Duo Maxwell, or Death to his listeners was one of the best radio announcers in his college. He had more people listen to his show than anyone else. Even though he was the most popular he didn't let it go to his head. He knew that it could be all gone in an instant. He had grown up an orphan and by sheer luck was one of the few orphans who went to school.
He studied hard in school and got a scholarship to a four-year college. Duo doesn't have many friends. He is too busy either going to classes, studying or going to work. On his radio show, he plays the newest music and he also talks about anything and everything. He gives the listeners the sense that he believes everything you say even if it is incredibly dumb. The listeners love him for it.
It was the last day of class and Duo had just finished his last final when one of his coworkers and friends walked up to him.
“Hey Duo, how did the test go?”
“It was okay, but it was hard. Hope I passed it. So what brings you here Q?”
“Oh we were wondering if you were going to come with us?”
“Come with you where? And who is us?”
“Didn't I tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Oh I must have forgot. Trowa, Wufei, Sally and I are going to go camping for a few weeks before we head home for the summer. We were wondering if you would like to come with us?”
“I'm not sure. I have to work, Q.”
“Duo, you haven't taken a night off or any vacation time off since you started school 2 years ago. Come on, just a few weeks, and then you can come back and work.”
“I don't know Quatre. I mean, Sister Helen is counting on me to get my degree and….”
“I know Duo but I don't think she would want you not to have any fun. Please Duo Please.” Quatre looked at Duo and gave him a puppy dog stare. Duo tried to fight the effects off but he couldn't.
“Okay Q, I'll go, just stop it with the puppy dog stare.” “Good! I'll go tell Trowa. Why don't you go and pack, and we can head out tomorrow.”
“TOMORROW! I can't get time off that quickly.”
“Umm, sure you can.”
“Quatre, what did you do?”
“I didn't do anything.”
“Okay what did you guys do?”
“I…umm… have to go. See ya tomorrow in front of your dorm at 7 am sharp.”
“QUATRE!”
But it was no use Quatre had already run off. Duo just slumped and headed back to his room. When he got there he made a call to the radio station.
“Hi, May I speak to Une, Please? This is Duo Maxwell.”
“Yes, hold on please.”
“Thanks.”
He started to pack while waiting for Une to get on the phone. He had a feeling that he didn't really need to call her but he felt he should.
“Duo, how can I help you?”
“Look, Une, I need some time off…”
“Oh yes, your friends talked to me about that. You have the next several weeks off. I think this would be good for you. By the way you have tonight off as well. Have fun.”
Then Une hung up. Duo looked at the phone in disbelief. He couldn't believe what had happened. His friends and boss conspired against him to make him go on this trip. Duo sighed and figured he best make the most of it. He hung up the phone and finished packing. Once he was done he looked around the room trying to figure out what to do. He usually was getting ready to go to work, but since he was off tonight he decided to see what was on Television. He flipped through the channels but nothing seemed interesting. He turned it off and decided he might as well get some sleep.
The next morning his alarm clock blared to life. Duo bolted out of bed. He stood in the middle of his room trying to figure out why he did that when the blaring finally got through his sleep mused brain. He walked over to his desk and turned it off. The clock read 6:00 a.m. Duo went to take a shower. He got in and let the hot water rush over him. Then he started to wash himself. When he was done with his shower he looked at the time. It was 7:05. Duo yelped loudly and hurriedly put on his clothes. He checked to make sure he had everything. Then grabbed his suitcase and closed and locked the door. Then he ran to the front of his building. His friends were waiting patiently for him.
“Maxwell, we said 7 o'clock sharp not 7:10.”
“Sorry, Wufei but I lost track of the time.”
“It's okay Duo, let's just get going.”
They all piled into the car and headed towards the camping grounds. Trowa was driving with Quatre in the front seat, which left Wufei, Sally and Duo in the back seat. They had been driving for about three hours now and Duo was starting to wonder where this camping ground was.
“Hey Quatre, where are we going?”
“I told you Duo, camping.”
“Yeah but where.”
“Near Silver Falls (1).”
“Silver Falls, That's at least an eight hour drive. Not to mention it's practically in the middle of nowhere.”
“So what. I hear it is really beautiful. Come on Duo this a time for us to relax and not worry about anything. Just look out the window and look at the scenery.”
“Yeah the scenery, all I have seen is grass and a house. I can't talk to anyone because you and Trowa are up there and Wufei and Sally are sleeping.”
Duo just looked out the window. He saw another house but other than that nothing interesting. He needed something to do or listen to because the silence was really getting to him.
“Hey Trowa do you have any cds? I need to listen to some music.”
“Yes Duo, it should be in the pouch sitting in front of you.”
Duo grabbed the pouch and started to look through it, but he couldn't find any cds.
“Hey Trowa, There aren't any CDs in here.”
“They're in there.”
“No they aren't I just looked.”
“Hand it here, Let me look for it.”
“No, you're driving.”
“Fine. Hand it to Quatre then.”
Duo handed to the pouch to Quatre. Quatre dug through the pouch to find the CDs. Trowa looked over at Quatre for a second to see if he found it yet when he heard Duo scream.
“TROWA WATCH OUT!”
There in the road, was a deer. Trowa swerved to avoid hitting the deer and ran off the road. All Duo could do was look ahead. He watched, as a huge tree on the side of the road was getting closer to them. Duo closed his eyes and prayed that this wasn't the end.
TBC
(1) Silver Falls isn't a real place; at least I don't think it is.
Prologue
Chapter Index
Chapter 2
