"Pretty bad…you had a concussion, three broken ribs, lungs filled with smoke, not to mention all the bruises you endured…boy you took a beating." she replied. "But there is something I should tell you…about your friend…Max…"

"What about her?" I asked, not really wanting to know the gory details of her death, because I had already witnessed it first hand.

"They said that she was dead, but upon examination we felt a flutter in her pulse, it was only barely there, but with quick timing on the staffs part…we saved her." the woman replied, a smile creeping over her face.

I felt the brim of my eyes set on fire as a tear begged its exit. Tightening my eye lids, I allowed the salty substance to trail its way down my cheek, before my lip turned into a sort of smile. One thing had happened for the best, and I was so thrilled that she was alive. She had been my first friend in Boston, and I was glad that the legacy of said friendship would live on forever now….at least until one of us actually did die. But I didn't allow my happiness to persist as I quickly remembered my brother's state when we first saw him in the cave. The state he had covered well as he helped me, but the state I still saw him in…the state of agony. I knew something had to be wrong with him, but I wasn't sure what.

"What about my brother? When we saw him he was coughing blood and he was weak as hell…" I trailed off letting my tears of happiness turn into tears of dread in only a matter of moments. I felt like a woman in her third trimester with the emotional shifts happening upon me as of late, but decided that it was just from the continuation of stress from having my life threatened.

"Yes. He was in a state…a very bad one." she said sadly, checking my iv.

"And?" I asked quickly and demanding, cursing her slightly for her hesitation.

"Look to your left." she said simply, and when I did I saw him. Lying there. Unmoving, yet very much alive and obviously asleep, with a heart monitor checking his every beat. "His internal organs were damaged somewhat from a beating he had endured, he was the only one worse than you, well besides Max. But even she is expected to recover quicker than him. In fact…any more movement on his part, and we could have lost him." she finished truthfully, and oddly, despite the bad news, I was grateful to her.

-------------------------------------------------

Bethany, Heather, and Maddie sat dormant in Maddie's cabin, awaiting the news of not one, not two, but three of their friends' fate. "What's taking so long!" Bethany yelled, impatiently, looking at the small clock on the nightstand.

"Chill the hell out! Zack took a beating to the skull, we don't know what the hell Cody went through, and Max had an arrow lodged in her back…I'd say it's going to take some time!" Heather yelled loudly to her best friend, the stress getting to her as well.

"So where's Bob, Tapeworm, and Agnes?" Bethany asked, confused.

"Tapeworm locked himself in his room and wont come out for anyone, Agnes is trying to get him out. I don't know where Bob is." Heather replied quietly, looking to her lap where her intertwined hands rested.

"His asthma was bad, and it got worse from the smoke. He was almost dead when Denton found him and Zack. But I haven't seen him since he left the hospital room." Bethany commented, still wondering where Bob was.

"Zack is the one who found Bob…not Denton…" Maddie said flatly, peering to the ground, her cheeks tear stained and her eyes red. Bethany bit her tongue. She knew that Maddie was having a rough time not knowing what was wrong with Zack and Cody, two of her best friends in the world, and one of them possibly the love of her life. But in truth, Denton had saved both Zack and Bob. Zack's lungs gave out as well as his legs, causing him to buckle with Bob in tow. And when they didn't come back, it had been Denton who had plunged inside exiting with both boys.

"Speaking of asthma, are you alright?" Heather asked, wholeheartedly.

"Yeah…my asthma has gotten a little better, but even so, I got myself checked out…wait, how did you know I had asthma?" Maddie asked, confused.

"Zack." she said simply, and when Maddie gave her an odd expression, she continued. "He talked about you all the time. Me and him dated once actually, and when he showed me the hotel we saw you working and from then on all he could do was talk about you. And I knew that there was nothing between me and Zack because he loved you. Didn't really bother me though…I kind of hoped Zack was like Cody, but that wasn't true at all." (A/N: No Cody doesn't end up with Heather. Sorry if you want him to. Doubt you do, but anyways…onward!)

Maddie nodded. It's all she could do. She knew Zack brought a hundred girls to the Tipton for tours but she didn't know he talked about her with his dates. She, in all honesty before this trip, thought he had given up hope for the two of them and decided to go with girls his own age. But alas, that wasn't so.

She felt a tears threaten to spill from her eyes when she thought of him. She knew their lives would never be the same again. None of them. And she knew it would take a lot of time to heal not just their bodies but their minds. But what she didn't know was that the story was far from over, and that it wouldn't be the last time she'd see Talkon and Brent, because they were angry. Angrier than ever before. And they were out for blood.

---------------------------------

"I'm not coming out, Agnes so go away!" Tapeworms voice spewed from the other side of the door.

"I swear Tapeworm if you don't open this door in three seconds I'm going to wail it down!" she yelled, fuming.

"Go ahead and try! Even you aren't crazy enough or strong enough to break in here!"

"Wanna bet?!" she yelled, before hauling her body into the massive door. THUMP! The door sounded and rattled ruthlessly.

"You're going to hurt yourself, quit!" Tapeworm yelled again, still not coming out.

"Fine! You wont come out…and I obviously cant knock this door down…I'm burning you out!" she yelled again, and sounding serious.

"You wouldn't dare!" he roared.

"Try me!" she said pacing, furiously, grabbing a match box from her pocket, used for purposes just as this one. "I'm striking the match!" and she did, letting the smoke waft into the room. She knew she wasn't going to actually smoke him out, but she did the trick as he swung the door open furiously.

"What!" he boomed loudly, pulling her inside carelessly.

"Why are you acting like such a baby? You refuse to talk to anyone!" she rounded on him, her finger pointing aimlessly at him and shoving into his chest.

"You don't understand!" he yelled.

"Oh, no I guess I don't understand…I mean it's not like I was there or anything!" she yelled sarcastically.

"No! You didn't almost lose your best friend since kindergarten! The person who knows more about you than anyone else! The person that you….-" he stopped abruptly, crumpling to the floor in a fit of tears.

"Almost is the keyword, Tapeworm. You didn't lose her." Agnes said calmly, falling on the floor next to him. "And I think I know, a little bit at least, of how you feel…because I think I love Cody."

"I thought you liked Zack?" he asked, confused, drying his tears.

"Yeah…I'm confusing." she replied with mirth, causing Tapeworm to grin subtly but grin nonetheless.

(A/N) okay, I promised myself that today I would have a new chapter in this story, and I did...lol. Well, everyone's fine and dandy so far...still have a long ways to go. And dude I was reading my earlier chapters and omg...I'm surprised you guys stuck around this long...my writing was awful! Terrible! Anyways I hope you liked this short chapter...I WILL WILL WILL WILL WILL WILL WILL UPDATE THIS AGAIN WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK!! I SWEAR! Alright, Open Mic Night was updated the other day, if you havent read that chapter then you need to mosey on over and check it out. My profile was updated the other day too...if any of you is interested in that? I dunno. Anyways hope you liked this chapter a little bit, tell me what you think...Until next time!

HP