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

by Birch, Matthew

  “WHERE IS HE?!” Steven lashes out; smacks Holly away, and clutches me-

  I can't be bothered with this. Lifting Steven up by his top, I man handle the big baby into the hole, more or less dropping him so Ed can catch him. Good riddance if he hurt himself. Holly struggles to recover; her eye plastered a swelling red from his inhumane hit. His mind may be that of a kid, but his body is still that of a man.

  “Come on Holly, please-” I urge as I climb into the hole. The gas cloud is right on top of us! Dropping down half-way, I hold on tight, watching above as Holly barely begins. She shrieks, freezing up when she is just about to start her descent-

  “HOLLY!”

  Like lightning, the Carnage's hand swoops down, seizing her body and tearing her straight back out the hole as he hurtles by, and with her dying scream, we know she is gone.

  Holly...

  Dropping down, I land on the floor of the empty sewer. We are down another member. I-

  I don't know how to feel...

  Matty, feeling more alone than ever, exchanges nervous glances with Chris. Rubbing his head from the fall, Steven, now placid as he rests on top of Ed, merely says, “Where's Holly?”

  “What do we do?!” Callum shouts, I honestly forgot he was here. He's been so silent. How could I forget? I trust him the least. He is the most dangerous. Always ready to snap.

  “We are moving south” Ed gets up in his face.

  Robert intervenes, “I'll kill you in seconds you piece of shit-” Robert snarls, his sharp vampire-like teeth bared-

  “STOP IT ALL OF YOU!” Matty breaks us from our trances. I wasn't even sure what was happening. None of that made any logical sense. We all listen, and at this moment, I get a good look at what we are becoming. I feel like an animal, no control, always being driven by an instinct I can't explain. It is there, so strange, so real, I feel like a cautious tiger.

  Ed's eyes are different, his jaw line and teeth have deformed, his branding spreads. Bit by bit, Ed changes, we all do. Except, for Matty, and Chris, who are forced to heave the sobbing Steven away from us, the weeping man won't stop talking about Holly now...

  “All we need to do is travel through the sewers to the airport. It shouldn't take long. Should be simple as well, just keep going south and we should be fine” So uncertain, Matty doesn't really look like he knows what he is talking about.

  It will take four hours to get to the airport. This fourth hour has already seen Holly's death, which person is next?

  Chapter 11 - Time Cut Short

  Maya

  Three hours left till the passing

  Hating to admit this, but I have to say, it is fun down here. Far beneath the streets, where the air is thin, and the temperature freezes us to the bone, our guessing game of where we are going continues to be an endearing struggle for us all. The sewers, thank god, are more or less empty, having been drained out, or rotted away, regardless; the smell is decent enough.

  As we walk, the talking stops, the clock goes tick tock, three hours till the airport. What a fun rhyme. I really am enjoying this! I'm having a blast; in fact, my favourite game above them all is guessing whose about to fall!

  Yes, I suppose you could say that rolled off the tongue quite finely? Well, this game is called, emotions! Yes, sounds, interesting, I hope. Matty and Chris were never branded, and this makes them different, no? My heightened senses see a game, where I predict the two men's impotent actions.

  So far, I have detected the one detail that shines above all else - nervousness. It's a subtle thing, but it shows through the cracks they try to feign. They are nervous, I want to learn why. However, the game is not the point of why; it is just to know the signs. Details, details, details. Momentarily, a bead of sweat drops from Matty's creased forehead, he doesn't try to stop it, for he thinks no one knows it. I see it, I perceive it, and I watch it. Falling, falling, plop! It hits the ground. I hear it, see it, and watch it. I know, sweating in a cold environment, it is a sign of nervousness. He's anxious, sweating more now.

  Chris, not sweating, but equally nervous shows his signs in different ways, more cautious than nervous, he proves to be tricky. The deaf man, without his hearing, thus making him vulnerable, glances back so often it ruins my game! Pouting, I feel my eyes move without thought when he glances back again, and he meets my eye. We share a look, only for him to stop glimpsing back, and focus on ahead. Why won't he meet my eye? Is it because he is hiding something... My senses see, hear, feel, taste, I know, I just, know...

  Ah, again, when they feel on edge - when they are the closest to losing this game, their heart rate increases. Now, this is where I get obscenely lost because they fight back against the game. They ignore EVERYTHING. No sweating, glancing, nervousness, hushed chatter that we struggle to hear because of their deceiving whispers. Humans are strange things, aren't they?

  Handling it, they overcome their worry, relaxing profusely enough to begin the next round of the game. Grinning, I click my neck, looking forward to seeing how long it takes them to break again. Matty does need to stop sweating though; the smell is just out of this fucking world.

  I do this game because I don't trust the actions, thoughts, and subconscious signs of the men who have been sceptical of us since the port town. They have treated us indifferently, and they show no signs of improvement. I hear what they say, what they think and what they... Feel...

  “Where is Holly?”

  Now, the game is honestly beyond repair.

