Chapter 10 - More Issues
"I’m afraid if we stay around the Backstreet Boys much longer we’ll be permanently contaminated," Maggie remarked as she and Tom walked along.
"I know. This like our own personal Hell or something," he agreed. "But at least we’re doing something other than just sitting around. And we’re away from them."
"And we’re alone," Maggie added mischievously.
He smiled, stopping to kiss her fully on the mouth.
A few minutes later, they continued their journey.
"I really wish we didn’t have to go back," Tom stated.
"We couldn’t really leave Ellie and Hazel there with them, though," Maggie pointed out.
"Sure we could," Tom replied.
"I don’t want my co-author’s brain to turn to mush," Maggie told him.
"Well, what’s-his-face has been hitting on her so much she’s probably already beginning to get assimilated."
"Hmmm. We’ll have to give her a good talking-to when we see her again."
"I mean, can you imagine what the child of Ellie and a Backstreet Boy would be?"
Maggie cackled. "Oh dear God! That would just be wrong!"
"See? We’ll just have to stop it from happening."
~~~
"HEEEEELP! WE NEED SOME HELP OUT HERE!"
"That sounded like Maggie," Becky said.
"Oh, great. What else can go wrong?" Karen muttered.
"I’ll go check out this one," Kevin announced.
"I’ll go with you," Sierra offered.
"No, it could be dangerous," he said, blushing a little.
She blushed, too. "Yes, that’s kind of why I was offering to go with you."
"Oh," he said, blushing even more. "Okay. Let’s go."
"SOMEBODY GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE AND HELP US!"
Sierra and Kevin set off, following the path that Maggie and Tom had taken. About ten minutes later, they arrived at a tree, suspended from which was a net.
"Get us out of here!" Maggie shrieked.
"Are you guys all right up there?" Kevin asked.
"We’re fine. We just can’t get out," Tom answered.
The net was suspended about twenty feet above the ground.
"I couldn’t climb up there," Sierra stated. "Could you?"
"Yeah, I think I could," Kevin answered. "But I’ll probably need something to cut the rope with."
"Are you crazy?! If you just cut the rope from here and let us fall, we’ll get killed!" Tom shouted. "Or at least permanently damaged."
"I don’t know if I have the arm strength to lower you myself," Kevin admitted. "Sierra, go back to camp site. Get a knife from the supplies and bring Howie back with you, okay?"
Sierra nodded and ran off.
"Just hang on up there," Kevin told them.
"What the hell do you think we’re doing?!" Maggie cried.
~~~
Howie picked up a knife from the supplies and headed back to the net with Sierra
"I guess I’m just a popular guy today," Howie remarked as they hurried along the path.
"I just hope the other four don’t run into any problems," Sierra said. "Though I’m sure if anything happens to Ellie, the whole forest will know about it."
"I had a feeling these guys would keep us in this general area somehow."
Sierra shuddered. "This is so creepy."
A few minutes later, they arrived at the net.
Howie looked up.
"You think you can climb that?" Kevin asked him.
Howie nodded. "I think so."
"Well, hurry up!" Maggie cried.
Kevin and Howie looked at each, then started up the tree.
"We’re being rescued by the Backstreet Boys," Maggie said quietly. "This is the lowest of the low."
Sierra watched nervously from below, hoping no one would fall.
After a few minutes of climbing, the two BSB arrived at the knot of the rope.
"Don’t drop us," Tom said. "I won’t make fun of you anymore."
"We won’t drop you," Kevin assured him. He turned to Howie. "You hold the rope while I cut. I’ll grab on as soon as it’s loose."
Howie nodded and handed him the knife. He grabbed firmly onto the rope.
Kevin took the rope in one hand and started to cut with the other.
After a few seconds of sawing, the rope broke.
With most of the weight in Howie’s hands, the rope slipped a bit.
Kevin grabbed onto the rope with his other hand, dropping the knife.
The net fell about three feet before they stopped it. It was enough to give Maggie and Tom minor heart attacks.
"Are you guys okay?" Sierra called up.
"Yeah," Tom managed.
"We’ll feel a lot better once we’re down," Maggie added.
"We’re working on it," Howie told them. "Ready, Kev?"
Kevin nodded.
"Nice and slow."
Very gently, the two guys lowered the net to the ground.
