Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Nevergreen ❯ Chapter 11

Nevergreen 11/?

"Trowa!"

The voice was muffled, a scream barely heard over the rushing water, the crashing trees as they broke and crumbled, the crack of thunder and lightening. Heero once again restrained Trowa as he moved forward, heart racing even as he forced his thoughts to slow, to see everything and to calculate the possibilities. The probabilities were not good, but they were irrelevant. They were not leaving.

"Heero!" Trowa growled low in his throat, and Heero looked up at him; actually looked. Hair plastered to his head, dressed from head to toe in a Drizabone, water cascading down it like a waterfall, blinking back the water from a face grown too pale, eyes feverish, hungry…wanton. Scared shitless. And he finally saw there was no time to waste.

Without thinking, Heero pulled his jumper off, tossing it at Trowa as he reached into the back of the Ute and grabbed the hammer they had used the weekend before to drive the fence posts in at Evergreen. There was no rope, nothing they could hope to cling to and the water was only rising, growing thicker, stronger. Trowa was already stripping off his heavier out layers when Heero reached his side and they shared a lone glance before Heero drove forward, feet splashing into the water, seeking the depth and forcing his shoes deep into whatever purchase he could find as he tried to keep his balance against the torrent already smashing against his knees.

A hand reached out, landing on his shoulder and pulling him to the side a little. Heero grunted, but felt more balanced, sharing his weight with Trowa's as he reached out and monkey-locked his fist around Trowa's wrist, feeling him take a similar hold. The water was cold and powerful, so Heero ignored it, looking forward as he let his feet lead him. He was still several meters from the Ute when his foot slipped off a large rock and drove down…

And there was nothing beneath on the other side. Heero plunged down, head disappearing beneath the swirl as the undercurrent pulled him down and tried to drag him off. His foot snagged in a branch and tangled even as something fisted in his shirt and tried to haul him free. The branch tore up his shin, ripping through denim and skin but Heero pushed the pain aside, vaguely aware of the water all around him staining red until his head was suddenly above the water, cold hands hauling him back off the ledge he had unknowingly stepped off.

"Shit," Trowa huffed loudly and Heero couldn't help but laugh. Shit indeed. He forced himself to stand, still waist deep in the water, and looked across at the Ute. It couldn't be more than four meters.

"How agile are you?" He yelled over the storm and Trowa blinked at the question, shrugging in response. Heero took that as good enough and without thinking about what could go wrong, grabbed Trowa from behind, hefted him as high as he could, free of the water, dripping and heavy and threw him.

Trowa soared. It was the only word Heero could think of in his rain addled brain. A flash of lightening revealed his slender figure folder around itself, turning sharply in the air, wringing itself free of the storm for one brief moment before it uncurled, finished its turn and dropped, legs snatching up the impact as he landed smoothly on the roof of the Ute, barely avoiding the branches still swaying freely on the tree all around. Heero breathed a sigh of relief before staring back at the water and steeling himself against the sudden fear that rushed through him.

He did not allow himself to think, merely took a deep breath before he stepped off the ledge once more and dove down. He found the ground and rammed the hammer into it hard, then reached forward, hand groping through the slush, eyes clenched shut as he sought any purchase, finding a rock that he clung to with everything he had. Then the hammer went forward again, and his hand, this time on a branch embedded in the dirt, then the hammer, and another stone...on and on, freezing and numb, bleeding and terrified.

His hand smashed into rubber and he wanted to cry with relief as he shot up arms grabbing at anything as he breathed in deeply and forced his eyes open. A hand grabbed his wrist and he was being hauled up, onto the bonnet and Trowa was looking at him as if he were a damn ghost.

"Fucking nuts!"

Heero just stared through the windscreen at the mangled remains of Mr. Winner and the huddled form of Quatre trapped in the passenger seat as he handed Trowa the hammer.

Quatre got the hint pretty quick when Trowa waved the hammer in a swinging motion in front of the glass, curling up against the seat and covering himself as best as good with arms and legs. Then the hammer was swinging and they were kicking in the glass.

