Losing Inertia

by VK Gregory

  ‘Leave it Daniel, I just want to go home,’ but Daniel frowned, his teeth clenched together and his eyes narrowed as he struggled with the living statue,

  ‘To hell with this stupid world,’ he said, his voice strangled and full of anger,

  ‘Please, I just want to go home,’ Cold with fear and emotional exhaustion, I reached out to Daniel, trying to draw him back to me. But instead Daniel reached out to grab the man’s arm, his face angry and purple, blind to my pleas.

  ‘No,’ but it was too late, the second they connected the arm began to wither, the spot that Daniel had touched became a dent, then a hole, then spread throughout his body, just like it had with the other man. I watched in horror as the man died in front of us. Silently I stood, hating this world, and hating Daniel.

  ‘Why? Why the hell would you do that,’ I watched Daniel who stood completely still, waiting for the man dropped the helmet and the keys. I mentally apologised to his stranger, his eyes never left us during his torturous death, his heart rendering shriek of agony filling the air. Taking the helmet, Danny indicated I should get on the bike.

  ‘You didn’t have to kill him,’ the roaring of suppressed sobs filled my ears, I wanted to scream but instead I stood there shivering and confused. Too afraid to do anything but obey, I reluctantly climbed on the bike.

  Back at home, I went straight to my mother. Needing to see a familiar face, even the face of a livingstatue. I faced her, taking in her familiar smell, the face I knew so well, the eyes that always filled with the twinkle of laughter. I remembered the easy way we would talk, the unflustered silences that never felt uncomfortable. She stood right here, and I could not tell her what had happened today.

  On the surface, she looked the same as before, frozen in an exact moment that never seemed to change. But as I looked closely, I could see her eyes looked tired, shadowy circles had appeared around her eyes, nothing obvious, but enough for me to notice. I was sure of it, sure that she wasn’t the same as when I had last seen her.

  ‘Mom? Can you hear me?’ I looked for any sign of recognition in her eyes, maybe something - a flicker in those pupils. Suddenly I had an idea, I quickly pulled open the curtains and then ran back to my mother. Right there, in her eyes, I saw her pupils constrict with the light, but her face was still set as stone. She could react to stimulus, the environment affected her. It occurred to me that her hands must be cold, standing so still in my chilly house. My hand reached for hers, desperate to touch her, but I withdrew them before I could. To see her there, but never able to interact with her, felt torturous.

  I pulled the curtains closed and turned off the light,

  ‘What are you doing?’ Danny asked, watching me, I ignored him and walked back to my mother. Her pupils were large and dilated.

  Invisible cold fingers ran down my spine making me shudder, although partly because Daniel stood behind me,

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘She reacts to stimulus, the light changes her pupils,’ I did not look at him while I spoke,

  ‘OK,’ he didn’t get it,

  ‘Mom?’

  ‘Isn’t that a good thing, it means they aren’t dead,’ he said peering around me to look closely at her. I turned to him,

  ‘No! It means they are livingstatues,’ I stared at him, ‘trapped in their bodies? Unable to move, to cry out, to eat, or drink, trapped in a dying, painfully dying body,’ his smirk turned to a frown, and for once he allowed some emotion to escape into his face, fear seeping into his bravado, mixing like a cocktail, ‘Imagine the pain of not being able to move, she must be so tired, so hungry…’ I broke down then, the tears running off my nose as I sobbed uncontrollably to myself.

  Daniel came to my side and gave me an awkward hug, his big arms finding their way around my waist. I held back, remembering the events of the morning, but then I allowed him to hold me as I cried,

  ‘It makes no sense, any of this,’ I whispered muffled into his shoulder,

  ‘I know,’ he agreed, as he let me cry, ‘My best guess is crappy kids sci-fi show!’ lifting my head I stared at him, his words sounding cruel and unfeeling, and perfectly placed to cause maximum hurt. I couldn’t stop the resounding slap that I swiped across his smirking face. And for one shining second it felt good. I had wanted to do it so many times.

  ‘Hey,’ he screamed, grabbing my hand and glaring at me with wide, bloodshot eyes, ‘what the actual fuck is wrong with you?’ he squeezed my wrist painfully, bending it slightly at an angle that sent a ripple of pain from the tips of my fingers up my arm, my bones felt like they might snap. But I hid my pain as best I could, setting my jaw and meeting his gaze with equal glare. I would not be weak.

