New chapter! Dear whoever is still reading this story (not many people anyhoo): Sorry it's taken me so long!.
So yeah, some of the passages here might seem familiar, depending on whether you've read my Salvation fic or not.
I think maybe 2-3 more chapters and I'm done.
Retribution
Chapter 21 - Retribution
"Well fuck me" Connor growled as he turned their car around once more. They had been driving up and down Dorchester Ave for the third now. Murphy stared out of the window. Fort Point was right next to him. He could see all sorts of cars and tents and trailers on the other side of the channel, were a large parking lot was located. The fact that there was no way across the river without barricades and tanks blocking their way wasn't even the worst. What made it even more horrible was the lack of people. They hadn't crossed paths with any soul for the past 15 minutes. Neither dead nor alive.
"There's gotta be a fuckin way over te channel!" Connor growled and headed back to Summer Street Bridge.
Murphy turned his head and looked at his brother, who was slowly losing it. Connor kept scratching his chin nervously as he maneuvered their car around the walkway, since the road was blocked with abandoned cars. They had tried Mass Pike to get further south, but the entire highway had been clogged with cars as well. The older MacManus turned the radio back on and tried to make out the emergency broadcast they had found.
"..at Black Falcon cruise terminal. The national guard and the American red cross have set up emergency pick up points at Fenway Park, Salvation Army Kroc center, Harvard College, Bunker Hill Community College and Suffolk Downs. I repeat, the main Boston refuge center is located at Black Falcon cruise terminal. We offer food, shelter and protection. Civilians are.."
Murphy growled and switched the radio off. Connor frowned and turned his head to look at his brother.
"What te fuck? They were talking about te camp!" he complained and switched the radio back on. Murphy switched it off again.
"Don't you fucking get it?! They've been saying that fer the past 15 minutes! It's a recording, ye fuckin retard! Do you see any army men running around?
National guard? Red cross people? They're all gone!"
The older MacManus slammed the brakes. He pointed at the street to his left, were a massive tank was blocking the rest of the road.
"No fuckin army men? What about this then, huh? And all the cars, all the ambulances, the tents, the signs?!"
"Exactly! There's just cars and shit lying all over the place! The whole thing's fucking deserted!" Murphy yelled and pointed at the streets as well.
Connor fell quiet and turned his head to let his gaze wander. They could hear the wind blowing, the creaking of metal and the fluttering of fabric, but other than that there was absolutely nothing. No car engines, no talking, no steps, just the utterly utterly disturbing silence.
"Well, maybe they're all on the other side of the channel, maybe they just abandoned te west section of this..."
"What part of deserted don't ye fuckin get? If there were any people left, any guards, any army men, then they would be guarding this place like there's no fucking tomorrow! Do ye see any of that over there?" Murphy spat and pointed at Summer Street bridge, where multiple military cars and a helicopter were located, but no people could be seen anywhere. Connor got out of the car with an angry growl and started walking towards the bridge. He could hear how Murphy opened the door and slammed it shut behind him. A second later he was right beside him.
"Where te fuck are ye going?"
"To the other side, there's gotta be people over there" his brother growled and kept walking. Murphy followed him.
"Use yer fuckin brain fer once! There could be.."
Connor turned around and shoved his twin hard.
"It was yer fucking idea t'come here!" he yelled.
"People died on our way here, just because ye thought fuckin boats would be a good idea! I got us here alive, while the whole world around us went t'shit!
So don't you dare talk any of this bullshit now!"
The younger MacManus shoved his twin back and started kicking and punching him.
"It's not all my fault! I didn't get 'em killed, you did! You got Eunice killed cos ye had ta leave us alone and ran off! You almost got yerself killed just because it was yer idea t'try Mass Pike! You got these people in Kenmore killed just cos ye didn't move yer ass fast enough! And it's yer fault Tabby's dead!" he spat and punch Connor's face hard.
"You told her that she'd be okay, that we'd get her outta there, and then ye just left her there!"
They both fell to the ground and started fighting, throwing punches and yelling at each other. It felt like all the frustration, fear, confusion and anger was raining down on them at once, trying to find a way out of their bodies through their fists and insults. They were rolling around in the dirt in front of their car until Connor managed to pin his younger half down.
"I know I left her there, but I had no fucking choice. She would've pulled ye back with her, they would've killed ye!"
Murphy suddenly covered his eyes.
"We fuckin killed a kid, Connor" he sobbed and his twin looked at him in surprise.
"Shit, my clothes are sticking with her blood, my back, my neck.."
Connor shifted and sat down next to his brother, who sobbed once more and tried to get rid of all the blood on his back.
He gave up after a while and looked up at the sky.
"We didn't kill 'er Murph. Those unholy creatures did."
"I was supposed t'look after her. She fuckin trusted me. I should've run faster."
"Me, too" the older MacManus said quietly and they stopped talking.
