This chapter is a little longer then usual (1500 more words), but this is the second to last chapter (At least for this specific story in the AU) and I didn't want to cram the ending chapter full of dramatic events, and I didn't want to write another full chapter, so it's just a tad bit longer then you're used to. :)
《◇》
Virgil sighed, rolling onto his side and pulling his arm to rest under his head, providing a cushion against the rocky forest floor as he gazed up at the dark morning sky, seeing the stars twinkling and shining in the pitch black abyss.
Virgil blinked, and slowly stood up, taking care not to disturb Patton, and crept out from under the fallen tree trunk that was their makeshift shelter. Virgil skirted the dying embers of the fire they had used to make their dinner, and stepped over the log that functioned as a seat and out past the treeline.
《◇》
Patton jerked awake , and turned to check on Virgil as he always did, it was a reflex by now. Patton blinked as he saw the empty area next to him, before scrambling up and darting out of the shelter.
"Virgil!" Patton called, head whipping around to search the clearing for his younger friend. "Virgi-"
"What?" Patton turned as he saw Virgil stepping back into the clearing, hand raising to cover his mouth as he yawned.
"Virgil! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Where did you go?" Patton cried, reaching forward and enveloping Virgil in a tight hug.
"What- Patton, dude. You can't expect me to wake you up whenever nature calls." Virgil crossed his arms as Patton released him, a bemused expression placed upon his face.
"Still. After that... Incident, I'm cautious. You can understand why, right?" Patton waited till Virgil reluctantly nodded, before trotting back to the log, sitting down and poking the dying embers of the fire with a stick. "Well I'm probably gonna stay up, looks like it's around three or something... somewhere around there. You can catch a few Z's while I prepare breakfast."
"What are you going to make?" Virgil questioned, plodding across the clearing and laying back down.
"Probably just berries and a drink of water again..." Patton awkwardly ran his fingers through his hair. "Sorry."
Virgil groaned, and rolled over, resting his head on his arm. "It's fine. But when we get back home, we're going to a buffet and I'm going to eat so much food."
"Yeah! I'm going to have chicken... cookies... maybe a slice of cake..." Patton smiled as he fantasized about the treats he would consume upon their rescue.
"It'll be delicious." Patton and Virgil chimed in unison.
《◇》
"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do. We put all of our manpower and even volunteers on the search, but they've come up with nothing."
Logan sighed, watching as Roman, sitting next to him, rested his elbows on the polished oak table of the police chiefs desk, resting his head in his hands.
"Sir, with all due respect, we can't just give up! These are two men, possibly starving in the middle of the woods! You can't just abandon our best friends!" Logan rested a hand on Romans shoulder, and pleaded with the police chief, who was looking apologetic, but firm.
"We can't spare anymore men." The police chief organized the papers on his desk, setting them into a folder and neatly setting it aside, before setting his elbows on the table, clasping his hands together, a grim look in his eyes. "... I'm sorry. We're sending out the last search team today to do one final search, but you have to understand... it's been two weeks. Even if they're found they might not be.."
"Don't." Logan was taken aback by the fury in Romans voice as he addressed the police chief. "Logan, we're leaving."
"Roman.." Logan slowly stood as Roman pushed his chair up, walking to the door to leave.
"You may abandon our friends, but we will never stop searching." Roman narrowed his eyes, glaring at the Police Chief. "As usual, we'll be flying alongside the search team today. And we'll be searching tomorrow. And the day after that. We'll never stop searching." With that final remark, Roman left the stunned Police Chief and Logan standing by the desk and pushed out the heavy oak doors, letting them slam shut behind him.
Logan spared the Police Chief an apologetic glance, then raced after Roman, catching up to him in the parking lot.
"Logan. What took you so long?" Logan was taken aback at the sharpness of Romans voice. "Apologizing for my actions? Even though they were 100% justified?"
"No. I was asking the secretary when the search heli leaves." Logan answered shortly, pushing past Roman to reach their car. "The Heli leaves at 12PM. We've got an hour and a half to get ready." Logan opened the drivers side door, and sat in the seat, Roman joining him on the passengers side.
"We're going to find him Roman. I'd spend the rest of my life searching until we fund them." Logan reassured his friend.
