Chapter 11 - Explodie!
The next day, about noon . . .
Ellie paced around furiously. "I will not just stand here! We’ve got to do something! We’ve gotta go look for him!"
No one answered her.
"I’m not just going to stay here because those bastards think they can hold us here! Who’s going with me?"
"I’m not goin’ back out there," Nick stated.
"Me neither," Becky added.
Sierra and Karen shook their heads.
"Sorry," Kevin said softly.
"It’s too risky," Howie explained.
"Well, FINE! I’ll go by mySELF!" she shouted.
"No you won’t," Maggie told her.
"We’re going with you," Tom announced.
Just as they were about to leave, two figures came staggering into camp.
Ellie stared. "BRIAN!"
Brian -- who looked a little banged up -- was helping a very battered AJ into camp. "We need some help here."
"Where’s Hazel?!" Ellie cried.
"I’ll explain in a minute," Brian replied as he helped AJ sit down by the fireplace.
"What the hell happened to you?!" Howie cried, looking at AJ’s bruises.
"What about the wolf?" Karen asked.
"Okay, everyone shut up for a minute," Brian said, causing conversation to stop. "After about five minutes, the wolf disappeared on me. By then, I was really lost. I spent the rest of the day wondering around. After dark, I found AJ on the ground. He and Hazel apparently ran into one of the sons of bitches holding us. He beat AJ up and kidnapped Hazel. He left a note on AJ’s shirt saying that if we tried to leave again . . . they’d hurt Hazel." Brian sat down and took a large gulp of water as everyone else sat in stunned silence.
After a minute, Kevin asked Brian if he was all right.
Brian nodded. "Just got a few scrapes and stuff."
Ellie went over and sat in front of him. "So, you’re okay, right?"
"Yeah," Brian answered, looking at her nervously.
"Good." She grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him. "Are you fucking CRAZY?! You could’ve been killed!! You think you’re a fucking super hero or something?! This isn’t some stupid action adventure where the hero always comes out on top! YOU COULD’VE DIED! You fucking moron! You --"
He put his hands on her shoulders, steadying her. Before she could do anything else, he kissed her on the nose.
Ellie burst into tears.
Brian blinked, then hugged her. "If I hadn’t tried, it just would’ve killed both of us."
"I don’t care!" she shouted.
"Well, I do."
"Fucking idiot . . ." she muttered.
Becky and Howie tended to AJ.
"I wish we had some ice," Becky commented.
"How ya doin’, Bone?" Howie asked his friend.
AJ shrugged. He winced as Becky dabbed gently at a cut on his cheek.
Tom paced around the camp. How are they watching us here? he wondered. Wait a minute! "Hey, can anyone show me where that camera was near the lagoon?"
"I can," Nick said, getting up slowly. "Why?"
"I just want to see something," Tom answered. Accepting more help from Backstreet Boys . . . ugh.
The two headed off, leaving the rest of the group mystified.
Ellie finally calmed down, but Brian wouldn’t let her squirm out of his arms. She gave up, letting him hold her.
"What do we do about Hazel?" Sierra asked.
"If we do what they want, we could be stuck out here forever," Brian said.
"But if we risk doing anything, they might hurt her," Karen pointed out.
"We can’t just leave her with them!" Ellie cried.
"But they’re watching everything we do. They’ll know if we try to escape again," Kevin said.
Ellie pulled away from Brian and stood up. "No, you’re not getting this. Hazel is my FRIEND and I am NOT leaving her with some PSYCHOPATHS who might KILL HER!"
Kevin sighed. "Look, yelling at the top of your lungs is not going to change their minds. They obviously have the power to keep us here."
"So, you’re just gonna give up?! That’s a great idea!" Ellie shouted back at him. "You wouldn’t be talking like this if it was AJ that had gotten kidnapped instead!"
Kevin stood up to face her. "Now you’re just being unfair!"
Karen stood between them. "Guys, knock it off. We won’t get anywhere by just screaming at each other."
"You don’t even know Hazel, so stay the FUCK out this and SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Ellie yelled at her.
"HEY! That’s enough!" Howie shouted. "You had no right to say that to her! She’s right; shouting at each other won’t help! You got some anger to take out, go take it out on a tree or something and leave the rest of us out of it. That goes for everyone."
Karen stormed off in one direction, Kevin in another, Ellie with Maggie on her heels in another.
Howie sighed, torn between following Kevin or Karen.
