Steve slowly opened his eyes and blinked hard. The world seemed to be spinning. Every bit of him hurt. His head felt like it was cracked open, his leg was throbbing and each breath and heartbeat hurt his chest. Even thinking hurt.
He closed his eyes and allowed the world to slip away for awhile. In what seemed like a short while, he opened his eyes again. This time, Steve noticed his surroundings. He was lying in what seemed to be a dirt cave. But how did he get there? His brain seemed to be very slow and foggy.
Looking around, Steve saw that he was not alone in the cave as he had assumed. Another man was slumped against the wall, sleeping. Danny! Steve wondered whether he was okay, but the idea of moving was too much.
Steve decided to just sit there and wait until Danny woke up. After waiting for a few minutes, he realized that Danny was not going to notice this at all. Lazy jerk. Steve would have to wake him up. Tentatively, he coughed. That small cough hurt his chest. A lot. But it seemed to have worked because Danny was stirring.
Slowly, his eyes opened. Then Danny looked around. When he saw Steve was awake, he lept up. "Steve!"
"Hi Danno," giggled Steve.
" Are you feeling all right?" asked Danny.
"Well I'm right as rain, thanks for asking, buddy," replied Steve breezily.
"You sure? You're talking weird," said Danny uncertainly. "You must have a pretty bad concussion."
Steve totally ignored this comment. "Have you ever played in mud, Danny? You should try it sometime, it's really fun!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Danny, totally bewildered.
"Zebras are black and white, are black and white. Zebras are black and white oh yes oh yes they are!" sang Steve.
"I know that," snapped Danny.
"I'm gonna need you to come down now, sir," said Steve, suddenly switching to seriousness.
"Are you trying to piss me off, Steven?"
Steve put his hands to his mouth. "You said a bad word! I'm telling Grace!"
"How is that fair? You cuss all the time, Steve!" complained Danny.
"You can't handle the truth!" Steve yelled suddenly.
"Shhh!" said Danny frantically. "I don't want them to hear us."
"Don't you tell me what to do!"
"Cant you stop talking for three seconds?" hissed Danny.
"If I talk, I don't have to think about all the pain I'm in," Steve pointed out.
"Well cant you speak quietly?"
Steve fell silent for a few moments. "You know, Danno, if you were a girl, you would be an ugly girl."
"What? First of all, where did that even come from? And second, I would be beautiful."
"Oh please. Have you not seen your hair?" said Steve.
"Of course I-wait what do you mean have I seen my hair? There is nothing wrong with it!" said Danny furiously.
"Sure, if you want to be ugly," muttered Steve.
"What's that?" asked Danny.
"I'm a unicorn!" replied Steve brightly, putting his hand on his head like a unicorn horn.
"You're an idiot," said Danny.
"No I'm not, you are," screamed Steve so loud that the back of his throat hurt.
"Shut up!" growled Danny.
"Maybe I don't want-"
"Shut up, I hear someone!"
"The voice came from in the river," said a harsh voice directly above the cave. Steve stared up at the roof in surprise. Who was up there?
"Dont be an idiot, man, the voice came from the bank," said another gruff voice.
"Alright, let's just check it out. We can check then both." Footsteps sounded getting closer and close to the cave. Steve sat there, listening idly.
Suddenly, three men with guns burst into the cave. "Hands up if you want to stay alive," said the first man.
Slowly, Steve raised both of his hands up to his head. He saw Danny lifting his left arm into the air.
"Both hands, both hands!" barked the man.
"I can't move this arm," muttered Danny. Steve was mildly surprised by this; he hadn't even noticed Danny was injured.
"Hand up, princess. Now," commanded a fourth man, strolling into the cave.
"I can't! It got shot and now it won't work," explained Danny.
"Oh really," leered the second man. "Well, we can fix that for you."
"No, I'm good. I like it like this actually," said Danny quickly.
But the third man, who had been silent until now was already approaching Danny. "Dont you worry 'bout a thing," he said.
While he had Danny distracted, the fourth man snuck around behind Danny. Before Steve's slowed mind could comprehend what was going on, Danny was whacked in the back of the head by a gun, and slumped to the ground, unconscious.
The men now turned to Steve. "So, you'll cooperate with us, right?" said the fourth man, smiling evilly.
Well, Steve and Danny really are in a bind, now aren't they? That chapter was so fun to write, concussed Steve was awesome, don't you think? Yes, you do. So send me a review telling me so! See ya next chapter
