I spent most of my morning searching, 'decomposition of the human body' and going through various sites based on the matter. Since I couldn't ask my dad, I decided to do some research on the internet.
I frown as I stare at the screen like a mindless zombie. I sure felt like one. Blinking repeatedly, as I continue to look at the screen, I rub at my sore eyes and read to find that it really does depend on the situation of the body for it to rot.
Once a living organism would decompose very quickly, especially if exposed to bacteria in the air or water, it will speed up the decomposing process of the body. Gases are produced which lead to bloating. Areas begin to darken in the skin as decay begins and maggots may be seen.
I slump back in my chair, imagining Uryu's pale corpse going black, with rips and tares made from maggots and bugs eating at him. Something like it's out of a cliche horror movie. Maybe he would be turning into a zombie and when we get back to the warehouse, try to kill us for his revenge. I shake myself out of these thoughts and continue to read the very last line.
Decay will lead to unbearable odor as the body continues to decompose.
I found Renji later, standing in the hall of school, his locker open halfway. When he heard me walking towards him, he looked, tired eyes piercing into my own.
"Hey, we need to meet after school," He finally says once I stood next to him.
"I know. Haven't spoken to Grimmjow since last time."
"Last week," Renji corrects me.
"Yeah."
We don't say anything else until two girls walk past us and out of our hearing.
"You look like shit," I start. Honestly, just by looking at him I knew Renji was tired. Actually, tired would be an understatement. It looked like he hadn't been sleeping right, or maybe not at all. He looked more miserable than I'd ever seen him before.
"Look, about that…nothing feels right." He leant in close and whispered, "I know we say it's not our fault and it was an accident. But really, it is." He pulls back and looks inside his locker.
"It's all our fault."
For once I'm silent, stuck in my own thoughts. Uryu's image was constantly flashing in my mind, replaying all the events that led to this situation.
"I can't take it anymore," he says looking at me again. "We need to go to the warehouse so I can tell Grimmjow and you at the same time."
I sigh, wanting to ask what he wants us to know. But he didn't want to tell me here. That's why he was holding up and I could tell he was started to get desperate by the look on his face.
"Okay but did you tell Grimmjow to meet tonight?"
Renji shakes his head, "no."
"I'm not telling him," I state. Renji obviously wanted me to tell him.
"Shit! Then text him if you don't want to see him." I can hear the urge in his voice. Great time to get all scared, when I thought we were getting over that emotion of fear and clambering onto the wise decisions on how to deal with our problem.
"Fine, whatever." I say walking away. I whip out my phone and make it short, hoping this bastard doesn't blow us off.
To my dismay, my research was right.
The stink of Uryu's corpse had become unbearable to the point that I couldn't breathe in the warehouse. One step in and the other, well…it was back outside.
Honestly, I thought I wasn't going to meet up with Grimmjow again, since I haven't even spoken to him the last time we had an argument. But here I was standing outside, during the late evening as the sun started to set, I stood behind the warehouse with Renij and Grimmjow trying to figure out what we were supposed to do with a rotting corpse inside that almost have us gagging. Standing outside was so uncomfortable though, I think the paranoia was just getting to me or something. Seems the two didn't like it either because of the constant looking around. But I was certain nobody would see us. The chilly wind that started to pick up splayed goose bumps over my skin. Looking at the two, I realised how much worse Renji looked compared to Grimmjow.
"I feel guilty that Uryu died. It was our entire fault."
"Where you goin' with this?"
"I'm not gonna beat around the bush, so I'm telling ya both now."
We're all quiet for a few seconds until Renji speaks again, finally telling us what we waited for.
"I'm turning us in."
Another split second of silence and when I look at Grimmjow he looks pissed. No, pissed is an understatement, he looks like he's going to have a nuclear meltdown if that was even possible.
"The fuck did ya just say?" He half yells, exasperated.
"You heard me. I'm not playin'. This shit's getting real serious, man. And I'm not gonna keep lyin' anymo-"
Grimmjow growls, "no yer not!"
"I'll confess if I want, fucker!" Renji bellows.
Oh god. My head snaps between the two of them continuously.
"I'll kill you if you turn us in, Renji!" Grimmjow balls his fists and starts advancing on Renji like a mad man, "I'll fucking kill you!"
My mouth drops open as I stare at Grimmjow approaching Renji, ready to strike.
At this point, the jolt of panic hits my nerves and heightens my senses, adrenaline cursing through me as I watch the two, not sure what to do.
Renji takes a step back, fists in front of him.
"Chill out, man!" Renji yells, taking another step back. "I'm not fighting you!"
"Oh yeah? Then yer not turnin' us in!" Grimmjow yells back, pushing Renji hard in the chest, a thump sounding as Renji loses balance and falls backwards.
"Fuck!" Renji kicks out at Grimmjow when he gets closer, and a few seconds later I realise that I'm in between them, pushing Grimmjow away from Renji.
"What!" Grimmjow yells at me as I'm glaring at him. It's actually frightening being on the bad side to a furious Grimmjow. No wonder no body at school wanted to mess with him. His bright blue eyes pierce into my own, daring me and threatening me silently as I push against his hard chest.
