A/N: Here is the second chapter of Fight For Survival. It's a little longer than the last chapter, but hopefully you'll all enjoy it just the same. This chapter does cover medical topics, but keep in mind that I'm a former med student not a professional doctor. Reviews greatly appreciated but please no flames or discouraging remarks. I'm a novice writer who like a lot of you is just writing for the fun of it.
On to the story my friends,
Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010
Alan was shook awake by the man that had started this whole mess. When Alan opened his eyes, he nearly cried aloud when he saw the teacher Mr. Henderson kneeling on the ground outside the bus. They were on another access road, only the difference this time was that there was a large black vehicle parked in the middle of the road and there were members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police blocking the way of the bus.
"Come on, you're our ticket out of here." The man grabbed Alan by the undersides of his arms and hauled him off the bus.
Alan struggled a little. He didn't want to be separated from his friends. He wouldn't be able to help them if he was gone. Turning to look behind him, he saw Fermat and Andrew both with tears glistening in their eyes. They knew that what was about to happen, was not good. Alan was escorted off the bus, the semi-automatic rifle continually pressed into his back.
"Hello gentlemen…there a problem here?" The man who had yet to identify himself spoke again from behind Alan.
From behind one of the Mounties, out stepped a member of the secret service keeping his gun trained on the man directly behind Alan. Alan was in firing range, and now he was staring down the barrel of a gun while he had a second one nestled quite uncomfortably into his shoulder.
"Yes, there is a problem. The problem is that you have hijacked a bus full of students and you have quite the track record." The secret service member kept his gun trained on the man behind the student. "Let the boy go, and surrender."
"Now, now…you know I can't do that." The man moved in a flash and had Alan kneeling on the ground, the rifle now moved to press into the base of Alan's skull. "Make one wrong move and this boy is pushing up daisies."
"Don't do it." The secret service member spoke sharply to the main kidnapper. "It doesn't have to come to this."
"Oh? Doesn't it?" The man signaled something and suddenly one of the other men who'd been riding on the bus with the captives yelled something onto the bus, before each of the captive boys walked solemnly out in single file. Alan couldn't hear what he said around the sound of his heartbeat filling his ears. "Tell you what, I hand over all these boys in exchange for…these three" The man turned and pointed out Matthew, Jared and Alan.
"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I need all the boys, unharmed. Surrender now!" The head secret service member said as he kept his handgun trained on the man standing directly behind Alan.
"Fine…have it your way." Jacobs removed the gun from the base of Alan's skull, then with the nod of his head, all hell broke loose.
The group of boys that had been pointed out by the man – were grabbed by other men with guns and they were each dragged off into the woods by their own 'guard' if you could call them that. The remaining boys that hadn't been taken; scattered away from each of the men in black attack uniforms. Several of the boys ducked down behind the bus when shots were fired. Fermat and Andrew crawled just behind one of the buses' back tires in order to avoid the whizzing bullets flying past them.
"I want to go home!" Fermat and Andrew huddled together until the gunfire silenced.
Nobody made a sound. Once the gunfire ceased, several Canadian police walked with their weapons at the ready, checking the bodies of numerous men that had fallen. Officers fanned out, many going into the forest on foot to attempt to track the three men and their captives. Those that stayed behind went to the aid of the remaining boys and their chaperones.
An officer stepped around the back of the bus, discovering Fermat, Andrew and a few other boys that huddled behind the other tire. He motioned to each of the boys to follow him and he led the group of five boys back to the lineup of vehicles. Fermat and Andrew squeezed into the backseat with two other boys while the fifth boy was allowed into the front seat before the officer climbed into the front seat to drive them to the department. Meanwhile his comrades were busy doing the same as well as offering aid to a few of the students and teachers left behind in the wake of all the chaos.
All the boys stayed quiet as they watched the scenery go by. None of them dared to speak of the fate of their classmates that had been dragged away into the forest. Fermat turned his gaze out the window, and he couldn't help but to wonder if Alan was going to be okay.
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Alan, Matthew and Jared however were dragged deeper into the forest. Alan in particular was struggling to keep up. Pressing a hand against his side, Alan groaned quietly as he glimpsed down to see blood staining his hands. Despite being dragged into the forest just before the volley of shots were fired, a stray bullet had followed Alan and struck his right side. It had been a clear shot.
Biting his lip, Alan continued to run with the other boys that were taken captive with him.
'Please dear God, someone help us.'
