CHAPTER TWELVE - PAINFUL SOUND
“How powerful are explo-charges then?” Brian asked Nick while his friend busied himself with preparing medical supplies to take on the rescue mission. It wouldn’t be long now until Nick and Bri left, and Brian still had not summoned the courage to speak with Bri about their ‘link’. He never seemed to be able to get him alone and he was almost beginning to suspect that Bri was doing it on purpose so that he did not have to speak with Brian.
“Explo-charges are small bombs and they can do a lot of damage,” Nick said. “When they go off, you hear them more than anything. They make the loudest noises you’ve ever heard and can actually make a person pass out! The first one I heard had me unconscious for hours! It hurts your head for days after, I swear!”
Brian stared at him in puzzlement. How could a sound hurt you? Surely it was better than being caught in the explosion?
“The problem is,” Nick continued, “is that they’re so tiny, so they’re really hard to find.”
Brian found his eyes wandering across the med centre, even though the place had already been given the all clear. It was eerie to think that something so tiny could do so much damage. Darren had everyone searching the base for Lance’s charges. Of course, Brian was not allowed to help. It was far too dangerous in case he got his face blown off or something like that. He was becoming slightly annoyed of being treated like some fragile object. Darren had fussed and fumed for hours over the bruises on his face caused by Lance until Brian had pointed out that they were no worse than the ones Bri had given to him. Darren was still incessant in his orders though that Brian be kept well out of the way of any potential charges. He’d had a team search the med centre already and after it had been cleared, Brian was told to stay there.
Bri was just as bad as well in his protection of Brian. His injuries had not been severe and he was still going on the mission, although he had been told to rest well before departing. Although Brian could still sense the hatred within his twin, there had been no further fights of acts of violence and even the sarcasm and insults had decreased slightly since that last night when they had interrogated Lance together. Brian ignored any cutting comment that was directed at him and dug his stubby fingernails into his hands to stop himself from hitting his irritating alter ego.
‘I am going on that rescue mission to get B and Sammy back and I swear that if you get yourself blown up and erase me from history, then I will kill you!’ Bri had hissed earlier today after Darren had warned him to stay clear.
Brian wasn’t quite sure how Bri would follow up his threat, but he understood the point. He knew it was important for him not to die in this time, but his concerns were more for B and Sammy then for Bri. There was also the fact that Brian did not particularly want to get blown up, even if he knew that it would annoy Bri.
He sighed slightly to himself, wondering if he would ever learn to cooperate with his twin. He had just about adjusted to the fact that they were identical, but he still could never imagine himself becoming him.
“You okay?” Nick asked.
Brian’s head jerked up and he realised that his thoughts must have been showing on his face. “Yeah, I’m just thinking.”
“Looked like you’d wandered out of this world completely!” Nick said with a grin. He snapped the case on the med kit closed. “I think I’m all done here now.”
“Don’t go just yet, it’s boring as hell in here. I need someone to talk to,” Brian said. They were the only ones in the med centre. The base was short staffed on a lot of doctors and nurses because many had left after the war ‘finished’. Nick was the only one around at the moment because Darren had everybody searching for the charges. Brian knew that some had already been found and disarmed so Lance had been serious in his threats. Luckily none of the charges had exploded yet before the team had disarmed them. He had also warned them that there was an attack coming though, so Darren was also busy preparing the base.
“Do you think this rescue mission is still a good idea?” Brian asked tentatively. “I mean, I want B and Sammy to be rescued more than anything in the world, but the Gerai know you’re going. Won’t it be dangerous?” Nick was his friend and he had lost so many people recently. After he left, AJ would be the only one still around and Brian did not like the thoughts of all of his friends out there risking their lives.
Then there was Bri. His thoughts for his alter ego were confusing and disorientating. On one hand, he hated him. He hated his arrogant behaviour and his condescending attitude to Brian and occasionally when the comments were really bad, he wanted to smack him again. However, there was something new now. He remembered his concern and fear for Bri’s safety when Lance had attacked him. It seemed almost instinct to protect Bri, just like it was instinct to protect oneself.
