Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers and to Lisa Fox for the photo, whose efforts may be found here.
Less Scenic
Centuries cascaded over them like a wave decaying the shore, until Mike’s bike drops to the dusty earth.
“I-I-I,” he stammers as he looks over to Shannon, tears freely flowing down her cheeks.
She shakes her head while pressing an open hand against her lips as if she were trying to hold back an escaping army that was attempting to find freedom from somewhere within her.
He smiles softly and nods his head in understanding as several more ripples wash over him, she gasps in horror and shields her eyes as he falls forward onto the bikes decaying frame, motionless.
Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers and to Ted Strutz for the photo, whose efforts may be found here.
In My Arms
“T-There was moments d-during all this t-t-that I truly thought I-I-I’d m-make it back. I r-risked everything and anything, b-b-but…” he stammers as he looks towards the ground in awkward fashion.
She grips his hands tightly and squeezes them. “But you did, you did make it back.” she says as tears cascade down her cheeks.
He smiles faintly, “I-I-I did, did…” he says as he falls helplessly into her arms. Her eyes widen with terror as his flesh dissolves away until she is left cradling that remains of the man she loved, and her tears splash against the cold metal.
The smile widens on her face, and her eyes glisten brightly as she slowly glides around the room bathed in its neon glow. “A tool is only as good as the user who uses it, and you have been used poorly Duncan. NOW stop your games and face me without this pathetic shell! Face ME like someone proud of their heritage, and not hiding in a snivelling animal that is about to DIE!”
His face twists, and his teeth are bared in aggressive fashion. “I AM NO SNIVELLING ANIMAL WENCH, I WILL BE YOUR UNDOING!”
He smiles broadly, “That’s the fucking amazing thing about this lady, she’s as cunning as she is beautiful. One of the fundamental baseline traits of the infection is the overarching confidence it gives to the brain by convincing it into thinking it is really in control, when it’s not. By allowing it to believe what it is doing is reversible, the brain gets cocky and plays right into her hands.”
“You make it sound like it’s actually living breathing with a mind of its own.”
“BECAUSE YOU’RE A LYING SACK OF SHIT! BECAUSE YOU’RE PLAYING THE SAME GAME YOU’VE ALWAYS PLAYED. TAKE YOUR PICK! ANY AND ALL! BUT IN THE END, LIKE ALWAYS, I WILL PREVAIL!”
“Y-Y-You’re the one lying now b-brother. Y-You know I-I’m telling the truth, yo-you just d-don’t want to admit it. Y-Your shame blinds you from it all.”
Steven pulls him closer, until their noses are almost touching. “I’M NOT YOUR FUCKING BROTHER! WE, YOU AND ME, HAVE NOTHING BINDING US! THE BLOOD THAT PUMPS THROUGH MY VEINS IS NOT THE SAME THAT PUMPS THROUGH THE CESSPOOL YOU CALL A HEART!”
“The truth isn’t what I want, that would be too easy. I want your lies. I want your deceptions. I want more reasons to kill every single one of you.” he barks like a caged animal, his eyes searching his foes with disruptive focus, coming to a stop on Anne, then the smile swims back across his lips. “Tell me woman, what glories do the children of lesser fruit bring to you? What wondrous tales have they brought upon this ocean of a world? Tell me your lies of proudness and know that you will live to lie another day?”
“Straight to the point aren’t we? Don’t you want to mince your words through several hours of small talk before you get to the bitter reality of it all as you admit your undying love for me and everything I stand for.”
He thrusts a shaking finger towards her and snarls. “DON’T TRY AND CHANGE THE CONVERSATION! I KNOW WHAT I SAW, AND I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO DO!”
She smiles nervously, and blinks erratically while her tongue flicks out and wets her lips, allowing them to glisten in the cool light. “What is it I’m trying to do?”
He looks over to Wright as his smile loses shape and twists itself into a maniacal grin. “It’s not that I won’t, it’s that I don’t want to, for you are not worthy to ride by my side, and quite simply,” he hisses through clenched teeth as he turns back to Samantha. “I don’t like you.”
She laughs loudly and crosses her arm across her heaving breasts as her lips curl. “First you want to fuck me, then you want to recruit me, and now you want me to go away,” she says as she thumps the desk powerfully again.
