Nowhere To Go

Chapter Five

After the hotel incident, things were quiet for a day or two, nobody was really fighting, or even talking to each other in general. They sat in silence most of the time.

"You know what I miss? How we used to have movie nights when we all lived together." Howie said suddenly. Nick looked up but nobody else did. He definitely missed hanging out together like that, he wished they would stop fighting long enough to hang out. Even for an hour.

"So why don't we watch one now? It's been ages." Kevin suggested.

"I'm tired." Brian waved Kevin off and went back to his plate of chicken.

"Yeah right." Nick scoffed and Brian looked at him, his temper boiling slowly.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You aren't tired. You think you're too cool to do stuff with anyone but Leighanne. We aren't stupid." Nick said. Nobody seemed to agree or disagree until Brian stood up.

"Fuck you. At least I don't drink away my problems and stuff my face like some people." Brian shouted, moving to throw his paper plate away.

"Drop dead. You don't know what I am feeling....you only care about her." Nick retorted.

“You know you don't mean that, Nick.” Howie started, but they continued to argue.

The bus stopped at a rest stop, and the driver told them he was using the bathroom, because the bus toilet was broken. Nobody heard him though because they were too busy yelling.

"How about the two of you drop dead? Then we wouldn't hear any of this shit..." AJ suggested, drinking his beer.

"Hey, come on guys....cut it out. Look at yourselves. You should never wish death on anybody. What would you do if it came true?" Howie asked, taking the beer from AJ before it reached his lips.

"We'd all be a lot happier, that's for sure." Nick said. He walked to his bunk and laid down, throwing his head under a pillow so he wouldn't hear any more.

Russell knew this was a perfect opportunity when they all stopped at the rest stop, the BSB bus driver getting off to relieve himself. He was in the bus behind them, the one for the road crew. He liked his job but he felt nothing was getting done fast. The more he saw the Carter kid the more he wanted to give him what he was due.

"Hey, where you going?" Manny asked, but he ignored them. He managed to get towards the bathroom and as Hank came out....he grabbed him by the neck. It was easy to break it, one snap was all it took and he was down.

"I wonder if it will be this easy for the others…" he chuckled, putting on the uniform in the bathroom and trying his best to act natural when he came out. The boys were nowhere to be seen when he got onto their tour bus, putting it into drive and leaving. Russell knew how to drive a transit bus, having done that before he was arrested...so this was not all that different. He put his foot on the gas pedal and took a breath....hoping nobody would notice Hank was missing.

"Yeah I'm okay, sweetheart. Just had a stressful day again. You know how things are. We were fighting over something..." Brian was in his bunk when he felt the bus jerk forward, Hank hadn't been gone that long so it was odd they were moving again so quickly.

"Huh? Nah. The bus is moving again. Listen, I'll call you back later, okay? Yep love you too. Bye baby." Brian hung up and stepped out of his bunk, looking towards the front where the driver's seat should be. Kevin suddenly appeared next to him and the same thought occurred to them both.

"You had the same thought I did, didn't you?" he said softly. His cousin nodded in reply, pressing a finger to his lips.

"Shh. That isn't Hank." Kevin whispered, gesturing at the man behind the wheel.

"What's going on?” Brian said, a little louder than he intended.

"I thought you guys were sleeping. Sorry if I woke you." Russell called out to them, making them jump. Kevin moved toward him, still feeling suspicious.

"Where is Hank?" Brian asked timidly, not moving at all. His heart was beating a little faster, something wasn't right.

"He asked me to take his spot, he wasn't feeling well. Why don't you take a seat?" Russell said.

"You're that guy....I have seen you before. You're the guy Nick was smoking with. Sawyer.” Brian said slowly. Russell sighed, he hoped the questions wouldn't start, that was Jamie's mistake. At least the guy remembered his name.

“He's a goddamn liar. Who are you, really?” Kevin asked.

"Sit down and shut the fuck up. I'm in charge now." he growled. Brian saw the gun sticking out of his pocket and backed away towards the table, sitting down.

“He has a gun…” he whispered. Kevin looked tense and Brian wished he could have prevented what happened next. The two cousins looked at each other..they knew this wouldn't end well. It was then that Kevin tried to get Russell away from the wheel...

"KEVIN, DON'T!!!"

Nick felt the bus shaking and jumped up in his own bunk, hearing yelling from the front. First came a gunshot and then....well hell broke loose. He had one foot out when suddenly the world seemed to turn upside down. He could feel things falling and someone screaming....but it happened so fast he didn't have time to react. He was sliding all over the place and trying desperately to grab hold of something, everyone was screaming.

"Brian!!!" he yelled without thinking. Nobody seemed to be around, he tried to stay in his bunk but tumbled out...glass breaking around him as he fell to the floor. He was hit in the head, he smelled blood before he went limp....the bus continued to shake. It finally came to rest...but by that time the bus was silent and so was Nick. The faint smell of gasoline hung in the night air on the tour bus, leaning on its side....no sign of life.