Severed Connection

by Roman Shepp

  Rushing through the city, she was faced with chaotic scenes. She emerged from the other side of the alley to see people running amok, some in fear, some in the rapture of anguish. The ground shook as she saw another plane falling from the sky and she was only glad that she was not at ground zero. The death toll would be astonishing, and all these lives would have been for nothing. There would be no world left to remember them. All of them would be forgotten.

  Jane wanted to scream at them and shake them from their panic. She wanted to tell them there was a safe place somewhere. Although, to her great shame, she understood why Frank acted like he had. If she told all these people it only would lead to more fighting as they argued over who should be saved, and the likelihood was that they wouldn't listen to her anyway. To them she'd be another doomsayer, another strange person promising sanctuary when everything else was falling apart.

  Among all the destruction, though, a strange sound greeted her ears. Stumbling forward, pressing her hand against the coarse brick wall to steady herself, she looked up at the roof of a building and heard a sweet chanting sound. She couldn't see anyone, but she could hear how they were singing hymns in the darkness and it actually gave her hope. The sonorous sounds drifted through the air and she imagined it must have been like the circumstances on board the Titanic when it was sinking.

  Then a shop exploded and thrust her against a wall. She carried on running and somewhere along the way she realized she had lost a shoe, but she did not have time to check. She still could hear Frank yelling, even though when she looked back she only saw a cloud of dust and people staggering by in a daze. Looking across the street she saw a window of a store that had exploded and people wandering around in a daze. It was a stark contrast to the calming tones of the chanting, but as Jane moved away that noise quickly was getting lost in the chaos of the world.

  Frank's voice was the only constant, chasing her, hunting her. It seemed as though no matter how quickly she moved it was always there. Her steps were uneven, and she was just one of the rest of the world, alone and afraid. It didn't help that the sun was rising, and the hours quickly were passing. She had been running for so long she easily could have collapsed but she had to keep fighting.

  Suddenly she heard a cry for help. Jane wanted to make up for at least some of what she had done so she ducked into the alley, but quickly regretted her mistake. She was faced with a man who was six feet tall and built like a wrestler. He wore a dangerous smile and his eyes gleamed with dark desire. Jane gasped and backed away, but somewhere along the way she had gotten mixed up and backed into a wall.

  “Well, look at what we have here. Looks like my luck is changing after all. You look like a good Samaritan. Want to help me out?”

  As he said this he grabbed his crotch and grinned. Jane's stomach retched. As much as she felt she deserved punishment for her role in this apocalypse, she was not going to let herself be used by this man. Reaching behind her, she tried to find a weapon but found nothing but empty air. Usually in her bag she carried a can of mace, but she had left Frank's office in such a hurry that she had left her bag there.

  “No, don't hurt me,” she pleaded, even though she knew it would do no good.

  “Oh, this won't hurt. This won't hurt a bit,” he said, but she had the distinct impression that it would hurt a great deal.

  Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was entirely helpless. It was a grim irony that her only hope was that Frank would come and save her, that his own possessiveness would prevent him from allowing another man to touch her. There was always the possibility, though, that Frank would let this man do his worst, that he would see it as a fitting punishment for Jane. That was even if Frank made it there in time.

  Jane was pressed flush against the wall as the man moved menacingly toward her, his large paws ready to grope at her body, drool trailing from the corners of his mouth. Jane closed her eyes and braced herself for the horror that was about to come when she heard a scream and the sound of glass smashing. She looked up and saw the blurred form of a man falling through the air, then crashing to the ground with a thud. Jane screamed. The man standing before her laughed. The fallen man’s body was unnaturally bent. Glass continued raining around them.

  “Let's get down to business,” he said, but then stopped dead.

  A huge shard of glass had fallen and lodged itself in his skull. Blood flowed from his eyes and mouth, and he slumped to the ground with the glass still embedded in his skull. Jane was paralyzed by what she just had witnessed. It so easily could have been her. This world was fraught with danger and her life could be lost in an instant.

