The Dust Settles
Rigby and I have gotten into some serious shit before, but this one was a disaster.
After all of the spirits were gone, a lot of things were left to clean up. From the park, we could see the flames still dancing and the smoke rising from a distance. Soon sirens were heard coming from all sides. Me, Rigby, and Skips drove off into the city to see if there was anything we could do to help. We left Margaret and Eileen to get Pops out of the closet after hearing him crying and screaming for help. Poor guy. Muscleman was still in shock and was on his knees, motionless.
I kept a firm grasp on the steering wheel, preparing my heart to witness the damage that was caused.
"Man, I feel sick to my stomach."
"Me too," Rigby said.
"Let's just get on with this and hope this night ends quickly."
"Yeah…"
Skips huffed in agreement.
Once we got into the heart of the chaos, I wanted to break down and cry. ["The Last Man" from PROTOTYPE Soundtrack plays] The outbreak didn't even last two hours and yet this much damage was caused. Cars were flipped over and shops were filled with flames. Dozens of dead bodies were in the streets scattered about. Some had their heads bashed in, some had large gashes on their bodies, and some had no scars at all but were still dead.
"They probably didn't have the will to handle the possession," Skips said.
We walked further into the street. Ambulances, fire trucks and police cars soon assembled. The survivors must have called for help. Alas! No one really knew where to start. They were all just as shocked as we were, but soon buckled down and did their duties. An officer spotted us and approached us.
"Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're just seeing if there's any way we can help," I said.
"Hah," the officer chuckled fearfully. "Listen I barely know what's going on. I sent my men out to see how far this has spread. Either of you guys know what happened?"
"I can explain," Skips stepped up. "Mordecai and Rigby, go look around and see if you can find any survivors and help them out."
"But it's just the two of us! How are we going to be able to help all these people?" I asked.
Skips turned his head to a bunch of paramedics.
"You guys! Help these two help the injured!" Skips shouted. He then turned his head to the firemen. "And you! Extinguish any fire you see! Save everyone you can! Hell! Save a damn kitten from a tree! Just stop standing there and do your job! And officer, make sure your men are ready! Now do I make myself clear?" [Music ends]
"Yes sir!" we all shouted at once. Did Skips have experience as a leader or something? Meh, goal figure; with his mysterious history, he could have been a general for all I know. The firemen went into their trucks and drove off. Me, Rigby, and the paramedics went into one of the ambulances and went off to find any survivors. We had to drive slowly to make sure we wouldn't miss a single person. Every now and again we would find someone, but they would soon die from severe lack of energy and fatigue. They just couldn't go on. Fortunately, the more we ventured, the more people had the energy to make it into the ambulances and hang on.
"Hey I just remembered something," Rigby while we were searching for survivors on foot.
"What?"
"Doesn't Benson live around this area?"
I looked around and saw an apartment complex to the left of us. Benson's apartment was there.
"Oh shit! Come on we gotta see if he's still okay!"
We ran to his apartment and bust opened his door. The entire place was trashed. The windows were smashed, and everything was turned upside down. We heard some groaning to what seemed to be coming from the kitchen. The groaning got louder the closer we got. We saw a metallic leg sticking out from a heap of garbage piled on top of it. We scooped the garbage out of the way and found Benson's face, then his glass head: It had a huge crack in the middle and a hole at the upper left with a couple of gumballs leaking out.
We picked him up and brought him to the ambulance. We were worried he wouldn't make it, after all most of his head was severely damaged.
The rest of the night went on and the cleanup went well. We were able to find Shell, Jenny, and Pete Bowing all in great shape. Pete said he was locking up when the spirits started to invade. He used the bowling balls and pins to his advantage to fight off anyone who got close. He didn't know those possessed people were still themselves and ended killing most of them. We couldn't blame him. It's kill or be killed in situations like this. Well…at least situations that we cause anyway.
