Transgression (Prequel #1)

20 - Carry On

The chills spread like a burning virus.

Keeping the gun tightly bound between his fingers, he lowered it to the ground and experienced the drain take effect. A searing sting from elbow to wrist tugged at his split mind while he fought for a full lung. Unresponsive at first, his eyes traced over all that lay out before him while his ears kept track of the strange warbling.

Ira's body lay on its side; mouth drooped, and eyes crossed. The nightmarish purple glow had been snuffed, leaving only black vacant spheres to haunt him. From the impact of every bullet, his own blood had been spattered up onto his face and in his hair; clumping the messy strands. The pool that spread beneath his neck and chest had stopped expanding; growing darker with every passing second.

Just beyond the kid was a sight that shocked his system back into motion. Without his say, a step forward was taken. Feeling the tension in his ankles, he wobbled in place and raised his shoulders for balance. TJ lie flat on his back, staring up at the sky with one eye fallen to the side and the other still attached to Ira's nail.

A seizure in Alex's chest caused him to writhe, and vomit onto the ground. Groaning loudly, he kept his composure and continued to drool and spit into the fresh pile of sick. Whole body surging with violent tremors, he wiped his face and felt the tears start to pile up. The reality of the situation caught up with him; ramping up his heart to absurd speeds and causing him to hyperventilate.

Moving forward, stepping over the bloody corpse of the devil, he dropped to his knees beside his friend. Heavy emotion overflowed, and he wept for the loss of his friend.

"Thomas. . . I'm sorry. Kid, you didn't deserve any of this." He blubbered.

Two dead bodies and a gun with his prints all over it. Reality crashed down all around him; he was trapped.

"What am I supposed to do?" He choked; the rage introduced again.

A strange pulse wobbled through the air; slapping against his head with curious energy. Lifting his chin, he looked down the empty street and witnessed heat waves scattered in a tight dome around them. These waves shook and faded; then came another pulse. This second wave clearly distinguished that bubble Ira had mentioned. A white dome just visible enough surged with electricity before dimming down to nothing.

Slowly getting up onto his feet, Alex cautiously slid the barrel of the gun down the front of his pants; looking in all directions with an open mouth and investigative eyes. His ears suddenly popped and began to ring; the clarity in the air was ten times more apparent than before. With the disappearance of that dome, came the familiar sounds of street traffic in the near distance.

Understanding that this meant life would soon return to this area, he knew he had to escape. Glaring at the corpse of his friend with an angry expression of regret and loss; he tightened his belt to secure the gun and started searching for an exit. Lips pressed tight, he clasped his wounded arm in the other and tried to control his thoughts.

"Goodbye." He whispered.

Alex started a tired sprint back in the direction they came from. All the pain he felt rushed to the surface; increasing the difficulty of this daring sprint. Out of breath, body throbbing; he whipped his head around and chose the nearest alleyway to conceal himself in. The challenge now became whether or not he could find his way back to the garage without the help of main roads and street signs.

"Fuck. The garage." He groaned, as he maneuvered by trash cans and parked bicycles.

It occurred to him that T-Bone or the skinny guy would see him like this and link him to the scene if questioned; but he had no choice, he had to retrieve his car. Another hurdle. This thought didn't slow him down, however, he would have to figure it out when he got closer but right now, he had to keep moving. So, he ran like a mad dog, dipping and weaving behind buildings and avoiding the main roads. The amplified noise of traffic returning to this section of town added another layer of paranoia. It was only a matter of time.