Disclaimer: These characters belong to Vertigo. I am using them without
permission. No money is being made and no infringement is intended. Rated
PG for language.
(Y: The Last Man) Bells Will Be Ringing By Gigi Galaxie
The snow was wet and heavy as it swirled around her. Flakes stuck to her hair and eyelashes. She was getting cold. Although she was used to working in harsh conditions, she still found it unpleasant to be out during a snowstorm. "Come on," Agent 355 called to the other two. "There's nothing here."
Yorick Brown came out from behind the charred piece of cockpit. Dr. Allison Mann continued to peer into what remained of a fuselage. "These people, or what's left of them, are undisturbed. No one has been here to find them."
"Like many other plane crashes around the world," 355 said. "Who knows how many planes went down when the plague hit. There's nothing here to find anyway. Everything has been burned out."
"How horrible it must have been for them," Dr. Mann said softly as she stepped carefully around the wreckage. She shivered and pulled her coat tightly around her.
Agent 355 glanced up at the darkening sky. "Look, we need to find somewhere for the night and fast. There won't be much light left. And this storm will only get worse."
"How about that church we saw a while back?" Yorick said while adjusting Ampersand in his coat. The capuchin struggled for a moment. "Whoa, hey, cut that out!"
"Yeah, that'll work. It looked deserted so we shouldn't have any trouble." 355 swung her leg over the seat of their stolen snowmobile. Yorick and Dr. Mann both mounted the seat behind her. 355 revved the engine and then took off across the snowy fields. Cold wind whipped at their faces and snow pelted their skin. The world around them disappeared in the snowstorm. The snowmobile's headlight tried vainly to cut through the white.
355 found the small church with little trouble. The place was dark and solitary, a quaint heavenly oasis in the middle of expansive wheat fields. 355 parked the snowmobile next to the entrance. "What if it's full of dead bodies?" Yorick whispered when they climbed the front steps.
"I don't smell anything," Dr. Mann said as 355 pushed open the door. Indeed they found the church empty. Heavy layers of dust covered the old pews and altar. Large spider webs hung dismally from the corners. The church had a very strong musty smell that came from the ratty carpet. Their footsteps squished as they walked.
"There's gotta be a leak in the roof," Yorick said, glancing up at the wooden beams that supported the ceiling.
They split up briefly and each checked for signs of occupation. Deserted. "I found some blankets back there," Dr. Mann said as they met back at the pews. "But there's nothing in the kitchen."
"We've got enough food," 355 said. "But we should."
Her words were cut off by a surprised cry from down the hall. The two women glanced at each other and hurried out. They found Yorick staring up in wonder. "What the hell?" 355 said, looking around. Her hand hovered close to her gun.
"I think.it's an actual belfry. Look there's the bell, but.I don't see any bats."
"Try looking in your head," 355 said sarcastically.
"Oh, ha ha. Very funny," Yorick said, but he smiled.
They headed back out into the main room and Yorick let Ampersand out from his coat. The capuchin tittered about, leaping from pew to pew. Little paw prints were left in the dust. "So who's hungry?" Yorick asked.
They dusted off several places to sit and then ate in companionable silence. Many nights like this, they sat together with just themselves for company since setting out from Washington DC. "Do you know what tonight is?" Yorick said, breaking the silence as they finished their meager meal of canned food.
"New Year's Eve," Dr. Mann whispered. Her face suddenly became sad. "Last year at this time, I was working in my lab. I had just found out that my exper.that I was pregnant. I was so excited about the clone research. Funny how that turned out."
"How about you?" Yorick asked 355.
Her face darkened before she replied in a low voice. "Hong Kong."
"Really? What were you doing there?"
"Classified."
"What? Aw, come on, you can tell us."
"Nope. Can't. It's classified by the U.S. government." Her words were clipped and Yorick recognized her tone enough to back off the subject.
He gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "Not fair."
"What about you, Yorick?" Dr. Mann asked as she arranged her blankets.
"Last year?" He paused. His good humor faded and he looked down at his hands, resting in his lap. "Beth and I decided that we were going to spend it by ourselves. Usually we go out with friends, but this year she wanted us to be alone."
He sighed. "Look at us now. Spending New Year's Eve with people we never even knew last year. I'm here with a secret agent and a brilliant doctor. And you're spending New Year's Eve with the last man on Earth. So.how does this affect your New Year's resolutions? Me? I'm going to try to lose 10 pounds. And maybe find out what happened in Hong Kong." He gave a playful smile.
"Shit," 355 said with real disgust and stood up. "I'm going to have another look around."
Yorick watched as she left and turned to Dr. Mann. The doctor simply shrugged. "What was that about?"
"No idea."