  “I'll get you, Jane!” she heard behind her. Frank's voice spurred her on and she continued running into this dangerous world, not knowing where she was going, only that she was trying to get away from him.

  Chapter Seven

  Tony and Saeed had been sitting in the store for a while. After Oz and his brothers had left the mood had changed. Tony had so many questions for Saeed, and yet all of them felt wholly inadequate. He was a broken man and had nothing left but his own life, and Tony was sure he gladly would have given that up if it meant his wife and daughter could live again. Tony was filled with frustration that Oz and his brothers could just walk away without facing any repercussions for what they had done, but Tony wasn't about to hunt them down and start a fight with them. Although violence was a way to end crimes in the pages of comic books, Tony didn't see it as a viable option in his own life, especially since he only had a baseball bat and those men had guns.

  He hoped the police eventually would gain control of the city again so those men could be brought to justice, but it was equally possible that people had other things to worry about. How many other deaths were there going to be around the city? How many more people were suffering injustice as men and women threw away the bonds that held them together in rational society? Saeed was just one man. To the rest of the world his plight was a tragedy, but it was not the only one. It was at that moment Tony realized he was the only person in the world Saeed had, and in some ways, Saeed was the only person Tony had.

  The silence between them hung like a barrier. Tony assumed Saeed wouldn't have wanted to talk as he would be lost in his own thoughts. The more the silence lasted, though, the more Tony was worried about Ben.

  “Saeed, I need to go check on my friend, if that's alright? I don't know what condition he's going to be in, but I need to try finding him. He's the owner of this store and he hasn't come here yet. Do you want to come, or do you want to stay here?” Tony said, although he wasn't sure how he felt about letting Saeed stay in the store. He wasn't sure about anything actually, and certainly didn't know how to act around Saeed. Tony never had been good with people.

  “Yes...yes, we should look for your friend,” Saeed said, although he still seemed distracted, as though he was not truly living in this moment but was locked in the past, in the horror of his family’s death.

  “It won't take too long to get there. He lives just around the block,” Tony said, and then turned to Groot. “Come on, Groot, let's go and see Ben.” He tried to sound cheery, but deep inside he was desperately worried for his friend. He couldn't imagine that anything would have kept Ben from coming to the store, but then again there was probably much about this world he couldn't imagine.

  The two of them left the store. Tony made sure to lock up, even though a lock probably wouldn't have been able to stop those who were desperate to get in. Tony took the baseball bat with him. Groot limped along by his side, and Tony hoped it wouldn't take too long for Groot to heal properly. Saeed walked beside Tony, but again, he didn't seem as though he was really there. Tony wanted to try giving him something to cling onto and was frustrated with the silence himself. To try calming himself he started talking, which he always did when he was nervous.

  “I've been trying to think about what would be keeping Ben from coming to the store. Groot is his dog you know, and I found him outside. I thought Ben would be here w
ith him, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I was actually about to go looking for him when you came in. Guess that was lucky timing. Ben wouldn't let anything keep him away from the store. That store was his whole life. He used to tell me that he dreamed of it when he was younger, and when it finally opened it felt as though he had accomplished everything he wanted to in life.

  “He's a good man, you'd like him. He always tried helping people and liked opening the store to kids. He thought it was a shame that comic books turned more to the adult market as he remembered the excitement of buying comics with his allowance when he was younger. So, he tried bringing that back. It wasn't always easy, and I think there were a lot of months when he lost more money than he made, but he had a loyal base of customers and it was a good living. It was only me and him who worked there. I needed a job at that point and I didn't have any skills to speak of. He gave me a chance, though, and I'll be forever grateful to him for that. Actually, I've been thinking about leaving, that I needed a change, but after this night I think I realize that I was lucky to have a job like that.”