For a while they didn't move or say anything. Murphy was still lying on the ground, trying to recover from his breakdown. He couldn't stop asking the question over and over again. Why? I thought you were watching over us. The sky above his head was grey and cloudy, emphasizing the mood. The world really was ending.
"I couldn't do it" Connor said and Murphy turned his head.
The blonde twin moved his hand through his hair and let out a shaky sigh.
"I know it was wrong. I know it was selfish. Yer right, she was just a kid. She didn't deserve t'die like this, but I just couldn't save her first. The second I saw ye two my brain just went blank. I was driven by instinct. I saw ye and I just knew that I had t'get ye out of there first" he looked at his brother and swallowed. "She was bit. And..." he snorted and shook his head. Murphy saw that his brother's hands were shaking. "I knew that she was dead anyway. But you were there, in so fucking danger. I knew I'd only get you outta there alive if the walkers were busy with her."
Murphy just stared at his brother.
"What?"
Connor sighed and nodded. He turned his head to look at all the abandoned cars to their right.
"Remember that day when those Russians broke in and tried t'shoot ye?"
The younger MacManus didn't answer. He was still shocked because of what he'd just heard.
"That was just like that. I thought they were gonna take ye away from me again. And whenever that happens I just see red, man. Last time I ripped a toilet outta the ground and jumped off a building. Didn't even care about my own life there, I was alright with dying if only I knew fer sure that I'd save you. This time I was alright with sacrificing a kid just so I could save you."
He looked at his brother again.
"And that's scaring the shit outta me, Murph. This world, it's fucking with us."
The younger MacManus got up and grabbed his brother by the collar of his pea coat to throw him to the ground.
Connor winced and looked up at his twin, surprised to see the strange look on his face.
"Would you have done te same fuckin thing if the walkers hadn't bit her yet?"
"What? Murph, I.."
"Answer me!" Murphy yelled and Connor looked at him for a while.
"Aye."
The look on the dark-haired MacManus' face changed drastically. Connor could see how hurt his twin looked all of the sudden, so disappointed and angry.
"This isn't how Ma raised us. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality!" he said and got up.
Murphy started walking back to the car and Connor sat up.
"Well fuck this! What was I sapposed ta do? Try t'save her and risk that they bite ye as well?"
He got up and went after his twin.
"Every fucking night I'm dreaming that yer dead, that yer one of 'em. Just seeing it there kills me every night, so what else should I've done? Yeah I get that it wasn't the right thing t'do, but fuck that! What's it worth if I end up alone with everyone around me dead? The old rules don't apply here any longer, Murph! She was bit! And ye know what happens when they bite ye!"
Murphy stopped walking and snorted. He turned around to face him.
"So what, if I get bit, are ye gonna leave me t'the walkers as well just so you can save yer ass?"
Connor darted forward and shoved him hard.
"Don't ye fuckin dare say something like that!"
Murphy just stared at him and didn't shove back.
"They're never gonna bite you. If I have t'kill all of fucking Boston. That's never gonna happen."
They looked at each other until Murphy turned around again with a sign.
"Let's find a fuckin boat and get te fuck outta here."
"Well, te way I see it, we could either try t'climb over those fences, or we crash 'em with te car" Connor said and shook the gates that blocked their way to the other side of Summer Street bridge. They had tried to shoot the locks and chains off, but it was pointless. Murphy looked at the blockade as well.
"And crash te fucking car? They didn't build those fences fer nothing. They obviously don't want anyone t'get in" he murmured and started shaking them, too.
"Well, looks like we gotta climb over it."
"Over barbed wire."
Connor looked at his brother with an angry frown.
"Stop being so fuckin pessimistic! We made it here! Boats! One stupid gate's not gonna keep us from getting there! We're gonna throw yer coat over it."
Murphy frowned as well.
"What? There's no way we're using my coat! Why's it gotta be my coat?"
"Because it's ruined anyway."
The younger MacManus could still feel the sticky coolness on his back, smelled the disgusting stench of dried blood.
"Guess yer right" he murmured and swallowed hard.
Connor made his way to their car, which they had parked in front of the blockade.
"'m gonna get our stuff and move te car closer so it's easier fer us t'get to the other side" he said and Murphy moved out of the way with a sigh.
He started walking down Summer street for a bit, just to take one last look at the abandoned city that had once been their home. Skyscrapers were rising up to his left and right, and he still felt very odd about the whole atmosphere. It was so surreal to see them all abandoned, to see all the tanks and military cars. It looked like there had been a war, with a few bodies still lying on the ground. How had they managed to miss all this? They had seen it on television days before, images of chaos in other major cities, New York, Los Angeles, but it had felt like it was only a movie. Because this all really looked like a movie setup. Because things like this couldn't possibly real. How could this be real? Most importantly, how was it going to end?
