~ That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, and aeroplane –~ Hm? Oh… uh… well, this is awkward… I was… kind'a expecting the world to end, so I went ahead and deleted all my files so any future settlers wouldn't steal my ideas…

Ah, who am I kiddin'?! Happy Apocalypse day! (And oh God will I feel shitty if the world DOES end. Which it won't.)

Chapter 76
The Right Choice

Waking up at eight in the morning sharp, Nick climbed out of the bed with a slight groan. For a moment he wondered how the list would progress before realising that there was no more list. Not anymore. A normal morning? Well damn. Nick stood up, heading towards the bathroom. Taking a quick shower to get rid of any tiredness he eventually got out and dried off. Moving towards the mirror he couldn't help but notice his face. Somehow, he looked far older than his age, which frightened him somewhat.

Guess that's what it does to you. Running one hand through his hair, Nick took up a toothbrush and starting brushing automatically. His old cop schedule was coming back now that the immediate threat was over. Take a shower, brush your teeth, shave what needs to be shaved, get changed. Nick went through the motions until he sat in a chair half past eight, elbows on the table and hands on his chin, staring at a window with pursed lips.

He was staying in a cousin's apartment, although technically the cousin didn't know he was there. The cousin had just said that if Nick ever found himself in New York without a place to come there. Nick had taken up the offer, although this was the first night he had stayed there since they got out of Willingboro.

It was strange, that much was for sure. Sun was shining through the window, lighting up the table. It was surreal after everything that had happened; a mockery of peace. In only a short time Nick had been in a supernatural situation, seen people die and even caused death himself, deliberately at that.

Not much of a cop now, are you?

That brought Nick back to his career. He knew he had to contact the police soon. After all, his name would be on the workforce of the Willingboro department. Chances would be that they thought him dead, just like everybody else in Willingboro that was unaccounted though. They say it's 'MIA', but everyone knew they were dead. Just a dread feeling.

Nick saw a TV in the corner and spied a remote on the table he was leaning on. With a small sigh he clicked the TV on and switched to a news channel, wondering if there was any coverage on Willingboro. Just as he expected, there was. A disaster such as that wasn't going to go away quickly.

"…thousands are still unaccounted for and officials urge any possible survivor to come forward for help in find out exactly what happened to the township. Currently, scientists and researchers on the scene suspect a serious but freak tectonic disaster, and-"

Switching off the TV after only a few seconds, Nick shook his head. How can they even start wondering what it was? They couldn't guess what really happened. No one could. Nick to a breath and simply sat, enveloped by his own thoughts. He really didn't feel like going out or doing anything, really. He jumped suddenly as his mobile rang in his pocket. Flipping the phone out, he pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Nick, it's Lisa."

"Lisa?" Nick's surprise was clear.

"Mm-hmm, the one and only. Unless I have a twin sister somewhere… anyway, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Well, it's about Fisk. I know you were there and I also know Detrikov will be a stubborn son-of-a… well, he'll be stubborn talking about it. And besides, I wanted to ask you if… if me and Joshua, or the rest of the survivors really, if we're under threat from him."

"Under threat? What do you mean?"

"Tyrone and Jason, both were hypnotised to kill Joshua and me respectively. I know Detrikov killed Fisk because of that as well. I've just been thinking that it's not out of the way to expect Detrikov's been programmed to get rid of me and Joshua as well."

"… I honestly don't know, Lisa. But, I think he's dealing with it himself. He's smart. I meant, Detrikov wasn't missing an arm with Fisk. That was only recent, so I think that he's slowly getting rid of whatever influence Myers had."

"I guess…" Lisa clicked her tongue. "…Did he say anything when he was… when he was dying?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Richard is hiding something from me and-"

A voice called out from Lisa's end. "I'm not hiding it, I just need to tell you along with the others at the end of the week!"

"Well, okay then. I suppose I ought to ask, are you available-"

Lisa's voice faded from his mind as Nick caught the door to the room opening. He wasn't expecting any kind of visitor, and what sort of visitor didn't knock? Nick's eyes widened ever so slightly as Beatrice Myers walked in.

"Nick? Are you there?"

"I'll call you back." Nick said quietly, hanging up on Lisa. He watched as Beatrice sat down on the table, the pistol he had given her in her hands. "Hello, Beatrice."