  “Is she okay, you know, Holly?”

  And, it goes even deeper into the rabbit hole of shit.

  “Where is Holly-?”

  Sighing, I feel broken from my thoughts when I am overpowered to sympathise and lie to a lesser human. His feeble, intermittent mind is an annoying burden and I just wish it'd stop. “Just sleeping darling,” I say, patting his back. His face sours like he has just bitten a lemon for the first time. I hope my facade of just three words is plenty to prolong him enough for my games to continue.

  “I miss sleep” Steven, head high all of a sudden, says something that he has never said before. What I mean by that, is that he is actually about to, converse. It's rather scary; I don't know how to approach him. His type, personality, the way of speaking, what is it? I cannot adapt to what I do not know.

  “And why do you miss sleep?” I baby him, voice light, pacifying, as if talking down to a delinquent child. Steven bites his lip, eyeing me up guardedly. Up ahead, I overhear the hearts race again, Matty and Chris are confounded by this. Why are they concerned? Is it because Steven is the only other unbranded?

  “Don't treat me like a kid” Steven snarls, and for the first time, this proper manly attitude comes through and I see the real him. I have no problem with it, I expect it of him. How long till he returns to his normal state? “Sorry, anyway, it is because it is my only way of escape...” Steven glowers, admitting something personal. Looking to Ed, I wonder what to do? A human should be dealing with this, not me-

  Wait, no, sorry, I am human.

  “I'm sorry to hear that...” I rub his back again and watch as Steven stalls, moreover, I see as he closes his eyes, that his mind is doing another mental reset. His vision probably is going black, whirling unto he recognises nothing, only to open them like he does seconds later where he looks around in an honest confusion. Callum walks by, grabbing Steven and handling him for me.

  Brooding, I watch as Steven more or less drags himself along. He's truly got nothing, not even a mind. He isn't broken. He hasn't fought. He has suffered through this as well. The worst part is, he never remembers long enough to understand the pain. At least we remember, at least we...

  At least we remember the pain...

  “Hey, guys, can I say something?” Robert with a calm tone of voice stops Matty and Chris in their tracks. Both men stiffen, heart, beating tremendously. Details, details, details...

  “Yeah?” Matty replies tentatively.

  Robert sees this and sinks for a moment. “I'm sorry
for the way I've been acting. I don't know what has come over me recently. I really have no idea what is happening to me...” Bitter, not even Robert understands what is going on anymore. We can't help that we were branded. We don't understand this any more than they do! Robert has lost his sight, his vision as a man, his duty as a soldier, but most of all, control of his own mind. He bounces back, recovering best he can to apologise. Bless his soul for trying. Matty, Chris; they accept it, welcoming him back, and they at last, win our game when they release all their pent-up tension by checking how Robert's doing. Holly's death has us all thinking differently.

  Callum, letting Steven walk freely, carefully edges his walking pattern. His change of pace and direction has caught my attention. A man with a plan, he's got an agenda, a reason-

  Details, details, DETAILS-

  Ed and Callum walk side, by side, and it horrifies me more than anything. Seeing two bombs so close to one another, the resulting reaction getting them to blow up, believe it or not, is each other.

  At one point, they held an admirable respect for one another, so what is going on right now? Was it Joey's death, the Ryan incident, or their pride that was their fall? Ugh, at least they are maybe more in control. Actually, no, I don't think so. I never feel like I am truly in control, like my actions are under an influence that grants me the illusion of free will. My strings pull at me, guiding me.

  “We have found a control room, is it worth checking?” Robert says before anyone else even realises there is one. In fact, it is another good forty seconds before we are walking past a nice room that connects to the surface. Matty and Chris share an impressed look, Robert has done well with detecting it. How he did, I'll never know. Open, free, and easy to access, we find everything we need to. A map is plastered to the wall, finally giving us an idea of where we are at. Matty and Chris overlook it first, being the first in, and the first out, because the rest of us stay on the outside. They seemed eager to learn the route, so be it.

  Sitting on the floor, I decided that, to battle, whatever illness is corrupting my mind, I need to meditate. I know, sounds silly, but it is one way I overcame any future nightmares working in the air force gave me.

  Minding my own business, I unblock my mind, setting myself free long enough to enter a new game. This time, the tension I sense hits faster than I expected. The air changes around us, I hear it, smell it, and taste it. The emotions, they are back, Callum is weeping again. For God sake, what is it now! Oh, yeah, his daughter, his brother, his son, his wife?

  “Callum, please just shut up already”

  Watching, one step ahead, I guess every reaction, every movement. But it doesn't go as planned. I expect a fight, not a reunion?

  “Little voice is gone...” Callum whispers, wiping the tears from his deformed different coloured eyes.

  Ed kneels down, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We are all going through problems, the best thing we can do is be there for each other”

  Callum smiles, Ed grins, both men beaming, they sit down together and share a hug?! This is so confusing.

