I saw Mae the other night, in concert. They were amazing. What's even better...I MET them! The most amazing, friendly and down to earth band you could ever meet. It makes me love them so much more. (In case you haven't guessed, Mae is one of my favorite bands, and where I get all the inspiration to write my stories..Their lyrics and song titles are my story titles).

OK, onto the next chapter. I hope you like it. There will be one more chapter after this one.

This chapter is dedicated to SillverMedal. Your Zack-angst awaits!

Disclaimer: I don't own TSL or William Beckett...sadly, I don't own William Beckett...

Chapter 12

Zack had been awake for about 15 minutes, trying to think of something; some sort of plan. He watched as Cody slept, struggling to breathe due to a cold that had developed the night before, just as Zack was afraid of. Zack also knew that it would slow them down a bit, considering that Cody was a horrible patient; he would moan and groan worse than anyone Zack could think of. He understood, of course, because Cody doesn't get sick often. But when he does, it's usually full blown and quite a nasty thing to witness. So Zack sat where he was, and, as he had been doing for the past two days, tried his best to figure a way out of the mess he had gotten them both into.

Another few minutes passed before Cody began to stir. Zack watched as his eyes fluttered open and he stretched out his arms.

"Morning," Zack said gloomily. Cody greeted him with a sniffle.

"My throat hurts," he said hoarsely. Zack cringed.

"I'm sure we're almost home by now," Zack said, trying to keep the sense of impending doom that was hovering over his head out of his voice. "This river can't be that big. Then we can get you some medicine for that cold, ok, bud?" Cody nodded as Zack watched him wipe his nose on his sleeve. He knew that Cody wouldn't normally do that, but he already looked so horrible. His clothes were dirty, with dried spots of blood on them, along with specs of dirt in his hair. Zack also looked at his swollen foot, which was giving him a hard time when walking. But the worst part of it was that Zack knew he looked exactly the same. He noticed his own filthy hands and made a disgusted face.

"Twins in more ways than one, right?" Cody said, breaking Zack's train of thought.

"What?" Zack asked.

"I know what you're thinking...we look nasty. I call dibbs on the shower when we get back," Cody said playfully, making Zack laugh.

"I'll race ya," Zack said, lightly pushing Cody, who giggled a little. Zack enjoyed the sound of Cody's laugh. However, the next sound wasn't a welcome one.

"Was that your stomach?" Zack asked, opening his eyes wide.

"Heh, yeah," Cody said, rubbing his stomach with his hand. Zack looked around, but he knew he wasn't going to find anything safe enough to eat. He didn't know that much about the outdoors.

"It's ok, Zack, we'll be home soon, and then we can pig out," Cody said lightly, wiping his nose on his shirt again.

Zack eyed his brother carefully. Where was the whining? The crying? All the annoyances that came with Cody being sick? "He doesn't want to upset me," Zack thought, feeling a bit disheartened. Still looking at Cody, he noticed the bloodshot, tired eyes, along with the red nose and constant throat clearing that often accompanied a cold. Now, listening to his own stomach growl and feeling the hunger pains, Zack looked over at the river. He knew what to do.

"What if I tried to catch some fish? I'm sure we could start a fire," Zack said cheerfully.

"You're kidding," Cody said, wiping his watery eyes.

"I mean it. What have we got to lose? Besides, I'm starving, and I know you are too, so just lay here for now while I try and catch something," Zack said, looking for something that might help him catch a fish.

"Zack, this sounds dangerous. That water is rushing really fast, and you've never fished before," Cody said, matter-of-factly.

"How hard can it be to catch a fish?" Zack asked, picking up a branch that had some interlocking twigs on the end of itself, making it look similar to a net.

Cody shrugged his shoulders and layed his head back down on the ground, rubbing his thumb and forefinger along the bridge of his nose while Zack went down by the river. Crouching down, he noticed a few fish darting back and forth in the water, but they, along with the water, were going by too fast.

"That one year of boy scouts has to have counted for something," Zack thought, leaning a little closer to the river. Watching a small fish near his feet, Zack swooped his branch quickly in the river, but he didn't catch the fish. Instead, the river current was so strong that it snatched the branch from his hand, making Zack mentally curse.

"Ok, I guess I could just try and grab one.." he said out loud. Holding onto a tree stump with his left hand, Zack saw another fish swim by. Leaning in and supporting his weight with the rotting bark, he dunked his hand into the water and tried to grab onto the slimy swimmer.

"Whoa!"

Suddenly, the branch Zack had been holding cracked, and he was sent flying into the river, head first.

Feeling the weight of the water crashing down on him, Zack struggled to get his head above the water line. He kicked his feet vigorously and tried to grab onto something solid. Finally getting his head above the water, he sputtered and flapped his arms.

"ZACK!"

Zack heard his brother screaming his name and tried to turn his body around in the water to see him. But the pressure of the gushing water kept him from doing so. He was moving fast down the river, but he tried not to panic. The water was crashing all around him, making it hard to see anything. However, a few seconds later, Zack felt his body ram into something hard.

"Ahhh!" he yelled out, feeling a sharp pain in his side. He turned his head to see what he had crashed into; a fallen tree in the water. Feeling the water carrying him away, Zack reached out and wrapped his arms around the tree.

"ZACK!"

Zack twisted his head to his right and saw his brother running wildly down the side of the river.

"Cody!" Zack said, wheezing. He was having trouble breathing.

"Zack, hold on! I'll get you out!" Cody screamed, running to the base of the tree and trying to climb onto it.

"No! It's dangerous!" Zack said, feeling the river pulling his body. He gripped the bark tighter.

"But I don't know how else to get you out!" he heard Cody, who was pulling at his hair, yell.

Having a hard time keeping his head above the water, Zack tried to climb up the tree bark. He used his arms to pull his body up, but his feet wouldn't follow. The water was keeping them down.

Spitting more water out, he tried moving along the side of the tree, towards the river bank. Only having moved about an inch, Zack felt something smash into his leg and cried out again.

"Cody!" he yelled, slipping further down into the water.

"Zack, I'll get you out!" Cody sobbed, looking around frantically.

"Cody, I can't hold on," Zack shouted, his grip weakening. His breathing was becoming more shallow and he could barely hold his head above the water anymore.

"No, Zack! You have to!" Cody cried, trying to reach his hand out to Zack.

Zack felt his grip slipping slowly off the bark.

"Help! Over here! We need help!"

Zack heard Cody's voice one last time before slipping into unconsciousness.

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Hope you liked it, and I hope you review, because I love it when you do!