Okay, I got the idea for this story from an old ep of Walker, Texas Ranger, and I tweaked it a lot. I enjoyed writing this first chapter, and I hope that ya'll will enjoy reading it. So, on with the story!
Disclaimer: If these guys were mine, well, let's just say that both of these shows would have to be moved over to HBO... (grins evilly)
This first chapter is for Confused, Kelly, Rach, Sweet-4-Stabler, MHFever, JusticeIsBlind13, kinseyjo, Infinity Star, and Blucougar. Thanks everyone!
Alex breathed the crisp air deeply, saying, "It's beautiful up here, isn't it?" Olivia and Carolyn stood beside her and nodded, but a loud moan made the three of them turn around and look.
"Too… heavy…" Elliot gasped in fake exhaustion, and Olivia rolled her eyes. Mike and Bobby followed him, and they dropped their bags in the clearing that the women had found.
"What's the matter, honey?" Olivia teased with fake concern in her voice. "Is the big bad ex-Marine going to collapse?" As soon as she said it, he let out an exaggerated moan and fell to the ground. He didn't move, and Olivia called his name apprehensively. "El?" He didn't respond, and she rushed to his side, kneeling down beside his head. She reached out her hand to shake him, but screamed in surprise when he jumped up and grabbed her up in his arms.
"You jerk!" she shrieked, slapping him as he hoisted her over his shoulder.
"Yeah, but you love this jerk," he reminded her as the rest of the group laughed. He gently placed her back on the ground, then Mike, Bobby and Carolyn began pitching the tents while Alex, Olivia and Elliot went to go find firewood.
"Be careful out there," Bobby called as he began to carefully erect one of the tents. "There's been bear sightings, and the last thing we need is to worry about that." They called their agreement before they disappeared.
Further in the woods, Alex separated from Olivia and Elliot as she gathered the sticks from the ground into her arms. She hummed as she continued her task, bending down here and there when she found a branch or stick. Somewhere in the distance, she heard twigs snapping, but she assumed it was either Olivia or Elliot, and she continued her search.
Another crunching noise range in her ears, this time much closer, and Alex felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. The last thing she knew was a piercing pain in her side, then her world tilted upside down and went completely dark.
Elliot and Olivia both bolted upright from gathering branches when they heard it, and they looked at each other and asked simultaneously, "What was that?" They realized that Alex was no longer in their sight, and they both took off at a dead run, skidding to a stop once they reached a small clearing.
"Elliot!" Olivia shouted as she darted over to a slumped over form on the ground. His mouth dropped, and he jogged over to Olivia's side. "Alex? Alex, can you hear me, sweetie?" Olivia called loudly as she felt for the smaller woman's pulse. "I've got a pulse," Olivia stated, moving her left hand to staunch the blood that poured from the wound in Alex's side.
"I'll go get Bobby and Mike," Elliot stated as he rose to his feet. Olivia nodded, and Elliot turned, but froze in place as he came face to face with a set of eyes, eyes that weren't human. The bear stood up on its haunches and let out a hideous roar, and Olivia let out a scream of sheer terror as the bear stumbled towards Elliot.
As the bear advanced on him, Elliot only had one thought: to protect Olivia. His body started to move, and he darted over to the side, waving his hands wildly in the air and shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Hey, hey, hey!" he shouted, and the bear growled and followed him. Olivia wanted to go after the bear, to protect her partner, but Alex had to be her first concern, and keeping her from bleeding to death before she could get help. Suddenly she began screaming at the top of her lungs for Bobby and Mike.
"Bobby! Mike! Help!" she screamed with all of her breath, and her heart felt like it would stop when she saw the bear swipe an enormous claw at Elliot. He missed, but reared back and lashed out again, this time coming into contact with Elliot's vulnerable body.
He screamed in pain as the bear tackled him to the ground and began to tear into his soft flesh, and Olivia continued to cry out as loudly as she could.
"Ah! Get away from him!" Bobby shouted, waving a flaming stick at the bear. Mike and Carolyn rushed over and knelt down beside Olivia, and Bobby continued to shout and wave the flaming stick in the bear's face. The bear roared and charged at Bobby, but he easily sidestepped the bear and shoved the torch into it's fur. The bear let out a snort of pain and paused before turning around and disappearing into the woods.
Olivia pulled her hand away and allowed Mike to take over, falling backwards before she shoved herself to her feet and ran to Elliot's side. "Oh God, El!" she cried out, dropping to her knees as she looked at his blood covered chest.
Bobby's heart was pounding in his chest as he dropped the stick and knelt down beside Alex, taking in the sight of Mike's blood covered hands as he attempted to staunch the blood. "Is she…" he couldn't force the word out, but Mike understood nonetheless.
"No, Bobby. She's got a pulse, but she's losing a lot of blood. She's-" He was cut off by a distant roar, and Carolyn looked terrified.
Forcing his voice to remain even, Bobby stated, " We can't stay here. That bear is going to be back soon. There's a cabin about a half mile west of here. If we can get Alex and Elliot there-" Another roar, this one seeming closer than the last, had Bobby carefully scooping Alex up in his arms and locking her to his chest. He looked at Mike and Carolyn, saying, "Can you two help Olivia with Elliot? We've got to move, now."
