Chapter 96:
Rescue
Ignoring the throbbing pain in his jaw and
left arm, Xavier scrambled up the side bank, heaving himself up towards the
highway. Squinting in the dim light for the truck, he spotted the vehicle a few
hundred feet away and limped to it, wondering if he had also injured his leg in
the crash. Not feeling any noticeable pain in his leg, he shrugged it off, not
concerned with anything but reaching the safety of the truck and getting the
hell away. He opened the door deftly, glad that he still had use of his good
right hand. It had been only through a miracle that his fall had been cushioned
by the body of a Backstreet Boy, otherwise he knew he would have been more
severely injured.
Squeezing his large frame into the small
cab of the truck, Xavier fumbled for a moment with the unfamiliar keys before
finding the right one. The little truck roared to life and Xavier shifted it
into gear, thankful that it was automatic, rather than standard shift. With a
squeal he merged onto the highway, not pausing to seeing if any traffic was
coming his way.
* * * * * * * * *
Zac and Matt both stared in shock,
dumbfounded at what lay before them. It looked like an explosion had occurred;
bits and pieces of gear, luggage, and whatever broken remnants had been
violently thrown out of their containers. The tilt of the crushed bus gave it a
bizarre perspective and it took Zac and Matt a moment to visually correct their
sight. It was then that they noticed the bodies, the weird and twisted shapes
of the bus's occupants.
"Shit!" inhaled Zac with a sharp
hiss. Wading through the paraphernalia, trying to hop over the slanted seats,
Zac snarled in frustration as he tried to reach the first prone figure. The man
was lying on his side, face turned away, and Zac stretched as far as he could
to touch him. No response. Scooting, wedging himself as close as he could, Zac
managed to get a hold of the guy's wrist and wrapped his fingers around it,
feeling for a pulse. Good! It was strong, not the least bit thready.
"Matt, I've got one! He's alive! Can
you get to yours?"
"I'm trying!" grunted Matt,
crawling haphazardly through the chaotic mess. It was more difficult to reach
the other man than he thought, having to weave himself past Zac without banging
into him. He passed Zac and the hurt young man, stopping for an instant to
look. All he could see in the soft illumination was the man's dark jacket and
pants, a stark contrast to the blonde hair that was matted in blood. "Is
he gonna be all right?" Matt huffed as he heaved himself closer to the
collapsed figure.
"How the hell should I know?"
hissed Zac. "You're the one whose dad is a surgeon!"
"Oh, and that makes me automatically
a doctor?" scoffed Matt angrily. "I got a scholarship in athletics,
not medicine, Zac!" They both glared at each other, nervous, troubled, and
afraid. A soft moaning broke eye contact and they turned to see the injured
blonde man moving slightly.
"Okay, don't move him!" advised
Matt. "Talk to him, ask him where he's hurt. Don't move him!"
admonished Matt again as he creeped towards the other slumped figure.
"All right, all right!" agreed
Zac, biting his lip. He tentative touched the man's shoulder, then withdrew,
remembering Matt's warning. "Hey…hey you, wake up. Wake up. Listen to me.
Can you hear me?" Anxious, Zac glanced at Matt who had now reached his
target. With a more audible moan, the blonde man moved a fraction more, turning
his head to Zac’s side. Zac peered closer, trying to
see. Except for a rather nasty injury running along his jawline and a cut high
on his forehead, he seemed facially intact. Zac breathed a sigh of relief,
remembering all too well the mangled face of the dead driver. Bending nearer,
Zac nervously touched his face, trying to wipe some of the blood away. The
injured man's eyes flew open, blue orbs staring back at him in panic.
"It's okay, it's okay," soothed
Zac, not sure exactly what to do. "You're gonna be all right. We saw the
bus tip over. We'll help you. Are you okay? Where does it hurt?"
The young man mumbled a reply and Zac
strained to listen. "What? What? I can't hear you! What's your name?"
Zac caught the name. Nick. Or was it Rick?
He couldn't be sure. "Okay, Nick, look at me. Look at me! That's it. My
name is Zac. Can you see two of me?"
"Idiot!" yelled Matt, listening.
"Ask him where he's hurt! Jesus!" Shaking his head, Matt returned to
examining his own injured person.
"Right! Right! Okay Nick, how ya
feeling? Where does it hurt?" Seeing the blood oozing freely down Nick's
forehead, Zac yelled at Matt.
"Hey, he's bleeding! A lot!"
"Don't move him!" reminded Matt.
"Find some kind of cloth. See if you can get him to press it to his
wound!"
Nodding, Zac scanned around, finding, of
all things, a sock. Snatching it up, he leaned over Nick only to find the
bloody young man struggling to sit up.
"No, no! Don't get up. Stay where you
are!"
Nick groaned, ignoring Zac's
warning. His jaw hurt like a son-of-a-bitch and this guy's frantic cries only
added to the pain. "I'm okay, I'm okay…I think," admitted Nick,
wincing as he sat upright. "Leave me alone…Jeez!" He swatted irritatedly at Zac's hand when he
realized Zac was trying to shove something into it.
