Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:45:39 +0800 From: Pedrick Oman Subject: The Captive Boy, Chapter 10 Foreword: This story was a pure fiction. It was an important story for me, because I started to develop the main story line when I was about 10 years old, and had been evolving in my mind for more than 20 years. Now, in my middle 30s, I finally wrote it down, and added many other elements to form a complete story. I do hope that you like it. I'd like to get your feedback, about your thoughts of this story, or any other things. I received some feedbacks. I'm really happy to know that you enjoyed this story. Most of you also told me that my English was not THAT bad. I do appreciate your encouragement. :-) Special thanks to Matt, who helped me a lot proofreading and giving me many great suggestions. -- pedoman The Captive Boy - Chapter 10 Joey and Johnny went on with their travel. After two days they camped beside a small river. "We aren't too far from Arger Town," said Joey. "Arger Town should be controlled by the anti-government army now, so I think we can make some progress getting there." Johnny didn't answer. Joey smiled and patted Johnny's shoulder. "Don't be nervous. Everything will be fine. Let's go for a bath." Joey took Johnny to the river and they took off all their clothes. After a minute they both started to swim in the river. "You really swim well now," said Joey. Johnny smiled. He really liked to swim in cool water. He dove for a while, and then surfaced again. Joey smiled, watching Johnny playing in the water. After several minutes, he swam to Johnny and hugged him, then started to rub his body. Johnny wrapped Joey's neck with his arms, and naturally they started to kiss. Joey's tongue kept exploring in Johnny's mouth, and Johnny enjoyed the feeling. Soon they left the river, and lay on the ground. Joey kept kissing Johnny's body. "Do you like it?" asked Joey softly. Johnny nodded. Suddenly they heard two gunshots. The bullets hit the rocks beside them. Joey and Johnny jumped up and immediately got their guns and attacked back. Joey and Johnny both shot twice, and Joey knew that they hit their targets. He ran forward to see who attacked them, but then he found that Johnny was not following. "Johnny?" He looked around, and found that Johnny lay on the ground. A lot blood was beside his belly. "Oh, no, Johnny!" Joey rushed to Johnny and held him up. "Are you okay?" Johnny gritted his teeth to endure the pain. Joey saw that he was still bleeding. Joey recalled the scene of Ming getting shot three times and laying in his arms. "No, please, not again. Johnny!" shouted Joey. Joey held Johnny and rushed back to their camp. He tried to stop Johnny's bleeding. "Hang on, Johnny, please!" trembled Joey's voice. The bleeding seemed to be stopped. Joey sighed with relief and started to bandage Johnny. After he was done, he found that Johnny and he were still naked. He took a shirt and pants out of the backpack and put them on. Then he used their blankets to wrap Johnny's nude body. "We need to go to Arger Town to find a doctor," said Joey. "Hang on; I'll take you to find a doctor right away!" Johnny nodded feebly. Joey carefully lifted Johnny to his back, putting a small hand gun in his pocket, just in case. He started to rush to Arger Town, checking along the way to see if the bleeding was still stopped. Even so, Johnny seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. Joey had a hard time keeping back his tears. He was so afraid that he would lose his young friend again. When they arrived at Arger Town, Joey saw some soldiers patrolling outside the gate. He rushed to those soldiers, and soon several guns were pointing at him. "Freeze!" shouted a soldier. "The kid's been injured! Let me go in to find a doctor!" shouted Joey. These soldiers watched him suspiciously. An officer came to see what happened. "This boy was shot! Please help me find a doctor!" shouted Joey again. The officer watched Johnny's face, and exclaimed, "Kiddie!" Everyone, including Joey, was dumbfounded. The officer kept exclaiming, "Kiddie! Are you Kiddie?" Johnny opened his eyes, and saw the officer. He nodded weakly. "Zark... it's me..." "Hurry!" shouted the officer. "Get a car and take them to the hospital!" Soon a jeep came, and Joey carried