coughing his heart out.

AJ noticed that Nick was having difficulties breathing properly. He didn't know what to do. Taking care of the sick wasn't his specialty. That would be Kevin's or Howie's. What was he thinking agreeing with Nick Carter, the master of pranksters.

"Nicky, are you okay? Is there anything I can do? Talk to me kid!" AJ whispered shakily.

"I…can't...breathe..." Nick whimpered. When he actually did take a breath, AJ could hear gurgling sounds coming from him. He felt Nick holding on to his left arm tightly, pressing it down to his ribs. He wanted to scream in pain as it was straining his injured shoulder but held it in. If that is what it took for Nick to get rid of some of his pain, AJ would do it in a heartbeat.

As soon as it started, it stopped. But it felt like an eternity to AJ. Nick just laid there in a fetal position, regaining his breath. "Take all the time you need buddy." AJ whispered. He slumped next to Nick, eyes staring up ahead, looking out for the little view of the blue sky as snowflakes landed on his face. Slow death is no fun.

11 by mersey

Chapter Eleven

His body ached all over with bruises and cuts, his legs felt numb yet he willed himself to trudge on, not wanting to disappoint the figure walking just a step ahead of him. Part of him was anxious to be reunited with his fellow brother yet another was screaming, blaming him for leaving two of them behind. How did they end up like this? In the woods? None of them were cut out to be a ‘survival of the fittest’ guy. Never mind if people say that he had muscles to be proud of, he knew deep inside, he wasn't the typical adventure boy. He thought he was just supposed to be sweet. The gentle one.

"I don't know D, does this look like the right way?" Howie turned his gaze at Kevin, his thoughts interrupted.

"The compass says its right." Howie replied, playing safe.

"This might sound stupid, but does a compass works in cold weather? You know...does it get faulty?" Kevin asked as he walked on, gasping for air.

"Yeah Kev, it is a stupid question." Howie replied with a small smile carved on his lips. “Especially when it comes from you.” He brushed away the snowflakes that had rested on his eyebrows and shifted the bag on his shoulder. He wished he could just throw the bag away, it was slowing him down.

"We have to find him fast, the snow is getting heavy." Kevin said as he studied the area. Green bushes and trees were coated with a thin layer of snow, the ground was almost covered with it too and puddles of water had turned to ice.

"Hey," Howie got hold of Kevin's left arm, stopping in his tracks.

"What?" Kevin asked in a whisper, thinking that Howie might have spotted the bad guys.

"Isn't that the boulder that we took cover from those bastards?"

"Damn D, it is!" Kevin laughed.

"Which means, the hole isn't far away!" Howie laughed in excitement. Suddenly, the ached had vanished.

"Hang on B-Rok, we're coming!"

ררררר

"Damn! This is gonna take longer than I thought!" Brad hissed as he stopped.

"I can hear the river from here; it's not going to be long." Matt replied excitedly.

"Yeah Brad, you saw the garbage they left behind back there, we are definitely on the right track." Ted agreed.

"I've made a big mistake. Look, you two go on, I'm going back to the dead guy." Brad said.

"What? We've come this far, are you trying to cheat on us?" Ted asked suspiciously.

"You son of a bitch! Don't you have a brain to think? If you were them, would you leave your friend behind? I have a feeling at least one of them would try to go back and help his dead friend." Brad explained.

"Why would you want to help someone who’s dead?" Matt asked.

"Because they're naןve, spoiled rich people. They would think that the dead guy isn't dead. They're going to help him." Brad pointed out.

"So you're gonna go back there?" Ted asked.

"Yeah, at least now we're covering two places at a time. We're gonna find 'em faster this way." Brad said.

"I guess so." Matt replied.

"Look, by seven tonight, I want you two to meet me at the highway again. You know how to get there from the river right?" Brad asked.

"Give us some cred buddy; we practically grew up in this town." Ted replied.

"Okay then, I'll see you up there with our cash." Brad flashed his devilish grin and went off into the woods. And maybe a killing or two. Damn I love the rush!

ררררר

I had started walking about thirty minutes ago, but who's counting right? Yes, I can still do that. I amaze myself too. And frankly, I didn't know where I was going. I must be going pretty slow cause I can still see the pit from here. But considering some screws were loose in my head and all the traumatic events that I've been through, I'm not doing bad at all.

I forgot where we were supposed to be heading, was it all the way to the left or to the right? I was too dependable on Howie and Kevin for directions, now that I'm alone, I am totally lost. I decided to take the right, no reasons, just that my legs started walking that way.

My vision wasn't that good either. Everything I saw just separated themselves and became two. If I put both palms of my hands in front of my face, I would see four of them. My neck was utterly sore, straining to balance my swollen head. I could be walking in a zig zag, I don't know.

The gun never left my hand. Wonder why. Before, the thought of owning one freaked me out. Now, it's like a guarantee that my life would be safe with it. And it was also straining my arm. Why am I thinking about stupid, obvious stuff? Come on Rok, get a grip on yourself! Think of a way out! Find your brothers!

Frankly, I'm beginning to give up. The cold had taken all the heat that was left in my body, and any little hope left had been ripped out as well. I can't kid myself anymore, how could anyone in my condition find four other guys? Or a way out for that matter. Had the bad guys got them too? They were so determined to kill each and every one of us. Did Nick make it? He wasn't doing pretty well himself. What if they're all dead? What if I'm the only one alive? What if help did come but they assumed that the five of us had perished together with the bus? Then they would close the case and never would go out to look for us, right? What if-

What was that? Did I just hear someone shouting? Am I delirious?

ררררר

"We could just hang out here if you want. You don't look like you can handle the walk." AJ said after fifteen minutes of just lying around and doing nothing much. He kept staring at the sky and listened to the rise and fall of Nick's irregular breathing. Time was catching up on the boy who never shuts up.

"No." Nick whispered. "We have a plan to carry out."

"Dude, you can't even get up." AJ sighed.

"Help me, dumb ass."

"Okay, that's it, no more Mr. Nice Guy," AJ exclaimed as he pulled himself up and offered his hands to Nick. "I'm gonna make you walk like you've never walked before."

Nick winced in pain but willed himself to get on his feet. AJ saw the trail of blood that had trickled down his neck and shook his head. "But first, we need to get that glob off of your face."

AJ wiped the blood with the sleeve of his sweater and avoided the stain that had soaked in the cotton fabric. Denial always works. He slide Nick's right arm across his shoulder and adjusted the new weight that was heaving down on him. His shoulder ached in protest but he had learned to ignore that long ago.

"Stop whining Bone, leave that to me. You just lead the way." Nick smiled.

"You're having so much fun right now aren't ya? Is that why you're pressing on my wound purposely?" AJ hissed as they started walking.

"Come on Bone, we have to have fun in times like this. This is a suicide mission after all. This is like our last meal or something."

12 by mersey
Chapter Twelve

"Fuck this!" Brad yelled as his wide eyes stared into the empty hole. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The dead man had disappeared. The dead man isn't dead. Anger rose in him like never before. Even in the cold weather, he could feel the heat rushing up every vain in him, boiling his blood.

He's injured, he can't be very far. His eyes darted around the surrounding, scanning the area like an eagle looking out for his prey. He could have fired his gun around him out of anger. He had underestimated his enemies. They weren't that gullible after all.

Brad was about to walk out of the area when he thought he heard footsteps coming his way. Making sure not to make too much noise, he hid behind a tree next to the pit. You better come out asshole, and this time, I'm gonna make sure that I introduce you to my bullets properly.

Kevin fastened his pace to catch up with Howie who was practically running to the pit. He wondered where Howie had gained the renewed strength to run. His left leg was giving him problems and to run might just make matters worse.

"Come on Kev; let's wake up the sleeping beauty!" Howie cried like an overexcited child going on his first trip to the zoo.

Kevin had a smile on his face, something that he had not been doing for quite some time now. He didn't break into a run but studied the area instead, making sure that Howie didn't get too preoccupied and fall into it himself.

When Howie was about a mile away from where Kevin assumed the pit was, he saw a black figure coming out from behind a tree. Kevin grew anxious. It was Brian!

But on second inspection, the figure looked too tall to be his cousin. He strained his eyes to get a better a look. His heart skipped a beat. It was Brad. He knew it had to be him.

"Howie, nooooooooo!!!!!!" Kevin ran with all his might and even then, he felt as if he was in an action movie, where they made the hero run in slow motion. He hated it in the movies, hated it now.

Howie was overcome by shock. He stood on his ground when he saw Brad point the gun at him. This is it, Howie thought. This is how I'm gonna die.

"Gun meet Curly, Curly, meet gun." Brad smirked and looked at Howie straight in the eyes. "So long sucker."

Howie closed his eyes, swallowed the humungous lump in his throat and said a silent prayer. The gun was shot; he could hear the stinging blast. Anytime now and he'll be hit. Then something heavy pounced on him from the back, dragging him to the ground. He hit it hard. He felt a sting on his right leg and knew right away he had been shot.

"D, you okay?" Kevin asked as he pulled him up.

"He shot my leg Kevin, do I look okay to you!" Howie cried as his hands went straight for the wound. He was bleeding a lot.

"Come on, you have to get up!" Kevin cried.

"You're not going anywhere until I have my money back!" Brad shouted, the gun still pointing towards them.

"What money? We took no money from you, we have lots of that!" Kevin shouted arrogantly.

"Shut the fuck up! Don't play games with me now or I'll blow your brains out!"

"We don't have your money. It's all burnt up along with your friend!" Kevin shouted.

"Show me your bags, take out everything!" Brad shouted his orders.

Kevin threw his bag on the ground and helped Howie to get his. "Take a look yourself!"

"I have a clear shot of your head right now, if you don't open up the bags, I'm not gonna think twice. You're beginning to piss me off!"

Kevin resigned and quickly emptied their bags. "There's your money!" Kevin said sarcastically, pointing at the contents of their bags. There was nothing but a few of their personal things.

"The other three, where are they?" Brad asked.

"The other two got away and one, you can say hello to in there." Kevin replied.

"There's no one in here, don't fucking lie to me!" Brad screamed.

"What do you mean there's no one in there! You fucking made him fall to his death!" Kevin shouted back.

"I’m getting tired of your attitude, you shit! If you ain't talkin' there's no use in keeping you alive any longer now. Say goodbye." Brad grunted as he aimed his gun to Kevin's head.

"Think again."

Brad froze. Someone was pointing a gun to his head from the back.

ררררר

"I'm not listening to you anymore, we're gonna stop and that's that!" AJ declared as he forced Nick to stop walking.

"No! We have to follow the plan!" Nick said in between coughs.

"You're coughing blood Nick and you can't even walk on your own! We're stopping!" AJ said defiantly.

"No! Come on Bonehead, don't be such a wuss!" Nick retorted.

"No need for the attitude Carter! I'm staying put no matter what!" AJ argued.

"Fine, then I'll go on my own." Nick hissed. He raised his arm from AJ's shoulder and started to stand on his own. He closed his eyes as the pain surged and dispersed through every corner of his body.

"Face it Carter, you're not gonna make it. You look like a zombie with that blood all over you." AJ said as bloodstains dried on the corners of his lips and down his neck.

"Shut up if you won't help!" Nick cried.

"You're making too much noise dragging your feet like that; the bad guys could hear you from miles away." AJ retorted.

"What the fuck are you talkin' about? I've not even started walking yet, moron." Nick hissed.

"Then what the hell did I just-" AJ stopped. He had heard it again. It wasn't his imagination. He saw Nick's eyes grow wide in alarm; he knew Nick had heard it too.

"Shit! The bad guys are here!" AJ whispered.

"Hide yourself AJ." Nick whispered calmly.

"Yeah, no kidding. Let's go!" AJ whispered.

"No, you hide. I'm gonna stay." Nick said.

"No fucking way! Stop this Nick, let’s go." AJ begged.

"Trust me AJ, you'll love my plan. Now go hide somewhere." Nick whispered.

"I'm beginning to hate your first plan, I'm sure as hell not gonna like your second." AJ protested.

"AJ, listen to me, go hide yourself or you're gonna get both of us killed. GO!" AJ didn't know what hit him. It's just the look in Nick's eyes that made him listen to his brother. It was something that he couldn't quite put into words.

"I trust you. Don't you dare get yourself killed for me!" AJ said. He could feel the tears that were just waiting to come out.

"In your dreams Bone." Nick replied, rolling his eyes. AJ gave a disgusted look and rushed for cover behind the thick bushes about a meter away.

Through tiny clearings amongst the bushes, he looked on as Nick gave a final cough and collapsed on the snow-clad ground. He didn't move a muscle. Nick looked dead. His pale face somehow had a tinge of blue to it, the bloodstain smearing all over his mouth and neck. AJ wasn't sure if he could see any visible signs to show that he was breathing. Nick is dead. Damn it Nick! I trusted you!

"Damn! Is he dead?" Matt asked as he stared at the body sprawled across the snow.

"Looks like it." Ted replied, not wanting to go any nearer.

"His got his bag on, should we check?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna do it." Ted replied, obviously nauseated.

"Don't be such a wimp and help me!" Matt grunted and started to pull the bag out from under Nick. "Help me to roll him over."

Ted unwillingly rolled Nick on his back with his foot, not wanting to touch him.

"He's dead for God's sake, what's with you?" Matt asked, annoyed.

"Just get the damn bag!" Ted shouted.

Matt emptied the bag and was disappointed to find no cash but a first aid box, some towels and a chocolate bar.

"Fuck! It's not with him!"

"Well, at least we got lunch." Ted replied as he took the chocolate and shoved it into his jacket.

"Let's go, I bet the others are not far away from here."

AJ's heart stopped when the two figures started walking his way. There was nowhere to run.

"Wait, I think that way is faster." Ted said as he motioned Matt to stop.

"You think?" Matt hissed.

"No. That's a faster way." Ted replied, pointing to the opposite direction.

"Whatever you say. I bet the others are dead too."

AJ let out a sigh of relief. He watched as the figures walked away and disappeared into the forest. His eyes not willing to look at the figure that was as still as a corpse lying a meter away from him. His eyes not wanting to believe that Nick was dead.

ררררר

"Drop the gun, slowly." Brian ordered. He tried not to tremble as he pressed the gun into Brad's head. He wanted the man to know who was in charge.

He had heard Kevin's screams although it took him awhile to acknowledge his voice and then the blast and shot. He knew they were in trouble and without thinking, started running towards the sound. But he was too late, Brad had got to Howie and he was about to shoot Kevin. He had to do something. Somehow, amidst the throbbing headache and double vision, he made it. He was totally agitated by the fact that AJ and Nick weren't there with them.

