From the Ashes, You Crawl

Chapter Eight; Flashback

It was quick and painless.

Sometimes, this was said out loud, a mere whisper of reassurance. Sometimes, it was repeated mentally as Gerard walked, his dead brother cradled in his arms. There was a splatter of blood crossing Gerard's pale, sick face as he carried Mikey through their backyard. There was a long, rectangular hole in the ground dug approximately four feet into the ground. It had not taken a long time at all for Gerard to dig this hole. Upon reaching the hole, he stared down into it's empty mouth, and it seemed like his stomach dropped and the dead body became heavy. Gerard laid Mikey onto the ground beside the hole and turned away, falling onto the ground, gagging, his hands pulling his own hair back. After a few seconds of retching, Gerard threw up his own bile onto the sizzled, yellow grass. He wasn't so sure he was simply vomiting just because of the radiation.

It was quick and painless.

Sometimes, Gerard wondered what he was talking about when he thought that. What was he talking about? Was it the shooting of his brother, or something much greater? He did not know. The man ran a hand through his raven black hair. He sat with his back to the corpse, staring at the clump of hair in his hand. It was thin and brittle and burned. Gerard let the hair go, and he turned around, faced with his dead brother again. The man lowered his head for a moment, laying one hand on his brother's still chest.

"You were the only one I missed, Mikey," He whispered, his voice the only noise in the desolation. There was no screaming out here in the suburbs. Only dead silence. "I planned on coming back when... When I had enough money... And taking you to my apartment and letting you live with me."

Mikey gave no response, so Gerard continued. "I loved you, Mikey. I loved you so much." His eyes travelled from his hand on Mikey's chest to Mikey's mouth where Gerard had shoved the gun. There were burns across Mikey's face, the skin now peeling away from his dead body. Gerard's lip trembled. "Don't look at me like that, Mikey," He spoke like Mikey could hear him and respond, "I did what I had to do. I saved you!"

It was quick and painless.

The boy laying on the ground didn't even know it had happened, Gerard figured, nodding his head. The bullet had ended his time on earth very, very quickly. Snow began to fall on the two, even though it was late April. The nuclear winter was beginning. Gerard shivered, his eyes still on the corpse. He slowly moved his hand to Mikey's face and closed his eyes, fingers brushing over his brother's still warm skin. Gerard began to cry, his palm covering the boy's face, snow landing on their bodies. It was a soft cry, but that made it all the more heart-wrenching.

They were the only two out there in the light gray snow. Gerard did not know where the rest of his former neighbors had gone or were hiding. Perhaps, they had all died in a fiery blaze, skin melting like wax, mouth open in terrifying wails as they sank to the ground. Gerard did not know. He rubbed his eyes for a moment, and when he pulled his hand back from his face, he found something white sticking in the smeared blood on his face. He stared at it only for a moment, deciding it was one of two things; Brain matter or skull fragments.

This made Gerard cry harder. He pressed both hands over Mikey's chest, applying no weight to them but leaning forward as he weeped, backside lifting off the ground as he wailed over his brother's dead body alone in the snow.

It was then that Gerard remembered something more of his situation.

He was not alone. No. There had been one more... Another human that he had subdued earlier when he had the gun. Yes... Yes... A woman that he had tied to her bed to keep her from causing problems with his plan. And as far as Gerard knew, she was still there, tied down uncomfortably. Gerard's stomach sunk as he stood up.