Catch Me If You Can - Part 9
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
-----Day 11-----
When Bert woke up at 11:30 the next morning, Gerard was still asleep. He decided to leave him be and go make coffee, thinking that would wake him.
It did, but only long enough to drink it.
He brought in a cup for him made to his specifications. He called him softly, shook him gently and waved it tauntingly under his nose. Gerard’s eyes fluttered open briefly before he sat up and drank it. He smiled at Bert, handed him the mug back and then laid back down, going back to sleep.
He pulled away, thoroughly confused. “What’s the matter, Gee?” He got no response.
-----
Bert pushed the door open, walking in with two bags of McDonald’s for lunch.
“Gerard?” he called. “C’mon! I got food!” At the lack of response, he frowned. It was after 2PM. He couldn’t possibly still be asleep.... could he? He set the food down before walking into the bedroom.
Gerard was still sound asleep, curled up on his half of the bed - although taking up most of the blankets - in almost the same position Bert had last seen him in when he’d left almost 2 hours ago. He’d gone shopping and had left a note... but apparently, he hadn’t needed to. He waved the food around in front of his face. Gerard woke up for just long enough to eat the food and go to the toilet before falling back to sleep.
Bert went and watched TV for a few hours after eating lunch. He then took a shower. He even took the extra time to wash his hair and shave his face.
When he did a nudie-run for the linen closet, Gerard was sound asleep and didn’t even twitch.
Bert ended up sat on the end of the bed for about an hour that night, watching a movie before finally crawling under the covers after wrenching a sufficient amount of them free of Gerard’s sleepy death grip.
He ended up with the older man curled up on his chest, snuffling softly in his sleep.
Bert finally turned off the TV and the light at about 10 o’clock that night to go to sleep. He frowned at Gerard. He was turned away from him, fast asleep. He’d only woken up twice all day.
-----Day 12-----
Bert woke up the next morning in much the same way he had the previous day. Gerard was still curled on his side, facing away from him, seemingly still asleep. Bert sighed and rolled towards the older man. He wrapped an arm snugly around his waist and pressed up along his back.
Gerard twitched, then turned his head and looked back over his shoulder. Bert blinked up at him curiously. He smiled softly and twisted his shoulder back to loop an arm around Bert’s shoulders, hugging him as best he could.
They spent the rest of the day in the bed watching movies.
-----Day 13-----
“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck....!” Bert cursed, ignoring the look the young mother with her tiny infant shot him. He’d lost Gerard in the middle of a shopping mall. Literally. It was half an hour’s walk to either end of the mall from where he was, so, granted, it was a small mall, but still.... He’d lost Gerard and there were teenage girls everywhere. “Where are you?” He was bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Bert?” a nasally voice called from behind him.
“AAH!” He screamed and spun around. “Gee!” He latched onto him.
Gerard patted Bert awkwardly on the back. “What the fuck?”
Bert pushed back, still holding onto his shoulders. “Ilostyou!andcouldn’tfindyou!andwasworriedthattheteenagegirlseverywherehadgottenyou!” he gushed before hugging Gerard again.
“....what?”
Bert composed himself. “I couldn’t find you. I was worried that the teenagers had gotten you.”
Gerard’s eyebrows furrowed. “I went to the bathroom, dipshit. I told you that.”
Bert stared at him silently.
“You, uh, weren’t listening to me again... were you?”
----
It was 11 o’clock at night. They were trying to sleep after watching a really freaky movie. Just as they were both reaching that edge of almost-asleep, there was a BangBangBang from the direction of the lounge room and kitchenette.
They both let out a low, frightened whine before ducking further under the covers.
There was a few seconds of peace then the BangBangBang sounded again.
They once more tried ignoring it.
No luck. BangBangBang.
“You go answer it.”
“No, you go answer it.”
“No, you.”
“No, you.”
They stopped, nodded at each other and both climbed out of the bed. With a gulp, they wandered down the hall, Bert hiding behind Gerard’s larger frame the entire way. They were a few inches from the door.
BangBangBang.
They both jumped back and squealed in fright.
There was an exasperated sigh from the other side of the door.
Bert’s phone, which was on the charger, started ringing. Neither of them dared go near it and after a few seconds it stopped. Then:
“You big fuckin’ fraidy cats! Open the goddamn door!”
-----Day 14------
“Branden, it’s been two weeks!”
“I know, I know.”
