The Danger Within

"Zee, Zee come on man wake up. Wake up. Zack. Zacky wake the fuck up, don’t you fucking be dead you son of a bitch" Brian was in hysterics, his legs pinned under a large scrap of metal that had once been the side of the plane. Zack lay near him, unconscious and bleeding from a gash on his forehead. No matter how hard he strained he couldn’t lift himself up enough to see anyone else.

"Matt! Jimmy! Johnny, somebody! Fuck." With a foggy brain he shook his head and tried to remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered was some pretty bad turbulence and then the air masks had dropped from the ceiling. Then someone had come running toward them, yelling for them to buckle up. Someone, who had it been? Brian blinked slowly, trying to remember. Then it came to him and panic seized his chest.

Brian felt like he couldn’t breathe as he gasped for breath, his sight zeroed in on the metal above him and his sight became blurred at the edges. Perspiration formed on his forehead as his hear raced.

"Dad. Dad!" Brian didn’t even know that he had been shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Fuck Brian quit yelling." Matt grumbled quietly, just out of his line of sight. Brian didn’t think it was possible but his heart rate quickened even more and his throat tightened, tears pooling in his eyes as relief flooded through him and the panic began to ease. Brian heard metal scraping metal and Matt stumbled into his view, holding his right side.

"You don't know how glad I am to see your ugly mug Shads." Brian tried to laugh but groaned a second later as pain shot through his leg.

"Where is everyone?" Matt looked around them, trying to spot someone else in all the rubble. Spotting Zack, he made his way over and slowly lowered to a kneel. Feeling for their friend's pulse.

"I don't know, I can't even think straight right now" Brian tried to shift the metal but it bit into his skin, causing gashes in his palms. "Uh, fuck!"

"Shit Brian don't move and give me a minute." Matt stated as he inspected Zack's head wound. When he realized that he couldn’t diagnose his friend he reserved to knowing that he at least had a pulse. Brian let out another curse and collapsed. Matt scrambled to the guitarists sideto check the damage.The metal had cut through the surface of Brian'sskin. It didn’t look fatal so Matt grabbed the hunk of metal and tried to lift it, moments later fire exploded deep in his chest, forcing a strangle yelp from his throat.

"Fuck I can't get it." Mattpanted and sat back, holding his ribs.

Brian tried once again to pry the metal off of himself. Giving up after a few seconds and laying back againBrian groaned when pain shot up his legs. "Where is everyone else?"

"I don't know you two are the first ones I've seen." A loud noise sounded to their right, pulling their attention to where the door of the plane used to be. Papa Gates comes stumbling in. Slowly he starts to make hisway toward them holding onto everything he can to keep his balance.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you boys awake. Thought I was going to have to drag everyone out of here." Brian could see the relieved look on his fathers stressed face, that same feeling flooded his body from seeing his dad alive. Brian honest to God felt like crying.

"Come on Matt let's see if you can help me get this thing moved." Sr. Took off his outer shirt and bunched it around his hands. Using it to get a good grip on the metal. It took a couple of tries but using all their might, they finally budged the metal enough for Brian to pull his legs free. Blood quickly pooled in the wound.

"Fuck," Sr. Unwound his shirt and quickly fastened it around his son's leg."You did not survive this crash landing just to die from bleeding out. No one else is going to die today."

Startled, Matt looked up from his friend to Papa Gates face. Anger and grief were clearly written across his face as if it was done in bold lettering. Without missing a beat Matt grabbed the older man by the arm as he began to stand."Who's dead?"

"Let's just get you boys out of here before this thing explodes, its leaking gas and I don't want to risk all of our lives because death trap." Senior knelt down and grabbed Brian's arm, wrapping it around his shoulder he slowly started to lift his son to his feet. Brian let out a pained yell and tried to step on his leg with no success.

"Just leave me here to die from the pain." Brian whined, Papa Gates rolled his eyes at his son and hoisted his arm around his neck tighter.

"Haner's never quit you little shit. Now quit your bitching and get to moving." Sr started a slow pace down the aisle. Only a few steps in Brian started to sway. Matt caught his other arm and steadied him on the other side. With some difficulty Matt helped Senior walk Brian out of the plane. The extra weight put a strain on Matt's ribs but he bit back the complaint and did what had to be done.

As they exited the plane through a huge hole in the side, Brian took a look around. Large, green trees surrounded them on all sides. Vines hung down to the ground, wrapping around the base of the trees. Flames had them almost completely surrounded.

"Where in the hell are we?" Brian wondered out loud.

"I have no clue, the last I checked we were flying over the ocean, at least 5 hours away from the United States." They walked for a few minutes until they came to a clearing in the trees. The first thing that Brian noticed was Jimmy and Johnny lying motionless in the hard dirt.