“We’ll be okay. It’s only a small team. Bri, me, Kelly and Dennis. We’ll be very careful and we’re going to mete up with Howie’s spy team. From there, we’ll combine our information with theirs and get into the base. We’re not sure how yet, but we’re hoping it’ll all work out. We’ve been in bigger bases than that one and survived,” Nick reassured him. “Sammy and B will be back before you know it, and you and Bri will be fighting over them!” he smiled slightly, teasing him.
Brian rolled his eyes. “That’s not funny. I think that’s what the hatred is all about. We’re both jealous of each other.” Jealous because of B and Sammy. Brian knew he had always been possessive of Sammy. It was something that had sprung up after all the trouble he’d had trying to keep him and adopt him. Bri was the same.
“Ya think?” Nick asked. “He’s jealous of hell because B went to you and because B stayed with you and wouldn’t come home.”
Brian thought back to the incident that had occurred when Bri first arrived at his home. B had refused to come home and had said that he hated him. He felt a wave of sympathy wobbling inside of him. Bri must have been in agony over what was happening…
“B loves him,” Brian said after a while. “I know he does.”
Nick paused for a moment apparently finding it difficult to form words. “Everybody knows B and Bri… or you… love one another. It was just hard for B to adjust because he’s…” He trailed off uncertainly.
“What?” Brian asked puzzled.
“A little… unstable.”
Brian’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?” he said defensively. “He’s a lovely kid! He’s a normal kid!”
Nick stared at him. “Yeah, B is lovely once you get used to his attitude, but can you honestly say that he is normal? Brian, you must have noticed his odd behaviour before.”
Brian stood up from the chair he had been seated on, ready to mount a defensive for his son. “What the hell are you trying to stay? That he has mental problems?”
“No!” Nick replied. “But he is unstable, whether you like it or not! You know he is! Everybody knows, but no one says anything. Sammy knows but ignores it.”
Brian’s mouth fell open. He was not quite sure what he was hearing. What was Nick trying to get at? B was… lovely. He could be a pain, a grouch and a moody teenager at times but he was still lovely…
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Nick mumbled as he turned away.
Brian took a deep breath. “No,” he said. “No, carry on. I wanna know why you think he’s… not normal.”
Nick turned back to him and hesitated until he saw the determined look in Brian’s eyes. He sighed and then spoke in a soft, gentle voice. “He was traumatised when he had only just turned five in that Gerai base. It’s left a permanent mark on him, and I’m not talking about a physical mark like hi scar. He never recovered from that because he never had a normal life. The only way to keep him alive was to hide him from the Gerai here in this base and that was no life for a child. You must have noticed how much he depends on Sammy… and you now as well. No, there are no mental problems but he is emotional unstable. He feels things a lot and he gets scared easily, that’s why he’s so young for his age. He doesn’t always know how to cope in some situations, like when we rescued Bri for example. When Bri was hurt in an explosion, B went to pieces and ran away.”
Brian slid down into his seat again. Yes, he had noticed the things Nick was saying but he had ignored them. He understood the words as well.
“You say the mission will be dangerous,” Nick said. “Believe me, it will be. Darren knows that the risk has dramatically increased now that the Gerai know. But he also knows that B will not cope if we don’t get him out of there.”
Brian covered his face with his hands. He knew what Nick was warning him of. B had been so young when he was five and had not understood what had happened to him. If he’d had a normal life, he would have recovered easily. Sammy had recovered from his traumatic experience, but B couldn’t. If it happened again now that he was older, he really would fall apart. He was already ‘emotional’ as Nick put it and Brian knew that there would be even worse problems if they did not get him out quick.
