Summary: A ransom leads to a very long weekend for Walker and Alex
Disclaimer: I do not own them
A/N: First attempt at a Walker fic, be nice
Reviewers
Arica, Princess of Rivendell: I did! enjoy
Twinkle386: LOL I am glad you like the angst!
Trinitytheshedevil: yes he burned them, sniff
Space-Case 7029: They will get there, but will it be too late for Alex...
van-fastlane-lover: The fight scene is short between those two but another is too come.
becky: Hope you enjoy the chapter
danhyde girl: suspense you got to love it.
Thank you! Your reviews bring a smile to my face.
Chapter 10
Walker sat with Alex for what seemed like a long time. The fire would keep them somewhat warm, even with wind howling in through the cracks trying to kill their small flicker of heat. What worried Walker most was that Alex had stopped shivering, almost as if she had accepted her fate.
"Walker," she whispered. "What is that in your hand?"
Walker was silent for a moment, twirling the last statue between his fingers. He recalled making it -- a statue of him and his parents. It was the last, and he hated that the others were already gone, but peering into the depths of Alex's blue eyes made the decision easier.
"It is something I carved as a child. A statue of me and my parents."
Alex's eyes grew wide. "All all the others? Were those statues you had carved as well?"
Walker didn't answer her; he just threw the last statue on the fire as a new gust of wind blew through the small building. Alex started to cry, and Walker pulled her as close to him as he dared without furthering her injuries. "Don't cry Alex. I did what I had to do. You are the most important thing to me; I know that now."
Alex continued to cry until no more tears would come. "Walker, you gave them up for me, but I am afraid it was in vain. Walker, I can't hold on much longer; I'm too cold."
Walker was getting sweaty from sitting so close to the flames, but when he looked at Alex, sure enough, he could see that her lips were still a slight shade of blue and that she was shivering, despite the heat. Knowing they would not last the night, he made a decision to try to make it back to the cabin, carrying her, if need be.
Hoisting Alex to her feet, Walker placed an arm around her waist. Alex cried out as his arm made contact with the welts, but she bit down on her lip to stop the screams. Walker held her up while pushing the door open. He only looked back once, and then he saw a howl of the wind putting out the fire he had made. It was a solemn sight; his statues had gone in an instant, his memories gone with the flames.
Trudging up the hill, he now had one thought. He would get Alex back safely to the cabin, or he would die trying. As the wind howled around him, he thought either one was possible.
CD and Trivette were inching closer and closer to the cabin both had gone to last summer with Walker and Alex. That time had been fun -- a picnic, the fishing when Trivette had fallen out of the boat -- but now the small road leading to the cabin was treacherous, causing the tires of the car to skid every few seconds.
"Can't you hurry this car along? Alex and Walker could be up there, trapped with that son of a ..."
"No, I can't hurry it along. The tires are skidding now, I forgot to bring chains."
"I'm sorry, Jimmy; it's just I am worried."
"Well, stop worrying, I can see the cabin, and Walker's truck is parked outside."
Trivette parked his car two hundred yards away from the cabin, and he and CD got out. They trudged up the path leading to the cabin and peered inside one of the windows.
"I don't see Cordell or Alex, only those two varmints."
"You're right, CD. I didn't see either of them in the bedroom either."
"Well, come on then, what are we waiting for. I'm going in to get some answers."
CD walked right up to the door and banged on it, while Trivette stood just behind it
"Who the hell could that be?" Chuck Culliver said, getting up to answer it.
"Probably some damn hunter lost in the storm. Get rid of them."
Chuck Culliver opened the door, then went flying back into the room as CD's punch landed squarely on his jaw. So much for the subtle approach, Trivette thought as he jumped from behind the door just as Roger Culliver pulled his rifle.
Chuck got back to his feet and got in the next punch. It landed across CD's face, sending him backwards, stunned for a second, but only a second. CD flung around and delivered another blow to Chuck's stomach and Culliver went down again, the alcohol slowing his reactions. Trivette, however, was having a far harder time.
Roger Culliver was furious. The blow from Trivette had snapped his neck to the side, but he turned to face him again with a snarl on his face. "Come on, boy, you can do better than that."
This angered Trivette to no end, and the punch to his jaw hurt. He recovered quickly and began punching. The rain of blows from him did not stop. Over and over he hit Roger Culliver until the man staggered back.
"No one calls me boy," Trivette said, grabbing him from behind and placing him in the sleeper hold Walker had shown him. Soon Roger Culliver stopped struggling and sank to the floor, limp as a wet noodle. Trivette helped CD tie up both of them and then he threw cold water on Roger Culliver.
"Now that I have your attention, where are Walker and Alex?"
Roger Culliver snorted, "They should be dead about now."
"If you have hurt one hair on his head, or Alex's, you will not walk out of this cabin, do you hear me?" CD said, spittle flying from his mouth. Long ago he had come to think of them as family, and he would kill these men if they had harmed his family.
"Look, old man, I didn't kill them, I just left them to die."
Trivette's blood boiled. "What do you mean? I am tired of these games," he said, his hand grabbing Roger Culliver by the throat. "Tell me now what you did to them!"
Culliver began choking, his eyes bulging as he struggled to catch a breath beneath the grasp of Trivette. It was only CD's hand that saved him.
"Jimmy, he can't tell us if you kill him."
Trivette released his grip on Culliver and waited while he sucked in a few breaths.
"I left them out in the woods, about ten miles out. They are probably already dead by now, if not the wolves have dragged them off. Your Ms. Cahill wasn't doing so well anyway, so I am sure by now she is dead, even if Walker isn't. I hope she suffered, I hope.." but that was all Roger Culliver got out as Trivette's blow killed off whatever else he had to say.
