Chapter 24:
Out of the Frying Pan…
AN: Hope you are enjoying this story. Thanks
so much for all the feedback and support...
We mapped out our rescue plan on the long plane ride back to Florida. We were
crazy, I wasn't sure what we thought we'd accomplish by going to find Nick.
Except maybe get ourselves killed in the process. Don't get me wrong I wanted
to find him as much as anybody. I loved Nick, but I knew this was a big
mistake. We weren't trained for this, we were pop stars for goodness sakes. Not
policemen. It's funny because I've always read about those stars who think they
have become invincible because of their popularity, trying out for professional
sports teams, running for office, launching themselves into space, now here we
were all four of us, going into God knows what. No back up plan, no weapons,
just us. Four Backstreet Boys.
"Brian are you listening to me man?" I nodded to Kevin who was going
over our plan for the tenth time. " I know what I'm supposed to do"
He took and a deep breath and continued with what he was saying, "When I
knock, AJ and Howie will go and try to get in the back. You and I will
hopefully be allowed to come in" This was the stupidest plan I have ever
heard of. We were going to die for sure. The fasten seat belts sign blinked on
and I started to panic.
"Are you guys ready for this? I mean if you want to back out, now is the
time. I will totally understand. So...is everybody in?" He looked at the
three of us, I was amazed that Kevin didn't have a second thought about going
in there. Not once did he change his mind. The rest of us however, weren't
quite as sure. Howie was the first one to speak. "Yes, I'm in" He
said it quietly but very certainly. "Me too, you know what I think? I
think after we get him the hell out of there, we need to fire the little
shit!" Leave it to AJ to provide comic relief at a time like this. All
eyes then went to me. I actually thought about backing out. Yeah some friend I
am, he would do this for me in a minute, he would do this for any of us.
"I'm in" I said, confident that I had made the right choice. We were
going to get Nick and bring him home to his family.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The flames where beginning to get closer, I could feel the heat on my feet. I
was also finding it harder to breathe. I was taking big gasps of air only to
cough seconds later, then I started to block it all out. Everything. It was
just me and my dogs, home by the fireplace. That's what it felt like a little,
the heat on my feet reminded me of the heat coming off of a fireplace on a cold
winter's night. I would love some egg nog. I never touched the stuff as a kid,
but once I discovered the secret of spiking it with rum, I looked forward to it
every holiday. I rolled over on my side as another bout of coughing hit me. I
could no longer take deep breaths of fresh air because now everything around me
was in flames.
I laid on my back and looked up at the trees that where ablaze. It looked
magnificent. Not many people ever get the chance to see a fire this close, like
living through the eye of a tornado. It was beautiful, the breeze, making the
flames point upwards, maybe this was God's will, it looked as if the flames
were looking up to the sky for approval. Tendrils of smoke were making their
way down from the tall trees to the ground where I was. I sat up, it was hard
but I did it. I wanted to take a last look, see if the flames engulfed Joe yet.
I didn't see him anywhere, he must have burnt to a crisp by now. Then my
adreneline kicked in again and I tried to stand. I got up only to fall back
down to the ground. I belly crawled my way a little farther but it was no use,
the fire was encirling me. This was it. I stood up one final time and
miraculously was able to stay on my feet. I started to walk briskly away from
the worst part of the fire. My walk turned into a run as I saw an opening, an
out. I made a sprint for it, but my legs gave way once again making me fall to
the floor. As I closed my eyes I swore I heard sirens, blaring very loud and
very close. Good they know there's a fire, maybe they'll find me..may..be..then
I found myself there in my dream next to my fireplace, petting my dog, drinking
egg nog watching the flames dance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As we approached the spot were the cabin was supposed to be we saw a huge cloud
of smoke. There were firemen and policemen everywhere.Directing traffic and
telling people to turn around. "Great, what now?" J said as we
watched the scene unfolding in front of us. "It looks like a forrest fire
or something" Howie said as he continued to drive us towards our
destination. D opened his window as a fireman walked over, "You have to
turn back, it's too dangerous to proceed up this road, a fire has broken out
and is currently out of control"
"But sir, we really need to get up there to our cabin"
"Your cabin?" Yes Howie rattled off the address, that he was greatful
he memorized. "Oh sorry sir but that is right in the center of the
problem" I shoved closer to Howie so I could get a word in, "Sir, my
brother was there, did the police check the house to make sure everyone got
out?" Kevin nodded at my brilliant idea. "I'm sure he did but hold on
a second and I can tell you where he was directed to go."
"Thanks" I said as the policeman made his way over to a few other men
who where probably in charge of the evacuation. "That was a great idea
Brian" Kevin said as we watched the men talking.
He came back a few minutes later, "Sir, nobody was there. So my guess is
your brother saw the fire and left on his own"
"Thanks" Howie turned the car around and started to head back down
the hill. "What now guys?" This was so frustrating. Everytime we
thought we saw a glimmer of hope, it would be dashed. "I think we still
need to go up there" Kevin said motioning Howie to pull off the road so we
could talk about it. "Kev, he's not there" J interjected as he
nervously bit at his fingernails.
"How do we really know that though? I mean if Joe saw a police car appear
at his front door, would he answer it or hide?" We all took a minute to
absorb what Kevin had said. He had a good point. "How are we gonna get up
there with the police redirecting everybody back down the hill?" I asked.