Brian stood up. "I’ll take Kev," he told Howie.
"Thanks," Howie said, following Karen.
"Well, isn’t this a nice little mess?" Becky commented, going back to AJ.
Sierra joined her. "How bad is it?"
Since AJ didn’t answer, Becky did. "The bruises and cuts on his face aren’t too bad. His arms are covered. His stomach and chest just have a few bruises each."
Sierra shook her head. "Why did they do this?"
~~~
Howie slowly approached Karen from behind. "Are you all right?"
"No," Karen answered, muffled. She was sitting against a tree, hiding her face in her arms.
Howie sat beside her. "Ellie was just upset. She didn’t mean to hurt you personally."
Karen lifted her head, tears on her face. "But she doesn’t stop to think how anyone else feels! I was just trying to help! I hate it when we all yell at each other!"
Howie put a hand on her shoulder. "Tell me about it. I’m always tryin’ to get the guys to quit arguing. It’s not easy being a peacemaker. Everyone always takes everything out on us. We end up in the crossfire."
Karen nodded. "I just hate seeing my friends like this. I want to help. Listening and mediating are things I’m really good at, but no one will let me do them."
"I know you just want to help your friends, but sometimes you just need to step back. Hopefully, everyone will feel better after they blow off some steam."
After a minute, she dried her tears and faced him. "You know, I’m always listening to everyone else and it seems like there’s never anyone around to listen to me."
Howie smiled. "I’ll listen to you as long as we’re out here."
"Thanks." She blushed a little, then held out her arms for a hug.
Howie grinned and hugged her tightly. "None of us are alone out here. That includes us peacemakers."
Karen laughed.
~~~
Brian found his cousin leaning against a tree, methodically tearing a leaf into tiny pieces.
"Kev?"
The oldest BSB didn’t respond.
Brian sighed and faced him. "Talk to me."
Kevin shrugged. "Nothing to tell, really."
"Try me anyway."
Kevin sighed heavily. "I guess . . . getting stuck out here is starting to get to me. I didn’t mean to start blowing up at people, I just . . ." He finally met his cousin’s blue eyes. "We were all scared to death when you left. Ellie was so sure you were dead. We all just flipped out. We nearly lost you before and then . . ." He turned away.
"Kev, I . . . I don’t even know what to say. I didn’t think about what effect my choice would have on anyone else. I’m sorry . . ."
"No, don’t apologize. You did what you thought was right. I just . . . everything’s moving so fast. I don’t know what to do . . ."
Brian hugged him. "We’re all in this together, Kev. And we’ll get out of it together. You don’t need to handle this all on your own, okay?"
"I know, I know . . . just forget it, okay? I’m just bein’ weird."
"No, it’s all right, man. We’re all a little weird right now. I really thought that wolf was gonna kill me. I couldn’t believe it when he just disappeared."
Kevin shivered.
"Sorry," Brian said immediately. "I’ll stop talking about it."
Kevin sighed. "Just got a case of the shakes, I guess."
"I’m not leavin’ you ‘til it stops, cus."
Kevin smiled. "Thanks."
~~~
When Nick and Tom came back into camp, they were surprised to find so few people.
"What happened?" Tom asked. "Did the Backstreet Boys give a concert?"
Nick punched him in the arm.
"Ouch!"
"Everyone blew up at each other," Sierra told him.
Just as she said this, everyone began to re-group.
"You know," Maggie said to Ellie just as they were coming into camp. "Tom and I were going to lecture you about being corrupted by a Backstreet Boy. But seeing as he saved your life, we’ll leave it alone."
"We found something," Nick announced to everyone.
"It occurred to me to wonder what power source the camera near the lagoon was connected to," Tom explained. "I mean, if they’ve got several cameras, they can’t go around replacing their batteries all the time. So, we went back to the camera and followed the wire. Unfortunately, it only led to a generator, not to a house or something."
"That’s where they’ve connected most of the cameras," Nick continued. "They’re all hooked up to that thing. If we could break it or damage it, they wouldn’t be able to see us."
"If we do something more subtle than that, they might send someone to repair it," Brian suggested.
"Like if we emptied the fuel tank," Ellie said.
"Then they’ll send someone to fill it back up . . ." Becky continued.
"And we can tackle him and beat the shit out of him!" Nick said cheerfully.
Everyone looked him strangely.
"Or . . . not," he added.
"Now this sounds like a plan," Howie said grinning.
~~~