"You're not gonna shoot me, I have your friend here under target. You pull, I pull." Brad threatened.

"Go ahead, I don't care. I have what I want." Brian said firmly.

"Brian!" Howie cried in disbelief.

"I've got your money and I don't give a shit if I kill you and you kill him." Brian said, ignoring Howie.

"And if I give up my gun?" Brad asked.

"We'll split this stash." Brian replied.

"How much?"

"I'm not greedy. 50-50." Brian replied.

"Deal." Brad said.

"Great. Now empty the barrel and drop the gun." Brian ordered.

Brad did as was told and after emptying the gun, he threw it a few steps away from him.

"Good. Now Kevin, Howie, do as I tell ya. Get into the pit." Brian said, the gun still pressed into Brad's skull.

"What's going on Rok?" Howie asked in confusion.

"Don't talk to me! Just get in before I have to shut you up with this gun!" Brian shouted.

"Just go D." Kevin whispered and led him to the pit. Kevin had no difficulties in getting into the pit because of his height. Howie however, had to limp.

"On second thought, D, just wait there, you're no threat to us." Brian said.

"Kev, give him your wallet." Brian ordered. Kevin did as was told.

"Get his wallet." Brian ordered Brad. He bent down and reached for it. "And this is for messing with my head!" Brian shouted as he swung the gun across Brad's skull with all the strength he had left. Brad fell into the pit unconscious. He dropped the gun to his side and looked down at Kevin with a smile.

"Need a hand?"

13 by mersey
Chapter Thirteen

AJ knew he had to get out from his hiding spot some time no matter how long he had been stalling it. The fear of the bad guys finding him had diminished but forcing himself to go up to Nick's lifeless body was something else. Finally, after realizing that his legs had gone totally numb for squatting too long made him get up. He let out a huge sigh and made the first step forward to Nick.

The body remained still. His bloodstains now dried and cracked, his lips still blue, his face pale and lightly covered with snow. He felt the tears coming, knew he could no longer hold it in.

"Damn it Kaos, damn you!" AJ cried, still not wanting to touch him. "How am I gonna do this alone huh? You can’t die on me damn it!"

AJ moved away from his body, looked up to what little sky he could see and hoped that somehow by doing that, he could get an answer. "Why him? Why leave me alone?"

"Oh please, you're giving me a headache!"

"Wha-" AJ turned towards the voice. It sounded weak. It couldn't be the bad guys but somehow he knew doom was near.

Doom never came. No bad guys waiting to blow his brains out.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

That voice again! AJ thought. Then he saw that Nick's eyes were wide open. It was the only thing that changed. His body still lay unmoving, the bluish tinge never left his lips, and the bloodstains remained. But his eyes were wide open.

"Nick? Kaos? Was that you? Please tell me I'm not loosing my mind!" AJ cried as he knelt down beside Nick for the first time.

"No way am I gonna die for you, dream on Bonehead." Nick said weakly, managing a half-smile.

"Oh thank God! You're alive! You didn't die!" AJ cried as he hugged his brother, careful not to hurt him.

"If I did, I could be the ghost of Christmas." Nick replied. "Since it's snowing and all."

"How did you do it, stay so damn still? It's the best prank you've ever pulled so far."

ררררר

"I knew you wouldn't have the heart to do that." Kevin smiled after getting himself out of the pit with Brian's helped.

"Glad for the faith." Brian smiled.

"Can't say the same about what you just did to him though." Kevin replied as they both looked down into the pit, where Brad was. "Didn't know you had it in you to do that."

"There's always a first for everything." Brian said. Kevin laughed.

"Glad to see you two reunited. Wish I could just walk away and let you two bond but that would be out of the question since I just got shot in the leg and I’m bleeding to death. But don't let me stop you!" Howie interrupted sarcastically.

"Don’t whine D, doesn’t suit you." Kevin said as they rushed to his aid.

"Hey D, sorry about what I said earlier on. You know I love ya." Brian said.

"Sorry I didn't take that leap of faith with Kev. It's the leg, you understand." Howie joked.

"Glad the humor didn't bleed together with your leg." Brian replied. "Wish I could say the same about my head."

"Chat chat chat...Can you help me with this?" Kevin interrupted. He had just torn a portion of his T-shirt as a bandage.

"Wait, I think I got some face towels in my bag." Brian said as he started rummaging through it. "Here, got two."

"Great." Kevin said as he applied pressure to the wound. Howie grimaced in pain but Kevin ignored it. "Tie this around the towel."

"Like this?" Brian asked, as he did the best he could to hold the towels together around the leg.

"Yeah, that will do."

"You're gonna be okay D, didn't seem to hit your bone. It's a clean shot." Brian replied. Howie nodded.

"Can't believe you actually survived that fall, what with that head and all. I thought you would probably die of the cold." Howie stammered.

"I thought that too. The fall wasn't bad; it's the head that knocked me out." Brian explained.

"How did you get that gun anyway?" Kevin asked, eyes staring at the shiny object.

"I don't know. I woke up and it was there. Like it fell from heaven or something." Brian replied.

"What was heaven doing giving away guns to people?" Kevin chuckled at his own joke. He was rewarded with giggles from Brian and Howie.

"Is he gonna be out long enough?" Howie asked, referring to Brad.

"Considering Brian's blow to the head, it's gonna take awhile." Kevin replied.

"Great, I need to breathe." Howie sighed in relief as he lay flat on the ground.

"Where are Nick and AJ?" Brian asked. "I can't believe they missed my Rambo moment.”

"We, left them at the same spot we slept last night." Kevin replied cautiously, his eyes not daring to look at his cousin.

"You what? Whose plan was that? It sucks!" Brian scolded. He knew the feeling of being alone and lost and he knew with Nick's and AJ's condition, they would need all the help they could get.

"We know but there was no choice. We had to get you back and they weren't strong enough to walk back all the way here." Kevin replied.

"So Nick suggested that they wait for us there so that they could save up their energy to continue with us later." Howie added. "It sucked but it was the only option we had."

"Then we have to get there fast. I don't see the other two bastards; they might get to them for all we know." Brian said.

"Wait, before we do that, Nick wants me to give this to you." Kevin went to the pile of stuff littering the ground, things that had been emptied from his bag. He picked up a brown leather covered book and handed it to Brian.

"Isn't this Nick's journal? What is it doing here with you?" Brian asked.

"Nick wants you to read the last entry if I got you back. So I guess you better read it before we go." Kevin suggested.

ררררר

I found it odd that Nick would want me to read his diary if we were going back to him. It didn't make much sense at all. But curiosity got the better of me and I quickly ran to read the page to the last entry.

Nick sure had a lot to say in there. Most of his entries were two or three pages long and he mostly scribbled in it. I wouldn't be able to read it if I had wanted to. But I saw some entries with my name on it and I wished I could have read further but the instructions were to read the last entry. So, that's just exactly what I'm going to. I'm just not cut out to be AJ no matter how much I wished I could be him sometimes.

I was surprised by how neat the entry was written. Even in the cold, his writing never betrayed him. It was in blue ink, his favorite. I sank down to the ground as Kevin and Howie hovered over to read it too. My headache was giving me problems but still, I read it out loud for my brothers to hear.

Dear Brian, (Kevin and Howie)

If you're reading this, it means you're alive. Hey, that's great news for us! Look, the only reason why we told Kev to let you read it first is because if we had told him to read it, he would have done so before he even got to you. That would mess up everything.

"Mess up what?" Howie interrupted. If he had let me continue, maybe we could find out why, but I didn't say it out loud. Howie's just panicking, I understand.

"Nick is always up to something. I should have known." Kevin shook his head in regret. Kevin was being too hard on himself in my opinion.

Anyway, notice the word 'we' instead of 'I'? See, I'm writing this with AJ by my side, this is gonna be our entry together. I can't believe AJ got to do this, it's like a victory sign for invasion of my privacy.

I heard Kevin smirk and found myself chuckling too. Maybe that was a bad move, cause it sent new waves of a terrible headache into my head. But I can't help myself imagining the grin on AJ's face, finally getting even with Nick, and the young prankster couldn't do anything about it.

Back to business...guess what, your two youngest brothers finally agree on something. See, last night, while everyone was asleep, I realized that we have been going the wrong way all along. I could hear the soft sound of the river not far away, which means the highway, is the other way dude. Howie, you can throw out your compass now.

"Is this true D?" Kevin asked. I looked up at Howie too, waiting for some kind of an explanation.

"The compass is right; our sense of direction is not. We thought the highway was to the south when it was to the north this whole time." Howie explained, wincing in pain as his hand rested on the injured leg. I stole a glance down at it, it had stopped bleeding, that was good.

Anyway, I'm not doing too well. I don't have feeling in my left hand and-okay, so AJ is freaking out right now cause he just found that out too-and I can't walk with these ribs. I'm coughing blood and that was like "whoa" to me.

"What the hell? You guys didn't know he was coughing up blood?" I raised my voice. I didn't mean to sound angry but it did come out wrong. Like as if I was blaming them for all this. And all they were trying to do was come and save me.

"That little monster! Why must he keep all this from us?" Howie asked. He sounded guilty and I felt ashamed of myself for being angry at them.

"I can't believe we fell for this. I can't believe they tricked us." Kevin cried. Now it was my time to feel guilty. All this happened because of me. I wanted to say something but I had nothing to offer. I know that if I were in Nick's and AJ's position, I would have done the same thing. But the stupid thing was to have them still find me when it was obvious that the chance of my survival was like one in a million. No, this is not stupid; they did this out of love. Oh God, this is gonna kill my head.

AJ is developing a fever and a headache, not to mention the shoulder. So anyway, we feel that if we were to follow Kev and D to find you, we might slow them down and you could be dead because we came too late to save you. (Hey Kev, if you're reading this that means Bri's dead. That would suck, but anyway, same rules still apply).

I was crying by this time and I couldn't continue. The sobbing had caught me in the throat. How could the babies of the family be thinking and planning all of this? That should be our job. We should be the ones responsible for them. Going out on our way just for them. Die for them. It's not supposed to be the other way around.

What happened to Nick in these woods? Did the broken ribs change him suddenly? How did he get this wise? And since when had AJ agreed to anything that Nick suggested? Why suddenly were we the ones who seemed helpless even when we are better off than them? Kevin took the journal from me and put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me nearer to him. Somehow, the hand on the shoulder thing helped a bit. He continued where I left off, seeing that I wouldn't be reading any time soon and time is what we don't have.

Now, we know the highway is on the other side, so please, go find your way home. Don't come back to us because we will not be here to wait for you guys. No, you won't find our bodies here too. We are going to go for the river and if luck is by our side, we won't be dead by then. So the next thing to do is try to find some way to survive before you guys get help or you know, just die. The reason why we want to go to the river is that if we do die before help arrives, we would want to see the sky and hopefully the sun for the last time. You know, got to end it perfect.

We were shattered by then. All three grown ups crying like kids, emotions outpoured and mixed together. The love for our dear brothers, knowing their suicidal attempt to save us. Knowing we could have done much better for them. Wishing that things could have been different. Wising that we would be together as five and not separated. Wishing that we hadn't been on the bus in the first place. Wishing we weren't lost in these damn woods.

Don't worry about us. If help comes too late, it isn’t your fault. We're just not strong enough to hang around. The thing is, we will die next to each other, so it won't be that bad. But to leave B and let him die alone is simply cruel.

Leaving me behind was cruel? What do you call this? Not letting us have a choice on what to decide. How could they just talk and decide that they will die and we should live? Don't we have the right to this? Here's a thought, maybe if they hadn't wasted their time trying to get to the river and came with Kevin, they could still be alive, I mean I'm not left far behind right? I don't know, I didn't have the time to ask Kevin how much deeper they had gone yesterday. But still!

Listen to us; do not come back to us. If you really want us alive, find help pronto. That will do us good. Don't waste your energy and time. At least the Backstreet Boys will still have 3 members left to tell the whole world of our ordeals. Don't let them win guys.

Right, 3 members left! What are we gonna be, The Hanson Brothers? Okay, my hand is getting lifeless so got to stop. We love you guys and we know you guys love us too. It has been one hell or heaven of a journey. No matter what happens, we’re brothers to the end.

FrackBone (Heh, sounds like broken ribs to me...get it?) (See who I get to spend the last few hours of my life with? Sigh)-Mc Lean

Kevin closed the journal and shook his head. Howie and I, lets just say we were too shocked to find the right words to even begin to speak. The throbbing in my head fastened its pace, as if asking me to make a decision now. And I thought my brain should be doing that. I could have just blacked out right then considering how my ailing heart nearly stopped after learning about their plan but I didn't. If my brothers are willing to sacrifice their lives for us and for Kevin and Howie to be put in such a situation as to come back for me, I will do my part too. No matter what decision we will take, I am going to make sure that I get them back alive.

I feel like Mel Gibson in Braveheart.

14 by mersey
Chapter Fourteen

AJ sat next to Nick who was lying on the ground facing the open river. He had covered him from the neck down with the blankets they had. AJ scolded himself for forgetting to get the first aid box. His fever was getting high again and he really needed the pills.

The snow had started to fall heavily and he had to keep brushing them off Nick's face. The icy cold river somehow managed to calm him down a bit. Nick had been singing a song he didn't recognize but at that moment in time, it sounded like the best music he had ever heard so far, just for the fact that hearing Nick sing meant he was still conscious and not dead. It made AJ feel complete, and not alone.

For me it's waking up beside you To watch the sun rise on your face To know that I can say I love you In any given time or place It's little things that only I know Those are the things that made you mine And its like flying without wings Cause you're my special thing I'm flying without wings

"I don't know what you're singing but I bet it sounds much better if the real singer sings it. You sound horrible. Thank God Mike isn't here to hear that." AJ joked, referring to their vocal coach.

"Hey, for someone in my condition, I sound great. Besides, what do you expect me to sing, Linkin Park? That would be like signing my own death certificate." Nick replied, letting out a soft chuckle. AJ could feel Nick's body tremble against his and wondered how much longer it would take until help came. If it ever did.

He knew that the reason why he was going along with Nick's plan was because some part of him had little hope for him to survive. He knew that Kevin and Howie would never leave them and Nick's plan seemed logical enough. He could have made it if he followed them but Nick definitely wouldn't. And he didn't want to leave Nick behind alone. He'd rather die next to him than do that.