Quatre didn't hesitate a second. The moment the glass was out of his way he was out of the cab and in Trowa's arms, hanging on so tight Heero couldn't see, in the rain, where one ended and the next began. He gave them their moment, using it to reevaluate the situation, deciding he had made a very bad decision.

The water had risen, sloughing against his feet, slowly covering the Ute. The fallen branch that had taken Mr.Winner's life was rising in the water, loosened from its hold by the shattered windscreen and its movement was in turn freeing the Ute itself. If they were unlucky, and Heero didn't really think luck was on their side today, the Ute would be swept downstream.

"Trowa!" Heero grabbed hold of Trowa's shirt, pulling him free of Quatre's grip, getting one good hold before he hefted him, not even thinking about what would have to come next. Trowa soared once more, but there was nothing to land on as his body slapped into the water and sank, instinctively. Heero held his breath, waiting, before Trowa stood abruptly, spluttering and raking his hair out of his eyes as he looked across and opened his eyes, ready. Heero nodded, grabbed hold of a squawking Quatre and tossed him across.

Quatre…did not soar. His body flopped awkwardly, spun the wrong way and belly flopped into the current, but Trowa's hands were there, grabbing hold and not letting go.

Then Heero go to see that moment when Trowa realized what was amiss, but he didn't have time to think much about it as the Ute shifted under his feet and knocked him sideways as it launched itself free of the tree, the rear spinning around, pushed into the river and it took all he had to reach up and grip onto the rack on the roof as he was almost flung off the side.

"Heero!"

Heero ignored their shouts, completely absorbed in feeling the Ute and the water and how they moved, aware the current was pushing too hard and he felt the distinct moment when it started to turn. Letting go of the purchase his feet had, he swung down the side of the Ute just as it started to fall sideways and before it could land on top of him he crawled up the side door and grabbed hold of the undercarriage. The Ute continued to spin downstream, but Heero didn't think about it, or the way his fingernails ripped loose as he hauled himself up to stand on the Ute top. He just thought about running, about bending his numb knees and jumping, about copying Trowa…

And Heero soared. For one brief moment before he crashed. And there were four hands there to wrench him out of the trench and into the shallower side trail.

"So fucking nuts," Trowa hissed at him as he hauled Heero to his feet, Quatre on his other side as they struggled through the water and back to safety. Heero didn't allow the relief to hit him; didn't allow anything to cut through the cold determination he had wrapped himself in. He jumped in the driver's seat of Trowa's Ute, Trowa heading immediately for the passenger seat to check Quatre over for injuries. Heero saw blood on the small blonde's head, but he was awake and pushing Trowa's hands away so Heero didn't pay it any more notice, slamming the Ute into reverse and backing up. The wheels spun and for one blinding moment Heero thought they would be bogged; that this Ute would meet the fate of the first, swallowed by the river, then the tires caught, steadied and the vehicle lurched back, sliding and squealing in the rain and loose litter, but moving and Heero gave it only a hundred meters before he spun out to the side and pushed it into gear, forcing it to struggle forward, back through the dirt and gravel that had brought them to Hangman's Bridge.

The pains started to find their way into his mind about two k's from the main road and Heero looked down at his hands and saw blood and broken nail. Not wanting to think about his leg, he focused on the road and getting them back to town, to a hospital, out of the rain.

Trowa and Quatre were talking quietly, whispers low and inaudible to Heero who could only hear the rain as it shattered over the windscreen, splashed up the sides of the Ute and pelted down on the roof. The lightening was dying down, but the rain had finally reached its full potential. He was driving less than forty k's and couldn't see the end of the bonnet, let alone the road, but he drove on instinct, searching for flashes of white line and tar in the headlights as they inched their way forward.

But the rain didn't let up, and there came a point when Heero forced himself to stop, breathing out heavily, wondering if maybe he was cursed, because this just could not be happening.

