Hey guys! shields herself I'm...uh, I'm sorry if I upset anybody with the last chapter, but I feel the need to explain myself! You see, when I was deciding on what I should write after Climbing the Walls, I couldnt think of anything. Then, one night I had a dream, and I can't remember what it was about, but I remember someone screaming 'Where is his head?" I woke up, and it suddenly hit me. That sentence was the basis of this entire story, I wrote it just to get to that sentence hehe. It's horrible I know, but I just thought it would be a fantistic line...especially with Chandler screaming it! Anyway, enough about that! Thankyou for all the reviews, they are great with a capital fantastic! I hope you enjoy this chapter...it isnt all that long, but it's just what I wanted! Please read and review, and please...stop sharpening your swords!
I do not own friends/characters/actors...but Matthew Perry will be mine! Oh yes, he will be mine!
"Where is his head? Where is his head?"
Chandler wasn't sure how long he had been standing there; staring down at the remains of his best friend.
He wasn't sure how long he had been screaming those four words, over and over again. Those four words that would have sounded ridiculous to anyone else.
But they didn't sound ridiculous to Chandler.
To Chandler, those four words meant devastation, death, horror, and heartbreak.
To Chandler, those four words were the most horrific words he had ever spoken. He hated saying those words.
And yet, he couldn't stop.
He couldn't stop, because he knew that if he did, it would get worse. The pain would come tenfold. He would cry, he would scream, he would wail, he would surely vomit. He would lose his mind; lose his head, just like his best friend. But in a different way to Joey. The mental way, not the physical way.
To keep screaming those four devastating words was the only thing Chandler could do. To stop would mean certain insanity. To stop would mean that it was real.
It would mean that Joey was gone; dead, shattered. It would mean that it wasn't a hallucination.
It would mean that Chandler had lost his best friend.
Chandler could look at the body and pretend that Joey was okay. Pretend that his best friend was just resting. His body was normal; perfect, unscathed.
But to look above the body; to look above the neck was something Chandler didn't want to do. He couldn't pretend that his friend was sleeping while looking above the neck.
Because there was nothing above the neck. Nothing but shards of bone – Joey's skull and spine – blood and other things that Chandler couldn't comprehend.
He didn't want to look above the neck, but he found he couldn't tear his eyes away.
Just like he couldn't stop screaming those four devastating words.
"Where is his head? Where is his head?"
His best friend; gone.
The guy who knew his better then anyone. The one person he cared about more then anyone – with the exception of Monica.
Joey.
Joseph Francis Tribbiani.
Gone, forever.
No more Joey and Chandler.
No more Joey and Chan.
No more J and C's.
No more J – Man and Channy.
It didn't seem possible. It didn't seem right. It was incomprehensible. As if someone was pulling his leg.
But that couldn't be true. It wasn't a prank. It wasn't a lie. It was possible.
It was possible because the evidence was lying right in front of him. Lying in front of him, missing his head.
It seemed ironic really.
Chandler had always thought that Joey didn't have much use for his head – besides his pretty boy looks. That he had nothing going on upstairs. He knew Joey was smart enough, but at times he had been sure that his friend would be able to live without his brain.
That theory had been put into test, and Chandler had found out the truth.
Joey really had needed his head.
Chandler would have laughed at the irony, but once more, he couldn't stop screaming. Those four words consumed him; ate him from the inside and tortured him. He hated those four words, and he wanted to stop. But he knew that he would only stop if something stopped him.
For a moment he wished that he was stopped by death. That something would come along and take his life, so he could be with his best friend. So that he could leave this hellhole, and finally find peace. Find a place where he could be with his friends; be with Joey and Ross and Phoebe.
Death was only the beginning, Phoebe had said that herself. It had been a hallucination, but Chandler had believed it.
For a moment he wished that he could go into the afterlife and be free.
But he couldn't do it.
He couldn't leave Monica.
He couldn't leave Rachel.
They had no one left but him. He was the only one who could help them now.
If only he could leave this spot and go and find them.
But he continued staring at his friend's body; continued screaming those four words.
"Where is his head? Where is his head? Where is his-"
Those words - those four horrific words – stopped flowing from his mouth as Chandler got the escape he had longed for. Not death, but something else.
A hand, wrapping around his arm. A hand, pulling him back. A hand, trying to turn him away.
He couldn't turn away, but he did stop screaming.
"Chandler!" the voice was high, hysterical, panicked. The voice was Rachel. "Chandler! Chandler, look at me!"
"I can't!" Chandler didn't recognise the voice, but he knew it was his. It sounded too high. It sounded too much like Rachel's. But it wasn't hers. It was his.