“For A to equal E you must first work out what B, C and D equal.”
“T-That doesn’t make sense, how can A and E equal the same thing? And why does it matter about the numbers in-between? Y-You’re only defining a letter to represent a number, not all letters.”
He rolls his head across his shoulders and tilts it to the others side. “Mathematics is a how and a why in one massive ball of quasi-truths. But if you want me to show you the equation, I will gladly provide you with every accountable manoeuvre made in my equations.”
“W-Why? Wh-Why did you betray me? W-W-Why did you ki-k-k-kill me?”
A tear runs down his cheek quickly, as he eyes explode like a volcano spewing hot lava. “Y-Y-You can’t understand, y…”
“WHY!” the computer barks loudly. “WHY CAN’T I UNDERSTAND?”
Daryl looks away and bites down upon his bottom lip. “B-B-Becaus…”
“BECAUSE I’M A COMPUTER! IS THAT WHY! IS THAT WHY I WON’T UNDERSTAND?”
The bite on his lip intensifies, and he winces in pain as a stream of red cascades down his chin. “Y-Y-Y-Yes, OKAY! Because you’re not real, you’re not aliv…”
“I DON’T SEE HOW ANY OF THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE! I’VE SAT HERE LISTENING TO YOU TALK FOR WHAT FEELS LIKE DAYS, AND I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY! SO WHY DON’T YOU JUST SAY IT AND BE DONE WITH ALL THESE GAMES!” he spits venomously, each word dripped in the meat that covers his ever-weakening bones.
The gale blows violently once more, sending him careening across the room and into the buildings side. But he does not stop there, instead he plummets through the plaster boards and out into the blackness that awaits outside.
“TOYING WITH YOU! TOYING WITH YOU!” he bellows whilst his laughter erupts to hysterical levels. “MY DEAR CHILD, I TOY WITH NO ONE! IT IS YOU WHO HAS BEEN TOYING ME WITH! YOU SEEKED ME OUT! YOU WANTED MY GIFT! AND THEN WHEN THE PRICE WAS PAID YOU TURN INTO AN UNGRATEFUL CHILD! PICK A LANE AND DRIVE WOMAN!”
Without a word of warning she thrusts a left and right jab into the side of Kevin, then rises her left leg and brings it down like a guillotine onto his head, thrusting him to the ground in a forced heap.
She smiles nervously while her brothers laugh, “What makes you think you could ever convince me to give you MY empire?”
“Because it ain’t just yours, it’s all of yours, every single one of you snivelling FUCKS!” he says as he gestures towards the six of them with his hammer while a smile cascades across his moustached covered lips. “And I’ll keep working my way through you all until someone either gives it up, or everyone falls beneath me and my hammer.”
“CAN YOUR FUCKING HAMMER STOP A BULLET?” Heath cries as he pulls his revolver out from its holster.
The smile disappears from his lips, and he stares at her blankly, before leaning back in his chair and stuffing a half-smoked cigarette in his mouth. “You think this is a joke?” he asks as he drags a match along the side of its box which brings the flame to life. He stares at her with unwaveringly disgust while the matches flame licks the burnt end of the cigarette like a hungry child.
“I-I-I,” she swallows an uneasy mouthful of air that feels like churning cement, forcing her to cough and splutter with a desperation savoured for more desperate times.
“I’m s-s-sorry,” she sobs, as she cups his face in her palm. “Every fault and misstep we take endangers ourselves and all those who rely on us to return with supplies, you have sentenced one or both of us to death. I will not bring this darkness home, so make your choice, and make it before the time past time is done.”
“I-I-I, I can’t do it, I can’t leave you here to die. There MUST be another way!”
She smiles softly and pinches his cheek with the reassurance of a grandparent. “I am fine with what must be done
William raises an eyebrow with intense curiosity. “Hazar! Then it’s decided, isn’t it!” he says with uncontrollable excitement as he slaps his hands together powerfully with thunderous bravado. “You have arrived at my feet not to be part of my story, but because I am an integral part of yours,” he says with a broad smile, as he pulls a key from his pocket and holds it out towards Darren.
“W-What’s that?” he asks nervously.
“WHY IT’S A KEY!” William says proudly as he grabs Darren’s and slaps the key into his palm and tightly closes his hand back up.