Shell and Jenny freaked out after hearing a stray gun shot. Since Jenny was at Shell's house during the time, they both ran into Shell's panic room. She was always a jumpy and paranoid type person. It was nice to know that they were all okay. The paramedics saw that we were tired and laughed.
"You guys can go and rest. We'll take it from here. You guys have done a hell of a lot. Thank you."
"Yeah…no problem," Rigby yawned.
"Could you drive us to where we first met up? We'll drive home from there."
"Sure."
One of the paramedics gladly drove us to the meeting ground. The sky was clearer with all the flames gone. The stars were clearly visible now, and smoke started to clear out. The air stilled smelled of dead bodies and smoke, but at least it all had ended. Once we got there. We saw Skips and the officer shaking hands.
"You did good works Skips," the officer said.
"What can I say, I'm used to this by now," Skips joked.
"O…kay," the officer was kind of disturbed by that comment, but went along with it.
Skips walked to the golf cart and honked the horn.
"Come on, we're down for the night. They can take care of this now."
Rigby and I agreed and said nothing more. We both fell asleep in the cart while Skips drove. We got back to the house shortly after. Margaret, Eileen, and Pops were on the couch drinking tea.
"You guys seem awfully calm," I said as we all walked in.
"Yeah, Pops offered us tea for helping him get out of the closet." Margaret said.
"Cool…um is Eileen okay?" I asked while looking at her; her whole body was trembling and the cup was shaking in her hand.
"Can't…get…image…out…of…head," Eileen stuttered.
"We saw Pops naked."
Oh...wait then why are you so calm?"
"Oh I'm still shaking, every time I blink I see him naked, so I've been trying not to blink," Margaret blinked. "Dammit!"
"I'm so sorry ladies. I didn't mean to show myself in such an indecent manner," Pops said.
"Aw it's okay Pops. We'll get over it: Right Eileen?"
"Wrinkly…scary…" Eileen continued to stutter.
"Maybe you need some rest, come on follow me," Rigby went to her and took her hand, then escorted her to our room. No comment.
"Well looks like it's time for me to go. I guess Eileen's gonna be crashing here huh?" Margaret yawned.
"Yeah I guess so, don't worry we'll be able to take her to work tomorrow." I said.
"Oh okay. Hey Mordecai?"
"Yeah?"
"What happened that caused you to act so emotional back there?"
"What do you mean?"
"When you hugged me and kissed me on the cheek."
"Oh that… That uh…okay… here's how it went. It may seem confusing, but just stick with me on this." I explained to her how the outbreak started and how she was possessed by one of the spirits. How she nearly killed me, and how 'The Filter' ended up saving everyone. She was shocked and started looking at her body, checking to see if there was any damage done. All that was messed up was her hair and a few minor cuts on her arms.
"That probably does explain why I'm so sore: Especially in my jaw."
I decided not to mention how I had to punch her to avoid being choked to death.
"I'm so sorry Mordecai."
"Hey don't blame yourself; you couldn't control it."
"Still, I feel as though I owe you big, but I just don't know what I can give at the moment."
"You being okay is all I need." I blushed after saying that. I rubbed the back of my neck while Margaret smiled at me warmly. She got up from the couch and gave me a hug. I quickly hugged back. My heart was beating at a fast pace and I couldn't stop grinning. Stop grinning dammit. We continued to hold each other for a few more seconds until finally we let go.
"Thank you Mordecai."
"Anytime."
"And thank you Skips," she walked up to him and hugged him as well. Not as long as mine though.
Jealous much?
Shut up.
"No problem," Skips said. He patted her on the back, but with his strength it could've nearly knocked her over. I couldn't help but chuckle.
"See you around guys," Margaret waved us all good bye and walked out the door. We all wished her a good night in our own ways.
"See you later Margaret."
"Stay safe."
"B-bye Madame ahahaha!"
The door finally shut.
"Phew, what a night," I huffed. "Hey what's this?" I said spotting an envelope on the coffee table.
"It's from Muscleman; he left that here and then walked out with all of his stuff." Pops took a sip of his tea.