“Why do they have to be the only ones that haven’t figured it out yet?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do we do?”
“We keep waiting...”
----
Frank woke up to a most interesting thing that morning. He was woken by the sunlight streaming in through the windows. He opened his eyes, looked up, and there they were... standing over him, staring...
“Guys?” They grinned creepily. “Wait! I know that look!” They poised. “Wait! Don’t j-!”
They pounced.
They wrestled on the couch for a minute before the whole pile of three fell to the floor. There was a loud ‘thunk’.
“Ow... ow... ow...”
They looked over to see Gerard curled into a ball, holding his head pressed tightly to the tile.
“Gee?” Bert called, crawling over “What happened?”
“I hit my head on the coffee table.”
“Aww! Gee-gee!” The small man pounced.
“No! Frankie! No! I’m already in enough pain!”
“Hey! No fair!” Bert leapt into the squirming mass of flailing limbs.
“You two are the biggest fucking jerks!” Gerard kicked his legs out, successfully striking both of the younger men - Bert in the leg and Frank on the shoulder. They yowled.
“That hurt!” Frank cried.
“Welcome to my world, asshole,” Gerard growled before rising to his feet and stomping angrily away.
Bert pouted. Frank sighed.
“He really shouldn’t be off his meds...”
----
Gerard took his first dose of medication in two weeks an hour later with his coffee.
----
The car stopped.
“Guys, why have we stopped?” Frank asked.
He watched as the two men in the front seats turned to look at each other and grinned. They then looked back at him, still grinning evilly.
“Sorry, Frankie-baby, but... this is the end of the line for you,” Gerard said, staring at him from the driver’s seat.
“What?”
“Out of the car,” Bert added “Go on.”
“Guys?”
“Here’s $100 to get you a taxi to the airport.” Gerard handed Frank two $50 bills.
“What’re you- What?”
“Get. Out. Of the car.”
“I don’t....”
“Out.”
Frank cautiously slid across the seat and opened the door. He paused.
“No. Get out.”
He stepped out of the car and closed the door.
“Bye, Frankie-baby! We love you!”
Frank watched as two of his best friends drove off in his car. He frowned and looked around. They’d ditched him in a parking lot just inside the border of Indiana. He could still see the river that the border ran along. He huffed.
“Great... Just great. Fan-freakin’-tastic!”
----
“I feel kinda bad stranding him like that...” Gerard said.
“Psht. He’ll be fine.”
“What if he can’t find a taxi?”
“He will.”
“What if he doesn’t have enough money?”
“He does.”
“What if he gets picked up by a person who loves midgets?”
“He’ll be alright.”
“No, I mean loves midgets...”
“Oh... He’s screwed.”
“Thanks, Bert.... really comforts me...”
Bert giggled.
----
“Oh my god... We are so pulling off here.” Bert stated.
“Why?” Gerard asked, quickly shooting a glance at the younger man in the passenger’s seat.
“Look at the name.”
Gerard squinted at the sign that they were approaching. “Oh, no way.”
“Yes way, now exit!”
10 minutes later they pulled into the town. They stopped in a gas station for gas and lunch.
“Dude... I can’t fucking believe that this town is called ‘Santa Claus’,” Gerard giggled around a mouthful of pie.
“I know! Isn’t it awesome!” Bert laughed.
“Do you wanna check out the Santa Claus museum they’ve got here and tomorrow go to that big amusement park?”
“Sounds good.”
-----Day 15-----
Gerard screamed as he was hurtled rapidly towards the ground. He could hear other shrieks of terror from all around him. He hit the bottom and curved upward as it roared around a bend and into a tunnel.
He looked to Bert. Bert looked at him. They both laughed half out of enjoyment, half out of fright. The coaster jerked around another bend eliciting screams from most of the people. A few seconds later the train pulled into the starting and ending point. They climbed out and flopped onto a bench just outside the ride.
Gerard started flattening his hair out. “Okay... now that we’ve been on all the adult rollercoasters....” he said his voice rising in pitch every few syllables.
Bert nodded numbly, his hair frizzed up and wild.
Gerard looked over at Bert. His face was extremely pale, the dark bags under his eyes starker than usual. “Bert? Bert, are you okay?”
There was a moment of silence.
Suddenly there was a flurry of brown hair and white and black fabric. He blinked, looked around and spotted Bert hunched over a trash bin. It was then that he heard the sound of puking. He winced.
“Y’okay, Bertie?”