"Oh please, if the singer heard you, they would have banned the Backstreet Boys from singing ever again." AJ joked.

"No way, they liked us; they said so in their interviews. I read it." Nick replied in between stammering. AJ was glad that the cough had not resurfaced, so far.

"Who are 'they' anyway?" AJ asked, wanting to keep him talking.

"Westlife. You know the boys from Ireland? They're huge in the UK and Asia. I checked the MTVAsia website and...They’re just huge." Nick replied, sounding tired.

"Bigger than Nsync?" AJ asked with a grin on his face.

"Yeah...I tell ya, if we don't get back to the UK and Asia, we're gonna loose our No. 1 spot." Nick replied with some difficulties. He heard the gurgling sounds when Nick breathed if you could call it that. He sounded more like gasping. AJ wondered if it was wise to make him talk or just to let him shut up.

"They're bigger than Nsync?" AJ asked, still amazed. "I thought they are like the biggest boy band now...whatever that means anyway."

"Don't be surprised bro...we're bigger in the UK than Nsync...at least that's what the Westlife boys said." Nick replied.

Nick knew that he shouldn't be talking but he was afraid. Afraid that if he stopped talking, stopped making contact with the real world, he would sleep and never wake up. At least he knew he had not gone delirious, all the things he had said to AJ was true.

But the constant growing pain he had been developing on his chest was true too. He had been trying to ignore it, thinking that if he refused to acknowledge its presence, it would go away, but it kept coming back. He had lost all feeling on both his hands and he had not told this to AJ. He just hoped that he wouldn't completely lose feeling to his legs too. Singing also helped him from trembling too much. It kept him from clenching his teeth and hurt his jaw even more.

"No shit. I think I like these Westlife boys already." AJ replied, still trying to swallow it all in. "Who am I kidding? I don't want to die! We don't want to die! We can't die, not right now! I love my life! Don't you Nick?" AJ asked, realization setting in. He got no response from Nick. He couldn't even see the rise and fall of his chest.

"Nick? Nick, you with me?" AJ asked, shaking Nick's shoulder a bit.

"I love scuba diving; we should do it again after all this are taken care of." Nick replied suddenly. He sounded too soft and distant; AJ thought he was hearing things at first.

"Kaos, you gave me a fright!"

"What do you say Bone? Want to come with me?" Nick asked.

"Sure Nick, after all this." AJ replied. He closed his eyes and felt the warm tears rush and trickle down his cold cheeks. He thanked God that Nick didn't have to see him like that.

"This river...reminds me so much of the beach. I misse sunny Florida. Never snows in December." Nick said.

Suddenly, something hit AJ. He didn't know where it came from or what triggered it but it was a brilliant thought. "Wait a sec, if there's a highway and a forest and a river next to each other, it means there must be sewers connecting the river to the highway from underground right? You know, rain water from the highway, it has to be drained right?"

"Yeah...thank you for the insight, get to the point AJ." Nick gasped.

"Think about it, if there's a sewer, there's a way up! We can get out of here by climbing up the sewer!" AJ cried in delight.

"Hey, it is a good idea, but I don't think I can climb all the way up. I don't know...I think it has got something to do with the ribs." Nick retorted.

"Come on Nick, we can't give up now that there might be a way out. Please, do this for me." AJ begged. Nick already knew his answer even before AJ begged him. Of course he would do it. If it meant having AJ alive, he would do it. Just because he can't climb the sewer since his hands can't hold on to anything doesn't mean AJ should die.

"OK Bone, help me up. Slowly."

ררררר

As much as it hurt me, it had to be done. We discussed, weighed the pros and cons and came to a much reluctant decision. Now I finally realized what Kevin and Howie had to go through. Making an impossible decision like that, it seemed like either way, we were loosing the battle.

"From what I've gathered so far, we are actually pretty close to the highway than we thought. Another hour or two to the north and we might just get there." Howie said thoughtfully. I don't know what he had gathered exactly, he didn't tell, and I was afraid to ask. Afraid that it might not be as convincing as I had hoped it to be.

"Well, I think it's settled then. I think for the first time, we are gonna listen to the advice of our little brothers." Kevin claimed, although I know that he wished he didn't have to come to this.

I don't know if our decision was the right one but I don't think it really mattered cause Kevin and Howie had made the decision 2-1. I'd rather just go with the flow and hope for the best. Prayer never left me. Please God; take care of all of us. If it's not asking for too much, please don't let any of us die.

"So we're going north." I said, more of a statement than a question. Kevin and Howie nodded. I guess they couldn't bring themselves to say it out loud.

And so here we were an hour later and still I couldn't see any signs of a highway. I don't know, the woods had lots of tall trees and they kinda blocked my view. And thanks to my special effect double vision, I could hardly see anything beyond a meter in front of me.

Kevin was walking to my left and Howie to my right; none wanted to lead the way. It actually helped though, it made me feel safe. And should my head just refuse to totally function and in return switching off the energy my legs so desperately needed to keep moving, they would be there to catch me.

"It's been an hour, this is getting hopeless." Kevin exclaimed. It wasn't the walking that was slowing us down, although it did apply to Howie's right leg; it was the weather. Cold and dry, the snow was now turned on in full force. The woods had turned from green to white. We looked like walking zombies.

"My leg's getting cramped." Howie complained but didn't make an attempt to stop or slow down.

My terrific headache had now turned excellent. From the top of my skull right down to the neck and my shoulders, it ached beyond description. I wondered if it could spread to the rest of my body. Headache all over? That’s a new one.

Then it started; the ringing. Slow and weak at first, then it got louder and clearer, ringing in my head as if to encourage the throbbing to go faster. Now I was hearing things, I couldn't believe it.

"What was that?" Kevin asked, holding me back, cautioning me to stop.

"What Kev, my head is killing me." I asked, both hands already cupping my face, willing the ringing to stop.

"That sound, what is that?" Kevin asked again. I wish he would stop asking me stupid questions. I didn't hear any sounds other than the ringing that was bursting my eardrums. "Did you hear that D?"

"Yeah...what is that sound?" Howie asked. Urgh...if they can't even tell what they were hearing, would they expect someone with a case of serious head trauma like myself to know the answer?

"I can't hear anything guys, my head is killing me. I keep hearing this ringing sound and it's bursting my eardrums!" I finally said.

"That's what we've been hearing too! That's the sound!" Kevin replied excitedly.

"What do you mean you can hear that? It's in my head!" I burst out in exasperation. The guys are killing me. Softly.

"No way, I heard it too. It's not your head Rok!" Howie disagreed.

Ohh...so it wasn't my head? Well, my mistake then. Stop looking at me all funny.

"Yeah? Then what is it?" I asked out loud.

"I don't know...sounds like a...like..."

"Like a cell phone!" Howie cried, cutting Kevin halfway.

"Yeah, that's it! It's a cell phone! Damn! Where's it coming from?" Kevin asked anxiously.

I couldn't say anything after that; they had me at ‘cell phone’”.

"Brian," Kevin asked, looking at me straight in the eyes. His normally dull green eyes now filled with renewed enthusiasm. Now glistening, green and alive.

"What?" I asked, my heart beating a notch more than normal.

"It's coming from your bag."

"No way, I've got no cell phone in here, I've checked!" I cried as I took off the bag and started unzipping it. "See, there's nothing in here except for all this stuff."

"Listen, it's coming from your bag man!" Howie cried. But the thing was, I already emptied the whole damn bag. There's nothing and they could see it too but they kept telling me that it came from my bag. How could they be so sure? It could have come from their bags. I mean, we're tired and our hearing systems might be out of focus...oh shit! Shit Rok, you should have known! Great, now I'm screaming at myself.

I turned the bag around so that the back part was facing me. The reason why I had bought this bag in the first place was because of this thing and I totally forgot about it! There's a small pouch compartment at the back, hidden from everyone else. That's where I normally kept small stuff that I want hidden. But as far as I know, I never put my cell phone there. Too difficult to get, you know?

"It's this secret compartment but I'm still sure I didn't keep my cell phone there. I had it on the table in the bus after I talked to Leighanne." I unzipped it and there lying, among a few pictures of Leighanne and I, a cell phone that I've never seen before in my entire life. A black and blue ribbon pasted at a corner. And the good thing is, it was ringing.

I looked at Kevin and Howie with utter shock. I didn't know what to do. Yeah, it was silly of me but that's how I felt. Kevin looked at me all funny. Howie was just waiting, but I knew from their faces and it read somewhere between 'if you don't pick it up like right now I'm gonna grab it away from you, idiot' to 'what are you, a dumb ass?'

"You gonna answer that?" Kevin asked, pulling me back to reality.

15 by mersey
Chapter Fifteen

"Hello?" My voice croaked as I pressed the cell phone to my ear, unsure of what to expect on the other line. Frankly, I was still bothered finding a stranger's phone in my bag. With a ribbon attached nonetheless. If I remembered correctly, my birthday had long past. Yeah, of course I remembered correctly.

I waited for a few seconds for an answer but all I heard was static and if it wasn't my disillusioned head at play, someone was breathing heavily on the other end. My imagination began its wild ride-what if the bad guys were on the other line? I'm practically inviting them over.

"Well?" Howie asked, sounding irritated. I ignored him and listened again. The breathing never stopped.

"Hello? Anybody there? Can you hear me? Hello?" I practically shouted into the phone, just so Kevin and Howie wouldn't pester me to keep asking. The breathing stopped, replaced instead by someone crying. Why the hell was this person crying? Does whoever on the line find it funny to call people up and start crying like that? Am I not getting the joke?

"Hello, is someone there? Can you hear me? Please, say something!" I cried into the phone.

"Baby?"

I froze. I knew that voice. Loved that voice. Treasured it for as long as l lived.

"Honey?" I asked, still trying to swallow everything in. It couldn't be her. How did she get the number to this phone? It isn't even mine.

"Oh my God, thank you! You're alive! I knew you were alive, I knew those people were wrong! Oh baby, are you okay darling?" It was definitely her. It was definitely my wife.

"Leigh honey, I miss you so much. I'm fine but we are lost somewhere in the woods." I replied, suddenly feeling like my breath was caught in my throat. I think I was just overwhelmed by it all.

"Bri, tell her to get help!" Kevin urged.

"Honey, they thought that all of you died in the bus and they didn't send out a search party into the woods. But Hon, they received DNA results early this morning and they found none of yours' and the boys' and they had begun sending out the search party about three hours ago. I never stopped calling you baby. I almost gave up, I thought you have gone too deep into the woods to receive any calls." Leighanne explained to me in one breath. I tried my best to catch everything that she had said without spinning.

"Listen baby, you have to help them to find us, can you do that?" I asked with urgency in my voice. Yes! AJ and Nick will be safe now.

"I've flown down to town this morning, I can call the head police officer and give him your number, he will call you and you can lead them to where you are." Leighanne suggested.

"Honey, just in case the transmission gets faulty again, tell them that three of us are in the North area, while two are to the south. And I love you." I said hurriedly when I realized that time was running out for us. Especially for Nick and AJ.

"I will. I love you baby, just hang in there all right?" And then the phone went dead once again. I stared at it for a long time. How the hell did it get in my bag? How did Leighanne know the number? Thank God for this wonderful invention. Nokia-connecting people. We call it the Human Technology. So true...

"Well?" Howie asked excitedly. Kevin looked at me anxiously. That was the first time in three days we wore that expression on our faces. The look of hope.

"Help is on the way."

********

Nick was crying and AJ didn't know why. His entire body was aching from having to support Nick's weight on his already injured shoulder. His fever had bloomed at an alarming speed and his body couldn't stop shivering. The last thing he needed was to have Nick brake down like that.

The young blonde didn't ask for a rest or complain of any pain that he couldn't handle but he was crying, and AJ knew not what to do. The wind felt like a ferocious blizzard, cutting through their skin. If they didn't get to the sewer any time soon, they might just freeze in place. Entombed forever.

"Want a rest Frack?" AJ finally asked. Nick gave a weak shake of his head.

"Am I hurting you? Am I holding you all wrong?" AJ asked again. Nick shook his head again.

"We're getting out of here alive buddy, just hang in there okay?" AJ said, hoping that he sounded convincing enough. Nick didn't say anything.

He had totally lost all feeling in both hands and he was beginning to think that his left foot was getting frost bite. It made walking difficult for him but he knew he had to go on for the sake of his brother. And the walking only encouraged the pain to his broken ribs to explode beyond description. His breathing was irregular, he could hear the gurgling sound he made when he actually did. His chest was burning in protest, every icy breath that he took only hurt him more and yet, he had to breathe in order to live.

He cried because he couldn't tell anyone how much he was hurting. He cried because he couldn't tell anyone how lost he felt when his brain kept telling him that the end was near for him. He couldn't tell anyone how much he prayed that his brother would not die because of his weakness. He cried because he couldn't tell anyone that he was helpless.

He felt a cough coming and felt helpless that he couldn't cover his mouth with his hand. He closed his eyes, waiting for the first cough to escape, waiting for the unbearable hurt that it was going to cause to his wrecked body. When it finally came, he couldn't use his hand to rub the pain away and that made it worse. And then there was the blood. He had to let it trickle down the corners of his mouth and down his neck and finally soak his sweater.

After what seemed like an eternity, AJ saw the opening of the sewer. It looked like a big circle from there. He managed a smile and encouraged his brother to keep on walking.

"I see it Nick! Can you see it?" AJ asked excitedly, his eyes never left the sewer. Nick never stopped crying.

"Hey, come on, lighten up, we're getting out of here buddy!" AJ consoled him. If only he knew, Nick thought. Soon, when AJ started to climb up the sewer, he would be waiting all alone beneath him. Waiting for death.

"Okay, cry as much as you want, I'm sure it's tears of joy you're crying about. We're not gonna die Nick, we're getting out of here. We will see Kevin, Howie and Brian again. Don't you want that?" AJ tried again, hoping that this time, Nick would come around. But the mention of their names only made him cry even more.

"Damn it Nick, what’s bothering you? I can't help you like this. How come you’re not happy? We are going to make it, you hear?” AJ sighed. Nick didn't respond.

Finally, they made it to the entrance. The water that flowed from the sewer and into the river, although icy cold to the touch, was only ankle deep. AJ wished they had their towels with them; they could definitely use the extra layer on their bodies. But they had agreed earlier that neither of them should be carrying anything and had left them behind.

AJ took the first step and the cold water seeped right through his Nike shoes and stung his already trembling feet. He stood there for a few seconds, adjusting himself to the new temperature. Nike, Just Do It.

