Continuation of the story. This time we will rewind WAY back to one of those last camping trips in Brokeback. I don't know when is that so don't mind about it. Jack and Ennis are still alive in this story at this time so no ghosts but there will be Grimm, oh yes… Jack's thoughts.
Warning: Not much warning, I suppose only ridiculous plot again. Oh,yeah.. bit romance, not much cos I suck at romance.
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The Slowest Time…
The river was splashing brilliantly in front of them as if it was made to entertain the two lovers till no end.
Jack and Ennis were sitting side by side, not too close, not too far either. They decided to have a little picnic beside the river but this time Ennis was kind of quiet that Jack wondered what was going through his mind.
"En, ya okay?" Jack asked with concern. There was no respond from Ennis until five minutes passed between them. "Hm? Nah, ain't much ta worry about. No need fer concern," Ennis continued his silent staring at the river again as Jack took a bite from his sandwich.
Birds chirping…
Squirrels running around…
Jack burped…
Ennis chuckled…
Jack punched him lightly on the shoulder…
Ennis only smiled…
That was the slowest six minutes in Jack's life. They must have broken the record of having the slowest time in their lives because not much were shared or said since they started the picnic. Ennis doesn't look as energetic as last night either. Jack yawned as loud and big-mouthed as he could. Then he shut his mouth and looked at the grass around him. He was trying a new fact where yawn is said to be contagious.
Five minutes later, Ennis stretched his arms out and yawned.
He cannot believe that it worked!
Came the moment when Ennis had some space beside him because his arms were stretched out that Jack slipped in on Ennis' right side. Ennis realized this and stopped yawning. He rested his arm on Jack's shoulder. Looks like Jack succeeded to make Ennis yawn and give some space for Jack to lean beside him. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes.
Birds chirped peacefully.
"How long d'ya think this would last?" Jack broke the silence and looked at Ennis.
Ennis did not answer. Jack did not react to the silence.
"Don't know…"
Jack did not answer to that. They stayed like that for some time. "Ya know this can't go on long, En…"
Silence…
"Sorry, Jack, I don't know…"
"Ennis, tell me somethin' that I don't know…" Jack straightened up and looked at Ennis. Ennis let go of Jack and leaned his back on a tree, sighed and pushed his hat low to hide his eyes.
"I don't know, Jack…"
"I heard that crap lotsa time, Ennis…"
"Jack fuckin' Twist…"
"Yeah, I know that shit too…"
"Ennis Del Mar's hungry…"
"That's kinda rare…"
"Ya think?"
"Yeah… what kind of hungry ya have now?"
The two only stared into each other's eyes, each saying hungry for each other. "Hungry fer some fresh air…"Ennis stood up and swept dried leaves away from his worn-out jean.
Jack did not expect that but he did not object to the decision.
What the hell's up with En today?
Ennis kissed Jack a goodbye and Jack did not go easy on Ennis. He was kind of angry that Ennis was giving him silent treatment that day so he bit Ennis along the way of the kiss.
"Shit! Jack, don't eat me alive, I ain't good enough raw!"
"So ya want me to heat ya up that yer hot enough ta fry yaself?" Jack joked with his captive.
"I told ya, I ain't good enough fer ya but ya'll do fer dessert," this time Ennis bit Jack gently.
So the creatures of the forest got a free show that afternoon. Not too much, just the necking here and there.
Jack had a dip in the river after he satisfied his hunger with Ennis. He was alone that time since Ennis went to get more firewood for the night's campfire. Jack dried himself and got dressed. Evening began to crawl up on him so he trekked back to the campsite and along the way he considered the fact if Ennis had got back to the tent earlier than he did.
So, when he arrived at the spot, he realized that the tent's flap was opened. He did not care to look around but dashed at the tent. Wow, Ennis is fast today…
Jack popped his head inside the tent. It was dark since night began to drop by slowly. Jack did see someone inside the tent but it looked too skinny to be his pal.
"En… that you?"
"No… I mean YES! I'm sleepin', so go away." The voice growled in a manner spectacularly identical to Ennis. Jack was taken aback but he crawled away from the tent and cursed to himself. Then realization dawned on him when he looked at the empty fire pit. Wait… if En DID come back… where's the fire!
Jack looked back inside the tent and caught the hooded figure red-handed stuffing Jack's pack of cigarettes into his pocket.
"AHA!" Jack shouted accusingly and angrily at the hooded man.
"AHA! HAA!" the bony man stammered and the pack accidentally slipped out of his hand.