  Footsteps-

  Matty and Chris leave the room. “We're not far from where we need to be. There is an underground train system that will take us directly to the airport!” Giddy, ready, Matty announces the news!

  They are, shifty...

  Holly's death has unnerved us all. It brought out what made us human - remorse, sympathy, and guilt for those who have already passed. Everyone has lost someone, and we hold onto the memories of those who have passed because it is what will keep us human.

  If we cannot retain our humanity, we shall lose it, lest we become hollow shells...

  Chapter 12 - Desperate times

  Maya

  Two hours till the passing

  Pushing down, the toxic death above us struggles to move into the abstruse, cryptic underground. Either the Carnage is manipulating it, or it genuinely can't propel downwards. Regardless, my lungs heave with every breath. So thin, so light, the oxygen is sparingly used. Floating carelessly around the various metal grated air vents, including the various entrances, the wall of gas sits there. So far, we are still unable to determine whether little pockets of air are seeping through it, or if our time is running out down here. Either way, we hoist ourselves up, our rest times increasing as we steadily grow more tired into exhaustion. My body feels apathetic; I don't know how to handle this. My senses indeed begin to numb, for the first time, I appear worn. Our progress is being stunted, and the oxygen is potentially vanishing.

  Our time in the sewers is no more when we find a connected section that actually leads up to the railways. It takes us closer to the surface, and we are all hesitant about whether or not it is safe. We did wait around for some time, taking one paramount obligatory rest before the group vote was held.

  Everyone wanted to go up there. Not one person decided against it. I believe, it is because we see no way back. We've come too far; there is no going back, not even if we wanted to.

  “You alright?” Breathless, Ed pulls me close, his inhumane features scanning my own. I never once considered how I myself look. Maybe I am changing. Perhaps I am different. I don't understand-

  “Yes...” Relaxing into him, I let my body be free, flexible so that I may use him for support. He grunts, regarding my weight as his own.

  “You guys coming?” Up above, a somewhat neurotic looking Callum calls out, and we are divided from our moment.

  Why is he suddenly so bothered? What could have changed from being down here, to up there? The group move post-haste, everyone racing up the ladder to escape this intoxicating prison. Now, out in the railway, we make our move, trampling through its void. The whole time, Ed and I realise what is plaguing everyone. Now, we are closer to the surface, all the noise is more self-evident. The Carnage cruises right overhead, his footsteps keeping perfect pace with ours. Exactly in time with our group, he knows our every move, having stayed with us the entire time...

  Whatever hole we emerge from, he'll be there, won't he?

  Standing on the train platform, we peer over the edge, figuring out which way to go.

  “South?” Matty narrates. No one replies.

  Hopping down, Matty takes the lead, Chris fastening his pace to keep up with him. They stay eerily close. I don't like it. Details...

  We follow, skipping down onto the tracks, and advancing through the dark, ominous tunnel. It reeks of bad omens and death. What is going to happen? Why do I feel so sick, so afraid...?

  Ed takes my hand, giving it a squeeze. He's there for me. He knows my feelings. The entirety of the branded does. Am I a weak link? Seeing everything, saying nothing, should I be doing more?

  “When we get there, we need a plan, and we need it now!” Matty shouts, doing full three sixty turns on the spot as he walks, his head turned upwards at the cracking ceiling, those supporting structures bend, combating the pressure of the Carnage who is right overhead. His footsteps rumble through the ground as if a notification from the earth is telling us to escape.

  “We could fight?” Callum requests politely.

  “Nah, we're gonna have to make a straight run for the nearest plane!” Matty calls out again, eyes forward once more, his hands linger. His form is different like his stature isn't the same. Not in his pockets, not nervous, exceedingly ready for something. Details...

  “And if there isn't?” Robert, the branded fool tries his toughest to follow his wavering humanity; keeping it intact. All of us branded are. I-

  I think I understand. It's difficult, but sometimes I feel like I see everything from the back of my mind. This is happening, we aren't branded, and we’re something else. I've become anti-social; I don't remember the last time I properly spoke with someone other than my morose boyfriend. I never sleep, yet always awake. Like an animal, hiding from its predator, I am on constantly on the look about for the whereabouts of death.

  Not death itself, my own demise.

  “No, no, no...” Callum mutters-


  I spin, facing him, watching his twisted features. The monster within has something to say. He disagrees. He doesn't like it. He wants to be on top and in control. He knows it. “No, no, NO!” He screams, tears falling from his eyes. Crushed closed, his eyelids wrinkling as he protects the innocent tears from slipping. He's crying, is it grief? He can't show any other emotion. He is in this state of guilt. He no longer sleeps, his body is different, and he’s different. Something is not human within him.

  “We have to fight, we have to!” Callum screeches, and now the group are halted, and with our stop, the Carnage stops too.

  “Can you fucking shut it for five MINUTES?” Ed, almost vampire-like, with his sharp teeth, and the eyes that glow orange with the black veins, his body rapidly changing as he takes on a new form entirely. He’s still human, but not right... Like he is diseased?