Scout's Honour - TCT - Part 7

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His bones felt as though they'd fused together overnight. His teeth rattled, his body shook violently, and his lungs burned from the cold. Ethan Crewe couldn't ever remember feeling worse, and he hadn't even opened his eyes yet.

By the time he eventually prised his eyelids open, the other's had already woken and the four of them huddled together for warmth.

"We need to get back to camp as quickly as we can" Carl chattered, "we'll die out here if we don't".

"I think we're gonna' die either way" Ross growled.

"Can you walk?" Corey asked Ethan who nodded, and the four of them took one more painful deep breath before crawling out of the tent.

"Holy... Fucking... Shit" Greg gasped, and as the others joined him, they all looked around in shock.

The entire forest had been buried in snow, it was now up to their knees and the fire that they had conjured the previous evening had disappeared underneath it.

Ethan looked around. Everything he could see was white, except the trunks of the trees. The sky looked as though it had been painted, as thick flakes of snow continued to pour down on them.

"Here" Corey shivered, awkwardly helping Ethan into a new pair of trousers, "or your dick will fall off" he added, wincing as he laughed.

When the scouts had packed up the tent and the other belongings that they could salvage, they began their trek back through the frozen forest.

Normally the group would chat between themselves, but it was simply too cold. Ethan felt his hair, it had become stiff. His eyes had dried up, and any sweat that came from the gruelling hike, froze instantly and became painfully itchy. It was a depressing, miserable affair, and one that was about to get worse.

"Stop!" Carl gasped, and the group came to an abrupt halt.

"What is it?" Ross growled, his eyes scanning the dense trees, "is it the Russians?"

"It's not the Russians" Ethan gulped and the four scouts watched in horror as a huge grey wolf appeared before them.

The wind whistled around them as they stood frozen to the spot. The wolf stared back, it's head low and it's eyes narrow as it studied them.

"Don't fucking move" Carl whispered, and the terror was evident in his voice.

It approached, and Ethan's eyes widened as it bared it's vicious teeth and stared directly at him.

"G... Guys" he whimpered, as the wolf stepped cautiously closer.

"Shut up Ethan" Ross growled.

The four of them shook with a mixture of fear and cold as the animal began to growl. Still however, it focused only on Ethan.

"It's the blood" Greg almost cried, "that's what it can smell".

Ethan's heart smashed in his chest. This was it, this was how he'd die. His body went taut, his fists clenched and he braced for the unimaginable pain as the wolf opened it's large, torturous mouth and... Bolted.

"AAARRRRGHHHHHHH!"

As the wolf darted back into the trees, everybody turned frantically to find the source of the strange howling. Ethan's pants were now drenched in pee, but it froze quickly and he didn't quite care.

"Hey guys" Matthew called, still waving his arms as he chased the wolf away.

Jules appeared from the trees next, followed by Roman, and it was the first time in Ethan's life that he was happy to see the newest member of the group.

"The next time you see a wolf" Matthew said as he returned, "don't just stand there like idiots".

All four of them nodded like schoolboys as the trio began to drop their large rucksacks.

"Looks like the Russian's didn't get everything" Roman beamed, and threw Ethan and Corey a large blanket, which they wrapped around themselves instantly.

"What about the main camp?" Corey asked, still shivering, "we were supposed to meet you back there".

"It's worse over there" Jules told them, "bears, wolves, and it's too open. We can set up here for now".

The scouts got to work, and despite the brutal cold and constant snow, it took them only an hour before a blazing fire raged under a roof of thick branches and for the first time since Ethan had woken in the snow the previous day, he felt warm.

"Here" Matthew said, handing him a steel cup of water, "drink".

As he sat, nestled into his boyfriend, the realisation of their situation began to hit them all. Nobody said a word, and only the noise of occasional slurping sounded, until Ross spoke up.

"We need a plan" he said, draining his cup, "or we're going to die".

"Ever the optimist" Corey smirked, and Ethan noticed that his body was no longer shaking.

"He's right" Matthew sighed, "we've got enough food for three days at most, the Russians have the rest".

"So let's go and get it!" Ross barked, "I'll walk up there and take it back right now!"

"I don't think that's a good idea" Ethan mumbled, and everybody turned to him.

