Ruined Puzzle Pieces

Part 7:

Sea & Trees National Park, moments away from impending doom:

Freddie had to think fast, really fast. He looked over at Sam, who seemed to be frozen in shock at the rockslide rapidly approaching them. A quick shove and Sam flew into the rowboat that was currently tied to the dock they had just been standing upon. Freddie untied the knot in record speed and flung himself in as well. (Landing in extremely ungraceful fashion on Sam, who reflexively smacked his head for it) The rubble immediately slammed into the boat's side which in addition to the river's decent current sent it rocketing downstream ahead of harm's way. (which was rapidly following behind) Sam and Freddie held onto each other for dear life as they headed into the unknown.

At a nearby ranger station, only a few minutes drive away:

Carly and Spencer were walking towards the station when they heard and felt what appeared to be an earthquake. They turned around to see an ocean of sand, dirt, and even trees flow down the mountainside behind them. Behind them, two park rangers appeared out of the station to get a view of the situation. They were both men and had the look of people who had worked in the national park for a long time.

"Oh no, that's area's been unstable for awhile. John, call the rescue teams immediately. There may have been civilians caught up in that."

"What?! Sam and Freddie are back there, and what do you mean been unstable for a while. I was just there and there wasn't any signs or anything?" Carly was in shock, the temperature in her body dropping even further than that of the chill mountain air.

"Some campers vandalized the signs recently. We just received the new ones and were supposed to put up the new ones tomorrow."

"Carly! Hurry! Into the car!" Spencer had already started the car, and was waving at Carly from the driver's seat through the passenger window. Carly didn't hesitate as she jumped in and buckled up. The two were already heading back in the other direction before the rangers could stop them.

"Wait! It's still really dangerous!" Carly didn't care one bit. Two of the most important people in the world to her were possibly hurt or worse. There was no way she was standing still.

A large and unknown amount of miles downstream from Socko's campsite:

Sam woke up exhausted, bruised, and totally soaked. She looked around carefully, trying to push aside the feeling of being tossed around like loose change in a pocket. At some point she and Freddie must have been thrown from the boat.

Freddie!

"Freddie!" Sam jumped up to her feet, only to whimper in pain and sit back down. Her leg was throbbing, and her ankle was the size of a grapefruit and still swelling. She got up slower this time, ignoring the pain and getting to her feet. She quickly surveyed their surroundings. There was no dirt and rock around them, just normal forest. They must have out drifted the avalanche. Sam desperately scanned the area, hoping to find a brunette boy close by, alive and breathing.

Nothing… Where is he?!

Sam looked one more time and found the rowboat thrown ashore, flipped upside down. She limped towards it, using the adrenaline to ignore the leg that wailed to be given a break.

"Freddie! Are you there, Freddie?!" Sam reached the boat and collapsed next to it. She was hyperventilating from the panic. Here she was, in the middle of nowhere, injured, and alone…

"I'm here…" Freddie's first response was a groan. It was so quiet that Sam thought she had imagined it at first.

"Sam?! Are you there?!" No mistake this time. Freddie was okay. Sam repositioned herself so that she was sitting on a rock next to the boat, planning to use her upper body strength to free Freddie.

"Wait Sam! I can get out on my own. I don't need your help." Sam saw the boat rise a few inches from the ground before collapsing back down, and rolled her eyes. She had noticed recently for a while that Freddie was having self-esteem issues, and decided it would be more productive to humor him this once. She waited until she heard Freddie deeply inhale, getting ready for another attempt, and when the boat started to rise, she grabbed the middle of it and slowly pulled it towards her, opening a way for Freddie to slide out from the other side. She dropped it right back onto the ground when Freddie released.

"You see… *gasp* I… *gasp* am not… *gasp* a wimp…" Freddie exclaimed as he got himself to his feet.

"Yeah, good for you. Are you hurt?" Freddie padded himself down, checking for injuries and shook his head in response. The immediate panic over, Sam suddenly remembered the pain in her leg and grimaced. It didn't go unnoticed by Freddie as he walked over and took a look at her ankle himself.

"What's wrong? Where are you hurt?"

"I don't know Freddie. Given that my ankle will soon outsize you head, I'm going to guess… my ankle!" Freddie ignored Sam's outburst and kneeled down to get a better look at it. He gently rotated her foot, pausing whenever Sam sharply inhaled in pain.

"It's a bad sprain, but I think it's not broken." Freddie gently set her foot down, and then inhaled and exhaled a few deep breaths, before facing Sam again with an accusing stare. "Let me take a moment to comment on your recent rockslide-starting-outburst… Worst. Idea. Ever. It's amazing that we're okay." Freddie shivered at the sudden chill he felt and looked up at the darkening sky. He and Sam were soaked and the chilly night air wasn't helping. Sam too seemed to be feeling the cold.

"Define okay. We are in the middle of the forest with no food and no supplies. I am soaked, freezing, hungry, and I can't even stand up." Sam suddenly had an idea and grabbed her phone from her pocket. "Great, phone's gone. I wonder if the warranty covers being submerged in a river." Freddie was checking his phone as well.

"Mine's dead too. I can't even tell where we are from the landmarks. All the mountains look the same. I couldn't even say which direction we should head in." Sam shivered again, and Freddie started to look worried.

"Look we've gotta get a fire going soon, and get out of this wet clothes or we'll die of hypothermia." Freddie started to take his shirt off and started to ring the water out of it. Sam didn't move an inch, and Freddie gave her a questioning look.

"I'd rather be found dead fully clothed, thank you very much," Sam continued to shiver. Freddie stomped over and thrust his ringed-out shirt at her.

"Look, be angry all you want, but the fact is that this is a life or death situation, and all you've got is me, so please give me a break and just work with me, okay?" Freddie looked around the forest checking the floor for something.

"I'm going out to get some firewood, and I would very much prefer to find you alive and breathing when I get back. The shirt's wool and even though it's wet, it'll keep you warm." Freddie started to march off towards the trees, when Sam cried out after him.

"I'm sorry!"

"What?" Freddie turned around with a suspicious look on his face, like he wasn't sure what he had heard.

"I'm sorry I got us into this mess. I know it's my fault, but please just stay here." Sam tried to avoid Freddie's eyes, but his silence got to her and she reluctantly met his chocolate brown eyes.

"I can't Sam. We need a fire, and you can't even stand let alone walk. I'll be fast, just wait here."

"Look, you could get lost… or worse. Just stay here… please."

And don't leave me here alone… Don't leave me like Dad did.

"I know you hate me, and I know you're really angry. Just don't leave…" Freddie looked back at her, and seemed to be choosing his words carefully. When he finally spoke it wasn't what she expected.

"I don't hate you Sam, and yes, I'm a little angry. Okay, I'm quite a bit angry, but I really do care about you." Freddie looked down at his feet for a second before once again facing Sam and continued.

"And haven't you realized? You can insult me, humiliate me, emasculate me, and even injure me, and you know what… I've always come back to you." Freddie than turned around and jogged into the forest. Sam started to feel the darkness of the forest close in around her, and was about to panic when she saw Freddie looking back over his shoulder at her. There was something comforting in that.

Sam closed her eyes and slowly let out a large sigh as she thought about what Freddie said. It was true, they had their fights, but when it really counted, they were always there for each other. That had to count for something. Freddie would come back, he always comes back. Even when there was no reason to, he always returned, because that's how he is. You could count on him. Sam looked down at his shirt for a while, and then began to change her clothes.

A/N: Read and Review… Though I don't know why I say read at the end… hopefully you being at the end already implies that you've read it… but hey, an update during final's week. I must be crazy.