The ruins of Cambridge were more desolate than Gary could have ever imagined. Littering every street, there were wrecked cars, smashed windows, knocked down doors, and the like. He didn't bear thinking about what happened to the families that used to reside there. A month after "the pulse", dust was still falling. It had become part of Earth's atmosphere, of their weather system. If it wasn't "sunny", it was an atomic storm. Gary had had his fair share of experiences with those, and each time he had barely escaped with his life. He was so sober these days he had considered thanking whatever god was watching over him.
As he walked through another empty street, he let his mind wander. He trudged through the skeleton of the city, keeping an eye out for anything of value. He paused to look at a lifeless body of a blank. It was wearing a black and orange hoodie, ranch jeans, and a pair of converse. It's head was caved in, blue liquid spilt all over the pavement. It was also missing an arm. Gary put two and two together and mournfully realised that this blank must have had the appearance of a teenager. Simply the thought process threw his back to when he and his four friends were fighting for their lives in that restroom, where teenage blanks had ambushed them. The good old days, when everyone was still together. Him, Andrew, Peter, Oliver, and Steven. The Five Musketeers. Gary smiled for a second before releasing a choked sob, a stray tear running down his cheek. He took off his black shades and wiped them with his jacket, blowing each lens before placing them back on his face.
He took a break from his emotional throw-back to look over his shoulder at his friends, walking just a few paces behind them. He smiled at them, furrowing his eyebrows and mouthing "you alright?". Of course, they all smiled back and nodded. In sync. Gary's smile faded a little as he turned back to focus on navigating the city. He pulled out his notebook at studied his hastily-drawn map, looking up and back down occasionally to add points of interest to it. But soon he found himself trailing from his task once more. With being an ex-alcoholic and alcohol being a rare commodity in today's world there was little to keep him occupied, so he turned to daydreaming instead. This time his mind turned to the events that had passed a little over a month ago. The one that had set the planet on it's downward-spiraling path. The one whose very center he stood at Sometimes Gary blames himself for humanity's degraded condition, and other do to. But looking back on it, it was either this or be killed and replaced by a blank version of him. He decided that he liked the sound of the former much better.
Every now and then his boot would crunch a stray piece of glass, drawing his attention away from his thoughts momentarily until they enveloped him once more.
However, he was soon brought back to reality once more as he walked straight into something. He gave a small yelp from surprise before moving back to study what he had walked into. He was that it was some sort of barricade, but whoever built it really didn't want anyone getting through. It was about a quarter the height of the buildings either side of it, and composed of road signs, tires, bits of concrete, and some other things Gary couldn't make out. Although he couldn't see anything that would harm him or his friends if they climbed over. He turned to tell his friends his plan, when he was greeted with the sight of two strangers. They both wore scruffy, torn clothes, their faces were tired. One was holding a pistol, whilst the other carried an assault rifle, and it was pointed right at Gary. He suspected these people meant to raid him and his friends of their possessions. The expression in the eyes of the one whole held the pistol were vacant, empty, dormant. Most certainly a Blank, or a druggie. The eyes of the rifle-holder however, burned with rage. Most of humanity knew who Gary King was, and they despised both him and the Blanks. The rifle-holder licked his lips before speaking.
"Gary… Gary fucking King… The man himself!" He exclaimed, raising his gun with his left hand before bringing it back down. Not that Gary was nervous or anything, but it wasn't exactly easy to stay calm when there's a firearm pointed right at you. He tried to keep a cool head and replied.
"Yep! The one and only!" He threw his arms up in exaggeration. He didn't mean to, it was just instinct to make himself known whenever someone asked. A habit he wished would break already. "What can I do for you mate? Autograph? Life story?" He asked with a nervous chuckle. The stranger clicked his safety off.
"Nah, I ain't looking for answers. Just vengeance…" He spun around and walked towards his friends. Their eyes followed him as he drew near, watching his every move. "Keep an eye on him" he ordered his partner as he passed. It gave a simple nod and walked towards Gary, raising his gun level to his head without hesitation. Meanwhile the stranger was examining his friends. He turned back to Gary. "You seriously brought three Blanks along to be your little buddies?" He asked. Gary looked past the stranger's Blank to look at his friends. Three? Andy, Pete, Steve… Ollie.
His peripheral vision caught movement in the building adjacent to him. He remembered what he has taught him. Smart kid. Gary's eyes darted to the floor. There was a piece of rubar right at his feet.
Remembering that he had be asked a question, and not wanting to raise suspicion, he quickly answered.
"Uh… Well… The apocalypse can get lonely you know…" Oliver was getting closer. "Gotta have a bit o' company, right? Bit lonely otherwise..." He said with an uneasy smile. The stranger dipped his head to the side and chuckled, his eyes were shut.
Uh oh.