"Heero?" Trowa queried from the back seat, but Heero did not reply, just sat and waited, looking forward.

Trowa and Quatre squinted as they tried to see through the glass and Heero saw their eyes widen as his hands gripped the wheel tighter.

On the horizon was a smudge of light that Heero recognized as dawn, that revealed the road before them, which had some point become a river, the water flooding the wheat fields sucked out onto the gravel, over it, and onwards…And the rain was still falling.

"Is there another way into town?" Trowa looked at Quatre expectantly, but the blonde just shook his head. Heero felt the cold then, felt it in every part of his being; felt the defeat.

"Turn around," Trowa said softly. Heero blinked. "Turn around!"

Heero spun them around and started racing back down the main road, glancing aside at Trowa expectantly but no explanation came. The dawn finally came full force, unable to tear its way through the storm but managing to cast a slight sense of light and colour to the world. It was all grays and shades of darkness, but it was better than pitch. Anything was better than that, in Heero's mind.

They passed the phone tower and Trowa sat up straighter, pointing to a side road and a small white sign that had an odd symbol vaguely familiar to Heero. He took the turn, wondering what a Ki sign was doing in the middle of nowhere when his brain finally engaged.

Wufei. The resort.

"Good thinking," Heero noted grimly as he tried to control the Ute as it slid over the soaked dirt road leading to the resort through the seven sisters that separated the central west from the east.

"One of us has to have good ideas," Trowa noted dryly and Quatre actually laughed. Heero didn't reply, didn't trust himself to speak without the hysteria lurking deep beneath his skin breaking loose. So he just drove, not liking what he saw.

Like everywhere, the trees were broken and burnt things cast aside by the storm, but the closer they got to the resort the more trees they found uprooted and tossed across the road. Heero drove around them as best he could, but he did not feel it boded well for the resort itself.

"They planted these trees as mature plants…the roots wouldn't have had time to settle themselves the way the other trees have…" Quatre noted idly, gaze fixed on the chaos outside.

They rounded a corner on what might have been paradise once. It looked like hell to Heero. The resort was nestled in the valley between two of the hills that made up the seven sisters, and the storm had apparently come straight through the centre, guided by the two large land masses, hitting the resort full in the face. Trees were sticking out of bungalows, parts of the complex were scattered all through the valley and the roofs, where they still existed at all, were torn, shredded things that did nothing but let the water drain inside at a slower rate.

Heero drove down into the wreckage slowly. The rain was letting up, the storm passed this point, but it was still dangerous. Trowa pointed toward one of the larger complex's off to the side of the valley and Heero headed for it, noticing most of the vehicles appeared to be congregated outside it.

"It has a cellar," Trowa noted idly as Heero turned off the car and they climbed out. Heero's leg threatened to collapse as he put his weight on it, but he forced himself to take the weight, to grit his teeth against the pain and just walk. No one was in any condition to carry him and he wouldn't let them if they were.

The doors were in tact, but a branch had ripped a hold in the wall right beside it, so they used that to enter. There was a large tree through the roof, water pouring through and they were once again ankle deep in ice. Heero was having trouble remembering what warm felt like. It was like…Duo…And he forced himself not to think about that either.

"Chang!" Trowa bellowed and even Quatre was startled as he stumbled aside and glared at Trowa.

"Wufei!" Heero echoed, ears straining for any sign of life as he struggled to the large doors at the far end of the room.

They opened long before he reached them and a bedraggled face peered out. Wufei looked like Heero felt as he struggled out, a hand pressed to his side, hair loose and glued to his face and neck, limping.

"Ah, guests!"

Heero just stared, as completely blindsided as Trowa and Quatre looked. Was that meant to be a joke?

"Where is everyone?" Heero ground out, hoping no one was dead. The last thing he felt like doing was carting dead bodies.

"Flew them out this morning when I saw the weather report," Chang replied as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. Trowa chuckled low in his throat. Heero just didn't find anything funny enough to laugh at. "What are you doing here?"