"He left?" All of us read the letter once I opened it. Most of the words were misspelled and there were sweat marks all over the paper. I shivered when realizing that. The sweat marks I mean.
"Guys,
Sence Fives is gone, I decided thers no point in me living here. Im leaving so that I can escape the memories of him to avoid any more pain. I'll be living at Starla's and
just find another job. Make it big. See ya bros.
Your bro,
Muscleman"
"Oh man I forgot. HFG is gone isn't he?"
"He's gone? Oh dear," Pops started to cry.
"Don't worry Pops; he's in a better place now: Right Skips?"
"Yep." Skips huffed.
"Oh I guess your right…" Pops sniffled. "Still we need some kind of ceremony for him."
"Totally, we'll invite all his friends and family to it," I said. When you think about it, this will be his second funeral. Funny…
"Wait a second, didn't Muscleman try this before?"
"Oh yes I do remember; he tried to be a comedian but couldn't last long enough," Pops said."
"Then how's is he going to make it this time?" Skips asked.
"I'm too tired to even care right now. We'll think about it in the morning," I said sleepily. I walked upstairs and to the room. Eileen was sleeping on Rigby's trampoline and he was sitting next to her, stroking her hair.
"Okay I have to ask: How did you two get together during all that?" I said.
"What are you talking about?" Rigby said dreamily while looking at Eileen.
"You'd think the last place to hook up would be during a demon attack."
"Well I had to rescue her and-"
"I'm sorry about that…"
"Huh?"
"Leaving you by yourself."
"Oh no worries man; because of that I feel like I've grown more."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow and smiled."
"Yeah man. You see when I saw Eileen being carried off; I knew I had to save her. I charged into them and beat them down to size. When I got them off of her she was bruised and beaten from what they did. I thought she was dead, but she had opened her eyes and started to speak. When I saw that I could do nothing but just kiss her and hold her tight. I told her I'd always be there for her, and never let her get hurt again. She heard every word I said and kissed me back. After that we were both able to fight together and then we found you a couple minutes later."
"I guess things happen for a reason."
"Yep. You know the saying, 'You don't know how much you miss someone until they're gone'? Well I wasn't about to find out."
"I can't believe it. My little Rigby's growing up."
"SHUT UP!"
''Hahaha. Well I'm going to bed man…I'm not going to have to hear the trampoline creaking all night am I? "
"Of course not…I'll wait until she's awake."
"…"
"I'm kidding."
We busted out laughing.
"Night Rigby," I tucked myself under the sheets and turned around.
"Night," I heard the trampoline creak and Rigby starting to snore.
It was time for a much needed rest.
[xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
The light started to shine through the window and into our room. I turned around and slowly opened my eyes. The small specks of dust started to rise up from the wooden floor. Rigby was lying next to Eileen, snoring in sync. Okay I'll bite, that's kind of cute. I got up and went downstairs. I saw Skips on the phone.
"Yeah... uh huh…okay thanks," Skips hung up.
"Who was that?" I asked.
"It was the officer we met last night. He's says the cleanup is going well; everyone one is helping out and at this rate, it should be all be cleared out in a matter of week. The cost for the damage however…that will take some time."
"Well at least things are getting done. Any news on Benson?"
"I went to check up on him last night when you were asleep. They said he's in critical condition, but it's nothing they can't fix."
"Can we see him?"
"Yeah, but he can't talk. He's still out of it."
"Oh…hey I just thought of something. Is the media going to be getting a handle on this? After all we are the source of all this. They'll be all over us."
"Don't worry, the officer did us a favor and is keeping us secret. 'The Filter', the bowling ball, everything, nobody knows."
"Cool. Hey what was up with that letter from Muscleman?"
"I went to Starla's apartment to see if he was there. She said she hasn't seen him at all and he hasn't called."
"Strange." The door bell rung, then a knock, then more knocks and another ring. Soon the whole house was filled with the sounds of ringing and knocking.
"UGH who is that?" I said annoyed.