Nick sat down beside him and draped an arm on his shoulders. “B is a wonderful kid. He’s lively and fun, but he has fears that confine him and cause him problems. He acts irrationally sometimes when he doesn’t mean to.”
Brian looked up at him. “Like hating Bri?” he said. “Or trying to make out that he does.”
Nick nodded. “He gets confused with emotions and he needs a lot of support.”
Brian smiled as he suddenly thought of his older son. “He’s got Sammy.”
“And no matter what, no one can replace him ever. That’s a fact that Bri’s going to have to accept. He knows it already and he would never hold it against Sammy because he loves him too. He just needs to learn that b can be difficult with other people.”
“He was fine with me in my time.”
“You gave him what he needed. You were obviously patient and caring when he needed that.” Nick smiled sadly. “Bri’s a little impatient sometimes with him.”
Brian rolled his eyes. “Are you warning me about what I’m going to become?” he asked. As he grew older, would he become a person that B did not like anymore?
“Not exactly,” Nick said. “But I don’t want you to be too hard on him. He’s been through a lot, just like B has. He worries about B a lot, that’s all.”
Brian could not stop thinking about Bri’s face as Nick spoke. There were scars on his face and weariness within his eyes. “Nick, what’s going to happen to me? I thought I died in this time?”
“I’m not sure I’m the one to tell you,” Nick said. “I don’t know if I should tell you everything about your future.”
Brian rolled his eyes slightly. Nick had picked a damn good time to decide to start withholding things. Brian already knew most of the things that would happen in the future. In a few years, war was going to break out and the Gerai would show their ugly heads and begin bombing places with nuclear missiles. The only thing he didn’t seem to know is anything about where Bri came from. Brian had been told that he died saving Sammy’s life, but obviously Darren had been wrong.
“It’s difficult,” Nick said as he caught Brian’s look. “For all of us.”
“I know,” Brian replied. “I’m a little freaked out myself. The last thing I expected was a visit from my future self at my home.” He sighed for a moment. Did B know he was here? Maybe B thought that he had abandoned him… “I wonder what B and Sammy will say?”
Nick flashed him a slight smile. “Two dads have gotta be better than one! Just don’t start fighting and freak them out!”
“I’ve said I’m sorry!” Brian cried. He could still hardly believe that he’d had a fight with his older self. That was the strangest thing he’d ever done. He’d literally beat himself up. He shook his head. He still could not accept that he would one day become Bri.
Nick shook his head slightly. “It’s kinda funny thinking about the fact that you tried to smash yourself into a pulp! It wasn’t at the time though! I seriously thought you were gonna hurt one another!”
Brian had lost control and so had Bri. The moment Bri had started the fight, Brian had felt the need and instinct to fight him. His fists had flew without him even having to think and it had unnerved him at the violence he had discovered within himself. “That was weird, but it won’t happen again. I think Bri and I are beginning to adjust to one another.”
Nick nodded. “You should talk to him,” he announced suddenly. “You really should. It wouldn’t be nice for B and Sammy if you were both at arms when they get back. All he needs to know I that you’re not a threat. He thinks you want to take B away from him.”
Brian would give anything to have B and Sammy as his own. He missed them both so much in his own time, even though he had the adorable baby Sammy to keep him company. He still missed them. He wasn’t a threat to Bri though. It was B’s choice and he knew that B had to choose Bri. It might be nice if B and perhaps Sammy could visit him in his time though, although he suspected that that would cause even more problems.
Nick was right though, he needed to talk to Bri, but he was more interested in the in that bound them together… “I’ll talk to him before he goes.”
Beep.
“Good,” Nick said. “Speaking of which, I’d better go find him. Don’t worry, I’ll send AJ to keep you company.”
Beep.
Brian turned his head slightly and frowned as he heard a slight beeping noise. He tilted his head, trying to discern the source of the sound. He stared at a medical closet and frowned again. It seemed to be coming from there. There was definite dampening to the sound which made it hard to hear.
