The Power of Silence
Chapter 24 – A Falling Out

IT WAS HORRIBLY QUIET.

Normally, Alexander wouldn't be upset by the lack of din. He actually quite enjoyed silence, and the endless quiet that now enveloped the city around him should have had a welcome presence. No annoying car alarms, no pointless chatter from pedestrians, no construction noise. Just the tiny noise of the gentle nighttime breeze shuffling the leaves on the trees and his own footsteps.

Normally, he would have loved it. The situation called for him to be on edge, however. New York was the city that never slept. The impenetrable silence had no place in the middle of Central Park.

X had hoped they would find some signs of people who had survived the... whatever it was that happened, but there was not a single person to be found. Just a lot of crashed cars and piles of clothes. The clothes lined every street, filled every restraint patio, rested on the seat of every smashed automobile. It was like everyone vanished instantly, and they didn't bring their belongings with.

X was seriously considering the idea of the Rapture. Andrew had a different idea in mind.

"You know," he said, "I was really expecting us to see some zombies by now. They should come out at night, right?"
X crossed his arms. "This ain't a movie."

"I know, I know," returned the stout man, "but it looks just like one, doesn't it? Abandoned city with no explanation, not a single soul around."

The businessman looked around him like he was expecting some of the flesh-eating monsters to jump out from nowhere. If they did, X would have honestly not be surprised. If something as idiotic as the Rapture had come true, than maybe a zombie apocalypse was also possible.

He removed his sunglasses and peered into the night, looking for movement. The lights had been off for some time, he could tell, and the entire zoo was covered in shadow. His trained eyes could still make out familiar shapes such as the habitat boundaries, trashcans, and benches, the fountain in the middle of the entrance square. Besides that it was almost like he was blind.

He saw a flash of movement come from behind the fountain and directed his eyes to its source. There was a shadow moving swiftly across the pavement. In a flash it jumped behind the corner of a small wall and was gone. X gritted his teeth. The penguins were already out and were aware of the missing people, it seemed.

"Alice should be around here somewhere," Andrew stated, squinting his eyes to peer into the darkness.

X didn't respond. He merely walked around to the back of the van and opened it, pulling a hand held spotlight from the door. He flicked the switch on and the light blinked to life, revealing more information about the situation.

Andrew gasped when the light fell onto a pile of clothes just outside the penguin's habitat. The stout man moved with unbelievable speed over to the cloth and picked it up in his hands. He pried something off of the shirt and held it up for X to see. His voice was a little shaky as he said, "These are Alice's clothes."

X nodded. He wasn't surprised that the redhead had disappeared at all. After all, she seemed to be worthy of the Rapture, unlike himself and Mr. Green.

Andrew looked curiously down at the name tag in his hand and said, "Why would Alice leave her clothes just laying in the middle of the zoo?"

X was tired of his nativity. "She's gone, dumbass."

Andrew glanced up at him, his glasses reflecting the bright light from the spotlight. He paused a moment, and then countered, "No. She must be around here somewhere."

The large man walked over to the businessman and picked up the khaki colored baseball cap, holding up for Andrew to see. "Read my lips. She. Is. Gone. Just like everyone else."

"But... but," Andrew stuttered.

X began to shine the light around the zoo, looking for signs of movement. He saw several of the animals in their habitats. They were all almost staring at him. Some seemed to look curious, some seemed to look angry. Then X realized something. The animals had been unaffected by whatever took all the people.

Suddenly the idea of the Rapture was fitting the case.

"Where did she go? Where did everyone go?" Andrew continued, rubbing Alice's shirt between his fingers.

X knew he couldn't tell Andrew about his theory. If the sly con-artist knew that X was even considering a religious explanation, he would use it as a weak point for more badgering. X was already past his breaking point with the man, and he didn't think he could put up with much more. The only reason he was keeping his cool was because of the CIES. At this point, though, he was considering giving that up. The device wouldn't be useful anyway if there was nobody to survey with it.

"Beats me," he offered.

"Its like they just up and vanished, leaving all of their belongings where they last stood. Like some powerful energy went through this place and just..." Mr. Green's words trailed off as he tapped his chin.

"What?" asked X.

"I... I've seen this before. You'll think I'm crazy, but I know what happened."

"Go on," urged the big man. Whatever the businessman had to say wasn't going to be any more crazy than his own theory.

Andrew then spun a fabrication of some of the craziest things X had ever heard of. The idea of him going to Antarctica in pursuit of the penguins he was now supposed to be protecting was completely crazy. The supposed fact that there was supposed to be a massive temple there that contained some ancient artifact called the Sun was even more idiotic. The idea that the artifact had the ability to absorb human beings was not even worth considering.

"It's true," insisted Andrew. "I saw someone disappear right in front of my eyes after he got hit by this big ball of energy. Then, all that was left was his clothes."

"I'll believe it when I see it," X returned.

"Me too," affirmed the businessman. "That energy that vaporized that one man was not very large. It wouldn't have the ability to take out a whole city like this. Something bigger must have happened."

X nodded. There a was a pause of silence for a moment, and then he said, "You're taking the fact that your fiance just got zapped pretty well."