They ran for what felt like a lifetime, one of the kidnappers pulling Alan by his outstretched arm. When they did eventually stop, it was almost sunset. Alan, Jared and Matthew were panting deeply. Matthew coughed before he collapsed onto his knees. Alan staggered where he stood, but he stayed upright by sheer willpower alone. Jared looked around their surroundings, spotting a ramshackle cabin not much further away.
The three men in black tactical armor forced the three boys into the cabin that Jared previously spotted. They unceremoniously shoved Alan, Jared and Matthew into the cabin and dumped their rucksacks just inside the threshold.
"Stay here and be quiet. I don't care what boss says, but if you make a peep, you're dead." One of the men said before slamming the door and leaving the area, presumably to get into position to shoot anyone who came close to their hideout.
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Gordon chewed on his thumbnail as he listened to the transmission that had never quit playing. Scott had managed to drag their dad from the lounge, and Virgil soon followed barely keeping his eyes open. Gordon however demanded that he take the first shift. John and Gordon were both the sole brothers at present listening to Alan's even breathing while he slept.
Turning his head to the left, Gordon caught John's eye through the monitor and both brothers shared a look as they heard the engine of the bus that Alan and Fermat were being held captive on disengage, before the hydraulic braking system made a loud hiss noise.
"What do you think is going on John?" Gordon glanced over at his brother. John's blue eyes while currently looking as cold as ice, were looking increasingly worried.
"Dammit!" John and Gordon's breath caught in their throats as they heard the man who'd kidnapped Alan at gunpoint swear. "Come on you are our ticket out of here."
"John?" Gordon's voice cut off as he heard his only little brother's protests, the scuffling feet signifying that Alan was struggling against his captor.
"I know Gordo…I'm scared too." John didn't even need to hear the words from Gordon's mouth to know he was scared. There was virtually nothing they could do right now. International Rescue, while a rescue organization didn't meddle in kidnapping and hostage situations. Right now, the Tracy family was doing all they could…hopefully it would be enough. Words were traded between another man, one seemingly trying to help the boys while the other continued to claim the boys he'd kidnapped.
It wasn't until gunfire was heard echoing around inside the lounge that John and Gordon both thought their hearts would stop right then. Jeff, Scott and Virgil heard the pop of gunfire from their individual bedrooms and raced into the lounge.
What they found gave them no comfort. Gordon was sitting at his father's desk, a hand clamped over his mouth and eyes wide. Gordon's shoulders shook, before he took a shuddering breath. John was no better. Both brothers were dead pale.
"What was that?" Virgil inquired looking between his older and younger brothers.
"A gun fight." John murmured, his voice shaking as he answered.
"Between who?" Jeff stalked forward towards the desk where Gordon was sitting; looking into John's eyes as he knew Gordon seemed too shook up to say anything.
"Police I think…I don't know yet." John barely managed to say before seeing Gordon on the verge of panic. "Gordon, he'll be fine. He's strong. He's a Tracy."
"Yeah, a Tracy with a bullet hole in him!" Gordon shot back before burying his head in his hands as he struggled to compose himself. This was his only little brother they were talking about. He was only a kid and he'd just been shot. Gordon and John both just listened as he cried out in pain. They'd heard something make a 'thwack' sound right around the time that Alan gave a cry.
"Alan was shot?" Virgil whispered, disbelief the only thing that could be heard in his tone.
"Yeah…and he was separated from the other hostages. Two other boys and Alan were taken away when the men opened fire." John managed to bring his voice under control just enough to not stammer. "Hopefully Alan can get a chance to activate his tracker so we can pinpoint his location."
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Alan lay on the ground, one hand pressed against his side trying to stem the blood flow. He, Jared and Matthew managed to escape from their captors after Jared crushed up several acetaminophen tablets and spiked the vodka flasks that the men moronically left behind while they'd gone out. It hadn't taken no time at all for the crushed Tylenols to send the three gun wielding men off into the land of nod, giving the three captive boys the chance they needed to run, or in Alan's case…limp painfully.
"Do you have the tape?" Matthew, always the one prepared…he'd snagged one of the backpacks that one of their captors was carrying and it just happened to be carrying a first aid kit inside. Now, with the boys having holed up inside a small hollow beneath a group of trees, they'd finally decided now was as good a time as any to try to stop the actively bleeding gunshot wound.