Beatrice motioned to the sit on the other side of the table, opposite her. Getting the message, Nick sat down. "You know… I couldn't believe that you were in the same building as I was." Beatrice started, her voice weary. "The girls are sleeping two floors above. They'll be waking up soon." Beatrice kept on fiddling with the pistol, rotating it around and around with her slender fingers. She took a breath before propping the pistol up on the table, the barrel pointed towards Nick. "…When I looked into your eyes in that apartment, I saw 'evil eyes'. I saw them everywhere I went and Gerald protected me from them. He was the only one who had eyes I could trust, eyes that were good. I've only just realised that it was completely opposite. Gerald was the one with 'evil eyes'.

"You… When I looked into your eyes, I knew you regretted what you did. And that confused me. You killed him quite deliberately, you talked and you talked but you shot him and you regretted it? I couldn't quite wrap my head around it. Why would you spend so much time deliberating just to regret it? It slowly came to me, piece by piece, a puzzle in my mind finally forming together to make a whole. You had to do it. I still don't know why and to be honest I'm not sure I want to know, but Gerald had to die." Beatrice chewed her bottom lip gently, her eyes trained on her finger that was resting on the trigger of the pistol. "I called his workplace. I never had reason to before. They had never heard of a Gerald Myers. I called all the other people who Gerald supposedly worked for in his past. Nothing. As if he didn't exist.

"Then it hit me. It hit me that I was being manipulated. Oddly enough, I was fine with that. What infuriates me is he manipulate my children." Beatrice shook her head. "And that's the thing. That's what I finally realized, as if coming up from a bout of amnesia. Abby and Mary, they weren't Gerald's. I brought them to him as babies. From what I've seen, what I've heard, I can only assume that he wanted the cover of being a family man. Abby and Mary and I, we were that cover."

Beatrice clicked her tongue for a few seconds before looking back up to Nick. "But I still can't forgive you. Not because he was my husband – as fake as that was – but because you shot a man in front of my daughters. Who knows if that will affect them in the future? Will their minds be forever broken? They are young, their minds are fragile. So I want to know, Nicholas Casey. Do you truly regret doing what you did?"

Beatrice's eyes were like sharp daggers, stabbing into Nick's own. He took a quick breath before laying his hands on the table, fingers spread out. "I do not regret killing Gerald Myers. By killing him, I have ended a lot of misery for a lot of people. In no way do I regret what I did." Nick paused for a moment, before continuing. "But I do regret that you and your children had to see it. I tried to get you out but I couldn't. Myers had you under his grasp and you wouldn't move. If I didn't act, Myers would have had the advantage. So I had to shoot then and there." Nick moved his hand over his face. "Trust me. Your daughter's eyes will haunt me for a long, long time." Lowering his hand back to the table, Nick was surprised to see small pebbles of tears in Beatrice's eyes.

"I… I knew you were a good person… I just had to hear it…" Beatrice slid the pistol across the table, where it rested in front of Nick. "Take it back. I've never shot a pistol anyway, let alone a man. I'd probably end up missing you." Beatrice stood up and silently walked towards the door before she suddenly stopped. She turned around. "Can you… can you tell me what Gerald has done? Everything."

Nick frowned slightly. "I'm not sure you'll want to hear. He has done a lot of bad things."

"No. No, I want to hear." Beatrice moved back towards the table. "Anything to convince myself that he was a fake. Because a small voice in my mind still tells me that I loved him. But I don't think I did. Tell me everything he has done, please. As payment for my daughters."

Nick sighed. "It is a long story."

"I have time." Beatrice glanced upwards. "Let me take care of Abby and Mary, and I'll come back down."

Nodding, Nick watched as Beatrice left the room. He let out a long breath, his eyes turning towards the pistol. She may forgive me, but I cannot forgive myself. Their eyes… I don't think she made the right choice, I really don't…

A/N: Thanks to Princezzshell101 for the, as always, awesome reviews! So, how's your day going? I haven't seen any fire, broken buildings, burning skeletons, zombies, mecha-zombies, mecha-animal-zombies or dangerous lumberjacks. I'm half disappointed. So much for the planet's destruction… *ahem*
So, in honour of Apocalypse day, I'm gonna go ahead and submit two chapters just in case of the improbable possibility of the world blowing up. Maybe you can read my chapters while everyone you know burns into flame and your eyeballs will fizz out with the remnants of my chapters on your eyes. Heh.
I'll see you next chapter! 'Till then!