"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.

"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.

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?"