  Tony inhaled deeply and looked at the streets around him, wary of the danger that presented itself nearby. “Still, I guess I just wanted a change. I've never been that good with people, though. The comic book store suited me perfectly and I loved my time there. I just hope Ben's okay. He's the only person I have in this world really, aside from a few of the customers there. I never kept in touch with my friends from high school. Sometimes I wonder what they're doing now, how they're coping in all of this, but I guess I'll never find out. My parents died, in case you were wondering. It was a car crash a long time ago. I'm over it now. I think anyway. It all kinda just happened. I was so young I really didn't understand, and it wasn't like I knew enough to process it properly. All I knew was they weren't coming home anymore. I know it's not exactly the same as what you've been through, but...well...there it is. Is there anyone else you want to try finding?” he asked.

  “They're all dead,” Saeed mumbled. Tony looked at him with great pity in his eyes.

  The man was lost, and Tony didn't know if he ever would come back. Tony pressed his lips together and stopped himself from saying anything else. He wanted to speak to quell the anxiety that swelled inside him for fear of what they would find when they reached Ben's apartment, but sometimes silence was best, and he didn't think Saeed needed to hear any more about his life.

  After walking a little way, it became apparent Groot was not going to carry on much longer at the current pace. They already were having to walk slower because of the wounded dog, and also because Saeed was shuffling along. Tony usually liked to walk quickly, his long strides marching over the ground, but this time he was forced to walk slower. He bent down to pick up Groot. The dog wasn't a fan of this and wriggled at first, but then quickly settled down. It was for his own good. Tony increased his pace a little, but Saeed still was moving slowly. Tony wanted to urge the man on for he knew time was of the essence, but how could he tell a man who had lost everything to hurry up?

  Eventually, they made their way to Ben's apartment building. It looked just like any other building, and as the dappled sunlight shone down upon the world it almost was easy to forget the world had ended, for all intents and purposes. A warm glow bathed Tony as they walked through the golden sunshine. Tony had had enough of darkness, so he was avoiding the shadows for the time being. Everything around Ben's building was quiet, almost too quiet, and he was wary as he continued. There was little in the way of noise, but all the people must have gone somewhere.

  The door was ajar and the two of them walked through it. Tony passed Groot to Saeed so he could hold the baseball bat properly, ready to defend himself in case anyone came up to attack them. Their footsteps echoed against the stairs. There was no point trying to use the elevator, of course. The door was closed anyway. As Tony passed he thought about all the people who were stranded in elevators throughout the city, without much hope of being rescued. Being locked in a metal coffin was a wretched fate, especially if they were alone.

  Pushing that thought away from his mind, Tony took the lead as they moved upstairs toward Ben's floor. Tentatively, they opened the door and walked through the corridor. Groot started becoming more aware. He shifted his head this way and that, his beady eyes looking toward his home. Tony's heart thudded against his chest and his throat ran dry. Ben's door was ajar. He pushed it open and called out Ben's name but there was no answer. Groot sprang out of Saeed's arms and despite his limp ran toward the bedroom. Tony followed him and saw the dog's tail behind the bed. It was what Tony had feared. Ben's body was on the floor, the floor stained with blood around him. Groot was pawing at his body, trying to get Ben to wake up.

  “He's gone, boy. He's gone,” Tony said. Groot whimpered at him. Tony sank on the bed with the baseball bat resting on his legs and shook his head.

  “How did this happen? What caused people to act like this? I didn't think we would turn into animals so quickly. There's no hope. There's just no hope...” he said.

  His words were met with silence. He looked down at Ben again and pulled the bed cover over him to at least offer him some dignity. He and Saeed were in no condition to carry the body downstairs and bury it. He had no idea where to get a shovel. It wasn't even a comfort to him that he wouldn't have been able to make it in time to save Ben, even if he had come as soon as Groot had made it to the store. Ben had died alone, and that was perhaps a worse fate than anything else. Tony felt as though he should say something, but nothing seemed adequate. In the end, he merely thanked Ben for everything he had done, and then they all left. He had to tear Groot away from Ben, but Tony didn't want to leave Groot there to die as well. Ben would have wanted him to look after the dog.