I pull my arm away.
"Enough!" I yell, trying to collect myself, my own voice surprising me at how stern I sound. I look at Grimmjow, not believing what he's been saying.
"We already killed Uryu, how can you threaten to kill Renji too?"
"I didn't kill him," Grimmjow sneers, "how he even died I don't know!"
That got me to thinking suddenly. It's been two weeks and the only thing we've been thinking about was the detective and what we're supposed to do with Uryu's corpse. We couldn't even figure that out though, so how we're supposed to figure out how he died…well, I don't even know.
I give a hand to Renji and help him up.
"How… did he die?" I ask slowly looking at Grimmjow.
"You think he choked on something?" He asks looking back at me.
"No, there was nothing in his mouth."
"Choke on his spit?" Renji says suddenly, as if he spoke without thinking.
"No way," I shake my head.
"Then how? We only blindfolded and gagged him. How's he supposed to die from that?" Grimmjow sighs.
"You think he was already sick or somethin"?
Grimmjow and I both look at Renji who shrugs his shoulders at his own question.
I hear Grimmjow scoff, "what, like he was dying before we got there?"
I open and close my mouth about to say something but nothing came out. Really, I didn't know what to say now. My imagination crept up on me thinking of the strangest possible scenarios that I doubt had even happened. What if Uryu already had something wrong with him that we didn't know of? And then we went in and pranked him like that thinking he'd be alive by the end of it. Yeah, well we fucked up there.
"He didn't look sick," I finally say. "He was fine the day before, looked normal when he was sleeping…only," I start walking back and forth thinking again. I don't want to say anything stupid or that won't make sense so I quiet myself and hope one of them would come up with something. I stop when I remember Uryu convulsing just after the tape was over his mouth.
"Did his eyes role into the back of his head?" I ask suddenly, wondering myself. I couldn't remember, but I remembered how I wanted to laugh and now it started feeling really bad.
Neither of them says anything and I'm left concentrating on how Uryu's corpse stinks. Grimmjow and Renji can slightly smell him too, because they've been looking at the dead body and cringing, covering their nose and mouths. We had no thought with what to do with his body that moment, so after finding a black sheet of plastic bin covering, we placed it over him- like that was going to really do anything. It obviously wasn't going to stop him from rotting.
The mood doesn't feel right at all. I'm standing here trying to figure out what could have happened and they don't seem all too interested. They looked like they wanted to go at each other again, so I thought it'd be better if we left the warehouse. But before that, Grimmjow looked at Renji, telling him seriously,
"Don't tell anyone. Ya do, you'll regret it."
I thought Renji would leave it at that and we'd all go home, but he spoke again and I hoped it wouldn't escalate into another argument.
"What if someone else saw him?" Renji doesn't look at Uryu's corpse, like he's forcing himself not to. He looks at us instead.
"I'm paranoid someone will find him."
"Yeah," I breathe, remembering that Uryu isn't very well hidden from the outside world. "Even though we're the only ones that know about this place… or so I think."
"They're looking for him," Renji reminds us.
"Means they'll look everywhere. Even if I don't tell anyone…someone else might."
"Everywhere, yeah." Grimmjow grunts.
"Even here."
I start to shake. "What are we gonna do?"
After a brief silence, Grimmjow speaks.
"I'll get a lock." He pulls at the thin piece of blue hair that's falling in front of his eyes.
"Lock this place up."
I didn't think about a lock. Kind of makes me feel stupid for not thinking of it earlier. But I'm actually relieved that Grimmjow thought about it.
But then again, if I was a cop though, I'd be looking in warehouses too, abandoned ones especially. When I really think about it, if a lock was found on an abandoned warehouse, they would probably be suspicious enough to break the lock and barge on in. I imagine the scenario in my head, homicide detectives, investigators, finding this place. The findings of Uryu's corpse and then the legal processes attached to our manslaughter. The relief I felt a moment ago washes away. I feel on edge again, worried and no doubt petrified.
I tell the others what I think. Of course locks aren't enough, and somehow, I manage to get that thought into their heads.
We leave before it gets too late. Grimmjow said he'd get a steal lock in the morning and lock up the warehouse early. Just in case, just until we figure out something to do with Uryu's body. It was enough to stop me from over thinking about an accidental find from another person, but still, it was at the back of my mind. I didn't stop worrying about it.
As I lye in bed, deep thoughts about corpses fill my mind. Before I was freaking out, remembering how it looked and how quickly Uryu's face and colour had changed. He had no colour left. He looked white as a sheet and hard as a rock and I'm thinking about what will happen next. He'll start to stink worse, definitely. I can already smell him at the warehouse, under that sheet of black bin plastic we covered over him. I wonder how much more revolting it could get.
The voice inside my head pipes up again. It says that it'll never work. People will find out and I'll get punished for my mistake.
I tell it to shut up and leave me alone.
After a moment everything goes silent.
Hope you enjoyed this chap! Thanks for the reviews, let me know what you think so far :)