"I know..."
《◇》
Patton pulled the cardigan over his head, tying it back around his neck, sort of like a makeshift cape.
Patton smiled as he felt the warm sunlight warm up on his exposed arms as the sun rays filtered through the forests canopy.
"For Autumn, it's pretty warm." Patton noted to Virgil, who was walking next to him.
"Yeah, especially for Canada." Virgil agreed, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie to feel to warm sunlight. "Why are we going to the river though? The lake is so much closer."
Patton was silent for a moment, before sighing. "I know it's stupid. I just don't want to spend any more time near the Ces... the plane then I have to..."
Virgil nodded, then sighed. "Yeah..."
Patton spared Virgil a glance, giving him a hopeful smile and patting him on the arm.
"Don't worry Virgil... it wasn't your fault that we ended up in this mess... the plane was full on fuel... there's no way we could've ran out that quickly. If anything its my fault... if there was a leak I should've seen something during the pre-flight checks."
"It's..." Virgil sighed. "We shouldn't dwell on the past. We're here now and all we need to do is get back home."
"I know..."
《◇》
Virgil laid his (now soaking) Hoodie on the tree log where Patton's drying items were also drying.
Virgil was just left in his boxers and his grimy undershirt as his recently 'cleaned' clothes dried in the bright sunlight, and Patton had dressed in the spare set of clothes that were supplied in the B.O.B, a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt, allowing him to wash all of his clothes instead of just the top layer like Virgil was doing (it was warm but Virgil wasn't particularly up to going commando. He'd rather just deal with the slightly grimey under clothes he was wearing. Patton was wading in the shallows, as Virgil sat on a rock, dipping his feet in and occasionally throwing a rock or tossing in a tree branch and watching it get swept away by the current of the river.
Virgil was entranced by the sounds of the river and the surrounding nature that he barely registered Patton calling to him.
"...Irgil! Virgil!"
"What? Patton what's up?" Virgil swiveled on his rock and turned to see Patton (who had abandoned the activity of wading through the river and was currently sitting on a narrow tree about fifteen feet or so away from Virgil that had fallen and currently lay over the river, a few feet above the swirling currents of the swiftly flowing middle of the river.
Patton had his legs dangling off the edge, and he was pointing upward at the clear sky.
"Virgil! Do you hear that?" Patton cried gesturing toward the sky.
Virgil listened for a few moments, before realizing what Patton was talking about.
The distant hum of a helicopter, growing steadily closer.
"Patton! There's a helicopter!" Virgil cried, jumping from the rock to the shore, slipping on the uneven surface of the slipper rocks and falling. Virgil felt a jolt of pain as his injured leg scraped against sharp rocks, but he still bounded up, racing towards Patton.
"Virgil! Oh my god!" Patton's hand raised to cover his mouth, as he pointed above. Virgil saw the helicopter in the distance, and following it was a plane... It was a...
A Viking.
"Patton! That's Logan and Roman! It has to be! Oh my god!" Virgil felt a smile break through his face. "Get the flare gun! They're going to fly right over us! We're going to be rescued!" Virgil cried, watching as Patton scrambled to get the flare gun from the case that was secured to the belt tied around his waist.
Virgil watched nervously as Patton detached it from his belt, as the belt attachment was preventing it from being opened, and before Virgil could warn him to be careful, Patton shook, leg slipping off the tree trunk.
And then he plunged into the swirling waters of the river.
Virgil gasped as Patton disappeared into the middle of the river, disappearing underneath the water, flare gun falling with him, handle clasped in his grip.
Virgil stood, shocked for a moment, before racing down the bank, watching for Patton. Virgil saw him surface, Patton's arms flailing desperately as he was pulled by the current, water washing over his face and terror clear on his face. Virgil turned and dove into the water, his arms driving him forward as he swam through the strong current toward the struggling man.
Virgil grasped Patton, placing a hand underneath his chest and pulling him flush against his body, legs kicking through the strong water, pushing them out of the current and to the shore.
As Virgil dragged Patton to the solid ground, he quickly yanked the Flare Gun case from Patton's limp and cold hand, quickly loading the gun and raising it above his head, pulling the trigger.
