Chapter 8: Delayed

Climbing down the hill may have took longer than when he ran after Mello, but it did not take nearly as long as it did to climb up the hill, and Matt reached the bottom fairly quickly. He looked up the hill and thought he could vaguely make out Mello at the top, but it was hard to see. He took a long look at his surroundings then slowly set off back towards the river.

He moved slowly, picking out landmarks that stuck out in his mind so he'd be able to find his way back. He did not want to get lost while down here by himself, or end up climbing the hill and not finding Mello at the top because he'd walked too far west or something.

He paused at the crack of a branch somewhere to his right. He would have passed it off as a natural sound if it hadn't come again. He froze, taking a silent step in the opposite direction. What if it was another bear? What if it was something worse? What if it was a wolf, or a murderer, or a zombie or something?

He took a deep breath silently, telling himself to calm down and stop naming outrageous things. Zombies were typically out at night after all, and surely a murderer would have killed them earlier…right?

Either way though, the sound of breaking branches had grown quieter, so whatever it was must be moving away. Still the redhead crouched down behind a thick clump of plants, just in case whatever it was turned his way. He didn't care if bears did not usually attack unless provoked; he certainly was not going to risk it.

He remained there for several minutes but when no more noise came he cautiously stood, moving slowly once more towards the river. It took longer than he expected, but he made it back fine without any unexpected run-ins.

The current was strong today, so Matt exercised extra caution while climbing across the rocks to fill the canteen. He was getting pretty thirsty by this point and the water looked tempting, but he would have to wait until he reached Mello to have any, since he didn't have the purification tablets.

He sighed, standing and making his way off the rocks. He blinked back the lightheadedness the best he could, but in the moment of distraction his foot slipped, and he fell hard on the rocks.

He forced his body to go down hard to avoid falling backwards and into the river. His knees impacted the rock roughly and he gasped at the pain as they scraped forward against the rock. He winced but slowly stood. Walking made both knees, but his right one in particular hurt, and his cautiousness left him in an effort to just get back on solid ground. He made it and sat down heavily, breathing slowly. He looked down at his knees and blanched.

Both were badly scratched, but the right one was by far worse. Crimson blood was gathered around the large scratch, and blood was beginning to run down his leg from it. His left knee at least was not as bloody. "Dammit," he swore quietly to himself. He couldn't use river water to clean the cuts because that could cause infection, but all he had was river water.

Noting a tear near the bottom of his shirt, he quickly reached down and attempted to rip it more. It took some effort but eventually he had torn a small section of his shirt off. He wiped the blood from his left knee and saw it wasn't too bad because he had thrown more of his weight on his right knee.

His right knee was awful though. He tried to wipe the blood from the cut and let out a small cry of pain in surprise. He pushed the pain aside and managed to wipe away some of the blood, and he cringed at what he saw.

Small pebbles from the rock were embedded in his skin. He couldn't leave those there, and he couldn't not clean that cut. Leaving it like this would make it worse, and infection would be likely to set in. His only option though was the river water…

He debated several moments, trying to push the pain back as he sat there. He wasn't doing very well though, for his knee continued to throb, and it was still bleeding. Finally he slowly crawled out onto the rocks, hoping the water farther out would be less contaminated with mud at least. He carefully soaked the fabric of his shirt and slowly worked his way back to land.

He held back a gasp as he wiped up the blood, several pebbles dislodging roughly in the process. He winced as he continued to clean the cut as best he could, wiping up the blood that had slid down his leg. It was still bleeding lightly when he managed to clean most of the blood up, and several small rock chips and pebbles were still stuck in the wound. Mentally preparing himself for the task, he hesitantly used his nails to attempt to dig the pebbles out.

It hurt. A lot. A whole fucking lot. Digging out the pebbles was making the wound bleed more, but he couldn't leave those in there. Matt just hoped they hadn't gotten past the first layer of skin or he'd never get them out on his own.

