"it's gonna be okay" [discontinued]

~12~

Harvey couldn't believe that it'd been a week since seeing anyone, alive or dead.

He was walking through the abandoned streets, looking for someone, anyone.

Nobody.

It was like the entire city was gone, which was dumb because he couldn't be the only one still out there.

Anyways, the silence was deafening.

Suddenly, he spotted a spirit in the street- a tall girl who was muttering to herself.

The king. The king was in my head. Why couldn't I hear myself? I can't hear. I can't hear. I CAN HEAR THE KING.

"Whoa, miss, you okay?"

I can hear- who's there? Who are you? Get out of my head!! GET OUT!!

"Hey, calm down, I'm not in your head. I'm just talking to you."

You, you're not the king.

"Uhhh, no, I'm not."

I'm dead. He killed me. The king killed me. Why would the king kill me?

"Who's the king? Can you tell me who that is and what he did to you?"

The king, he was in my mind. He could tell me what to do. He- he made me do things. He made me use my power on people. He's a madman. He made people walk to their deaths, pull the trigger on themselves, their friends. He's unkillable- he'll make you kill yourself before you even have the chance to draw your weapon.

Suddenly, the ghost dropped on the floor, sobbing.

He made me touch them. He-he made me kill them. So, so many of them. All gone with a touch.

"Come on, girl, you've gotta help me out. Who's the king? How did you die?"

The spirit bolted up and turned, pointing to the roof of a nearby 7-Eleven.

There, perched on the roof, holding a crossbow, was a figure wearing a dark sweatshirt, hood obscuring their face.

Him.

And then it vanished.

Harvey was starting to get annoyed with the spirits just vanishing, but he currently had bigger problems on his hands.

"Hello?" he called out. "I'm unarmed. And I don't have like an active power."

The figure lowered the bow, covering their lips with a finger, shushing him.

Harvey took this as a good sign and slowly made his way into the 7-Eleven parking lot.

"Who were you talking to?" the figure asked, uncovering their head, revealing messy brown hair and glasses perched on his nose.

"Oh, um just spirits of the dead. Who are you?"

"No, no, you can't just leave off with the spirits of the dead. Who are you?"

"I'm Harvey and I can speak to the dead. Who are you? And who was that girl, said you killed her and that some king was controlling her mind. What the hell is all of this?"

"What did she say?"

"I dunno, that some king was mind controlling her and making her kill a bunch of people. Also, are you going to kill me ? Cause if so, please just get on with it."

"Kill you? Are you crazy?"

The boy jumped down from the roof.

"There are people looking for survivors. I'm saving your life. Come on."

He walked into the store, Harvey following.

"Hey Darryl, what if all of our actions are predetermined?"

"Did you have to say that, Zak?"

"I mean, I didn't have to, but what if I was said to say that and then you were said to ask if I said that if I didn't say it?"

"But did you have to say that?"

"But did you have to say that you didn't say that you asked me?"

"I don't know, did you have to ask me that?"

"Did you have to ask me what you said?"

"I don't know, did you have to ask me what you said, what I said, what you said, what I said?"

"Yeah, but only if you asked me that I asked you that you said what I said, and that I had to ask you, then it was predetermined."

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Harvey cut in, stepping out from behind Darryl.

"Ooh, a person! Hi, I'm Zak, and I can conjure things!"

He demonstrated this by snapping his fingers and having a bag of cheetos appear in his hand.

"Um, Harvey, I can talk to the dead and bring people back to life sometimes."

"Zak, I only brought him in because the searchers are getting closer. In two days, probably, they'll be here."

"Two days? I thought we had more time," he responded through a mouthful of cheetos.

"Sorry," Harvey said, "I think I'm missing something. Who's looking for you?"

"We don't know, only that there are people sweeping the city, shooting at anything that moves."

There was an awkward silence as none of the three knew what to say.

"This girl said something about a king who was controlling her mind, making her kill people. Maybe that's who sent the search team."

"Maybe," Darryl said, "But whoever it is, they're coming."

a/n: this was a very hastily written chapter so sorry bout that abrupt ending :))))