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A rhythmical rocking motion, that was what Bucky became aware of first. There was a pressure in his abdominal area. And it felt as if he were partially upside down. Wait, was he being carried, slung over someone’s shoulder?
Opening his eyes, he immediately recognized the uniform of the person carrying him even if he only saw the back of it. “Walker?” he decided to ask.
“Hey, Bucky,” came the immediate if strained reply. And Bucky couldn’t blame Walker, he knew he wasn’t exactly light. Funny how that felt significant somehow.
“What’s going on?” Bucky wanted to know.
“Our chopper got shot down on our way back from a mission. You hit your head quite hard.”
“The others,” Bucky began but was cut off by Walker declaring, “Are fine! It was just the two of us… Though I’m hoping that they’re coming to look for us soon.”
That statement made Bucky look around some more. They were in the middle of nowhere, only an arid landscape surrounding them. Which explained why it was so incredibly hot. “Where… where are you taking us?” Bucky decided to ask.
“Shade… Water… Hopefully cellphone service, as the chopper’s radio got wrecked… Try to get some more rest, Bucky, we’re going to be fine.”
And Bucky, as out of it as he still was, believed Walker.
Bucky had woken up a couple more times and had always been reassured by Walker. But the fourth time he woke up, something was different. They weren’t moving anymore, and Bucky found himself lying on the ground.
But Bucky soon realized that there was no comfort to be had in this. Walker had not put him down because they had reached whatever destination Walker had deemed the walk worth for, no. They had stopped moving because Walker had passed out. He had succumbed to exhaustion and what Bucky feared was a host of other issues.
Sitting up, Bucky waited for his head to stop spinning. Then, he crawled over to where Walker had come to lie and turned the blond man onto his back so that he could get a better look at him.
Scanning every inch of Walker, the first thing Bucky registered was his noticeably busted knee. How Walker had walked around on this was beyond Bucky, let alone how he had carried Bucky.
The next thing that caught Bucky’s eye was the massive blood stain on Walker’s abdomen. A closer inspection revealed a laceration that had bled quite profusely and that still had what Bucky believed to be glass in it.
Then, there was the rattling sound Walker’s breathing made. As if there was liquid inside his lungs. And Bucky feared that this was exactly what was wrong. That Walker had sustained some broken ribs which had then punctured his lungs, filling them up with blood.
To top it all off, Walker was burning up. His skin was bone dry and so hot it nearly scorched Bucky’s hand. Most likely a combination of dehydration and heat stroke. A fear that was confirmed when Walker began seizing from how overheated his brain was. All Bucky could do was to put his hand underneath Walker’s head to try and cushion the impacts of Walker’s skull against the rocky surface.
A few minutes later, Walker woke up, but that did not mean that he was lucid. Slurring, “I’m sorry,” he tried to get back up, but Bucky held him down and said, “Take it easy, Walker.”
Walker apologized again, but Bucky could not figure out what for. “Not your fault,” he decided to say anyway. “Listen to me, John, you did good. Try to get some rest now, okay?”
Walker tried to get up a few more times, but Bucky stopped him easily every time. “Stay down, Walker, I mean it.”
“But… water… I have to… Bucky… help…” Then, Walker lost consciousness again.
The team had found them shortly after that, but it had been touch-and-go for a while – Walker had been injured even worse than what Bucky had realized.
Bucky was there when Walker woke up for the first time. “You’re going to be fine, John,” he told him. “We’re back at the tower.”
Walker’s eyes were already closed again when he grumbled, “Good… I hate the desert.”
Bucky could not help but to chuckle. He would have the opportunity to thank Walker later, and maybe to talk about why Walker had disregarded his own health concerns that readily. For the moment, he just patted Walker’s forearm and stated, “Me too, my friend. Me too.”
THE END