Y Sunday, February 15, 2009
11:36 pm
Too much supper is never good. >_> Had a bit too much milk to drink. (Yes I still drink milk.)Either way, time to advance the plot, previous chapter was a waste of writing space.
------
Inhaling deeply, Ian slowed his pace. Sure, the first ten minutes were not a problem. It wasn't that Kate was heavy, but the girl was very tense. He could feel the muscles on her arm becoming taut and strained. Any more of this and he was going to suffocate.
"Relax, you're not gonna fall, just lean more on me."
Almost immediately, she relaxed her hold, and Ian's knee joints protested ever so slightly at the increase in weight on his back. Just a little more.. He jerked her on more securely onto his back and hastened his steps. There wasn't much time.
------
The signboard of the shop was worn, and sparking at the corner. Well if it's live it means there's still power in this area. Can't complain. The shop was in a surprisingly pristine condition, at least as pristine as anything was allowed to be in this hell. Rows of shoes and sandals were still neatly displayed on the racks. The walls were still mostly white-washed, with perhaps the occasional blood stain.
In a different time, Ian might have been laughing in here, laughing at the lack of shoes his size. It wasn't easy to find size 13 shoes anywhere in this country, this shop was the only one that carried it. An old timer by the name of Bill ran this place, and Ian was the first to know if any shoes he could wear came in. Gramps was a kindly old man, if not a little weird, but genuinely caring. Ian couldn't remember how many pairs of shoes he got for the price of one.
"What's an old timer like me need all that money for? Just remember whose shoes you wore when you make a killing, young man!"
Reminiscing about the past was great, until a sharp pain shot up his right hip. Kate screamed and fell as Ian lost his balance. The pair fell to the ground as Ian reached for his gun.
The safety went off with a click, and Ian fired blindly to his right.
Guttural emanations erupted nearby as the sound of bullets penetrating flesh played a gruesome medley.
The gun clicked as the last of its ammunition was spent.
Blinded by the pain, Ian shook his head and inhaled sharply. The torchlight, the torchlight. A beam of line shone strongly from the empty pistol. With a quick sweep, Ian identified the assailant.
He laughed, as Gramps' lifeless orbs stared at him, his kind features a twisted, grotesque version of its past. A mockery. Ian blinked the tears from his eyes. From pain or sadness, he did not know. Oddly enough, his chest felt heavy, and far outweighed any sensation from his side.
A bitter smile crossed his face as he closed the eyes of Uncle Bill.
"I'm sorry gramps. Hey, at least I'm still wearing your shoes. I'll see you around soon, maybe."
------
"Take your pick, it's all been paid for!"
Damn, that would have sounded good, under different circumstances. Either way, guess I better grab a pair for her, doesn't seem like she's going to move for the next few minutes. I swear, if she keeps this up, she's going to get us all killed.
Hmm, from her feet size I think a size 6 would be good.
"Nike, Reebok, Adidas or what?"
"A.. anything. Eh you okay or not? Got blood leh."
Size 6.. size 6.. ah. There. Nike or Reebok? She's wearing a bit of pink, so I guess the pink Nike would do. Socks, socks, where'd ol' Bill keep his socks. Oh right, third drawer from the left. Bingo. All pink's pretty boring, I think white would be good.
"Here, try these." God, this really hurts.
"H..H-huh? Kay.." If she doesn't hurry, I'm going to die of pain.
------
Removing her heels, Kate slipped on the pair of socks and snugly fit into the pair of running shoes.
"Uhm, okay can wear."
"Great. Okay I really need something for this lovebite I got from gramps." Ian rolled up his bloodied shirt and spotted a large bruise and gash. How Bill managed to do that, he did not know. Looks like the old timer had it in him afterall.
"Uh, Kate, I think we can forget about the police post. The shops we passed by earlier were all deserted. I think this whole place is dead. I don't want to seem selfish and all, but we should head to a hospital and get this shit cleaned up."
Kate paused and let his words slowly sink onto her. Not that she understood everything, but a hospital sounded about right.
"But den I thought the nearest hospital got a lot of those monster? News say one, spread from there."
"Yeah, that's why we're gonna head to Old Changi Hospital. It should be safe."
Kate shuddered at the mention of the hospital. Aren't there other options? Besides, Changi was pretty far. "That one quite far you know. How you want to go?"
"Ole' Bill has a van he uses for deliveries. Can you drive?" Ian said a silent prayer. He couldn't drive or he'd kill them both if he faints from loss of blood.
"Got lisen but I veh long nevar drive le. You sure?" She was unsure and hesitant, but knew inside that her question was pretty much a rhetorical one.
"I wish we had a choice in this. Come on, the van's just behind. Help me up."
Kate nodded and grunted with effort to support Ian by her shoulder. Ian muttered a word of apology and thanks as he swiped Bill's keys from his breastpocket. I'll come back and sort this out for you, gramps.
Driving would probably be a bad idea, they either had to drive in the dark and risk turning the car to scrap metal and themselves into scrap flesh, or turn on the headlights and invite the horde to dinner. Unfortunately, life was always a choice of bad or worse. Personally, Ian would go with bad.
------