The Carnage Trilogy (Book 3): Aftermath [Who Will Be Left?]

by Birch, Matthew

  “Thank you...” I breathe unobtrusively, striving my best to relax after my anxious thoughts took over.

  “I don't believe we can trust them though...” Ed remarks sitting up, joining him, we now sit side by side, on the outreaches of our group. “We will be ready for anything...” He whispers, trying not to draw attention to us. He's ready for an inside war. He knows it. We've seen it happen. He's looking at Callum...

  Has he not beaten him enough...?

  “Well, they aren't the most dependable group of people... But we have each other?” Grasping his hand tightly, I give it a squeeze to comfort myself, yet he offers none back and I crack within. Why won't he squeeze my hand back? Does he truly see this group as a lost cause...?

  “Robert and I agreed we will stick to the highway. We're going to find a car and travel south. We need to get to the airport ASAP” Ed speaks his mind; their plans and I reckon just like that we move on.

  “How long will it take us?” I ask, curious as to the presumed arrival date.

  “Three days at the most with true dedication once we find a car big enough for us all. Once we're in the capital, it'll be about four hours...” Ed turns, kissing my cheek before mildly saying below a whisper. “The problem is half the city got bombed... Our route isn't going to be nice...”

  “Wait so how do we know the airport is even intact?” My voice raises, and everyone who was branded looks my way. I see; I notice, I observe. What an interesting, detail... How did they all hear me?

  “Quiet down, anyway, the airport wasn't included in the blast radius. The bomb was perfectly designed to affect the heavily corrupted areas. So a portion of the city on the outskirts will take us straight to the airport. We'll probably end up moving through the underground subways” Ed explains, lying back once more.

  All we can do is go south. North isn't an option with the gas cloud. The boats were never a choice. South, and only south...

  Chapter 8 - Instinct

  Maya

  Several paths travel between Valbury city and the Capital of the resort; normally they are mostly blocked up or covered in military guard posts and blockades. Things spread instantaneously, and the Resort really isn't putting much in our way to stop us. Because of how speedily destructive the initial outbreak was, no one really had a decent amount of time to respond. It is like the closer we get to the capital, the less there is to obstruct us, still; the destruction is still very evident. So many details left unnoticed. Walking for hours, searching for more, time began to feel different. I noticed even more details. So many details.

  Details...

  Little details...

  So intricate, the little details call me...

  It's driving me mad. From things like who smelt better, to my vision being significantly enhanced more than it ever has! I feel like I can hear for miles, and with the simplest of focused thoughts in my brain, I can feel the heartbeats of the people around me. I'm going insane, aren't I? It's like the new trend. Go insane, everyone's doing it, talk about the latest trends in fashion...

  Prying at the hems of my brand new top, I lift it up gradually to reveal the white, tight bandage around my branding. Creaks and cracks form in my skin through the gaps. The branding has spread, like ingrained stretch marks; it fleshes out my skin, the burning sizzling as it spreads. Though I will admit that it is more bearable, to say the least!

  I feel so different...

  It's honestly like, who am I? I don't trust anyone. My mind constantly tells me that no one is worthy of my trust. Enemies are everywhere and anywhere all at once. My senses are mixed into the chemistry pot that threatens to explode. Why am I battling with my own mind for supremacy?

  Stopping at a junction on the motorway, we take to the surrounding land. Sitting underneath a tree near the road, I rest in the shade, the sun burns, I hate it. Who is that? I hear Robert.

  Robert-

  Robert...

  He's blind. Blind in one eye. He went blind! He's weaker, but he's also not...

  Head wrapped up tight, his branding visible outside the original bandage. Like an earthquake across his neck, his skin crackles, being taken by the branding.

  Ed-

  Where is Ed-

  There is Ed...

  He won't admit it, he is the same, his left leg, it is spreading...

  Where is he?!

  WHERE IS HE?!

  Zack-

  Found him. He is horrible. I mean he's doing horribly. I like Zack. Zack is nice. But I don't trust him. Never could trust him. Hunched over, appearing dead, no top, his branding is completely wrapped up; his upper body is quite visible. Exposed, vulnerable, easy target-

  SHUT IT!

  My own mind, stop, please-

  What is this? What is it doing to me-?

  Digging my nails into the spreading branding, I scratch my skin till I see little prickles of blood-

  What is it? I haven't got a clue...

  “Are you okay?” Ed asks me-

  “Are you?” I soften. He's here. I'm safe. I feel in control. I was probably just going stir crazy. Laughing inwardly, I smile widely, watching Ed who stands above me.

  He hums, unsure. “I feel ill, but also perfectly fine at the same time...” Yes, he admits it, he actually acknowledges it! I'm not the only one who is going insane!

  Whistling in response, I say, “I feel the same way”

  “MAYA SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

  Despite our distance, Robert had shot around and screeched at me...

