Hi everyone and welcome to my next fic. This one is promising to be real short, maybe just one more chapter after this one. I also hope that everyone has a very merry Christmas
Disclaimer: I hereby declair that I have no claim over the rights of the Dukes of Hazzard. I officially declair that I do not own the rights but that I love to write using the characters from the above said tv show. I also officially declair that I have a great dislike of the recent movie that came out. That is one tasteless piece of trash that I have no part in writing. I declair that this piece of fiction and all other fics that I write will have nothing to do with the characters or actors that piece of garbage of a movie. Dukes of Hazzard the tv show is the best.
Summary: Bo and Luke run through the forest from an unknown enemy. Will they escape and live to see the morning? TISSUE WARNING
Gone
The darkened forest was quiet until the sound of running feet disturbed the stillness of the night. Those feet were attached to legs that were clothed in blue denim. Hard breathing was heard as the young man who owned those legs ran through the forest. The blueness of his plaid shirt was nowhere near as blue or piercing as the deep sapphire of his knowing eyes. The young man's alert blue orbs were squinted as he observed the terrain ahead. He took a quick glance behind him but then turned forward again increasing his speed as he saw that the people who were pursuing him were closer than he thought they originally were.
"Bo! Bo where are you cousin!?" the young man yelled looking around the terrain as he continued to run from those who were following. He caught sight of a glint of yellow just ahead behind a tree.
"I'm here Luke, what's going on?"
Luke gasped, "Bo Run!" he grabbed Bo's arm while passing by at a sprint. Bo picked up his pace but took a glance backwards. He could see several guys in black yelling angrily. Bo's eyes went wide and he booked it even faster, pulling ahead of Luke.
"Luke there's a cave up ahead, we'll be safe there."
Luke nodded, panting all the harder at the effort of running at this pace for so long. He was catching up to Bo when suddenly Luke heard the sound of something that he hoped he would never have to hear again at close range. Gunshots! At that earth shattering sound, the dark haired Luke looked ahead and saw his cousin stumble.
"Bo!" Luke faltered in his step when Bo turned around with a pained look on his face. The yellow of the young blonde's shirt suddenly had two spots of crimson red, one just below the ribs, and one on the left side of his chest. The red dribbled down the shirt as Bo and Luke made eye contact. Bo could feel himself getting weak. "Luke…" He managed to gasp out the name of his cousin before he crumpled to the ground.
Luke was in shock from what he just saw happen, but he could hear the shouts of the pursuers getting closer. Luke buried the lump in his throat and his shock as his Marine training kicked into gear. He ran forward and picked up his cousin who was now lying on the ground in a heap and heaved him over his shoulders, not wanting to leave Bo behind for the enemy to do what they will to him.
"Hang on Bo, we're gonna get out of here." Luke told his cousin as he turned to the left and ran as hard as his legs would take him in that direction. The training that had been drilled into his head from the marines assessed the situation and advised him that it was not safe to go the direction that he had originally been going since Bo had been shot from the front. The adrenaline rushing through Luke's veins made it possible for the young man to speed up and get far ahead of the pursuers, who were not even trying to be stealthy, despite the weight of his cousin upon his shoulders. Luke with just a little more time was able to pull away from the angry shouts and sounds of gunshots that had been following him ever since he had begun running from the enemy.
Luke ran just a little farther and found that the surroundings were somewhat familiar. This was the area that Bo said the cave was near. Luke slowed down and quickly looked about for the cave. His persistence was rewarded when he moved a branch and found a well hidden, small, and dark opening. He carefully leaned down and brought himself as well as Bo into the relative darkness of the cavern that was behind the tiny entrance hole.
With great care, Luke slid his wounded blonde haired cousin off his shoulders and brought him gently to the ground. Luke looked over Bo, grimacing at the blood that was now covering virtually all over his cousin's shirt. Looking away from the horrible site of his cousin's blood, he focused on his next task at hand... to see if Bo was alive. Luke placed two fingers on Bo's neck hoping and praying for a pulse. A small twitch of his cheek was the only sign from Luke that told that he knew that Bo was alive. It was nothing more than that because the pulse he felt was faint and thready which was definitely not a good sign. Luke took a sharp breath in as he looked over at Bo's face. The sun browned tan that was Bo's natural color was gone. In its place was a ghostly, pasty white that made Luke shudder. Luke tried not to pay attention to his cousin's skin color as he sat down on the ground, put Bo's head in his lap and then looked at the blonde's beautiful, slender face.
"Bo, cousin. Can you hear me?" the sapphire eyed young man said as he brushed his fingers through his cousin's blonde locks and grabbing hold of Bo's hand with his other hand. Luke watched as Bo's eye lids fluttered for a moment, and then the baby blues peaked open meeting with the sapphire ones that were just above them. "There you are cousin." Luke said with a half smile.
