“Yeah, man, the phone’s been ringing off the hook. There have been more people outside my place than
usual,” Howie said. He and Brian had flown to Vale to be with AJ .
“If only I hadn’t been in such a hurry to get out here. Or maybe if I had insisted they come when I did,” AJ
said, looking at the other two.
“Don’t,” Brian told him, placing a hand on his arm. “There’s no point in doing this to yourself. No one
could have known. We’ve got to figure out what to do.”
His eyes were rimmed with red. Nothing could have prepared him...any of them...for something like this.
“I don’t know about you, but I refuse to believe they’re really gone. It’s just not possible. DAMMIT!” Howie exclaimed, pounding the table in frustration.
************
Bailey was dutifully carrying out her assignment of keeping the supply of wood for the fire plentiful. She had snagged her sweater so many times it wasn’t even funny. Dropping the latest armload, she noticed her hands. They were red and chafed from the cold and wind. The manicure she had gotten the day she left was shot to hell. Her nails were chipped and worn ragged at the edges. Hearing Kevin raising his voice at Nick again, she grimaced.
It was obvious that Nick absolutely annoyed him. Yet, the love between the two was evident. While they weren’t
blood related, they were definitely brothers. Being an only child, she wondered what it was like to have someone
care for her so much. She did have Daddy, but it wasn’t the same. Private school allowed her to make a few friends,
but most of the girls there were more into status and style instead of friendship. Glancing at the two men, she
suddenly realized that while her sorority sisters were waiting on her, she couldn’t actually call them close friends.
“Quit yelling at me, Kevin,” Nick exploded, having had enough of his moodiness for the time. “It’s not my fault the stupid plane was struck by lightening! It’s not my fault my arm’s broken! And it’s sure as hell not my fault we’re stuck here! So get off my damn back!”
Kevin literally took a step back, caught off guard by Nick actually fighting back with him. He knew they
were all tired, cold, and hungry. The sky was gray, more snow clouds rolling overhead. Great, he thought, just
great. If they could only find some food....
“Did you just hear anything I said?” Nick yelled, getting right in Kevin’s face.
“Back off, Nick. It’s for the best,” he said, looking him right in the eyes and voice dead level.
“And if I don’t?”
“Nick.”
He turned away from Kevin to see what Bailey wanted. She was excitedly waving him over. Throwing a look back that said it was far from over, he stomped towards her. She had her cell phone out, grinning from ear to ear.
“Look,” she said proudly, holding it out for him to see. “I have antenna range here. We can call out.”
Nick took the phone from her hands, holding it in different positions, making sure there wasn’t a glare. He felt a twinge of hope in his stomach, only to be let down when he realized it was the battery signal she had seen.
“Bailey, baby, that’s not an antenna signal. It’s the battery. You’re fully charged, but no reception signal.”
“Oh,” her face fell. She suddenly felt very stupid.
“That’s OK,” Nick told her, handing the phone back. “If it could call out, the first call would have been to Domino’s. I am starving!”
Bailey laughed in spite of herself. She saw Nick grinning and it made her feel somewhat better. Her stomach felt as if it were about to cave in, too. Nick heard a movement, then felt Kevin’s presence beside him.
“You cooled off any?” Kevin asked.
“I guess so, man. Sorry.”
“Yeah, me, too. We really need to stop that. It’s not getting us rescued any faster.”
“How long were they on that island?”
“Do what?” Kevin asked, a slight chuckle in his voice. “Who? What island?"
“The people from the Minnow,” Nick told him, his face very serious. “You know...Gilligan’s Island.”
“What the hell are you talking about? What does that have to do with us?”
“I don’t know. I just figured if they could survive on that island for a long time, we can make it, here, too.”
“Nick,” Bailey interrupted, “we are in the Rocky Mountains, not on a tropical beach. We don’t have any coconuts to eat. I don’t think even Kevin can fix that.”
The two men looked at each other, then laughed. It was the first real laugh they had had in the few days they had been there.
“Uh, no, I don’t think so,” Kevin said. “It would be nice though. We could send Gilligan here to the lagoon to fish.”
He slapped Nick on the back playfully, forgetting about his arm. Nick howled in pain.
“Oh, are you all right? I didn’t mean to do that!”
“Yeah, just watch it,” Nick told him, gingerly rubbing his arm. Suddenly, his blue eyes lit up. “Why can’t we go fishing? I’m pretty good at it.”
“In case you forgot, this isn’t the best place for deep sea fishing. I was joking,” Kevin told him.
“What would you use, anyway?” Bailey asked, not liking where this was going. “You’ve already got my best pair of pantyhose. There’s no boat, either.”
“No,” Nick informed her.
“Then what? Catch them with your hands?”
“No. Damn, I wish I had been more involved with the Boy Scouts,” he grumbled, mad because his one good idea had been shot down. His eyes drifted towards the fire, thinking how good anything would taste about right now. Noticing one of the smaller branches sticking out of the flames, he turned to Kevin with a big smile on his face.
“What? You are not going to catch them with your hands, Nick. You would definitely have hypothermia then.”
“No. I just remembered reading something about spear fishing,” he began.
“Reading? You’re so cold, you’re delusional,” Kevin interrupted.
“Maybe it was on TV then. It doesn’t matter where I
remember it from, does it? Sheesh! You can take some of the sharper sticks and use them to try and catch something for us to eat.”
Nick beamed with pride, for once thinking of something Kevin didn’t.
“Me? I don’t think so, Nick. We can all try this. Three doing it together will give us better odds.”
“If I weren’t freezing my ba...” he broke off, suddenly
remembering Bailey standing there. “Never mind. Let’s just say if we were on a tropical island, that would deserve a snappy comeback.”
