Running With Ghosts (H2OVanoss)

Chapter 9

Songs for this chapter:
MISSIO - I Run To You
MICHL - Die Trying

This chapter is NSFW. Happy reading! Let me know what you think.
-walk

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For a moment, it was quiet. Just for a second before Evan moved. He wiped the blood from his face and without a word he started pulling the dead by the arms outside of the gate.

The stars were bright up above and they worked silently in the moonlight moving the dead on the other side until all that was left inside were ominous black and red patches in the grass. Until all that was left was Craig's lifeless body and too many questions that were still unanswered.

There were still faint screams echoing in the dark when they gathered around him, looking down at the smartest person they had, now gone. They were techless, missing more assets now than they could afford. They were losing their grip on the situation and no one really knew what to do.

All eyes ended up on Jonathan as they usually did, searching for guidance and answers he didn't have. He was still stuck in his own head, still had Evan running through his mind, still had his fingers bruising his skin. He still couldn't breathe.

Evan cleared his throat and shuffled his feet, "We should burn the bodies. Screamers won't come near the light and those other fucking assholes already know we're here so it's not like we're alerting anyone of our presence. They'll start to stink otherwise."

Murphy gave a small nod, keeping her eye on Anjo because he was staring at Evan like he wanted to speak but words couldn't form. She saw him struggling with something but she didn't know what. Murphy caught Evan's eye and saw the same thing.

"What do we do about Craig?"

"Burn him, too." Evan sighed. "That way we at least have ashes to give his family if we ever get out of here."

"Okay." Marcel said quietly and everyone started to part. "Let's get this done."

Silence fell over the tower once more as everyone assigned themselves duties. Soon there was a massive fire burning high into the night as the screamers disintegrated in the street. Jonathan still didn't know what to do. Everyone had something to keep them busy and he was stuck standing there trying not to let the stress and anxiety topple him again.

He felt a light touch to his forearm and looked over to find Murphy looking up at him. "We need more metal. That wood isn't doing shit anymore on the fence."

All he could do was swallow and nod. She wanted to ask him what was going on, he could feel it, but she didn't. Jonathan finally moved, wiping his face with his shirt before he walked out into the streets and around the fire in search of anything to restructure the fence with.

He figured Evan wanted the distance anyway.

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Murphy wandered into the tower at daybreak, exhausted and filthy, looking for some sort of relief from their unrelenting problems. But she knew it would only get worse each day. It always did.

She found Langley in the showers sitting on the floor in a stall fully clothed with hot water scorching her skin. Murphy didn't say anything just got to her knees and started cutting away the ruined clothes that covered her beaten body. Langley let her pull her to her unsteady feet and leaned against the wall as she undressed herself.

Murphy carefully washed her and tried not to cry when her fingers ghosted over cuts that were shallow, deep, and everything in between. She was bruised. Some old, some new. Langley never even winced and Murphy knew that was a bad sign. It meant she was locked up tight and secure inside of her own head. She probably didn't even know where she was right now, too lost in thought and smothered in self-loathing to care.