-----
After Bert recovered, he almost immediately wanted food. Gerard couldn’t complain. He needed something to drink.
They rode the Racing Rapids before wandering around the park and looking at the other rides. From where they were standing they could see both the Liberty Launch and the Revolution.
“I kinda wanna go on the-” Gerard was cut off by a strange noise that originated from Bert’s direction.
“Uhh...” Bert looked a little queasy as he clutched at his stomach. “As much as I’d love to... I don’t think my tummy can take it.”
Gerard laughed.
“Shut up...” Bert pouted, trying not to laugh himself.
“Aww!” Gerard ruffled the younger man’s hair affectionately.
“How about we go to the water park?”
“Uhh... okay.”
“We don’t need to worry about getting our clothes or the car wet. I packed towels in our bags. C’mon. We’ll go put our wallets in our bags and head over.”
----
“WAAAHHH!” Gerard hit the water. He floated for a second before putting his feet on the floor and stood. He looked around. “Where’s Ber- wahh!”
He was bowled off his feet and back under the water with a bony mass of limbs floating on top of him.
The raft they were supposed to be on landed on top of the two of them.
Bert pushed the raft out of the way and stood. He turned around and found his shirt drifting just behind him. He snatched it up and turned around to find a lifeguard helping Gerard back up.
“C’mon, boys, let’s get out of the way,” the lady said, gesturing for them to follow. The waded out of the way of the slides. “Are you two alright? What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Bert shook his head and pulled his shirt back on.
Gerard rubbed his back gingerly. “I think... one second we were sliding, then we went around a bend and... I dunno, we musta gone too high on the bend, ‘cause the next thing I knew, I was sliding on my stomach and... I don’t know...”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure how that happened. Are you sure you’re alright though, sir?” she asked, addressing Gerard. “He slammed into your back pretty hard.”
“Pfft... anyone else, that might’ve injured. Me... that’s happened so many times, it ain’t funny.”
Bert giggled. Gerard glared.
“Hey! Hey!” Bert suddenly squawked “Let’s go on that one!” He pointed to the large funnel shaped ride before grabbing Gerard’s arm and tugging him away.
“Thanks for your concern!” Gerard quickly yelled back to the lifeguard.
They waited in the line for 15 minutes and went down the slide. Bert grabbed him again as soon as they were clear of the landing pool and dragged him to the other ride that was similar to the one they’d just gotten off. After waiting in a slightly longer line for that one and getting to the bottom of the ride, Bert tried to drag him off again.
“Oh no!” Gerard said, grinding to a halt as Bert tugged on his arm. Bert stopped a second later, realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere. He looked back at Gerard. “Now it’s my turn to pick!”
Bert sighed. “Alright... what do you wanna go on?”
“That one!” He grinned and pointed back towards the ride they’d had their small accident on.
“But we’ve already been on that one.”
“Not that one! That one!” Bert squinted. “C’mon!” He giggled and grabbed Bert’s arm, dragging him back the direction they’d come from. He stopped when he could better see the ride he wanted to go on.
“Ooohh! That one...”
“Uh huh.” Gerard nodded.
They started half-running towards the stairs for the long slide.
----
Floating easily and calmly down the artificial river on a one-man raft, he found he could finally relax. Then he heard the frantic splash-kick-slosh that could only belong to one person. He groaned and tipped his head back, cracking his eyes open to see Bert paddling his raft rapidly towards him. He sighed and sat up.
“Yes, Bert?”
Bert stopped and blinked before continuing to paddle forward. He latched his hand onto one of the handles of Gerard’s raft. “Nothing,” he said. With that, he slumped down into his raft and closed his eyes, still holding onto the older man’s raft.
Gerard rolled his eyes and grabbed the nearest handle of Bert’s raft before sinking back into his comfy position. He stared up at the late-afternoon sky and smiled, closing his eyes and only briefly wondering how Frank had fared. But only briefly as Bert grabbed his hand.
-----Day 16-----
When they tried to get up that morning to head off, they found they were both far too tired to firstly, figure out where the hell they were going to go next, and secondly, actually drive there. So they went back to sleep, coming to in mid-afternoon. They got up and drank coffee before running down to the information centre for ideas. They quickly spotted exactly where they wanted to go next.
Gerard used the pay-computer to get directions while Bert went to the diner across the road and got them some food. When they had both, they went back upstairs to their room and watched television for the rest of the day.
