Basic Instinct, Part 3

Chapter 17

"Quatre, if I don't make it out of this alive, I want you to know
you are one of my dearest finds," said Relena suddenly, a finality in her
voice.

"Don't talk like that Relena, we are going to make it out of this.
But I'm glad to know you consider me a friend, you are one of my best
friends also," he replied.

The shots rang out and one came through the middle of the raft.
Relena screamed but her mouth was quickly covered by Quatre's hand.

"My arm is going to kill me before they do," moaned Relena, she
was letting it dangle freely in the cold water. Quatre gave her a sympathetic
look but he had more to think about at the moment.

Suddenly they heard laughing, and a rich voice boomed out, "if
you haven't died yet, you sure are when you hit that waterfall."

"Waterfall," said Relena incredously. Quatre was making calculations
in his head, the close together rapids, the speed the water was picking
up to, why hadn't he figured out that there was going to be a waterfall
in the near future. If he lived through it, he was going to have to kill
himself because of stupidity later.

"Doesn't anyone think we have been through enough, I mean this
is like a bad story you read for school, one problem after another,"
said Relena frantically. She was going a bit hysterical.

"Relena, we can see when the waterfall is coming. Right before
we go over, I want you to hang on with all your might to the edge. We
are going to try to climb our way down." Somehow Quatre was remaining
extremely calm throughout everything.

The water was going at an extremely fast pase and Quatre estimated
they had another twenty foot before they reached the edge. To his surprise
the assassins or whoever they were, were still shooting at them.

"Get ready Relena," he gritted through his teeth. The water
dropped off right in front of them. Both turned around and hooked their
nails into the rocky bottom. The current slowly dragged them towards
the edge.

"Ahh," Relena screamed, her mouth filling with water. Her feet
went of and the rest of her body with her. Quatre was close behind her,
neither were able to hold on to the edge.

"Sir, did you see them," asked a young liutenant on the bank.

"No, I think we got them," answered the man smugly. "We're all
done here, make it known to the boss that the Vice-Foreign Minister and
her Gundam pilot friend are no more. Move out."

The sound of marching feet could be heard and soon all the soldiers
were gone.

Chapter 18

Relena sputtered and woke up. Her whole body ached and she blinked
her eyes a few times to get out the grogginess. She was on a little beach
of rocks at the side of the river.

Almost instantly she looked around for Quatre, and didn't find
him.

"Quatre, where are you," she started screaming, but then stopped
herself because she remembered there were dangerous people in the woods
who were after her life.

"Quatre," she whispered sadly. She slowly rose her aching body
and forced herself to walk down the river to look for him.

Chapter 19

Quatre struggled to keep his breath after the fall. Paddling
around he looked for Relena but couldn't find her. Mustering up what
strength he had left, he swam towards shore.

"Relena, I'll find you, I promise," was that last thing he said
before passing out onto the rocky shore.

Chapter 20

Relena walked up shore, she might as well see if he got out before
her. She had drifted down farther than she had thought. She must have
been walking for an hour or more.

Of course occasionally she had to sit down and rest her battered
body. At these times she would pant and almost pass out from exhaustion.

Walking was almost as bad, she couldn't help ignore her throbbing
arm or her bruises that were constantly aching with each step.

"Come on Quatre, where are you," she said to herself. There was
still no sign of him. She could even be heading the wrong way. Of course
this way she could at least scout the whole river.

Finally night fell and she could look no longer. She settled
down in a little ball trying to keep warm despite the nights bitter chill.

Slowly rocking herself she fell asleep.

When morning broke, Relena awoke with it. She had to find Quatre.
He had told her they would stay alive and she had to make sure he kept
his end of the bargain.

Walking on she ignored the pain. Finally she arrived back at
the waterfall. She must have been two miles down from it. Glancing
around she spotted nothing. But then her eyes caught something large
on the bank. Giving it a second look she couldn't believe her eyes.

It was Quatre!

Hobbling as fast as she could she ran to him. "Quatre, wake up,"
she said shaking him. He moaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"Relena, I'll find you, I promise," he mumbled.

"I'm here, look at me. You don't need to find me, I found you.
Come on Quatre speak to me," she cried.

"Relena," he said in a curious childlike voice. Then his voice
grew harder, "Relena!" He sat up in an instant and wrapped her in his
embrace.

Not knowing what to do, Relena returned his hug.

"I was so worried about you. I didn't see you after we went
over and I thought that maybe you had went underneath, or didn't make
it. Are you ok?" he started babbling.

"I was worried about you too. I must have went down about two
miles. I'm ok, but how are you feeling? I couldn't hardly wake you up."

"I'm fine, lets get out of here, are you up to it?"

"I've been up to it from the beginning."

They started walking down the rivers edge. But kept behind the
brush to make sure no one would see them. Namely the gunmen from yesterday.

They must have walked that whole day, occasionally resting because
of both of their injuries. When night fell they camped, using each other
for warmth.