Murphy stopped walking when he saw a figure in military clothes walking around one of the cars in front of him, with his back turned on him. The figure suddenly stopped walking as well and just stood there. For a moment neither of them moved. Then he heard the all too familiar noise coming from the streets in front of them. Groaning, moaning, the dragging of feet. "Oh shit" the younger MacManus gasped and the figure turned around.
"Oh shit! Murphy yelled when he saw that the soldier was missing his jaw. The figure started staggering in his direction, but instead of running away the dark-haired twin decided to start walking as well. He grabbed his machete and approached the walker, because he didn't just want to kill him, he also wanted to see where the other noise was coming from. The undead started growling and hissing and walked faster. The younger MacManus approached him without hesitation, and when he was close enough he hit the walker's head.
"Murph!" he heard his brother yell as he was putting the corpse to the ground. He got up and sighed.
"It's alright! Got 'im!" he answered and kicked the dead walker.
When he looked up he finally he saw them, too. An uncountable number of undead, making their way down Summer Street, across Dewey Square Plaza to his right, coming from all sides. The younger MacManus widened his eyes in shock. "Fuck!" he shouted and turned around so he could run back to his brother. He gasped when he nearly ran into another walker, which was coming from the small park to his left. Murphy killed the undead with his machete and looked up in horror. Walkers were coming from all sides now.
"Murph!" he heard Connor shout once more and grabbed both his guns to shoot his way out.
"I'm here!" he yelled back and kicked a walker away, trying to find his twin. After fighting for a couple of minutes, and the walkers behind him getting closer,
he could finally see his brother moving through the crowd of the undead, slicing and cutting his way back to him.
"Come on, run faster ye bastard, they're fuckin everywhere!" Connor shouted and waited for him to get back.
"Go back! I'll watch yer back Con. We're almost fucking there!" Murphy answered and his brother nodded.
The younger MacManus turned around again so he could shoot the walkers that were getting too close.
"Don't waste our fuckin ammo! We haven't got much left! And we're only half way outta te city!" Connor yelled over his shoulder and started running again, killing walkers with his machete on his way back to the car. Why was this happening to them? he thought and cursed when his weapon got stuck in one of the walkers head's. Just a second ago they had been all by themselves, and now there was chaos all around them. It felt like the undead were always following them, always catching up on them. It only made him angry. They had made their way to the terminal, but now it looked like it was just as overrun as the rest of the city.
"'t was yer fuckin idea ta come here!" he yelled once more and kicked the walker who still got the machete stuck in her head.
He nearly lost grip of his weapon and got even angrier at Murphy. It had been his stupid plan to go to this part of the city after all. We should've known. I should've known. After everything we went through t'get here, I should've know that the city center isn't safe. The older MacManus was just about to yell at his brother again when he heard how Murphy's pained scream echoed through the streets. Connor turned around in absolute horror. A walker was right behind his brother, biting his neck and chewing on his flesh. Murphy tried to fight him off but couldn't.
"Connor!" he screamed in pain and looked at his twin with wide eyes.
His screams and shouts were getting louder with every second the undead was sinking his teeth in his neck.
Other walkers got attracted by the noise and started walking in his direction as well.
"NO!" Connor yelled at the top of his lungs and started running back.
"NO!" he screamed, pulled his gun and shot the walker that was attacking his twin in the head.
The creature fell down and ripped a piece of flesh out of Murphy's neck while doing so.
"NO! MURPH!"
When he finally reached his younger half they just looked at each other for a second, utterly terrified. The younger gasped and grabbed his neck. He was so shocked. So scared. He let go of his wound and looked at the blood on his hand in surprise. Connor did the same. For a second neither of the could move or say anything, then Murphy's legs gave in.
"No..! Oh god, no!" Connor gasped as he caught him and placed a hand on his neck.
He could feel the wetness of the blood on his palm. His hand and Murphy's clothes were drenched within seconds.
"I've got ye, oh fuck! Murph! I've got ye! Yer gonna be okay...yer gonna be.."
He could hear how the walkers got even closer and his mind went blank.
"You motherfuckers! You fuckin bastards I fuckin kill you!" Connor screamed at the top of his lungs and hauled his brother up with him. He pointed his gun at the undead and started shooting them, yelling and screaming all the way through. For a second he couldn't think or hear anything, the rage was eating him up. He shot about eight walkers until he heard his brother groan, and this snapped him out of it. He looked at all the creatures who were slowly closing in on them and finally realized that he had to take his brother away. Some place safe. The older MacManus turned his head and tried to make out any place where they could hide, only to see that the way back to their car and the terminal was completely blocked by now. He looked at his brother's messy black hair on his shoulder and tried not to panic.
"'m gonna get us outta here, Murph. Yer gonna be okay" he said shakily and searched their surroundings once more.
His brain was slowly starting to see past the rage, to a point where he could actually focus again.
"There!" he yelled when he spotted a half-open steel door to their left and started running.
He was running as fast as he could, but soon he couldn't hold back the tears anymore.