"Chandler! Please!"
"No Rach! He's dead! He's dead!"
"I know! We can't stay here! We have to go Chandler! God, we have to go!"
"I can't! I can't leave him!"
"Chandler-"
Their argument was cut short by footsteps. Not human footsteps. There was nothing human about those footsteps.
"Chandler, we have to go! Now!" Rachel hissed, not looking at Joey's body. She had glanced at it briefly, when she had run up.
She had expected it; Chandler's screams had echoed throughout the area, loud and shrill. She had easily heard them and they had led her to him.
She had heard his words and she had realised what had happened.
Where is his head?
Only two people could get a reaction like that from Chandler. And seeing he had said 'his' Rachel had realised that it wasn't Monica. Rachel had realised that her best friend hadn't died. Instead, Chandler's best friend had.
She had nearly collapsed at the thought, but had realised she had to be strong. Chandler wasn't strong, not anymore. He couldn't be strong after this, and Rachel knew that one of them had to be.
They had to get out of there.
She could grieve later for her dead friend, but right now, she had to save Chandler. She had to save the one person that she was sure was alive.
"I-I…I-"
Rachel pulled at his arm desperately, the footsteps coming closer still.
"Chandler!"
He shook his head and Rachel knew he was in shock. She knew that he wouldn't be able to turn away. Not without some force.
She stepped in front of him; stepped in between him and Joey. He blinked rapidly, as if he had just realised she was there.
"Chandler…we have to go now or we are going to die," she said as calmly as she could. "And if we die, we won't be able to save Monica."
She noticed the change in Chandler's face and she knew she had gotten through to him. "We have to go now sweetie."
Chandler nodded wordlessly and Rachel smiled. It was strained and forced and completely fake, but she did the best she could. She took his hand and pulled him away; took him from their fallen friend.
The footsteps were getting closer to Joey's body, but Chandler and Rachel were getting further away.
Chandler was hurt; new injuries added to his old one. Rachel could see that clear as day. He was bleeding, and he was stumbling.
Rachel was hurt too, but no where near as much as Chandler. He seemed to have gotten the brunt of the explosion. She was only slightly injured and she wasn't stumbling.
She gripped Chandler's hand tightly as they ran; her dragging him along behind her. She knew that if she didn't pull him along, he would never have moved. She knew that she was the only thing keeping him going; her and Monica.
The footsteps stopped and Rachel knew they had found Joey's body.
"Oh god," Chandler whimpered and Rachel knew that he had come to the same realisation. "Oh god."
"Just keep moving Chandler," Rachel gasped, increasing their speed. Chandler stumbled once more, but Rachel didn't look back.
They run for what seemed like forever, until they came to a cave. Not their cave from last night. She was sure that had been destroyed in the explosion.
This cave was different; smaller then the last. Not that it mattered. Four had become two. They didn't need much room. Their four was no more, and the two wouldn't become three for a while. As much as they both wanted to save her, neither were in any condition to go looking for Monica.
Rachel gently pushed Chandler forward and he entered the cave. She glanced behind her and then followed him.
Chandler was on his knees, staring blankly at the wall. She let out a small sob, the memory of Joey's body hitting her.
She had wanted to pretend, for just a second, that it wasn't Joey. That it was some other man, someone who had been wearing the exact same clothes as their friend. But she had seen and heard Chandler's reaction. And she had seen the bag-
The bag.
They should have taken it with them.
It was too late now though.
Rachel took a step forward, another sob leaving her lips. She swallowed her tears quickly. She couldn't cry. One of them had to be strong. And Chandler was in no condition.
"Chandler-"
"It was gone Rach," Chandler whispered, not taking his eyes off the wall. It was almost as if he was still staring at Joey's body. "His…his head!"
Rachel winced as Chandler keeled forward. She rushed over and rubbed his back as he vomited.
After what seemed like forever, Chandler leant back against her. He was crying now.
No.
Not crying.
That didn't seem like the right word.
Rachel had thought that the worst noise she had ever heard was last night; the sound of Chandler screaming with pain as he was burnt.
She had been wrong.
The sound she was hearing now was much worse. It was still in pain, but it was a different sort of pain. That pain from last night had faded. Rachel knew that this pain would never fade.
She held Chandler tight as he cried, as he screamed, as he wailed.
She held him tight as he grieved for the loss of his best friend.
And even though she was meant to be strong, a few tears slipped out.
Those few tears soon became a river and Rachel started to wail along with Chandler.
They clung to each other as they grieved for their lost friend.