Andrew closed his eyes quickly, tightening his fists at X's words. It was like he felt a massive pang of sadness that overtook his whole body. X was actually surprised when he just fell to the ground after that moment. He didn't really understand the man's feelings.

Officer X had never gotten attached to anyone. He knew that everyone around him and everyone he was associated with was always at a risk of death because of him. He knew that the people he associated himself with wouldn't be above ordering him to kill his best friend or his lover. That was why he was such a loner in his little house in the suburb. Every relationship he had was purely business, and that was all.

When Andrew quivered on the ground as rolling sobs overtook him, it almost sickened him. It reminded him too much of some of the people he had shot, pleading for their lives. This was a slightly different kind of crying though, mournful and not begging for mercy. He found himself feeling very uncomfortable and he stepped away from Andrew, letting him have a few moments alone as he grasped the clothing that he was now laying on.

That was why X never got emotionally attached to anyone or anything. Life was just too unpredictable.

He walked slowly over to the penguin habitat and shined his light in. To his surprise he saw three of the four penguins he was assigned to protect. His eyes immediately found the tall bird from the facility those ten years ago. It took a few steps back from him as he leaned over the railing before dropping its clipboard entirely and bolting down the penguins' trapdoor.

X not getting attached to anything didn't just include love. It is easy to hate things in the world, to be so consumed by anger at a particular thing that its impossible to see the good in it. X knew that. That's why he never held a grudge; never hated anything. Work was work.

He was glad he didn't hate the bird. He could have never predicted that he would be ordered to protect the same bird he was trying to kill ten years ago.

Then again, there wasn't anything saying he needed to protect the birds. The poachers he was supposed to be defending them against probably didn't even exist anymore, based on the lack of evidence of any people still existing besides himself and Mr. Green. He didn't even really want the CIES anymore, so why was he still here?

Should he leave? He could certainly tell it would make that tall penguin happy. The way it bolted from him each time he looked at it; he knew that it was still terrified of him. There were a lot of people in the world who were terrified of him, though. One penguin didn't make much of a difference.

He glanced for a moment at the other two penguins. The one with the flat head was scowling at him profusely, his eyes narrowed. The large, scarred one was looking at him with what could only be curiosity. It was strange to think that the birds were actually expressing emotions, but X only got the feeling that they too hated him as they lowered themselves back into their concrete home.

Did the tall bird tell his new friends about X? Was that even possible? X wasn't so sure.

The large man turned back around and saw that Green had composed himself a bit and was now folding Alice's clothes into a neat little pile.

The stout businessman sniffled and asked, "What now?"

Private was beginning to feel a little lightheaded as he approached Marlene's habitat. It was either because of the blood loss from his reopened scar or the realization of what had actually just happened moments ago.

It had all happened so fast that Private was having a hard time believing it was actually true. Was he really kicked off the team? He found himself wishing with all of his being that it wasn't true. But it was. He was no longer part of the quartet that he had found family in for the last two years.

The physical proof of that realization was not nearly as powerful as the emotional impact that came with it. As he waddled ever closer to Marlene and Julien's habitat, Private felt his anger waning and felt it overcome with different feelings. Hurt, betrayal, desperation, depression. Overarching sadness. By the time he reached the entrance to the small mammal exhibit he was choking back tears.

His flippers no longer quivered from tenseness and his headache had faded away into nothing. His scar still stung with unbelievable pain, but it wasn't the hot burning that had existed when he had been in the bunker. Overall his body felt exhausted and he couldn't get his mind off of the knowledge that Skipper was now practically his enemy.

For the last year he had done nothing but look up to the flat-headed penguin for guidance. Ever since Private had been taken forcibly to America from his parents in Britain he had needed some sort of leader figure. Skipper had taken that role, and now he had ruined that bond entirely. It made Private wince as he thought about it.

He had felt the same way when he punched Skipper in the gut as when he pushed Kowalski in the water. Like he wanted nothing more than to hurt the flat-headed penguin. Like the only thing that satisfied him was knowing the bird across from him was in pain. Pain equal to what he was feeling.

Skipper wasn't like Kowalski. Kowalski was passive aggressive and did not retaliate immediately to Private's act of violence. The tall bird only repressed the action, held it against Private in everything he did from that point on. Skipper was different. He suffered from the same anger issues that Private was now experiencing.

That was why Skipper had pummeled him to the concrete of the HQ. Skipper didn't take well to being spoken down to by the birds he was supposed to be leading. He was probably molded that way from his time in the Penguin Army. Private wished he had seen that before his sudden outburst. Maybe then he could have taken his dishonorable discharge with more pride and not destroyed the bond that he and Skipper shared.

Private had reached the entrance to Marlene and Julien's drainage pipe. He saw a flickering, orange light coming from inside and new that they were awake. He was thankful, he didn't want to just barge in while they were sleeping, bleeding everywhere. He leaned quietly against the entrance of the pipe and took a few breaths, trying to compose himself.

He tried wiping the tears that were now streaking down his feathers away but wound up only making them more messy by spreading the crimson liquid around his beak more. He decided to take a moment and use Marlene's pool to clean his face before he entered and tried to explain why his scar had been reopened.

