Apocalypse - 7. Chapter 7: Awakening

“Shit!” We yelled simultaneously. We had no idea where to go, nor what to do, so swearing seemed like a pretty good use of our time while we thought of a plan.

“Hey, doesn't this place have a second floor?” Ashi asked, and thankfully, I realized he was right. As many of these shops cost a lot of money to rent out, the owners generally converted the second floors to their living areas, and I prayed Jerry's was no exception, so we both ran to the far end of the store, searching frantically in the shadows for a door or staircase.

“Ashi! I found it, over here.” I said, turning the rickety brass handle of the door and swinging it open. The staircase went up about three steps and then made a ninety-degree angle to the left, where it continued to climb about twenty more steps. As I reached the top I was greeted by a rather old and drab looking apartment. Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Jerry didn't seem to enjoy the finer things in life, as the main room that the staircase opened up to had dreary almost sea-foam-green carpeting with faded wooden paneling covering the walls (and judging by the peeling at the sides, I assumed it was fake). Against the wall to my right were a few faded light-blue fabric recliners, and in front of them was an old television that, to my surprise, still had antennas. Next to the recliners was a bin of old magazines and dotting the room in various locations where dated gold-colored lamps with pastel-pink shades. The only this this place was missing was about thirty cats and the smell of cigarettes (which I noticed was replaced by the pleasant smell of mildew).

Directly in front of me, a door opened up to the main (and only) bedroom, containing similar furniture and showcasing a fairly rickety queen bed with a steel frame that was slowly shedding its white paint. To my left was the kitchen/dining room, which contained the only windows in the house, but of course the only view was the destruction below, and to my right was the door to a bathroom, which had all the facilities made of the same dated pink color as the lampshades.

I rushed Terku to the bed, and gently placed him down on top of the the light blue comforter. I peeled back his shirt to see the bandage and was pleased to see that there was only a stained brown ring on the bandage (from various fluids seeping out of the.. hole) rather than blood pouring out. I was about to turn around to call Ashi in when he appeared next to me and stared with concern at Terku, who was now fidgeting and sweating immensely on the bed.

“Do you think you can watch him while I go make sure this place is secure?” I asked, looking into his widened eyes. He just simply nodded at me, tipped my hat backwards, kissed me, and then tipped it back. I nodded back and left him to tend to the.. patient.

I made my way down those creaky stairs and into the main store. Looking around at the shelved walls, I didn't see any more doors, other than the one we had come in through, which was already tightly secured. The front had two large panels of thick glass, so I pulled the curtains over them, hoping to deter any predators or looters. I then did a quick tour of the store, this time looking for weapons instead of supplies.

At the end of my hunt I found two revolving pistols and a case of about fifty bullets (these people were old fashioned). The pistols had polished red-ceder handles, giving them a purple undertone, and the steel of the of the shaft and cylinder of the pistol was a charcoal-gray, just a few shades lighter than the swirling sky. As well as the pistols I found a set of two old straight razors locked in a display-box as well. They were an identical set, each handle was five inches long, which a four inch shiny silver (not steel) blade would flip out of. The handles were also made of silver and appeared to be threads interwoven to create filigreed pattern, seeming to be woven as several interlocking vines. Overall, my breath was taken when I saw them, and they seemed to feel.. right.. when I held them in my palms. All I needed to do was quickly shake my hand backwards and the blades would flip out, ready to do my bidding. Pleased with my finds, and realizing I would discover nothing more, I returned to Ashi, who was very surprised when I handed him the revolvers.

“Uh, are you sure?” He looked in amazement as Terku thrashed about in the background.

“Of course, you've got my back anyways, right?” I responded, smiling.

“Well yeah, but.. do you really want to get that close to any attackers, I mean we have two guns..”

My smile widened, “Oh come on, a hat and revolvers would make me look like I belong in a mob or a Western film, but a hat and knives.. well..”

“Jack the Ripper?” He suggested, laughing, and even more so when I stuck my tongue out at him.

“So, how's he doing?” I said motioning to Terku, who had begun to calm down, probably exhausted from all of his thrashing.

