Prey

A High School Musical Fanfiction

A/N: If you're like me, when you're in a hurry, you just scan for dialog and skip all the descriptive stuff. Well, please don't do that here. This is one of the hardest chapters I've ever written. There's lots of action (I hope) and not much talking, so please take the time and read it thoroughly. Thanks, j

Disclaimer:See chapter 1

Previously in Prey...

"No...", she rasps out. "Wasn't me... didn't fire...", is all she manages to say before passing out.

"Step away from the girl, son", orders a calm, cool voice.

Troy looks in the direction of this unknown voice to see himself staring up the barrel of a rifle, pointed right at him.

Chapter 8: The Rescue

"It's okay, Joe. That's the Bolton kid", comes another voice.

The man, Joe, immediately lowers his rifle and steps aside.

Instantly, someone is pulling Sharpay away from him and Troy tries with all his might to hang onto her.

"It's okay, Troy", says a reassuring female voice, "we're with the State Police. You're alright now. Everything's going to be alright..."

It's like he's hearing the voice from down a long, dark tunnel and it's getting more and more faint with each word until finally, the tunnel is capped off tight and he passes out.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Something's going terribly wrong, Jake", Eve says, but she isn't looking at him. She's staring into the long dead embers of the fire.

They're all lounging about the now burnt-out campfire. Gabriella and Ryan are still chained in their original location near the fire pit and Jake and Eve are on opposite sides.

Jake is lazily cleaning under his fingernails with the same knife that he used to threatened Gabriella. "Oh yeah, what's that, princess?"

"It's the sunshine, Jake."

"Tell me about it, luv", he prompts, but it's obviously to everyone but her that he really doesn't care what she's going to say. He's just trying to humor her.

"The sunshine is going to ruin my tea party", she says in that irritating sing-song voice. "The sunshine's going to take away all my dollies." With that statement, she looks over at Gabriella and Ryan who are watching her with rapt attention.

Jake knows that Eve is insane, but he still loves her and has vowed to always take care of her. He also knows something else about Eve --- she has the sight, as his old Gran used to call it. And he's learned to try and decipher between her insane ramblings and when she's trying to tell him something useful. And this tea party business sounds useful.

"Is that so?", Jake drawls lazily, but he does rise to his feet and starts to look out into the woods with interest.

Ryan and Gabriella are growing more and more nervous with everything that crazy woman is saying.

Jake walks over to the two teenagers in slow, measured strides, his eyes continuing to scan the forest. With lightening fast speed, he drops to his knees and grabs Gabriella from behind and presses his knife to her neck again.

Gabriella doesn't even have time to gasp before the whole world explodes around her. Suddenly, the forest is alive with people, men dressed in camouflaged uniforms are storming into their camp, shouting commands at Jake and Eve and Ryan is trying disparately to hang on to Gabriella's hand.

Then, one of the men grabs Eve and Jake knows it's all over. He won't do anything to put his lady love in harm. He drops the knife to the ground, raises his hands over his head and stands up slowly.

"A'right, a'right. You little ponces; I know when it's over." Sometimes it's great to be English in America. You can insult these wankers and they don't even know they're being insulted.

One of the camouflaged men rushes over to Gabriella and Ryan and starts to exam Ryan.

"Don't worry, we're with the State Police. We'll stretcher you down to the trailhead and medivac you out from there", he tells them.

Ryan looks up at the uniformed man and sees a New Mexico State Police emblem, subdued on his dark jacket, but clear nonetheless. Their emblem is a modified version of the sun symbol of the Zia Pueblo people. Every school child in New Mexico studies about it when they learn their state's history. It's on the New Mexico flag and license plates; it's everywhere. Prominently displayed on every official seal, flag and emblem in New Mexico is the ancient symbol of the sun for the Native American people called the Zia --- the sun symbol. That crazy woman was right. The sunshine really did ruin Eve's tea party.

"We're okay", insists Ryan. "It's just a sprain. But what about my sister and Troy? They're still out there with that nut."

"There's another team out rescuing them right now. Don't worry about them." Using a universal hand-cuff key, he releases their hands.