  ‘Me?’ I cried, trying to pull away from him, without success, ‘you’re acting like a lunatic. No, no, not a lunatic, a psychopath,’ his lip curled upwards in a violent snarl as he pulled me closer, still holding onto my wrist, the pain and fear of snapping my wrist forced me to not resist, ‘You killed a man, for a shitty motorbike, who the hell does that?’

  ‘Never hit me again, you understand?’ for a second we were locked in a moment, my fear manifested as an accidental sob. Daniel’s maroon face scowled, his eyes tiny pin pricks of annoyance, whatever he had been supressing was now right here in the open, the elephant in the room. Suddenly though his face cleared as he heard my sob and dropped my hand. I let my wrist hang loose, too proud to hold it and rub it and show my pain. We stood apart, both holding stares, both breathing heavily, both ready to defend. I allowed my other hand to stray to my belly, in case he had forgotten. He stared at it and then looked away, too proud to show his shame.

  ‘Let’s go and find some answers, shall we?’ his voice was tight but thankfully the moment was broken. Side stepping my mother he disappeared out the room. I stood still, my heart beating fast and my breath ragged and shallow, looking down at my wrist I could see painful purple marks wrapping around it, like a bracelet. I glanced at my mother; did her eyes look angry now?

  ‘This isn’t him. It isn’t,’ I told her, but was I lying? I searched her face for the acknowledgement I so desperately needed. But of course, there was only silence.

  I found Daniel on his laptop in the dining room, sitting on the biggest wooden carver chair. He didn’t look up when I came in.

  ‘Internet is still running,’ he said as he tapped away at the keyboard, ‘that’s a good sign, right? Look all the social networks are still working,’ I glanced over his shoulder, a swell of hope filling me. There must be other people still around, not just us, and we just had to find a way to communicate with them. I read what he had written on his update.

  Everyone has stopped. But my missus never stops ha-ha

  ‘Seriously? That’s what you’re going to write?’

  ‘It’s a joke, Katy,’ he shook his head and sighed loudly as he if he were dealing with a pestering child, I wanted badly to snipe back at him, but I resisted, knowing bickering would lead to more arguments. And the pain in wrist was a reminder of the look of violent abandon in his eyes. It filled me with caution and unanswered questions. more than anything I wanted to focus on this tiny lifeline we had just discovered, somewhere here among the endless statuses would be a living person, stuck among the statues. Just like us.

  The world has stopped. Anyone out there? #frozenworld #whatintheworld #apocalypse #survivingtheapocalypse

  ‘Make it public so everyone can see it,’ I sat down next to him and we watched together, looking through all the updates, but finding nothing more recent that early yesterday afternoon.

  No one’s status had been updated since everything froze, scrolling through them all, I looked for signs of life, a new like, a new comment. The further he got down, the heavier my heart became,

  ‘There has to be someone, it can’t just be us,’ I didn’t want to watch anymore so I sat back,

  ‘I’ll try a different site’ Daniel mumbled, trying all sorts of hashtags searching for people, #survivors #apocalypse #stillhere #livingstat
ues. We worked our way through everything we could come up with, some even silly ones, but they led us nowhere useful. The digital world was as frozen as the real world.

  Internet searches brought up nothing either, just endless post-apocalyptic chat rooms. Nothing updated since it happened and no one reaching out with cries of being last survivors. The world thrived on technology, we turned to it for the most mundane moments of our lives, from photographing the food we eat, to sharing grief and pain. If there was anyone still moving in the modern world, they would use social media to contact others. I knew this, but somehow it seemed impossible that we could be the last ones moving ever, that we could be stuck here - all alone in this world with millions of living statues - the entire world.

  ‘It’s everywhere’ I whispered with sudden realisation, sitting down next to him, my legs suddenly heavy, my head spinning. I shut my eyes as the world tipped around me, ‘everyone,’ the reality of our predicament finally hit home, this wasn’t just a strange daydream, an odd but fleeting moment in our lives.

  This was the end.