“He seems to be in pain, and I think he has a fever.. but I really don't know. I feel so..”

“Helpless,” I finished for him, “I think we just need to get used to that feeling, don't we?” He sighed, but I could tell he agreed.

“Panah? Is he even breathing?” Bringing my attention to Terku, who did looke very still. His face dripped in sweat, and his tanned skin was now a bright red, but I couldn't see any movement in his chest.

“Damn,” was all I could say. “Well, uh, we should check his.. eyes? Right? To see if they're moving?” After a slow, unsure nod from Ashi, I moved closer to Terku, and taking a deep breath (as I've now grown accustomed to doing) and flicked open his eyes. I immediately felt sick to my stomach when I gazed into those once deep brown eyes. Now there seemed to be little brown remaining and I was left to stare into two milky yellow eyes that suddenly flicked in my direction.

“Shit!” I yelled, jumping backwards and tripping over Ashi, sending us both flying to the ground. From our point on the ground, we heard the bed creak and saw Terku.. or whatever it was, sit up. It twitched its head back and forth, and seemed to be smelling the air. Finally it located our scent, and slowly turned its head down to stare at us. Those clouded yellow eyes locked in with Ashi's pristine blue ones and the creature lunged from the bed.

“Move!” I yelled as I jumped up at my former friend and collided with him in midair. We rolled on the ground, each seeming to be searching to grab the others' neck. Unlike my last encounter, this time I ended up on top and stared down into those haunting eyes with my hands clamped firmly on its throat. It snapped its mouth at me several times, attempting to bite at my arms or face or anything that got near, and I could smell decay on its breath, suggesting that Terku had been rotting from the inside-out this entire time. I could feel tears began to seep from my eyes this time, and watched as they slipped off my cheeks, mixing with the blood from my gash, and dropping on the creature's face. One. Two. Three pinkish tears landed on his face and then I heard a gunshot. The creature's eyes went blank and it stopped moving, and after trying just one final time to bite me, I looked away.

I didn't look back though, this time I couldn't. I knew Terku, he was one of my best friends, I just couldn't.. analyze his body like I did the vampire's. I tore a sheet from the bed and laid it over my friend. No longer a creature, but my innocent, fun-loving friend. Then I turned to Ashi, just the two of us now and pulled him into a hug, squeezing each other until we both ran out of energy.

“Let's go in the other room,” I said slowly, trying not to sob too much. I grabbed our backpacks, Ashi's revolver he had dropped, and took Ashi's hand, pulling him into the kitchen and forever closing the bedroom door behind us.

“His suffering is over Ashi, it's a good thing, you know?” I said, holding onto both of his hands, and looking him straight in the eyes.

Ashi paused to take a deep breath, “You really think so?” His words were stuttered. Okay, here comes speech time, I mentally prepared myself.

“Yes, I promise. He does not have to live with a hole in his stomach, thinking of the family he lost; the love for him that was annihilated just a few hours ago. Every hour would have been torture for him, every breath pure agony, but we did what we could do. We kept him comfortable, we let him have a few more hours to live, and we let him spend those hours with us, where he knew he was eternally loved.” As I finished my speech I saw Ashi's eyes begin to dry up. “Ashi, we need to celebrate his life rather than mourn it, we need to live to carry on his memory rather than perish in misery ourselves.”

“I know, I love you Panah.” he said, and smiled. No more tears, no more pain, just an innocent smile with those twinkling blue eyes.

“I love you too. It's just us now, huh?”

“Not quite,” he said nodding towards the window, and turning around I saw one of the most bizarre sights I have ever seen. There was a small Asian girl, perhaps only 5'3 on the street below. She looked as though she were twenty and was dressed and a leather suit with several shiny silver horizontal buckles securing it tight to her body. She wielded a samurai sword, which she expertly swung at everything attempting to attack her, instantly cleaving the creatures in half. She had thick choppy black hair with unnatural purple highlights and wore black tights to complete her uniform. To make things more interesting, she was was about to reach our building and bringing with her about twenty of.. whatever was attacking her.