The next morning they had to look for food. There was no getting
around it or they would starve. Water was no problem since the river
was fast moving and safe to drink.

"I really wish I had those airline mixes right now," sighed Quatre.
Relena nodded her head in agreement.

"I know exactly how you feel," she replied. They had found their
raft a ways back. It was battered almost beyond recognition, but none
of the supplies were left.

They headed out further into the woods a little. After the waterfall
the woods had started to get other trees besides conifers growing in them.

"Since it's fall we shouldn't have any problems finding nuts from
these trees," said Quatre thoughtfully. He began giving a cursory glance
or two at the treetops as they walked.

About ready to give up, Relena only checked once in a while. But
as she looked for the last time, she saw a tree with tiny acorns.

"Quatre, look acorns," she screamed into his ear. He didn't say
anything though and looked to where she was pointing. His face lit up
into a smile, which was rare for the past few weeks.

"Thank Allah in heaven," he said. Limping he went to the base
of the tree. A few nuts were at the bottom and he scooped them up, handing
some to Relena before the rest were shoved into his mouth.

Before he swallowed, he took time to spit out the shell. Relena
did about the same thing except she peeled the shell off before she ate
it. They were there for about an hour, continuously peeling and eating
the small nuts.

Their stomachs couldn't hold too much though and they finally grew
full. Not about to slow down they started down the river again.

After about two hours Quatre stopped. He was pale in the face
and was making weird noise.

"Quatre, what's wrong?" asked Relena, becoming increasingly
worried. He didn't reply but leaned over and puked. Falling to his
knees he continued to wretch until he was bringing up dry heaves.

The vomit was a sickly yellow color and not at all natural. He
sat there shaking until he finally stopped hacking.

Relena had stood there the whole time, not quite knowing what
to do. Quatre was sick and needed a doctor. He lay there on the ground
scarecly breathing and barely moving.

"Quatre, I'm gonna go get help. I'm going to leave you here, there
is no way you can travel in the shape you're in."

"No," he gasped, "you can't go out there alone." He struggled
to get up but fell back onto the ground.

"I'm going Quatre, you are really really sick. Our best chance
is if I go on and come back for you."

"No," he fairly shouted. The fear in his eyes showed in great
magnitudes, the aquamarine depths pooling with sorrow. "Don't leave me,
I don't want to be alone," he whimpered. He coughed a few times and
some blood came up.

"Quatre, I promise if I don't find anything before nightfall I'll
come back for you." Without waiting for his answer she piled some dry
leaves on him and walked away.

It was the hardest thing she had ever done, leaving him dying
there. But there was nothing else she could do. Tears streamed down
her face as she heard his strangled screams for her to come back.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore, she ran away from him. Ran
down along the river. After about five minutes she stopped. She sucked
air in with heaving puffs and struggled to catch her breath.

His cries still rang in her ears and she was determined to help
him.

Chapter 21

Quatre lay there crying her name out, but she didn't come back.
His sobs racked his body making him jerk. He felt like he was dying, which
he probably was.

He knew what plant could cure him, but he had no idea if there
was any near him. They grew everywhere, but who knows how far away they
were from him.

The plant was three leaved and resembled poison ivy. But they
weren't shiny like its poisonous twin.

He looked around him. There was none like it around the trees
near the river bank. Flipping himself over he landed in his own puke.
The smell rose up and threatened to gag him. But he ignored it and
started to drag himself into the woods.

Relena wouldn't get back in time to save him. Food poisoning was
deadly when this serious, and it didn't take long to prove fatal. He
inched his way along slowly. Struggling with his sore arms for every
pull. He made it about twenty feet in when he had to stop and rest.

Glancing around feverously he looked for the plant. Poison ivy,
but that wasn't what he was looking for. He inched his way a little
further.

But then he stopped and stared at the poison ivy, it wasn't very
shiny.

Turning himself he pulled on a root in front of him to get him
closer.

It was the plant! Struggling he pulled himself towards it.
Reaching out his hand, he picked some. And brought it to his mouth.
His eyes were dilated and it made him have a hard time directing his hand
to his mouth.

He chewed it, some dribbled out of his mouth and down his chin
but he didn't care. All he could focus on at the moment was getting the
plant into his system. Swallowing he forced all of the plant down.

Exhaustion laced at him and he passed out. The plant began working
a couple minutes later.

Chapter 22

Relena padded her way through the forest. She had been walking
for a couple of hours and her feet were beginning to smart.

"BOOM," a noise caught her attention. Glancing up she saw some
smoke rising above the trees. Sneaking towards the clearing where it
had came from she crouched down behind a bush.

The soldiers were there. They had strung up a couple from the
little log cabin built there and were demanding something from them.

When the old man shook his head, he was shot. His wife screamed
and she was slapped across the face. The man whom she couldn't see his
facial features said something to her in an angry tone of voice.

Like her husband she just shook her head. Another shot was heard
and the woman slumped over. Tears were streaming down Relena's eyes and
she didn't even realize it.