After feeling the kickback of the flare gun firing, Virgil flung the gun aside carelessly, turning his attention to Virgil, placing his hands upon his chest and interlacing his fingers, pressing down upon the unresponsive man's chest.
Patton's body was limp, unresponsive.
"No.. not again.." Virgil felt his eyes tear up.
He wasn't breathing.
《◇》
Roman heard the crackle of the radio through his headset before the low tone of the helicopters search team's pilot came over the comm.
"We have a visual on two men matching the description. Forward and to the right, please confirm. Over."
Roman jolted up, pressing his hand to the glass and looking out. His eyes scanned the horizon before he saw two forms near a river, one standing next to a tree log laying over the river, and the other pointing to the sky while fumbling with a bright orange bag on his lap.
It was them.
"Search team, it's them! Set down, we'll circle above while you rescue. Over." Roman couldn't believe it.
"Roger. We'll loop around the clearing to determine the best place to set down, then we'll get your friends out of there. Over." The radio crackled, then went silent.
Roman sighed in relief, turning to Logan. He turned to speak to Logan, whose knuckles were clutching the yoke, knuckles bone white.
"Lo-"
"Hey! One of the men have fallen in the river! Repeat- one of the men has fallen in the river! Over!"
Roman whipped back to the window, gasping as he looked below. Virgil was alone. Racing down the shore as Patton's flailing form bobbed and swirled in the current, the orange box (which Roman determined to be a flare gun case) in his grip.
"Logan! Oh my god! Patton is in the river! Logan, he's drowning! Oh my god he's drowning!" Roman cried, desperately praying for his struggling friend below. Logan kept his eyes on the horizon, focusing to keep the plane steady, but his heart filled with dread as Roman described the events happening below.
Roman watched as Virgil dived into the water, gasping as he did so.
"Virgil is in the river! Oh my god, oh my god..." Roman muttered as he watched Virgil dive below the swirling white foam of the river, before he surfaced, dragging Patton's limp form the the shore.
Virgil drug Patton's limp form out of the water, struggling with the box clutched in his grip, before wrenching the flare gun box from his grasp, throwing the lid open and pulling out the gun, firing the flare and then throwing it to the side, turning back to Patton and pressing his hands to Patton's chest, desperately trying to revive him.
"Logan... Patton... Patton is just lying there..." Roman raised his hands to cover his mouth. "Oh my god..."
《◇》
Virgil heard the helicopter touching down behind him, the rotors creating an intense gust of wind that ruffled his hair and caused his clothes to whip around him.
As Virgil preformed a rescue breath on Patton, he heard feet pounding the dirt behind him, before he was torn away from his motionless friend, a person wearing a neon jacket with the word 'Civil Air Patrol Paramedic' embroidered across the back. Virgil struggled desperately, trying to reach his friend.
"Hey, hey hey! Calm down son, we're going to get both of you out of here." Virgil relaxed as the Paramedic gripping his arms spoke. Virgil turned, but kept an eye on Patton as the paramedics loaded him onto a stretcher, one strapping a machine to his face, before he was pulled away, being led to another stretcher and being sat down on it. "Okay kid, looks like ya hurt your leg out here. Just stay still and let me secure you to this stretcher here, and then we'll load you into the helicopter and be on our way.
Virgil nodded distractedly, craning his head to try to catch a glimpse of his friend. Before he could see how Patton was doing, he felt his stretcher jolt before he was lifted into the air, being carried to the helicopter and loaded into it, the Paramedic from before sitting next to him, laying a blanket over his shivering and damp body, before attaching a mask over his face, looking him in the eyes, patting his arm gently.
"Alright kiddo, just count back from ten for me alright? We're gonna put you under for the helicopter ride back to the hospital. Just back from ten, you can do it."
"Ten... Nine... Seven.." Virgil felt his eyelids dip, but he forced them back open. "S...six...five..." Virgil couldn't hold on to his conciousness any longer, letting his eyes slip close with a final whisper.
"Four..."
《◇》
Please leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter! No one commented on the previous chapter so I wasn't sure if anyone was still reading this story...
See y'all tomorrow!
- Ren