Page 98 of Ours
“Let’s go, bro.” Nic opened the front door, the loud sounds of the rain hitting the pavement thundering into the diner.
“Wait, hold on.” Jackson stopped them before they left and tossed them his keys. “Here, take my Jeep. It’ll handle the mud a lot better than your car.”
“Thanks.” Derek sounded skeptical as he caught the keys. “This doesn’t at all make up for—”
“I know. Just, uh, go find your boy.” Jackson stepped back, wishing more than anything to just disappear.
“We will.” Derek and Nic left, getting soaked as they both ran to jump in Jackson’s red Jeep.
“Hey, asshole,” Stephanie called to Jackson from her booth, happy to see him respond to the nickname. “You’re paying for their check, too.” She held the receipt for the boy’s meal—a meal they just left without paying for—above her head. “And mine.”
Jackson gulped and nodded, already reaching for his wallet.
Derek and Nic drove the Jeep to the edge of Hartford State Park. The rain was coming down hard and the roads were dark and muddy. Derek gripped the steering wheel tighter as they crossed the threshold. He didn’t care that what he was about to do was unbelievably stupid. They had to find Cory.
Nic felt the same, attempting to peer out the windows for any sign of the boy. Turning around in his seat, he dug through Jackson’s stuff and was pleased to uncover a flashlight, the heavy-duty kind used for camping.
“I think we’re here.” Derek could just make out the burned-out campfire in the car’s headlights. “I don’t see him.”
“That’s because fucking Jackson left him in the woods.” Nic double-checked to make sure the flashlight was working. “You said north, right?”
“Right.” Derek nodded in the direction they needed to start looking.
“Okay. Let’s go.” Nic opened his door to what seemed like a wall of rain and stepped outside.
“Cory!” Derek joined him, calling out Cory’s name as the two began their search.
“Cory? Cory!” Nic manned the flashlight, moving it back and forth between the trees, hopeful that Cory might catch a glint of it.
The two boys took turns shouting Cory’s name, spreading out but making sure they always stayed within each other’s eye line. Didn’t need to lose anyone else out here tonight. It was aboutten minutes into looking that the two began to worry that they hadn’t thought their plan through entirely.
“Cory!” Derek cupped his hands and called out once again.
“What if we can’t find him?” Nic was starting to feel hopeless. “What if he’s not even out here?”
“Wewillfind him.” Derek wasn’t about to let any pessimistic shit deter him. “I know he’s out here, and he’s probably terrified.”
Nic said nothing, silently continuing to use the flashlight and hoping Derek was right. A few minutes later, and just as Derek was about to suggest they start looking in another direction, Nic spotted something.
“D! There!” Nic aimed the flashlight at the mass huddled at the base of a tree. It was Cory—wet, alone, and shivering but alive.
Derek and Nic both took off toward him with Derek nearly slipping on the mud and falling on his ass in his hurry.
“Cory? Cory!” Nic lifted his head to see the boy’s eyes squinting blearily.
“Nic?” Cory wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. He was still outside, and it was still raining, so how was Nic here?
“Oh my god, Cory! Thank fuck.” Derek joined the two boys against the base of the tree.
“’S cold.” Cory was still hugging his knees, clothes soaked as he shivered.
“Come on. We gotta get him out of the storm.” Derek turned Cory’s head to see how responsive he was. “Cory, can you walk?”
“Dude, I think he’s out of it. Grab the flashlight. I got him.” Nic held Cory by the shoulders. “Cor, I need you to hang on to me, okay?”
He attempted to move Cory’s arms to his shoulders and was pleased when he felt the boy tighten them around his neck. Now came the fun part—getting him up. Nic felt Cory’s legs go aroundhis waist as he was lifted and tightened his own arms under the boy’s butt. Thank god for football.
The boys were closer to the cabin than the car, so Derek led the way there with Cory still clinging tightly to Nic. Fighting against the wind and rain, the boys managed to make it up the hill with Derek fumbling through his wet pants for his keys and opening the door. Nic quickly moved toward one of the couches, Derek closing the door behind them and flipping on a lamp. Thankfully, they still had power.