She sat there and watched as the soldiers raided the little cabin
and she watched as they leaved a little time later. Only then did she
catch her breath.

Sneaking away she made her way back to Quatre. When she was
sure she was out of the soldiers hearing and seeing range she ran.

She still had a few hours before it grew dark. She hoped she
could get back to Quatre before night fell. Breaking out of her run she
settled back into a walk.

Chapter 23

It was almost dark when Quatre woke up. His stomach still hurt
but he didn't feel that sick anymore. Glad he was alive he struggled
to his feet so he could get back to where Relena had left him.

Reaching the bank he just sat and watched the water flow. A
twig snapped behind him and he spun around. Relena emerged from the
bushes.

"Quatre you're feeling better," she cried. He nodded and she
came over to sit wearily beside him.

"I found a plant that cures food poisoning," he said simply.

"I found a cabin."

"You did? Thats great! How far away is it?" She hated to ruin
the look of joy on his face.

"Its a couple miles from here. But the soldiers were there, they
shot the old couple that was living there."

"Oh, well we still need to go there, there has to be a road to
a city or something."

"Alright, but for now, I just want to sleep." True to her word
as soon as her head hit his shoulder she was asleep. Quatre meanwhile
was wondering how long she would stay there due to the fact that he stunk
horribly. The vomit he had floundered over onto had dried and now stunk
to high heaven.

But it didn't seem to bother her. He too soon fell asleep, oblivious
to the night noises around him.

Chapter 24

Relena and Quatre steathily crept around the clearing. They had
arose early in the morning and went straight to walking towards the cabin.

So far there had been no signs of life, but they wanted to make
sure. They had made it this far, to die now was a waste of time.

Quatre crept around to the side of the cabin, and slowly inched
his way towards the window. Leaning ever so cautiously over he peered
in. There was no one in there. He turned and signaled Relena. She
skittered her way over and they slowly made their way around to the door.

Opening it and wincing at the squeaking sound it made they prepared
to run. But no voices were heard and no people were seen.

Quatre made his way inside, glancing around to see anything of
suspiscion. The bodies of the couple were still outside. It was a horrid
sight, some animal had gotten to them and ripped them apart. Apparations
were all that was left of them. And the flies literally swallowed them
up in their dark cloud.

Finally Quatre let out a sigh. The coast was clear, no one was
here.

"Relena, do you have any idea what they were looking for here?"
he asked, moving around and opening drawers in the kitchen.

"None at all, but it must have been important since they were
willing to die for it." She decided to have a look in the fridge. Amazingly
the cabin had electic hook up. That meant they were not too far from
civilization.

Inside wasn't much of anything. But there was some fresh fruit.
Hunger gleaming in her eye she grabbed one of the apples and bit into it.

"OWWWW," she screamed.

"What happened, whats going on," asked Quatre frantically as he
spun around with the speed of lightning.

"There's something in this apple," Relena answered sheepishly.

"Let me see it," said Quatre. Relena tossed him the apple and
after knawing around the edges the small metal device fell into his hand.

He turned it around and then placed it in his pocket. "It is some
sort of bomb I think. Check those other apples." In each apple they found
a similar device.

"We have to get these back to the base soon, they could be important."

Relena nodded. "There's a phone over there, we can call," she
exclaimed happily.

"No we can't," growled Quatre fiercly, then softening a bit he
told her, "The soldiers might have tapped onto the phone. It's too risky."

Her happiness diminished, Relena went into the other room.

"Hey Quatre, clothes," she fairly shouted. He rushed in there
hoping to replace his puked up tee-shirt. Pulling down on of the oxfords
he quickly replaced his own shirt.

Relena followed suit. The couples pants were too large unfortunately
so those clothes did not get changed.

Gathering everything they might need, they headed out. They had
hoped to find a car, but the large explosion Relena had heard the day
before was the sound of the vehicle blowing up.

To their luck though, there was a road. They stayed at the bushes
at the side, trying to keep out of the eyes of anyone who might see them.

To their greatest joy, they saw buildings up ahead.

"I cannot believe it, two weeks in the wilderness and now civilization,
I never thought anything would look so good," smiled Quatre. For the
first time in awhile he could relax.

They still had a couple miles to go. And it would be dark before
they could reach the city. But their feet and their hearts felt lighter.
It didn't matter, they were going home.

By dusk they had reached the city limits. A small diner was
there but it appeared to be closed.

"Great, now we have to walk even more," groaned Quatre. His broken
leg was throbbing and his patience was wearing thin.

They made their way into the city, up ahead they could see a tiny
police station. Their pace picked up and they busted through the swinging
doors.

"Vice Minister Dorlian," were the shouts that rose up.

"We need you to contact the preventers, quickly," said Quatre,
not giving them a chance to ask questions.

An officer strode off to do so. But was stopped short by a gun
pointed at his head.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

Well, well, a cliffhanger, you know I just had to do that. :-) Please
don't kill me. Well what do you think. I know this part is not as long
as the others but I wanted to end it right here. Thanks for reading!