Bo gave a half smile right back but then grimaced as he began to cough, painful hacking ones that brought up a little trickle of blood to the side of his mouth. With the strain of those coughs and the strain of being conscious, Bo's breathing swiftly became quick and erratic as he struggled to breathe.
Despite being in so much pain and coughing so hard, Bo could see that Luke was worried about him. Luke hadn't said that he was going to be alright. That meant that things were bad. Very bad. Luke would never lie to him, which verified what he already knew… Bo could feel that his life force was waning. With every breath he took and every beat of his heart, more of his blood pooled beneath him on the ground. Bo knew that he had only a few precious seconds left to live, so he spent it by doing something that would hopefully help his cousin. Bo covered the frightened and hurt look in his eye and tried to convey that everything was going to be alright, and that Luke shouldn't blame himself for what happened, through those expressive baby blues of his. Bo took as deep a breath he could in, mustered the last of his strength, and gave Luke's hand a squeeze. It was a small squeeze, but Luke was able to feel it, and what Bo was telling him through it… Goodbye.
"Bo…" Luke choked out. A tear formed at the edge of his eye, but he held it in as he clasped his dying cousin's hand in a firm grip.
Bo continued to keep his eyes on Luke and squeeze his hand for as long as he had strength. Soon though, Bo's grip began to loosen and became nothing as his eyes slowly began to glass over. Bo's breathing became increasingly shallow until finally there was that one breath that Luke had heard all too many times while out on the battlefield. Bo let in a sharp intake and then a long, loud, drawn out exhale.
Luke watched as Bo took his last few breaths. The spark in his little cousin's eye had been dulling as Bo struggled to breathe. It was a shock to Luke when he heard the sharp intake of breath, and then saw the sudden vacant look that had just come to Bo's eyes as he exhaled his last.
No. This could not happen… not to someone so close to him. Luke's eyes filled with tears as he lifted Bo's upper body and then held him in his arms.
"No Bo… please don't go. Come back to me. Bo… I need you cousin. I need you brother." Luke's tears began to fall. The tears turned into sobs. Luke's tears formed rivers down his cheeks that reached down his entire face, creating mini ponds on the one small part of Bo's shirt that was still yellow. He held Bo tight to him, leaning his head against Bo's shoulder and silently crying.
"Bo…" Luke whispered. He then looked up into the pale vacant face of his cousin and realized something. Bo, his best friend, the one he was holding would never answer him again. Bo was dead... Gone. No longer among the living… Luke suddenly lost his self control and let his tears become what they wanted to be from the beginning. The tears became gut wrenching sobs as Luke wept over the loss of his cousin, his dearest friend who was closer than a brother. A lone mournful howl coming from a coyote not too far away expressed the young man's brokenhearted mood perfectly.
Finally getting some form of control of himself a few minutes later, Luke gently laid his cousin down and lightly placed one of his hands over Bo's eyes, and closed those baby blues forever. His lip quivered… Bo would never look out from them again.
Luke slowly stood up and stepped away from his cousin needing a little air. He took a step or two out from the entrance of the cavern and into the twilit forest. The sapphire eyed man stood out there for a few minutes, not enjoying any second of it. How could he? The one he most cared for was gone. Luke stopped pacing and stood there unmoving, stiff as a statue, with fists clenched, and eyes raised toward the starry heavens. Tears filled those expressive eyes as they bored into the heavens looking upset.
"Why did you take him…?" He asked softly, his voice quivering unsurely. He had never questioned the wisdom and judgment of Him who is Above, before. Luke took a breath and continued a little more surely. "Why did you take him? It wasn't his time." Luke took another hitched breath in. Suddenly the sad emptiness he had been feeling since Bo had been taken flared into anger. He looked up again, a deep scowl on his face and shouted "WHYYYY!!!!!!?" He just couldn't believe it. This was not right. Bo wasn't supposed to die this way… he was. Luke took another deep breath in and shouted even louder, "WHYYYY!!!!!?"
Luke paused after that last shout and quieted down after the sound of his angry cry quit echoing through the woods. With a thought he decided he wouldn't yell like that again. He couldn't defy Him anymore. His uncle Jesse had raised him better then that and he knew it.
Luke dropped to his knees drained and exhausted and yet he couldn't help but place his hands over his face and sob in great grief once again. The soft evening air did nothing to soothe his aching soul. With deep cries of pain and anguish over the loss of his closest friend, he sobbed to himself repeating the word "why" over and over and over. Luke was oblivious to everything in the outside world as he knelt there in grieving over the loss of his cousin. He was so caught up in his anguish and sorrow that he wasn't able to sense the shadow that had slowly crept up from behind. Luke didn't even hear the crack of a twig that snapped under a toe, just before he felt a sharp pain in the head… And then the Duke boy knew no more.