Heero let Quatre and Trowa explain, and then sat down on the floor, leaning his head against the wall and blocking everything out while Quatre had his small breakdown. Heero didn't think it was something to scoff at; the boy had just lost his father, after all. If it had been Heero…Heero didn't really understand. J was his guardian, his parents some unknown ghost like mirage in his mind who had left him in a city dumpster for the council to find. A foster parent, but not really a father; that was J. Heero didn't love him so much as he…was grateful to him. He had the sudden desire to see him, talk to him; see him. Anything. He coulnd't help grinning as he recalled the ease with which he had thrown away his phone. It seemed such a futile gesture now. So he had had the power to toss a phone into a silo and pretend he had a say what happened in his life.

What was he compared to blood rain?

"You find this amusing?"

Heero opened his eyes and stared at Wufei, who stood before him as if he might fall over at any moment yet still managed to somehow look perfectly comfortable with himself and entirely in control.

"Very," Heero replied stoically and Wufei smiled as he collapsed beside Heero, looking across the room at Quatre cradles in Trowa's lap.

"So…we're stuck here."

"So it would seem."

"Where's Duo?"

Heero paused, trying to focus, to not let the emotion loose. He would not allow himself to think of the possibilities.

"At home, I assume."

Wufei was quiet so long Heero thought that was the end of it. Then Wufei forced himself up and put out a hand expectantly. Heero didn't hesitate to grab hold and allow Wufei to help haul him up, nor did he hesitate to follow the oddly quiet man over to Trowa and Quatre to pull them up either. He just followed. Followed him out into the rain once more, past the Ute, past the ruined bungalows, past the broken trees to the swollen river. And the boat.

"You cannot be serious!" Quatre gasped, but Trowa was moving past him to help Heero and Wufei push the debris out of the way.

They climbed in, cramming into the small dingy, and Wufei pulled the wet cord continuously as they listened to the splutter and spatter of the engine until it finally started and they were rocketing through the gray and murky world.

Heero let his arm trail over the side, skimming his broken fingertips over the water, eyes fixed on the bank and the willows now submerged, long slender branches floating on the surface. It was a drowned world.

A koala sat high in a gum tree they passed under, head curled under its arm, tucked tight into its chest, sleeping soundly in the rain that drizzled. Heero watched it sleep until he couldn't see it anymore and wondered if it had slept there through the storm. Did it even know there had been a storm, or did it know only that is was cold? He stared at the cow by the riverside as they chugged passed, sure it was Daisy from school. She mooed at them and chewed on a large chunk of grass.

"Everything's so quiet," Quatre whispered, as if he didn't dare break apart what he had finally noticed.

The storm was passing, leaving behind the broken remains of what had dared to forget it. They would be forgetting anytime soon, and yet…nothing had really changed. Heero smiled at Daisy, wiggling his fingers in her direction before dropping them into the water again.

"We're almost at the Bunyip hole," Quatre noted and a small, sad smile played on his lips as he leant over the side of the dingy and looked into the water. Heero stared at his reflection, thinking.

"They say they make terrible noises, Bunyips," Trowa pointed out, a small smile on his face as he wrapped an arm around Quatre's waist. "Almost like a scream, mixed with a bellow. So frightful it can stop a man's heart in his chest so that it'll never start again."

Heero thought they all looked…sad and wondered why he didn't understand. Wondered what he was missing.

"Filthy creatures," Wufei noted. "They live to scare the locals shitless by devouring anything living that dares come near its Billabong."

And they just looked…sad to Heero, as if they knew something. Something he didn't and he didn't like it but there really wasn't anything they could do about it.

They moved in near silence, only the sound of the small outboard engine and the boat sliding on the water, the odd creak of a tree or splash of fish, the flutter of a leaf. Heero let the peace absorb him and the cold continue to numb…everything.

There were voices in his head. Voices he could not shake, so he let them float there as he floated with them, just for a while.

We're heading over to the Den. See you there at 7?

