Chapter 10: Put to Rest

-Cody POV-

I continue to watch the car as it disappears from sight, smiling slightly to myself. I pick up the picture again, glancing at it briefly before sliding it into my pocket. "This is going to be fun," I mutter to myself, as I hop over the fence at the back of my alley.

As I walk down the street, I glance at my watch. This again makes me smile. Anyone else my age would have to be crazy to walk down this street at this time at night. Again though, neither number matters to me. Also, simply put, I'm not everyone else…I'm me. Finally I come up on the place I'm looking for. I open the door.

Inside the atmosphere is thick with the smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol. I leave my sunglasses on as a shield for my eyes, despite the only light in the room coming from a few neon signs as well as a couple of dim overhead lights by the bartender's station. Around me, several people are slumped in their chairs. "I think it's about time for you to go home," I silently mutter to myself as I look at each. A few others are hunched over on stools by the bar. My presence draws looks from a couple of them, but I ignore them.

"One coke," I say to the bartender, dropping a couple of dollars down. He takes them and after a look at me, he complies with my request. I look around, my target should be by any moment now…

-Normal POV-

Zack and Cody looked at Riley and Rhuben for a second. The look on the girls' faces was final, so each nodded before climbing down.

"All right, let's go," Cody said. "First we gotta stop back in our wings."

"What for?" Zack asked.

"Our stuff," Cody replied. The girls also nodded. With that, the four of them stealthily made their way back up to their wings.

"Meet us back in the hall in five minutes," Riley said when they each were outside their respective wings.

The twins each nodded again as Cody slowly opened the door to their side. Everything was dark with the exception of the moonlight that shone through the windows. Peering down to the beds, the twins could see that everyone had long ago gone to bed. Zack slid in front of Cody and began to silently make his way towards his bed. He then motioned for Cody to follow.

"Only take essentials," Cody whispered. With that he opened his backpack and dumped nearly everything into his trunk with the exception of some pens and a notepad. Next he grabbed his old clothes as well as a few new ones. He looked up as he zipped the backpack's pockets shut, the entire time taking extra care to do so as quietly as possible.

Zack also finished up. "Let's go," he mouthed to Cody.

After moving stealthily back through the wing, the twins softly closed the door behind them. A moment later they were met by Riley and Rhuben. The kids silently crept back towards the stairs and down them. This time around however, it felt as if the hall was much louder than before. Every time one of them stepped it seemed like another portion would creak. They took turns twisting around each time this happened, making care sure that no one was following them.

"Whew," Zack said one they got outside. "Glad that's over." He sighed, filled with relief.

"Don't celebrate yet," Riley said. "That was the easy part. Now we have to get across the complex. The fence is the lowest near the parking lot."

"That doesn't seem too bad," Zack replied.

"Except for that," Cody said, his eyes widening. He pointed to a golf cart driving near one of the other buildings.

"They patrol this place at night," Rhuben said.

"Follow us," Riley said, crouching down as she began to move towards the side of the building.

"You've done this before?" Zack asked raising an eyebrow.

"Once or twice," Rhuben replied with a smile. "The trick is not to get caught."

"Like with the food?" Cody said, also cracking a small smile.

"That reminds me," Rhuben said. She motioned to Riley. "We should make a small trip to the kitchen before we book."

"Sure," Riley replied.

"They're not going to leave that door unlocked after what happened earlier," Cody said. "You guys know another way in?"

"What don't we know about this place?" Rhuben said to Riley.

"Nothing," Riley said. She moved further along the side of the building, making sure to stay low, the others followed suit. Suddenly Riley motioned for them to flatten themselves against the wall as a light flashed by. Cody held his breath as the snow in front of him illuminated. Finally the light passed as he and Zack let out a sigh of relief. "Come on," Riley said a second later.

Crouching down, the group continued to make their way across the complex. Every so often they would stop to avoid the headlights of another patrol cart. Finally they reached the kitchen. Cody tried the door, even though he had a strong feeling that it would be locked. "Yep, it's locked," he said turning to the others.

