Chapter 11 Rainy Days

After a few minutes of resting, the boys want to go on. But then the first drops of rain start to fall. In a few minutes it is pouring down.

"Now what do we do?" James shouts over the rain as all boys start to get soaked.

"We need to keep going, it'll stop soon." Carlos shouts back.

"I think we need to look for shelter." Kendall shouts. Carlos stops walking and looks back at Kendall.

"If we stop now, we'll never make it home!" He shouts to Kendall.

"If we don't stop, Logan will get even sicker." Kendall shouts back.

James look between them, feeling tension rising again.

"You think I don't care about Logan?" Carlos asks.

"I never said that." Kendall argues.

"No, but you think I'm irresponsible, right? So I'll mess this up, too, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Guys!" James shouts. They both look at him. "If you stay here and argue, Logan will get sick anyway. So let's just keep walking and maybe we will find shelter on the way."

"Oh, so you're taking his side now?" Carlos argues with James.

"I'm not taking sides right now. But I'm wet and cold and my foot hurts. I just want to get out of here, before things get…worse." As he says the last part, a loud roar of thunder is heard above them.

Carlos and Kendall give each other one more glare before they all gather up and start walking again.

The rain has made the ground wet and muddy. Every step becomes slippery. There is more than one occasion where Kendall helps James pull his 'crutches' out of the ground.

The boys keep on going, even though it's getting harder to see. Kendall keeps an eye on Carlos as he carries Logan. More than once he sees Carlos almost lose his grip on Logan. After seeing Carlos nearly slip and fall to the ground, he has had enough and steps out to the front.

"Alright, hand Logan to me." He announces. Carlos just keeps on walking. "Carlos!" He makes the Latino stop walking by putting a hand on his arm. Carlos turns around and stares at his arm. Kendall quickly lets go.

"Hand Logan over to me."

"And why should I?" Carlos asks him.

"Because I've watched you nearly drop him like four times now."

"Nearly meaning, I haven't." Carlos turns around and starts to walk again. Kendall glares and decides to just take the gurney instead. He starts to pull on it, making Carlos stop again.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"I asked you nicely, that didn't work. So I'll just take him instead."

"Kendall, let go of the handles." Carlos warns as they both tug on the handles.

"No, give him to me. You aren't careful enough."

"I haven't dropped him once, he's perfectly safe with me."

"He was safe, yeah. But I just know you'll drop him, you always break everything. You're bound to drop Logan."

"Oh, so we're back at this are we? Now I'm too irresponsible to carry Logan?"

"Just give him to me!"

"Let go, Kendall!"

"Guys, stop!" James tries to come between them. He comes so close in fact, that one more tug on the handles leads to one elbow bumping James to the ground hard.

"You let go, Carlos! You'll drop him!"

"He is just fine, I can take care of him!"

"No, you can't!"

Kendall and Carlos keep arguing, while Logan slowly opens his eyes and suddenly notces James on the ground, eyes squeezed shut in pain.

"Uh, guys?" He quietly asks. They just keep on going. "Guys!" He shouts with all his strength, resulting in a coughing fit.

Finally they stop fighting as they hear Logan cough.

"Now look what you did!" Carlos starts.

"Me? If you had just let go of the handles, he would be fine!"

"If you hadn't started pulling on them in the first place, we wouldn't have even started this argument!" Logan just keeps on coughing.

"Great! He's probably got pneumonia now. You happy now?"

"Happy? What, now I started this whole storm?"

"No, but you.." Carlos interrupts Kendall as he finally notices James. He carefully lays Logan down on the ground and heads over. He accidentally bumps into Kendall on the way over.

"Hey! Now you're just resulting into violence?"

"Just shut up and help me get James up!" Kendall's eyes widen as he also notices James. "James?" Carlos calls out to his friend. But loud groaning is all he gets in return.

"Where does it hurt, James?" Kendall asks. James doesn't talk, but starts to point down to his leg. Both boys look down and gasp as they see the odd angle James' leg is in. "Okay, James? We need to pull you up, okay?"

"No, it hurts…" James moans.

"I know, but we can't let you lie here. It's too cold and wet, okay? We don't need you to get as sick as Logan is. Come on." Carlos and Kendall both grab a hold under James' arms. "Okay, I'm going to count to three and then you need to help out and pull too. Keep your leg off the ground and we'll hand you your crutches, alright?"

"I can't…"

"James, we know it hurts, but right now we don't have another choice." Kendall gets ready to count, when Carlos starts to get up and take the bag off his back.

"What are you doing?" Kendall asks him.

"Look, we can't let him lean on those crutches, he's in too much pain right now. I'm going to leave this bag and carry Logan on my back instead. James can then lie on the gurney and we can look for shelter. There seems to be a path in front of us, maybe it leads somewhere." Carlos answers as he starts to move towards Logan.

"Okay, but I'll carry Logan then. He's too heavy for you." Kendall tells him.

"I can carry Logan. I've carried him before, I can do it again."

"No, I will.." Kendall starts again, but Carlos interrupts.

"I said I got it, Kendall!" He shouts angrily, making Kendall back down. Kendall watches Carlos exchange words with Logan. Logan then nods and Carlos starts to hoist him up and lets him hang on to his back. He sees Carlos wince, but it only lasts a moment. Knowing he'll never convince him otherwise, he decides to follow him.

"Come on, James, lets get you onto that gurney." He determinedly tells James, who whimpers in pain.

A few moments later the boys are walking again, but their pace is slowing down ever so slightly. Carlos is in the front again, with Logan tightly holding onto him and seemingly sleeping on his back, with his head resting in his neck.

Kendall walks behind, holding the gurney with James on it, who still has his eyes shut and wincing every time they hit a slight bump. This is followed by Kendall's voice apologizing every single time.

Another chapter. More filling for now ;)

I hope you liked it, please review again and fill me in on any requests or ideas you might have. Even if they are for other stories, because I love writing!

Thanks and love, Baxxie