Part Ten
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
-----Day 11-----
When Bert woke up at 11:30 the next morning, Gerard was still asleep. He decided to leave him be and go make coffee, thinking that would wake him.
It did, but only long enough to drink it.
He brought in a cup for him made to his specifications. He called him softly, shook him gently and waved it tauntingly under his nose. Gerard’s eyes fluttered open briefly before he sat up and drank it. He smiled at Bert, handed him the mug back and then laid back down, going back to sleep.
He pulled away, thoroughly confused. “What’s the matter, Gee?” He got no response.
-----
Bert pushed the door open, walking in with two bags of McDonald’s for lunch.
“Gerard?” he called. “C’mon! I got food!” At the lack of response, he frowned. It was after 2PM. He couldn’t possibly still be asleep.... could he? He set the food down before walking into the bedroom.
Gerard was still sound asleep, curled up on his half of the bed - although taking up most of the blankets - in almost the same position Bert had last seen him in when he’d left almost 2 hours ago. He’d gone shopping and had left a note... but apparently, he hadn’t needed to. He waved the food around in front of his face. Gerard woke up for just long enough to eat the food and go to the toilet before falling back to sleep.
Bert went and watched TV for a few hours after eating lunch. He then took a shower. He even took the extra time to wash his hair and shave his face.
When he did a nudie-run for the linen closet, Gerard was sound asleep and didn’t even twitch.
Bert ended up sat on the end of the bed for about an hour that night, watching a movie before finally crawling under the covers after wrenching a sufficient amount of them free of Gerard’s sleepy death grip.
He ended up with the older man curled up on his chest, snuffling softly in his sleep.
Bert finally turned off the TV and the light at about 10 o’clock that night to go to sleep. He frowned at Gerard. He was turned away from him, fast asleep. He’d only woken up twice all day.
-----Day 12-----
Bert woke up the next morning in much the same way he had the previous day. Gerard was still curled on his side, facing away from him, seemingly still asleep. Bert sighed and rolled towards the older man. He wrapped an arm snugly around his waist and pressed up along his back.
Gerard twitched, then turned his head and looked back over his shoulder. Bert blinked up at him curiously. He smiled softly and twisted his shoulder back to loop an arm around Bert’s shoulders, hugging him as best he could.
They spent the rest of the day in the bed watching movies.
-----Day 13-----
“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck....!” Bert cursed, ignoring the look the young mother with her tiny infant shot him. He’d lost Gerard in the middle of a shopping mall. Literally. It was half an hour’s walk to either end of the mall from where he was, so, granted, it was a small mall, but still.... He’d lost Gerard and there were teenage girls everywhere. “Where are you?” He was bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Bert?” a nasally voice called from behind him.
“AAH!” He screamed and spun around. “Gee!” He latched onto him.
Gerard patted Bert awkwardly on the back. “What the fuck?”
Bert pushed back, still holding onto his shoulders. “Ilostyou!andcouldn’tfindyou!andwasworriedthattheteenagegirlseverywherehadgottenyou!” he gushed before hugging Gerard again.
“....what?”
Bert composed himself. “I couldn’t find you. I was worried that the teenagers had gotten you.”
Gerard’s eyebrows furrowed. “I went to the bathroom, dipshit. I told you that.”
Bert stared at him silently.
“You, uh, weren’t listening to me again... were you?”
----
It was 11 o’clock at night. They were trying to sleep after watching a really freaky movie. Just as they were both reaching that edge of almost-asleep, there was a BangBangBang from the direction of the lounge room and kitchenette.
They both let out a low, frightened whine before ducking further under the covers.
There was a few seconds of peace then the BangBangBang sounded again.
They once more tried ignoring it.
No luck. BangBangBang.
“You go answer it.”
“No, you go answer it.”
“No, you.”
“No, you.”
They stopped, nodded at each other and both climbed out of the bed. With a gulp, they wandered down the hall, Bert hiding behind Gerard’s larger frame the entire way. They were a few inches from the door.
BangBangBang.
They both jumped back and squealed in fright.
There was an exasperated sigh from the other side of the door.
Bert’s phone, which was on the charger, started ringing. Neither of them dared go near it and after a few seconds it stopped. Then:
“You big fuckin’ fraidy cats! Open the goddamn door!”
-----Day 14------
“Branden, it’s been two weeks!”
“I know, I know.”
“Why do they have to be the only ones that haven’t figured it out yet?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do we do?”