"How...how did you find us?", Gabriella asks as she rubs her left wrist trying to get the circulation back into it.

"The GPS receivers in the phones. Not very smart of them to keep those things on."

"Oh, I did a paper in science class about GPS receivers. The Global Positioning System. It was developed by the military starting in the early 1970's. There are at least 24 satellites in orbit. And it uses four satellites to solve for x, y, z and time. That's why it needs four satellites instead of three like you might normally think. The fourth one is needed for time, in fact, the satellite time is much more accurate than your own wristwatch..."

Ryan is staring at her with open love in his eyes. He looks over at the medic working on his ankle. "Isn't she wonderful?"

"Mmm", is the medic's only comment. There's someone for everyone, he supposes.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"No, no, don't kill her, you bastard. Sharpay!", Troy screams out of his nightmare with a jerk and then, immediately regrets his sudden movement. "Ohhh, my aching head...", Troy groans as his hand automatically goes to his forehead. There, it hits soft gauze and he realizes the gash on his forehead must have been wrapped. That's when he also realizes that he's lying in a soft, warm bed --- a soft, warm hospital bed. He slowly opens his eyes and looks cautiously up at the monitor above his head. The soft beep, beep, beep of his heart is echoing in the silent room and there's an IV line in his arm, which leads to a drip bag hanging on a pole by his bed.

"Shhhh, it's okay, honey", come the soft, soothing voice that he's heard so often in his life when he's awakened from nightmares --- his mom. Except this time, the nightmare's real.

"Mom", Troy whispers. "What hap...?"

"Everything fine, honey. You're going to be okay. You had a concussion and the cut in your forehead required stitches. Since you lose consciousness, it's called a grade three concussion, so they tell us. But your CT scan looks fine, so you'll probably be released tomorrow."

"Mom...", Troy says, meeting her eyes for the first time. "What about Sharpay? Is she okay?"

"Well...", Lucy Bolton hesitates only briefing.

Then, they are interrupted by a banging noise at the door of the room.

"Are you ready for some company?", calls a female voice from the doorway.

Mrs. Evans pushes Sharpay's wheelchair further into the room and the two older women give each other meaningful looks.

"I think that answers your question", Lucy observes.

"Hi", says the uncharacteristically shy voice of Sharpay Evans.

She's wearing pink silk pajamas with big pink, fluffy house slippers and a pink silk robe which is draped on her shoulders. Definitely, not your standard hospital issue nightwear. Her right arm is in a sling and that forearm is wrapped tightly against her chest, presumably to stop her from moving it.

Sharpay's mother pushes her chair up next to the bed.

"Hey...", Troy says as the heart monitor betrays him by speeding up slightly.

"We'll just leave the two of you alone", announces Mrs. Bolton as the two older women quietly leave the room.

"You look beautiful."

And she did. Her hairstyle looks like she just stepped out of a salon. The sides and back are pinned up high into a messy upstyle and long shaped bangs are left down around her face to create a soft and shaped finish. Her makeup is also done to perfection. She's wearing navy eyeliner and shimmering bronze shadow, which gives her eyes a smoky, cat-like appearance. That's topped off with a bit of black mascara, but it's not too heavy. Her skin has a bronze glow to it and she's wearing her signature pink lip gloss.

"Thanks. My hairstylist, Mr. Greg, makes hospital calls. After our time tramping around in the forest, I wanted to look my best."

"Oh, I think you look great with nothing on at all", he says with all sincerity. "Uh,... I mean..."

"I know what you mean. And thank you."

"How...how are you?", Troy asks.

"Lucky ... or so they say. The bullet went straight through. It didn't hit any bones or anything, just muscle, which will heal, with time. It doesn't hurt so much anymore. They've got me on some great meds", she adds with a smile. "And you?"

"Oh ... I've just got a little concussion ... is all. And some stitches", he indicates to his forehead.

"Is there really such a thing as a little concussion?"

This is awkward. It shouldn't be awkward.

"What happened out there, Sharpay? I mean ... I thought you hit that guy, but you said..."