  Was it my whistling? The details! They're back, the details! He holds his hands over his ears. It bothers him. Not anyone. Why not anyone else? Agitated, he's annoyed. Marching in my direction, the fuming, and half-blind, scarred Robert whose hair diminishes with the branding charges in my direction-

  Chris moves in his way. Having removed his armour, the superhuman-like Chris has a bodybuilder’s physique. His form towers over Robert.

  Crying-

  Who’s crying-?

  More details...

  It's Callum, still weeping for the daughter who left before the Carnage even attacked-

  “I'm so sorry Maya; I don't know what came over me...” Robert, peeping his little head over Chris's broad shoulders apologises.

  “It's okay” I grin, waving my hand as if it was nothing.

  Ed growls; teeth bared, like a feral animal-

  DETAILS-

  His teeth are deformed, jagged, uneven, sharper, more pointed like a lion-

  Crisp, clean, white, jaw line is sharper...

  My boyfriend is changing right in front of my eyes, the entirety of the branded are. It's all in the details and my instinct...

  Chapter 9 - Sleep is for the weak

  Maya

  Moonlight, moonlight, moonlight-

  Sitting in the back of a truck, under the moonlight-

  The moonlight-

  Leave me-

  I can't sleep-

  Is it the moonlight, or is it because I don't feel safe. Constantly on the lookout, I feel like my paranoia does a twenty-four seven around the clock double on making sure everyone else can be TRUSTED. I need to be on the lookout. I am not safe. Chris drives, he took over, and he didn't trust the deranged Robert to drive. I don't trust Robert. He screamed at me. His hearing is too heightened. I don't trust it. He hears my heart, my breaths, and my shudders-

  Holly, Steven and Matty all sleep soundly, whilst Ed and I sit here unable to do ANYTHING. Zack, what is he doing? Still in shock, eyes wide and lazy; lolled to the side like a worthless ragdoll. His branding is different, rippling through his torso, spreading onto his front. Under the moonlight-

  In the moonlight-

  The moonlight shows his transformation-

  Eyes turning a dirty orange, hues of red surrounding his optics while the white space in his eyes are flooded with black veins?

  Tap-

  Tap-

  Tap-

  Ed taps, taps, and taps-

  STOP TAPPING-

&nbs
p; I hold his hand, smiling faintly; I want the thoughts to go away. I'm not in control. Please save me-

  His bandage has been shifted, he itches his leg constantly...

  Scratch, scratch, scratch...

  Sticking his clawed fingernails, wait, they're sharp, more prominent, scarier, what is he DOING?! He creates an indent, drawing blood, the hole is seeping. Different colour, different texture. Still blood, not human blood, it heals after, gone in seconds. I say nothing. I can't say anything. I want to, but I can't. I don't feel in control. I don't trust them or myself...

  Eventually, morning comes, and we stop to rest, the shining bright sun enables me to feel even less safe. Everyone is awake. We rest, picking who drives next. Matty thinks he will. Chris won't entrust his position as the driver to any of the branded. Why not the branded? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME! I hear everything, getting accustomed to these news senses is maddening. Sitting under a new tree for shade on this early morning, I loaf, I have to, and I need to. Leafs fall, grass whistles as the breeze sifts through it. Their breathing, their hearts, the insects, the sky-

  I hear EVERYTHING.

  Except, I also feel so attuned to the world and the world is attuned to me. It's all so gorgeous. All I need is the astonishingly marvellous world, not the people around me. I can't trust them.

  WHO IS THAT! Bouncing up, I see Holly. Just Holly. So innocent. So safe. Relax Maya, relax-

  “You and Ed are so cute-” She says, kindly, but she is full of envy-

  “Mind your own business” I mutter, growling at her. I can't trust her.

  “Relax?” Holly holds her hands up, smiling innocently. “I just wanted to ask how you do it.”

  I feel normal. I'm curious. It's a good question that can only be answered by my human mind. I wonder what she means.

  “It's like, despite everything, you continued to have a relationship and love each other. It's amazing in its own right” Holly smiles, truly admiring Ed and me. The two of us, the last females, look out over the group who rest in their own ways. “I do worry though, about Steven...” Holly glances down, she is ashamed. Why? She seeks comfort from me...?

  I brazenly am choosing not to respond.

  “He's always asking about Joseph...” Holly mutters, turning to face me when I don't reply. “You okay?” Eyebrows raised, she fiddles with her hair. Tenderly, her fingers dance through her locks. She is nervous...

  I nod; it is the best she gets.

  “You haven't slept in days-” Holly says - I gnarl. Taken aback, now she hears it, sees it, she must know I am not to be messed with! “You need to rest, I think?” Giving up, she moves away. “I'll leave you to it...” She mumbles, afraid of me as she should be.