  Daniel’s arm found my shoulder and he drew me into him, ‘we have each other. And her’ for a second I didn’t understand, his hand rested on my belly and I was lost in my sadness. Then I understood, ‘can you feel her,’ he asked, I shook my head,

  ‘No, it’s too early, I can’t feel them yet, I don’t know,’ I pressed a hand to my belly too, imagining life growing inside me, another heart beating, but I just couldn’t visualise it, the emptiness seemed to extend through my body to my bones, it engulfed me, like a black cloud on a sunny day.

  ‘She won’t be stopped,’ he smiled and I leaned into him, drinking in the warmth of his body, the scent of his sweat and fear, very glad that we were together. Pushing away the memories of everything he had done, I let myself relax. I could not imagine living this world alone.

  ‘I love you, fooey’ he said calling me by an old nickname, and I allowed him to kiss me, his lips warm and alive.

  The world of living statues fell away in his embrace.

  Chapter Five

  Awaking later in the day, I tried to kick off an entangled bed sheet that refused to budge. Wrapped firmly around a clammy, naked thigh, I struggled to unwrap it, waking Daniel who was splayed out next to me. Our passionate act had given me brief respite, but the hollow fear was back, hurting me deep inside my chest. The scent of sex filled the air, and flush of climax still lingered on my cheeks, warming in the bright sunshine that glinted through the open curtains; the day felt alive, hopeful even.

  ‘Hey sweet one’ he called, running his hand over my stomach,

  ‘I was thinking we should go to the police station, see if anyone is around, I think that’s where they would go,’ I started to get up,

  ‘Come back to bed’ he said, stretching and smiling.

  ‘No,’ I pushed him away, suddenly feeling cold, the memories of Daniel’s behaviour stole the post-coital warmth from my body,

  ‘What’s the rush,’ his hand suddenly slipped between my thighs without warning,

  ‘I’m not in the mood,’ but clearly he was and as he furiously rubbed me as I felt the thrill of excitement but fear at his insistence,

  ‘Daniel’ I whispered softly, trying to get him to hear me, ‘not now’ for a second I thought he would ignore me, as his rubbing increased, but then he looked at me and shrugged, moving his hand away and rolling out of bed,

  ‘Whatever’ he said, not looking at me as he threw a pillow to the ground and strolled to the bathroom, naked.

  I got up, pulling on my trousers and top quickly and hurried after Daniel. He stood naked by the window in the hallway, staring out at the street below him,

  ‘Cover up?’

  ‘Why? Who’s going to see’ I shrugged,

  ‘Just—‘ I sighed in frustration and then thought for a moment, ‘I’m going to the police station.’ He turned and looked at me, his eyes narrowing as he stared.

  ‘No one’s alive,’ his voice getting louder and louder ‘We are alone,’ he enunciated, slapping his hand against the wall,

  ‘But if there was someone, then the police station is the place they’d go, that’s why I’m going. And you know you can just stay here,’ spinning around he glared at me, for a second I felt afraid, but I stood my ground, meeting his gaze with equal amounts of bluff and courage,

  ‘What is wrong with you,’ his nakedness did not create the same vulnerability it would for me,

  ‘With me? What’s wrong with you, you’re scaring me Daniel,’ my defences rose quickly,

  ‘I’m scaring you? You’re crazy. Smiling one second, screaming the next,’

  ‘Yes, I’m crazy for taking this seriously Daniel, crazy Katy, trying to get back to the bloody real world, and figure out what the hell happened, while you run around murdering people and trying to have sex,’ he smirked with an air of unfriendliness. It showed contempt rather than love; like my Daniel was no longer there at all. And this man neither loved nor cared for me. I turned to go, no longer wanting to continue the argument.

  Before I could leave, he stopped me, putting a firm hand on my shoulder?

  ‘Come on, this is us, we can handle this, you and me. Always. For the baby,’ and I wanted to be relieved, but his grip was too tight, too firm. I wanted to pull away but I held still, ‘look I’ll come with you, we’ll figure this out your way,’

  ‘My way? Well what’s ‘your’ way Daniel? You’re going to fuck your way back to reality?’ the look on his face turned to amusement,

  ‘I didn’t mean I had another way, just this isn’t the way I’d do it,’

  ‘Well, how would you?’

