Chapter 4: To Wales!

They'd been driving for roughly 2 hours by now, and Aaron constantly correcting Josh on which was he was driving. Josh would make some form of audible grunt, before having to double back and get on the right road. They were drawing close to Wales, when Josh snapped at Aaron after he once again corrected him on his route.

"Well why don't you try driving when you know certain death is about 2 hours behind you?!" He yelled out, frowning at the steering wheel as he turned around on the ring road back towards the motorway.

"Well they WOULD be further back if you hadn't made so many mistakes going through Birmingham!" Aaron retorted, also annoyed.

"I don't know that city very well! All I know is that Euro gamer happens there sometimes, Its not like I know the whole bloody city!"

"Well maybe if you'd listened to me when I said to not go in the underground tunnels we wouldn't have gotten so lost!"

"Well you were the one who wanted to stop for food, we already packed enough to get us to Dover!" Josh replied angrily, turning and heading towards the long bridge over the river connecting Wales to England.

"Well you never know, we could be delayed and need to eat!"

"If we get delayed, food isn't going to be the biggest problem we have! They'll kill us, or they'll capture us! What if they're tentacle aliens who-"

"JOSH!" Aaron screamed out, leaning towards the steering wheel. They'd both been so busy arguing, they hadn't noticed that the middle of the bridge was missing. It was just gone, blown up, leaving nothing but a certain 30-foot drop down into the deep river below. Josh let out a sound that was a mix between a swear and a scream, and slammed on the brakes. Aaron pushed the steering wheel as hard as he could to the side, making the car turn and hopefully stop before the edge. But it was too late. The car skidded sideways, the side tyres slipping of the edge of the giant hole, and eventually, the whole car tipped and fell into the deep blue water below. The car hit the water with a loud and dull thud, before starting to sink into the water. All windows were shut, but the force of the impact had rendered Aaron unconscious for a second. Josh rubbed his head, which had slammed forwards and hit the steering wheel, deploying the airbag in his face. He pushed it down and looked around, as the car began to sink, and the sounds of the water slowly pressuring the car began to get louder. Josh looked around frantically, and saw Aaron, slumped in his seat, his eyes shut. Josh began to panic, hastily unbuckling his seatbelt, and considering his options. He tried the door handle, but the water had flooded the mechanism and broke it. He'd have to bust out. He leaned over to Aaron and opened his belt too, before reaching into the backseat and taking out his backpack. He rifled through it, trying to find something to break the glass. He pulled out a wrapped sandwich, a black beanie cap, and a small plush figure of his Mine craft skin, all of which he threw onto the back seat. Finally, he pulled out a long and shining kitchen knife, which he gripped tightly in his right hand. He leaned over and nudged Aaron hard.

"DUDE, NOW ISNT THE TIME FOR A NAP!" He yelled out, his voice slightly higher pitched than normal, the fear getting to him as the car sunk lower and the light began to fade. Aaron wasn't moving. Josh glared angrily at him, before turning to face the front windscreen, gripping the knife tightly in both his hands, and stabbing forwards at it.

The knife slid sideways, and he hit his knuckles hard on the glass. "Fuck!" He cried out, as he braced himself for another swing. He looked at Aaron, who was still not moving. A few thoughts passed through his head at that point. 'Can I save him? Can I pull his weight up to the surface? Do I... have to leave him behind?' But he quickly dismissed these thoughts. That's not going to happen! He swung his arms forward with surprizing strength, shattering the glass before him. Cold water came bursting in, quickly flooding the car, and making it sink yet faster. He struggled into a crouched position and pushed the rest of the glass away from him. One piece rushed in and cut him across the cheek, but the adrenaline had taken over, so he didn't feel it. He leant to his side and gripped Aaron around the scruff of his neck, before adjusting his feet on the back of the chair and kicking off hard, propelling him and Aarons unconscious body out of the wreck. Though swimming wasn't his forte, he felt new strength in his legs, and he kicked hard, his glasses skewed on his face, and his arm dragging up his friend towards the light, and the air. His lungs began to hurt, as he forced himself to keep going upwards. As he felt himself begin to go light headed, one thought went through his head.

'If I'm going to die from this invasion, it'll be in an awesome way, not here!' He kept on kicking, slowly getting towards the surface. 'Not here!' He told himself again, his hand gripping onto his friends clothing harder. He screwed his eyes shut and kicked harder than he'd ever had to. 'Not today!'

The surface of the water broke in an orchestra of splashing water, flailing limbs and deep panting. Josh had done it, he felt the air flood back into his lungs, and the cool breeze on his face. He opening his eyes and swam as hard as he could towards the shore, keeping Aarons head above the water at all times. After a few minutes of breathless paddling, he made it to the muddy shore of Wales, throwing Aarons body down onto the mud face up, and him dropping to his hands and knees, coughing loudly. He coughed up some water, and for a second he thought he was going to be sick, as an acidic taste rose up in his throat. He repressed it down, and fell onto his face into the cool and soft mud, just glad to be alive. After a minute, he heard Aaron give a loud and wet cough, as he choked up some water and regained consciousness.

"Uhh... Ugh... What the... Fuck happened?" Aaron managed to utter, as he slowly began to sit up.

"Well," Said Josh, a little bit of attitude returning to his voice, as he slowly pushing himself into a sitting position, "I may have just saved your life from a sinking wreck of a car."

Aaron looked at Josh as if to give some witty remark, but turned and saw the large hole in the bridge, and the water, still bubbling from the last of the air escaping the car. He blinked rapidly, and then looked at Josh. Josh's mouth curled into a proud grin, as he took off his glasses and began to wipe them.

"Well..." Aaron began.

"If you're going to thank me, really don't bother. If you'd left me at the bottom of a lake in Wales I'd have come back to haunt your ass so badly. Its just the right thing to do."

Aaron gave a small chuckle, before slowly getting to his feet and holding out his hand to his friend who had just saved his life. "Alright, well come on. We need to keep going."

"You do know we now have no supplies, no vehicle, and no map?" Josh asked, taking Aarons hand and getting to his feet.

"Oh yea. But hey, we've played enough survival games to know how to survive a few miles until we find Will right?"

Josh sighed. "Its not the same thing... But alright." They both turned away from the river, and began to climb the muddy bank, as they headed deeper into Wales.