A chance encounter with an old Army friend leaves Jay struggling to navigate the man's delusions while the team races against the clock to find him before it's too late.
Chapter 4 is here.
Read on Ao3 or below the cut.
His determination to keep his head down lasts about a mile.
He’s done plenty of treks before when his body wasn’t really up for it so the idea of pushing through pain, exhaustion and any number of other things isn’t really new.
But that doesn’t mean he likes it or that he has any patience for it when it is absolutely not necessary.
Red hasn’t even actually slowed down like he promised and Jay is starting to get a little pissed off.
“Can we take a break, man?” he asks, tentatively yanking against the rope around his neck without applying any sustained pressure.
Red glances back without stopping.
“You used to be able to go a lot longer before you started crying like a baby, Ricky.”
“Fuck you, man.” he says heatedly. “I fucked up my leg and I have a concussion. Sorry if I want to take it a little easier right now while nobody is actively on our tail so that I can maybe heal up a little bit in case they do catch up and we end up having to run for it.”
“You want a chance to leave some kind of clue for your stupid friends so they can find you easier.” Red retorts.
“Would definitely love to get my bearings a little bit before you gt us completely lost the way you did in ‘03.” Jay snaps back.
Red comes to a halt, turning to face him fully.
“Yeah.” He says, pulling the rope tight and causing the loop to slowly tighten. “There’s fiesty old Ricky. A real badass, huh?”
“You know I’m right.” Jay challenges. “Rest when you can. That’s always been the rule.”
Red raises an eyebrow and pulls the rope even tighter.
Jay feels the rough fibers start to dig into the tender skin of his throat.
“Fuck off, man.” He hisses, slightly breathless.
Red smirks.
“I’m the one with all the power here, Ricky.” He taunts. “You rest if I say you can rest. You walk when I tell you to walk.”
“I’m injured you motherfucking asshole.” Jay snaps.
“That never stopped you before.” Red snaps back with a tug.
“Yeah.” Jay says, wincing as a lance of pain rushes down his throat. “I can push through when it’s time to push through.”
He pauses, taking a few measured breaths.
“I can also tell the difference.” He growls.
Red slams him back against a tree, pressing right up into his face and bracing a hand on his shoulder before pulling sharply on the rope to finally close off his airway.
Panic rushes through him as he instinctively tries to take a breath and comes up short.
The pain in his wrist and knee are suddenly a distant, insignificant concern as getting oxygen into his lungs becomes his brain’s only priority.
He lashes out, landing vicious blows that Red seems to ignore entirely.
Time stretches out, every heartbeat prolonging as he struggles.
And then his struggles begin to fade.
Dark spots appear at the corners of his vision and he blinks rapidly, some part of him hoping that doing so will clear his vision.
The pressure releases.
The air that he sucks into his lungs is cool and fresh.
Top ten best air that he’s breathed in his entire life.
He sinks down to his knees, pain exploding back into his world as his right knee hits the ground.
He shifts his weight left, attempting to curl his broken wrist to his chest and stopping as the ropes binding his wrists cruelly remind him that isn’t an option.
“Funny how that works.” Red taunts, couching down in front of him. “How you suddenly become capable of fighting through the pain again when the right motivation presents itself.”
“Almost like I never fucking denied that, asshole.” Jay croaks weakly.
“Just because death due to strangulation is more imminent doesn’t make it more real.” Red scolds him. “The men who are after me will torture you and then they will kill you. And by the time they finally grant you the mercy that is death, you will have long been begging for it.”
“Torture.” Jay muses. “Like being forced to hobble along on a leg that’s really not up for it and being hit in the head repeatedly?”
“Oh shut it.” Red growls. “You know the kind of torture these people are capable of. This is nothing.”
“These people.” Jay mutters. “Won’t tell me who the hell these people are. Haven’t even seen proof that they’re real.”
“Getting sloppy.” Red tells him. “They were following us on the highway. Forced us off the road.”
Then where the hell are they?
Jay doesn’t voice the thought aloud. It’s pretty clear that the man’s words aren’t based in reality at this point.
The crash isn’t the clearest memory for him right now but he’s pretty sure Red had been swerving away from shadows when they’d gone off the road.
And that he would remember if someone had been following them given that he’d been looking for signs of life trying to decide whether or not to take his chances attacking the man.
“I can hear you sassing me from over there, you little shit.” Red growls, reaching out and pulling the length of rope attached to his wrists free from his belt and uncoiling it.
“I think you’ve rested enough.” He adds bitterly. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover if we’re going to make up for your little tantrum. Let’s go.”
Jay desperately wants to tell him to go fuck himself but with a sharp tug, the rope is causing the bones in his wrist to shift.
He struggles to his feet, holding his breath as he outs his weight on his bad leg.
Red doesn’t give him a chance to adjust, dragging him back onto the narrow trail.
He needs to get out of here.
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