"A sniper took him out, one from the police", Sharpay informs him. "They told me they found us from the GPS receiver in my phone which was still in The Hunter's jacket." Sharpay takes a deep breath and looks down at the floor. "I'm ... not sure I could have done it, Troy. I mean ... I'd have done anything to save you, but I couldn't aim properly with only one arm and what if I'd missed him and hit ...", she trails off in tears.

"Hey... don't think like that..." Troy awkwardly tries to get out of the bed, but the rails are pulled up on both sides and he can't figure out how to get them lowered. He's jerking them up and down uselessly and getting more and more frustrated by the second.

Sharpay can't help but giggle at him.

"How do I get out of this thing?"

"There's a latch on the side. Pull it up straight and I'll move the latch."

They get the rail down and then, Troy tries to get out of the bed. Unfortunately, with all the wires attached to him, it proves to be hopeless.

"Why don't I come up there?", Sharpay suggests.

After a few minutes of maneuvering and help from Troy, Sharpay is leaning back against his chest and he has his arms wrapped carefully around her.

"We're quite a pair, aren't we, Bolton?"

"Yes, we are", Troy says seriously and he bends to put a gentle kiss on her neck.

"What's going to happen with us now?", she says reluctantly.

"Well, first I need to talk to Gabriella. It's only fair. And at least, if I do it now, she'll feel so sorry for me she won't hit me ... it least I hope so."

"God... I feel like the other woman."

"No. You shouldn't feel like that. We haven't done any wrong. Well, at least not too much wrong. We waited and I'm glad we did. You were right. It would have been for the wrong reasons and it wouldn't have been fair to Gabi.

"Look, Shar. We didn't go looking to fall in love with each other. It just happened. And even though, I'd never want to relive those 24 hours again, I'd do it again if I knew that was the only way I'd have of finding you."

"I love you, Troy Bolton."

He pulls her back to cradle her gently in his right arm and bends down to take her in a deep, searing kiss.

Then, he pulls back and says, "I love you too, Sharpay Evans and I haven't forgotten my double cheeseburger dinner."

"Put it on my tab." And she pulls him down for another kiss.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"I'm not sure I can do this, Ryan. I mean ... this could break his heart and he's so sweet. Can't I wait until he's out of the hospital?", Gabriella pleads.

Gabriella is pacing nervously back and forth in the hallway, outside Troy's hospital room.

"I love you, Gabriella. And I want to tell the world about how I feel. I don't want to hide anymore."

Ryan takes both of her hands in his and bring them up to his lips and kisses the backs of her hands.

"You're so sweet and I love you too", she whispers.

"Do you want me to go with you?", he offers.

"No ... I need to do this by myself, but you'll wait for me, right?"

"Of course, I won't move a muscle."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Gabriella takes a deep breath and quietly walks into the darkened hospital room. What she sees makes her both happy and, if she's honest, just a little sad too.

Lying sound asleep and wrapped in each others arms are Troy and Sharpay. And neither one of them has ever looked happier. They also look, she thinks, right together. They fit well together.

She quietly slips out of the room.

"That was fast."

"I don't think anyone needs to feel guilty anymore. You won't believe what I just saw..."

The End

Okay, folks. This is like mega short for one of my stories, but if you consider that most of the story took place in only 24 hours, it's not so bad. If you're one of those people who waits until the end of the story to review. This is it. Please let me know what you think. Thanks and until next time... Toodles.

About Mrs. Bolton's name... I noticed in the wikipedia listing for HSM3 that Mrs. Bolton is listed as Lucille Bolton. Yea! They finally gave her a name, but what a crappy name. She doesn't look anything like a Lucille. I much prefer Dana Bolton (that's the name I gave her in Why?). Anyway, so Lucy it is, I guess, but I'm not happy about it.

Remember, Jake and Eve are loosely "stolen" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's characters of Spike and Drusilla. Dru is a real nutcase who was always spouting things that made no sense until at least 5 episodes later. Anyway, all the sun stuff about New Mexico is true. And wacky talk about the sun ruining her tea party just sounds like something Drusilla would say and it fit perfectly with the rescuers being from the State Police. I'm picturing a kind of SWAT team looking group, btw.