"Are they dead?" Brian's throat tightened as panic threatened to seize him again.

"Calm down son, they aren't dead." Brian huffed, sounding a bit winded as they sat Brian down. Papa Gates turned toward Matt. "Will you help me with the rest? Lugging these fuckers around did me in."

Matt nodded and together they disappeared, leaving Brian sitting on a stump, in the middle of what looked like a jungle. Not even ten minutes later they returned, carrying Zack between them. They sat the guitarist down next to Brian and disappeared again.

Brian looked at his best friend, the blood from his head wound had traveled down his face and into his eyes and mouth. His face was paler than normal and blood was caked in his hair. Brian would have thought the other man dead if he hadn't seen his chest rising and falling. He the quiet rasp of breath barely coming from between Zack'sparted lips.

Sr and Matt came back into the clearing carrying someone. It would have been hard to figure out who it was because he was covered in so much blood, if it hadn't been for his plaid shirt Brian would have never known it was Matt Berry.

Once they laid Matt down they disappeared once more. Returning only a couple minutes later with four bags in their hands. They had barely made it into the clearing when a loud explosion shook the ground. Heat engulfed the clearing for a moment and quickly disappeared through the trees.

Johnny shot up, letting out a startled yelp. "What the fuck?"

His eyes darted from person to person, taking in the injuries that littered his band mates. Sr sat down next to his son, letting out a winded sigh.

"The plane went down." Sr explained pulling his bag close to him. He unzipped one of the pockets and searched "One minute I was talking to the pilot and the next an alarm was going off in the pit. One of them mentioned total loss of control before we took a nosedive. Now were in a jungle with what looks like the perfect environment for multiplespecies of dangerous things that can kill us with fourfatalities and three people missing."

"Are Zack and Jimmy dead?" Johnny asked, letting out a shaky breath.

"No, Jimmy took a lot of the damage that was coming your way J. He threw himself over you and took a pretty bad hit to his arm as he went down. Zack looks like he's got a pretty nasty head wound going on but there's no way to judge how bad it is."

"Who didn't make it pop?" Dread filled Brian's stomach knowing that not everyone made it out alive.

"The two pilots died on impact, the stewardess burned alive in her seat and Melissa didn't make it. I can't find Jayson Berry, your manager and Matt Baker anywhere. I hope they made it out alive but I haven't had the time or energy to look for them. I made it maybe a hundred feet in each direction before realizing that the plane was on fire."

"Fuck," Johnny shakily got to his knees and eventually climbed to his feet and slowly made his way toward them. Seeing Brian's wound in his leg he kneeled to take a look at it. Brian hissed and pulled his leg away when Johnny prodded at it. "It didn't hit an artery or anything so if we can find something to hold it together you'll live."

"Until sepsis sets in right?" Brian joked, a somber look was shared between the group.

A groan pulled them all out of the stupor. Holding his head Zack slowly sat up, groaning and swaying as he finally got upright.

Zack blinked rapidly a few times trying to clear his vision. Fuck why were his eyes burning so bad. Swiping at his eyes with his shirt sleeve only worsened the burning.

"What the hell?" Zack startled when he felt damp fabric press against his left eye.

"You have a lot of blood in your eyes Zee" Johnny murmured quietly, trying as best as he could to wipe the blood from his friend's eyes. He got as much as he could and stepped back. "Any better?"

"No, everything is blurry. I can't make out any shapes. What's going on?" The edge of panic that Zack had in his voice sent a pang of sadness through Brian.

"The plane crashed, we're in the middle of the jungle. The band, Matt and my dad made it out alive. Your brother, Jayson and our manager are all missing. Everyone else is dead." Brian said quietly, as if he spoke softly it would soften the blow.

"Matty is missing?" Panic seeped through his words.

"When everyone comes around we can start looking for him." Brian Sr spoke, Brian was thankful that his dad was taking charge.

"Why aren't you going out now?" Zack made it to his knees, blinking rapidly. He reached out to feel for something to help him up. A hand grabbed onto his and instead of pulling him to his feet, when his arm was tugged on,Zack tumbled back to the ground when his knees buckled under his weight.As he fell Zack's shoulder bumped something, he reached out and found a leg with his hand. He used the knee to steady himself.

"Son, none of us have the energy to go out right now. We need to rest for a little while and recoup. Everyone has injuries that need tended too and as far as we know, they made it out alive. They weren't on the plane Zack, they made it out somehow." Brian Sr had to be the voice of reason. But his words didn't soothe Zack.

