Disclaimer: I certainly do not own Zero ((but he's sooo cute)) nor do I own many other things Louis Sachar and Walt Disney have made up. HOLES belongs to Mr. Sachar, THINGS-YOU-DO-NOT-RECOGNISE probably belong to me.

My Angel, My Only

Chapter Fourteen ll Don't Give Up

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Zero felt like his head was spinning. Thirty seconds ago, Stanley and him had decided to climb the mountains.

It was insane.

But he didn't care.

Zero carefully dodged the broken glass under the boat and took the four unbroken jars. Stanley put them in the burlap sack he had found on his way to the Mary Lou. Zero took the shovel, and Stanley carried the sack.

As they started their long walk towards the mountains, Stanley said, "I should warn you. I'm not exactly the luckiest guy in the world."

Zero almost laughed. He didn't care, "When you spend your whole life living in a hole..." he said slowly, glancing up at the sky, "The only way you can go is up."

With smiles upon their faces, they gave each other the thumbs-up sign.

Zero felt like he had made a lifelong friend.

They hadn't walked for a very long time before Zero suddenly felt the horrible feeling squeeze his stomach again. He fell onto the ground, with Stanley hovering above him.

"Are you alright? Can you walk?"

Zero didn't say anything. It asking too much to breathe properly, let alone talk.

After a few seconds, the feeling disappeared. Stanley picked up the shovel and handed it to him, and he used to support himself to his feet.

They continued on their walk across the dried up lake.

Zero thought back to the boat.

"I wonder who she was," he wondered out loud, as he dragged the shovel along behind him.

"Who?"

"Mary Lou."

Stanley smiled, shifting the burlap sack over his other shoulder, "I guess she was once a real person on a real lake. It's hard to imagine."

"I bet she was pretty," Zero said determinedly, thinking back to his own mother, "Somebody must have loved her a lot, to name a boat after her."

"Yeah. I bet she looked great in a bathing suit, sitting in the boat while her boyfriend rowed," Stanley scoffed.

Zero smiled.

They continued to walk for a long time. Just walking across the frying pan, towards the distant cliffs. Big Thumb, Stanley liked to call it.

"My mother's great," Stanley said confidently, taking a broader stride forward that Zero had to speed up his pace to catch up with him, "She always insists that the family isn't cursed."

Zero had asked him about his parents.

"Your family's cursed?" he said incredulously, looking at Big Thumb. It was like chasing the moon.

Stanley smiled thinly, "Well, it's just some sort of thing for fun, y'know? Apparently, my great, great grandfather stole a pig from a gypsy and she cursed him all and all his descendants. And that's how you get me being sent to Camp Green Lake."

He glanced at Zero, and the two burst out laughing.

"Anyway," Stanley continued, prodding on forward, "My father's an inventor, as you know, and he's trying to invent a way to recycle sneakers. He's real smart, and he has heaps of perserverance, but our family, though none of us believe in the curse, has had a history of bad luck. So when the shoes hit me on the head--"

"Clyde Livingston's shoes?" Zero asked seriously.

"Yeah -- them. When they hit me on the head, I thought they were destiny's shoes. Somehow, I thought they could help with my father's experiment."

Zero didn't know what to say.

"Did it hurt?" he finally asked.

Stanley frowned, though he felt stronger and more lightened. Speaking about his parents made him feel better.

"Did what hurt?"

"The shoes -- you said they hit you on the head," Zero said, trying not to laugh. Even though he knew he had been the one who chucked them over the bridge, the prospect of it hitting Stanley squarely in the head was still amusing.

"Oh. Yeah, they did hurt," Stanley said thoughtfully, remembering. He glanced up at Big Thumb.

It seemed nearer.

For some reason, Zero burst out laughing. He didn't stop laughing for a long time. Stanley glanced at him, and grinned. He hadn't seen him laugh continously before.

"Ahhhhhhhhh," Zero calmed himself down, wiping away at his face, "I'm sorry."

Stanley was under the impression that he was apologising about laughing. He raised and lowered his shoulder, then smiled implishly at Zero, who was still chuckling and coughing.

Zero felt like it was time to confess to Stanley that he had been the ones who had stolen the shoes. It didn't look like they were going to survive long enough...

He got another attack and dropped to his knees. The shovel fell onto the ground.

"Zero! Are you okay?" Stanley also dropped to the ground, his face covered with sweat.

"I really have to sit down," Zero panted. He felt awful, so tired and so sick. Why couldn't his mother...?

Zero groaned, and pressed his hands harder onto his aching stomach. Don't think about her, he told himself weakly.

"Just see if you can go a little--"

Zero, who had been struggling to sit up, collapsed down again.

Stanley picked up the shovel, looking at the small boy with concern.

With a lot of effort, Zero struggled to his feet. He managed to flash the thumbs-up to Stanley. He wasn't sure if he could cope with the horrible pain...

"Give me some words," he gasped out weakly.

Stanley looked at him, then smiled slowly.

"R -- u -- n."

Zero thought for a moment. For a second, the pain, his thirst and all his troubles disappeared. R -- u -- n was more important.