"Here…Tracy, you need to hold that gauze there. Try not to move." Jared moved his hand to press against Alan's when his hand began to slip from the blood soaked gauze pad. "God, we need to get help…you're still bleeding too much."
"Don't even think about leaving me here…I don't want to be found, at least if I'm with you guys I know we have a chance of getting back to our families." They were only about eight miles give or take from the camp the gunmen had set up. They could still find Alan if he was left in the hollow. They'd been walking for hours.
"If you come with us, then we need to get your bleeding to stop. I noticed you leaving a trail earlier." Jared replied, pressing down on the bullet wound in Alan's side even as Alan mewled in pain. "Dammit, why won't it stop?"
"Gunshots to the torso, chest and b-back are the most difficult t-to control the bleeding." Alan stammered out as he grit his teeth from the pain. He was growing weak and Alan knew he was going into shock. "Just do what you c-can…we need to g-get moving."
"If we move you too much it could kill you if you bleed out." Matthew handed Jared another pad of gauze to press against the wound.
"T-To be honest…I'd r-rather die r-running for my l-life than get c-caught and shot a-again." Alan gave Matthew and Jared a look that told them he was scared.
Both boys stared at Alan, silently agreeing with him. They too would rather escape or die trying; at least then their families would know that they had fought till the very end.
"Matthew…can you hand me your t-shirt? We need to try to stop this bleeding so we can get a move on. It's getting close to daylight and I want to be on the move again before they manage to follow the trail of blood that I know Alan left." Jared shined the flashlight on Alan's torso, following the trail of blood that had gradually soaked into Alan's jeans. "I didn't know there was this much blood in a person's body."
"Y-You'd be s-surprised…" Alan's breathing picked up, the shivering only getting worse despite the bucket loads of sweat he was overflowing with.
"Alan…talk to me buddy. Don't go to sleep." Matthew reached up and patted Alan's cheek. "We need to sit him up so we can tape the bandages to him. Give me a hand."
Together Matthew and Jared pulled Alan up to a sitting position and Jared supported Alan against his knee. Maintaining the constant pressure to the bullet wound, Jared followed Matthew's promptings to move his hand when it came time to tape over a bit of the makeshift bandage.
"There, that's about as good as we can do. Now, we need to get moving." Matthew stared at his and Jared's hands to see a thin coating of blood, but shrugged it off. "Alright Alan…you ready to move?"
"Y-Y-Y-Yes…" Alan's shivering picked up and Matthew stared at Alan's increasingly grey shaded face.
"Let's go, I want to try to find a highway so we can get Alan some emergency help. He isn't looking too good." Matthew looked around and picked up a canteen that he'd brought with him primarily to keep Alan hydrated. They were close to a stream. "Hang tight for a minute Al. I'm just gonna go refill the canteen."
"Fi-ne." Alan coughed weakly, before groaning. That hurt…a lot.
"Jared, why don't you come with and wash your hands." Matthew stared at Jared's hands that were coated in Alan's blood and noticed the boy's pale features. Matthew knew Jared was a tad bit squeamish, but he'd held in his cookies and helped to stabilize Alan. Jared nodded and stood up, following his friend out shakily.
Once Alan was alone, he spoke just loud enough for his watch to pick up his voice, but not loud enough for anyone outside the hollow to hear.
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"I…I don't k-know if y-y-you guys can h-hear me…but…I l-love you. T-Trust me when I s-say…I am h-hanging on as b-best as I can. M-M-Matthew and J-Jared have d-done everything t-they can to h-help me…i-if I don't m-make it…I j-just wanted y-you all t-to know that I l-love you all w-with all my…h-heart.'
The Tracy family listened to the transmission, and they all struggled to contain their tears at Alan's words of farewell. Despite knowing that Alan is trying his absolute hardest to hold on, he couldn't fight the laws of nature if he bled out from the gunshot wound. It was now life or death for Alan and he had to rely on two boys not much older than him to help him medically or to help guide him from wherever they were.
"There has to be something that we can do…we are International Rescue damn it! There has to be something that we can do to get a message to Alan that we are coming and that we will find him." Virgil carded his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"Virgil…I know how frustrating it is to only be able to listen and not communicate with Alan when he is in dire need of help, but International Rescue does not interfere with kidnappings. Alan is my son, and it is killing me right now to only be able to listen to his pain, but there isn't much we can do." Jeff buried his head into his hands as he spoke vehemently to Virgil.