Nick saw his expression. “What?” he asked. He turned about him, looking for whatever had distracted Brian.
“Beeping noise,” Brian replied as he stood up and started towards the main med closet.
Nick froze as the sound reached his ear as well. He drew in a sharp intake of breath and then rushed towards the closet. He yanked the door open and started about him anxiously.
“What is it?” Brian asked, unnerved by Nick’s sudden movement which told him that something was dangerously wrong.
Nick swore slightly under his breath. “Brian, get out of here.”
Brian frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Nick was backing away from the closet and Brian realised that the beeping noise was growing faster and faster. Nick suddenly seized hold of Brian’s wrist and then began to run towards the exit, dragging Brian with him.
“Nick! What’s going on!” Brian cried.
“We gotta get out of here!” Nick screamed.
Nick hurled them both through the door and then continued to run down the corridor until he fell gasping beside a wall. His face was pale and he looked almost sick…
“Nick!” Brian cried as he rubbed his sore wrist. “What the hell - ”
His answer came when there was a huge bang and the sound of crumbling rock. Brian gave a startled cry and fell to the ground in surprise. Everything was shaking, especially his head and it felt as if something heated and white was burning behind his eyes. He tried to cover his ears, but the maliciously loud sound was seeping through his fingers and striking his head like a thunderbolt. He trembled, his eyes screwing themselves closed as his ears rang in pain.
‘I’m dead. I’m dead.’
“Brian? Are you all right?”
Brian slowly raised his aching head, ringing with the sounds of the explosion. He stared at Nick and then around at the corridor, surprised to see that it had not collapsed on top of them. He blinked, just to make sure that it wasn’t a death dream and then nodded, but his head throbbed and spun sickeningly. He could still hear the sound but it was more internal than external. His throat was dry and he was aware that he wanted to be very sick.
“An explo-charge,” Nick said grimly. “Don’t worry they’re louder than the explosion warrants but I dare say that the med centre is a bit of a wreck by now.” He covered his ears. “Ow… They hurt.”
Brian could hardly hear him. Nick’s voice was far, far away and all he was aware of was sickening pain that crumpled and plucked at his head and mind. He couldn’t get away from it and he jerked convulsively on the ground.
An explo-charge? But they’d said the med centre had been cleared! Evidently they were wrong and now Brian’s head was paying the consequences.
“Brian?” Nick placed a hand on his shoulder as Brian screwed his eyes closed again. He held his hands to his head. His skull hurt as if it had been hit by an explosion of its own. He gasped as the screaming, reining and groaning bounded about his head. The world was turning black with pain as it drew midnight curtains against his reality.
There was running footsteps, each step sounding loud and echoing around Brian’s skull. ‘Please God make it stop.’ It hurt. It hurt too much. A river of pain had formed a waterfall that was gushing into his mind. Suddenly he knew what Nick meant when he said the sound could hurt. It was shredding agony more than anything. He’d never felt anything like it…
“Are you okay?” an anxious voice suddenly said. “I-I heard the explosion!”
Brian’s head hurt. He was beginning to wonder if he’d been hit by the explosion when he heard Nick’s voice over the roar inside of his ears.
“The noise has him. He’ll have a headache for hours.”
Oh terrific…
Was it meant to hurt this much?
“You were pretty darn close. Nick are you okay? You look like you’re gonna be sick.”
“No, but I’ve heard them before so I’m used to it. I passed out the first time I heard them. Ow, I’ve never been that close before though!”
The place was spinning and his head hurt. It was roaring and he could hear and feel the explosion again and again until he wanted to scream. He had slumped to the floor, but someone had grabbed him to make sure he didn’t fall.
“Brian, it’s okay,” a soft voice said, holding him securely. “It’s gonna be all right.”
For a moment, Brian’s vision cleared and he saw who it was that was staring down at him in concern, genuine concern… He blinked to try and make sure that he was seeing everything right. Bri?
Then he blacked out.