"Rr--un," he said to himself, "Run."

"Good. F -- u -- n."

"Eff," Zero repeated in a whisper, concentrating hard, "Eff--un. Fun."

Stanley gave him some more words, and Zero got every one right. The spelling helped both of them. It gave Zero something to concentrate on other than his pain and weakness. But he wasn't sure how it helped Stanley; he just looked a bit stronger after spelling words out.

"B -- u -- n," Stanley said, taking an extra long stride across the sand. His voice was very dry.

"Bee--uhn. Bee--un. Beh--un. Bun," Zero gasped out, "Can we stop now? It -- it hurts to talk."

Stanley nodded, obliging immediately.

They didn't speak for the remainder of the walk towards Big Thumb. It didn't take them too long. Maybe twenty minutes.

During those twenty minutes, Zero felt his arms grow weaker and weaker. The pain had disappeared long ago, but the after-effects still remained. He felt so tired and exhausted. All he wanted to do was lie down and sleep.

But that would mean death, and he knew that it would bring Stanley to his death, too.

As long as Stanley could keep going, he could keep going too.

What he didn't know was that Stanley was counting on the same thing, only the opposite. As long as Zero could keep going, he could keep going too.

So in a way, they were both helping each other to keep on going.

The shovel felt like it was going to drop from Zero's weary arms any second. But he managed to hold onto it. It just kept getting heavier and heavier. The dust whipped into his face and eyes, irritating him. The sun was beating it's hot, hot, hot rays down on him, as if it hated Zero so much it was trying to torture him with it's heat.

Once or twice, he saw a pool of water shimmering in the distance. But of course, he knew it was only a mirage caused by the shimmering waves of heat rising off the dry ground.

He kept close by Stanley, who was walking ahead. Zero knew that he would've never made it to the mountains if he had gone by himself. But if Stanley was there, the awesome task that lay ahead of them seemed much easier.

Zero stopped walking suddenly, panting. He used the shovel for a third leg, and tried to catch his breath. Stanley stopped as well, and waited for Zero to start moving again. They didn't say anything. It hurt to talk.

Zero nodded to Stanley, and they started to drag their heavy legs towards the white cliffs. They were almost there. Another half a mile to go, maybe.

He quickly glanced up at Big Thumb, so that the sun couldn't blind him with it's powerful rays.

"What do you think's up there?" he asked, straining his voice. However, not talking for twenty minutes had helped.

Stanley also glanced up at Big Thumb, "Oh, probably an Italian restaurant."

Zero mustered up all his energy to laugh. It was a relieving sound.

"I think I'll get a pepperoni pizza and a large root beer," Stanley said, smiling at Zero. Talking about such luxurious food helped them.

Zero smiled and tried to think of what he wanted.

"I want an ice cream sundae. With nuts and whipped cream, and bananas, and hot fudge."

After that, they didn't talk again.

Finally, they came to the end of the lake. Huge white stone cliffs faced them. They were towering and intimidating.

Zero looked up, and immediately felt sick. He groaned and held his stomach fearfully.

Death would be better than this, he thought painfully.

"I'm all right," he whispered, so Stanley wouldn't worry.

There was silence for a minute, as Stanley experimented the cliff. He saw a rut.

"Let's try there," he said, after Zero had begun to breathe normally again.

He nodded. Though it was about a fifty-foot climb, Zero was going to give it his best shot.

Or die trying.

Don't think about it.

[ All our dreams are gone
With a lose of faith
And we're still hanging on
For another day
Its so hard to see
That its gonna get better
And when will it be
Its hard to say ]

Stanley started to climb up, and Zero followed. It was a miracle he didn't get any attacks while climbing, or the results would've been deadly.

After five minutes of climbing, they came to a rest on one of the wider ledges that they could sit on.

Zero leant back against the rock, breathing heavily.

"You feeling any better?" Stanley asked hoarsely.

He nodded.

"Just a little tired," he replied.

There was silence as both boys caught their breath.

[ We must believe
That if again we will receive
Yes we must believe
That its gonna get better ]

"I wonder if they've told my parents that I ran away," Stanley said suddenly. His eyes seemed cloudy and distant.

Zero looked up at him, and grimaced, "It must be awful not knowing what happened to your own son."

He wondered if his mother had ever tried looking for him. He wondered how she must've felt if she had tried looking for him at Laney Park, only to discover that her son wasn't there anymore.

Zero dismissed the thought. His mother hated him, that was why she never came back.

So of course, she'd never try to venture back to Laney Park, anyway.

Zero's heart ached as he thought that.

Stanley nodded, still off in his own thoughts, "Day after day... no response from your son... And then the camp calls you... 'Your son has been missing for several days out in the desert. We can't find his body.' "

He shuddered violently.

Zero nodded grimly, "It's a tough world out there. There are some things that you never know. And you just wonder... why."

Stanley also nodded.

"C'mon, let's tackle the rest of this cliff."