"Good, Lord Jimmy, it must be ten degrees outside. We have got to find them."
"I'll go look for them, you keep an eye on these two," Trivette said, walking over to the door.
"You be careful and bring those two back here," CD said, his voice cracking in worry.
Trivette took off down the path, hoping he was not too late, hoping he could find Walker and Alex before he or they froze to death.
Walker knew they had only walked about three miles, but his feet were so cold in his boots they hurt. Each step now was agonizing, as it felt like a thousand pins sticking him at the same time, and yet he still trudged on.
Alex had pleaded with him to leave her and go on without her, but he had refused her pleas. Her breathing was now coming in short uneven breaths again, and everytime he stumbled in the snow, the jolt to her injuries made her cry out.
Walker himself would be colder but the warmth of Alex's raging fevered body fought off some of the chill. She was shivering again, which he hoped was a good thing, but Culliver had said it would only be fourty eight hours before she would die, and that would be tomorrow afternoon, he thought. Walker himself fought off dehydration by eating hand fulls of snow. He was still hungry, but at least he could go on. Alex, on the other hand, had not eaten in days. The little water he got in her was not going to be enough; he knew this.
The scream from Alex as he stumbled yet again sent shivers through him. It was not like the others; it was a scream that sent every fiber of his being running to help.
"Alex?" he called to her as he laid her down on the ground, but she only lay there gasping for breath, not answering him. "Alex! he said more forcefully, and her eyes opened, but they showed the pain she felt.
"Walker, I can't go on. Please, leave me here; it is your only chance. Know that I love you, but I do not wish for you to die out here because of me."
Walker choked back the bile in his throat and smiled down at Alex. He knew she was telling him the truth -- that they both could very well die before he ever got them back to the cabin -- but he didn't tell her that. "Don't you know by now, Alex, that I cannot live without you. We will make it."
Walker went to hoist Alex up again when he looked down at his shirt and found it marred with blood, not his blood, Alex's. As gently as he could, he lifted her shirt and saw the welts had begun to bleed from the constant rubbing up against him. Now he knew why she had gasped with each step. He hated that he was hurting her. He loathed it, in fact, but he had to try to make it to the cabin, or they would both die as Alex said. Hoisting her up, he cradled her in his arms this time, holding her as far away from him as he dared, and started trudging up the hill again.
Trivette had been walking for over an hour now, the cold gnawing at him. He was freezing and could no longer feel his fingers, even in his gloves. His parka did little to fight off the chill of the winds, but he still walked on, his determination to find Walker and Alex driving him.
"Walker! Alex!" he yelled, hoping they would answer, but the only call was the wind. He knew if he was cold Walker and Alex were probably freezing to death. He couldn't imagine that, not if he wanted to remain sane. Walker had trusted him, befriended him when he joined the Texas Rangers, and Alex had become his sister -- the one he never had. To know that they were out here made him angry, very angry, and thoughts of killing Culliver slowly drifted into his mind.
Trivette shook off his thoughts and continued to call out to Walker and Alex. Two more miles he trudged through the snow, until his eyes fell on something off in the distance. He pulled his gun, thinking it could be a wild animal feasting on its prey, but when he got a bit closer he could see it was Walker, and he was leaming over Alex, who was on the ground.
"Walker!" Trivette screamed out, running now towards the pair, but when he got there, he saw Walker staring back at him with tears in his eyes. Cordell Walker did not cry; as a matter of fact ,Trivette had never seen him even tear up. When he looked down at Alex, he could see the reason for the tears.
"Trivette, she isn't breathing," Walker said, leaning over Alex, again pumping her chest, trying to blow a breath of life into her. When Walker heard Trivette call out to them it was like a miracle, but the sweet sound of being found ended abruptly when he heard the gasp from Alex and she stopped breathing.
Trivette began the breathing, while Walker did compressions. He heard the sickening crunch of a rib breaking and flinched. The sound of the bone breaking was not what made him flinch, it was the sound of desperation in Walker's voice as he called out to Alex, the tears that ran down his face, unheeded. To see Walker like this was something new, and it did not sit well with Trivette. Walker never worried, never showed fear, so Trivette knew that Alex was dying.
Both of them worked for over two minutes, until the sound of Alex drawing in a breath and the scream from it brought both of them up from their task.
"Come on, I will carry her," Trivette said, helping Walker to his feet.
Walker did not want to release his grip on Alex and fought to keep a grip on her.
"Walker, let me do this. We can move faster if I carry her; you are exhausted. You both need help. Please, Walker, trust me."
Walker let go of Alex and handed her to Trivette. Truth was he did trust him, but he was afraid if he let go, Alex would be gone. Trivette cradled Alex's body in his arms and took off back towards the cabin. He stopped after only a few feet to see if Walker was going to keep up. He noticed the blood on Walker's shirt and wondered if he was injured, but then he had looked down and seen it was also on Alex's shirt. He had no time to check, for if they stayed any longer, none of them would make it back to the cabin. Trivette was amazed as Walker stumbled to his feet and then righted himself. He walked with vigor towards Trivette and soon passed him, motioning for Trivette to follow.
Trivette shook hs head. Even beaten, bruised, and cold, Walker was amazing. His strength had suprised Trivette time after time, and today would be no exception. Trivette followed Walker, catching up to him in a couple minutes, but at the haggard breathing of Alex both sped up their pace. It was a race against time now, one that Walker was determined to win.