Early Sunsets Over Monroeville

One shot.

*Gerard's POV*

Today was our 3 year anniversary. The remembrance of the happiest day of my life. If I had known it would have been her last, I would have taken her somewhere more expensive, I would have held her in my arms longer. What a fool I had been to not cherish the most beautiful- beautiful was not even a word powerful enough to describe someone like Lindsey Ballato. The superlative enchantress that will forever be Lindsey Ballato. 

I placed a reservation at a swanky Italian restaurant that was nowhere near worthy of her presence. I could do nothing but gaze into her captivating, chocolate orbs throughout the dinner. The liberty to call such a queen my wife was something I was surely undeserving of. Despite of the extremely special occasion, Lindsey refused order a bottle of wine, keeping conscious my history of alcohol addiction. My heart burned with adoration for her, how overly considerate she could be. Why did I not tell her? 

Everything was perfect. I was reliving the happiest day of my life. Nothing could ruin this for me. Or so I thought so optimistically. 

That cursed alarm screeched at us, sounding as terrified as every customer and staff in the establishment had. Lindsey's eyes shot straight to me, mildly panicked but evidently confused. I lied directly to her and told her not to worry.

Hushed whispers escaped the quantity of the room. I think I was the only person who could hear the mechanical 'clicking' of the entrance door, barricading us from the outside. 

We muttered to and fro. I, being the people-pleaser that I was, pretending I was not frightened in the slightest and attempting to make a light-hearted joke out of it. Lindsey's perfect pearl-like teeth exposed themselves from behind her cherry painted lips in response. 

Through the transparent and ill-fated breakable glass, the room could see the chaos commencing out on the public streets. Men fully equipped, in unsightly bulky and pigmented yellow hazard suits patrolled the streets. I had never seen an entire street be quarantined before. Neither had I seen the quarantiners sport heavy arms. We could hear muffled panic through the glass and the echo of gunshots, repeating and overlapping. Almost symbolically as blood began to flood the streets, the tides rising and then decreasing as it spread across the cement.  

At this point, Lindsey had grabbed my hand. I squeezed it softly in reassurance. Another silent fib. It wasn't going to be alright. 

Every single one of the traumatised witnesses held our breaths in sync. Thinking we'd seen the worse of it, some of us dared to look away. I refused. What I say next would never disperse from my darkest memories til the day I'd die. Some pitiful imitation of a human, leapt barbarically unto one of the men and pummelled the glass of his suit until it caved in. I could only imagine the fear and blinding agony he would have been in. What was worse was the devouring of his lips as the creature chomped down on the flesh and continued to feast him. 

Lindsey followed my gaze, I predict to understand the terror-stricken expression that replaced my previous faux-confident half-smirk. My unyielding loathing towards the murderous skeletal demon on amplified once I could see her stress her muscles with her heart-shattering grimace. She was now the one to squeeze my hand.

A fellow hazard suit wearing gunman shot the thing clean off of his peer. It was way too late though. The attacked quarantiner struggled to stay upright as his form spasmed uncontrollably. For a split second I saw his artillery point to under his chin before he swung his body around and released his trigger from it's heavy pressure.

I watched the glass - our only protection - crumbled from under the strength of the puny bullet. I don't know if hit anyone or not, my senses were overpowered by the shattering of the glass, the screaming of the customers and the blood pounding in my ears. I'm not sure I heard Lindsey scream though.