When they were about two-thirds up, they rested again. Zero had had a bit of trouble getting up. His frail body shook violently at times, and it really did seem like he would sway and fall... But somehow, he managed to stay with Stanley.

"You okay?" he asked Zero, as he helped him onto the ledge.

Zero nodded again, and gave the thumbs up sign.

[ Don't give up
Never give up
We won't stop givin' all we got
Don't give up
Never give up
We won't stop givin' all we got ]

Stanley also flashed the thumbs up sign. He blew out some air from the corner of his mouth and looked up at the ledges above them.

Zero did the same.

"Give me a boost," he said quietly, "Then I'll pull you up with the shovel."

"You won't be able to pull me up," Stanley said with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, I will," Zero said determinedly. He knew he was small, but he wasn't weak.

Stanley looked uncertain. Then he put down the sack, and cupped his hands. Zero, leaning on Stanley, stepped into his interwoven fingers and grabbed onto a slab of rock above his head.

He pulled himself onto the ledge, and peered down onto Stanley. He was about four feet below him.

Stanley held up the shovel and the sack to Zero, who grabbed them and lifted them to the ledge he was sitting on. He supported the blade with the rocks, and let the wooden shaft dangle towards Stanley.

"Okay," he called to him.

Stanley looked uncertain. He grasped onto the wooden shaft, and carefully climbed up the steep wall. Zero held the blade in place, so that Stanley could hold on without the shovel flipping over and falling down the cliff.

Zero felt the sharp edges of the shovel deepen into his hands. The pain only stung for a moment, before Zero saw the blood begin to seep out.

When he could reach him, Zero grasped onto Stanley's wrist and pulled him up onto the ledge. Stanley grabbed onto the slab of rock and heaved himself the rest of the way onto the ledge.

Zero quickly put the shovel in a safe position before it could slip and fall down.

He glanced at the deep gashes in both of his hands, and winced.

Stanley was breathless. Without a word, he ripped two strips of fabric from the burlap sack and used them to bandage Zero's wounds.

"One of the jars are broken," he said hoarsely, glancing into the sack.

"Keep the glass shards," Zero said, his voice equally hoarse, "We might need to use their sharp edges for something."

Stanley nodded. They sat there for a little while, and rested. Then they climbed the rest of the cliff, which was fairly easy.

When they reached flat ground, they continued to walk. Zero felt like he was walking on his exhaustion.

Yet with every step, he realised he could just take another step further...

It was like he was getting stronger.

But he felt weaker.

Did that make any sense?

"We're almost there," Stanley said, breaking into his thoughts.

Zero nodded slightly, and glanced up. He saw the base of the mountain, and took a deep breath.

He really hoped there would be water there. He had no idea how long he and Stanley had been walking, but it seemed like years since they had drunk the sploosh.

Big Thumb was the only hope. If there was no water, then...

They'd die.

Zero took another deep breath.

The thought of death had never failed to scare him. In fact, it scared him so much it made his very bones rattle with fear.

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---- A/N: Hey! I hope this chapter demonstrated the brotherly-ness between Stanley and Zero during their climb up to Big Thumb that Holes never showed! Well, I imagined that they had a few conversations that tightened their friendship, lol. I sort of tied the book and movie together, with some of my old junk. LOL. I'm so negative towards myself. You are the best, Aggz. LOL. Okay, enough with me! You all just wanna see 'lil Zero, and ((drum roll)) here he is!

Zero: ((bowing)) HEWO! I hwope woo enjoyed thwat chwapter! It wath weewy hard, cwimbing thwat mwountain...

What are you talking about? You're only three! There's like ten years until you climb Big Thumb!

Zero: ...

Okay, okay. Never mind. Awww. ((hugs Zero tightly)) Hey, I haven't been to school in four days, including the weekend. That is so TIGHT. Lol. All of today I kept calling everyone "dude". It was really scary. And in my letters of craptastic randomness, I wrote things like "WASSUP DAWG!" or "YO YO MAH HOMIE!" and it's really freaking my friends out.

One of them even said I'm an Asian gone wrong.

Hey look, I have it right here. It was a letter my friend and me wrote to our other friends from the other class. I'll just write it up.

(Bonnie in blue texta -- hey, we got textas in Science, pretty cool!) Hi everyone.
(Me in ORANGE texta) YO YO WASSUP MAH HOMIES?!
Aggie is an Asian gone wrong. Lol. JK.
Oh you're nice. So how is everyone?
Great, how are you? Lol.
I wasn't talking to you! SO GAH! HA!
Too bad, I answered anyway.
Whatever. Bonnie loves...
(crosses out Bonnie and writes Aggie over it) Aggie loves S--
(over on S) NO ONE! Bonnie is...
Normal. Aggie is...
Pretty!
Crap.
Hey! You're mean. Whoa, we're running out of space. CYA!
Bye.

Lol, completely odd and pointless. And that's not us at our worst. Lol. Cya!

Zero: ((WAVES HAPPILY))

-MSQ.

PS. The song is "Don't Give Up" by Eagle-Eye Cherry. It's played in Holes when Zero and Stanley begin to climb the mountain.