  She walks on down the hill to Chris who teaches Matty sign language with the easily angered Robert who lashes out every time Matty makes an honest mistake. I feel terrible. I pushed her away. She's perfectly fine. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? I MEAN ME. UGH-

  Holly whispers something to Matty, her expression different, I don't know why. I don't trust it. Though, this time I cannot hear them, too many other intruding sounds. Matty nods confidently, unsure, his eyes on me, as are mine on him.

  Sleep is for the weak, they sleep, and I don't.

  Chapter 10 - Not you again

  Maya

  Four hours till the passing

  The empty open street harnesses an abandoned road and even barrener buildings. No dirt or debris, in fact, we find the piles of dust that are transported in the wind. We shield our faces and our eyes, moving against the onset of the still-recovering city. The bomb that set off the chain of events to get this far, despite our distance being on other adjoining ends of the city is still relatively close. I never saw the wreckage of the city, but personally, I don't want to know.

  “She is anti-social-” Holly speaks, her term of referring to a female has grasped my short-tempered attention. She means me. They all do. I listen closely, overhearing from a distance. “Also her eyes are weird?” How dare she say that about me?

  I won't pay her any mind. We got this far. They aren't worth it no matter how much I hate them all. The car broke down, days came and gone, and now we are here, treading through the capital city that once hosted so much life. It's a sad sight; to be walking through this city is to be walking a nightmare, a place where all human life, has failed.

  “Zack is the same... Plus their branding has gotten much, much worse...” Matty, his accent is thick, yet I see right through it. What is he trying to say about us? Openly turning back, I face the small group of unbranded humans. They all see me and go silent. Chris makes a hand gesture, and with that, like a signal they had all agreed upon without my knowledge, they all face Robert. He's bald; both eyes have gone blind, however, it doesn't stop him treading through the city. He nevertheless holds the direction, his senses are so much better harmonised than ours that he presently scours the world using each sound he can catch to guide him on his way. It's ridiculous. Though, he does it. I wish I was that at peace with the world, although I don't want to be blind or bald either-

  “Four hours” Robert calls out.

  “Till?” Ed responds.

  “Till the airport-” Robert has to duck down, getting dust in his mouth as the wind flings it at us-

  In a monotone, the droning voice speaks out from above, pebbles from the rooftops fall gracefully, his weight crushing the concrete roof downwards, its foundations and steel crumbling. Resting so fraternally, he views us all, indifferently, he elevates his viscid, bulking hand before waving impassively at us as if we were friends who had known each other for years. “Hello again!” He calls out.

  Our formation is put in place, weapons ready, we prepare. If we have to fight, we will!

  “Only one shall survive!” He adds on next, a mischievous smile on his face?

  What does he-

  Spinning on my heel, I honestly groan in stress when I see the dense gas cloud coming our way. So, how do we escape this then, huh? How do we battle a moving mist of death? What possible plan are we gonna come up with now? We need to move underground. The immensely dense gas cloud can't follow us there surely?

  “We need to go!” I yell, dashing forward, my legs feeling stronger and healthier than they ever have?

  “No shit Sherlock!” Matty insults me mockingly, the entire group breaking out into a run now.

  A drainpipe, Robert is one step ahead, thrusting his fingers into the sides of the pipes lid, and ripping it off with ease. In a single, perfect spin and throw, he chucks it at the Carnage?! How did he do that...? The unbranded see this, they judge this...

  The Carnage does nothing as it hits him and bounces off back to the ground. Growling, Robert turns, hopping down the drain pipe without using the ladder. Next are Chris and Matty, the two men climbing down hastily.

  “Maya-” Ed gasps, coming to a halt. I freeze, wondering why he stopped. Looking back, we see Holly struggle some distance behind us to get Steven to follow. He's sceptical, he thinks Joseph is nearby. He's misled! Fully healed, the Carnage hits the ground, and in one swift movement, with the shaking of the earth, he sprints frighteningly fast right at us?!

  This is a split choice moment, isn't it?

  The entire time, the buildings shake, the ground wobbles, the concrete and earth that is thrown up around him with every footstep is astounding-

  Pushing Ed forward, I direct him to the drain that Callum is in the middle of climbing down. Ed nods, “I'll wait for you!”

  “IM COMING!” In a sing-song voice, is the Carnage who’s playing games with us now, what is happening-?

  Sprinting back, my legs break new speeds, I feel so fast, I love it, and the gas cloud is nearer. I reach the two squabbling humans.

  “Where is Joseph?” Steven asks me, eventually getting violent for the first time?! “Where is my Pa?!” Steven begs. I haven't got time for this. Smacking Steven away, I grab his puny skull and force him to watch the gas cloud.

  “He's fucking dead and if yo
u don't hurry up you will be too!” I scream into his ear as the rumblings of the storm are approaching rapidly! I release him, the three of us finally accosting the drain pipe. Ed's head is peeping out the top. Nodding at him, our connection is shared, and it feels like we are in sync as he drops down into the depths of the cities underground.