!!Usual Suspects!!

Part 3

"Dylan, what's happening?" George asked as he stood up and walked up to Dylan. "Matt's gone and gotten himself lost somewhere and he's trapped wherever he is because he fell down the edge of a bank and can't get back up." Dylan told him and George just rolled his eyes and went to collect his keys. "Right, we're coming to look for you now, just don't move" Dylan told Matt and heard him sigh in relief. "One question though, why didn't you call for help?" Dylan asked him and Matt sighed. "Because I didn't think there was any point" Matt said shortly and Dylan sighed. "Just hang on, we're on our way" Dylan said and Matt hung up after saying thanks to them.

"Right, Jord and V, can you two stay here with Jay, please?" George asked and both of them nodded and watched the other two leave. "Right, where could he be?" Dylan asked as he climbed into the passenger seat of George's Chevy. "Well, he probably went into the forest, you know how much he likes it in there in the quiet and calm atmosphere it provides" George said as he started up the car. Dylan nodded in confirmation as George peeled out of the drive and headed to the nearest entrance to the forest not far from them. "To be honest, I'm surprised the forest is still there, the amount of times it's caught on fire" Dylan said and George chuckled. "Mother Nature is a bitch, and you know you can't put a bitch down for long" He said and Dylan just laughed as George drove down the highway.

After about a ten minute drive, they finally reached the forest entrance. "Right, I'm going to text Matt to text me back if he hears us calling for him at any point" Dylan told George and George just nodded as it sounded like a good plan. "What if he's passed out or has no service or something?" George asked and Dylan shrugged. "Then we're on our own" Dylan replied and they both sighed. George climbed out of his car and went around to his trunk. He opened it up and pulled out a backpack. "What's in there?" Dylan asked and George just shrugged. "I always make sure that there is a backpack with things that we might need on an emergency" George explained and pulled out two torches and put the bag away after taking out a raincoat as well. "Matt might need it, it's cold right now and i don't remember if he had a jacket or not" George said as he handed one of the torches to Dylan. George then chucked the backpack back into the trunk and closed it. "Right, let's go find him" Dylan muttered and they both turned away from George's car and headed into the forest.

"Right, we need to get to the lake or somewhere with a high enough bank that Matt can't get up" George pointed out as they went deeper into the forest and started calling out Matt's name. Even using the torches in their hands, they still can't see much and they're getting worried. "Wait a minute, isn't there a river cutting through this part of the forest somewhere with a bridge?" Dylan asked and George shrugged. "Yeah but the river long ago dried up, all this forest has left is the lake and even that is drying up slowly." George told him and Dylan just nodded as it confirmed his thoughts. "We should go towards the bridge, I remember it has large banks on either side" Dylan suggested and they both agreed on it and headed towards the bridge.

After a fifteen minute walk of shouting Matt's name and tripping over branches and stuff, they finally reached the bridge. They walked on it and stopped halfway over it. "Matt!" Dylan screamed again and once again heard no response and got no text. "George, the bank ain't that high" Dylan said after noticing how low the bridge was.

"No, but it's high enough to be too high if he was injured somehow" George said and Dylan just nodded and they both tried to see if they could see him in the distance with as much illumination as they can but there is a lot still in the dark. After a few minutes Dylan saw something in the distance. "George, over there underneath the hanging tree, can you see that?" Dylan pointed over to where he meant with his torch and George pulled out his glasses and put them on to see if he could see what Dylan was talking about. "Do you think that's him?" George asked and then headed to the other side of the bridge before walking around it and along the edge of the bank. "It looks like it" Dylan replied and followed him down to the actual dried up river bed. They walked along it until they came in front of the spot of movement Dylan had seen.

"Matt?" Dylan asked and Matt looked up at him wearily and confused. Blinking rapidly at the sudden light. "What? Where's Danny?" Matt whispered in question and then limply fell to the side. Dylan dove down and caught Matt just before he face planted the ground. "It's the cold affecting him, he's been in it way too long" George said and between the pair of them, they managed to get Matt up off the ground and up the bank. They stopped once they were a safe distance away from the edge of the bank and George covered Matt with the spare raincoat he had with him.

They then started to trudge through the forest, down the path and back to the car, but before they were even halfway back, it started to rain, drenching them in the fresh cold water. "Great, just fucking great, least I brought that jacket" George muttered and they both tried to pick up speed but found it hard with Matt still unconscious. They eventually made it to the car and quickly put Matt on the back seats before climbing into the front. "Right, let's get him home and dry" George said before they both turned their torches off and then he put the vehicle into gear and was soon peeling out of the spot along the road he had originally parked in.

They returned to the house within fifteen minutes and as they climbed out of the car, Jorel came rushing out of the house with Jordan and Vanessa standing by the door watching through the still-pouring rain.. "Dudes, you should have woken me up and let me come" Jorel snapped at them, as he blinked the rain out of his eyes ,and then helped George drag Matt out of the back. "Why is he unconscious?" Jordan asked as they carried him inside with Dylan following them. "It's because he was in the cold for so long. When we got to him, he asked us where was Danny and then passed out" Dylan told them as George and Jorel took him upstairs. They put him on his bed, got him out of the wet clothes and into some dry ones, and covered him with the duvet and left him there to rest.

As they went downstairs, George went to turn up the heating and get some food on to cook. "Why didn't you wake me up, I could have helped" Jorel was saying to Dylan as they walked into the kitchen, followed by Vanessa. Jordan was already there watching George cook. "Jay, you needed the rest" Dylan said and Jorel just huffed in annoyance and went into the fridge before pulling out a beer, he also took out a few others and handed them out to the others. Vanessa refused and just simply made herself a coffee blacker than the blackest soul to ever exist.

Jorel drained his can quickly and was about to walk out of the room when George held him back. "Jorel, sit down. You need to calm down and just stay calm" George told him and pulled him back to the table before sitting him down. "Dude, I am calm." Jorel claimed and George just rolled his eyes before getting Jorel another can of beer.

"No, baby, you're not" Vanessa said calmly and sat down next to Jorel at the table whilst Dylan sat opposite them. Jorel opened the second can and went to down that one as well but stopped when he realized how he was acting. He met Vanessa's eyes and saw that she was still scared and worried for him. "I'm sorry, V." Jorel whispered and rested his head on his arms on the table, trying to hide the fact that he still feels the urge to either have a complete melt-down or go around smashing everything. "It's fine, Jay." Vanessa whispered, as she could see through him, and put her arm around Jorel's back and just awkwardly hugged him and rested her head on his left shoulder.

George continued on with making Dinner for them all and as they were all eating their food, nearly an hour later, they heard movement above their heads on the first floor. Vanessa and Jorel crapped themselves at the sound but then soon realized what the sound actually meant. "Matt's awake" Dylan muttered and they all heard it as Matt shuffled his way down the stairs.

He walked into the kitchen and was shocked to see them all there, staring right at him. "Oh, hello" Matt muttered and then walked past them to the fridge. He opened it and pulled out a can of beer and then headed straight out of the room.

"I'll go find him and get him to eat" George muttered and got up from the table to put some food out for Matt on a plate. He then found some cutlery for him, and took it with him as he went to find the missing man.

It turns out that Matt had only gone to the lounge and was just sitting on the couch, hugging himself as he battled tears.