Johnny to the car. The officer jumped into the car too. They arrived at the hospital in a few minutes, and Johnny was sent into an operating room. Joey and the officer waited nervously outside. After several minutes, the officer broke the silence. "What happened?" "Someone attacked us," replied Joey in a somewhat evasive manner. "We were taking a bath in the river, and someone shot us right after we went ashore. We attacked back and killed him, but Johnny was shot. I brought him here as soon as possible, and even had no time to find out who attacked us." "That's easy," said the officer after a short pause. "I'll have my soldiers search the river. The attacker might be from the government army." The officer left, and came back after nearly half an hour. The doctor came out and nodded to the officer. "The bullet just grazed his belly. Not a serious wound. He bled a lot but was bandaged well when he was sent here. He is a lot more stable after a transfusion. He will be all right." Both Joey and the officer sighed with relief. They went to the ward and Johnny opened his eyes. "Kiddie... it's really you...," the officer said, holding Johnny's hand. "You're still alive... It must have been very difficult for you these two years. You became so thin and..." He looked at Johnny's nude body and caressed the scars on his body, and then saw his lost finger. "Oh... how could they do these things to you?" "I'm... fine...," said Johnny weakly. "No, you are not fine," said the officer. "Oh... Thank God. I'm really happy to see you alive..." "I brought him to Arger Town to find someone," said Joey. "I think you must be the one." "My name is Zarkway." Zarkway turned around to Joey. "Kiddie was our sniper before." "Joey," said Joey, shaking Zarkway's hand. "I know. Your army and Johnny were famous in our field of work. I rescued him and heard that you started another inner war in the north, so I brought him here to find you." "Where did you find Johnny?" asked Zarkway. "The Linbus Jail," replied Joey. Zarkway suddenly looked shocked. "Linbus Jail?!" Zarkway shouted, after a few seconds. Joey nodded. "Oh my God... They sent Kiddie to the... Linbus Jail?!" Zarkway's voice was trembling. "Kiddie... you..." Zarkway could not say anything more. He just caressed Johnny's body. After a minute, he calmed down again. "So I heard that the Linbus Jail was attacked, and all the prisoners were gone. Was that marvelous attack from your army?" Joey nodded. Zarkway turned back to Johnny. "I couldn't imagine that they really did this to you... We always thought that you might have died like a dog... We're never aware that they were so vicious to send you to the... God bless you, you finally came back..." "He's the bravest boy I've ever met," smiled Joey. "I know. I've been sure that he would be very marvelous," said Zarkway. "This town was in the battlefront area. Leer City was nearby, and the government army was too. I think I'd better send you to Anka. It would be safer there, and Jack is there now. You really want to see him, right? He will be very happy to know you are back." Thinking of Jack, Johnny closed his eyes and did not answer Zarkway. "Of all our fellows... now only Jack, Colonel and I are alive," Zarkway didn't seem to notice Johnny's reaction and kept talking. Joey knew that Johnny was still worried about if Jack would accept him or not, so he pulled Zarkway's hands slightly. Zarkway saw Johnny, and saw Joey, and nodded. "All right, have a good sleep. I'll send a telegram to Anka, and send you there tomorrow morning." Zarkway kissed Johnny's cheek. "Don't worry, everything will be fine. Okay?" Johnny nodded with his eyes closed. Zarkway and Joey walked out of the ward. "Now what?" asked Zarkway. "Nothing," said Joey. "Is Jack very important to Johnny... uh... Kiddie?" "Yeah," replied Zarkway. "Everyone loved him, but Jack was the closest one to him. Just like father and son." "I see," said Joey. "I rescued him nearly two months ago. He was seriously abused, and seemed to have some psychological barrier. He was even afraid to see Jack again." Zarkway pondered. "I may need to talk to Jack about this and also about Kiddie's future. Can I send some telegrams too?" asked Joey. "Sure," said Zarkway. "I really appreciated that you rescued Kiddie. Really." -- To be continued.