"Whaddya think yer doin'!" Jack shouted again with only his upper body inside the tent and his legs sticking outside.
"Yeah, what do you think you're doing!" the hooded man shouted back at Jack.
"I'm asking ya, yeh bastard!"
"Yeah, of course I'm a bastard!"
Jack could feel a vein popping up inside him.
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Somewhere far off, Ennis had done his job of woodcutting but he was resting on a stump to clear his mind. His mind wandered off to a part where he wished he could grab Jack and run away to a place where they will live happily ever after. But that was an impossibly childish thought…
Well, he had been considering opening up the ranch just like what Jack mentioned to him but that seemed impossible too…
He took a long drag on his cigarette and had another thought on his mind. When he got back, he's going to give Jack some good loving because Jack must have felt hurt for being ignored today. Yeah… that's a good plan to make up to him, that blue-eyed man. But those eyes will always find a way to get a hold on him. Somehow…
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Jack chased Grimm out of the tent like an angry bull.
"Wait! WAIT! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!" Grimm yelled angrily at Jack.
"How… HOW! Ya SNEAKED inside our tent and start smugglin' and who-knows-what in there with our stuff! WHO THE HELL ARE YA! Yeh jest skin and bone!" Jack replied incredulously at Grimm, still doubting what his eyes are feeding his mind with. He had the hunting rifle aimed at Grimm's chest.
"I'm Grimm, duh. Can't ya see that? I know a two-year old who can guess faster than you do," he said with a smirk at Jack, criticizing his low level of intelligence and lack of knowledge about him.
"G…G…Grimm? Grimm? GRIMM! Thehellwiththat!" Jack cursed and pulled the trigger. Grimm did not evade but took the impact without flinching. The bullet landed in Grimm's chest, straight into his ribs. No blood oozed out, only the particularly affected bones shred into pieces and turned into dust. Jack gaped with horror at the sight.
"Humans… foolish, stupid, mindless creatures. When I said Grimm, what came into your mind?" he said as he dug his bony hand into his chest and plucked the bullet out without a gasp of pain.
No answer.
Grimm sighed and stepped closer to where Jack was still standing but stunned.
"Hello? Sir? Jack? Hulloooo? Yoohooo? Mister? Rodeo? Mr. Twist? JAAACCCKKK?" Grimm waved his hands in front of Jack, fearing that Jack was killed by a heart attack.
"ARGGGHH!" Jack yelled and instinctively punched Grimm in the face.
As if that was not enough, Jack hit Grimm with the butt of his rifle.
"Woooaaa! Wait! STopp! Jack, darn it, stop, man!" Grimm had swung his hands on his head to dodge the blows but to no avail.
"Die, yeh monster! Die!"
"Hey, dude, like give a guy some mercy, you're gonna die later, anyway! Hey, hey!"
Jack eased his attacks. He stopped in his tracks, his thoughts slowly faded away from his mind as the rifle slowly slipped from his fingers and landed on the ground with a thud. "what…?" he whispered, barely could find where his voice is.
"Hey, dude, like give a guy some mercy, you're gonna die later, anyway. Hey, hey?" Grimm repeated what he said, assuming that Jack wanted to hear what he said just now.
"I'm… gonna…" Jack did not dare to say it.
"Die? Yes."
"What?"
"Are you deaf? I said die, expire, poof, sayonara, bye bye, chow, give up the ghost, flop down and die like this, urgh." And Grimm literally flopped down and pretended that he was dead.
Jack looked into space, blank-faced. Grimm was totally ignored. Grimm thought this was the best way to tell the poor guy without making him more tense than ever but it seemed like he failed. Well, it was good for the first try.
"Jack, I know it's weird but…"
"Why'd you wanna tell me?"
"Huh? Tell…"
"Yeah, tell me about me dyin'. Ain't that a secret?"
"Anh… you wouldn't believe this but…."
An uncomfortable silence
"It started like this. One day, I was looking for a job and the Death Department had a vacancy so I took it. So, I worked with these other Grimm Reapers and this one senior kept bullying me, calling me shorty and lame. Then he'd always say like this, with his chest all puffed up 'Grimm, you are a weak old kid. You're just a baby, considering you're only 43 560 years old. Why did you want to sign up for this job, anyway?' Honestly, he sounded like my grandpa. Oh, yeah, talking about him…"
Jack grabbed Grimm by the collar and slammed him to a tree. "I ain't interested in yer life, sonofabitch…!" Jack paused when he said this. It reminded him of Ennis. He shook the thought of the man away and focused back at Grimm. Grimm took Jack's pause as a threat so he finished his explanation in one breath.