Yorick got up and walked out to the hallway in search of 355. He peered out one of the windows to see the snow blowing recklessly. He could hear the wind howling through the walls. A chill was in the air.
He went from room to room before finding her in the small functional kitchen. "Hey," he said softly. "What's wrong?"
She was bending down, going through some boxes when he came in. Now she looked up at him, her black kinky hair falling over one eye. "What is it that you want, Yorick? Do you want me to tell you about Hong Kong?"
"N-No, wait. I don't want anything. I." His voice trailed off. "What are you doing?"
"Apparently finding nothing." She stood up and brushed her hands on her jeans. "Fuck."
"Did you really expect to find something?"
Silence was his only answer. She turned to leave the kitchen, but Yorick caught her hand. "I'm sorry," he said.
She turned to him, leaving her hand in his. "For what?"
"I don't know. For whatever made you storm out like that."
"Yorick, contrary to what you think, not everything is about you."
Yorick's mouth opened to say something but she stopped him. "It's just that..it's .shit, I don't know why I'm telling you this."
"Telling me what?"
"New Year's has always been kind of important to me. It's the start of a brand new year. A blank slate. But each year keeps getting worse no matter what I do. And after what happened during the last year."
"Are you afraid of what might happen to us?" he whispered.
She looked at him thoughtfully and heavy silence settled between them. "Maybe," she finally whispered not taking her eyes away from his. She suddenly became aware of how close they were standing. Of how fast her heart was now beating. Of how her breath was caught in her chest.
Their lips met in a tentative kiss. His lips were warm against hers. She was sharply aware of what she was doing and at the same time lost in a heady haze. Deep inside she ignored the rational, cold part of her that screamed how wrong this was. For one moment, time stood still.
The kiss was cut short when the sudden clang of a large bell broke them apart. She didn't look at Yorick as she left the kitchen, heading for the belfry. Yorick, not saying anything, followed her. The bell clanged several more times.
They found Dr. Mann holding the bell rope with a guilty smile on her face. "Sorry," she said. "I always wanted to do that. My way of wishing the world a Happy New Year, I guess."
She let go of the rope and walked out of the belfry, leaving them standing there alone. Yorick turned to 355 and before he could say anything about what had just happened between them, she spoke. "Happy New Year, Yorick."
Her words were flat and she refused to look at him. He opened his mouth, wanting to voice the questions swirling in his mind but he stopped. The awkward silence was answer enough.
"Happy New Year, 355."
(Y: The Last Man) Bells Will Be Ringing By Gigi Galaxie
The snow was wet and heavy as it swirled around her. Flakes stuck to her hair and eyelashes. She was getting cold. Although she was used to working in harsh conditions, she still found it unpleasant to be out during a snowstorm. "Come on," Agent 355 called to the other two. "There's nothing here."
Yorick Brown came out from behind the charred piece of cockpit. Dr. Allison Mann continued to peer into what remained of a fuselage. "These people, or what's left of them, are undisturbed. No one has been here to find them."
"Like many other plane crashes around the world," 355 said. "Who knows how many planes went down when the plague hit. There's nothing here to find anyway. Everything has been burned out."
"How horrible it must have been for them," Dr. Mann said softly as she stepped carefully around the wreckage. She shivered and pulled her coat tightly around her.
Agent 355 glanced up at the darkening sky. "Look, we need to find somewhere for the night and fast. There won't be much light left. And this storm will only get worse."
"How about that church we saw a while back?" Yorick said while adjusting Ampersand in his coat. The capuchin struggled for a moment. "Whoa, hey, cut that out!"
"Yeah, that'll work. It looked deserted so we shouldn't have any trouble." 355 swung her leg over the seat of their stolen snowmobile. Yorick and Dr. Mann both mounted the seat behind her. 355 revved the engine and then took off across the snowy fields. Cold wind whipped at their faces and snow pelted their skin. The world around them disappeared in the snowstorm. The snowmobile's headlight tried vainly to cut through the white.
355 found the small church with little trouble. The place was dark and solitary, a quaint heavenly oasis in the middle of expansive wheat fields. 355 parked the snowmobile next to the entrance. "What if it's full of dead bodies?" Yorick whispered when they climbed the front steps.
"I don't smell anything," Dr. Mann said as 355 pushed open the door. Indeed they found the church empty. Heavy layers of dust covered the old pews and altar. Large spider webs hung dismally from the corners. The church had a very strong musty smell that came from the ratty carpet. Their footsteps squished as they walked.
"There's gotta be a leak in the roof," Yorick said, glancing up at the wooden beams that supported the ceiling.
They split up briefly and each checked for signs of occupation. Deserted. "I found some blankets back there," Dr. Mann said as they met back at the pews. "But there's nothing in the kitchen."