  ‘Wait it out, we’re not in danger. We aren’t going to starve, or burn. We’re fine, it could even be sort of fun, the world is our oyster, or whatever.’ He looked at me with raised eyebrows and I wanted to scream at him in frustration. Instead I walked out the door, slamming it behind me before he could follow up that statement with anything else that might make me want to stab him.

  The long walk was tense, every sound made me jump. I wished I had agreed to Daniel’s company, but I felt too proud and a little scared, to go back. I had to avoid touching anyone along the way, and that meant a lot of dodging and very careful planning, especially in very busy areas. On the roads, several cars were still on fire, and the smell of bitter, acrid burning filled the air. I noticed a few puffs of smoke in the distance too. Houses, stoves left on; homes burning to the ground. The fires could spread round the whole town and burn it to ashes and thousands of livingstatues would die.

  What else would have happened during the stillness? Planes. Luckily we weren’t in a flight path. But all those people in their metal birds, soaring through the air on autopilot, until their plane ran out of fuel, or collided with another plane and then their lives gone in moment of burning metal and fire. I stared up at the sky, imagining how many died during that brief second when everything stopped. How many were dying now or close to death from fire or flood and I could do nothing, I couldn’t even touch them to save them. Even if I saw someone minutes away from being consumed by flames, what could I do to help? I could only watch, and let it happen. But what was death to them?

  We were moving, living in this moment, surrounded by them. To us they looked like statues, unmoving, did they have awareness? Or maybe it was us, us who had fallen through the cracks of time. Maybe the world carried on without us. And by touching them, with our out-of-time hands, we pulled them through the cracks to our world, dragged them through a condensed version of their lives. Pulling them down and aging them in a matter of seconds. I shivered quickly. Maybe we were like demons, speeding through their world, too fast for them to really see, touching strangers and pulling them into hell with us. People were dead and it was our fault. Daniel’s fault. He couldn’t have known about the first man, but he did the second. In another world, maybe someone missed him.

  By the time I arrived at the small police station my panicked-filled b
rain had concocted an entire nightmare story. It was early afternoon and the warmth from the sun, high in the sky gave the afternoon a strange dreamlike quality. Through the glass of the closed door, I could see an empty reception, as I opened the door I saw a young female officer sat behind a large desk, surrounded by computer screens., her fingers resting on the keyboard. I stared at her, hoping she would move or talk, but her statue-silence filled the station. I found the side door locked; glancing through the frosted glass I could see unmoving shapes, people I assumed, but there was no sign of life at all.

  I grabbed a flyer off the notice board and wrote a note, ensuring if anyone else came this way they would know they weren’t alone.

  ‘Two still moving. Will return tomorrow’

  I sticky-taped the note to the front of the blue door and closed it behind me.

  There didn’t seem to be any point in hanging around, there was no one moving and no sign there ever had been.

  I walked without purpose, finding myself in a part of town I knew well, not far from the supermarket. The great green building loomed ahead, as familiar my own home.

  The automatic doors open, the chill of the air con hit my face, the cool air lifting my hair playfully. I stopped by the entrance, looking at a packet of scones as I breathed in the normality of the shop. We had been here so many times. How could it be anything but normal?

  After a few moments, I glanced upwards towards the fruit and vegetable section. Everyone silently still, forever frozen in a moment of purchase. A bright red tomato, bursting with flavour and juice as it slowly rotted away in the hands of a livingstatue, a bag of apples held in motion, ready to be placed carefully in a half-full shopping trolley. A child, stopped mid tantrum, face red as blood and mouth screwed into a twisted fearlessness, brimming with frustration aimed towards a long-suffering mother.

  Suddenly I felt very angry at these shoppers. I wanted peace, somewhere I could go where the livingstatues would not intrude. I did not want to be surrounded by their echo of life. It was becoming difficult to avoid everyone, I didn’t know if I could brush against them with my arm or if that too would disintegrate them, shrivel them to piles of dust. And too afraid to try, I grew increasingly irritated as I walked around them, it bubbled beneath the surface, filling me the need to act. I grabbed an unmanned trolley and filled with doughnuts. Filling it with random items from the shelves, trying to enjoy myself, even as my irritation grew. But the longer I stayed the more I wished I hadn’t come. I just wanted to be out in the open, away from the constant attention needed to avoid the livingstatues.