"There has to be something! Something we have not thought of doing to search for Alan." Virgil waved his arms about while he paced back and forth in the lounge. A dull 'thunk' noise drew everyone's attention to the monitor where John could be seen and the elder blonde had dropped his head down on his work table.
"Everything all right up there John?" Gordon inquired in confusion.
"Yeah, everything is all just hunky dory. "John mumbled from where his head was lying on his worktable. "I just remembered that I could trace Alan via his watch, and I feel foolish for not having thought of it sooner is all."
"Then what are you waiting for John?" Scott pressed his hands against the desk and shot daggers at his immediate younger blonde brother.
"I need Alan to disconnect the transmission with us…the signal is interfering otherwise." John lifted his head from his work table before dropping it back down to the metal with another dull 'thunk' sound. "But I'm afraid that we'd give Alan's connection to the Thunderbirds away to those two boys if I try to call him via his watch after I've traced his location."
"Can't you call his satellite phone? That should work anywhere, including deep in the mountains of Canada!" Gordon exclaimed having had his first 'light bulb' moment in several hours since this whole thing went down.
"I tried it already…it's not connecting. It was either hit with the bullet that Alan was shot with or something else is interfering with it. I'd wager it was hit with the bullet." John murmured as he lifted his head from the work table just to drop it back down again.
"But that can't be…Alan was shot in the side. If the shot hit Alan's phone too then that would mean Alan was shot somewhere near his chest, because he doesn't wear his pants like Urkle." Virgil pointed out, but he'd received blank stares from his father and brothers.
"Who is Urkle?" Gordon gave Virgil a look of bewilderment.
"Urkle is a fictional TV character…a music teacher at my old high school always would say Urkle up when we'd do pre-chorale stretches…he was referencing that everyone should pull their pants up before doing toe touches. It got to be a joke with him that we should all wear suspenders to class so he wouldn't have to say Urkle up." Virgil explained, glaring at his brothers when for the first time in a while a smile broke out on their faces. "I'll explain more later…but unless Alan was wearing his pants up over his navel, then his phone should be fine."
"It was supposed to rain yesterday, perhaps his phone was in his jacket pocket. That would put it in the general location of the gunshot wound." Scott pointed out. "John, if you can't call him, what are the chances that you could track using the GPS…does it need to be active to be traced?"
As if he'd been hit with lightening, John lifted his head from his work table, eyes wide and a look of awe replacing his previously hopeless features. "I think you may be on to something Scott. Hang tight, I'm going to see if I can trace Al's phone."
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Alan leaned heavily against Jared who was practically supporting all of Alan's weight. Matthew had one of Alan's arms draped over his own shoulder to try to keep Alan up on two feet. They'd since drank all the water that Matthew collected from the stream and Alan was fading.
"God dammit." Jared groaned. "Let's stop and take a break. I'm tired."
"Let's take five…you still with us Alan?" Matthew helped Jared ease Alan against the trunk of a tree. Alan's breathing was shallow and for a moment, Matthew thought that Alan died, but the younger boy painstakingly opened his eyes, which were glazed over with pain.
"Y-Y-Y…" Alan couldn't even finish a sentence. His words were slurred and his eyes were unfocused.
"Come on Tracy…talk to me, don't go to sleep." Matthew leaned forward and slapped Alan's cheek with a little more force than was necessary.
"Dad…want…dad." Alan's head lolled to the side as he managed to say what was on his mind. His tongue felt swollen and he felt hot all over.
"Keep hanging on Al. When we get to the hospital…you can see your dad. He'll be the first one there for you." Jared encouraged, trying to make Alan perk up.
"Won…mak…it. Sleepy." Alan's eyelids fluttered, but Matthew was quick to slap Alan hard across the face again.
"Don't you dare give up Alan!" Matthew got up close and personal like a drill sergeant and spoke harshly to Alan in order to gain his attention. "Hang on for your father's sake…don't die. You got this far, you can't give up now!"
"Not…try…ing…to." Alan replied pitifully.
"Don't we have anything in that backpack you lifted from those guys that could help Alan?" Jared inquired as he held Alan up against the tree.
"No…there's a tarp, a small hand saw, a first aid kit and energy bars. I doubt that anything in here will help Alan." Matthew removed everything from the backpack so that Jared could see he wasn't lying.
Jared remained silent as he looked at everything that they had from that backpack. The tarp was probably meant to dispose of their bodies but the words of his uncle came back to him in a flash. Jared glanced around at the trees.