"Whoever it is, they must be crazy."
"CAN SOMEONE SHUT THAT DOOR UP?" Rigby yelled from upstairs
"YEAH IT'S WAY TOO LOUD!" Eileen joined.
"Okay I'll open it!" I slowly turned the door knob and the second I did, the door burst open to a bunch of men in black robes. Some were carrying cameras, flashing them, and others were carrying bibles. They must be preachers, but why are they here? They all started rambling.
"Where is it? Where's God's tool?"
"Yes his tool for Heaven. Where is it?"
"Please tell us!"
"Please!"
"Tell us!"
"ENOUGH!" I yelled. All of them silenced. "Now one at a time."
"I man of green told us that a major tool of God was located here."
"Yes, but he said in order to see it, we'd have to pay. He said he's use the money for a great plan of his."
I took me a while to realize what that all meant. A great plan…
Muscleman's "Leaving the park" plan. "Make it big". That bastard tricked us into thinking he was leaving because of Fives. HFG deserves better than this.
I decided to tell them the truth. Of course the Filter was here, but now it's gone. They don't need to know. They shouldn't know. Hell we shouldn't know. I mean how often is it that someone in his twenties sees the very tool of God right before his eyes and the entrances of Heaven and Hell, while still alive? Yeah, not very often.
"Listen, everyone you've all been tricked. We've been tricked. The guy who told you this was just using you to make a quick buck."
"What? I gave that man half the money in my account." One preacher said disappointingly.
"How much did he ask for you to pay?" I said to another preacher.
"Any amount depending on how much we were willing to see it."
"I gave him my whole bank account."
"I gave him my retirement fund."
"That monster! May he burn in Hell for lying about such a thing and robbing us of our curiosity."
"Yes, but maybe it was a sign. That we're not supposed to know about it."
"Maybe your right Brother Daniels. Thank you for you honesty blue jay. May you be blessed."
"You're welcome; and don't worry, we'll try to get your money back as soon as we can." I said reassuringly.
"Many thanks. Good day to you." All of the preachers soon disbanded and went into their own separate cars. I closed the door, more pissed off than ever.
"I can't believe Muscleman would do something like that," Skips said while shaking his head.
"Yeah, what a meanie," Eileen said with her arms crossed. She and Rigby were at the bottom of the steps.
"Well whatever happens. We'll find him." I said. "Ugh, so are we still seeing Benson?"
"Yeah, just get ready and we'll go. We'll drop Eileen off first."
"Okay. Rigby, are you going first?
"Actually I think we should let Eileen go first," Rigby put his arms around her.
"Aww, thanks Rig-Rig." Eileen cooed.
"Rig-Rig?" I chuckled.
"SHUT UP!" Rigby must have been extremely embarrassed.
"Whatever you say Rig-Rig hahahaha!"
"STOP TALKING!"
"Enough you two," Eileen joked. She went upstairs and went to the bathroom. I went upstairs to go and make up my bed. Just then my phone vibrated on the dresser. It was Margaret.
[Margaret]: Hey.
[Me]: Hey.
[Margaret]: Are you doing okay?
[Me]: Yeah I'm getting better. A bunch of preachers just came to our door, but they're gone now.
[Margaret]: XD Ur always up to something.
[Me]: Is it ever regular?
[Margaret]: I guess not lol. Anyway I wanted to remind you of something.
[Me]: What?
[Margaret]: My project, its gonna have to be presented in another week, but I think it may be postponed because of you know what.
[Me]: Gotcha. Ill make sure not to forget.
[Margaret]: Cool thanks.
[Me]: Np
It's never a dull a moment isn't it?
Don't you people even dare think of stealing the name Rig-Rig. At least now without my permission XD It's funny, I was planning on making this a short chapter, but once you get the creative juices flowing, it's hard to stop. The next chapter will be short though, and then that will be it for a while until midterms end, then I'll be back. Leave a review and the next chapter will be up hopefully sometime tomorrow.