Chapter 3

Metis heard his phone ringing, and walked up to a boulder, and stopped when he heard a rattling sound. He looked down to see a rattlesnake. He backed up, and saw his phone, which had stopped ringing. He slowly bent down and picked it up. He stumbled, as he walked backwards, causing the snake to lunge. He ran, until he was back in a clearing. Metis looked at his phone, and dialed up Josh. "Please pick up..." Metis begged.

Josh was just getting out of the shower when his phone started to ring. "Who could it be this time?" He sighed, annoyed.

"Hello? Who is it?" Josh asked, as he towel dried his hair, phone on speaker.

"Josh?" Metis sighed

"Metis? Oh, so you finally decided to answer your phone." Josh said, unimpressed. "What happened? Where are you?"

"I... I don't know." Metis mumbled.

"Huh? What about the PE hike thing? Where did you go after that?"

"After that?" Metis asked.

"Yeah, for the past two days?"

"Days?!" Metis exclaimed

"Yes, days. Where were you?"

Metis was holding hid head in his hands, "...(unrecognizable mumble)..."

"What?" Josh asked

"I DON'T KNOW!" Metis was panting by now

"Don't know?"

"*mumble* Hurts *mumble*...I'm dizzy..."Metis said, weakly

"There aren't any road signs?"

"... n-no... i-it's all f-flat... No r-roads."

"Metis? You ok?"

"... 'm tired... It's cold..." Metis complained, before being overcome by a coughing fit.

"Metis, just stay on the line, okay? I'm going to have someone track it."

"...k..." Metis answered, before rolling over, and asking, "... I'm tired... Can I sleep?"

Josh looked at the phone, thinking it over. "If you can't stay awake... I-I'll wake you up later, okay?"

Metis nodded slightly, feeling too weak to do anything else; and he slowly let his eyes drift closed.

Josh ran through his house, he grabbed a bottle of water, car keys, and some hiking equipment. Once he was satisfied with the contents of his backpack, he dashed out the door, and into his car. He rushed to the school. Once he was there, re ran up the stairs, and into a computer lab.

"Tony! Simon! You guys here?" Josh called. He listened for a response.

"Oh, hi Josh. How's it hanging?" Tony said, removing himself from a compartment of his latest 'creation'.

"Not so good. I just got a call from Metis."

"Hey, it's the dumb jock. What, did the prissy emo boy need help bandaging his cuts?" Simon called, as he walked into the room.

"Simon!" Tony snapped, gesturing to Josh, "Be. Nice... Continue, Josh." Tony looked at Josh, a faint smile upon his face; likely supposed to comfort him.

"He's lost. He said he can't remember the hike, or anything after. Can you guys track him? He's still on the line." Josh said, holding out his phone.

"Lost?"

"You insult us, can we track him? Duh." Simon yelled out.

Tony shook his head, and held out his hand, "We can, but it'll take about an hour."

Simon held out his hand too, as he walked up to Josh. "Money"

Tony shook his head again, taking Josh's phone. "I can do it myself, Simon. I don't charge for helping someone that's lost. At least I'm not some stuck up jerk that only insults people."

Josh just stood there silently.

Simon put his hands on his hips, and stormed off. "Fine!"

Tony looked up at Josh, motioning for him to follow.

Josh walked behind the blonde nerd (he looks like matt from zevo-3; only taller)

Metis heard the conversation from the other side of the phone. "J... J-Josh?... Tony?..."

Josh and Tony looked at the phone, until they both yelled out, "Metis? You okay?"

Simon walked back into the room, "What's up, emo princess?"

Josh and Tony turned around to glare at Simon.

"... Si... mon? *cough* *indistinguishable mutters*...one's... here..."

A rustling could be heard from Metis's end; and then a thunk. Last thing heard was a chuckle of someone else.

"Shit. Who's there? We're gonna be there soon. You better not be there when I get there, or you'll get it." Josh growled.

Another chuckle was the only response.