"Matthew…hand me that saw and come hold up Alan." Jared motioned hurriedly for Matthew to come to him. "I've got an idea!"
Matthew picked up the saw and moved over to Jared, grasping Alan's shoulders in order to keep him upright. "What are you doing?"
"If we get out of this alive…remind me to call my uncle and thank him!" Jared gave no further explanation as he ran off into a grove of maple trees. Looking around, Jared found a couple trees that seemed like they'd be easy to hold…not too thick and they were long. "Boo-yah…"
Matthew continued patting Alan's cheek, sometimes slapping or back handing him to keep him awake. The blonde Tracy was incredibly ashen. Jared had been gone for more than several minutes and a grunt in the trees had Matthew preparing to fight whoever was coming from the grove. He'd protect Alan at all costs…like Alan had said a while ago. He'd rather die running than to roll over and be killed without a fight. However, what Matthew saw had the boy doing a fish impression.
"What the hell?" Matthew looked on as Jared dragged two poles of equal length into the clearing where they'd stopped to rest. "Have you lost your ever-loving mind?"
"Nope, my uncle did." Jared dragged the two trees close to where Alan sat propped up against the tree. "Hand me that tarp."
Matthew did as Jared said but couldn't even begin to fathom what it was that Jared was doing. It wasn't until Jared had finished what he was doing that it finally clicked.
"You're a genius! Where'd you get the idea to make a stretcher?" Matthew's smile was widespread as he practically hugged his younger friend.
"My uncle…he'd showed me and my cousin how to make tools back when we used to go camping all the time. This was one of the pearls of wisdom he'd passed on to us." Jared stood up, hands on his hips as he gazed down at the stretcher he'd fashioned out of two thin maple poles and a tarp. "Help me get Alan onto it…carefully. Don't lift it until I say so."
"Yeah…" Matthew patted Alan's cheek again before managing to get the younger blonde to open his heavy eyes. "Al…hold still, Jare and I are going to move you…but don't go to sleep."
"O-kay." Alan slurred as his body became weightless for a few moments.
Once Jared and Matthew got Alan situated on the stretcher, both boys took a moment to breath before they gathered all the supplies previously removed from the backpack. They had rested long enough and it wouldn't do to waste what was left of the daylight.
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"Got a lock on their location!" John crowed excitedly. "They aren't very far from a major highway."
Gordon who'd leaned in close to the speaker in order to listen to the transmission on his father's computer shushed his father and brothers. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You guys! They figured out a way to better transport Al."
"How?!"
"Spit it out!"
"Tell us!"
"Don't keep us in the dark!" Gordon held up a hand to stop his brothers and father's words so he could speak up.
"One of the boys apparently had some knowledge on how to build a stretcher. They've got Alan loaded onto it and are moving out." Gordon couldn't wipe the smile from his face if he tried.
Jeff closed his eyes and turned so his back was facing his boys. He didn't know how much longer he could take knowing his son was gravely injured and he was practically sitting on his hands doing nothing.
If anyone else were in Jeff's shoes right now, being both the commander of International Rescue and father to one of the kidnapped boys, he knows they probably wouldn't hesitate to blow their cover and be there in a hot minute to pick up Alan and the other boys. But Jeff wasn't like other parents. He'd worked too hard to honor Lucy's memory, worked too hard to make a difference so other families wouldn't have to suffer the same fate as his family.
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Jared and Matthew kept up a dialogue trying to engage Alan even as he was fading. They carried the stretcher Jared built and they navigated around the tricky terrain. Alan's breathing had grown labored, scaring both boys every time they failed to hear Alan give a shaky exhale.
"Come on Alan, you've got this. I know it's hard but you've got to keep holding on." Matthew said, encouraging Alan to not give up.
"M s-scared." Alan mumbled softly before giving a cough followed by a small mewl of pain. "P-Please…p-please don't…don't l-let me die."
Alan begged, making Jared and Matthew falter to a stop when it became apparent that Alan had begun to cry. Carefully setting down the stretcher, both boys checked Alan over to make sure he'd be okay. Night was on the cusp of falling and though the boys were lost and scared, they were hesitant to fire a flare for fear of revealing their location to the men that had kidnapped them. They weren't aware that the men had been followed, having used search dogs to locate them by police and FBI and had been arrested. As it turned out, Alan being shot and leaving a small trail of blood led authorities to the hide out.
