Summary – All the people in Johnny's life are part of a disturbing vision he must piece together.

Characters – Johnny, Bruce, Dana, Sarah, Walt, Little Johnny.

Spoilers – First Season up to Destiny.

Disclaimer – The Dead Zone belongs to USA Network and Lions Gate Television and is based on the characters and novel by Stephen King.

Content – Drama/Angst/Mystery

Rating – PG13

*******

The walk to the highway from the campsite was longer than Walt thought. He wished he had taken the car. He hoped the boy would behave himself; stay put and play the computer game. He could hear the drone of cars nearby as the highway got closer. He stood by the side of the road and looked at his cell phone. He saw that he was in range so he dialled the number of Sarah's cell phone. The phone rang several times before it as answered.

"Hello?" Sarah said as Bruce drove them to the campsite.

"Sarah!"

Sarah frowned as a crackling sound came over the receiver. "Walt?"

She clicked her tongue as the reception crackled and Walt's voice cut in and out. "I can't hear you. You're breaking up."

"I can hear you fine," Walt said but Sarah let out a long sigh. "We're on our way. The vision Johnny had... been about JJ."

The reception on the cell phone crackled just as Sarah spoke. Walt glared at the phone in annoyance and shook it.

He laughed. "Now I can't hear. What was that last thing you said?"

"I said … the vision was about JJ," Sarah shouted down the phone but still the reception crackled and hissed. All Walt heard was JJ's name.

"He's fine," replied Walt.

The dark haired woman shook her head with frustration. Johnny glanced in the rear view mirror to see the look of irritation on her face. He noticed that Dana was sitting very quietly beside her staring out the window with a slight smile on her face.

"How much further Bruce?" Johnny asked the driver.

Bruce looked at his watch and then out the window of the car. It had stopped raining but the clouds were still leaden. "Less than an hour."

"Could we hurry it please?" Sarah asked from the back seat. She had given up on the phone call because of the interference.

Walt briskly made his way back to the campsite. He had been gone longer than he'd expected to be. He could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance and he saw flashes of lightening accompanying them. He did not want to be caught in a storm. It may be that they would have to pack up and spend the night in a guesthouse. He knew JJ would be disappointed. As he rounded the corner that opened out on the clearing he saw that the little boy wasn't sitting where he'd left him.

Walt smiled to himself and he crept over to the tent and made some growling noises. When no sound came from inside the tent he wondered if Little Johnny had fallen asleep so he looked through the opening.

"JJ?"

Walt frowned and felt around the floor of the tent to see if Little Johnny was playing a game. He pulled back the sleeping bag to find nothing there. He scratched the back of his head as he went out of the tent.

"JJ?" Walt called again. He scanned the area with the practiced eye of a police officer but saw no sign of him. As he stood beside one of the folding seats with his hands folded, he moved his foot and he felt it connect with something. He looked down and saw the computer game lying on the muddy ground. As he leaned down to pick up the game, a feeling of bile began to rise from his stomach.

He ran over to the car, the feeling of panic rising in his chest the whole time. He could feel his heart beating in his head.  "JJ!"

He sat in the driver's seat of the car and started the engine. A thought came to him and he jumped out of the car and looked in the back of the car. He swore to himself when he saw that one of the fishing poles was gone. His jaw muscle tensed as he slammed the car door and ran down towards the river.

"JJ!" he called when he got to the river. He looked wildly around him but caught no sight of his son. He looked at the river and noticed that it was very high and flowing very fast. His breath caught in his throat as he recalled the vision again.

"No!" he whispered to himself. "JJ!"

Walt made his way along the bank of the river calling the boy intermittently. His feet nearly went from under him several times, as the ground was so muddy. Trees and branches blocked his way and he pushed them back with a force he didn't think he was capable of doing. He never even noticed that one of the branches caught the palm of his hand making a deep cut. Blood soon started to pour from the wound which stained his clothes. Then he came to a halt as a sight appeared in front of his eyes.

A lone fishing pole lay on the bank of the river. The river had eroded away part of the riverbank causing a large chunk of the bank to fall off. Walt stumbled over to the pole sucking in desperate gulps of air as he tried to catch his breath. He grabbed the pole and recognised it as JJ's. He tried to keep his eyes focussed on the fishing pole but his vision kept swimming in and out. He kneeled down and examined the riverbank only to discover that it had happened not so long ago.

"JJ!" Walt almost screamed the name now. He didn't even notice that it had started to rain again. He made his way back to the campsite to raise the alarm.

"Oh man. It's starting to rain again!" Bruce exclaimed. Johnny sat slouched in the seat beside him. His fingers were laced together with his index fingers tapping against his lip. His face was pinched in concentration as if he was willing a vision to come on.

Sarah leaned forward to the driver's seat. "How much further?"

Johnny could smell the lavender he always associated with her and he glanced back at her. Before he could say anything the wail of sirens came upon them. The four people in the car watched in silence as several ambulances and police cars sped past them with lights flashing and sirens on full blast.

Sarah felt tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she brought her hand to her mouth in horror. Bruce and Johnny eyed each other nervously as Bruce stepped on the gas pedal.

Their greatest fear was realised when they turned into the campsite a few minutes later and flashing lights from the ambulances and police cars greeted them. Paramedics and police officers were standing around talking and consulting maps. They were all wearing waterproof coats and hats.

A breath caught in Sarah's throat. "NO!" The sound of the word came out like a ragged gasp as she jumped out of the car before Bruce had even come to a stop. Johnny gripped onto the top of his cane as he jumped out. He didn't even notice the torrential rain.

He watched Sarah almost sprinting over to one of the ambulances. 

"WALT!" shouted Sarah.

It was then that he saw Walt sitting on the floor of the ambulance with a blanket wrapped around him. He struggled to his feet when he saw Sarah. His face had an ashen look to it and the rain plastered his head to his hair. His hand was wrapped in a bandage.

"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED?" screamed Sarah.

Walt shook his head but no words could come out of his mouth.

"Ma'm." Sarah turned to see one of the police officers standing behind her. He tipped his hat to her.

"I'm Mrs Bannerman."

"Mrs Bannerman. We're just about to launch a search and rescue - ."

She swallowed. "JJ?"

"Honey –."

Sarah turned her attention back to her husband. "You…You wouldn't listen to me! Or take heed of Johnny's vision. THIS IS ALLYOUR FAULT!" She began to beat his chest with her fists. At first, he put up no resistance but then he took her wrists allowing her to struggle against him for several minutes. He could hear her sobbing as she collapsed to the ground.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. The police officer helped her up. He grabbed a blanket from the ambulance and sat her beside Walt.

Bruce and Johnny walked over to Walt who looked at them with pain in his eyes.

"Sorry man. I should have just listened to you."

Johnny nodded and glanced at Sarah who was sipping something from a flask.

"Do you think it's too late?" Walt asked.

Johnny's eyes went to the ground and then he turned them to look at the man sitting in front of him. "We can always try."

The two men locked eyes for several minutes. Walt nodded and picked up the computer game that was on the floor of the ambulance beside him. He held it out to the other man. Hesitating for just a fraction of a second, he took a deep breath and took the game in his hand.

//

The scene in the forest changes. Johnny follows the river. A little boy clings to an outcrop. Johnny looks around and noticed a rock in the shape of a dome. Eyes back on the little boy. He's crying but loosing strength from the force and the temperature of the river.

       //

With a jolt, Johnny was back to the present time. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. "Well?" asked Walt.

Johnny swallowed. "There's still time!"

TBC

Ok not much left to go, folks. I hadn't intended to spend so long writing this fic but Real Life and other stuff just kept getting in the way.