"That's why we're going in this way," Riley replied. She moved further down the building until she came across a window. Using some pipes on the wall for support she pulled herself to the window ledge. Next she took a kitchen knife out of her pocket and began to slide it through the window crack. Finally the locks popped and she slid inside. A second later she opened the door for the others.

The kids raided the snack boxes. They also grabbed some soup cans. "We can probably use these for something," Cody said as he put two cans into his backpack. "Everyone ready to go?" He asked as he zipped his bag up. The others nodded as they made their way back outside. On their way out, each took extra care to avoid the patrol lights. "This place is like a prison," Cody muttered to himself. He held the door for Zack, Riley, and Rhuben, before gently closing it behind him.

Suddenly Cody saw his shadow fall straight ahead on the wall in front of him. Despite the cold night air, sweat dripped down his face. In the corner of his eye, he could see a bright light. "Oh no," he said fearfully, his breath making a large cloud of mist in front of him. Cody turned his head to see a pair of bright lights rushing towards him.

"Go!" he said as he and the others took off for the space behind the buildings. The kids bolted behind the buildings, all the while glancing to see where the patrol carts were. The carts paralleled their path, following them on the complex's main walkways.

"This way," Riley said turning towards the fence. The others followed her, and came to a stop at the fence. "We're going to have to hop it here."

Rhuben went first. She shimmied up the fence's metal bars. "There's a tree on the other side," she called back. "Use that to climb down." After descending down a few branches, she leapt down and hid behind the tree.

"You're next," Zack said firmly to Riley. She looked at him for a second, but the look in his eyes was final. She nodded and followed her sister. A moment later, Riley was safe on the other side and also behind the tree.

Cody's eyes widened as the approaching light drew closer. He realized that the tree wasn't going to be able to hide all of them, especially with the growing number of carts chasing them. He also saw a cart heading for the gate, as if to head off "whoever" was sneaking around the complex. "Rhuben, Riley, GO!" Cody said quickly. "RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Riley also saw the cart heading towards them. "Hurry up! Come on guys!" Both she and Rhuben were hesitant to leave them. "What about you?" Riley said, fear in her eyes.

"We'll catch up! Get out of here!"

"But-" Rhuben also looked at him. Time was running out.

"JUST GO!"

Zack motioned to Cody. "Come on Cody, go!" He began to help his brother up the fence.

Cody looked at the oncoming lights. On both sides they were drawing closer. "Rhuben! Riley! Don't worry about us! Just GET OUT OF HERE!" He shot a determined look at each of them.

"Meet us two streets over," Riley said. "You have two minutes," she added with a smile.

"Good luck," Rhuben said. With that, her and Riley turned and ran.

"Good luck," Cody said quietly as he climbed the fence. "What about you?" he said quickly, looking at Zack, who was still on the ground.

"Just go," Zack hissed. "I'll be right behind you."

Cody nodded as he swung himself over the fence and onto the tree. Next he started to climb down, but his foot slipped on a patch of ice on the branch. Cody quickly braced himself as he started to swing. Air left him in deep gasps, as Cody attempted to catch his breath from the initial shock. Sweat dripped down his forehead as well as formed on his palms, making it more difficult to hold his grip.

Zack looked up and realized Cody was in trouble. "Cody!" he said worried.

Cody continued to slip. "Help me!" he said, wrapping his arms around the branch. His feet continued to dangle.

'I'm coming Cody!" Zack said, climbing as quickly as possible. He reached the top just as the carts were beginning to near the fence. He braced himself against fence and a tree branch as he reached out. "Grab my hand!"

Hooking one arm around the branch, Cody reached over and grabbed Zack's hand. His other arm finally lost its grip pulling him and Zack down, hard.

Lucky for Cody, his foot caught the fence a second later, steadying him. Finally able to regain his balance, Cody began to climb down. Once at a safe height, he let go and fell to the ground. His legs buckled under him, causing him to fall on his back. All though his backpack helped soften the blow, he still gulped as the wind was knocked from his body. Cody coughed in pain as he slowly opened his eyes. Despite the pain, he knew they had to get out of there.

