Breaking Their Hold

"I can't believe we came so fucking close to getting caught, dude," Matt groaned as he and Jimmy walked through a corn field in the middle of nowhere. It was the middle of the night and there was no moon out, which was both a blessing and a curse for them. Having no light meant it would be harder to be spotted, though it also made it harder for the two of them to navigate the corn field.

"Tell me about it," Jimmy muttered under his breath before he pushed one of his hands back through his hair. "We have to make sure we don't let that happen again. We'll have to move even faster from now on."

Matt nodded, a serious look overtaking his face before he pushed his hand back through his hair as well. He was nervous, though he wouldn't let that show to Jimmy. He knew his friend was just as scared and as nervous as he was, and one of them had to pretend to be a little more calm and collected. Matt was used to carrying that burden on his shoulders. He was used to pretending to be strong.

"How do you think Mel and Pierre are right now?"

It was a loaded question that Matt wasn't prepared to answer and he just bit his bottom lip to stop himself from saying the first thing that came to mind: they've probably been discovered.

It was a horrible thing to think and he didn't want to think that way, but in a situation like this it was difficult not to. He knew that Mel was a very soft person who was incapable of making difficult choices for herself. He knew this trip was going to be hard on her both emotionally and physically, as well as mentally.

She was used to having Jimmy there for her, even if they weren't able to see one another. She was used to being able to draw from his strength, knowing that he was alright even if they were in the hellhole known as Haverly. But she didn't have that right now and that was what worried Matt.

She had no idea whether or not they were alright. Hell, she had no idea if they were dead in the middle of some desolate field or in a ditch along some old road. She didn't know anything about their situation right now and that scared him. Would she be able to go on to Canada without knowing that they were okay? Would she be able to tell herself everything would be okay; that Matt and Jimmy were fine?

Matt sure as hell hoped so. He and Jimmy were depending on her strength right now just as much as she was surely trying to depend on Jimmy's. Without her reaching Canada safely, there was no point to any of this. Sure, Matt and Jimmy would be granted Canadian citizenship and they'd be free to live life as normal teenagers again, but that wouldn't mean shit to him.

If Mel wasn't safe, Matt couldn't live with himself knowing that he was living life without her and the rest of their friends by his sides. He was also concerned about Jimmy. He knew that his tall friend was nothing without Mel. The two of them truly were in love and they needed each other in ways Matt had never seen two people need one another before.

"I'm sure they're fine, man," Matt answered, once again putting on a strong front.

Jimmy didn't seem to believe his friend but neither of them said another word about the subject, just continued walking on through the corn field towards a destination neither of them knew how to find.

They were going to head in to Saskatchewan instead of going towards Ottawa, knowing that it would be easier to reach the former than it would be to reach the latter from where the two of them were at right now. Saskatchewan was a lot closer and it'd be much faster to reach. Matt and Jimmy both knew that once they reached Canada, they'd be able to reach Ottawa much more quickly.

"I just hope she's not freaking out too bad," Jimmy muttered under his breath, pushing his hand back through his hair nervously as they continued walking.

The comment was directed more at himself than to Matt, and it caused Matt to feel his heart sink a little bit. How would his friend cope if Mel didn't pull through this alive?

He didn't want to think of that right now though, he told himself. He couldn't allow himself to think about the what ifs or the could happen's. He just needed to focus on helping himself and Jimmy reach Canada as soon as possible so that Mel and Pierre wouldn't worry about them.

He already knew that Pierre and Mel were going to reach the Canadian government's capital before they would. Pierre knew the back roads and the routes much better and he also had experience with doing this. He knew that he'd be able to get Mel to Canada safe and sound, and that was something that Matt was happy for. At least Mel had a better chance of reaching Canada.

Even with her weakness and her stress, Matt knew that with Pierre there, Mel had an almost one-hundred percent chance of reaching Canada without anything bad happening to her. That was something that would allow him to sleep easier at night; something that would clear his conscience.

"Where's the next city at?" Jimmy suddenly asked. "We'll need supplies before long. We can't keep walking without a compass, at the very least."

Matt knew that this was Jimmy's way of saying they'd need to break in somewhere to steal the supplies they'd need. There was no way the two of them could walk into a store to buy what they needed, it would look far too suspicious.

Matt knew that before long, they were going to need to get a compass as well as water containers. From what Matt remembered learning in his junior high classes, once they reached Montana, there was going to be less water to find and drink from and they'd need to find something other than their hands and sharpened sticks to fish with. They'd need to steal guns and ammo to actually hunt with, and lighter fluid and lighters to make fire with to cook their food.

"I'm not sure," Matt frowned. "All I know is that we probably shouldn't stop until we at least reach Montana. Right around this area, there's going to be high alert for us."

Jimmy nodded, although he was clearly a little apprehensive about what Matt had just said. Jimmy was becoming more apprehensive as the time went on and Matt knew that wasn't a good thing.

Without Mel right there by his side, Jimmy turned in to someone else. He worried much more and he didn't think as rationally as he might otherwise. Matt knew that while his tall friend was capable of functioning, it was harder for him to do so because he was so used to having Mel right there beside him.

"I just hope we can get it all soon," Jimmy muttered. "The sooner we get it, the faster we can forget about it and move even quicker towards Canada, yeah?"

"Yeah, Jimmy," Matt muttered under his breath, looking down at the grass as he and his friend continued moving. "That's exactly right."

He wasn't going to let his friend know that those words worried him. He knew Jimmy was on the verge of breaking down and that was definitely not something either of them needed to worry about right now. Right now, they just needed to think about the fact that they were going to be going towards Canada. They needed to stop themselves from worrying about Mel and Pierre and actually trust the Canadian man to get the girl to Canada. The sooner Matt could make Jimmy realize that, the sooner they'd be safer. And that was all Matt wanted right now.