The man took out another syringe; this time filled with a red liquid. He stuck it in Metis's arm, getting a weak groan from the unconscious boy. He laughed again, as he stood up and began to hit the raven-haired boy. Metis made few sounds; mostly just the 'oof' of getting the air kicked out of him.

Josh cringed as he heard the scuffle.

Tony noticed and said, "Don't worry, he'll be alright, he's Metis." Josh laughed in response, but he still felt uneasy. "We'll find him."

"Got him! He's a ways away from the trail. His coordinates are on this GPS, just follow them... I'll keep the phone. Call if you need anything."

Simon groaned, "Just go already, Josh. If he's in trouble, he'd need you now."

Josh waved and called out, "I'm off", before dashing out of the building.

When he reached the end of the trail, he took out the GPS and started to follow it. He tried to slide down the cliff, but stumbled near the end; causing him to land flat on his butt. He groaned, as he got up. Josh started calling out Metis's name, "Metis!", he looked around, not seeing the raven haired youth, he called out again, "Metis! Where are you? If you can hear me, then just make some noise! Anything! May!" He could hear a groan in the distance, and he ran towards it. As he neared Metis, he saw blood. "Metis!" He rushed to his side, holding Metis's head in his lap, as he tried to shake him awake.

Metis groaned again, and his eyes fluttered open. He looked up at Josh, who sighed in relief. "Where's your phone? I need to call Tony."

"...Jacket...", Metis mumbled.

"Does it hurt anywhere?", Josh asked while searching Metis's jacket.

Metis nodded, "Where?"

"Head... chest... arms... *cough*... legs..." Metis listed.

"Okay, I'm going to ask Tony what to do, okay?" Josh asked, after finally finding the phone.

Tony picked up on the second ring, "Sorry, chemical spill... what's wrong?"

"Metis... There's blood everywhere... he says he's in pain." Josh fretted.

"Okay, what hurts? Where's he bleeding?"

"I don't know, he's covered in blood... He said his head, chest, arms, and legs hurt... What do I do?"

"Did you bring water, and some fabric-like a cloth?"

"Umm... yeah, both are in the pack." josh answered while searching his bag.

"Okay, take them both out. I want you to clean the blood off, okay? Then you need to tell me where he's bleeding from."

"Kay, hold on." Josh sat down the phone, and poured water over the white cloth. Metis whimpered when the cloth touched his head. "You okay? I'll be gentle, we're just gonna get you cleaned up a bit, okay?" Metis nodded.

Josh continued to wipe the blood off of Metis, soon finding that he has many bleeding wounds. He picked up the phone, "He's bleeding all over. His head's pretty bad... I don't know what to do... could he have a concussion?"

"Does he have any other symptoms?"

"He keeps coughing, he's tired, and he said he was dizzy... He lost a lot of blood."

"He might have a concussion... But if he was outside for days, then those would be normal... Just try to stop the bleeding. Tear up a shirt or something; and wrap it around the cuts- tightly. Hold the cloth on his head... oh, make sure he stays awake, no matter what." Tony instructed.

"Okay, I'm just gonna hang up, there isn't much battery left..."

"Okay, Bye. Call me whenever you can."

"K", Josh answered before hanging up. "You hear him, Metis? You gotta stay up; At least until we get you some help."

Metis weakly nodded his head, trying to keep his drooping eyelids open.

"Okay, I'm gonna tie you to my back, so I can carry you. You think you can sit up?"

Metis shook his head

"What if I help you up? Think you can stay up for a few seconds? I don't wanna end up dropping you or something..."

Metis nodded slightly, before coughing into his fist.

Josh helped Metis into a sitting position, leaning him up on a rock. He stood up, and grabbed a long piece of rope. Josh sat in front of Metis, tying the rope around both of them. Once satisfied, he smiled and said, "Okay, You ready? I'm gonna stand up, and We're gonna get out of here."

He got no response, so he shouted out, "Metis?"

Metis groaned, "M-My head hurts... Don't shout..."

"Oh, sorry...", Josh whispered.

And so they began to walk in the heat of a hot summer day.