It took quite a while, but he managed to get them out of his skin. Well, all but one that is. He had torn at it for ages before giving up, frantically trying to mop up the blood with his shirt. The small piece of fabric was soaked in blood and he threw it on the ground in disgust. It took him several minutes to tear off a second section of his shirt that was big enough to wrap around his knee that had finally almost stopped bleeding. He tied it tightly around his knee, flexing it slowly. It still hurt a lot, but he'd have to work with it.

Matt had spent a long time cleaning himself off, and he rinsed the blood from his hands in the river and stood, wincing slightly as he started the walk back towards the hill.

He moved slowly, limping slightly. His knee did not appreciate the movement. He used his landmarks to find his way back to the hill, but as he approached it he noticed the sky was starting to darken. Already it was getting difficult to see. Had it really taken him that long to clean up his injury?

He gazed at the hill, debating on what to do. He could attempt to climb it, but it would be dark before he reached the top, and it would be really hard to see then. Climbing would nearly be impossible in the dark. But Mello was probably worried, and he didn't want the blond to do something stupid when he didn't return.

It was getting darker by the minute though, and Matt knew he wasn't going to be able to climb this in the dark, especially when hurt. He looked around, trying to find an area that was not riddled with plants and trees. He brushed some leaves away and finally found a suitable spot about a dozen feet from the hill. He quickly gathered a small amount of firewood and started a small fire, just enough to give him a little circle of light. The darkness beyond his fire was unnerving, but at least he could see a little, and maybe this way Mello could see he was okay. It wasn't likely though; the fire was small so he wouldn't set the woods on fire.

He sat beside the fire, pulling his knees to his chest defensively. Now that the pain in his knees was more tolerable, the rest of his troubles settled over him. His head was pounding worse than ever, and he found it hard to hold it up. He was really hungry, and his stomach was not above letting him know this. Now on top of all this his throat was dry and begging for water, something he simply could not do.

He thought of Mello, up there in the dark, probably scared and alone. He was probably worried and probably considering climbing down after him. Matt knew he'd climb up as soon as it started to get light to prevent such a thing from happening.

Finally he lied down on the ground, curled up in a fetal position and cushioning his head with his arms. He was so tired, but his head was pounding too much for him to get comfortable and fall asleep. He pushed back the feelings of hopelessness, trying to chase the thoughts of despair from his mind.

The fire burned down not long after, but he didn't have the energy to move and find more wood. Instead he curled up tighter and closed his eyes. His body felt weak, and it was an unnerving feeling. He wasn't sure how he'd be able to make his body move in the morning.

He finally managed to sleep, although it was restlessly. He woke up frequently from a sharp hunger pain or from scraping his knee on the ground wrong. When the sky began to lighten he felt like he hadn't slept at all.

Despite this he was glad to see the light, and he quickly stood, swaying slightly when he did so. He steadied himself against a tree, trying to brush it off as getting up too fast, and moved towards the hill.

If he thought the climb was tough the first time, it was almost impossible now. He couldn't put weight on his right knee much at all. He didn't want to, in fear of causing it to bleed again or digging that small stone farther into his flesh. He tried to keep his weight off his knees as he slowly ascended.

This, he found out not long after, was almost impossible. He was only a quarter of the way up when his foot slipped and he fell, sliding down the hill on his hands and knees. He didn't move for several moments after he landed, taking several slow breaths before shifting.

The fall had definitely aggravated both of his knees, and he glanced down to see blood once again oozing from the cut and soaking into his makeshift bandage. He forced himself to continue the climb once more.

His hands were shaking. Matt's head was killing him and he actually paused once balanced, laying his head against the ground and groaning in pain. He pushed it back a minute later, slowly continuing to climb. He braced himself with his knees now, even though it sent a shooting pain through his knee whenever it made contact with the ground.

He was a little over halfway up when he was forced to stop again. A wave of dizziness descended upon him and he quickly steadied himself, once again laying his head against the ground. He closed his eyes, clutching the dirt and plants to try and keep himself grounded. Everything seemed to be moving around him. His head hurt, and his knee hurt. He was so hungry, so tired, his throat scratchy from thirst, and he didn't think he could climb any higher. It was too far, and what was the point? Why bother when he could barely make it several feet up before needing to stop?

