Smoke filled the air, making Brian’s eyes water. It was the first thing he noticed as he slowly came back to himself. Next came the pain, the aches. From head to toe he felt as if he’d been run over with a semi. Groaning, he opened his eyes, squinting around him. Everything looked topsy-turvy. His brain was slow to register things, but he started to piece things together. The bus was sideways. That was the first thing he noticed. Why was the bus on its side? He coughed as he breathed in smoke again. God, they’d been riding down the road and the bus, it just flipped. The driver had yelled something about brakes, hadn’t he?
Brian slowly sat up, coughing again. Oh Lord, he ached. His head was killing him. When he tried to brace his hands on the ground to stand up, one of his arms wobbled and hurt as if it had been stabbed Quickly he took the pressure off and looked at it. Along his forearm was a gash at least five inches long that was steadily dripping blood.
He used his other arm to push himself upright, finally able to stand. His legs ached, but a few moves showed that nothing was broken. The hand at the end of his cut arm was starting to throb. Brian looked at it, still not fully functioning, and noticed that his hand hung at an awkward angle.
A small sound caught his attention, followed by a cough and a groan. In that instant everything came rushing back for Brian. Talking to AJ on the bus, discussing everything with James. The driver shouting, yelling about his brakes not working. Being sent flying into the side of the bus, and then the rolling. Somewhere along the way he must have hit his head, become unconscious.
“AJ?” he called out, stumbling through the smoke. It was so hard to see! “AJ!”
“Here!”
AJ’s voice came from further forward. Ignoring the pain that jostled through him, Brian moved as quickly as he could, trying to climb over things. He made it to the front of the bus before he found AJ leaning against what had once been the ceiling. Brian started to step past him, to check on the driver, but AJ reached an arm out and put it over Brian’s chest. “Don’t.” he said softly, coughing against the smoke. “He’s gone, Bri. There’s nothing you can do. We need to get out of here now.”
Gone? Oh God. Dear sweet God. The driver was dead. Panic wormed its way in. As if he sensed that, AJ’s arm moved and his hand cupped Brian’s cheek, forcing him to look at AJ. “There’s a fire at the back of the bus, Bri. Now, some of the windows are open up there.” AJ gestured up toward the side of the bus that was facing the sky. “But that’s only taking some of the smoke. We need to get out of here. The only way out is that front windshield. They’re made to be kicked out.”
His eyes traveled up and down Brian. “Are you hurt? Your legs, anything? Your head?”
“Just, my head and my arm. I think…I think my wrist is broke.”
AJ cursed but he didn’t look away from Brian’s face again. “But your legs are fine? Knees, ankles, all of that?”
“Yes.”
“Then I need you to kick out that window, Bri.”
Still slightly dazed, Brian looked at the front window in confusion. His eyes traveled toward where the driver sat. “Alex…”
“I know, baby. I know. But we need to get out of here. Come on, just brace your hands right there and kick as hard as you can.”
Somehow Brian found himself doing as AJ instructed. He took hold of the wall, using it as a brace. All the while AJ kept up a running encouragement, broken only by coughing. After closing his eyes, Brian brought his leg up and slammed it against the window once, twice. The already cracked glass flew out, landing on the ground outside the bus.
As the fresh air flew in, both men saw the flames at the back of the bus come roaring out, finally visible to them. Brian couldn’t take his eyes from it as fear crawled up his throat. Then AJ was leaning forward, standing in his line of sight. “Brian, listen to me. Go out the window.”
“What?” Brian asked, his voice raspy and hazed. He didn’t realize that he was moving, that AJ was pushing him toward the now open window.
“I said go, Brian.” AJ repeated, placing Brian right at the window. “Go. Jump!”
Reflexively Brian jumped, obeying a command more than anything. The impact to the ground jolted him, little shards of glass cutting into his palms when he did. His broken wrist connected with the ground, and a white hot pain almost took him under. When it ebbed, he looked up to see AJ sitting in the window, trying to move his body. The edge of the window was only maybe a half a foot off the ground, but AJ seemed to be having problems turning his body.