"We won't let you die Alan, but you've got to do everything in your power to not die or go to sleep. We're trying to get you to safety, but we're not sure where we're at." Matthew said hoping that Alan could keep fighting.
"P-Pocket." Alan whispered before letting his head flop to the side. "S-Sat p-phone."
"What?" Jared asked as he tried to decipher Alan's slurred statement. "Did you just say sat phone? You have a satellite phone?"
Jared leaned over Alan and gently patted Alan's pockets before he felt a hard lump in Alan's jacket pocket, the side that had been shot. He pulled out the device and groaned when he saw a hole going clean through the satellite phone. It was apparent that it'd absorbed most of the damage when Alan had been shot and that explained why Alan seemed to be going downhill so fast. If the bullet had gone through the phone, it'd have had a shrapnel like effect when it exited the phone.
"Damn it…it got hit when you did." Jared said, deflating at the prospect that the hope of possibly contacting help had disappeared.
Alan took as deep a breath as he could manage and exhaled a rattling wheeze.
"T-Tri-angulate." Alan tried to say despite feeling like the ability to breathe was growing worse.
"What?" Jared asked as he looked at the phone, checking if it had a distinctive feature that had been equipped in case of extreme damage.
"Triangulate. I think he's trying to tell you it has a triangulation sequence." Matthew said as he snatched the phone from Jared's hand and shone the flashlight on the phone before locating the button designed to send a ping to the satellites in the area so their coordinates could be located.
"I know we need to keep going, but we're not going to help Alan much if we don't get some rest. I'm starving and my feet are killing me." Matthew said, hoping that Jared would agree to bed down for the night and get back to hiking out when the sun was up so they could see where they were going. It'd do them no good to fall down a hill they couldn't see because they insisted on hiking at night.
"Alright, but one of us needs to stay awake so we can keep an eye on Alan. We'll sleep in shifts." Jared said agreeing with Matthew because he was famished. They'd been hiking for the better part of two days without food, only stopping to drink water when they'd grown too hungry to think clearly. "What time is it?"
Matthew tapped the face of Alan's watch to see the time was just a little after eight at night.
"Quarter past eight." Matthew murmured before he dug into the satchel they'd stolen to retrieve a protein bar. He tore open the packaging and took a healthy bite, groaning in pleasure despite the protein bar being one of the worst things he'd ever eaten. He tossed one to Jared before he looked at Alan and slowed his frenzied chewing.
Alan was probably equally as famished as Matthew felt and he wondered what he could do for Alan. He didn't have the strength to lift his head let alone chew food. He needed food though if he was going to survive this ordeal. He knew he could probably feed Alan a bite of the protein bar but it was clear he would choke because he was weakened by the blood loss.
"Alan, are you hungry?" Matthew asked despite knowing Alan probably wasn't all that hungry. He knew he wouldn't be if he was in Alan's shoes.
Alan slowly shook his head that he wasn't hungry before his stomach answered for him with a growl that told all three that Alan was in fact very hungry.
"M-Maybe a l-little." Alan said before he struggled to open his eyes and look at Matthew. "So, h-hungry."
"Do you think you can take a bite of this protein bar?"
Alan weakly shook his head which prompted Matthew to give pause for a moment as he thought of a solution.
"Okay, what I'm about to do may seem weird, but it's the only choice we've got. You need food." Matthew said before he took a small bite of his protein bar and chewed carefully before he scooted over towards Alan and braced his hands on either side of his head.
"What are you doing?" Jared asked with mild disgust. He could guess what Matthew was about to do, but he hoped he was wrong.
"What do you think?" Matthew asked before he lowered his head and put his mouth over Alan's. It was quick and more than a little disgusting for Matthew but when he came back up he noticed Alan swallowing the pre-chewed food that had been transferred into his mouth.
"That's disgusting!" Jared cried in shock that his friend had just kissed another boy. "You kissed him!"
"No, I didn't, I chewed his food for him." Matthew said before taking another bite and repeating the process. He pointedly chose not to look at Jared every time he'd lower to feed Alan, he remembered his mother doing that with him when he was little. It was gross, but sometimes it was what you had to do.
When the protein bar was gone, Matthew felt his face burning all the way up to his ears. He hoped they made it to a highway or somewhere civilized before he had to do that again.
"Not a word about this to anyone." Matthew said through a growl at Jared who was barely disguising his disgust.