Sierra helped the two get untangled from the net.
The two BSB climbed down.
"Uh, thanks," Tom told them.
Howie smiled. "Just keep up your end of the deal, pal."
~~~
"You know, I’m really glad we got stuck out here with you guys rather than with a bunch of screaming fans," Brian commented as he and Ellie packed up after eating lunch.
"Thanks. I’d like to think we’re better company than a bunch of screaming teenagers," she said.
He smiled. "Yeah, I guess that really wasn’t saying much, was it?"
She shook her head. "Not really. What if it were just Tom instead of screeching fans?" she asked as they started off again.
"Hmm . . . I dunno. I’d need to think about that one." He laughed. "I think there, I’d probably say the fans."
She stopped. "Do you hear that?"
Brian also stopped. "What?"
They stood still.
To their horror, a large wolf appeared out from between the trees.
"Oh, shit," Ellie gasped. "Don’t move!"
Brian nodded nervously.
The wolf began to growl softly.
"Shit shit shit shit," Ellie whispered.
The wolf suddenly lurched forward, barking at them.
Instinct taking over, Brian and Ellie sprinted back towards the camp.
"There’s no way we can outrun him!" Ellie cried.
Brian looked over his shoulder at the gaining wolf. "Whatever happens, keep heading for camp."
"What?! What’re you doing?!"
Brian turned back on the wolf, then veered off in a different direction. The wolf followed him, close on his heels.
"SHIT!" Ellie screamed. "Brian, YOU IDIOT!"
~~~
"Well, the others are still out there," Sierra said. "Hopefully, one of them will find a way out of here."
"Or maybe they’ll run into more trouble," Nick replied.
"You feelin’ okay now?" Kevin asked him.
Nick nodded. "I’m fine."
"So, now what do we do?" Becky asked.
"We wait and see what happens with the others," Howie answered.
Becky sighed, leaning her head on Nick’s shoulder. He put an arm around her.
"Sierra, you wanna help me fix some lunch?" Kevin asked.
"Sure," Sierra agreed.
After they’d eaten, Ellie stumbled into camp, barely breathing.
"Holy shit!" Maggie cried.
They crowded around her.
"Give her room!" Maggie shouted. She knelt beside her friend. "Do you have your inhaler?"
Ellie shook her head.
"Then you can take mine," Maggie said, practically shoving it into her mouth.
Ellie nodded and took it. After doing so, she took some deep breaths. "Brian . . . we . . . we ran into a wolf. Brian made it follow him. He told me to come back here . . ." She burst into tears. "He’s probably fucking dead right now because he had to go and be fucking HEROIC!"
Maggie hugged her.
"Oh God . . ." Nick whispered.
Becky hugged him. "He could still make it."
"What do we do if he doesn’t come back?" Howie asked, his voice a little higher than he meant it to be.
"There’s not a lot we can do," Kevin said quietly. "He could be anywhere by now. We’ll just have to wait."
~~~
"We should probably stop soon," Hazel said as the sky started to get dark.
"Yeah, probably," AJ agreed. "I think we should make one more run."
"I don’t think I can," Hazel admitted.
"Sure ya can." He got down in front of her. "Piggy back!"
Hazel smiled. "Okay!" She climbed onto his back, slinging the bundle of supplies over her shoulder.
AJ jogged off, singing the William Tell theme.
Hazel tossed her head back, laughing. "AJ, you’re a nut!"
"That’s me!"
He ran for about a minute before he had to stop and put his passenger down.
"That was fun," she told him, a wide smile on her face.
"Yeah, maybe tomorrow you can carry me!"
The leaves of a bush rustled close by.
The two froze.
"Who’s there?" AJ called.
A figure emerged from the bush, dressed in black and holding a camcorder.
"You son of a bitch!" AJ shouted, charging at him.
The man punched him solidly in the stomach, causing the BSB to fall to his knees.
"AJ!" Hazel cried.
The Hispanic stranger turned on her.
Hazel screamed and tried to run.
The stranger jumped after her, succeeding in grabbing her ankles.
Hazel stumbled forward, striking her head against a tree. She tumbled down, unconscious.
"Bastard!" AJ cried, lunging onto him.
The stranger, rolled over on top of him and punched him in the stomach, then the face. "See if you’ll still be worth millions after THIS!"
~~~