"Okay, your turn now. It's not as bad as I had imagined." AJ lied. Holding on to his left hand for support, he guided Nick to his first steps into the sewer. He looked up to his face and was shocked at the new trail of blood. He swore he didn't even hear him coughing back then. He kept it to himself, not wanting to depress Nick more than he already was. His bluish lips still intact but at least, now Nick had stopped crying.

"Jeez AJ, you're right, this is not bad at all." Nick replied sarcastically.

"You know, for someone who is out of breath, you sure are funny." AJ retorted.

"What's left of it AJ, what's left of it." Nick murmured weakly. AJ heard it but didn't say anything. He didn't like the sound of it. He wished Nick had not said it.

The sewer was drilled through the underground of the highway and AJ was taken aback by the huge size of it all. It could be about three miles in height alone. It's going to be one long climb to the top, AJ told himself.

"This place is huge; we could start a party down here." AJ remarked, hoping to strike a conversation.

"A few hundred?" Nick replied, playing along. AJ smiled in satisfaction.

"A thousand." AJ chuckled.

"Hell, the whole damn stadium then." Nick smirked.

"What should we call it? Underground Party?" AJ continued, he was definitely enjoying the conversation. The tunnel had started to grow quite dark as they got deeper but it was still easy to see around.

"Nah. I've got better than that." Nick boasted.

"Oh yeah? What would you call it Carter?" AJ challenged.

"Hell freezes over." Nick replied casually. AJ laughed. Laughed like he had never laughed before.

"Dang, that’s actually a good one!"

"Don't laugh AJ, I can't." Nick said toneless. AJ knew he was serious and stopped laughing. Just about then, he saw the first corner of the tunnel and decided to take the turn. They were rewarded by the most beautiful sight ever. The steel ladders. The ladders that would lead them up to the highway. The ladders to definite freedom.

"Kaos man, we made it! We made it!" AJ cried excitedly.

"Yeah, guess we did." Nick replied.

"Okay, time to climb up bro." AJ declared.

"Bone, I have a confession to make." Nick said. His voice sounded so weak suddenly.

"What?"

"I can't feel my hands. Both of them. There's no way I can climb up if I can't hold on to the rings." Nick replied.

"Oh no, please tell me you're joking. You’re kidding right? The ‘lets get back at AJ’ thing right?"

"I'm sorry bro. I wish I could tell you that, but I can't. Besides, I don't think my ribs can take it all the way up anyway." Nick sighed. AJ was crying.

"What are we going to do now Nick? I have to get you up."

"Hey Bone, don't freak out on me all right. Listen, why don't you go up, I'll wait for you down here. Get help, I'll wait." Nick suggested. He had already leaned his body against the wall and had started to sink down. AJ helped him to sit straight so that he wouldn't cause further injury to his ribs. He took off his sweater, folded it into a bundle and placed it under his thigh.

"At least the water won't soak you too much." AJ remarked.

"Thanks bro. Now go, you don't have much time without your sweater on. I'll be waiting." Nick gasped, pushing AJ away.

"Promise me you'll stay alive for me." AJ said.

"I promise. Go." Nick gave him one last push and AJ stood up. He climbed up the third ring of the ladder and hesitated. He looked down to Nick and studied him for a while.

"I love you Kaos, hang in there." After that, he continued his way up and never looked back.

"I love you too bro." Nick mumbled as he lost consciousness.

16 by mersey
Chapter Sixteen

"Nick!!!!!!!!!!!!" AJ screamed at the top of his lungs. His wide brown eyes darted across the room, hands balled into fists and teeth clenched. I am so gonna kill him!

"Oh no…What has he done now?" Kevin sighed as Nick quickly abandoned the play station he was playing with Brian and made a dash into the bathroom and locked it.

"Where is that little prick? I'm going to kill him for this!" AJ stormed into the hotel room. His pants were dripping with milkshake. Kevin, Brian and Howie had faces of utter shock and millions of questions directed to him. "Don't even ask!"

"Come on AJ, you know this is a typical Nick Carter prank." Brian tried to console him.

"That doesn't mean he's gonna get away with it!" AJ fumed, already banging on the bathroom door.

"AJ, you know we're in the hotel right? You're gonna get sued for that." Kevin reminded him.

"I'm not gonna let you go you know! Show your face you little punk! Don't be such a wuss!" AJ shouted, ignoring Kevin.

"AJ, don't get angry, get even." Howie said from the sofa he was sitting on. His face buried under some novel he had been reading.

It worked. The shouting and banging stopped. "Hear that Nicky? It ain't over till we're even." AJ stormed out of the room and banged the door shut. "So much for sharing a room with that asshole!"

ררררר

Brian, Kevin and Howie rushed to the hotel room next door where the shouting and screaming was going on. Tony, their bodyguard was already unlocking the door using the extra card he had. They gasped at the sight that greeted them. Nick was grabbing AJ by the collar and his right hand, which was balled into a fist, was bleeding.

"No one, and I mean no one, ever touch it! You hear me? No one!" Nick was screaming. AJ was surprisingly scared of the little prankster.

"Nick, let go of AJ now! What have you done?" Kevin shouted from across the room. Nick didn't seem to hear him as he didn't move an inch.

Tony went over and separated the two of them, holding Nick back.

"Are you hurt AJ?" Brian asked in concern.

"I...I'm fine." AJ stammered, obviously in shock.

"What's wrong with you Frack? How come your hand is bleeding?" Howie asked. Nick was still fuming and his eyes kept staring at AJ.

"You want to get even, let me have it, but don't you ever dare go near it again. EVER!" Nick was shouting at AJ.

"What is he talking about J?" Brian asked. AJ had a guilty look on his face.

"I...I read his journal."

"Oh AJ, you know better than to do that!" Brian sighed.

ררררר

"How's the hand?" AJ asked when he returned to their hotel room. Nick was sitting on the bed, staring at the ugly bandage around his palm.

"What do you think?" Nick scoffed.

AJ moved closer and climbed onto the bed, sitting next to Nick. "Look, Nick, about this afternoon, I'm sorry. I shouldn't hav-"

"No need to apologize, I guess I was way out of line myself." Nick cut in, sounding terrible himself.

"I crossed that line. I invaded your privacy and I of all people, should have known how that feels like. Anyway, I'm sorry I did that."

"I'm sorry I lost my temper like that. Heck, you used to carry me on your back! I can't believe I did that." Nick said.

"Yeah, that was the time of my life. I didn't have to worry about you messing with me. Anyway, thanks for smashing the wall instead of my face. I really need it for a living." AJ joked.

"Any time bro, any time."

AJ stopped and closed his eyes, refusing to let the tears flow. His shoulders were aching and his legs were beginning to cramp in many places as he hung on for dear life. He had only about a few more rings to go before he reached the top of the sewer and out to the highway.

Come on AJ, do this for Nick, he needs you! AJ kept telling himself as he made his way up. Flashes of memories he had with the four Backstreet Boys kept coming back to him. He wondered if his three brothers had made it to the Highway, if they had found help at all. Or would they be so stubborn as to come back for them. That would be a mistake. They might not get out alive and AJ would not be able to forgive himself for that. What if I got out and the four of them die?

He brushed the thoughts aside and continued to climb up the ladder. He could feel the light breeze rushing from above and knew that he was getting nearer to freedom.

Come on AJ, a few more and that's it.

The nauseous feeling came back and he prepared himself. Tilting his head to the side, he purged and threw up for the third time. He hoped that Nick was far enough as to avoid the mess.

Two more rings and he would reach the lid. He took another deep breath and climbed up. Yes, and now for the final step. With his left hand holding on to the ring for dear life, he gave his right hand all the force he needed to push the lid open.

Oh shit.

The lid didn't budge.

It wouldn't open.

ררררר

"How much longer? My leg is bleeding again." Howie asked as he sunk down next to Brian on the ground. He shivered as his body came in contact with the snow.

"Any time now, just hang in there okay?" Kevin assured them. He had remained standing; afraid that the rescuers might miss them if they sat down. Brian was getting worse all of a sudden. He had his face buried under the palms of his hands.

"I think...I'm going to lie down for awhile...You guys wake me up if they come?" Brian trembled.

"No way! You can't sleep! I need you to stay awake!" Kevin scolded his cousin.

"But...I'm soooo tired Kev...Let me sleep, please?" Brian begged. Kevin knew that his cousin wasn't being himself, he seemed disorientated.

"I know you probably hate me right now but I don't care. You are not gonna lie down and sleep, you hear me? I'm trying to save your life so work with me here." Kevin hissed. He saw Howie smiling at his remark.

"How's your leg D?" Kevin asked.

"Not good, but I'll live."

"That's good enough for me." Kevin replied.

Suddenly, the sound of 'The Call' filled the air. Kevin realized it came from the cell phone.

"Heh, I saw the ring tone stored in it so I set it as default." Brian chuckled. Howie was giggling.

"Great, now I feel like AJ." Kevin smirked as he pushed the 'answer' button.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" Kevin shouted into the phone.

"Where are you?"Great, now he's starting to sound like the girlfriend!

"Are you help?" Kevin asked.

"I'm Michael, head of the rescue team. Is this Brian?"

"I'm Kevin."

"Okay Mr. Kevin, please tell us where you are." I wouldn't be lost if I knew that!

"We're somewhere in the North. About another thirty minutes to the highway. I think we're right at the end of the woods." Kevin replied.

"How many are with you sir? Could you tell me their status?" Like are they married or single?

"I have Brian and Howie with me. Brian has a bleeding head and he looks like he’s gonna faint anytime now. Howie was shot in the right leg and it's still bleeding." Kevin replied.

"Okay sir, hang on, we're not far from there. And sir, do not let Brian lie down and try to keep him awake. For Howie, please try anything to stop the bleeding until we get there. You can cover the wound with snow, that might stop the bleeding."

"Mr. Michael, two of my brothers are heading to the south, where the river is. Please get somebody there." Kevin said.

"How is their condition sir, if you know?"

"Nick has broken ribs and he’s coughing up blood. He is the worst among us. AJ had infected wounds on his shoulder and he has a fever. You have to get there fast." Kevin replied.

"My men are on the way as we speak sir."

"Thank you Michael."

"And sir?"

"Yes?"

"How about yourself sir? Are you hurt?"

"I have bruises and my arm was burnt but I'm the least you need to worry right now. Please, come get us as soon as possible."

"Stay put sir, help is on the way. See you soon sir."

"See you soon Michael. Bye." Kevin pressed the 'end' button and slipped the phone into his jeans.

"Are they coming?" Howie asked.

"Yes, they're coming. And they're sending rescuers over to Nick and AJ too." Kevin smiled.

The boys stopped talking when they heard a roaring sound growing louder by the second. They realized it was a helicopter.

"See, they're going to get Nick and AJ alive." Kevin smiled.

"We're safe. It's finally gonna be over." Brian smiled.

"Yeah, but for now, we're getting that leg of yours under the snow." Kevin said.

"What? Are you nuts? I'm freezing!" Howie protested.

"Sorry, doctor's orders." Kevin replied firmly.

"I can lie down now right? Help is coming." Brian interrupted.

"No! You're staying put like that till help comes. Doctor's orders too." Kevin said.

"I don't like this doctor already."

ררררר

I don't believe it. Finally, after three days without food, water and psychotic robbers chasing after us, we made it out of the woods and back to the highway. They had even set up little tents for the rescuers to seek refuge from the snow. It turned out that the town was suffering from a terrible blizzard. We didn't even know about it after spending three days in the cold.

They had cleaned my wound and I had an ugly bandage around my head now. Someone was still attending to Howie's leg and Kevin didn't seem to like having the bandage around his arm either. We were still waiting for news about Nick and AJ.

"Mr. Kevin, Brian?" A man approached us. He was covered from head to toe in blue. The sweater he was wearing emblazoned with the word 'POLICE'.

"Yes?" Kevin asked.

"I'm Mr. Michael; I believe we've talked on the phone."

"Yes, we did. Thank you for saving us." Kevin said, offering a handshake.

"Just doing my job sir. Sir, we have a problem." Sir? Did he just call me Sir? I feel so important now. But the 'problem' bit made me all humble again.

"What problem? You can't find them?" I asked in my panic.

"It's not that Sir. The paramedics, they're stuck in the blizzard. Apparently, a trunk had fallen in the path and their working to get it out of the way. And the helicopter sent to find Nick and AJ had to stop their rescue mission as the blizzard is making visibility almost zero. But we have rescuers on foot sent in about two hours ago."

Mr. Michael must have been very experienced. He looked to be in his early forties and oozing with confidence and calmness. I looked like a baby next to him. I was panicking inside and out.

"That's okay Mr. Michael. We trust you and your men are doing the best that you can. I think we will be okay for a while. Besides, we want to be here when they bring back our brothers." Kevin said.

"Thank you for understanding Sir. And sirs, if you feel any slight pain or you need our assistance, please approach any of my men, they will be glad to help."

"We will Mr. Michael." Kevin replied. I just sat on my stool and looked at them. I must not panic. Kevin wasn't. My head was spinning but they wouldn't let me lie down. I found myself more alert than ever before. I guess I was too anxious waiting for Nick and AJ.

Mr. Michael excused himself and joined the other men in their rescue mission to hunt the bad guys. So far, they had found none. I hope we hadn't imagined the whole bad guy stuff. No, of course not, Howie got shot and I held a gun. It's real. And the bad guys are still out there, with Nick and AJ.

"You okay Bri?" Kevin asked. "You looked spaced out."

"Just worried about Nick and AJ. You realize that they haven't gotten the bad guys. What if they get to them first?"

"Let's not scare ourselves shitless Bri. They will find them safe and sound."

"You guys want a cup of coffee?" Howie limped towards us.

"I had five already." Kevin said.

"I had my fair share too. I just don't want to have to pee here ya know. There are too many people around and too little private spots." I replied. Kevin and Howie chuckled. Glad I didn't lose my sense of humor after all this.

"You guys heard that?" Kevin asked all of a sudden. Howie and I froze. Oh, we learned the hear and freeze thing back in the woods. When one of you hears something, the others quickly freeze. It's not such a fun game but it helps to get over your boredom.

"What?" Howie asked.

"Listen." Kevin urged.

I heard it, it sounded like the pounding in my head.

"Sounds like the pounding in my head."

"Exactly. Sounds like someone was pounding against something." Kevin replied.

"Pounding what?" Howie asked.

"My head." I replied.

