Then and Now (new working title)
an excerpt

"Michael, are you OK?"
Brendan wanted to tell her to shut up, that Alvin Lee was playing, that this was what they were here for, but then he saw her face .
"Brendan? Is he OK?"
He looked at Mike, then. Mike was sweating. He did not look happy.
"Oh, fuck! Michael?" Her voice was almost a scream.
"Karen?" Mike's voice seemed to come from far away. "Karen, help me."
"Michael, honey, it's all right. Everything's all right."
"It's not all right, Karen. They're coming for me. Karen, you've got to help me. Where's Jay? What have they done with him?"
"Jay's there, Michael, he's there beside you. He's fine."
But Jay was not fine. He was hugging his knees, and rocking back and forth. Brendan was stone cold sober now. Something very bad was happening, something that he was unable to deal with.
"Jesus, Brendan! What are we going to do?"
"It's all right, Karen. We just need to get some help."
He looked around him. They were surrounded by people, all of them oblivious, most of them spaced out. Trying not to panic, he felt the panic rise in him.
"Help, somebody!" He had never known he could shout so loud. In an instant they were surrounded by long-haired, bearded freaks, half of them stripped to the waist, the other half in army jackets.
"Whatsa matter, buddy?"
"Man, those guys are sick!"
"Fuck me! That's some bad acid!"
"Which ones they take?"
"I don't know! I can't remember." Brendan was floundering. "They were blue, I think. They might have been green."
"Don't matter shit which ones they took," the shortest of the freaks said. "What we got to do is get them to the pink and white tent. Now! What's this cat here called?"
"Mike."
"Here we go, Mike. It's all groovy. We just going to go for a walk here."
Then he went sprawling, Mike on top of him. Karen screamed. Mike had raised his fist to punch him in the mouth when two of the heavier guys grabbed him.
"Hey, hey! Let go, champ! He's not the bad guy. Come on, now. We're your friends, right? We gonna bring you someplace you'll be safe, okay? Okay?"
Mike continued to struggle. Then, abruply, he crumpled, and let himself be led. Jay was not aggressive, but he was heavy as stone. Three big guys struggled to lift him off the ground and get him to his feet. Karen was crying uncontrollably. Brendan thought, "I should be holding her." But while he was thinking it, some stranger had done it. She clung to the guy's bare back desparately, laying her head on hs chest and sobbing loudly.

Alvin Lee played on while they stumbled across bodies, through the mud, Mike pleading for help, Karen crying "Michael, baby, it's going to all right, it's going to be all right." The crowd, the arena, seemed to go on for ever. Brendan did not even know where the pink and white tent was, didn't know whether they were even going in the right direction. The four guys supporting Mike and Jay were endlessly patient, politely asking the people to let them through, talking Mike and Jay down as best they could while they walked. Even when the crown had thinned, the pace did not seem to increase. Mike, in particular, seemed to be barely conscious. He was being dragged rather than led. Jay had revived somewhat and was walking more or less upright. Then they were going up the hill and he could see the tent at the top. Still it felt like an hour before they were at the entrance, pushing past dozens of kids with cut feet from walking on broken bottles. They saw a man in a white coat and half-walked, half-dragged Mike and Jay up to him.
"Acid?"
"Yup."
"I'll give them both a shot of thorazine."
"Hey, man, forget the thorazine, okay?" A girl who looked no more than fifteen, dressed in jeans and a jacket, with a scarf around her head, descended upon the unfortunate medic with eyes blazing. "We'll just bring them over here."
She put an arm around Mike and began stroking him, like a mother stroking a little child. Mike was shaking violently, and Brendan wondered how the girl could possibly cope.
"Come here, baby. We're going to lay you down over here. It's beautiful here. Everything's beautiful." Her voice was so soothing it was hard to believe it was the same person who had attacked the doctor. Slowly, she began to move towards an area where people were lying on camp beds, all presumably suffering the same thing. Mike moved with her, although it seemed to be her will, not his, that moved him. Another girl, also impossibly young, had taken hold of Jay and was stroking him and talking softly to him the same way. Brendan couldn't help thinking, through his terror, how much Jay would be enjoying this if he wasn't out of it.
"Are you sure you're doing the right thing?" Karen asked. Her shoulders were slumped.
"Sure!" The girl answered with a wide smile. "We got hundreds of cats in here the last three days. They're all the same. Look around you."
She stroked Mike's hand. Karen crouched down and took the other hand.
"I'm here, big brother. It's going to be okay."
"Say, why don't you come back here in two, three hours. He'll probably know you then."
"I can't leave them. I'm not going to leave them."
"You know what? We don't even have space for all the trippers here. We sure can't fit all the families as well. I'm sorry, baby, there's just no way you can stay. Come back in three hours, yeah?"
"Karen?" Brendan put his hands on her two arms and gently led her away from the bed. He had to let her go briefly as another tripper was led in, looking worse than Jay but not as bad as Mike. As soon as he could, he took her hand and brought her out into the evening air.
"I can't bear it, Brendan. It's just too awful. I wish we'd never come here. I want to be back home. Back home with Michael, and Mom and Dad."
He gave her his shoulder to lay her head on and stroked her hair. Her tears were flowing freely.
"Why did you let them, Brendan. You shouldn't have let them."
"Me? Who'd listen to me?"
"Jay listens to you. He likes you. He thinks you're together. And you are."
"Karen, don't worry. They're going to be fine, both of them."
"People do die, Brendan. People have died. Here. It was in the papers. They told me."
"Not from LSD, Karen. Nobody's died from LSD. Not here."
"Take me back to the tent, Brendan. I couldn't listen to any more music."