I didn't mean to keep putting a damper on the situation but it needed to be
asked. "We go by foot!" Kevin pointed to the woods. "But Kevin,
isn't that a little dangerous?" Howie asked, good another person coming to
their senses. "Jesus Howie. This entire plan is just one big death trap!
Why not go for it!" I took a deep breath and looked at the woods.
"Well what are we waiting for let's go!" I said opening my car door.
We moved quickly into the woods.
We walked for about a mile before we could really smell the smoke. It was
rising from deep within the heart of the woods. "I think we can all agree,
that this is the stupidest thing we have ever done correct?" AJ said as he
kept swatting at mosquitos that were dancing around his head. "I don't
think saving Nick's life would be coinsidered stupid Bone" Kevin said
never taking his eyes off the ground. "Okay good point!" I had to
laugh at AJ's inability to deal with the great outdoors. Survivor to him would
have been leaving him at a luxury hotel and telling him he had to stay outside
for at least three hours a day. The horror of it all.
"Guys look. Over there!" Kevin pointed to the form of something lying
on the ground. It looked big. Person sized. He darted across the brush with us
following on his heels. The flames of the near by fire were coming closer to
the location where the person was lying, we only hoped we could reach him in
time...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*
I was floating, in the hot summer air. I had always wondered what it felt like
to fly. Being lifted up above the ground. I heard a voice, calm and soothing
telling me everything would be alright. I believed him. He held me in his arms
protectively and guided me through the burning ground.I couldn't see his face
through the smoke and haze and for some reason I couldn't speak. I recognized
the voice. Calm, slow and soothing. Always protecting me when I needed it.
"Don't worry little man you will soon be safe. I'm so sorry this happened
to you. I didn't mean it too" I knew I would be safe. If Kevin told me I
was gonna be okay. I believed him. Now he had me in his arms and I was really
gonna be okay. "Just a little further NIcky okay? God I'm so sorry. What
have I done? Just a little further kiddo okay?" You shouldn't blame
yourself Kevin. This isn't your fault. I wish I could've said that to him to
make him feel better. I tried to speak but nothing came out. He was crying
though, as he frantically ran with me in his arms. I had a hard time keeping my
eyes open now, so I closed them and let my big briother carry me to safety.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*
Kevin reached the man first. The kid was on his side not facing us but he was
about Nick's height. My pulse started to quicken when I realized it might be
him. Finally! Kevin grabbed him and turned him over to face us. Happiness was
replaced by horror when we saw the guys face. A firefighter who had encountered
a little more than a fire.
"Oh my God Kevin, is he breathing?" Kevin bent down and put his ear
to the man's chest to see if he heard a heartbeat. "Yes I think so"
He began shaking the man "Sir, are you okay? We are gonna get you help.
Just hold on" He grumbeld making us all breath a little easier. "Who
did this to you?" J asked from his new place on the other side of the
fallen fighter.
AJ's question was merited considering the shape the guy was in. He had a huge
knot on the back of his head and the entire left side of his face was swollen
and bruised. "Sir, what's your name?" Kevin asked him as the man
gradually opened his eyes. He groaned trying to sit up, but Kevin pushed him
back down. "WHO are you people? What are you doing here?" He said
when he realized where he was. He placed his hand to his head and looked at the
blood it produced.
"Sir, we are gonna get you out of here"
"The names Ben..And WHO are you people? Can't you see the woods are on
fire?" He tried to stand up but fell back to the ground. "My name's
Kevin and we came to help"
"Well, I appreciate that Kevin but this is NO place for a person to help.
Besides the fire, we also are dealing with an idiot who hit me!" He stood
up this time with Kevin and AJ grabbing a hold of him. His legs were wobbly but
he soon manged on his own. "Did you see who did this to you?" I asked
now knowing it had to be Joe.
"I didn't get a look at him, he attacked me from behind. I was gonna help
this young fella who was on the ground unconscious" We all looked at each
other fear evident on all faces, especially when he said the word unconsciouos.
"And when I got to him, I was hit from behind"
"The young guy you said you saw, was he a blonde?" Kevin said almost
frantically.
"Yes, a young blonde, maybe in his late teens or early twenties. He looked
pretty battered himself." He paused for minute trying to remember,
"The guy hit me and grabbed the kid and took off"
"Which way?" Kevin asked. Ben was still holding his head trying to
will the pain away. "Up that way" He said pointing to his right.
Kevin turned to Howie and AJ, "You two stay with him, Brian and I will go
get Nick!" Before anyone could protest Kevin was up and running with me
following close behind. "Be careful!" The guys yelled as Ben was
telling us to come back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~
"Just a little further Nicky! We're almost home! I am so sorry" Kevin
cried as he walked me out of the woods, the heat disipating with every step. It
hurt too much to open my eyes so I kept them closed as he laid me down on the
ground. He cradled my head on his lap rocking me and crying. I wanted to
console him but only coughs were escaping instead of words. "That's right
Nick breath, you will be okay breath." He was gently caressing my cheek
telling me to breath. "Now we are home. I'm sorry I had to do that
Nick" I coughed but I had to tell him everything was alright. I had to.
"It's oo" Coughing fit "Kay"
"I just had to get you out of the woods, the only way I could think of,
was setting them on fire, I didn't mean for you to get hurt." He didn't
just say that. He couldn't of just said that. I forced my eyes open and the
bright glare of the sun temporarily blinded me to the situation. For when the
head of the man who saved me from the fire came into my view, It wasn't Kevin.
It was Joe.
***
