JC was sitting on his bed staring at the TV. He had gotten back from dinner a half hour ago after Johnny had dismissed him and Justin. He had recommended that Justin and JC go out and get some dinner, so that's what they did. They had thought about not going, but figured that it might take their mind off the news they received for a while.

JC watched the images on the screen flicker, but didn't pay any attention to what was going on. He was too lost in his thoughts. All he could think about was all the bad things that could happen to Joey, Chris, and Lance while out in the middle of nowhere.

After another hour, JC's butt was sore from sitting for so long, so he walked out onto the balcony and stood there. He watched the sunset, though he couldn't stop thinking about the guys. He knew that he would drive himself crazy if he kept thinking about them, but he couldn't help it. His brothers were out there where God knows what could happen to them.

It wasn't until two hours after the sun set that JC had decided to go in and get some sleep. He laid in bed for an hour or two tossing and turning, but to no avail. It was impossible to get sleep when he was so worried about his brothers.

Just then a knock at the door made him jump out of his skin. JC then quickly jumped up after realizing that it might be Johnny with some news about Joey, Chris, or Lance.

JC opened the door and there stood Justin. "Hey."

"Hey," JC replied.

"Can I come in?" Justin asked and JC moved aside to let him in.

"Let me guess. You couldn't sleep either?"

Justin shook his head as he sat down on the couch. "I've got too many scenarios and questions running through my head."

"I know what you mean. It's driving me crazy that we don't know where they are or how they're doing," JC told him.

"Do you really think the guys Johnny hired will find them?" Justin asked.

"I really don't know, J. I really don't know."

Silence engulfed the room and a million things ran through Justin and JC's heads. It was after a few minutes that JC spoke up.

"You know, I've had a bad feeling something like this was going to happen."

Justin looked at JC in surprise. Sure, he knew that JC had been worried since yesterday, but he had been too. He definitely didn't expect JC to say that. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I don't know. I guess I had hoped that my feeling was wrong. Though now looking back on it I can't help but think if they would still be in this situation if I had said something or if I didn't switch buses," JC confided.

"What do you mean?"

"Lance and I had this feeling right before we switched buses that we might not see each other again. We told each other to be careful and look out for the others and then we got on separate buses," JC explained and sighed. "I just can't help but think that if we hadn't switched buses then this would've never happened."

Justin watched JC as he bowed his head. He knew from JC just told him that he was blaming himself that this happened, but Justin knew this wasn't the case. JC was not to blame here. No one was.

"JC, look at me," Justin demanded. He was determined to make JC see that it wasn't his fault. JC slowly looked up at Justin.

"None of this is your fault, or mine, or any one's fault for that matter. It was an accident. You know how hyper Chris gets and needs to release his energy by doing something. He decided that something was a walk in the woods. There's nothing you could've done to prevent it from happening. You know how persuasive Chris can be and even if you didn't switch buses, it still would've happened because there's no way any of us would sit and wait for Tom to fix the tire. We would've done the same exact thing, so don't go blaming this on yourself. You worry bad enough without putting guilt on yourself," Justin told JC.

JC gave a weak smile. "Thanks, J. I needed to hear that."

"Anytime, C." Justin got up from the couch and looked around. "I think I'm going to head back to my room and try to get some sleep."

"OK. Good night and thanks again."

"No problem, man. Get some sleep," Justin said and patted JC on the back before leaving for his hotel room.

JC fell back onto his bed and fell asleep almost instantly since guilt no longer weighed down on his shoulders.

------------------------

Lance was up early the next morning. He had managed to fall asleep for a couple hours. It wasn't much, but he knew that he probably wouldn't get a full night's sleep again until him and Chris and Joey got to the next city where JC and Justin were.

Lance looked over to left and saw Chris and Joey were still sleeping. Last night they had decided to get a good night's sleep and not worry about animals attacking them since they hadn't spotted one all day.

Lance got up and moved to sit down by the river to watch the sun come up. It was 5 o'clock and he knew the sun would be rising soon. He always liked to watch the sunrise, even when he was a kid. It was a good way for him to just be alone and think about things. He remembered how he used to think about a girl that he liked and was to shy to ask out, but not now. The only thing on his mind now was getting to the next city and out of this forest.

