"AJ is that you? Come help me….I'm stuck.”
He tried to move quickly towards the voice at what was the front of the tour bus. AJ stopped when he saw Kevin pinned under the driver's seat and wheel. Blinking, he felt his heart pounding. Howie needed his help too but Kevin's situation was a bit more dire.
"You okay, Kevin?" he asked gently, stepping cautiously towards him. The smell of the gas was stronger here. It made AJ nauseous and he kept having to fight off the urge to vomit again.
"I can't get up....help me...." Kevin pleaded, almost in tears. Reality of the situation was settling in, he'd never heard fear in Kevin's voice before....nor had he seen him look so helpless. Kevin was always the one they looked to during bad times, he was the leader. AJ knew it was his turn to step up and stop being so selfish.
"Hang on, I'm coming. Don't move, you aren't hurt are you?"
"Well I can't exactly get up and go jogging. I mean you wanted us to all drop dead. Guess you got what you wanted.” Kevin whispered angrily. The words stung but AJ knew he deserved that.
"Come on, don't be like that Kev. I'm gonna get you out of here, this might hurt a bit.”
A groan of pain was the only reply. AJ pushed and after a few minutes he stopped, the wheel was not coming loose at all.
"Sorry for snapping at you, I am just in a lot of pain. Try one more time." Kevin suggested. AJ continued to push, but after a few minutes Kevin begged him to stop and take a breather. AJ heard Brian calling from outside.
"I can't get it."
"Well try again...please, I can't feel my leg. I think I got shot."
AJ heard Brian calling but he was determined to free Kevin from the steering wheel. He knew he had to hurry, wondering why he didn't find Nick yet. Hopefully that would be answered soon.
*******
"Fucking Christ."
Russell felt like he'd been hit with the actual bus and not thrown into bushes, but they had broken his fall. He was covered in cuts, his clothes torn and wet....his neck incredibly sore.
"Brian? Kevin? Is anyone out here?"
Russell looked up and couldn't believe the kid was even standing, Nick was calling each of his band mates in turn, sounding like he'd been crying. He reached for his gun, Nick was already injured and nobody would ever know how he really died if he did him in now. He walked with a limp, holding his shoulder and wincing.
"Oh...thank god someone else is out here. I thought I was the only one.." Nick exclaimed happily, coming towards him. Russell cursed under his breath, he should have shot the asshole where he stood. Instead he hid the gun away before Nick saw anything, putting a fake smile on his bloody face.
"Yeah. Guess we are lucky huh?"
"I remember you. I bummed a cigarette once from you. Sawyer, right? What are you doing out here?" Nick asked, shivering. His head was throbbing and he was very sore but also afraid the others were dead. He worried about Brian, thinking about his last words to him.
"I was driving because Hank got sick at that rest stop. He asked me to take over. Maybe we should go and look for help?" Russell suggested, his hand on his gun in case Nick tried anything funny.
Nick paused to think and looked back the way he'd come from....wondering if anyone was looking for him.
"Maybe we should go back to the bus."
"That might be a bad idea, I smelled gas before and what if it blows up when we are there?" Russell said. If he could get this guy isolated enough everything would work out pretty well.
"True, but what if my friends are hurt and need me?"
"Have they needed you before?" Russell argued. The sound of AJ telling him to drop dead rang clear in his ears, Nick felt his eyes water. He and Brian were probably throwing a party knowing he was gone. All anyone seemed to do was yell at him or ignore him lately anyway. Leaving sounded like a good idea no matter how much he wanted to go back and look for them. Everything hurt and he just wanted to get a nice warm bed, go to sleep. His head hurt so bad…
"You're right. I can take care of myself.....I don't need them." Nick said in a hollow voice, feeling his stomach turn again. Russell slapped him on the back, grinning to himself.
"That's the spirit, kid."
He simply smiled, he couldn't believe Nick trusted so easily.
They started walking when suddenly there was a explosion....Nick whirled around and saw red in the sky in the direction of the bus. It wasn't too far away, there were flames above the trees silhouetted against the night sky.
"No….I- I have to go get them!”
Russell didn't know what to do when Nick started heading back, so he grabbed his shoulder. Nick cried out in pain almost immediately and he retracted, falling to the ground.
"Jesus Christ, are you stupid or something? You'll get yourself killed if you go back there, don't you realize that?” Russell reasoned.
"They could be dying. It's all my fault. Everything is my fault..." Nick whispered through tears. He tried to stand and fell to the ground as his knee gave out, laying on the wet grass and sobbing. Every emotion he'd been feeling spilled over as the reality hit him.
"Come on, we better find somewhere out of this rain before we both catch cold." Russell said gently, helping him up. He almost felt bad for leading him away, but soon he would put Nick out of his misery and it wouldn't matter anymore.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Back with a new chapter. Hope you're all still enjoying the story. I am going to try and update again this weekend, but I am currently on vacation seeing BSB in Vegas. I do appreciate everyone reading. Enjoy the update.