"Come on Bri, listen!" Kevin urged. "It's coming from somewhere..."

"Sounds like it's coming from under me!" I shrieked. Oh God, now that I realized it, I did feel the pounding from beneath me.

"What the hell?" Howie cried. Yeah, Howie who never cursed now did. See what the woods did to us? I think we needed to wash his mouth with bleach after all.

I got off the stool and looked down. There was a manhole beneath me. And someone was pounding against it.

"Oh my God, someone's down there!" Kevin cried. "Come on, help me open it!"

"Wait! What if it's the bad guys?" Howie stopped him. Good thinking D! Kevin needs his head checked.

"What if it's our brothers?"

17 by mersey
Chapter Seventeen

The two men had been walking for hours on end and still they found nothing. The last time something eventful happened to them, it turned into disappointment when the bag next to the dead blonde contained no money at all. They knew that two of them were dead and now their search was for the remaining three.

The tall dark one had told him that they were famous but he had no idea who they were. Matt wasn't into the whole Hollywood thing anyway and forgave himself for being ignorant. He had nothing to eat for the past three days and had survived only on the snow that they drank. He was getting irritated and swore that he would not have second thoughts in killing the remaining three if he ever laid eyes on them again. If it had not been for the money, he would have long deserted the woods.

He remembered the man who had fallen into the pit. Brad had banged him up pretty good. He wondered if his wife had any clue what had happened to him. Matt had seen the ring on the man's finger. Had would have stole it for himself if it hadn't been for Brad who stopped Ted. He had envied the sandy hair the man had worn short and curvy, he had always wanted that haircut but figured a bad guy shouldn't have too clean a cut. With his shoulder length unkempt hair, people would take his threats seriously.

The young blonde they found further down the woods looked much younger. He felt sorry that he had to die. He could have done more damage on that pretty face. The good-looking ones are always the snobs. He knew because he had encountered many during his childhood days. Blame his parents for not being good looking. He was just taking up their genes.

That's okay, Matt thought. He still has at least two more to find and torture. He promised it's going to be one, slow death. There's no other pleasure he cherished most than the yelling and squirming of his victims begging for mercy.

"Matt, see that?" His attention went back to the real world. Ted was pointing at an object about a few meters away from them.

"What is it?" Matt asked.

"Look, I think the boys left something behind." Ted smiled nastily and started to break into a small run towards the object. Matt followed closely behind. Upon better inspection, the object turned out to be a bag.

"Quick, open it up." Matt ordered. Ted needed no second reminder and started to unzip it. There was nothing there except for some towels with blood on them.

"Damn it! Of course it's not in here. Would they leave it behind if it's money?" Ted cursed.

"Fuck! This is the bag we saw next to that dead blonde just now!" Matt exclaimed.

"What? Are you sure?" Ted asked.

"Yeah! Someone was watching us the whole time when we were there! Someone was hiding somewhere!" Matt cried. "I'm going to kill them!"

"Hey look, I think we might just have the thing to lead us there." Ted claimed.

"What?" Matt asked. Ted pointed to the snow-covered ground.

"Footsteps!"

ררררר

I take back my words. Kevin didn't need his head checked. The thing I'm certain of was that I had to have my head checked. Of course Kevin would want to open the manhole no matter what we said. It could be Nick or AJ down there that I've been trapping beneath me. I will never forgive myself if they die from suffocation.

Kevin and Howie tried pulling it up but nothing moved. So I joined in and dug my fingers under whatever small space there was on the lid and on the count of three, pulled it up again. But three days of malnourishment had taken the toll on us. Soon, more rescuers came to our aid.

We tried calling out to whoever was down there but he never said anything. Or maybe he did but there were too many things going on at the same time so I couldn't tell. What I know for sure was that the pounding was getting weaker and fading. I just hoped that whoever was down there was strong enough to hold on for dear life or it would be a long way down to certain death. I had geared myself as to what to expect. If it's any of the bad guys, I'm thinking of a hard smack on the head with the coffee mug will do just fine for now.

It seemed like eternity but it only took ten minutes to pry it open. Kevin, Howie and I were standing at a distance when I heard someone calling out to help him to pull the person out. We waited with bated breath, wanting to catch at least a glimpse of the person. The mug was in my clutch, ready for ammunition. Then, something they said made me drop it instead.

"Careful! His shoulder is hurt!"

We looked at each other, speechless. For a second, it felt like I was in a game with Kevin and Howie, guessing the expression on our faces. I don't know if I was able to read anything, I was just plain shocked. Then, a wide smile carved on Kevin's lips and Howie had the same expression painted on his face. It was a contagious smile because I found myself wearing the identical signature on my face too.

"AJ!" Kevin cried. We wasted no time and ran towards the crowd. Well, at least Howie tried to.

Two men had proceeded to lay him inside the tent, covering him from neck down with folds of blankets and an oxygen mask covering his face. We waited patiently (if you call a little shoving and cries of "Let us through! Let us see him!" count for being patient anyways) until the two men moved away and we took their place next to him.

He was pale, all color drained out of his body and yet he was burning to the touch. He was trying to take off his mask but Kevin kept putting it on.

"Breathe AJ, talk later." Kevin whispered. But AJ being AJ was stubborn. He mumbled in his semi-conscious state, not wanting to give up.

"What Bone? Are you trying to tell us something?" Howie asked. AJ nodded his head. I pulled out his mask without thinking twice. Kevin shot me a look. I didn't care. "What is it?"

"Nick...down...waiting...can't move..." I placed the mask back and got on my feet as quickly as I could.

That, was a bad idea. People with serious head injuries shouldn't be allowed to move around so much or make sudden movements. They should have strapped me down.

"Don't move." Kevin instructed me and quickly rushed to the rescuers. "I need help. There's one more down there, he can't move!"

My eyes swung back to AJ. His breathing was getting normal again although it would take some time before he would gain the color back on his face. What had they gone through? How far had they walked to find the sewers? How could Nick have walked all the way there? How did AJ help him when he was hurt himself? To think that they went through all this because of me.

"I don't know how you guys did it but thank you! Thank you for not dying on me! I love you guys so much! I don't know if I could ever forgive myself if you had died. Don't ever do this again. Don't ever do this for me." I whispered in his ears. I'm not sure if he heard me but I just didn't care. I broke down next to him and cried my eyes out. I felt Howie's hand on my shoulder, squeezing it a little to let me know that I was not alone.

ררררר

"You're saying that Nick Carter is down this sewer, Sir?" Mr. Michael asked as rescuers prepared for another mission.

"Yes, and he can't move. We don't have much time, his injuries are internal and he is very critical." Kevin replied.

"Sir, the paramedics have arrived!" Another police officer interrupted their conversation. Kevin turned to the direction the police were pointing to and saw two ambulances approaching to a stop. He wondered why he couldn't hear the blazing of the siren before. It was deafening his ears now.

"Great, perfect timing. We will have your friend out in no time Sir." Mr. Michael assured Kevin. "Could you please follow me sir?"

Kevin followed the officer to one of the paramedics who had just alighted from the van. She looked young, Kevin assumed she was still quite new to the job, and if she was, she knew how to hide it very well.

"Julia, we have another victim down the sewer. Mr. Kevin here will explain to you in detail of his condition." Julia reached out a hand to Kevin and he took it.

"Mr. Kevin, if this is of another situation less life threatening I would have hugged you but I need to know about the victim's condition. If you don't mind sir, please walk with me as you talk." Kevin knew right away that she was indeed young. And she was a fan.

"From what I gathered, he broke some ribs and has internal bleeding." Kevin replied.

"How bad is the injury Sir?"

"He's coughing up blood." Julia stopped for a second and looked at Kevin in the eyes. Realizing what she had just done, she shook her head and continued walking. Kevin had to keep up with her fast pace.

"Is he able to move sir?"

"No. He's condition is critical Ms. Julia." Kevin claimed.

"Thank you Kevin, you've been very helpful." Julia quickly turned towards her team mates and ordered instructions out.

"We cannot use the helicopter because there's zero visibility so we have to bring the stretcher down the sewer. We will have one of our men go down there and treat him hands on. We will know more about his injuries this way." Julia explained.

Another paramedic, a male in his late twenties, was running towards the manhole with a stretcher.

"We need something that can carry him up." The paramedic said. "It's very deep."

Julia had only a split second to think of a way and then shouted, "Okay people, we need to send in the firefighters ASAP!"

"Why are they calling the firefighters? It’s snowing." Brian asked dazedly.

"They have to carry Nick out through the manhole. Don't worry Bri, they're experts, they know what has to be done." Howie consoled him.

Kevin was still following Julia closely to keep himself informed of the rescue. He couldn't bear just sitting around knowing nothing at all. He looked over to three Backstreet boys and saw that two paramedics were already approaching them for assistance.

"I have contacted the fire department, they're on their way." Mr. Michael informed them.

"Great, we're moving in." Julia declared as she approached her colleague.

"Julia, this hole is too small to bring two grown men up, what with the stretcher and all. You have to take my place." The paramedic informed.

"I'll do it. Come on, we have no time. Jack, once the firefighter comes, you bring down the stretcher. Hook one end to the extended ladder from their truck and you'll have to pull the victim out manually." Julia said.

"I will. Good luck Jules." Jack said and passed the medical bag to her. She was submerged waist down into the sewer when Kevin called her.

“Julia!"

"Yes?"

"Who's your favorite?" Kevin asked.

"Not the perfect time to be asking me this, but Nick." Julia blushed.

"Well, his life is in your hands now. Bring him back alive, please."

ררררר

Alpha One reporting to Alpha Two Kevin turned to see where the sound came from. He felt foolish after realizing that it came from the radio transmitter Mr. Michael was holding.

"Alpha Two here, what's your position over?"

Sir, we saw two unidentified men suspected to be the robbers about to go into a sewer. Approaching suspects now, sir.

"Approach with caution, they are believed to be armed and dangerous. There is an injured victim in the sewer, probably on the first turn of the tunnel, get there ASAP, his life is in danger. Out!"

Kevin tried to swallow the new information as calmly as he could. The bad guys are hot on their heels for Nick and he couldn't move himself. Then his thoughts came to Julia. She wouldn't know what was waiting below her.

"Mr. Michael, if the bad guys are in there, then Julia must be informed." Kevin said.

"Don't worry; everyone carries one of these, including Julia. They can hear every single transmission we have. She knows." Michael assured him.

"Oh, thank you then."

"Kevin, you're tired. I suggest you go back to your friends and let us handle this. Nick will be fine, don't you worry. It's time that you get yourself checked by the paramedics. I believe your friends need you to be there." Michael suggested. Kevin nodded his head in understanding.

AJ, Brian and Howie were already moved into one of the ambulances. AJ was lying in a stretcher while Brian and Howie sat next to him. He realized that Brian's bandage was replaced and this time, the bandage was nicely done. Howie still had his old bandage on; Kevin assumed that the paramedics would want the doctors in the hospital to handle that. He approached them and climbed up into the van.

"You guys okay?" Kevin asked.

"How's Nick?" Howie asked.

"He's gonna be all right. They're taking him up as we speak." Kevin lied. Brian and Howie nodded their heads.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Kevin asked the paramedic who was sitting on the opposite side. He was applying a towel under AJ's injured shoulder. Kevin saw the raw flesh glaring at him.

"He'll be okay. How about you Kevin? I believe we haven't met with your bandaged arm." Kevin looked at his tag, Daniel. He is funny, Kevin thought.

"He's sleeping, I'm sorry." Kevin joked.

"That's okay; can I take a look at it?"

"If you want to." Kevin replied. He went up next to the paramedic and offered his arm. Daniel proceeded to cut the bandage and inspected the wound.

"It's burnt?" Kevin nodded. "From the bus." Daniel said to no one in particular. He poured a colorless liquid on it and let the chemical drop on the floor of the van. He wrapped a towel around it and told Kevin to hold it in place.

"That will do for now. Your wound is infected but it's not bad. A few graphic skin surgeries and it'll be perfect again." Daniel said.

"Thank God it isn't the face." Howie joked.

"Ah...but I see there's a lot of small cuts on your face Kevin." Daniel pointed out.

"You should have seen him when the glass was still poking his face. He looked like the devil from Hellraiser." Brian remarked. Daniel had to laugh.

"Nothing that the surgeon can't handle. It will heal with time. No scars." Daniel assured him.

"How come you guys aren't bringing AJ to the hospital first?" Kevin asked.

"The blizzard is too strong, we can't risk it. We will have to wait for a while. Don't worry, AJ's condition isn't life threatening. It's a good thing that the police acted fast and treated him while we were MIA. It could have been a totally different story if they hadn't."

"What happened?"

"A shot has been fired from down there!"

"Alpha Two calling Alpha One, report at once!"

"What's the situation? Anybody knows?"

"They're not responding to our calls, we know nothing!"

Kevin turned at the sound of the commotion. Everyone was suddenly rushing to somewhere. People were talking all at once and he couldn't comprehend the whole situation. Why are they panicking? Did something happen?

"Oh no..." Howie moaned. Kevin turned to him, wanting to know why.

"They heard a gunshot from down the sewer. Nick!"

ררררר

"The prints stopped in front of this sewer." Ted said, studying the shoe prints that had guided them there.

"So, they think they could hide in here huh? Come on Ted, let's have us a reunion." Matt hissed as he took the first step into the sewer.

"This place is so cold, they will never survive here." Ted remarked as his own body shivered at the touch of the icy water on his feet.

"I hope they're not dead, it would ruin everything." Matt said.

"Save a bullet for me will ya?"

"Don't worry bro; I have lots in my jacket." Matt assured his partner in crime. All sorts of bodily harm crossed his mind. The grin on his face widened.

"Come out; come out, wherever you are." Ted mocked in a ghostly voice. Matt laughed.

"You want to play hide and seek? Well, hang on, here we come..." Matt dragged his sentence, hoping that the chilling effects would get to them.

"You can run but you can't hide, we will come and get ya!" Ted added.

Matt saw the first turn to the left and stopped to inspect it. He was rewarded. The young blonde was there.

"I thought he was fucking dead back there!" Matt hissed.

"He tricked us!" Ted screamed.

"He's never gonna live to see the daylight again!" Matt shouted as they made their way to Nick.

Matt grabbed his chin roughly and checked his heartbeat. It was faint but still beating. He saw the blood on his sweater and noticed the bluish tint on his lips. He slammed Nick's head back against the wall and he didn't even wince in pain.

"He's too far out, there's no point torturing him. We'll just have to end him I guess." Matt said as he stood up and took out his gun. He aimed it at his head and clicked. Bang.