They must know that we're lost by now and I know JC must be blaming himself for this happening, Lance thought.

"Don't blame yourself, JC. It's no one's fault," Lance said to himself. He knew that JC couldn't hear him, but thought he might get the message from God if he said it anyway.

"Then why do you?"

Lance whirled around to find Chris behind him. "Geez, Chris. Don't you know it's not nice to sneak up on people and scare them to death?"

"Yeah, but it's fun to watch you jump." Chris sat down next to Lance and rested his arm on Lance's shoulder.

"How long have you been up?" Lance questioned.

Chris shrugged. "I guess a little after you got up."

"How come I didn't hear you then?"

"I was being quiet. I figured I'd leave you alone for a bit so you could think and reflect. I thought it might make you feel better about everything after thinking about it," Chris answered.

"Well I think I actually feel worse rather than better," Lance admitted.

"I figured as much, but I still hoped you would. The thing I don't get though is that you just told JC not to blame himself and yet you're blaming yourself. How can you do that when you said no one's to blame?" Chris asked.

Lance sighed. "I don't know, Chris."

"Yes you do. You just don't want to say it."

"You're right, Chris. I don't so will you just lay off!" Lance said aggravated. He knew that Chris was only trying to help, but he didn't need this right now.

"Woah! Calm down. I'm just trying to make you feel better, but it's obvious you don't want to talk."

"I know. I'm sorry, Chris. It's just been lousy these past two days. I never would've imagined in a million years that I'd get lost in a forest with two of my best friends. I really wish none of this happened."

"I know where you're coming from. I don't like that this happened either and if anyone should be blaming themselves, it's me. I'm the one who suggested to walk in the woods," Chris told Lance.

"Yeah, but you didn't know a bear would chase us off the trail and make us lost," Lance pointed out.

"Exactly. If I'm not to blame, then you're certainly not to blame. I had more to do with this than you did. We're just lucky that you know your stuff or we'd be cold and starving."

"Yeah I guess you're right. Thanks, Chris."

"No problem, man. Anything for a brother," Chris said and pulled Lance into a hug.

"Aw, I always miss all the good stuff." Chris and Lance turned around to see Joey standing there.

"Good morning, Joe," Lance greeted.

"Morning. What did I miss?"

"Nothing much. You know the usual blaming ourselves for what happened, screaming at each other, and then making up in the end," Chris answered.

"Yep, you're right. Nothing unusual," Joey agreed. It wasn't uncommon for two or more them to disagree or fight and then make up in the end. In fact, it was pretty weird if it didn't happen at least once a week. That's what made them close though. They knew that even when they disagreed, they would always apologize and it always seemed they were closer after one of their fights.

Lance looked at his watch. "I guess we should go get some breakfast."

"Can we eat something else other than berries?" Joey asked.

"If you know of something around here that we could kill, then please tell us," Chris answered.

Joey thought for a minute. "What about the bear?"

"You want us to go looking for the thing that got us into this mess in the first place?!" Chris exclaimed and Joey shrugged. "OK. Say we found the bear. What then? How are we supposed to kill it? With our singing? Or how about our good looks?"

"Sorry, Joe. I know berries aren't very filling, but we don't know if there's anything else in this forest," Lance told him.

"Well couldn't we at least look?" Joey suggested.

"You can, but I'm not," Chris replied.

"Then can I go look and see if I find something?" Joey asked.

"I don't know, Joe. What if something happens to you? Chris and I wouldn't even know."

"Nothing will happen, Lance. I'll be back before you know it."

"Well alright, but please be careful," Lance relented. He had a bad feeling about Joey going by himself, but knew he couldn't stop him.

"I will," Joey promised and left. Chris and Lance picked berries and brought them closer to camp while Joey was gone. They even made up some silly games to pass the time. A couple hours later though, Lance was worried and Chris was trying to convince him that nothing was wrong and maybe Joey found something.

But just then a loud scream could be heard.

"Joey!" Lance and Chris said and took off running toward the noise. All games and food forgotten.