Chapter 4
Sat 12th July 12.45am- The Escape
The van lights flickered under the black pit of water the boys were encased in and in a flash, buzzed furiously and turned off. Niall’s arm was pulsing furiously in fits agony and pure pain. He was unable to move it at all and could only let it drag along beside him as he tried to feel his way towards the window. The black out of the lights had made escaping that much harder as they now couldn’t see a single thing and were relying on their memory and direction to get them out; that and the fact they could only hold their breath for a few minutes at best. Louis had suggested they make a chain to make it easier for the boys to stay together and find their way to the window while they frantically swam around the inside of the van, but Niall needed his good arm as much as possible to get him out alive. He had seen Louis fling Liam’s limp, lifeless body on his back before they ran out of air, making sure that he was able to get Liam out with him. Niall wondered how much longer Liam would be able to survive after the crash causing his life threatening injuries and the fact he was probably at this moment drowning his lungs in the water intake from trying to breath. Louis and Niall had found Liam’s pulse was already weak and the fact that he wasn’t able to consciously take a breath before he went under scared the shit out of Niall. Liam had always been the big brother of the band; the guy anyone could go too if they had anything on their minds, the one they all went to if then needed love advice or any type of advice in general and out of all the guys in the band, he was the one who held them all together. He was their rock, their lifeline. Niall worried if Liam was to die… so would the band.
Niall felt a small current swish past his body and guessed Louis had started to pull himself towards the window with Liam on his back. Niall followed, unable to see anything in the pitch black darkness around him. It didn’t take long to get to the window only a meter or so away from where Louis, Liam and he had been sitting before they took their last breath. His face ploughed into Liam’s legs in front of him as Louis stopped to manoeuvre his way through the small opening, desperately yanking and tugging at Liam’s body as he hopefully tried to pull Liam’s body through after him. Louis lungs began to burn and the urge to breathe became stronger and stronger. Carrying Liam’s heavy body had been more exhausting than he had first thought and after the adrenaline of the situation had worn off, Liam had become heavier and heavier the longer he was stuck under water. He furiously yanked his friend’s shirt, using every last bit of energy to keep hold of his body and pull him through the small gap behind him. He treaded at the water sending air bubbles screaming around his face and body as he urgently kept trying to escape. Louis hoped Niall and Harry weren’t about to run out of breathe after he had taken longer than expected to get Liam out of the van exit.
‘COME ON!’ Louis yelled to himself in his head
‘Please!’ he screamed, gritting his teeth.
Niall had sensed the urgency of getting to safety and air and had managed to muster up the courage to use his free arm to help Louis push Liam out the window. He frantically shoved and kicked at Liam, apologising in his head every time he felt as if he had hurt his friend; every movement becoming more and more painful and agonising as his arm twisted and bumped into the surrounding objects in the van. Niall opened his mouth to scream and remembered he had to keep as much water out of his lungs as possible. Now was not the time to die. He scrunched up his eyes and with one last shove of energy, rammed into the back of Liam, scraping his body tightly through the window and out onto the other side.
‘Thank god’ Niall prayed as he used his good arm to grab onto the window sill and pull himself freely through the open window.
Louis felt the jolt of Liam’s body escaping through the window and immediately idolised Niall for what Louis had unknowingly realised he had done. It took courage and the utter most ultimate will power to still be able to save other people’s lives when you were so badly injured and your life too was on the line. He would need to thank Niall later for everything. Louis was breathless and needed air fast as it had taken every last effort of his to tug Liam out of the window; and there was still the swim to the top left. He kicked his feet as fast and as hard as he could, dragging Liam along behind him with one arm and using the other to pull himself towards the top quicker. Liam was like a dead weight and although Louis was on the brink of passing out in the blackness of the lake, he was not done yet. He could sense Niall close and hoped like hell he was going to make it to the top with his arm in as bad a state as it was. As his fingertips pierced through the top layer of water and exposed themselves to the air above, he kicked up with one last force and gasped for air as his head broke the surface. Panting and spluttering he heard Niall break the top soon after and thanked god he had made it
“AHHHHHHHHH” Niall screamed, echoing through around the lake, as the smell of blood metalized the surrounding air. Louis struggled to keep Liam afloat as he had not a single breath of energy left, yet somewhere deep inside failed to let him give up.
“Swim to the side!” Louis panted to Niall
Louis saw Niall begin to slowly wade his way to the side of the lake, screaming and moaning in pain under the moon lit sky above them.
“Where is Harry and Zayn!?” Niall managed to wince out
Through all the frustration, panic and worry for his survival, Louis hadn’t even managed to think about Harry and Zayn and if they were ok. For all he knew the boys could be trapped in the van and him and Niall wouldn’t have the slightest clue.
“Fuck!” Louis cursed, punishing himself for not worrying about the boys more. All he could do now was get Liam and Niall out of the water and hope the others would be up soon.