“We keep waiting...”
----
Frank woke up to a most interesting thing that morning. He was woken by the sunlight streaming in through the windows. He opened his eyes, looked up, and there they were... standing over him, staring...
“Guys?” They grinned creepily. “Wait! I know that look!” They poised. “Wait! Don’t j-!”
They pounced.
They wrestled on the couch for a minute before the whole pile of three fell to the floor. There was a loud ‘thunk’.
“Ow... ow... ow...”
They looked over to see Gerard curled into a ball, holding his head pressed tightly to the tile.
“Gee?” Bert called, crawling over “What happened?”
“I hit my head on the coffee table.”
“Aww! Gee-gee!” The small man pounced.
“No! Frankie! No! I’m already in enough pain!”
“Hey! No fair!” Bert leapt into the squirming mass of flailing limbs.
“You two are the biggest fucking jerks!” Gerard kicked his legs out, successfully striking both of the younger men - Bert in the leg and Frank on the shoulder. They yowled.
“That hurt!” Frank cried.
“Welcome to my world, asshole,” Gerard growled before rising to his feet and stomping angrily away.
Bert pouted. Frank sighed.
“He really shouldn’t be off his meds...”
----
Gerard took his first dose of medication in two weeks an hour later with his coffee.
----
The car stopped.
“Guys, why have we stopped?” Frank asked.
He watched as the two men in the front seats turned to look at each other and grinned. They then looked back at him, still grinning evilly.
“Sorry, Frankie-baby, but... this is the end of the line for you,” Gerard said, staring at him from the driver’s seat.
“What?”
“Out of the car,” Bert added “Go on.”
“Guys?”
“Here’s $100 to get you a taxi to the airport.” Gerard handed Frank two $50 bills.
“What’re you- What?”
“Get. Out. Of the car.”
“I don’t....”
“Out.”
Frank cautiously slid across the seat and opened the door. He paused.
“No. Get out.”
He stepped out of the car and closed the door.
“Bye, Frankie-baby! We love you!”
Frank watched as two of his best friends drove off in his car. He frowned and looked around. They’d ditched him in a parking lot just inside the border of Indiana. He could still see the river that the border ran along. He huffed.
“Great... Just great. Fan-freakin’-tastic!”
----
“I feel kinda bad stranding him like that...” Gerard said.
“Psht. He’ll be fine.”
“What if he can’t find a taxi?”
“He will.”
“What if he doesn’t have enough money?”
“He does.”
“What if he gets picked up by a person who loves midgets?”
“He’ll be alright.”
“No, I mean loves midgets...”
“Oh... He’s screwed.”
“Thanks, Bert.... really comforts me...”
Bert giggled.
----
“Oh my god... We are so pulling off here.” Bert stated.
“Why?” Gerard asked, quickly shooting a glance at the younger man in the passenger’s seat.
“Look at the name.”
Gerard squinted at the sign that they were approaching. “Oh, no way.”
“Yes way, now exit!”
10 minutes later they pulled into the town. They stopped in a gas station for gas and lunch.
“Dude... I can’t fucking believe that this town is called ‘Santa Claus’,” Gerard giggled around a mouthful of pie.
“I know! Isn’t it awesome!” Bert laughed.
“Do you wanna check out the Santa Claus museum they’ve got here and tomorrow go to that big amusement park?”
“Sounds good.”
-----Day 15-----
Gerard screamed as he was hurtled rapidly towards the ground. He could hear other shrieks of terror from all around him. He hit the bottom and curved upward as it roared around a bend and into a tunnel.
He looked to Bert. Bert looked at him. They both laughed half out of enjoyment, half out of fright. The coaster jerked around another bend eliciting screams from most of the people. A few seconds later the train pulled into the starting and ending point. They climbed out and flopped onto a bench just outside the ride.
Gerard started flattening his hair out. “Okay... now that we’ve been on all the adult rollercoasters....” he said his voice rising in pitch every few syllables.
Bert nodded numbly, his hair frizzed up and wild.
Gerard looked over at Bert. His face was extremely pale, the dark bags under his eyes starker than usual. “Bert? Bert, are you okay?”
There was a moment of silence.
Suddenly there was a flurry of brown hair and white and black fabric. He blinked, looked around and spotted Bert hunched over a trash bin. It was then that he heard the sound of puking. He winced.
“Y’okay, Bertie?”