He waddled over to the pool and knelt before it, using feeling a little better as the cold water splashed off his watertight feathers. It dripped off his beak and chin, taking the red stains with it. He splashed some into his eyes to clear them and then tried to clean his wound a bit.

He blinked a few times to clear his eyes, using his flippers to wipe the excess water from his face. He felt a little better already, but one thought about Skipper almost brought him to tears all over again. He shook his head gently before turning.

He was caught off guard as Julien barreled him down. The two of them tumbled and fell into the pool, rolling over each other. They splashed into the pool and Private felt the water go up his nose and into his mouth. He struggled to break the surface and pulled himself to the edge of the pool, coughing.

Julien was as equally surprised. He had tried to vault over the pool but instead ran smack into Private. He pulled himself out of the water and wiped his face, shaking some of the dripping water from his fur.

"Julien?" Private asked as he too pulled himself back out of the water.

Julien didn't say anything and only looked at Private with his massive, hazel eyes. After a few moments Julien reached out and touched the side of Private's face, and Private winced. He felt the blood he had received on his fingertips for a moment and then raced away from him, pushing his way through the animal-sized door in the wall.

Private knew immediately why he was running. The fight between Marlene and Julien he had walked in on earlier that day. It must have escalated into something much more serious than little paintings and broken blenders. Forgetting about his own problems for a minute, he made new haste and entered the drainage pipe.

He wasn't surprised when he saw Marlene kneeling in the center of the room, crying with her face in her hands. A ring of ruined junk was surrounding her. Private noted the smashed fruit on the walls. The ruined painting from before now was completely shredded. Julien's blender was smashed in the corner. The blankets were strewn sloppily everywhere and the few pieces of Marlene's furniture were upturned.

Marlene hadn't noticed him enter, so he quietly slipped into the room and grabbed the closest rag he could find. It was soaked in what he presumed was liquified mango, but it did its job of stemming the flow of blood from his face. He tiptoed towards Marlene after that point, not wanting to startle her.

"Marlene?" he said, trying to gently get the otter's attention.

Immediately the otter's face shot up and Private's heart skipped a beat. Her blank eyes, narrowed at him, her bared teeth, her claws fully drawn. She was completely feral—a problem the penguins she knew she has had for a long time. Private brought his flippers up to guard his face as she launched herself at him.

"Marlene! It's me, Private!" he cried desperately as he dodged her charge. She spun on the place and looked at him, a distinct look of bloodlust in her eyes. Private suddenly grew very fearful for his own safety as she charged at him again.

Thinking quickly he took a step back and then launched himself forward, jumping into the air. Marlene had gone low, and he found it easy to land on top of her and pin her arms to the ground. She struggled for a a few moments, but then her growls and snarls turned into a pitiful, choppy cry. Shortly after that she reverted back to her peaceful self.

Private pushed himself off of Marlene and then sat next to her before she crawled up into his arms. She was sobbing uncontrollably, her body going into intense shaking. Private wasn't sure what to do as he sat there but gently stroke her fur. He had lost the rag and he felt the blood from his wound start to streak down his cheek again but he didn't care.

They sat like that for a long time before Private finally felt Marlene calm down a bit, her breathing back under control. A few more moments and she was once again breathing softly, making small noises from time to time. Private let her lay in his lap for a few more minutes before he gently nudged her shoulder just to find out that she had fallen completely asleep.

He felt a little warmness grow inside him. The otter looked so peaceful in sleep, even with her tear-matted fur. Private completely forgot about his confrontation with Skipper as he stroked the otter's fur gently with his flipper.

Marlene had gone feral on Julien. Private hadn't the slightest why or how, since she had never lost it in the confines of the zoo before, but it had happened. The ruined home and Julien's fearful eyes were direct results of that. Now she had cried herself to sleep, knowing the damage she had just caused.

The confrontation came flying back. The damage she had caused, the damage he had caused. Irrevocable, unrepairable mistakes. Both of their lives had been thrown into turmoil and he didn't even know where to start thinking about it.

For now, it was his turn to cry.

He felt his eyes water and he completely lost it. He let his body fall into spasms as he leaned forward and cried into Marlene's fur, letting everything the had built up over the last few days spill out. He cried and cried until eventually he felt Marlene's arms wrap themselves around him and then he cried some more.

He knew his wound was dripping scarlet liquid onto Marlene but he didn't care. Just more blood, more tears. Skipper hated him. Kowalski hated him. All the humans were gone. The Sun wouldn't even explain to him what was going on. He was lost, confused, and completely broken.

Sleep was the only thing that took the pain away as he cried until, much like Marlene, he fell into his dreams.

Author's Note: Extra midweek update! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter; you guys really motivated me to get this chapter done sooner. If you cried at the end, join the party. I cried writing it.

Anyway, here's the deal. So everyone's favorite evil dolphin will be appearing in this story in the next few chapters and he needs a first name. I figured I'd let you readers send in suggestions, and I will pick whatever is most creative or sounds the best.

So fill in the blank: _ "Flippy" Blowhole