Stumbling to his feet, Brian rushed forward. He didn’t think, but simply hooked his good arm under AJ’s arms and across his chest. “Do it!” AJ gasped out, his eyes squeezed shut. “Please. Pull!”
With a giant heave Brian got him out the window. AJ’s lower half slid out, dropping to the ground. The sound AJ made was almost inhuman. He gave Brian no time to pay attention. Instead he twisted in the older man’s grip, slinging an arm over Brian’s shoulders for support. “Move! We gotta move in case this thing blows.” AJ panted out, staring around them. They were at the bottom of a hill covered in trees. Brian spotted one area that was large rocks and trees and pointed it out to AJ.
They moved as quickly as they could, hurrying to get to the shelter. No sooner had they stepped behind it than they heard a whoosh and a boom. Brian looked around the rocks and saw that the whole bus was now engulfed in flames. Sweet Mary and Joseph.
“Brian, hey. Bri.” AJ’s voice pulled him back into the moment. It drew his eyes away from the flames and back to his friend. “Sit on this rock, come on now.” AJ tugged him to a large flat rock, pushing him to sit on it. He had a hold of Brian’s arm, staring at the cut there. “Shit, it’s bleeding pretty good. I don’t see any glass in there or anything like that. Give me your shirt, Bri.”
“Huh?” Brian stared at his arm in confusion.
“I need something to wrap this with, baby. Give me your shirt.”
With numb fingers Brian pulled his shirt up and over his head, avoiding letting it touch his bad arm and wrist. AJ made quick work of tearing a long strip off. He laid Brian’s arm across his lap, and without looking up, apologized. “This is gonna hurt, baby. Feel free to scream.”
Brian wondered what he meant, but then AJ started to wrap the cloth around his arm and he didn’t have to wonder anymore. He let out a loud scream as AJ wrapped the cloth tighter and tighter, trying to stem the blood flow. He took Brian’s good hand, placing it over the bandage once he was done. “Pressure on that, it’ll help stop the bleeding.” That said, he set about tearing and typing the rest of Brian’s shirt. In a quick minute he brought a part of the cloth up, running it under Brian’s arm, then over and around the neck. That quickly he had a sling that not only held his arm, but kept his broken wrist out of the way.
About that time was when Brian noticed the blood that was running down AJ’s face. The last dregs of shock were leaving him, having been chased away by the pain in his arm. It left him clearheaded, able to see things he hadn’t noticed before. “Jesus, J, your head!”
AJ brought a hand up, wiping some of the blood away from his eye. “Scalp wounds bleed a lot no matter how small. It’s fine.” He said as he took a small piece of the leftover cloth and pressed it to his forehead. But Brian ignored him, taking his turn to look AJ from head to toe. There were cuts and bruises already on AJ’s arms and chest, the same as there were on Brian. What worried Brian was the way that AJ sat, one leg stretched almost straight out, and at an awkward angle. He remembered needed to help pull AJ out of the bus. “What happened to your leg?”
With a sigh AJ looked down at it. “I could say I’m fine, but then you’d want to fuck with it.” He grumbled, trying to lighten the moment with humor. “I hit something when I fell, got this burning in my leg. I probably cut it on something. Makes it a little painful. Not broken, though, I don’t think.”
Already Brian was moving to kneel by AJ’s leg, ignoring his protests. After one look at AJ’s jeans, Brian reached into his pocket and pulled out the small utility knife he kept there. Very carefully he reached under AJ’s jeans to stab upward through the material, then pull the blade down, effectively making a small tear in the leg. That allowed him to grab both ends and pull. His hand slipped on the material. There was blood all over. It was running down AJ’s leg, pooling into his shoe. “Jesus.”
“I’m fine, Bri.” AJ insisted, trying to yank his leg back. “We don’t have time for this.”