-----
After Bert recovered, he almost immediately wanted food. Gerard couldn’t complain. He needed something to drink.
They rode the Racing Rapids before wandering around the park and looking at the other rides. From where they were standing they could see both the Liberty Launch and the Revolution.
“I kinda wanna go on the-” Gerard was cut off by a strange noise that originated from Bert’s direction.
“Uhh...” Bert looked a little queasy as he clutched at his stomach. “As much as I’d love to... I don’t think my tummy can take it.”
Gerard laughed.
“Shut up...” Bert pouted, trying not to laugh himself.
“Aww!” Gerard ruffled the younger man’s hair affectionately.
“How about we go to the water park?”
“Uhh... okay.”
“We don’t need to worry about getting our clothes or the car wet. I packed towels in our bags. C’mon. We’ll go put our wallets in our bags and head over.”
----
“WAAAHHH!” Gerard hit the water. He floated for a second before putting his feet on the floor and stood. He looked around. “Where’s Ber- wahh!”
He was bowled off his feet and back under the water with a bony mass of limbs floating on top of him.
The raft they were supposed to be on landed on top of the two of them.
Bert pushed the raft out of the way and stood. He turned around and found his shirt drifting just behind him. He snatched it up and turned around to find a lifeguard helping Gerard back up.
“C’mon, boys, let’s get out of the way,” the lady said, gesturing for them to follow. The waded out of the way of the slides. “Are you two alright? What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Bert shook his head and pulled his shirt back on.
Gerard rubbed his back gingerly. “I think... one second we were sliding, then we went around a bend and... I dunno, we musta gone too high on the bend, ‘cause the next thing I knew, I was sliding on my stomach and... I don’t know...”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure how that happened. Are you sure you’re alright though, sir?” she asked, addressing Gerard. “He slammed into your back pretty hard.”
“Pfft... anyone else, that might’ve injured. Me... that’s happened so many times, it ain’t funny.”
Bert giggled. Gerard glared.
“Hey! Hey!” Bert suddenly squawked “Let’s go on that one!” He pointed to the large funnel shaped ride before grabbing Gerard’s arm and tugging him away.
“Thanks for your concern!” Gerard quickly yelled back to the lifeguard.
They waited in the line for 15 minutes and went down the slide. Bert grabbed him again as soon as they were clear of the landing pool and dragged him to the other ride that was similar to the one they’d just gotten off. After waiting in a slightly longer line for that one and getting to the bottom of the ride, Bert tried to drag him off again.
“Oh no!” Gerard said, grinding to a halt as Bert tugged on his arm. Bert stopped a second later, realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere. He looked back at Gerard. “Now it’s my turn to pick!”
Bert sighed. “Alright... what do you wanna go on?”
“That one!” He grinned and pointed back towards the ride they’d had their small accident on.
“But we’ve already been on that one.”
“Not that one! That one!” Bert squinted. “C’mon!” He giggled and grabbed Bert’s arm, dragging him back the direction they’d come from. He stopped when he could better see the ride he wanted to go on.
“Ooohh! That one...”
“Uh huh.” Gerard nodded.
They started half-running towards the stairs for the long slide.
----
Floating easily and calmly down the artificial river on a one-man raft, he found he could finally relax. Then he heard the frantic splash-kick-slosh that could only belong to one person. He groaned and tipped his head back, cracking his eyes open to see Bert paddling his raft rapidly towards him. He sighed and sat up.
“Yes, Bert?”
Bert stopped and blinked before continuing to paddle forward. He latched his hand onto one of the handles of Gerard’s raft. “Nothing,” he said. With that, he slumped down into his raft and closed his eyes, still holding onto the older man’s raft.
Gerard rolled his eyes and grabbed the nearest handle of Bert’s raft before sinking back into his comfy position. He stared up at the late-afternoon sky and smiled, closing his eyes and only briefly wondering how Frank had fared. But only briefly as Bert grabbed his hand.
-----Day 16-----
When they tried to get up that morning to head off, they found they were both far too tired to firstly, figure out where the hell they were going to go next, and secondly, actually drive there. So they went back to sleep, coming to in mid-afternoon. They got up and drank coffee before running down to the information centre for ideas. They quickly spotted exactly where they wanted to go next.
Gerard used the pay-computer to get directions while Bert went to the diner across the road and got them some food. When they had both, they went back upstairs to their room and watched television for the rest of the day.
Part Ten