"We've got enough food," 355 said. "But we should."
Her words were cut off by a surprised cry from down the hall. The two women glanced at each other and hurried out. They found Yorick staring up in wonder. "What the hell?" 355 said, looking around. Her hand hovered close to her gun.
"I think.it's an actual belfry. Look there's the bell, but.I don't see any bats."
"Try looking in your head," 355 said sarcastically.
"Oh, ha ha. Very funny," Yorick said, but he smiled.
They headed back out into the main room and Yorick let Ampersand out from his coat. The capuchin tittered about, leaping from pew to pew. Little paw prints were left in the dust. "So who's hungry?" Yorick asked.
They dusted off several places to sit and then ate in companionable silence. Many nights like this, they sat together with just themselves for company since setting out from Washington DC. "Do you know what tonight is?" Yorick said, breaking the silence as they finished their meager meal of canned food.
"New Year's Eve," Dr. Mann whispered. Her face suddenly became sad. "Last year at this time, I was working in my lab. I had just found out that my exper.that I was pregnant. I was so excited about the clone research. Funny how that turned out."
"How about you?" Yorick asked 355.
Her face darkened before she replied in a low voice. "Hong Kong."
"Really? What were you doing there?"
"Classified."
"What? Aw, come on, you can tell us."
"Nope. Can't. It's classified by the U.S. government." Her words were clipped and Yorick recognized her tone enough to back off the subject.
He gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "Not fair."
"What about you, Yorick?" Dr. Mann asked as she arranged her blankets.
"Last year?" He paused. His good humor faded and he looked down at his hands, resting in his lap. "Beth and I decided that we were going to spend it by ourselves. Usually we go out with friends, but this year she wanted us to be alone."
He sighed. "Look at us now. Spending New Year's Eve with people we never even knew last year. I'm here with a secret agent and a brilliant doctor. And you're spending New Year's Eve with the last man on Earth. So.how does this affect your New Year's resolutions? Me? I'm going to try to lose 10 pounds. And maybe find out what happened in Hong Kong." He gave a playful smile.
"Shit," 355 said with real disgust and stood up. "I'm going to have another look around."
Yorick watched as she left and turned to Dr. Mann. The doctor simply shrugged. "What was that about?"
"No idea."
Yorick got up and walked out to the hallway in search of 355. He peered out one of the windows to see the snow blowing recklessly. He could hear the wind howling through the walls. A chill was in the air.
He went from room to room before finding her in the small functional kitchen. "Hey," he said softly. "What's wrong?"
She was bending down, going through some boxes when he came in. Now she looked up at him, her black kinky hair falling over one eye. "What is it that you want, Yorick? Do you want me to tell you about Hong Kong?"
"N-No, wait. I don't want anything. I." His voice trailed off. "What are you doing?"
"Apparently finding nothing." She stood up and brushed her hands on her jeans. "Fuck."
"Did you really expect to find something?"
Silence was his only answer. She turned to leave the kitchen, but Yorick caught her hand. "I'm sorry," he said.
She turned to him, leaving her hand in his. "For what?"
"I don't know. For whatever made you storm out like that."
"Yorick, contrary to what you think, not everything is about you."
Yorick's mouth opened to say something but she stopped him. "It's just that..it's .shit, I don't know why I'm telling you this."
"Telling me what?"
"New Year's has always been kind of important to me. It's the start of a brand new year. A blank slate. But each year keeps getting worse no matter what I do. And after what happened during the last year."
"Are you afraid of what might happen to us?" he whispered.
She looked at him thoughtfully and heavy silence settled between them. "Maybe," she finally whispered not taking her eyes away from his. She suddenly became aware of how close they were standing. Of how fast her heart was now beating. Of how her breath was caught in her chest.
Their lips met in a tentative kiss. His lips were warm against hers. She was sharply aware of what she was doing and at the same time lost in a heady haze. Deep inside she ignored the rational, cold part of her that screamed how wrong this was. For one moment, time stood still.
The kiss was cut short when the sudden clang of a large bell broke them apart. She didn't look at Yorick as she left the kitchen, heading for the belfry. Yorick, not saying anything, followed her. The bell clanged several more times.
They found Dr. Mann holding the bell rope with a guilty smile on her face. "Sorry," she said. "I always wanted to do that. My way of wishing the world a Happy New Year, I guess."
She let go of the rope and walked out of the belfry, leaving them standing there alone. Yorick turned to 355 and before he could say anything about what had just happened between them, she spoke. "Happy New Year, Yorick."
Her words were flat and she refused to look at him. He opened his mouth, wanting to voice the questions swirling in his mind but he stopped. The awkward silence was answer enough.
"Happy New Year, 355."