Harry couldn’t bring himself to leave Zayn alone, trapped under the water, minutes away from his own death but Harry knew if he didn’t leave, Zayn would almost certainly die. If he could somehow get to the surface quickly and find help for Zayn within the next few minutes, he might just have a chance of surviving. Reaching out for Zayns hand through the pitch black silence under water, Harry easily found Zayns wrist and manoeuvred his hand down to Zayns, squeezing it tight to assure that Harry would be back, whatever it took. Zayn swished his other hand to Harry shoulder and pushed him away, signalling that this was no time to be having a moment. He was already drowning and Harry needed to leave, NOW. He took it as his queue to leave, quickly but softly peeling his hand away from Zayns and using the back of the seats to pull himself straight along the aisle of the van towards the window. Harrys mind went blank. In that moment he wasn’t thinking about dying, or drowning or being injured; the only thing he cared about was getting out and getting help. He didn’t care for anything else. He had promised Zayn he would be back to save him, and that’s exactly what he was going to do. The window was easy to find and Harry found it surprisingly easy to escape through. Using his arms and legs to kick him swiftly to the surface, he knew that the longer he took, the longer Zayn suffered. Harry burst through the water top. Thrashing his arms and legs about as he gasped for air, Harry flicked his hair out of his eyes and sprinted to the side where he saw Louis and Niall attempting to drag Liam out of the water. It had taken him just over a minute to get out of the van so that meant with a bit of luck zayn would still be holding on. Harry just hoped with all his heart that Zayn would be able to hold on long enough.
Zayn felt cold and alone. Sitting trapped under a torrent of water in a sinking van was an experience he would never wish upon anyone. His thoughts corrupted his mind as the pitch black stillness surrounding his helpless body closed in on him, backing him slowly into deaths corner with each passing second. His heart beat slowed the longer he held his breath and the will to open his mouth and breath began to increase. He was almost certain Harry was never going to make it back in time and even though he had told him to get help, Zayn had come to the realisation that help may be a long shot off reality. He had little hope of surviving but he was going to fight to the end.
‘I need you to survive’ His mind spoke calmly to him
‘The boys need you to survive’ it repeated.
Zayn loved the boys with all his heart. There was not a single thing in the world he loved more except for maybe his family, but then again, the boys were part of his family too. They had brought so much joy, laughter, kindness and life into the years he had been alive and he was so grateful he had taken that brave step to try out for X-Factor all those years ago. They were the only ones that actually understood him and even after such a short amount of time, they knew him more than anyone had ever done in his lifetime.
‘You have to survive’ his mind chanted
‘…But you need to breathe Zayn’
The need to breathe crept up on Zayn like the darkness that had surrounded the van and he began to feel his lungs contracting as his throat and chest begged for air. He gulped for breath but demanded himself to keep his mouth closed. Trickles of water began to slither up his nose and he could feel the water beginning to form down his throat and at the base of his brain. He began to kick his legs, frantically flinging himself side to side in a last desperate attempt to free himself from the lock of the belt keeping him from survival.
‘Must breathe’ his mind replayed
‘BREATHE NOW’ he heard himself yelling inside his head
He threw his hands over his mouth, providing a barrier between the water and the passage way to his lungs as he flung his head from side to side, gulping and hiccupping at the urgency to breath. The water stirred furiously around him as he moaned and screamed under his breath, flailing his arms and legs around desperately. It was no use though. His belt was going nowhere fast and he was most certainly trapped. There was no escaping the reality of the situation and Zayn gave into the water. If he hadn’t been underwater, you could have seen the tears falling from his eyes as he lowered his arms to his lap, let his legs float helplessly to the van floor, closed his eyes one last time and breathed in a lungful of black icy water.
‘That’s it… breathe’ his mind spoke as Zayn blacked out losing all sight of hope and in turn consciousness.
The moon provided some light and Harry was able to see the worry on his friends faces as he swam closer.
“Harry!!” Niall yelled, worry and fear seeping through his voice
“God we were so worried about you!”
Louis turned his attention to the small figure swimming towards him. Although Niall was talking to Harry, he wasn’t answering. Instead he just kept swimming faster and faster towards the shore. As Harry reached Louis side and began to pull himself out of the water, Louis could tell by his face something was wrong. He turned back to the lake sprawled out in front of him and scanned the area before his eyes. The water sat peacefully with only a small wave lapping up on the side of the lake from when the van had gone under. Dread quickly filled every last crack and bone in Louis body.
“Harry… Where is Zayn?...” Louis shivered
Harry didn’t answer but instead continued to pull himself out of the cold water below.
“Harry I asked you a question!” Louis shook angrily as he slapped Harrys shoulder knocking him backwards into the water
“HE”S TRAPPED! OK YOU HAPPY NOW! I tried to help him but it wouldn’t come undone- and it was stuck- and we tried we really did- and his seatbelt wouldn’t come free and now he’s trapped… he’s dying…” Harry trailed off as tears began to fall from his eyes.
Louis and Niall froze in shock. Their hearts stopped as they realised their friend was drowning only a few meters under the water in front of them.
“No…” Louis choked.