Ghosted

Shelter And Vodka

It was not long before dusk arrived. The boys had no other choice but to find a place to rest - Mikey and Ray were exhausted from carrying Gerard around, in addition to having to walk in this heat. Meanwhile, Gerard was no closer to feeling any better, and Frank seemed unable to get any reception on his iPhone 4.

"Look." Mikey motioned over to the left of them. There was what looked to be a wide cave in the direction that he had indicated. While slightly dark and creepy, it had the one thing they had been yearning for for some time now: shade.

The boys walked over, dragging Gerard along with them. Finally they were able to set him down gently against the wall of the cave, Mikey and Ray's shoulders taking great relief. Ray took this opportunity to check to see if his cell phone had any bars.

There was one.

"I'll try to call them." he said, still panting.

Ray called each member of the crew he knew the numbers of, including their bus driver. Yet alas, none of them answered. After trying a few more times, Ray realized that the reception he was receiving was rare, and he should not waste time on using it to call people who were obviously not answering their phones.

"I'm going to call Christa." he decided, "I'll tell her we're stuck here and Gerard is injured. See if she can do anything else to help us."

Mikey and Frank nodded and Ray placed the call. Meanwhile Mikey tried his best to comfort Gerard while Frank tried to stretch out his leg in order to avoid more displacement.

After a few rings, Christa answered. Ray almost smiled hearing her voice. However, it instantly became clear that this was going to be a difficult conversation, as the reception made it so they could only say very choppy "hellos" to one another.

"Chris honey, can you hear me?" he practically yelled into the phone, desperate for her to hear him as clearly as possible, "Listen, we went to lunch during the filming and we got lost! We can't find the bus! Can you contact any of the crew or send someone to come get us? It's really hot out here and Gerard is injured! He broke his leg and he's in a lot of pain!"

"Are you fucking serious?" he heard Christa respond in disbelief, "Um.. yeah I can try to get someone over there. I'll call everyone I can. Where are you guys exactly?"

"We're in a cavern just about a mile from where the bus was! If they know where the bus was parked, its right by a ledge and the cavern is just like a mile from there!"

"Okay, well stay there. Hopefully I can get someone to you guys before the night is over."

"Bring some medical supplies if you can, ok?" Ray asked, looking in Gerard's direction.

"I'll see what I can do." said Christa.

"Thanks baby! I love you!"

There was a beeping noise right as he said the last sentence. He looked at his phone and he saw that the call had been disconnected. He was almost going to call back when he saw how low the battery on his phone was. 26%. This would not even last him two more hours. Fucking iPhones. Figuring it was best to save as much battery as possible, Ray pocketed his phone.

He turned to Gerard.

"How are ya feeling buddy?" Ray asked him, brushing some of his bright red hair out of his face and giving him a pat on the back.

Gerard shrugged slightly, without looking at Ray. He had stopped screaming, but he seemed to be out of it. His breathing was shallow, his eyelids only half closed. The beads of sweat glistened across his skin, making it appear as though he was covered in glitter against the light of the setting sun.

"Get his jacket off of him." Mikey directed.

Frank unzipped the jacket and Gerard almost seemed to mumble in protest. Frank looked up at him and saw that he seemed slightly flushed. Frank knew he felt embarrassed about his body, as he had caught Gerard constantly staring at his own reflection as of lately. However, they had more pressing matters at the moment.

"We have to take this off Gee, it's too hot." Frank insisted.

Ray positioned Gerard so Frank could easily remove the constraining piece of clothing.

"See, isn't that better?" Frank asked him.

"Fine..." Gerard agreed begrudgingly. Still Frank saw Gerard suck in his stomach instantly, and he rolled eyes.

"So what did she say?" Mikey asked Ray.

"She said she'd call for someone to come get us. Hopefully before the night is over. We'll just have to tough it out until then." explained Ray.

"Gerard isn't exactly in good conditions for toughing anything out." Mikey said crossly.

"I know that, Mikey." Ray said in an annoyed tone, "But what choice do we have?"

"Well how are they going to find us?" asked Frank. Ray seemed hesitant to answer.

"Maybe someone should stand watch so they can flag them over when they come near." Gerard suggested.

"Well we can't have anyone going out there alone." said Ray. "How about two of us go outside and stand watch, and the other person can stay here with Gerard."

"Good plan." Frank agreed, "We can take turns."

They all nodded, and so it was. Mikey was the first to volunteer to stay with his brother, understandably so. This left Ray and Frank to be the ones to sit outside.

"Fucking fine day this turned out to be..." Frank scoffed as he lit another cigarette.

"Yeah, that is just our luck." sighed Ray.

"So worst case scenario, these guys don't show up tonight. What supplies do we even have?" asked Frank.

"Well...there's one blanket, some half eaten food... I do remember Mikey putting in a flask of vodka in the picnic basket." said Ray.

"Really?" Frank perked up at the notion.

"Yeah, but if we stay here much longer, Gerard might need it for his leg."

"Fuck."

"I hear ya bruh." Ray said, then dabbed.

They sat in silence for a while, staring at the sky. Night was already upon them, and the stars and moon gave them little light. They just kept watching out for any signs of movement. Until finally, Ray piped up.

"Well, we could take a couple of shots." he suggested, "Just to last us through the night. I'm sure help will come soon anyway."

Frank grinned and immediately got up to run into the cavern. "Mikey!" he addressed the younger Way as he went past him, "We're going to have a drink, you want some?"

"SHH!" Mikey hushed him. Frank looked over to see Mikey looking at him angrily.

"He's sleeping...", Mikey explained in somewhat of a whisper.

Frank looked down to see Gerard had curled up on Mikey's lap, using the jacket as a pillow. His eyes were shut, but his facial expression looked uneasy. Frank's spirits dampened as he remembered that Gerard was still fighting a great amount of pain. Frank remembered what Ray had said, and the alcohol suddenly seemed less appealing.

His shoulders sulked in defeat, Frank turned away. He walked back to Ray and simply said, "Fuck it."

Like Ray had said, Frank figured as he took another puff of his cigarette, help would come soon anyway.