"Matt!"

Matt opened his eyes slowly; gazing up the hill to see Mello perched over the edge, looking down at him.

But there was a point. There was Mello, who was worried about him. Mello who was thirsty and needed the water Matt had. Mello who would climb down after him if he didn't make it up.

Mello.

Matt slowly pulled back from the ground and continued to climb, wincing when he was forced to stay balanced with his knees for a full minute before finding a suitable handhold. All the time Mello was above him, watching anxiously for Matt to climb higher.

His foot slipped again, but he didn't fall this time. He held on tightly and closed his eyes.

He was so tired.

"Come on Matt! You're almost there," Mello encouraged. Matt slowly looked up at him and Mello nodded. "That's it, come on Matt. You can make it." Matt managed to climb another foot before he paused, the dizziness striking him so suddenly that he barely had time to tighten his grip. He couldn't lose it now, not here, not when he could fall by losing focus. "Matty," Mello called, making Matt open the eyes he hadn't notice he had closed. "Matty you can do this. I need you to do this."

Matt's resolve hardened he continued the climb. He wasn't far from the top now, but much like before it was steeper here. Mello hadn't hesitated; he was already leaning far over the hill, hand extended for Matt. "Come on, just a little farther," he said, stretching a bit more towards Matt.

Matt pushed himself up and clutched Mello's hand. For one sickening moment the blond wavered forward, but then he pulled back. Moments later Matt had managed to make it to the top of the hill.

He didn't fall so much as collapse into Mello's arms, leaning against his chest. Mello carefully maneuvered them backwards, dragging Matt from the edge of the hill and then simply holding him, glad he was okay.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Mello asked finally.

"I fell on the rocks," Matt said. "I cut up my knees pretty bad, and it took a while to stop the bleeding and everything. By the time I got back it to the hill it was getting dark."

Mello said nothing, and Matt shifted, pulling back slightly.

"I got the water," he said, holding up the canteen, hands shaking. Mello took it and quickly inserted a purification tablet. He set the canteen aside and shifted so he could look at Matt's knee.

"I'll use my old shirt to re-bandage that," Mello told him, digging through his bag. He removed his other shirt and tore it up; creating a better makeshift bandage for Matt's wound. Matt watched him silently. Mello winced when he got a good look at the wound. "Did you clean this?" he asked.

"Yeah. I used river water though."

Mello looked up sharply. "That's dangerous! There are tons of bacteria in there!"

"I didn't have much of a choice did I? I couldn't leave it, especially with all the pebbles that had dug into it."

At this statement Mello inspected his knee closer. "Did you get all of them out?" he asked, finding his answer a moment later. "You couldn't get this one?" Matt shook his head. "Do you want me to try?"

"No, that will just make it bleed again, and that will waste the water we have."

Mello began to wrap the cloth around Matt's knee. "We can't forget to mention this when we get back to camp. It happens when you fall on rocks sometimes, and as long as we get it out soon there won't be a problem."

"Yeah," Matt said.

Mello leaned back against a tree when finished, closing his eyes. "Let's just sit here for a bit, until the water is drinkable."

"Okay." Matt moved next to Mello, leaning against him and closing his eyes as well. Mello shifted to accommodate Matt better, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.

Not long after, both boys realized this had not been their best idea.

Neither knew how they were going to get the motivation to get up and keep moving again.

"We're closer to camp now. We'll find it today," Matt mumbled against Mello's shoulder. Mello leaned his head on Matt's.

"Yeah."

"I sure hope so."

/…/…/…/

AN: Alright guys, the story is winding down. Next chapter is probably the last. I really want to get it out in the next week before college starts…so I have almost exactly a week. My problem is that I'm kind of angsting right now. One of my best friends left for college yesterday. More friends are leaving this week. I'm busy making constant plans or sitting online being upset…sigh. It's a sad time, the start of college.

So I'll try and push through that and finish this up before classes start. Hopefully they don't steal my life away, since I have another ongoing idea I want to work on…