"Aw...you're lucky there's no bullet in that one!" Matt wailed. "Let's try again shall we? Russian roulette has always been a favorite game of mine! What a rush!"

This time, Matt aimed the gun at his chest. Nick didn't even make the slightest move.

"If you're playing dead, you better wake up now or you'll truly be dead once I pull this trigger!" Matt shouted.

"Just shoot him Matt!" Ted urged him on.

"Okay Blondie, I'm sorry it has to end this way. If you're truly as popular as your friend said you are, I'm gonna be so famous after this! I killed a celebrity! That's a jackpot! And to think we didn't even know you were in the bus! You must be someone special that your friends tried to hide you from us. Well, you're gonna be famous forever now. In the Celebrity Obituary Section that is!" Matt laughed.

He pulled the hinge back, aimed the gun once again and took a deep breath.

"Good bye dumb blonde! See you in hell!"

Matt pulled the trigger. It was followed by a gunshot that ringed through the empty tunnel, sending piercing sounds across the walls.

18 by mersey
Chapter Eighteen

Julia was afraid of heights. Had always been her entire life. When Jack told her that she had to take over and be the one to go down the sewer, she knew there was no way she could run away from it. She was the only female paramedic on site. No one knew of her phobia, and she intended to keep it that way.

When she received the emergency call that early afternoon, she had expected it to be one of those normal calls to attend to a minor accident. The city had always been safe, no major road accidents reported so far since she donned her uniform two months ago.

When they said that the victims were the Backstreet Boys, her heart almost stopped. She had heard the news about the crashed bus. Had been there on the site to check for casualties. But they had told her that everyone perished. Her heart sank that day. Her heroes were gone. The whole world was mourning over the loss of one of the world's best groups. To Julia, Backstreet Boys were up there at No.1.

And now she was hanging on for dear life, going down the sewer a step at a time, reaching down to the victim. Her hero.

To Julie, Nick Carter was as human as a Celebrity could be. She practically grew up with him and the Backstreet Boys by her side. Their music inspired her. Julia was a year older than Nick and she went through teenage life the same time Nick was growing his. Julia kept watch as she saw her hero battle through nasty zits she could visibly see in his posters, his slight weight gain and the much publicized break-up with his girlfriend.

She had been there too and knew how difficult it was to maintain one's dignity when people started judging. Nick made it more bearable. If a guy, whose life was shoved into the limelight and every uncelebrity-like moves he made was made known and criticized to the whole world could survive it all and remain positive, she could do it too. Nick, in her eyes, was an ordinary boy living in an extraordinary world. He was not perfect. And that made him real.

She was only about a meter down when she saw the two figures approaching Nick's unconscious body. Even from that distance she could see that Nick had little time left. The man pointed something shiny towards him and her quick thinking mind registered that it was a gun. She nearly jumped when she heard the click go off. She thought she had failed. She thought that Nick Carter was done for. But the gunshot never came. She could hear his evil laughter instead.

Determined more than ever, she mustered her courage to take a plunge. She heard the man pulling back the gun, ready for another shot. All she needed now was perfect timing and aiming. She counted to three and pranced down on the man.

Her aiming was perfect, she hit her target. As she came down on top of him, the man standing next to him dropped too. She got up to her feet quickly and realizing that he was about to get up, she swung her medical bag across his head. He dropped face down on the ground again and never woke up.

She saw four police officers running towards her and realized that the gunshot had came from one of them. It had hit the accomplice. Knowing that the bad guys had been taken care of, she diverted her attention to Nick.

He had woken up, obviously from the deafening sound of the gunshot. He was in shock, Julie noticed that immediately. She couldn't help herself but felt that deep down inside, some where, a tiny voice was saying 'God, he still looks good after all this.'

Nick couldn't remember where he was. He heard the gunshot and started to panic. He wanted to call out for AJ but realized that he couldn't. He was having trouble breathing as it is. He didn't know where the girl came from but knew that she was help. He saw the two robbers laying unconscious a few steps from him. Everything just happened so fast, his mind was disorientated.

"You're okay now Nick. Everything's fine. I'm going to get you out of here, where your friends will be waiting. Just try your best not to sleep again all right?" Her voice was soft yet clear. He found comfort in it and nodded his head.

He felt her cold hands as she shone the torch light directly into his eyes, first his right and then the left eye. He blinked it away but the blinding light lingered on even after she had finished.

"Is there any feeling to your legs?" She gave his feet a little rub and he felt it. He nodded. "Good."

She started rubbing his hands and asked the same question. He shook his head. He wanted to cry but held it in. "It's okay Nick, you'll get the feeling back, I promise."

She started to reach down to his waist and Nick closed his eyes, knowing that it would only hurt. He wished he could tell her that but he couldn't find his voice. All of his energy was used up just to breathe alone.

"I know that you have some broken ribs and most probably internal bleeding. I'm just going to have a little touch to determine the injury, please give me a signal if it hurts okay?" Nick nodded his head.

At the touch of his skin, Julie knew that he was suffering from the second stage of Hypothermia. She pressed lightly on his waist and felt the broken ribs. She saw him wince and stopped.

"Is he all right?" One of the officers asked.

"He needs medical attention fast. Could you radio them for blankets to be thrown down? I have to keep him awake." Julie asked the officer. He immediately radioed in for sheets of blankets to be transported down.

Just throw it down, we will catch it from below.

"Nick, does your chest hurt?" Julie asked. Nick nodded. "Okay, I'm going to put the oxygen mask on. Don't panic; just try your best to breath in okay?"

She heard the gurgling sound when he breathed and she couldn't believe it. "Were you suffering from a case of the flu Nick?" Nick nodded.

He had not only suffered broken ribs, internal bleeding and Hypothermia, now she was suspecting that he had pneumonia too. They needed to take him up now.

"Here are the blankets." The officer handed her the blankets and she quickly wrapped them around him. "Officers, I need the two of you to sit close to him. He has hypothermia; we need to transfer your body heat to him." The officers didn't question her orders and did as told.

Julie got up and started radioing her medics. "Jack? We need to bring him up now. Are the firefighters here?"

Yes. We're preparing the stretcher now. What's the victim's status, over?

"21 year old male, suffering from probably three broken ribs, internal bleeding, second stage of hypothermia and first stage of pneumonia." Julie studied Nick's condition one more time and her heart sank. "And Jack, possibly a collapsed lung."

Stretcher is coming down as we speak. Julia, remember, no large movements. Ask the officer to help you move him. Secure victim with the planks, he's coming up vertically, we can't afford to drop him.

"Roger that, out!"

Julia knelt down next to Nick again; he was looking at her with fear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry I can't give you anything to make the pain go away, but I promise you we will be getting out of here in no time. Kevin and the rest are okay. They're waiting for you up there, please don't close your eyes okay?"

Nick nodded his head but his face was blank. He was beginning to space out.

"The stretcher's here, need our help?" Another police officer offered. Julia noticed that the two bad guys were handcuffed and placed at a far distance from them.

"Make sure he doesn't bleed to death, I want him in court for what he did to these people." Julia said, referring to the injured man who was shot. She saw the stretcher already laid out next to Nick.

"Okay Nick, let's get you out of this mess."

ררררר

When they told us that the paramedics were clear to take off, I insisted that we wait for Nick. AJ had come around minutes later and although still semi-conscious, managed to beg the paramedics to let us wait for him.

"You don't understand, we would be at rest if we see him." Kevin explained to Daniel.

"Besides, it's not going to take long, they're bringing him up as we speak, please wait for a while." Howie added.

I saw the look of resignation on the paramedic's face. "All right, but you have to promise me that you're not going to get down from this van."

We nodded our heads. We'll see, I can't promise anything.

"Brian, is your head okay? I think you can lie down now, since we're making a move in a few minutes." Daniel asked me. Is he kidding? Now that Nick was coming out, no way was I going to lie down. Talk about stupid timing.

"No, I'm fine."

"Well, if you say so. I was thinking that this van was too crowded and maybe if you lie down in the next ambulance, you will share it with Nick." Daniel said. My eyes became wide all of a sudden. Now he tells me!

"Er, on second thought, maybe I should give the lie down a try."

"I thought so too." Daniel said. "Okay, follow me down; I'll get you to another medic."

We were about to get down when I saw them wheeling Nick to the ambulance next to us. I couldn't really see him but I knew that he was in good hands.

"He's here!" I cried. AJ got up immediately. Daniel didn't even argue and helped him instead. The stretcher reached us and stopped. Nick was awake.

"I promised him that he'd get to see you guys before we took him off." Julia explained.

He couldn't speak because of the oxygen mask they had him on, but we knew that he was glad to see us. AJ leaned nearer and we ended up in a group hug. For the first time that day, the Backstreet Boys were reunited although for a short while.

"We will be all right boys, it's all over." Kevin whispered to us. I hoped he was right.

Seconds later, I was brought to the next ambulance with Nick. Separated once again from the other three. As I lay next to him in the ambulance, the dizzy spells returned. I managed to hold his hand before I felt an oxygen mask covering half of my face and I drifted into emptiness once again.

Emptiness and loneliness is a very scary place to be. I just wish if I ever woke up again, that my brothers would still be there with me.

19 by mersey
Chapter Nineteen

The soft warm bed, the security of the blanket covering my body, the fresh, welcoming air, the silence. The realization that everyone was safe. All that made me want to continue my beautiful sleep. I didn't mind staying like this forever.

But then the constant beeping of a machine somewhere made me stir. The fresh air smelled like different medicines mixed together. My left arm felt numb and as if something was pricking itself inside me.

My body ached all over. I could feel the cramp in my legs even without moving them. Three days of walking in the cold. I can't believe I survived that. I could feel something was plastered on my chest and a wire (if I could call it that, I don't know, I'm not fully awake) coming out from the hospital gown I was wearing. I knew it was to monitor my heart rate; they used the same thing when I was warded for my heart surgery years ago.

And how could you forget the headache? It had stayed with me like a loyal dog to it's master. Only difference is that dogs are cute and cuddly and headaches, they just...ached.

For what seemed like an eternity, I stayed in that position. My eyes staring at the white ceiling above me. Didn't dare to move even an inch. Three days of nightmare recollected in my memory disk and replayed itself without my consent. Then, the longing for my brothers engulfed me. What had happened to them?

I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears from flowing. Not that crying would make me any less of a man; I am very secure about my sexuality. It's just that the crying would only make my head worse.

Then, something made me feel better again. Something that would lift all the unbearable pain away.

"Thank you doctor, I will."

She came into the room like an angel from above. Sent to earth just for me. Her long blonde hair carelessly swayed behind her, her every move elegant and sweet. Her long white dress shines her whole; visible glowing white aura protecting her from the harm of the world. But those who hate romantic moments will blame my sick disillusioned head for the way I described her.

She's not an angel, but she is the love of my life. And one thing is for certain, she wore a sad, stressed out expression on her otherwise lovely face. Things should not be that way. She should be smiling, radiating love everywhere she goes.

"Baby? What's troubling you?" I croaked. Surprised at how funny my voice sounded. I threw all plans of being romantic out the window. Let’s just be sick for a while.

She had shock written all over her face. When it finally faded, it was replaced with a smile. That's what I've been expecting.

"Honey! You're awake!" She rushed over to my side and carefully hugged me. I pulled her down and was rewarded with a peck on my forehead. How much worse should a guy suffer to get a kiss on the lips?

When she pulled away from me, her teary eyes locked into mine. I found myself drowned in my own tears too. I never thought I would ever see her again.

"Please don't cry baby, it hurts me even more." I said. I hope I sounded romantic enough. It was so cheesy and still, I meant every single word.

"I'm just happy honey! You've been lying there for three days; I was beginning to worry that you would never wake up."

Hold a sec. Three days? I slept for three days? That is so great! I didn't even dream! That was peaceful.

"I was just asleep baby, nothing to worry about." I said, trying my best to assure her that I was fine. She had gone through a lot and here I was thinking that sleeping for three days was a blessing.

"Oh my God! I have to inform your doctor that you're awake. Everyone is waiting outside, I'm sure they want to see you too." Leighanne cried. Ahh...I'm so loved.

"You mean, the boys are outside right now?" I asked.

"Oh Hon...not the boys, your family. They're all here." Leighanne replied, a tint of sadness in her voice. Why would she be so sad? Unless...

"The others, what happened to them? Where are they?" I asked. I confess, I panicked.

"Honey, we'll talk about that later, maybe I could let the doctor tell you that. Right now, I want you checked and then meet your family." She planted another kiss on my forehead-I guess it's the only area on my face that remained unscathed-and went out of the room, leaving me alone again.

Why didn't she want to tell me about the fate of my brothers? Is she afraid I might get a heart attack? Is it really that bad? Why didn't she want to tell me?

ררררר

I am not trying to be disrespectful. To have all your family members flown down to the city which I'm still not sure where, is a blessing. It shows that I'm surrounded by people who love me and care for me. Everyone was there, you name it, and I have it. Even Kevin's family came in for a visit. But Kevin wasn't there. And the rest of the Backstreet Boys were MIA too.

We spent about thirty minutes just talking and crying and hugging. But at the back of my mind, my only concern was for the boys. How come none of them had come and visited me? And no one told me anything about Kevin. And he is family!

So I did the one thing that I could do. I asked to be alone, complaining that I'm still tired and needed my beauty rest. The fact of the matter is, I can't stand having too many people around me, it gives me headache. I just needed to be alone and recollect my thoughts.

When everyone started to leave, I held on to Leighanne's hand, wanting her to stay with me.

"Baby, you know what's troubling my mind, so please help me." I begged her. "What are they hiding from me?"

"Honey, we just don't want you to get worried right now, you're still weak." Leighanne said. I know they meant well but I'm getting annoyed about all this protecting me stuff. I've had enough of it already.

"I can rest better if I know where they are." I replied. Leighanne gave her resigned look. I knew I was getting to her. Soon, she couldn't resist my charm and would spill.

"Hon, if you could turn your head to the left, maybe it will help." I didn't know what she meant but I did as suggested. The head still didn't want to co-operate. Rebelling against my action, it pounded its protests. But I ignored it. I had to know what was going on.

For the first time, I realized that I wasn't alone in the room. There was another bed next to mine, but it was hidden behind a curtain, which is only semi see-through. I saw someone on the bed.

I tried to separate the noise in the room and finally could distinguish two different heart monitors beeping. The one that belonged to me although weak sounded normal. But the one belonging to the other patient was not only slow, it was very weak.

