Chapter 1: Out of the Limo, into the Dumpster

“Go, Jay, go now!” Will's voice pounded and hissed in Jay's head.

Slowly, shocked, speechless, Jay Burchell forced his feet to start moving. Pieces of debris from the limo hit the ground around the three men by the corner payphone.

Through a blur, Jay saw the panic in Tyler Fog's eyes. Jay refocused, remembering the promise he'd made to his friend

Laughter, shouting, glasses clinking together, loud music; it was all starting to blur together for Tyler. The buzz in the back of his skull told him that he was one beer away from being drunk.

“Another beer over here!” he yelled.

“Tyler!” the voice at his elbow scolded.

“What, Jay? It's a party. People drink at parties.”

“Nel's not going to be happy, you know.”

“Nel can mind her own business.” Tyler growled.

“Let him be, Jay. As long as we don't let him drive home, he's not doing any harm.” Will laughed.

“Tyler, listen to me. Nel said that if you came home drunk one more time...”

“Mind your own business!” Tyler said. “I can do whatever I want. Watch.”

He pushed past Jay and stood up, swaying a little, and pointed at a group of girls.

“Time me. I'm going to get Miss Ginger over there to come sit at our table. Ready? Now.”

“Tyler...” Jay shook his head.

Will grinned. “Deal.” he held up his watch and pressed the timer button. “Go.”

Four minutes and eleven seconds later, Tyler and the red headed girl were sitting across from Will and Jay.

“I'm Bella.” she giggled.

“Nice to meet you.” Jay muttered.

“Get your hands off of her!”

Jay turned around and saw a gigantic man behind him.

“That's my girl!” he snarled at Tyler. “That's my Bella.”

“Please, Mark. For crying out loud, we broke up a week ago.” Bella whined.

“Get your hands off her!” Mark yelled.

Tyler stood up. “Go away, man.”

Mark raised his fist.

Jay knew he had to act fast; he jumped up and dove between the two men, Mark's fist hitting him squarely in the jaw.

Will stood up quickly and held up his hands.

“Mark, listen to me, man. Calm down, or I'll have to call the cops.”

Mark growled and glared at the three men, but he turned and walked out.

Will reached out and pulled Jay to his feet.

“You okay? You're bleeding.”

Jay pushed Will away and turned to Tyler.

“You idiot. You were going to get yourself killed!”

Tyler grinned.

“Chill, Jay! It's just a little bit of fun.”

Jay shook his head.

“No, no it's not." He grabbed Tyler's shoulders. “No matter what happens; no matter how many foolish mistakes you make, I am going to protect you. So you better get used to it.”

“Ty, get going! Let's get out of here!”

 Jay took one last glance at the flaming limo. He blinked hard and wiped sweat and rain out of his eyes, but it didn't help the blur of confusion that swarmed in his mind.

The explosion that he had witnessed with horror only moments before had changed his world; again.

 The evidence was gone.

Jack Freid, head of Homeland Security, the only man that could have cleared his and Tyler's names, had been in that limousine. The limousine had exploded. Jay's nose and burning eyes told him that the man and the vehicle were nothing more than smoldering, blackened rubble.

“Will! Anyone coming behind us?”

Will threw a glance over his shoulder.

“Not yet!” he gasped.

Jay clenched his jaw and focused on the sound of his feet. The sound of Tyler's feet behind him. The sound of Will's feet.

Will. Jay's heart pounded its way into his throat. The bullet wound from only the night before was dragging Traveler to the ground; Jay could hear his steps slowing and stumbling, his breath coming in ragged gasps. 

Jay screamed furiously inside. Will couldn't keep going like this. 

Turning quickly, he ran back.

“No! Keep going!” Will panted.

“Jay! Don't stop!” Tyler yelled, but Jay didn't hear him. He was sprinting towards Will with everything he had. Will was leaning on a light pole now, fighting to catch his breath.

Using the slippery pole as a brake, Jay grabbed Traveler and pulled him upright just as he fell.

Tyler looked back and spun on his heel. He ran towards the other two, his hands gripping his head.

“No, no, no!” he shouted.

As Jay held Traveler up, he tried to ignore the wet warmth of blood that was slicked to his skin.

“You're bleeding!” he exclaimed.

“You think?” Will panted.

“Jay, this is crazy.” Tyler said, looking around frantically.

“Keep going.” Will said through gritted teeth. “You have to put me down.”

Jay shook the wet hair out of his eyes. “Not on your life.”

The sound of sirens was getting closer, so the three dodged into a dark alleyway and hurried onward.