"You don't have to worry about me telling anyone about this, I just hope Alan doesn't remember you feeding him like he was a baby bird." Jared said before he walked over to lean against a tree facing both boys. "You go ahead and go to sleep, I'll keep watch and wake you in a few hours to switch."
"Okay." Matthew said before he settled down beside Alan so he could keep an eye on his breathing. If he was close by he could monitor the other boy if he began to go downhill.
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The brothers grimaced when they heard how Matthew had provided food to their baby brother. It's not that they were ungrateful, just that they could have done without the nugget of information that another boy had practically been kissing their little brother. True, they knew it wasn't a bona fide kiss, it was to give Alan food he needn't have to chew…but it was still gross.
"If I ever need my food to be pre-chewed, you have my permission to pull the plug." Gordon said with a frown. "I don't want any of you weirdos kissing me on the mouth to give me food."
"Gordon." John said over the connection with a shake of his head. "That boy wasn't kissing Alan. He's right to have given Alan pre-chewed food. No doubt Alan's probably really weak right now and if he is expected to fight without medical attention, he'd best be getting food through any means possible even if it's pre-chewed."
"Actually, Gordon's not wrong in assuming that other boy was kissing Alan. The act of pre-mastication or kiss-feeding is something still practiced in traditional cultures." Virgil said thoughtfully despite further grossing his brothers out. "Kiss-feeding is thought to be how French kissing evolved because the person giving the food would have to use their tongue to push the food into the mouth of the person they're feeding. Though kiss feeding is typically what a mother or relatives do for an infant that is weaning from breastfeeding or bottles."
At the silence in the room, Virgil looked up from where he was trying to help John figure out how to help the boys without getting International Rescue involved and saw the looks of horror and disgust ranging on each of his brother's faces.
"I don't want to know how you learned that information." Scott said with a shake of his head.
"I read." Virgil said before returning to his previous task. He was glad that that Matthew boy if he was hearing the name right hit the button to triangulate coordinates on the phone because it allowed them to follow the boy's progress through the Canadian wilderness. With Alan on a stretcher, it allowed the two other boys to cross greater distances to reach a major highway.
Already they'd walked almost 30 miles in two days, despite probably being tired, sore and hungry. They had probably another two days in the Canadian wilderness before they reached the highway which if they kept up the same pace would be another 20 miles. The shelter when the boys were taken wasn't that far into the forest though, but when the boys had fled, they didn't know which direction they were going and so had traveled further into the forest than was probably intended. Rather than coming back the way they'd originally entered which would have been the quickest way out of the forest, they'd gone in the completely opposite direction. Having an injured companion probably didn't help matters for a speedy trek in the wilderness, but search parties were underway to locate the three boys and a few of the authorities had set their K-9's on the scent provided by the three boys.
"They'll make it Virgil." Scott said when he noticed how deeply Virgil was thinking. He knew the family medic was bothered by something, little brother being kidnapped and shot notwithstanding.
"I know they will, it's just…Alan's breathing is wrong. He needs urgent medical attention." Virgil said as another breathy rattle echoed through the connection making Virgil grimace.
"We know he needs medical attention Virgil, but what can we do? We shouldn't even have the knowledge we do, but being International Rescue has its advantages."
"Maybe with those gunmen having been arrested, we can get involved now. Their kidnapping has been plastered all over the news, I know we don't typically get involved…but it's already been released that one or all three of the boys may have been shot. If we offer our services we can do a flyover under the guise of using a body heat tracker and go right to their location and pick them up." Virgil said, trying to pressure his dad and older brother into bending to his will.
"Why are you so insistent to get involved. You know IR doesn't partake in kidnapping investigations. If we do it this time, we'll be expected to do it for everyone that gets kidnapped. We'd never sleep." Scott said as he stared hard at his third youngest brother. "Give me one good reason besides Alan being our brother why we should get involved as International Rescue."
Virgil went silent before he stood up and pointed at the speaker which was broadcasting the breathing of the slumbering boys. Alan's breathing in particular was most troublesome considering they could identify the breathing by the speed of it.
"Do you hear that breathing?" Virgil went quiet before Alan's breathing was picked up by the relay system and it sent chills down everybody's spines to know that the almost labored breathing was coming from Alan. "Medically that breathing style is known as Cheyne-Stokes breathing, unprofessionally it's also identified as the death rattle. Alan's not going to make it another night out there, let alone two. Those two boys would have to run from sun up to sun down to reach the highway and even then, jostling Alan could cause the bullet to shift and cause further damage. Alan needs us now."