"There-was-this-Jack-in-the-future-who-is-actually-you-except-you're-already-dead-and-you-bribed-me-with-cigars-so-you-could-stay-longer-with-Ennis-despite-the-fact-that-you're-dead-so-one-day-you-met-Ennis-face-to-face-and-he-was-freaking-scared-and-wanted-explanation-so-we-told-him-about-how-you-bribed-me-and-we-fought-cos-I-had-to-get-you-back-and-you-guys-win-so-we-kinda-negotiated-and-you-guys-bribed-me-with-more-cigars-again-and-here-I-am-to-tell-you-about-your-death-so-that-you-guys-could-make-the-best-of-your-last-moments."
Jack gawped at that. "Haaa?" That was his only response.
"You want to hear again? Okay," he inhaled hard and "There-was-this-Jack-in-the-future-who-is-actually-you-except-you're-already-dead-and-you-bribed-me-with-cigars-so,"
"Hu…HUSH! Shut up, yeh piehole! I understand what ya said!" Jack said impatiently and clamped the so-called-piehole's mouth to ensure his silence.
Grimm stayed silent to let the horrible fact seeped into Jack's mind. The both of them were like that for a few minutes until Jack let him go.
"This can't be true…" he combed his fingers through his hair, desperate to make it clear.
"Hey, I'm just…" Grimm pitied the guy but there was nothing he could do.
"Ain't true…" Jack cupped his face with his hands in frustration.
"Jack, are you okay?" Grimm was afraid if Jack had gone crazy.
"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Jack bellowed at Death (that's referring to Grimm).
Jack grabbed the rifle and aimed at Grimm again. He wanted to shoot the being until he is shred to pieces, his frustration and sadness of leaving Ennis fueled his anger beyond reasons.
"Uh oh…"
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Ennis had begun his walk back to the campsite, lugging the neatly tied firewood with him. He squinted his eyes along the walk as the darkness was blanketing him. The moonlight was his friend right now, the only one that could help him to get back to Jack and his warmth. Ennis stopped in his tracks when he heard the familiar sound of Jack's voice and shots of a rifle. In front of him, in the darkness were Jack and Grimm. Jack was chasing Grimm like a hungry dog, shooting blind at Grimm who was running frantically dodging bullets, thorns, trees and fellow forest creatures.
In this chase scene, Ennis could only see Jack because Grimm was wonderfully camouflaged in the darkness because of his outfit. Grimm was running towards Ennis and he did not notice the cowboy standing a few feet in front of him so he kept running. At the last few seconds, Grimm noticed the man so he halted his pace. Behind him, Grimm felt a stray bullet coming in at him. So, Grimm did what any sensible Grimm Reaper would do, he ducked down to dodge the bullet. This action caused the bullet missed Grimm but hit Ennis instead. Ennis did not have any time to react. He felt the cold tiny bullet pierced through his shirt, his skin and settled into his flesh. The impact caused Ennis to feel numb around the left side of his stomach. His knees buckled as the numbness spread throughout the body.
He groped his wound, trying to ease the pain coming in like a galloping horse, so fast and painful too. Jack realized this. He threw his weapon aside and ran to Ennis' side. He ignored Grimm who was sill taking cover on the rough earth. When Jack kneeled beside Ennis, he realized that Ennis was writhing in pain, his hands soiled with the blood of his wound, the wound he, Jack, caused. "En…En…" Jack could not believe what was happening in front of his eyes.
Ennis coughed blood at the sound of his name being uttered by his loved one. "Jack… Jack…I…"
"Ennis, Ennis!" Jack lowered his face closer to Ennis'; his tears almost escaped his eyes. Ennis could smell Jack, the most pleasant smell he had ever smelt. Jack's shaking hands were trying to stop the bleeding but Ennis was already breathing in short gasps.
Ennis smiled a bloody smile. The next wave of pain was so agonizing that Ennis let a scream of pain escaped his blood-stained lips and he blacked-out. The last thing he heard was Jack yelling his name into the silent, cold forest of Brokeback Mountain.
And that was the slowest most painful time of Jack's life.
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-the end-
Joking, joking. I'm still gonna write. The last part (where Ennis died) was written when I was listening to Numb. Wow, the song was so inspiring that a lot of the word 'numb' appeared in the fic.
