From the Ashes, You Crawl

Chapter Nine

When Gerard awoke, there was a warm mass curled against him. There were arms clutching him closely, and a head was not too far away. At first, the man did not remember the day before, and he felt the panic switch inside his brain flip. He screamed, shaking the hideout, and he pushed the man away, scrambling off the side of the bed onto the floor. Gathered in the torn quilts and fluffy blankets, Gerard lay on the floor for a moment, staring at the side of the bed. He could hear Iero, or Frank, or whatever his name was shuffling, and suddenly, his face appeared over the edge, peering down at Gerard on the floor. For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, dazed and confused at Gerard's reaction before Gerard, surprisingly, spoke.

"Y-You scared me," He whispered from where he lay, arms sprawled out beside him wide open.

Frank blinked, biting his lower lip nervously, face turning crimson. "S-Sorry about that," He muttered, looking away from Gerard and then sitting up on the bed, "I miss my wife, I guess. Look... I... I won't do it again, Gerard. I'm really sorry."

"Wife?" Gerard questioned softly as he shakily stood. He had no idea what Frank had been talking about the day before; His leg still hurt. His trembling hands moved to the place where the bandages were, and he rubbed where the ache still bothered him.

Frank glanced over at Gerard and noticed him messing with his leg. "Gerard," Frank started, holding his hand out, "Stop. Leave it alone. That's why it's infected. Stop." Gerard didn't want to, but he remembered the red cross on Frank's arm. Frank knew what he was talking about, so he moved his hands away. Frank smiled just the slightest as a thank you. His eyes moved away from Gerard to his left hand. Gerard could see something gold on his fourth finger. "Yeah... Wife," Frank said softly, his fingers carefully touching the ring like it would shatter into a million pieces, "I haven't seen her in quite a while. She's safe though... With... With my son, so it's okay. I hope I see them again soon. I was supposed to after my patrol in New York with my company." He paused, lowered his head and closing his eyes, "I still can't believe that they were all killed."

"Why did you go out at night?" Gerard asked, raising an eyebrow. He had known since the very beginning not to go out at night. Something had happened... What had happened? No... He pushed that away. Now was not the time to remember.

"We didn't know," Frank said, holding his hands out simply, "Nobody knew what would be here when we DID get here. All the other cities are a pile of rubble. Boston- rubble. Pittsburgh- rubble. D.C. - rubble. It's ALL gone. We were just thankful to see buildings here. We didn't expect to see life, much less... Whatever those THINGS were." There was a pause and Frank stared at his hands, "What... What are they, Gerard?"

"People," Gerard whispered, standing rigidly in the middle of the floor, "They are people."

"People?" Frank questioned, turning his head towards Gerard, "People? No, Gerard, the last time I checked, 'people' don't attack and eat other people."

"They are people," Gerard whispered again, clenching his fists, "They are."

Frank shook his head, hiding his face in his hands. It didn't seem like he would speak again. Gerard didn't want to know more. He didn't want to know what the rest of the world was like. In his world, he was still the last human on earth. In his world, there were no cities of rubble. There was only his schedule.

His schedule.

Gerard turned to leave, but Frank's voice caught him.

"Whoa, whoa," Frank said, sitting on the bed and staring at Gerard, "Where are you going?"

"I must collect food today," Gerard whispered coarsely as he limped to his guns. He shoved his pistol into the hip of his pants frantically, and he could hear Frank rustling around for a moment before he entered the room.

"Gerard, no," Frank replied softly, standing in the doorway, "I can't allow you to go out today while your leg is still bugged up. If you get into a situation where you have to run-"

"I have to go," Gerard said quickly, rising and rushing to the door. Somehow, probably in a gust of adrenaline, Frank got there first, blocking the only exit to his home. Gerard grew more and more panicky. He didn't want to touch Frank. No. He wasn't going to lay his hands on Frank. His hands twitched. He wanted to... He wanted to throw Frank to the floor and squeeze his throat until the man went limp.

No.

No... Gerard took a step back, clenching his fists. The darkness... The darkness from his past engulfed his whole being. He stared vacantly at Frank. "I did it on my own for all this time," Gerard whispered, reaching toward the man. It was like his hands moved on his own. He watched them with terror in his eyes.

Frank didn't seem to notice. He shook his head rigidly and stayed rooted to the floor. "Physician's orders," Frank said stiffly, "I won't allow you to go today. I'm sorry."

Gerard's hands moved to Frank's shoulders, but they stayed there. He clenched his fists like he wanted to move further. Like he wanted to clutch his throat, but he didn't. He stared in Frank's terrified eyes, hands shaking around his shoulders. Gerard could feel the darkness inside him. He could feel it deep in his chest and heart. He stared for a moment longer, and it became obvious that he couldn't hurt Frank. He just couldn't.

Gerard let go and took a step back. His eyes flicked to the floor and a dead silence engulfed the room. After a moment, Gerard slowly slid to the ground, body shaking and heart racing. His mind flicked through the past few minutes. His body wanted to hurt Frank, but his mind would not allow him. There was a noise, and Gerard noticed Frank sitting on the floor beside him. Frank stared at the floor.

"You wanted to hurt me, didn't you, Gerard?" Frank asked quietly, his eyes focused on the floor.

It was a painful moment of silence. Gerard could feel a tear roll down his face. He clutched his hands together. "Y-Yes," Gerard whispered, his voice shaking terribly. Frank watched Gerard from where he sat. It was a very, very quiet moment before Frank paused and spoke again.