“AJ, you’re bleeding like crazy!”
“Don’t you understand, dammit?” The anger in AJ’s voice had Brian’s head snapping up. “Whoever fucked with the bus could be around somewhere. Lord knows if the guys saw us crash. We don’t have time to do more than slap a bandage on it and go.”
“Go?” Someone tampered with the bus? The driver’s words about the brakes floated back to Brian’s mind. Oh, oh no. Brian grabbed what was left of his shirt and used it to bind around the cut area. He couldn’t see how bad it was with all the blood everywhere, so he had to guess as to where to wrap. But he was quick and efficient about it, barely taking time to marvel at how quiet AJ stayed. When he was done he looked up into his friends pale face. “That’s the best I can do, Alex. Do you think you can walk?” he asked gently. The seriousness of the situation had sunk in. Brian found himself watching and listening, wondering who was going to come. Who would do this to them? A crazy stalker? Or….Dave?
“Don’t got much of a choice. Probably going to need your help, though.”
Brian moved so that AJ was by his good side. Yet again AJ threw his arm around Brian’s shoulder. This time Brian put his arm around AJ’s back, wrapping to hold his side. Together they had enough strength that, if he was careful, AJ could hobble along. They started to weave through the trees, their goal the top of the hill.
Every step jostled all the aches that Brian was feeling. None of it compared to the way his brain and his heart felt. Could Dave really have done this? Before, Brian would have easily said no. But now he wasn’t so sure. When he’d kicked him out, Dave had threatened him. There had been an almost crazy light to his eyes. Could he honestly say that Dave hadn’t done this? That he hadn’t done something to the brakes to cause them to fail?
A small moan pulled Brian out of his thoughts. He looked over at AJ, seeing how much color he had lost. They had only gone a quarter of the way up the hill.
Abruptly AJ stopped, grabbing hold of a tree and sliding to the ground. Brian crouched down beside him, checking the wrap on his leg. It had already soaked through, just like Brian’s. The only difference was, Brian thought that his had stopped bleeding finally. AJ’s looked as if the blood was continuing to flow. “Leave me here.” AJ said. He was trying and failing to keep his voice firm. It wavered weakly. “I can’t walk up there, baby, it’ll kill me. But we need to get help. You’ll have to go.”
“And leave you lying here with a lunatic potentially on the loose? Are you kidding me?” Brian demanded. He didn’t like how AJ was looking, or the way he was losing blood. Ignoring him, Brian pressed his hands over the bandage on AJ’s leg, adding pressure. He could see that it hurt, but it was all he could do. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“You’re an idiot.” AJ gasped out.
“Well, good. I wouldn’t want you to be alone in that.”
AJ’s mouth opened as if in response, but a sound echoed to them. The crunching of leaves. Loud crunching. Both of them listened carefully, eyes wide. One of Brian’s hands drifted toward his pocket again, ready to grab his excuse for a knife; anything to have some kind of a weapon. Then he heard the thing that set his mind at ease. That was Kevin’s voice.
“Over here!” Brian shouted, waving an arm in the air. He heard a pause, then more crashing. “We’re here!”
Kevin burst into the clearing first, his eyes already assessing the scene. Just as Howie and Nick ran up, Kevin was shouting for a medic. Brian saw the men in the paramedic uniforms coming at them and sighed with relief. “They’re here, J.” he said, turning to smile at his friend. Worry filled him all over again when he saw the half lidded look to AJ’s eyes. “J?”
Paramedics surrounded them. They took over on AJ’s leg, calling things out to one another as they quickly loaded him on to a stretcher. One of the medics wrapped his leg, and then they were rushing him off along the hill and through the trees. Brian jumped when one of the paramedics started to look into his eyes, pulling him back to them. Lights danced in front of his vision. Someone spoke to him, but their voice sounded like it came through a tunnel. Between blood loss, pain, and stress, Brian’s body just gave out. He slid into unconsciousness.