  “Let's go,” Tony said. Saeed followed him dutifully. As they passed other apartments Tony's curiosity got the better of him and he peered into them. There were no people alive in these apartments either. They all had died, just like Ben, stabbed until they had bled out. Some of them had died together at least. It was small comfort, but at least it was some comfort.

  Fear crept through Tony's mind as he wondered what kind of monsters could have done this. There was something so personal about stabbing that it somehow seemed worse than shooting someone. To be that up close and personal with the person you wanted to kill...it took a special kind of crazy to be able to do such a thing. They exited the same way they had come in, but this time not all was quiet. As they left they heard an eerie chanting.

  'The end is near, and the world will be covered in blood.'

  Tony led Saeed and Groot around to the back of the building.

  “Oh my God,” Tony said.

  Before him were a ring of robed figures and other people on their knees, begging for mercy. The figures were systematically stabbing those on their knees. Blood dripped around the feet of the robed figures. There was no uniform color between them, but they all seemed devoted to their task. Tony had the baseball bat with which to defend himself, but Saeed had nothing, and Groot, although tough, was not at his full strength.

  “Let's go,” Tony said, and they tried backing away but the door to the apartments slammed shut behind them.

  Tony looked behind him. Two robed men walked out of the buildings behind them. The noise alerted the others to their presence and they all stared at Tony and Saeed menacingly. Tony gulped and tried evaluating his options. They were outnumbered and there wasn't anywhere to run where these people could not follow. One of the men behind him placed a hand upon his shoulder. It only would be moments before Tony felt his flesh pierced by cold metal. He had to do something.

  'More blood must be shed. The ground must be soaked in crimson. The End of Days is approaching and now it is time for Satan to take his throne.'

  The other robed figures began moving toward them as well. The space between them all was decreasing, and their already limited options were becoming fewer and fewer. Tony's hands curled tightly around the bat, ready to fight for as lo
ng as he could because he didn't want to suffer the same fate as Ben. He could run but he doubted Saeed would follow him, and Groot wouldn't have been able to keep up. This shouldn't happen in the world. Everything truly had gone mad. There still were a few people alive on their knees, looking toward Tony for mercy. Tony was about to leap into action when he saw Saeed drop Groot to the ground and run forward, roaring like a madman.

  Chapter Eight

  Everything had been a blur for Saeed since leaving his dead family. It all seemed so surreal. Tony had given him shelter and now he was walking through the city with this man he just had met, mostly because he did not know where else to go. The pain still seared his heart and if he had not emptied himself of tears he still would be weeping. Any pain he endured seemed unearned. He was alive when Nadya and Aaminah were not, and that just seemed wrong. He should be dead, and they should be alive. He would have done anything he could to change that fact, but nothing would. He was cursed with the sin of surviving. His heart burned for revenge against Oz and his brothers, but that wasn't possible either. If he challenged them they simply would shoot him, and his mind was not fractured enough to make that seem like a logical approach. Yet, he needed to do something to release the anguish that had taken hold of his soul.

  When the robed figures chanted that blood had to be shed he looked at the people on their knees, surrounded by others who already had died. Blood trickled onto the ground, dark and unholy, and it only served to remind him of how blood had flowed from Nadya's head and Aaminah's stomach, how warm it had felt against his own body. This couldn't be allowed to continue. Every one of them was a monster and they had to pay. Their knives gleamed under the sun, but that didn't matter to Saeed. He needed to do something to avenge the death of his family, and if this was his divine purpose then so be it. For a moment he looked down at the blood on his hands and then a blood-curdling scream emanated from his throat. Before him he saw nothing but the sight of his wife and child. His eyes were hazy, and the world melted away. He ran forward into his future, and as he did so he remembered his past...