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Highway 97

Chapter five

Dean had finally drifted off to sleep during the night and woke suddenly. He looked down at Sam who lay in his arms not moving. He put his hand up to Sam's face and it was cold.

"Sam!" Dean shouted as he felt his heart pounding. When Sam didn't move he shook him gently. "Sammy!" Sam finally opened his eyes and Dean left out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Damn it Sammy don't scare me like that!"

"What's the matter?" Sam said weakly.

"I thought….never mind." Dean didn't even want to remember that for a second he thought Sam had died during the night.

Dean covered Sam with his jacket then crawled outside. The ground was covered by a thin layer of snow. He rubbed his arms as the cold air started to chill him and crawled back into the car. He once more released the tourniquet for a few seconds and was glad to see the color return to Sam's leg.

"Sam I'm going to go up to the road and see if I can flag down a car." He could see a hint of fear in his brother's eyes at the thought of being left alone trapped in the car, but Sam only nodded and held up Dean's jacket for him. "No you keep it." Dean said as he put it back on top of his brother.

"Dean…you're going to freeze to death out there. Take it….please." Sam once more tried to give Dean his jacket.

"Sammy, I'm not going to freeze. Till I climb up that cliff I'm going to be sweating, and I'll be right back as soon as I flag someone down. It might take them a little time to get back here with help because cell phones won't work in the canyon and they'll have to find a pay phone or a house. But as soon as I have help on the way I'll be right back."

"Take the gun." Sam handed Dean the gun that was lying next to him. "Take the extra cartridges too."

At first Dean didn't know whether to take the gun or not. He hated leaving Sam with nothing to defend himself with but he had never heard of a phantom driver coming back to the scene of an accident and figured Sam should be safe till he returned. It shouldn't take him too long to get help.

"You take it easy; I'll be back as soon as I can." He gave Sam's shoulder a slight squeeze. "I promise."

"Be careful."

"Don't worry about me I'll be fine. Try not to move too much." He patted Sam on the shoulder then crawled out of the car. As soon as he started walking he realized he had been hurt worse then he thought. He could barely put pressure on his leg without a sharp pain shooting up through his hip. But he knew he had to keep moving, Sam's life depended on it. He would deal with his leg later. He started to climb; each step was agony as he slowly made his way up the canyon wall. A thousand thoughts kept going through his mind. What if no one would stop? He wouldn't blame them, not after what had been happening out on this stretch of highway. What if Sammy bled to death before he got back? What if there was a rock slide and the car went over the edge? He tried to get those thoughts out of his mind. He had to believe a car would stop for him and he'd get help for his brother. He glanced back down toward the car which now was far below him. His eyes filled with tears as he thought of his brother trapped in there slowly bleeding to death. If something happened to him no one would even be able to spot the car from the road. If he didn't make it, his brother was dead. That thought alone kept him going. He gritted his teeth in pain with each step. Finally in what seemed like hours Dean pulled himself up over the edge. He bent down and put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He slowly stood up and looked up and down the highway, no cars were in sight. He looked around for a landmark so he'd be able to find Sam again then headed off limping down the highway.

The car

Sam was worried about Dean. He was freezing even with two coats on and Dean was out there somewhere with none. He also was scared. He felt lousy and knew he was in trouble. Dean hadn't come right out and told him but he knew as soon as his brother put the tourniquet on his leg that it was bad. He reached down and touched his leg then ran his hand back along it till he came to the injury. He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth as he felt the jagged piece of metal sticking out of his leg. He tried to fight back the feeling of panic that was setting in. He was trapped and a horrible feeling of claustrophobia started to come over him. All he wanted was to yank his leg free and find Dean, but he knew if he did that he would more then likely bleed to death. He smiled to himself when he thought how pissed Dean would be if he was out there freezing trying to find help for him and he had yanked his leg free and bled to death before he got back to him. He pulled Dean's coat up around his shoulders.

"Damn it Dean you're going to freeze out there." He said to himself as he lay shivering even with two coats on.

The highway

Dean cupped his hands and blew warm air into them trying to warm them as he walked down the highway. He had never felt this cold before. Right now the only thing he wanted was a nice warm bed with an electric blanket in it cranked up to ninety and his brother in the next room safe. Where the hell were all the cars he wondered? He figured after all the unexplained deaths on the highway most travelers must be avoiding it. He was trying to decide what to do, go back to Sam, or continue down the highway hoping to find help. If he went back to Sam it might take him a few hours to climb down the cliff and once there, there would be nothing he could do for his brother but watch him bleed to death, no, he had to find help. His leg was killing him and tears of pain came to his eyes as he continued walking. Finally, in what seemed like an eternity, a car appeared. Dean wasn't going to take any chances of it driving past him. As soon as it got near him he jumped in front of it causing it to brake. He quickly ran to the driver's window. At first the man wouldn't roll down his window, but finally he cracked it a little.

"I need your help. I've been in an accident, and my brother is trapped in the car, he's hurt bad."

"Where?" The man asked.

Dean pointed down the road.

"See that outcropping of rocks?"

"Yeah."

"Just a little ways past that. The car is at the bottom of the canyon. My brother's leg is caught on a piece of metal inside it and I can't get him out. You need to bring back help. Tell them someone is trapped in a vehicle at the bottom of the canyon and needs to be extricated. It's important you remember the landmark. He's right below that."

The man nodded then looked at Dean.

"You better hop in I'll give you a ride back with me."

"No, I need to go back to my brother."

"But it's freezing out here."

"It's okay, I promised him I'd come back. Please just turn around and get help."

The man removed his jacket and opened the door and handed it to Dean.

"Thanks." He said as he put it on. It was a little big but felt wonderful. "Hurry please."

"I'll be back with help as soon as I can." The man carefully turned the car around then sped off in the direction he had just come from.

Dean had just begun to head back toward Sam when he noticed a black pickup truck speeding toward him.

TBC