"Why not?" Jules asked curiously.

"They're not like us" Ethan told them, "the things they said they'd do to me, it was... It was animalistic".

"So you think they're dangerous?" Roman asked, and his lip was quivering again.

Ethan nodded as another blast of icy wind ripped against their handmade hut.

"Then we'll just have to sneak in" Corey shrugged, and Ethan glared at him.

"What?" He asked, "it's either that, or we all die".

"I agree" Ross nodded,

"Me too" Matthew added.

Another silence fell as the scouts considered their difficult situation. They were stranded, and there was no getting away from that fact. They had two lifelines. One was the mayday call that the pilot had made before the crash, and the second was the supplies that the Russians had.

"We'll last at least two weeks with those supplies" Matthew continued, "longer if we can find a way to hunt in this weather".

"They're hunting this morning" Ethan told them, "they were planning to use me as bait".

Roman's jaw slacked open and he gulped audibly.

"Then we'll hit them tonight" Ross snarled, "we'll get back our stuff and take whatever they have".

"But then they'll die" Roman whimpered.

"It's them or us, kid" Ross said, patting Roman on the back.

Ethan watched the terrified eighteen-year-old as he trembled under his blanket. His mind rushed back over the events in the airport. He'd been cruel to the boy since he'd met him, and it was all because he was jealous.

"I'm gonna go talk to him" Ethan whispered to Corey who hugged him tighter.

"Good" he replied, and kissed him softly on his lips.

"Hey Roman" Ethan said, standing up and crouching so he didn't put his head through the branches.

Roman jumped at his name, and looked up at Ethan with his large eyes.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked, and the young man gulped again before nodding and standing too.

Ethan went first, pulling the tarpaulin to the side and sliding back out into the ominous elements.

It felt even colder now, and the sky had changed from a brilliant white, to an angry grey. There was no way to tell what time it was, but Ethan guessed that it was still quite early. Roman followed him sheepishly as they weaved between trees until they were far enough away from camp that they wouldn't be heard.

"Look, I just want to apologise" Ethan said, and even in the cold winter weather, his cheeks blushed.

"I've been an asshole to you, and you didn't deserve that".

The boy looked up at him and smiled.

"Oh it's okay" he shrugged, "I know I can be really annoying sometimes"

"No, no" Ethan scoffed, "it's not you, it's just... I was... I guess I was a bit jealous".

"Jealous?" Roman asked, lowering a brow, "jealous of me?"

Ethan hugged himself as the snow turned to sleet and fell heavier.

"Coreys my first boyfriend" he admitted, and Roman nodded.

"He's my best friend, my boyfriend, he's... God this sounds lame" he laughed, "he's my world".

Roman smiled again.

"When I saw you two together, I guess I thought that you two... You know..."

"Me and Corey?" Roman almost laughed, "no, I mean, he's a great guy, but... No"

Ethan chuckled and put out his hand, Roman grabbed it and shook.

"So you forgive me?" He grinned, and the cute boy nodded, before they both turned back to the camp.

"Me and Corey" Roman laughed again, and Ethan felt like a weight had been lifted from him.

"He's not my type" Roman continued, "but you are".

As quickly as Ethan had started walking, he stopped, and turned slowly back to him.

"Sorry?" He asked, convinced that he had misheard the young man, but Roman shrugged with a sly smile.

"You're my type" he said again, "and if you don't want Corey finding out what you said about him, then I'm your type, too".

Ethan's heart began to race as he stared at Roman in shock. The innocent looking teen grinned deviously back, before stepping closer and reaching for Ethan's waistband.

"Don't!" Ethan snapped through gritted teeth, but Roman tried again.

"I said stop!"

"If you really loved Corey" Roman whispered, his fingers fumbling with the drawstrings, "then you wouldn't want him to be hurt by what you said, would you?"

"You're sick" Ethan hissed, but Roman continued until he'd untied the strings and Ethan's pants began to slide down.

"Oh stop being so uptight" Roman smirked, "and hey, I'm happy to let you fuck me, I bet Corey doesn't do that, does he?"

Ethan was frozen in place as Roman pulled his trousers down to his knees and reached for his torn underwear.

"That's right" Roman whispered, "I'll treat you better than he ever could".