“And let’s just say if we were on a tropical island, you still couldn’t give one,” Kevin said, grinning. “Bailey, do you think you can find us some more of those branches that are sort of pointy? If you can, then we might actually get something to eat!”
Bailey went in search of the sticks, wondering how in the world could she use them to catch a fish? That was the stupidest idea she had ever heard of. She so wanted to tell them that, but Nick had seemed so proud of his suggestion, she didn’t have the heart to say anything. And while Kevin hadn’t lost his temper in nearly an hour, she didn’t want to risk causing a flare up anytime soon.
*************
“And there is still no word today on the whereabouts of the plane carrying Kevin Richardson and Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. If you remember, the chartered flight disappeared on a trip to Vale,Colorado. Also on board was fomer debutante Bailey Townsend from the University of Tennessee. As you can see, there has been a constant vigil
outside Jive records by fans who are stricken with grief and shock over the news. And at the MTV studios, where
the Backstreet Boys were frequent visitors, fans have set up mini-shrines in memoriam. Weather reports are calling
for at least five more inches of snow tonight. Search and recovery efforts have been going slow due to the extreme
conditions. Any hope of finding survivors has virtually disappeared. It is indeed a sad day in music history. Join us
tonight for a special on other singers who were also killed in plane crashes. Back to you in the news studio.”
“Turn that off,” AJ said, removing his glasses and rubbing his temples. “Do you think they are going to stop searching for them? What if they made it?”
“AJ,” Brian said quietly. “As much as I want them to be found, we’ve got to brace ourselves for the possibility that they...”
“Don’t even say it,” he interrupted.
**************
“Oh there’s another one!” Bailey squealed with delight as the current carried yet another fish downstream.
“Well, don’t just admire it, stab it!” Kevin instructed. “Nicky, how you doing man?”
“Not too good. I’m not ambidextrous, you know.”
“Oooh, big word!” Bailey teased.
“Yeah. I can be smart when I want!” He answered, laughing along with her.
“Great. I’ve got Abbott and Costello with me right now,” Kevin muttered, grinning at them. “DAMMIT! I missed again.”
He looked to his right just in time to see Nick close one eye and stick his tongue out in determination. With the accuracy of an expert archer, he threw the stick in the water, spearing the fish through the side.
“I did it!” Nick exclaimed, surprised. “Quick, Kev, grab it before it gets too far away!”
Kevin leaned over the river for the stick. The rocks he was standing on were slippery and with one fluid motion, he grabbed Nick’s fishing spear and promptly fell in.
“I got one, too!” Bailey screamed. She still had her stick in her hand and pulled it out of the water, the fish flopping at the end of it. “Eww, I got it through it’s eye.”
Nick didn’t know which way to go. Grab the fish from Bailey before she lost it or help Kevin before he drowned. We can always get another fish, he thought.
“Grab my hand,” he told Kevin, reaching out for him. “I’m supposed to be the one to fall in the water. You're supposed to be the graceful one!”
Kevin considered hauling him into the water with him. If he had to freeze, the Nick should, too. Again, letting common sense dictate, he took his hand and climbed out of the river.
“Fuck! That’s cold!”
Nick looked at him and laughed. “What did you expect? A sauna? We’re in the mountains! Bailey caught something, too!”
“I’m so thrilled,” he said sarcastically.
“Kevin,” Bailey said, walking towards them, “will this be all right to use? I blinded him.”
She held the stick out to him, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
“Oh, we have got to get you back to the fire and out of those wet clothes.”
“And sit around naked? Ummm, no, that’s not a possibility,” he told her, snatching the stick.
“No, silly. You can put on some other clothes.”
“Not a possibility, either,” Nick told her. “We sent our luggage ahead. All our clothes are probably nice and toasty right about now.”
“Then you’ll have to wear something of mine,” she stated matter of factly.
“I am not going to be found wearing women’s clothing,” Kevin informed them. “I’ll take my chances with hypothermia, thank you very much.”
“Don’t be such an ass, Kev,” Nick said. “If I can take Midol and wear a sling made from pantyhose, then you can borrow some of her clothes for a while. Come on, man. She's already wiped your face with her panties.”
“They won’t fit,” Kevin tried again.
“You’ll be all right,” Bailey reassured him. “Now, how are we going to cook our meal?”
“You can clean them,” he said, teeth beginning to chatter. The sudden gust of wind chilled him to the bone.
“Me? I can’t do that!”
“Well, Nick certainly can’t. I’ve got to get warm. You’ll do just fine,” he told her. “We’ve just got to find something for you to scrape the scales off with.”
Bailey was still protesting as they reached the make-shift camp site. She handed Kevin her suitcase. He put it down, turning his backside to the fire. After a few minutes there, he was warmed to his satisfaction and took the piece of luggage behind a big piece of the plane.
“Bailey,” Nick said, suddenly remembering something. “Will you reach into my pocket here? I’ve got something in it you can use.”
She reached her hand carefully into his pocket and pulled out a red Swiss-army knife.
“I forgot about having that. Brian gave it to me years ago. I’ve never even used it. You can open it and use one of the knives in it. I know it’s going to be gory, but you’ll do fine.”
Bailey hesitantly approached the two fish that they caught. Please don’t let me take too much off, she thought. Kevin almost killed himself for this, so he deserves to have some of it. She held one disdainfully by the tips of her fingers. Startled by the sound of Nick’s sudden belly laugh, she dropped it.
“Damn!” She muttered.
Looking up, she saw the reason of his outburst. Kevin was standing there and he did not look amused at all.
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