Apocalypse [Pentatonix AU | Kavi / Scomiche]

Chapter 55 - Mourning

Mitch barely even felt himself let out the mangled scream, didn't realize he'd fallen to his knees until Scott knelt down next to him, holding him close and attempting to shield him from the terrors of the scene in front of them. But there was no unseeing that horror.

Kevin's corpse, if you could even call it that, was the closest to them, his eyes still open yet unmoving and unseeing. The entire middle section of his torso was almost completely missing, a pool of endless blood pooling underneath where it should've been. Bite marks were present across his neck, chunks of skin missing across his body. Mitch thought he might be sick.

Avi's corpse was further away. It was lying in the center of the clearing, legs bent slightly as if he'd dropped straight to the ground. His handgun was placed loosely in his palm, his glassy eyes staring at the weapon. There was still blood dripping from his temple.

Mitch then realized that the gunshot they'd heard less than a minute ago was Avi Kaplan taking his own life. This time Mitch was sick to his stomach.

He doubled over, gagging but not vomiting since there wasn't anything left in his stomach to actually come up. Scott was close by his side, rubbing his back mindlessly even though Mitch knew he in just as much pain. Neither would be able to wrap their mind around the fact that they were the only two left.

After the feeling of sickness had passed, a feeling of indescribable loss overwhelmed Mitch. Although he thought he'd run out of tears to shed, Mitch began to sob, placing his face in his hands and shattering. He heard Scott begin to break down next to him as well.

Mitch was never all that close with Kevin. They'd never had any meaningful moments between just the two of them, never had the chance to become good friends. However Kevin had saved his life, and therefore Mitch owed everything to him. Mitch would forever live in regret over never connecting with such an incredible human being.

Avi on the other hand was a completely different story. Not only was Avi a friend, but Mitch had admired Avi from the day he met him. Admired his ambition, his strength, his decisiveness, his hope. Whenever Scott and Travis fought, Mitch could always rely on Avi to keep the peace. On the road after leaving the prison, the two had had countless talks about this life and all they'd lost. And every time they spoke, Mitch only further fell in love with the beauty of Avi's soul. And now that soul, that spirit, was gone forever.

For a while Scott and Mitch stayed slouched on the forest floor, neither knowing how they could possibly continue after the unbearable magnitude of the current tragedy. How they could possibly will themselves to keep moving forward toward Atlanta, how they could actually succeed at this point? How was success possible after they'd lost so much?

"Okay," Scott finally said in a throaty voice, climbing back to his feet.

"I can't," Mitch coughed between continuous sobs. "Scott, I can't."

"They're gone, Mitch. I know you can't understand that, I can't understand it either, but we need to accept it. We need to accept it so we can keep going. We have to keep going."

"I don't know how," Mitch croaked. "Scott, please. I don't know how."

"We have to figure out how, Mitch. Please just stand up. We need to get through this together. Now more than ever we need to rely on each other. We can get through this together."

Scott put a hand under Mitch's arm, helping him back up onto his shaking feet. Mitch wrapped his arms around Scott's neck, resting his head against his broad shoulder. They held this embrace for as long as they needed to regain at least some strength. Mitch finally pulled away, glancing back toward the bodies of their friends.

"We can't just leave them like that," he whispered.

Scott nodded in understanding, and quickly the two went to work. Scott carefully picked up Avi's small frame, carrying him over toward Kevin and laying the two side by side. Mitch meanwhile began plucking flowers from the around the area. By the time he'd gathered a large enough handful he crossed back to the corpses, studying the faces of the lost men one final time. Mitch then handed half of the bouquet to Scott, and together the two laid the flowers atop the bodies.

"Thank you," Mitch whispered to them. "For everything."