Jay started scanning back and forth for a hiding place. They couldn't get away at this pace; they had to get out of sight.

“Look, there's a dumpster right there. We can hide in it.”

“Jay, just leave him!” Tyler shouted. “Let him get caught and get what he deserves!”

“If they find him, they'll know we're nearby.” Jay protested. “The dumpster is our best bet.”

Tyler shut his mouth, fury and hate burning in his eyes as he helped Jay drag Will to the dumpster.

Pushing all of Will's weight onto Tyler, Jay sprinted to the filthy waste bin. He pushed away the top and jumped in; Tyler hoisted Will up to him, and then scrambled over the dumpster's slippery, wet edge. He pulled the top down over their heads. Darkness.

Jay felt Will fall limp next to him, clutching his side. All three of them steadied their breathing, despite the foul scent of garbage and whatever else was there in the dumpster with them. For what seemed like hours, they listened to the chaos and confusion outside their hiding place. Footsteps, shouts, and sirens. They were getting closer. Jay wrapped his fingers around his gun, holding his breath and waiting.

“They must have gone the other way. They couldn't have gotten that far.” A burly voice said.

“Alright people, move out! No one gets out of this neighborhood! If you see any sign of Burchell, Fog, or Traveler, do not hesitate to feed them a bullet!”

A unanimous grunt of consent rose from a group of what seemed to be twenty or more officers. Jay shuddered and held his gun close to his chest.

He was freezing. He could feel wet slime against the backs of his hands, and some unknown liquid was soaking through his clothes, already miserably soaked from the December rain.

Everything was cold. The butt of the gun against his ribs felt like an ice cube.

He forgot about how cold he was when the footsteps of every single officer tramped past their hiding place.

A few moments later, they were alone in the night. Tyler sat up to push away the dumpster top.

“No!” Will hissed. “We'll wait for a while, just in case.”

Tyler sank back down into the trash. “Good plan.” he whispered abashedly.

Jay closed his eyes and forced himself not to puke like a little kid. The smell, combined with the terror that twisted his stomach made him sick.

Next to him, Will tensed and cried in agony. Quickly, he buried his face in his jacket to suppress the sound, but it was too late.

They froze and listened, but nothing happened.

Jay sat up a little.

“Will, you okay?”

Will swallowed. “No. Can you help me?”

Quickly Jay sat up all the way and pulled the flashlight out of his pocket.

He flipped it on and cradled it in his shoulder. The light revealed Will leaning on a stack of lumber, both his hands clenched over his left side. Slowly, he moved his hands, and Jay pulled the t-shirt and jacket away.

“Tyler, rip up your jacket, quick. He's gonna bleed to death.” Jay put his hands against Will's side.

“Shh.” Will said softly, his face pale and drawn. “Not too loud.”

Tyler crouched over Will with the jacket and squinted; his eyes grew round and he sucked in his breath in horror. Jay had his hands pressing hard over the wound, but blood seeped and squirted in between his fingers. Together, he and Tyler did their best to wrap the wound.

Their patient grunted as the rough cloth scraped against his tender wound. The make-shift bandage firmly in place, Jay leaned back and inspected his work.

“There.” he whispered. “That should help for a while.”

Will relaxed with a groan against his makeshift pillow, eventually closing his eyes. Jay shook his shoulder very gently.

“Is he out or asleep?” Tyler asked.

“I don't know, but if he's unconscious there's not much we can do. Get some sleep.”

“That's true. You need to sleep too, Jay.”

“I will.”

Jay laid wide awake. All night. listening to the rain, watching Will, paranoid that he might stop breathing or go into cardiac arrest.

“Don't die now.” he whispered, more to himself than Traveler. “You're all we've got, and I hate it, but you're all that's left. Don't die.”

Will didn't move, and Jay checked his bandages for what seemed to be the hundredth time. His watch beeped with his usual 6:00am alarm, startling him.

 Taking the risk of standing and raising the dumpster lid was worth it; the weak orange sunlight shone on his face, warming his skin; the rain that gently washed his eyelids and his hair was pleasantly cold and refreshing, and he sighed wearily. Tyler stood up beside him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I'm fine.”

“You didn't sleep.” Tyler scolded. “Jay!”

“Let's try to wake up Will.”

“Jay,” Tyler said as he crouched in the trash next to Will. “you're going to kill yourself if you don't get some sleep. You can't just pretend that everything's fine!”

“I'm not pretending. I'm thinking. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“And you think I don't? I'm not going to sleep tonight until you do.”

“Deal. Now can we wake him up?”