Staying Silent

Whyteroze28

Why is Hector Zeroni so quiet, and why does Pendanski seem to hate him so much? Zero/Stanley I hope you like the story, please R/R

I obviously don't own these guys, but I think they're so cute together

Chapter 11

They started walking, as Stanley told him about his Great-Grandfather who had been lost in the desert, and Hector fought the urge to ask about his other family member. The one Stanley had affectionately referred to as his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. Hector knew there was a story there, he had been dreaming about the man, after all.

When they got to the base of the mountain, he stared up at it. He wasn't a quitter, but he knew he wouldn't make it up that mountain on his own. He was already sick from the Sploosh, and his guts felt like they were trying to eat their way out. But he wasn't going to let Stanley know. He'd ignore it for as long as he could, and then tell Stanley the truth about the shoes before he died. It was only fair that he knew why he had been stuck out here. Hell, maybe he'd even tell him about Pendanski, and his crush too. Might as well have a clear conscience when he went.

They climbed for what felt like days, talking about nothing important, though his heart had seized up when Stanley made his comment about Mary Lou in a bikini. But then he realized that Stanley probably thought he was straight, even if he knew about Pendanski. He probably guessed Hector was keeping quiet out of shame.

Then his heart stopped. He watched with his heart in his throat, as Stanley swung from the cliff, and all he could think of was the real possibility that Stanley would die right there. He knew what he had to do, and he braced himself for the pain as he wedged the shovel in tight and grabbed the blade. He felt Stanley's weight, and held on, willing him to make it, and when he did, Hector had to force himself to let go.

He bit back a cry of anguish as he saw the bloody marks on his hands. He knew it would be twice as hard to climb now. He couldn't stop himself from yelling a bit when Stanley bandaged his hands, the rag wasn't exactly clean to start with. But he knew he was going back into the delirium when he heard himself say that the Sploosh was getting to him. He hadn't wanted Stanley to know that... not yet.

He thought he had passed out again, because he could see the other guys from D-Tent.

They were all walking along, Magnet in front, staring off into the distance, his voice almost hopeful.

"Maybe he found Zero. Maybe they're both still alive."

X-Ray groaned, and glanced back at the others, his voice condescending. "Maybe the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are still alive too."

He heard Squid's voice, gloomier than usual, his shovel slung across his shoulders, like Hector himself had always done. "Maybe my mom will stop drinking, and my dad will come home."

And there was a new guy there, a twitchy little guy, with brown hair, almost as small as Hector himself, maybe even smaller. "Man, when Caveman stole that truck..."

Zig-Zag, reached out to cuff the kid on the shoulder, and smiled, lost in thought. "That was awesome."

"Yeah, man. Caveman did have style." Armpit grinned, his words sad, as though he knew that they weren't ever coming back, which Hector thought, they probably weren't.

Then Stanley smacked him, and he jerked awake. He was still lying on the mountain, and the guys were nowhere in sight. He quickly recounted the dream, and watched Stanley's expression go from concerned to stunned, especially when he mentioned the smaller boy.

"Hector, are you... psychic?" he asked, warily.

Hector shrugged. He still wasn't sure, but now he was really starting to wonder himself. He always seemed to know things the others didn't after all.

They started up the mountain, Stanley spelling words, and Hector trying to figure them out. But suddenly, Hector felt his stomach give a violent twist, and he stopped, dropping the shovel, and feeling himself heave, trying to throw up something that wasn't there. He felt his foot slide out from under him, and the entire mountain seemed to tilt, and suddenly, he was falling, rolling down the mountain, as he heard Stanley calling to him. But he was calling the wrong name. He wasn't a Zero, couldn't Stanley see that?

He felt Stanley stop him, but couldn't move, staring at the gaping drop that lay in front of them. He zoned out for a minute and realized that Stanley was moving him, arranging him, so he wouldn't fall any farther. And at that instant, Hector knew he was going to die. He tried to force the words out. "Stanley, I got to tell you something, man." And he knew it wasn't going to be the shoes, or Pendanski. He had to tell Stanley how he really felt before it was too late. But he couldn't make himself say anything, He heard the other boy say something about ice cream, and then he felt himself slung across Stanley's back. As he hung there, suspended, he wondered again if he was going crazy. He saw the old woman from his dream again, and she was singing. A song that he knew, but the words sounded more familiar to him. It wasn't quite the tune he'd heard Stanley humming that morning, and he realized that this was why Stanley's song hadn't sounded right.

"If only, if only
The moon speaks no reply,
Reflecting the sun and all that's gone by.
Be strong, my weary wolf;
Turn around boldly.
Fly high, my baby bird—
My angel, my only"

He wondered how long he'd hung there, how long Stanley had carried his weight. The next thing he knew, he was getting splashed by cold water, and he sat up, shocked. But not by the water. Stanley had called him Hector again. And somehow he knew that he would never again hear Stanley call him Zero.

They played in the water for a minute, not caring how wet and muddy they were getting, and then he watched, as Stanley pulled something out of the ground. It looked like the biggest onion he'd ever seen, and he stared as Stanley bit into it. He watched the boy eat hungrily, licking his lips, and Stanley offered it to him. He asked what it was, because it didn't seem like anyone could eat a raw onion like that.

"It's a hot fudge sundae, just eat it." And Hector took it, if only to put his mouth in the same spot where Stanley had bitten through. But as he tasted the onion, he gasped. It was incredible. He handed it back to Stanley, and smiled.

"That's the sweetest onion I ever tasted," he heard himself say, as he watched Stanley take another bite. Then he watched the other boy lay back in the mud again, and... start singing? It was the song... but the one he'd heard Stanley humming.

"If only, if only,
The woodpecker sighs,
"The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies.
While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely;
He cries to the moon,
"If only, if only…"

And suddenly, the old woman's face erupted in his mind again. She was grinning, and he heard her sigh softly. "Tell him."

But he couldn't. He was still too sick to speak much, and they just lay there, eating onions, and drinking the cold spring water for most of the night. But he still felt as though a giant weight had been lifted off his chest, and he knew that as soon as he felt better, he was going to tell Stanley everything.