Days Gone By

In another part of town, at another point in time, 23 year-old Gerard exited The World’s End, locking the large double doors behind him and began the short trek home to his apartment. Across the street from him two men were huddled around a third. Gerard felt a wave of fear surge through him, but continued to walk instead of ducking back into a nearby store. He felt sure that if he kept walking they would not bother him.

"Hey, Bill, we’re here jus' like ah said!" said a short fat man wearing a beanie, permanent grin, and a tee-shirt that left the majority of his flabby gut exposed for all to see. He gestured to his companion, who in comparison was stick-thin, wearing a cheap denim jacket with the arms ripped off, sporting a thin moustache and smouldering cigarette. "Wait till ya see what Vinnie's got, Bill!" The thin man with the moustache handed him a gun. The name Vinnie suited him well, for his scarred facial features and thick Italian accent. "Thirty-eight not traceable" he said. "Nice huh, Bill!" the fat man with the permanent chubby grin said, checking the weapon over. It was certainly better than the usual cheap shit Vinnie tried to push on him. Bill said nothing. As he studied the weapon, the dim grey light of the moon illuminated a shape. A man was cautiously watching them as he walked down the street. “Get rid of him, I don’t want any witnesses” Bill growled, handing the gun back to Vinnie and slipped into an alley.

The two men exchanged a twisted smile before running after the man. Gerard saw the men coming after and quickly ran. His heart thudded in his chest and he ran through the streets, dodging oncoming cars and people on the pavement as he desperately tried to escape these men. His legs were carrying him as fast as they could, but even if he were an Olympic sprinter he wouldn't have been able to save his life now. He stepped into an alleyway, rain beginning to pour down from the heavens as if on cue, perhaps a last, desperate, futile attempt to wash the sin from the city. Gerard reached the end of the ally but found himself staring helplessly at a dead end. He spun round, a terrified look in his eye as he watch the two men slowly advance towards him. “Let me go, I swear I didn’t see anything”.

But Vinnie didn’t fire options. He fired bullets.

A bullet overtook his words and tore a ragged, bloody wound in Gerard’s chest.
There was a loud crack as his skull impacted against the sidewalk.
Gerard spluttered, dying in the street as the world around him faded to black.

*****
Six Weeks Later

Gerard’s eyes fluttered open.

He lay in the cold hospital bed, surrounded by a flickering light and a wet, fetid smell. He felt the emptiness. It surrounded him, and it was inside him. He felt it invade him, felt it flow through his veins like cold, black blood. It made him feel both weak, and unnaturally strong. Instinctively, he lifted his arms; pain tore through them as his muscles screamed back to life. For a second all he knew was the pain. The pain was everything. It obliterated the emptiness momentarily, and it felt as if it would obliterate him also.

Then it all stopped.

He slowly sat up, hauling himself out bed before falling to the floor; the pain quickly returning. His head slammed against the plastic hospital floor beneath him. He had never known pain like it before. “Nurse…" he tried to speak, but found his vocal cords barely responding. "Nurse…" his voice hoarse as he struggled to move. He listened out for help, the pain easing as he slowly realised that nobody was coming. He scrambled to his feet, wincing at the pain as he stood. Wrapping his arms tightly around his torso, Gerard limped over to the door, tugging on the handle only to find it was locked. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?” He called out, running a hand through his black, matted hair as he began to worry. What the hell was going on here?

He banged his fist against the door, staring hopelessly at the door when he noticed something glinting in the light. He bent down and picked up a silver key that was right beside the door; quickly jamming it into the lock and pulled the door open. He pushed aside the bed which was barricading the room and stepped out into the corridor. The hospital was a wreck. Lights flickered on and off above him, occasionally plunging him into darkness as he began to walk down the corridor. Bullet holes were scattered around the hall with blood tarnishing the white washed walls. What the hell happened here he thought as he looked horrified around the hospital.

The corridor came to an end and Gerard found himself standing at a cross road. He shivered in his hospital gown as he turned left, heading down yet another derelict corridor of the ward. A putrid smell suddenly overcame the corridor, sending him into a coughing fit as he struggled to breathe. Gerard looked up and found him staring at two double doors, heavily chained shut. Words painted in black screamed out to him, sending a chill down his spine.

DONT OPEN DEAD INSIDE

He slowly backed away, listening as something broke the silence. Moaning. Scratching. The double doors opened slightly and grey, decaying hands reached through the cracks; the smell of death wafting out of the door. The doors creaked on their hinges as the moaning became louder; more hands forcing their way out of them. Gerard broke his gaze, staggering back in horror. He moved quickly in the opposite direction, stumbling toward a fire exit at the far end of the corridor. Fear coursed through his veins as he pushed the door open, slamming it shut behind him as he heard the double doors finally give way and something came crawling out.

*****
The rain pounds, he walks alone on the cold, cold earth. His eyes wide open and staring as he saw the devastation that surrounded him. Abandoned and overturned cars filled the streets, a stray dog quickly ran from one side of the street to the next, not daring to look back. He made his way home, silently praying that they would be there.

Gerard limped into Honey Close, a thin smile of relief spread across his face as he quickly made his way towards his house. The car was still there. Maybe they hadn’t left. Maybe that had made it through whatever hell had arrived this past few weeks. He reached down for the doormat, looking underneath for the spare key but found it to be missing. Gerard glanced up at the door puzzled, knocking gently but found the front door to be unlocked and open. “Hello?” He called out, walking inside. He was met with an eerie silence. His eyes grew wide with terror as he began to stagger around the house, searching for them. “Lindsey? Mikey? Where are you” He shouted, tears trailing down his eyes as his worst fears were confirmed. He was alone.

*****
He sat cross-legged and hunched on the bare floorboards of the garden porch. The hedges that once cut off the outside world from their home had been cut away, revealing the rows of houses that made up their neighbourhood. Gerard sighed, wiping away a stray tear as he struggled to hold himself together. The rain had finally stopped and the sunlight flooded down from the sky, warming his skin. “Where are you guys?” He said sadly, sniffing as he forced himself to hold back the tears. He couldn’t lose it, not now.

In the distance, a man limped outside one of the houses and onto the street. Gerard’s eyes locked on the main, craning his neck up to try and see who it was. He lifted his hand, waving at the man who had failed to notice him. “Hey” he called out, a glimmer of hope in his voice as the man began to walk towards him. A smile crept onto his face as he scrambled to his feet, glad that he had finally found someone who could explain to him what had happened.

Suddenly another man ran out from the cluster of cars in the street and shot the man in the head. Gerard watch in horror as the man fell to the floor, blood pouring from his head as he lay dead in the street; unaware of the two men that were slowly creeping up behind him.

Notes

Second chapter- sorry its so long! x
You'll never guess who the two men are...

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