"Lonely…" He said, raising his rifle. "What would you possibly know about being lon-"
Suddenly Ollie stepped out of nowhere, bringing a 2x4 plank of wood down on the arm that the Blank was holding the gun with. It broke right through, completely shattering the forearm and causing blue liquid to squirt out of it. Gary took the moment of confusion to bend down. The Blank turned it's whole upper body to look at Oliver, their eyes locking. It furrowed it's brows for a second, almost confused, before it's head suddenly exploded sideways. Oliver stepped back in "surprise" as an audible whrrrremitted from the Blank. The tone lower before going completely silent. The Blank dropped to it's knees, liquid running down it's shirt, before collapsing onto it's front. Oliver looked up at Gary to see him panting heavily, hefting a large piece of rubar in both hands. He dropped it. It crumbled the second it hit the floor. He wiped several beads of sweat from his forehead and rested his hands on his knees.
"Christ…" He whispered. He looked up at Oliver and nodded to him, signifying his gratitude. He nodded back. Gary knew that he didn't really understand, but it made him feel less alone. Or who knows, maybe the Blanks really could understand after all. Gary didn't know anymore. In all honesty this Aliens, Blanks, and the "planet going dark business" was still surreal to him, and occasionally he pinched himself in the hopes that he would wake up in that minuscule bed in that minuscule apartment of his. There he goes again, daydreaming.
Several sirens started up in quick succession out of nowhere, their piercing sounds worming their way straight into Gary's temple. His right hand raced to aid it, not that it would do any good.
"What the hell?" He eventually grumbled through gritted teeth. "I thought there wasn't electricity anymore…" He pondered to himself, before hearing a scream a second later. He head snapped in the direction of where the scream originated, and dropped his jaw, horrified. Andy had the man held firmly by the shoulders, whilst Pete had an iron grip on his legs. Steve however, was standing in front of him, palm outstretched, ready to do what they do best. All their mouths were open, their eyes glowing a bright cyan colour, and emitting that god-awful sound. Sure, people had been horrible to Gary, but he promised himself to fight only those who tried to start one. He pushed past his mind's cloud of surprise and came to his senses.
"Hey! Whoa whoa! STOP!" He yelled as he walked quickly towards them. All their heads whipped round to look at him, stopping him in his tracks. Their eyes were dazzling him. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the light. Gary was reminded of The Beehive, where they saw the Blanks' true form, and where he was in arguably the biggest pub brawl of his life. He would never forget that moment Andrew - the real Andrew - drove a bar stool through Oliver's head, cracking it open, spilling blue everywhere.
Gary's friends released the man and stood up together. They shut their lights shut, and waited for him to speak.
"What do I say about all this?" He asked. "Huh? Tell me." They looked at each other. "Tell me!" He ordered them. Ollie joined in, and they spoke in sync:
"To err is human, to forgive, divine"
"Right." He said, with a slightly condescending tone. "That's what I thought." He let out a sigh of relief, before a small grin revealed itself. "C'mon then lads! We've got stuff to do!" he said enthusiastically. His mood had improved drastically, and he once again pushed the fact that they were Blanks to the far corners of his mind.
"Ohhh, I see" Came a smug voice from behind him. "You ain't got your friends no more, so you picked up this lot as a cheap replacement ey? Verryyyyy dignified." Gary stopped walking. He gave out another sigh, but this one was deeper in tone. More jagged. More angry. Gary turned and walked over to where the fallen Blank lay and picked up it's pistol. He examined it and pulled the chamber back. It was loaded. He gripped the pistol tightly, before walking over to the man. He seemed a little less relaxed now, a slight expression of fear replacing his previously smug one. He tried to shuffle backwards, but he was clearly still a little shaken up from his near-death encounter just now. Gary walked right up to him, and with no hesitation planted his boot on his chest. The man gave a little whimper. He rested his pistol arm on this knee, applying more pressure to his foot. The man began to gasp.
"You- you think you're so tough don't you?" He choked. "Think you're above us all, huh?" Gary feigning interest, nodding his head sarcastically.
"Well, you know…" He said, letting the pistol slip from his grasp just a little, so that the barrel was pointing right at the choking, gasping man. Tears were now flowing down his cheeks. "They don't call me the King for nothing." He said, as he lifted off of potato-face. He looked up at Gary, his face full of rage.
"Fu-"
Gary wasted no time in emptying an entire clip into his face. That shut him up real quick. The fresh holes in his flesh burned and smoked as his head dropped back, hitting the ground with a soft thud. As his final breath escaped him, he still wore the angriest expression Gary had ever seen. One of them, anyway. Prick.
He holstered the now-empty gun into his belt and turned back to his friends. They were all just staring at him, expressionless as ever. He strode over to them.
"C'mon" He said with a pat on Pete's shoulder. "We've got things to do." With that, they turned and followed Gary, and the five of them began to climb the barricade. They reached the top and slid down, one by one. First Pete, then Ollie, Steve, and then Andy. Gary was the last to go. He perched himself on the edge, and slid down. But not before taking one last look at Mr. Potato. Gary felt like he should apologise, or say something.
"Sorry mate." Was all he could think of. At that, he slid down the other side to rejoin his friends, vanishing from sight.