A moment later, Cody heard several loud cracks and saw someone fall near him. A second look told him it was Zack, who was now on the ground, with a face of pure agony. Cody's eyes widened, the pain disappearing from him as adrenaline began to fill his blood vessels. "Zack!" Cody said. "Come on." He helped his brother up. Zack's knees shook badly. "Come on big bro! We're almost out!" Cradling Zack on his shoulder, he bolted through the trees to the road. Breathing heavily, he stopped in the next alley.

'We…made…it…Zack…" Cody said between breaths as a look around told him no one was chasing them anymore. He slid Zack off his shoulder.

"Y-yea," Zack replied in a shaky voice. Cody's eyes widened at what he saw next. Zack began to shake violently, his legs buckling under his weight. A second later, they began to give out.

"ZACK!" Cody said rushing forward. He caught his brother, slowing his fall to the ground. Cody cradled his brother in his arms. "Z-Zack," he said fearfully. "Zack, what's wrong?"

Zack ignored the question. "A-are you ok?" he said. It seemed like he had to fight to get the words out.

'Forget about me!" Cody snapped. "What's wr-" His voice broke. Cody felt something jagged and wooden poking his hand. "No…" Cody muttered. Cody looked down and saw something dark red oozing from his brother's body and onto his hand. It was blood…Zack's blood."Zack!" Cody gasped.

"I-I-I'm ok," Zack said in a pain filled voice. "Don't worry…I-I'll be ok. It'll be ok…"

"Zack," Cody began again, tears threatening his eyes. "Come on! We have to get you help, NOW!" He tried to lift Zack up. Zack groaned loudly in pain, so Cody brought him back down, still cradling him in his arms.

Zack coughed and struggled, pain filled his eyes. "I can't…" he mumbled. His breathing fell to gasps. He coughed softly.

"No! ZACK!" Cody said, tears filled his eyes. "DON'T SAY THAT!"

"I'm sorry Cody," Zack said, his voice falling. He coughed again, his breathing falling. Color also steadily drained from his face.

"No, Zack please…" Cody said, tears now falling steadily. "Please don't die. You're all I have left. Please." He looked into his brother's eyes. Zack held eye contact for a second before closing his eyes. His breathing continued to weaken. Cody hugged his brother's body close, shaking slightly himself.

Zack slightly reopened one eye. Shaking, he slowly raised his hand up, lightly clutching his brother's shoulder. "C-Cody," he said softly.

"I'm here Zack," Cody said swallowing deeply. "Please stay with me. Please, please." He continued to cry. "Please don't leave me. Please…you…you're all I have left. Please. I couldn't go on without you. Please."

"I…love…you…" Zack said weakly. "little…brother…please…don't…cry." Each word was a fight. "I-t's…ok….it'll…be…ok."

"This is all my fault!" Cody said. "I'm sorry Zack. I love you! Please don't die! Please! I need you! Please!"

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," Zack said with a cough. "Please...promise me..."

"Anything..." Cody fought the word out through his tears.

"P-p-promise...me...you'll...stay...strong...Cody...you'll...go on...you...won't...ever...give...in."

"Zack..."

"P-please...C-C-Cody..."

Cody sniffled as the tears continued. "I promise Zack."

Zack smiled slightly. "…I…love…you…" His eyes closed as his last breath softly left his body. His arm rested on Cody's shoulder, lifeless.

"ZACK! NO! PLEASE!" Cody said, crying harder than he ever had, even harder than he did at the funeral for everyone who died at the Tipton. "PLEASE COME BACK! PLEASE! ZACK!" He clutched Zack's body as he cried harder and harder. "No…Zack, you promised, you promised…you…promised." He laid his head down on Zack's chest. "Please big brother…please."

Cody tightly clutched Zack's hand in his. He never felt so alone. Pain tore through him. It was the worst pain he had ever felt, the worst he could have ever imagined. It tore through his very being. Cody continued to cry softly as he finally sat himself up, pulling his knees to his chest. As much as he didn't want to, he knew his brother wanted him to keep looking forward. He was on his own...he would have to face the world…alone.

(A/N) The beginning of this chapter was a continuation of the prologue and takes place at the same time. The rest of this chapter takes place in line with the rest of the story. Please don't be too mad at me for killing Zack. Please Read and Review