I could leave, if it weren't for the sunsets.

Heero didn't want to leave. He didn't want to go back. He just wanted…what he had.

Heero? What's going on? Where the hell are you anyway?

Roads don't go anywhere, Heero Yuy. They're just roads. It's the places that matter, and the people in them.

Heero didn't follow roads. It had just been a name. Something about the name…

You're starting to worry me baby.

Don't let him be afraid forever, Heero.

Heero wasn't afraid. Had never known what fear was to feel it. He was just…afraid. He wanted…

If you don't call me in 24 hours I'm filing a missing persons report…N.

Here, I could wait forever and still know there would be another day after forever ended.

Heero didn't want to wait; hadn't waited. But…he was waiting. He wanted…

Kid…you okay? J.

Take away the things that hold it down, and it's not so bad

It wasn't so bad. He liked it. Liked everything about it. The name, the road, the place, the people. But he wanted…more.

I used to wish the Bunyip would take me.

…

"Duo." Heero sat up as the boat nudged into the riverbank, even with the entrance to the main bridge, which was almost underwater but had managed to stay above the rising flow. Wufei was tying it to a tree with a rope he had had in the small box of gear at his feet. How it had survived the storm was beyond Heero, so he didn't think about it. Rather, he leapt out of the boat and rushed up the bank as if there was not a single pain in his body, eyes already fixed on the road that lead to the main street.

Wufei was suddenly at his side and a glance over his shoulder revealed Quatre and Trowa, but Heero didn't wait for them, hobbling forward on his bad leg, past the farm and implement shop, past the video store with its broken window and stench of burnt tape, past the car lot with its pranged cars…it all went by so fast he couldn't remember if he had truly passed them, but then he was rounding the corner and his blood was boiling, waking up, the numb disappearing, replaced with…

The Imperial. Wasn't. The roof was scattered through the street, the entire right wall had collapsed onto the real estate agent's. Smoke was still rising from the debris. People were standing there in the street, pointing and talking. The rumors were already starting. Heero didn't see them, didn't hear them as he raced forward, stumbling to the front doors only to have strong arms hold him back, a voice yelling in his ears but all he heard was the ringing of the rain, the burn of the storm, and the screaming…that incessant bellowing of the dream walker who had haunted his sleep as she held out her hand, pointing straight at him.

"Duo!"

"He wasn't in there!" The determination of the voice to make him understand finally broke through the fog and Heero blinked back the fear, pushed back the emotion, and snatched back the cold as he stepped back and glared at the man in front of him, barring his way.

S'cub. The barman from the Red Dog Saloon.

"He wasn't in there! Step dad threw a right royal fit when he got home late and got stuck into him. Duo ran all the way down the street with that crazy fucker chasin him the whole bloody way! Duo ran into my pub and I slammed the door in the old bastard's face. Haven't seen him since."

"Then Duo is…" Heero was already turning toward the Saloon, the image of Duo bolting down the street in terror stuck in his mind.

The hand fell on his shoulder again, just as firm, just as restraining. S'cub looked ready to scream in exasperation, but his mouth was tight.

"Kid played a round of pool, but the closer the storm got the more jittery he got…He bolted before it hit. Saw him head toward the river. I tried to call him back, but he's too quick…"

Heero was about to turn, head back to the river, but Wufei was suddenly at his side, holding him still, eyes firm and too serious as they looked at S'cub.

"You're sure he was headed to the river?"

"Come on Chang, where else would he go?"

"We just came from there. He wasn't there."

S'cub looked like he wanted to say something but he didn't, just kind of…collapsed in on himself. Heero didn't care. He had to leave. Had to go, had to…

"Why would he go to the river?"

Everyone stopped. The entire street seemed to pause and turn to stare at him. Heero just glared at them all. S'cub looked ready to have a heart attack. Quarte was pale, as if someone had kicked him in the balls. Wufei was mad. Trowa just looked…sad.

"Helen drowned in the river."