Chapter 11

'So much for a great start to a vacation,' Duo thought as he neared his shelter. The rain from last night made the grass and dirt muddy, so he had to walk carefully so as not to get his good shoes wet and filthy. Not that he cared; his dad would. The weather was quite humid, almost stifling, and Duo was starting to feel uncomfortable in his bulky uniform suit coat. He was almost tempted to take it off, but that might get it wrinkled. And a certain someone wouldn't care for that, either.

When Duo got closer to the water, his eyes widened. "Whoa-ho! It must've rained cats and dogs, pigs and frogs last night!" he shouted, approaching the lake.

The cloudy lake looked almost to the point of flooding. With its choppy water lapping back and forth against the sharp rocks, it seemed like it was ready to overlap its boundaries and soak into the land. Duo took the whole scene in as he got to the edge. "Wow," he breathed as he looked all around, surveying the power of last night's storm. It was definitely too wet to sit down underneath the bridge on that little stone square, so he decided to just stand where he was.

He smiled a little as a refreshing breeze blew his braid around. His tie flapped up into his face again, and he laughed out loud, pushing it back down and tucking it into his black slacks.

He was starting to feel better already.

Duo began to walk along the bank slowly, casually observing the effects of what happened the night before. Some limbs were ripped off a nearby tree and were now floating in the water. The small beach was loaded with rocks and rubble. He was starting to have to watch his step; otherwise his foot might catch under something, and he'd go sprawling suit-first into the dirty wet sand. Wouldn't he be a spectacle if that happened!

"Hmm..." From fear of that happening, Duo was just about to turn and walk to a different location, when something peculiarly odd caught his eye. He frowned as he saw a large mass of something lying in the sand, and began to meticulously pick his way over to it. It looked different than the other debris -- somehow out of place. It was bulkier and more awkward-looking than the other wreckage. The young boy bent down questioningly, peering at whatever it was.

He gasped and a disgusted look came over his face as a swarm of flies lifted into the air from off the thing, being disturbed from whatever they were doing. Duo couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the decomposing form of what he was looking at: a huge, dead dog.

Its swollen, pitiful form austerely lay there, its skin just beginning to show signs of bleaching in the warm sun. Its skull looked as if it were split open, probably from one of the large rocks out on (and under) the lake. The smell of rot hung heavily in the humid air, nauseating the shocked boy and making him back up a few paces.

"Poor thing. It probably fell in somehow," Duo mumbled to himself, his mind wandering to Trays and mulling over what he'd do if he saw his little dog dead like that. "I wonder where the owner is?"

He stood from his crouched position and quickly looked around to see if there were any other unusual things washed up from the storm.

He gasped again. "What the…?!"

There was a body, lying motionless on the sand and still partly in the water.

Duo broke into a sprint, ignoring what would happen to his shoes and clothes. He gracelessly dropped down next to the body.

From what he saw at first glance, Duo was shocked already. The back of the person's jacket was shredded open, revealed a gaping, blood-crusted slice trailing down the back. He was soaked from head to toe, with grime from the lake covering his clothing.

"What happened to you?" Duo asked softly in almost a daze of incredulity, not expecting an answer.

He carefully turned the person from his side onto his back to see if he was even alive, and gently brushed the mussed, brown hair away from the person's face. His eyes widened.

It was just a boy, seemingly Duo's age. With the unstable rise and fall of his chest, he was fortunately alive, but unconscious. His clothing, as Duo noted before, was in tatters, and the color of dark red, along with sludgy dirt, was streaked across his pale, expressionless face and filthy clothes. Sand, combined with more mud, was caked in his hair, and much to Duo's alarm, dried blood was pooled around his head and already soaked into the sand.

"Kid, kid, are you okay?!" Duo called out, shaking him by the shoulder a bit, not knowing what to do first. His mind raced, trying to remember what he learned in school about this kind of situation.

He grabbed the boy's left wrist, checking for a pulse. It was faint, but he could feel its slow, steady throb.

The boy moaned a little.

"Kid, don't worry, you're gonna be fine, buddy. I'm calling an ambulance, so don't go away!" Duo shouted in sheer nervousness and concern. Although he didn't know this person at all, his heart went out to the poor unconscious boy. He whipped out his cell phone and dialed the emergency number.

"Emergency Service, how can I help you?" a lady's voice came from the other line. She sounded like she was very bored, wanted time off, and dealt with "terrible" situations such as prank calls every day.

"Yeah, this guy needs help!" Duo yelled into the receiver. "He's seriously hurt!"

"Sir, my poor eardrum," the lady said in a monotone voice. "Now, try to do your best and calm down. Good. Now, what seems to be the state of emergency?"

Duo huffed in exasperation, but continued. "My name is Duo Maxwell. I'm at Jade Lake by the bridge leading to Marion and there's this guy on the beach! He needs medical attention. Now would you be so kind as to get an ambulance down here right away?" That end part was clipped as Duo's patience wore thin. He looked at the figure lying in the sand. "Please?" he added to the phone.

"Okay, sir, please stay where you are and I'll send an ambulance."

The next few moments were a blur to Duo. He remembered feeling relieved when he heard the familiar sirens. He remembered seeing the people in white helping the injured boy into the ambulance. He also remembered being asked a few questions by one of the men (Duo couldn't recall what answers he gave him), and then being told that he could see his friend the next day in the hospital.

He lastly remembered watching as they drove away.


Author Note: Sorry if this sounds a tad outlandish, but I would really appreciate it if you reviewed. I am not blind to the 14 people who put this on their favorites list, and the 21 who put this on their alerts list. It takes me quite a while to write a decent chapter -- many hours, actually -- and it only takes, what, two minutes to leave a comment? When there's no encouragement, I feel a bit burned out and don't feel like writing anymore. I can take constructive criticism. If you want me to continue this story with any speed, then please review. The e-mails and comments are sometimes quite inspiring, gets me thinking on what should happen next, and therefore will get out a faster update. As someone put it, "Reviews are sustenance for the writer." So please review our hard work. Indulge us. Thank you.