"Then I will have to find him." As he tried to use the knee to stand back up, ignoring the sticky sensation he felt when he lifted his hand for a moment, astrong pair of arms wrapped around his middle. Zack's instincts kicked in and he started to flail against the person holding him back.

"Calm down Zee." The words were quiet and steady as Brianmurmured softy next to his ear.

"Let me go!" Zack yelled, fighting against the other guitarist. His breathing became short and labored. Brian hated himself for having to restrain his best friend like this but he didn't have another choice.

"I'll let you go when you calm down. You aren't in any condition to be running off into the jungle by yourself. You can't even see for Christ sake."

"Please let me go." A sob escaped the younger man, the sound shaking Brian to his core. He loosened his grip around Zack but pulled him flush to his chest.

"I'm sorry, Zee." Zack's hands fisted in his shirt and he buried his face in Brian's neck. The older man lowered his voice so the onlookers couldn’t hear. "You're safe, I promise Zee. I'm so fucking sorry."

Brian's eyes met his father gaze over Zack's head, looking for guidance. He didn't know what to do or how to help, he wouldn't be able to help them search for anyone with his leg messed up and he wasn't all that good atcomforting people either.

"The sun is about to set. I'm going to scout and see if there is anything we can build a shelter with. The fire should be far enough away for us to stay for at least the night. " Brian Sr moved away from the tree that had been propping him up.

"I thought you wanted rest old man." Johnny smirked and dodged the swat aimed at the back of his head. Together they walked off in the direction opposite the fire.

It took a few moments for him to calm down but once he did Zack tried to focus and see his surroundings. That’s when he noticed that he could see shadows, but not shapes.
"Why can't I see?"

"You have a lot of blood in your eyes still, you have a pretty good size gash on your head." Matt scooted over to sit beside them. Wetting the rag and handing it over to Zack so he could clean his eyes better. He took a drink from the water bottle and returned it to the bag nearest him.

"What if I can't ever see again?" Zack asked quietly, neither man knew what to say because what if Zack was right? What if the crash messed up his sight for life?

"We have to be optimistic." Jimmy's voice broke the quiet that had surrounded the group, the three men all jumped and turned their attention to their friend.

"Christ Jimmy! How long have you been awake?" Matt nearly shouted, his hand over his chest from being startled.

"I'm not Christ, Johnny is." Jimmy let out a cackle. "I've been awake long enough."

Jimmy sat up, holding his left arm at an angle. Brian had only ever seen one person hold their arm the way Jimmy was. Back in high school when the quarter back Tyler had broken his arm during the first game of the season.

"Fuck I think I broke it." Jimmy took a few deep breaths and examined his arm. He pressed a couple spots and hissed when pain shot up his arm.

Matt started to ruffle through one of the bags they had brought. He pulled out the first aid kit he normally keeps in his luggage and unzips it.

"And you assholes make fun of me for being a boy's scout." Matt pulled out string and a needle, along with a small bottle of alcohol. He handed the supplies off to Brian and grabs a shirt from the bag. He quickly cuts it up and turns it into a makeshift sling.

Standing up, Matt walks over to Jimmy and kneels down next to the drummer. " It lookslike theshoulder is out of place. We're going to have to get it backinto the socket Jim."

"Just do it." Matt assesses Jimmy's armfor a moment before deciding the best plan of action. A loud yelp comes from Jimmy a moment later, sending all the birds in the areainto the sky.

"Use this as a sling." Matt tied his friends arm up with the shirt. Making sure Jimmy was as comfortable as he could get before heading back to Brian. Matt didn't miss the sigh of relief that Brian let out when he took the supplies from Brian. While the singer stitched up the guitarists leg, Brian vowed to never make fun of his friend's preparedness again.

Matt had finished with Brian's wound and had begun cleaning the gash on Zack's head by the time Papa Gates and Johnny came back. Both carrying an armload of sticks and shrubbery.

"What the hell are you going to do with that?" Brian asked with a raised brow directed at his dad.

"You just watch and let the experts do the work."

By the time some sort of a teepee looking thing covered in bushes was constructed, it had already become night time. They pulled Matt Berry into the makeshift shelter and laid down to get some rest.

"Let's try to get at least a little bit of sleep. Tomorrow we keep moving, we need to find a source of food and water if we plan to survive. The supplies from the plane will only last so long before we run out."

Everyone made a noise of agreement and silence overtook the group. It took nearly two hours for the last person to drift off to sleep. Dead to the world, no one heard the snap of a twig outside the shelter or saw the eyes lurking at them through the darkness.

Notes

So I'm not really happy with this chapter. I might go back when I'm not so tired and do some editing on it and fix up some patchy writing. Anyone have a guess as to what happens next and who the pairing is for this story?