"Take it, take it!" urged Zac.
"No."
"Nick, you're bleeding!"
Nick blinked several times,
uncomprehending. "Bleeding?" he asked, surprised.
"Yeah! Bleeding! Here, here, like
this, press it like this." Matt gently guided Nick's hand up to his face.
"There, that's it, right there."
Nick winced as he pushed on the wound, the
pain immediately clearing his bewilderment. "Oww! Shit!" He suddenly
realized that not only his jaw and head throbbed, other parts were now too
screaming for attention. "Oww, God, it hurts!"
Zac's eyes opened wide. "Where? Where?"
A wave of nausea overtook Nick and he
turned, gagging from the taste of blood. "Everywhere," he replied
weakly, wiping his mouth. "Help me."
Agitated, Zac shot a frantic look over to
Matt, who seemed to be helping a man sit upright "Matt! Matt! We need more
help!"
"I know!" yelled Matt
back in frustration. They had tried to call for help as soon as they had seen
the accident, but the combination of rain, wind and location had rendered the
cell phone completely useless. "What the hell do you want me to do
about it?" he shouted, glaring at his friend.
Matt turned back to the dark-haired man
who was bent over, swaying a little. Glad to see no visible injuries, he touched
him tentatively. "You okay? Are you gonna be all right?" Matt studied
the slim-figured man, watching him cautiously as he nodded his agreement.
Sighing audibly, Matt grinned. "Great. My name is Matt. Do you have an
emergency medical kit on board? Your friend there is hurt."
Startled, this news seemed to shake the
last cob-webs of confusion away and the young man straightened up. "Yeah,
we've got a med kit." His brown eyes widened for a moment as he took in
the sight before him. "Oh my God," he whispered and Matt moved
closer, a worried line creasing his brow.
"It's okay, you're okay. Everything
will be fine. What's your name?"
"AJ. My name is AJ." With a
shaky hand, AJ rubbed his mouth. He couldn't seem to think clearly. Oh yeah.
"The med kit." His eyes darted around the tumbled interior. "I
don't know where the kit is," he said helplessly. Remembering Matt's
words, AJ's fingers dug tightly into Matt's flesh, alarmed. "Hurt? Who's
hurt? Who?"
Seeing him clearly for the first time,
Matt gazed at him curiously. He sure looked familiar. "Uh, your friend
over there… Nick." He pointed towards Zac, who was hovering over Nick.
"Nick? Nick!" AJ struggled to
remember something else, something that also screamed for his attention, but
for the life of him he couldn't concentrate on anything but finding his friend.
Matt heard the beginnings of panic in AJ's
voice and frowned as AJ began to stumble over towards Nick. "Hey, no! AJ!
Wait!" Realizing that AJ was not going to listen, Matt crawled after him,
shaking his head in exasperation. He caught up, watching along with Zac as AJ
hesitantly skimmed his hands over Nick, his voice shaky with concern.
"Nick, Nick! Look at me. It's AJ,
man. Come on."
AJ's pleading struck a chord in Nick and
with some difficulty Nick turned his head towards him, his blue eyes glazed
with pain. "AJ?"
"I'm here."
"What happened?"
"The bus crashed, Nick.
Remember?"
"Yeah." Nick groaned a little.
"Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere." Narrowing his eyes
a little, Nick surveyed his friend, troubled. "Are you hurt?"
AJ shook his head. "Naw. Bumped my
head pretty good, but otherwise I'm fine."
Nick groaned again, grimacing as he
shifted gingerly into a more comfortable position. "How come you are
always so lucky? I hate you, you know that?"
AJ visibly relaxed, feeling slightly giddy
with relief. "He'll be okay," he informed Matt and Zac with a slight
tremble in his voice. "Anytime Nick can joke, means he's fine."
Nick glared then applied more pressure to
his jaw. Recalling who had caused the pain, Nick glanced at AJ in dread.
"Where's Xavier?"
Startled, AJ scanned around, his gut
wrenching in fear. "Good question. I don't know."
He rubbed his head gingerly, wincing
slightly at the touch. Why couldn't he think straight? He was missing something,
or someone…
"Xavier? Is he large,
dark-looking?"
"Yeah."
"Is he a friend of yours?" asked
Zac.
"No."
"Oh, well he smashed out the back
window and just about strangled Matt trying to steal our truck! I feel sorry
for the person who makes him really angry." Matt and Zac shook their heads
in disbelief.
AJ wavered for a moment, suddenly
remembering. "Brian."
Nick looked at him, their shock
simultaneous as they gaped at each other in alarm.
"Who's Brian?"
"Brian! Brian!" yelled AJ, as if
he was an idiot. Frantically peering into the depths of the bus, AJ grabbed
Matt. "There's more!"
"More?"
"Yes. Oh God! Brian! Kevin! Howie!
There's more! Help me find them!" Shoving roughly away, AJ started a mad
scramble towards the front of the bus.
***