Carolyn and Mike nodded and rose to their feet, then walked over to where Olivia was crouched over Elliot and stroking his cheek with her fingertips. Carefully, the three managed to pull Elliot to his feet, and they all began to march slowly towards the cabin.
SVUCISVUCISVUCISVUCISVUCISVUCISVUCISVUCISVUCI
The sun was sinking into the distance when they finally reached the cabin, and Bobby shoved the door open, peering in before he said, "It's empty. Come on." He quickly carried Alex inside, and was followed by the rest of the group as they dragged a half conscious Elliot through the door.
The cabin was small and furnished with two beds on opposite sides of the cabin. The only other door led to a bathroom, and there was a small area for cooking off to the right. Several chairs were folded against a wall, and Bobby quickly laid Alex on one of the beds, running his hand over her face before going back to help the others lay Elliot on the opposite bed.
Once the two injured detectives were settled onto the beds, Bobby walked into the area that served as a kitchen and looked around. Finally he spotted what he was looking for, and he grabbed the first aid kit from inside of the tiny closet. He took the kit and tended to Alex first, who was in more danger of bleeding to death faster. Then he moved over to Elliot and peeled off what was left of his shirt, wincing as he saw the long, but not too deep, slash marks that marred his skin.
Bobby started to clean the wounds, but before he could reach the rest of them, Elliot began to thrash and moan, his arms and legs flailing wildly as he tried to escape. Deciding that this wasn't the time to be gentle, Bobby barked, "Olivia, get over here and calm him down!"
Olivia instantly appeared at the bed, grabbing Elliot's face in her hands and pressing her forehead to his. "Elliot, calm down, baby," she murmured, stroking his face. "Bobby is just trying to help you. It's okay. It's okay." He looked at her with glassy eyes, and she continued to whisper and caress his face as he slowly stopped thrashing and relaxed against the bed.
Bobby quickly washed and bandaged Elliot's wounds, then rose to his feet and walked over to the bed where Alex lay unconscious. Carolyn and Mike watched as the big detective carefully perched himself on his injured partner's bed, then cupped her cheek with one hand and stroked her hair with the other.
Bobby sighed as he rechecked Alex's wound, then pulled the thin blanket back over her small form and rubbed her arm tenderly. "Just hold on, Alex," he murmured, kissing her forehead. "I'll get you out of here. I promise."
Mike stood up and walked over to stand beside the large detective, hesitating for a moment before he reached over and squeezed his shoulder. Bobby looked up at him, and a wave of silent understanding passed through them.
Carolyn heard a scratching noise from outside, and she opened her mouth to voice her concerns. But before she could utter a syllable, there was a crashing, and Bobby and Mike leapt to their feet. "Mike, the windows!" Bobby shouted as he pulled a large piece of wood over the door that served as a lock.
Mike ran over and slammed the shutters over the windows, then ran over to help Bobby, shoving his body against the door as they heard the roars outside. The clawing and roaring stopped as quickly as it started, and Bobby took a moment to gather himself, then said quietly, "The only pieces of furniture here are the beds. We've got to move Alex and Elliot onto pallets and bar the door with the beds, or we're not going to stand a chance of getting out alive."
Mike nodded, and the men moved to lay the only blankets on the floor, making the large pallet as comfortable as they could. Then Bobby moved Alex to the pallet, and Mike and Olivia helped Elliot down beside Alex. Once they were resituated, Mike and Bobby moved the beds to form a barrier in front of the door.
"Damn cell phone's still not working," Carolyn hissed, and Bobby shook his head as he sank to his knees beside Alex's prone form.
"Where we're at, it's not going to get any kind of reception. All we can do right now is wait, and hope that that bear doesn't knock the door down," he stated quietly as he stroked Alex's hair, and his stomach sank as he realized that it had been just about seventy degrees when they arrived. It was just going to get colder, and the only thing they had were a few thin blankets.
He looked around and breathed a quiet sigh when he spotted a fireplace and a small stack of firewood, enough to keep them warm through the night. His eyes fell on Elliot, and Olivia, who had laid down beside her partner and curled her body around his. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and he said to Mike, "Mike, try to get a fire going. It's getting cold, and the last thing we need is any of us getting hypothermia, especially Elliot and Alex."
Mike nodded and crouched down beside the fireplace, and soon the small cabin was lit up by the flames, the warmth seeping into all of the room's occupants.
"Bobby, what are we going to do?" Carolyn asked softly, and for once, Bobby wasn't sure of how to answer her. So he laid down on the floor beside Alex's pallet, pressing his body as close to hers as he could.
"Right now," he said softly, "the only things we can do is to keep them warm and watch for signs of infection, and wait for help. That's all."
Carolyn walked over to where Mike was sitting in front of the fireplace, and she sat down beside him, taking his hand in hers. They all sat in silence for a while, until a deafening scraping at the door had Bobby and Mike scrambling to their feet and shoving their bodies against the door, while Carolyn watched them in pure terror.
The bear roared and pawed at the door, ripping chunks of the door away. Mike and Bobby put all of their weight against the door, and the pawing eventually stopped. A while after it stopped, Bobby and Mike sank to the floor, but didn't move away from it.
Keeping his back against the door, Bobby looked over at Alex's prone form, then ran his hand over his face and muttered, "It's going to be a long night."
TBC...
A/N: (hiding under kitchen sink) I'm not coming back out to update until I get at least 15 reviews! Mwahahaha! So review, my darlings! Review!