"Who's my room mate?" I joked.

"Can't you see him?" Leighanne asked. I know she meant well but she definitely needed to be in my shoes to know the state I was in then. I just shook my head.

"That's AJ."

ררררר

That wasn't the first time that he was awoken by the disturbing voice of someone ranting in his sleep. For a split second, he got very annoyed by it.

But everything would just come back to him and Kevin would realize that he was still in the hospital bed, feeling lousy. And the ranting had come from none other than the man he shared the ward with.

He wondered what day it was and how long he had been in the semi-conscious state that he was in. He remembered being wheeled into the emergency room the day they were rescued. He had been the luckiest of the lot. Just a few cuts and bruises and a second degree burn. They had taken care of that and had left him alone in a ward while his brothers were battling for their lives.

He remembered getting out of his bed and the IV needle still poking his right arm, attempting to venture out to find his brothers. He didn't even reach the door when the fainting spells started. The tiredness showed itself without warning and smacked him right in the face.

The next thing he remembered was waking up in his bed again with a swollen arm. They had however, injected another IV to his left arm. A nurse came in a few minutes later, checking up on him. He asked the nurse about his brothers but all she would say was it was silly of him to try and get out and that he had fainted. Kevin didn't care about that, he already knew that bit. Before he could get anything more out of the nurse, he drifted into another deep sleep.

When he woke up, it was already dark. And what annoyed him most was the fact that he was awoken from his sleep by the sound of someone moaning. It didn't take him long to realize that he had someone else sharing his room. And that someone was having some sort of a nightmare.

"Will you just shut up!" Kevin murmured under his pillow. He wondered why they had put someone who was obviously unstable, in the same room as he was. Shouldn't he be getting a private room? He is a celebrity after all. He snorted at the last remark. Someone's head was swelling and it wasn't Brian.

He didn't wait for the person to respond. He didn't think that he was awake in the first place. The guy just had a bad dream. He willed himself to surrender to another dreamless sleep.

Now, as he lay in his bed fully awake, he saw from the blinded window that the sun had just set. He had slept the whole day through. The other guy was ranting again. He ignored him at first; studying the room and wondering why hadn't any of his family come for a visit. No sooner than he thought, he saw the many bouquets of flowers set on the table next to his bed. On one of them, a card was planted elegantly with pink ribbon. He took it off and tore the envelope away. The card had the greeting 'Wish You Get Well Soon' emblazoned below a picture of a teddy bear with an injured arm. How appropriate. He opened it up and smiled.

Darling,

I am no Genie so I can't heal your pain. Take care of yourself and don't start being smart and walk around the hospital with a needle poking in your body. Not a smart move for someone who is as intelligent as you. I hope you wake up soon cause it's tearing me up inside just to be by your side and you not looking at me and smiling. I will be back again tomorrow, and I hope this time, you'll be waiting for me with open arms.

Love, Kristin

Kevin smiled and placed the card to its original bouquet when another card caught his attention. He took it out and started reading it too. He was beginning to feel that he wasn't alone all that time he was sleeping.

Darling,

Day two and you're still not awake yet. I'm worried about you. They say that you're just sleeping because your body is just too drained to function. I'm lost right now. I can't bear to sit here all day and not see you wake up. They said you stirred this morning but I wasn't here to see that. I know you need your rest but please don't take too long. I need you here with me. I need you to open your eyes and say that you're fine. I'm selfish but that's just because I love you. Wake up soon okay?

Love, Kristin

He had been in the hospital for two days. He knew that now.

He closed the card and placed it with the first one and started to look for another card if there was any. His heart beat with anticipation, hoping that it was from his wife again.

Darling,

They said you woke up today but I missed it again. Now I don't feel like going back home but they said I couldn't sleep here with you. Leighanne is sleeping over at our house just to keep ourselves company. Please wake up baby, I miss you so much. I thought I had lost you in the bus crash but you're here with me now. All I need is for you to wake up and smile and everything will be perfect.

Love, Kristin

Kevin placed the card back and couldn't find any other. He knew then that it had been three days since he was admitted. He vowed never to sleep that night. He wanted her to see his eyes and his smile when she walked into the room tomorrow morning.

The moaning brought Kevin back from cloud nine. He grunted and stood right up on his bed. Making sure that the fainting spells had not resurfaced, he got out of bed carefully and dragging the stand that attached the bag with glucose solution that was fed into him through the IV needle, he approached the bed.

The ranting became clearer to him now.

"No...it's all my fault...should always have a plan...Brian, I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." The man cried in his slumber. Kevin drew the curtain away. Knowing exactly who was in the bed even before he took the first look.

"Howie?"

20 by mersey
Chapter 20

Howie felt the hand gently shaking his shoulder and opened his eyes. He was drenched in his own sweat and his heartbeat felt as if he was racing against Michael Schumacher. It was just a dream. Howie thought. No, a nightmare, he corrected himself.

Of course he would find himself in the hospital room instead of in the woods. They were rescued, Howie remembered. He had even woken up several times to find his family by his side or the other time when he woke up in the middle of the night, breaking from the nightmare again. The nightmare. It had been haunting him ever since they were rescued.

The hand had belonged to Kevin. Howie felt himself smile at the realization. They had been in the hospital for three days and every time he was awake, Kevin was still sleeping. He was beginning to miss his brother.

"You're awake!" Howie cried, as he got up into a sitting position.

"Thanks for the wake up call." Kevin replied casually.

"What?" Howie asked, not understanding what he meant.

"You were screaming your head off in your sleep bro." Kevin explained.

"Oh, that? Nightmare." Howie said, feeling himself blushing.

"About Brian, I assumed." Kevin said.

"Oh God, did I just said it all out loud?"

"Yeah. Something about it's all your fault. Should have a plan...and stuff." Kevin said.

"Brian...how is he? Have you seen AJ or Nick?" Howie asked.

"I have been sleeping in and out for three days now." Kevin replied. "This is the first time I got this far out from my bed."

"Oh yeah...I remember. I woke up at night the first day we were brought in. I called for a nurse and asked her about the others but she wouldn't tell me anything. Then I slept again and woke up late afternoon the next day. Saw my family."

"Oh yeah? That's great. I haven't seen any of mine." Kevin said, a little sad.

"I saw Kristin. And your family." Howie replied.

"How is she?" Kevin asked, suddenly jealous that Howie got to see his wife first.

"What do you think? Her husband is unconscious for three days! But I managed to tell her that you're okay. You're the luckiest of the lot." Howie explained.

"Thanks bro." Kevin said. "How are you feeling? Why are you having those nightmares?"

"I'm okay Kev. It's just that, when Brian fell into that pit...I just keep blaming myself you know...even AJ asked me if I had a plan before we started running like mad to get to your side. I told them I had no time for a plan, just run. And...and he..."

"It's not your fault Howie. No one could ever think of a plan in a situation like that. Besides, Brian's alive, everything's fine." Kevin assured him.

"How would we know that? They didn't tell us anything about the others. Why are they keeping this from us? Did something happen?" Howie asked.

"If you're wondering if any of them died, don't. They're alive." Kevin said.

"How can you be so sure?" Howie asked.

"Because, they can't die. It's just insane." Kevin said, knowing deep inside that he was in denial. Who was he to know if the others made it or not. He was asleep himself for three days and he was the one with the least injuries.

"I hope you're right Kev." Howie said.

"Of course I am. Now go to sleep, we'll go see them tomorrow morning and no one's gonna stop us from doing that."

ררררר

Day Four and nothing changed.

I woke up with a massive headache but like I've said, I'm getting used to it. It's like a part of me or something. Anyway, I don't care. I've handled it back in the woods and I'm sure gonna handle it now.

I sat up on my bed, allowing myself a few minutes to gather myself for what I was about to do next. Got out of bed, got on my feet and balanced myself by holding on to the pole where a bag of God-knows-what solution was hung, drip by drip feeding the colorless liquid into my veins.

I pulled out the wires they had strapped on my chest, quickly switched off the monitor before it started beeping warning siren when it couldn't detect my heartbeat. All that done, I started my first steps towards AJ's bed.

AJ shocked me.

He was pale and very still. I held his hand and was surprised that he was still having the fever. Four days in the hospital and they can't even get rid of it. His breathing was normal but still weak. Did I mention that I hate hospitals?

No matter how many times I've visited this place when I was a young boy, I still couldn't get over the fear of being there. I've met with numerous doctors while growing up; everyone said the same old thing about my heart. It's something I have to live up with. I thought after the operation I was gonna be okay. But obviously, all those strenuous schedules got it started again. The last operation was just as sick. Maybe even worse. Cause this time around, I have someone waiting for me to pull through. And I feared that I might not.

If AJ were waiting for the best time to wake up, this would be it. I really needed someone to talk to right now. I needed to know that he was all right.

I didn't realize it but I had my head rested on his hand while I took the seat next to his bed. My head was getting heavy again and I felt the tears coming. I couldn't help it, I felt so lost. I know Kevin and Howie weren't that seriously injured, so why haven't they come to visit us? And what happened to Nick?

ררררר

Kevin felt a pang of sadness overwhelm him as he wheeled Howie into the room. Brian was crying next to AJ's bed and he wasn't looking too good himself. AJ wasn't supposed to look like that. He's the morale booster. The one who makes everything light in times when it seemed loomed in heaviness? Without his cocky lines and stupid jokes, how could they all survive?

"Brian?" Howie called out. Kevin woke up from his trance and started to wheel him nearer to their brothers.

Brian's head immediately arched back and smiled when he saw them. He had been crying, Kevin saw that.

"God, Rok, you shouldn't be out of bed. You could get your head bleeding again!" Kevin didn't mean to sound all authoritarian but he couldn't help it.

"I miss you too." Brian replied.

"He's just being Kevin." Howie smiled.

"I'm not like that." Kevin protested.

"Are too." Howie said.

"Am not." Kevin said firmly.

"I'm getting the headache again. Please, just leave that to AJ and Nick okay?" Brian joked.

"How is he doing anyway?" Kevin asked, his eyes locked on the figure lying on the bed.

"Been like this for four days. That's what Leighanne said anyway. I just got up yesterday." Brian replied.

"We did too. I guess we were just tired." Howie said.

"That's what’s happening to AJ right? It's all a long sleep. He'll wake up soon right?" Brian said to no one in particular.

"That's just it B. Nothing to worry about." Kevin whispered.

21 by mersey
Day Five

"Why are we here doctor? And why aren't we allowed to see Nick?" Brian asked he, Howie, and Kevin, settled down at Doctor Monroe's office. All three of them had been progressing well and were let off the IV needle.

"Calm down Bri, you're gonna get that head swollen again." Howie joked.

"You've got something to say Doc?" Kevin asked again.

"Yes. Gentlemen, I've heard from your doctors that you've been bugging them about your friends AJ and Nick. And I believe you've not been told about your condition too, is that right?" Dr. Monroe asked from behind his desk. He looked to be around his fifties and very wise. Kevin thought that he had been very patient considering their somewhat hostile behavior towards him.

"We don't need to know about how we're doing because we felt it. We feel fine. We need to know about AJ and Nick." Brian said sarcastically. He knew he was being mean but he was getting fed up from being kept in the dark.

"Do you, Mr. Littrell? Did you really know what happened to you when you were brought in five days ago unconscious?" Dr. Monroe asked, as if challenging Brian.

"Bri, I think it's better if we let Dr. Monroe have the chance to speak his mind. He is the doctor you know." Kevin said. Brian nodded as he massaged his temple.

"How's your headache Brian?" Dr. Monroe asked.

"It's killing me." Brian muttered.

"Well, it almost did."

Brian had a shocked look on his face. Howie and Kevin were staring at him, as if expecting an explanation.

"You mean... almost died?" Brian whispered.

"You had multiple head injuries Brian. Your head was practically swollen when the blood in your open wound was frozen. It blocked the only way for blood to escape. The swelling had practically nowhere to go. This cause raised intracranial pressure-"

"Intra what?" Howie cut in.

"Intracranial pressure. You see, the blow that he received caused a rupture in a blood vessel. Look, I don't want to go through all the scientific procedures because it will only confuse and bore you, what I'm trying to say is, if you were brought in any minute later, you might have suffered brain damage. You're lucky Brian because that didn't happen."

"Then why did I almost die?" Brian asked.

"You had a seizure seconds after you were brought in. We weren't exactly clear about your condition and obviously, we didn't know that you used to have a heart condition."

"That's right, I used to, not anymore." Brian said.

"That's true, but that day in the O.R. your heart couldn't take it. We took care of the swelling but your heart just gradually dropped."

"Did I stop breathing?" Brian asked.

"Yes. But your heart, fortunately, never stopped beating. It just slowed down and we managed to take care of that"

Brian sank deeper into his chair. He never knew how close he had been to death and it frightened him. He was on the brink of death and he didn't even know it. Didn't even see it coming.

"So you see now Brian that even though you're walking around right now, that your health is still not a hundred percent?" Brian nodded.

"Your headache will stay with you for a few more weeks to come. And you may not notice it now, but your vision might get affected and it comes without warning, that's why we don't need you walking around unattended. Do you understand?" Brian nodded again.

"You will have to take medication to help you with the pain. Don't worry, so far as I can tell, you will not suffer any side effects from the injuries. In fact, in my professional opinion, you're one strong man to survive something like this."

"Thank you Doctor, for saving my life." Brian whispered. He forced the tears in, not wanting his brothers to see him cry.

"Brian, I wasn’t the one in the O.R. when they took care of you. Your doctor did. I believe it was Doctor Hemmingway. I am just here to study all of your cases. You'll be under his care for as long as you're in this hospital so I'm sure you have plenty of time to thank him."

"Yes, I will." Brian said.

"Okay then, let's go to you Mr. Dorough."

"Me?" Howie squirmed.

"Yes, you."

"I didn't stop breathing right?" Howie asked.

"No, fortunately, you didn't. But you lost a lot of blood from the gunshot. If you remember, the paramedics put you on oxygen on the way to the hospital right?"

"Yes. It was funny though, I didn't get shot in the chest or anything. I was breathing fine." Howie recalled.

"Ah, but that's where you were wrong. Blood carries oxygen. Loss of blood means lesser oxygen was transported to other parts of your body. If it hadn't been for the oxygen mask, you wouldn't have survived." Dr. Monroe revealed.

"Oh my God." Howie whispered as he too, began to sink deeper into his chair.

