There's Only This (Sequel to There's Only Us)

Nightmare

"Hello?" Mark called out, his heart racing and blood pounding in his ears. He was standing in Buckingham Palace, where he had his wedding in. He looked down and realized that he was still dressed in his black vest with the red tie. The black and red decorations were strewn across the floor, the wedding cake moldy with flies fluttering around it. Everyone was gone and the lights were off, making him feel like he was in a horror game.

"Why?"

Mark whirled around to see Amy standing behind him in her wedding dress, her face illuminated by a flash of lightning from outside shining through the large stained glass window.

"Amy-"

"Why did you leave me?!?" Amy shrieked, moving so fast towards Mark that all he could see was a fiery blur before she grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up in the air.

"A-my ple-ase." Mark gasped, struggling desperately to pry her fingers off.

Suddenly the scene changed.

Mark dropped to his knees in the familiar road that was beside the shelter, his friends and Amy lying dead around him.

"You killed us." Jack hissed as his eyes snapped open. One was his normal eye color and the other was a vibrant neon green.

"You'll never get your happy ending." Jack stood up, snapping his fingers. Mark screamed in agony as he collapsed to the ground, feeling like he was burning alive from the inside out as blood trickled from his nose and mouth.

"You're radioactive, radioactive." Jack sang, his voice growing louder and louder, repeating the same words until-

"Mark!" Mark heard Amy yell his name. He woke up with a gasp, his breathing ragged and sweat pouring down his face as if he had just ran a marathon. He could taste and smell blood all over him.

"Here, let's get you cleaned up." She said soothingly, taking an old scrap of cloth from Ken and wiping Mark's face. When she pulled it back, he saw that it was saturated with blood.

"You okay?" Jack asked, concern for his friend shining in his eyes.

"What's wrong with me?" Mark ignored his question, sitting up.

"Radiation poisoning. I thought you remembered." Amy frowned as she finished cleaning him up.

"I thought it was gone." Mark groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. He had only been up for a couple of minutes and already he felt ready to crawl back into the sleeping bag.

"Is Mark okay?" Felix poked his head out from behind Amy.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Mark waved everyone off, feeling cramped and uncomfortable with the amount of attention he was getting.

"Who wants breakfast?" Amy asked in an attempt to get everyone's attention off of Mark. They murmured their agreements, making Mark sigh in relief.

"Do we have a game plan for today?" Signe asked no one in particular.

"We should go to the edge of the city and see if we can leave, or at least get help somehow." Ken suggested.

Mark had insisted he wasn't hungry, watching as Amy held a bagel over the fire before biting into it.

Once everyone was finished, they rolled up what little supplies they had in the couple of sleeping bags before walking south.

For a while, nobody spoke a word as they shuffled down the street, no one sure what to say to each other.

"My shadow's the only one that walks beside me,
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating,
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me,
'Till then I walk alone." Signe sang under her breath.

"I haven't heard that song before, what's it called?" Felix looked back at Signe.

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams." Mark answered. He recognized that song all too well.

"Why do I know it? I haven't heard it before either." Signe muttered to herself with a frown, shaking her head as she continued walking, her pace slightly faster than before.

It wasn't long until it started down-pouring, quickly dampening everyone's clothes and their spirits.

"The ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah,
the ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah,
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb,
And they all go marching down, to the ground, to get out of the rain
Boom boom boom." Jack sang to lighten the mood, splashing around in every puddle he came across like a little kid.

Soon everyone else joined in, smiling and marching along with Jack down the empty street.

"The ants go marching five by five-"

They fell silent as they reached the edge of the city.

Seattle was a floating island in the middle of nowhere.

"What the hell do we do now?" Mark huffed in irritation, almost wishing he had stayed in the coma. It seemed like they were isolated from the rest of the world.

"Wait, up there!" Cry pointed up at the sky. Mark could faintly see a black dot steadily growing closer to them.

"We need to get to higher ground fast." Ken stated, frantically looking for some kind of higher ground.

"I got it!" Felix yelled as he began shimmying up a telephone pole, constantly pausing to wipe his rain soaked hair out of his face.

"Felix get down!" Marzia screamed and him. He either ignored her or didn't hear here as he reached the top, waving his arms wildly to gain the attention of the black dot in the sky. As it got closer, Mark could see that it was a helicopter. Suddenly a lightning bolt struck the telephone pole Felix was standing on, scrubs him so he lost his balance and fell off.

Instinctively, Mark climbed up the pole with monkey like skills, grabbing onto Felix's arm to save him from hitting the concrete before sliding down the pole fireman style.

The helicopter touched down in front of the group, eliciting cheers of joy and relief as the doors opened. It was the Queen's helicopter.

"Remember me?" She smiled.

Before Mark could react, he felt something hard hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out instantly.