"Yes. We also had you on blood transfusions since you lost a lot of it. The paramedics said that you were blacking out on the way here. It shows that you were indeed not getting enough oxygen. But if it's any help, you were never in any life threatening situation. Thanks to the quick thinking minds of the paramedics."

"I never knew all that. We just slept all the way through it." Howie mumbled.

"Mr. Richardson, would you like to hear yours?"

"After what I've just heard? No, I don't." Kevin replied.

"But you need to, right?" Dr. Monroe asked. Kevin nodded.

"Kevin, they said you've been running around after the rescue just to make sure that Nick received all the attention and help he could get. There was a blizzard and you didn't get into the ambulance to warm yourselves like Brian and Howie did. Is this right?"

"Yeah...just wanted to make sure that Nick was all right." Kevin replied.

"I understand. I bet you didn't know that your body was just too weak to handle anything else when you tried to get out of bed on the first day you were admitted here right?"

"That was silly of me." Kevin smiled.

"Your burnt arm was infected and it spread to the rest of your body. You were getting sick but you didn't know it. Even the paramedics couldn't detect that when they first attended to you. That's why you were unconscious for three days. Your body was tired."

"How about us? We slept for three days too, thinking it had only been a day." Brian asked.

"Because your bodies were tired too. We injected heavy sedatives just to help you sleep. Especially you Kevin. You may not remember it but you had problems sleeping."

"I did?" Kevin asked. "I thought I slept like a baby all the way."

"There's a lot you tend to forget after what you've been through. It's normal." Dr. Monroe explained.

"Is that what’s happening to AJ too?" Brian asked. "Is his body tired too?"

"Yes. It's going to take longer for him because of the high fever he has. It's difficult to control it since it was developed from the infected wound on his shoulder. His infection was worse than Kevin's so he needs more time to recover."

"He's breathing is kinda heavy, is that normal?" Brian asked.

"Yes. AJ also suffered from the first stage of Hypothermia. That made it a lot worse. In his case, he was burning up from the fever and at the same time, the cold was eating on him. Everything inside is just unbalanced. But you don't have to worry. AJ is a fighter. His doctor said he's been doing well. He will wake up very soon." Dr. Moroe smiled.

"What about Nick? Is he okay? When can we see him?" Kevin asked.

"Ah, Nick. He is the worst of the lot." Dr. Moroe shook his head. "He broke three ribs and suffered internal bleeding. But that's taken care of. They suspected a collapsed lung but fortunately, that turned out not to be true. But he did however suffer from the second stage of Hypothermia. He lost feeling to his arms and his whole body was about to shut down. We also found out that he had the flu prior to the crash and that caused the pneumonia."

"Oh my God. How did he even survive three days out there?" Brian cried.

"He didn't even complain much of his pain...we should have known." Kevin sobbed.

"We had him on the respirator to help him breath." Dr. Monroe added.

“The poor kid.” Howie sighed. "A very strong kid, Howie. He is full of determination that as of this morning, we have removed the respirator. He is breathing independently." Dr. Monroe smiled.

"He is? Is he gonna be okay? Can we see him?" Brian exclaimed.

"He is still very, very weak Brian. So far, we've only let his family in for visits. His condition is still unstable; he could just go back to the first stage without warning. That's why we didn't tell you about his condition. We're afraid you might be too weak to accept it."

"So, we cannot see him now?" Howie asked.

"Not now. I'm sorry."

22 by mersey
Day Six

Kevin and Howie came for a visit to our room but of course AJ couldn't jump up and down to receive them. We gathered around his bed and started talking, hoping that our noise would distract him and wake him up.

We were so lousy at being loud. That had always been Nick and AJ's department. I could get noisy but only if I changed into the Frick and Frack mode. Frack's not here so that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

"I don't believe this. How could we be AJ? No one could be him, he is just impossible." Howie cried. Kevin and I chuckled. Ain't that the truth?

"Hey, you two laughed, I must have done something right." Howie joked.

"Shouldn't it be me lying there and him trying to get me up?" I asked.

"No one should be there Brian. We should all be somewhere better, like in the studio recording or something. Not here." Kevin replied.

I wanted to add something stupid, you know, lighten up the atmosphere a bit, but I didn't get the chance when Aaron came in. My heart almost skipped a bit. He was beginning to look uncannily identical to Nick. I thought for a second there, it was Nick coming in to tell us that he's okay.

"Hey AC, when did you get here?" Kevin asked as he motioned for the kid to come closer.

"Just flown down this morning. Mom didn't let Carl let me talk to him about cutting the tour short." Aaron said, referring to his manager.

"It's for the best. There's nothing much to see anyway." I said.

"Did you see Nick?" Howie asked.

"No. Mom didn't let me see him. Said he's still weak. I just don't get it. He’s my brother, I should see him." Aaron moaned. I knew that feeling.

"Come on kid, join us, we're talking to AJ today." I said.

"Yeah? Can I talk to him?"

"Sure, go ahead." Good luck kiddo. Hope you nail it better than we do.

Aaron took AJ's hand and squeezed it gently. His eyes automatically welled up in tears. His chin was trembling and from that corner, he looked exactly like Nick.

"Hey AJ, it’s me, Aaron. Yeah, I've flown down here specially to see you guys. I've always wanted to try a stunt like that. You know, get in a situation where your bus crashed and exploded and you actually got out alive. You guys rock man."

It was funny, yes. He did it better than all three of us combined. But that didn't stop the tears from his eyes to flow.

"I heard that you were with Nick down that sewer. I heard about your little attempt to save Brian and giving up your lives. I'm just glad that you fought to survive instead. I know if it was just Nick, he would have long gave up. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

The sobbing had turned into a full blown cry. Kevin reached out to him and was rubbing his back. I could have done something too but my head was just not in the mood.

"Just...just wake up all right. We all need you here. We need you bugging Nick with your jokes, maybe then, he will wake up too."

ררררר

"Nick? Where are we going?" AJ asked as he followed the young blonde.

"To the sewer silly. We do want to make it home right?" Nick replied with a smile.

"How come you're not hurting anymore? Damn boy, you look just fine." AJ laughed.

"So do you AJ, so do you." Nick laughed.

"Oh yeah, I am. Funny, I thought I was a goner. My shoulder doesn’t even hurt anymore!"

"We will be all right. But we have to get to the sewer." Nick said urgency in his voice.

"Let's run for it then." AJ suggested.

"No, we have to walk." Nick replied.

"But that will just slow us down." AJ protested.

"No, it will make it faster. Trust me." Nick smiled.

AJ listened and true enough, they arrived at the sewer in no time. He noticed that his legs weren't even tired.

"Are you coming AJ?" Nick asked when he saw him still standing in front of the sewer.

"Yeah, I'm coming." AJ replied.

"We have to move quickly, we don't have much time left." Nick urged him.

"Hey, I'm not the one who suggested that we walk." AJ grumbled.

"There's no need to run AJ. We will walk." Nick smiled.

AJ didn't argue and followed as he turned to the first corner. He saw the ladder and everything came back.

"Nicky? We've been here before right? I've climbed that ladder. You were supposed to be waiting down here for help. You're supposed to be sick!" AJ cried.

"One of us has to climb up." Nick replied, ignoring AJ's question.

Just wake up all right. We all need you here!

"Hey, isn't that AC?" AJ asked. "Where is he? How come I can hear him?"

"You have to climb up AJ. Someone needs to cheer my brother up." Nick smiled.

"We will both climb up Nick. You're strong enough." AJ protested.

"No. I am sick. But I will wait for help." Nick replied as he sank down into the cold water, his breathing shallow and hard.

"Okay buddy, just wait for me all right. I will get help. Don't die on me!" AJ cried as he climbed up the stairs.

"I hope the lid doesn't get stuck like the first time."

ררררר

Something happened.

AJ squeezed Aaron's hand. He could feel it. He blinked. Once. Twice. He wasn't imagining it.

"Oh God!" Aaron cried.

"What is it AC?" Brian asked.

"He just squeezed my hand!" Aaron cried.

He felt it again. Harder this time.

ררררר

AJ stirred. His head was feeling heavy but he fought it. He knew he had to wake up. He forced his heavy eyelids to open. Everything was blurry but he began to take notice of the voices surrounding him.

"He's waking up!"

"Should we get the doctor?"

"AJ? Can you hear us?"

AJ fluttered his eyelids a few more times, trying to adjust to the surroundings. He wasn't up at the highway. But Brian, Howie and Kevin were there with him. Aaron was there to.

"Hi guys. Wassup?" AJ croaked.

"He's back all right." Brian smiled.

"Hey AC, what were you doing in the sewer?" AJ asked.

"I take that back." Brian said. AJ didn't understand him.

"I wasn't in the sewer AJ. I just came to the hospital to see how you're doing." Aaron smiled.

"But I heard you loud and clear. You called for me to come back." AJ replied.

"Yeah? But I said those things right here Bone. You were still asleep. I think you need more of it too. Sorry we woke you up too soon." Aaron smirked.

That smirk. Just like Nick's. That was like his trademark. Send girls screaming and crying for him. Worked all the time.

"Nick! I have to get to Nick." AJ cried all of a sudden.

"No one is allowed to see him AJ. He's still weak." Howie said.

"No, you don't understand, we have to get back to him. He's waiting for us." AJ begged.

"But we can't AJ; we don't even know where they put him." Kevin said.

"I do." Aaron said.

"Great! We need to get there, now!" AJ cried.

"You're still too weak to move AJ." Howie said.

"Then Kevin will help me…. Anyone... Just bring me there. We have to be there. He's waiting. Please."

Kevin looked at his brother. No one had ever managed to say No to him when he was stubborn.

"Okay, let's go."

23 by mersey
Chapter 23

Nick was all that Dr. Monroe had described him to be. In fact, he looked worse. Brian almost lost his footing at the sight of Nick.

"Quick, the nurse might be here any minute." Kevin whispered.

AJ went to the bed and took Nick's right hand. The boys gathered around. Brian, who was on the other side of the bed, held his left hand.

"I hope you know what you're doing Bone." Howie said.

"I hope so too." AJ replied.

He took a deep breath let it out slowly. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Come on Nicky boy, time to climb up the sewer. We're waiting."

ררררר

Nick opened up his eyes and squinted at the blinding light that was invading the tunnel. The ladder seemed to shrink and the lid came nearer and nearer until it was just within his reach. He saw two hands reaching out to him.

"Come on Nicky boy, time to climb up the sewer. We're waiting."

"About time!" Nick cried and rolled his eyes.

ררררר

Brian saw Nick's eyes moving from underneath the eyelids and within seconds, they flew open. The grip on his hand tightened. Nick had squeezed it. It was the most wonderful feeling. Nick had woken up.

"Hey." He said weakly.

"Hey you." Kevin said.

"Glad I was on time." AJ smiled.

"Welcome back Frack." Brian cried.

"We missed you Nicky." Howie chuckled.

"Hey buddy, glad you made it." Aaron added.

"Oh man, I'm truly here aren't I?" Nick whispered.

"Yes you are!"

ררררר

2 weeks later.

Kevin, Howie, AJ and I waited patiently for Nick to finish his routine check up. Unlike the four of us, he was still stuck in the hospital, mending the broken ribs. Howie had been using the crutches and he slowed us down all the time. He got picked on by AJ 24/7.

Kevin had to undergo a lot of surgeries for his arm but he was taking it very well. He was more disturbed by the scars on his face than anything else. He was meeting a skin doctor next week.

Me? My headache is still here but it didn't hurt like before. Give it another week and it will be gone for good. What really bugged me was the fact that I had to be extra careful when I washed my hair. A little itch at the back and I'd go all crazy.

We just had our first ever press conference since the accident. It turns out that the whole world was practically mourning for our deaths about three weeks ago. We got to see the footage and it was just hilarious. There we were struggling for our lives and we were already being mourned.

The press weren't happy that Nick wasn't there. We assured them that he was still alive and kicking and far from dead. Well, the kicking part was exaggerated a bit, okay, a lot. But I don't know why they were so worked up by it. This only meant that we were going to have another press conference when Nick got better. They get more to publish right?

"Hey Nicky, there you are! How did the check up go?" Kevin asked as the nurse wheeled him into the room. He looked tired and pale.

"They made me do all these exercises. It's just cruel." Nick complained.

"Don't be such a baby." AJ said.

"Shut up Bone." Nick retorted.

"Come on Mr. Carter; let's get you on the bed." The nurse said.

"That's okay Laura, I'll get the boys to help me. Thank you so much." Nick smiled at the nurse. She was beautiful and young. Hey, I've got eyes; don't expect me to close them every time a gorgeous girl passes my way.

The nurse nodded and left.

"Damn Frack, why did you do that? She's so gorgeous." I teased him.

"That's because he's a blonde. And dumb." AJ joked. I didn't like it. I'm half blonde myself and I ain't half dumb.

"I'm feeling so sick, I have no desire." Nick muttered.

"Oh my God! That's a first!" Howie laughed.

"Shut up all right. Just help me get to bed."

Kevin offered his assistance and within seconds, Nick was already safe on the bed.

"You know, I was thinking, maybe after we're all fit enough, we could go on a vacation together. Just the five of us." Kevin said.

"Oh yeah? Where to?" I asked.

"Did you guys realize that none of us got to bring back our bags in the end?" Kevin asked.

"Oh yeah...they went through our stuff and then we never got to pack it back again did we? We just left everything behind." Howie said, referring to the bad guys.

"Except for Brian. He took home the cell phone." AJ pointed out.

"It's a gift from Leighanne. For the success of Black and Blue. I can't leave it behind." I explained. Hello? Cell phone. Expensive stuff. Can't just leave it behind.

"Hey Kev, you actually left the tape behind? The one from your camcorder?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. I forgot totally about it. We left everything behind in the hurry." Kevin replied.

"Wait. What's this got to do with my question? I asked where should we go for our vacation?" I said.

Kevin had a weird smile on his face. For the first time, I could actually read the look on his expressionless face.

"Oh no, you're not gonna make us go back there just to get all that stuff. Forget it Kev, I ain't going." I said. He laughed at my face. What's so funny?

"I was just pulling your leg, Bri!"

Ohh, I see. Heh, that's still not funny.

Anyway, I am glad that everyone is back to their usual self. I never thought I would say this but I'm thankful for AJ's blunt, corky remarks. Howie's peace maker manners. Kevin's bossy, responsible adult attitude. Nick's unpredictable pranks. I was actually looking forward to all of it. I realized that all these things, makes the Backstreet Boys. That's what keeps our pride alive.

THE END

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