The Fallout

Austin's P.O.V

“Oli, hang on, okay? Everything is going to be fine, trust me.” I kissed the top of the shaking man’s head as I shot Matt a stern glance; he reluctantly put Tom on the ground next to his brother before coming to my side.

“Matt and I will go check it out, you all go inside the RV and don’t come out for anyone, don’t be fooled. Unless it’s me or him, don’t open the door. We don’t need a repeat of last time…” I reasoned as I opened the door and ushered the two men inside, Oli cast me a pitiful glance as I shut the door in place; I waited until I heard the lock click.

“Let’s go.” Matt grumbled as he tapped me on the shoulder, “Right,” I replied as I turned around before marching down the street, he was right on my heels.

“Plan?” he asked as he rubbed his arms nervously, I contemplated it for a few moments,

“Well, we are going to investigate, but if anyone or anything gets in our way…destroy them. We don’t have time to be sympathetic,” as we rounded the street corner and came back into the park, I felt tension grow thick in the air. It was quiet save for a loud voice that was barking instructions along the lines of “I want you all over here!” and “Move the chairs over more,” I could only guess what was going on. Upon entering the clearing where we stood moments before, I looked over to the deer and couldn’t help but feel guilty. Of course there was no reason to feel that way, but I couldn’t help but feel like it was a warning, and I should have seen it coming. My head shot up at the sound of a repetitive beep, and I instantly recognized it as a truck in reverse, my legs carried me as fast as they could until I was right on the sound, I ducked my head around a tree and gasped at what lay before me. In the short distance between the park and the street there was yet another stage set up, hundreds of military persons stalked around the area, some setting up, some boasting guns, either way it was unsettling.

“Matt?” I questioned as I looked over to the drummer, he nodded his head,

“I'm going in; fuck these people…that could have been Oli they killed, not a deer. That could have been Tom, we can't stand for that; we need to take a stand.” I shook my head in disgust as I watched a group of men laugh and cut up about nothing in particular, Matt grunted.

“I agree, we need to protect our own…and I'm feeling a bit reckless; let’s teach these bastards a lesson…” we stood up straight beside each other as we stalked out of the brush, “Nobody fucks with us without consequence.” As if on cue, the soldiers were suddenly alert to our presence, some ran off while others drew their weapons and pointed them in our direction, I laughed.

“Take one step forward and I’ll blow your head o-“the man’s gruff voice halted mid sentence as Matt took a cautious step forward until he was close enough to the man that his foot rested on his shadow; needless to say, the group around us only lasted a few seconds longer before being devoured by the ravenous wolves Matt summoned, I sat back and watched him with awe.

“Well well well, if isn’t my old pal Austin Carlile…Nicholls, you look good!” I could hear the sarcasm thick in the familiar voice and my skin crawled as my eyes locked on those of their owners, Jona. But he wasn’t alone,

“Traitors…” I growled lowly as Matt finished toying with the now still soldiers and joined me to stand before the group of men, the men we had once called friends, family, band mates; but all I could see was how they had betrayed us. The shadow wolves circled them impatiently, but Matt didn’t even bother to call them off,

“How are we traitors? We work for the government now, the only traitors are you all.” Alan spoke up but I could hear nervousness in his voice as one of the figures got too close for his comfort; I snarled in response.

“How are traitors? Just because we have something to stand for and it differs from yours doesn’t mark as traitors, the only reason you call us that is because you’re afraid.” I spoke over the rush of men who were flocking in on us, while we surrounded our old friends, soldiers surrounded us; but no one dared to make a move.

“I expected better of you all, I thought we were on the same page since day one and the only betrayal that has happened is when you turned your back on me that day. I won’t kneel before you and beg for forgiveness and I won’t grovel for your new found leader; you’re either with me or against me but I won’t allow you to stand in my way. Make your choice,” I could feel myself growing impatient, whether it was from the immense pressure of having hundreds swarming me or from facing my friends, I wasn’t sure. But I wasn’t about to let this be worse then it needed to be; the only thing that greeted me was silence, no one said a word; no one, not even my old friends, made a move towards me.

“Matt…everyone but them, you know what to do.” I motioned towards the group that was still being circled by the creatures, he nodded his head.

“You got it boss,” he grumbled as he fell to his knees and placed both hands on the concrete, sucking the darkness off of the pavement, I sighed before spinning to face the men whose eyes were fixated on us, I dipped my head down low and focused to the point where I could hear their heavy breathing. I could even hear their hearts beating if I listened closely enough, but I willed myself to realize that I was in danger, I was being threatened and they had to be eliminated. A few shrill screams brought me to my senses as Matt, without warning, began his assault; immediately I did the same. This time around I locked eyes with every single man around me and on cue, they exploded. It made my stomach churn, the way I stepped over their waste and matter, it made me sick just thinking about and feeling the blood that dripped from every inch of my body. We made quick work of obliterating the threat; in a matter of ten minutes they were nothing more than crumpled masses or piles of goo and bone. I heard sobs from the direction where the lone group stood, surely they were horrified and in shock; and if this hadn’t been a necessity for my survival...if I was them, I would be scared too.

“You see this? This is what has to happen…peace doesn’t come without hardship. And the world wasn't conquered in a day…but I'm patient. I don’t want ultimate control, I don’t want this to be the start of the end, I just want everything to be okay again. I want people to be able to wake up, and be unafraid; I want people to smile again…that’s all I want. Now, I won’t harm you all. You may have hurt me emotionally, but you’ve never done anything to harm me or the ones I care for. These men…” I pointed back to the pile as I took another step towards them, “had to go. They could have hurt Oli or Tom and I can't stand for that…nor can Matt. We protect each other because if we don’t, people like them will try to kill us. No matter how horrifying you think I am, that doesn’t mean that I will stop.” I waited for Matt to join me as we took one last look at the people who left us months prior, “We won’t stop fighting for people like you, because the world would be nothing without you. Remember that next time you want to call us monsters, or traitors, remember that we, unlike them, are fighting for your freedom.” I turned on my heel and stalked back the way we had come, Matt once again was right beside me.

“We need to bathe, I feel disgusting.” He commented as he wiped a chunk of pink from his face, I turned my nose up in disgust but realized I wasn’t in much better shape.

“Agreed, I wonder if there’s any…” I paused in my tracks as I came to a realization, Matt shot me a dumfounded look.

“Hold on,” I murmured as I tapped my foot on the ground, the earth crunched beneath my foot until a small hole was driving its way further into the earth, I smiled as I heard the familiar noise, running water. I tapped harder on the ground, urging the water to boil up to the surface, after several moments I was successful, a spout of liquid burst to the surface in a steady stream, Matt chuckled.

“Brilliant work, Austin.” Matt commented as he stepped into the stream and washed the gunk from his body, once he was finished I did the same.

“Ready to go now?” I asked as I shook the water off of me, he nodded his head tiredly. After several minutes of walking, we safely arrived to the RV, I knocked on the door in the same fashion we always had, “Oli, open up please.” I heard shuffling inside and then the door swung open, his eyes were red and puffy and he was clearly exhausted, it was then that I heard sobs coming from inside. Matt pushed past me and quickly made his way inside and I stood in the door way looking at Oli, “What happened?” I asked quietly while tears fell from his eyes again, I stepped inside and locked the door, grabbing his arm. The door in the back was closed but a large splinter In the wood told me that it had been kicked down, I heard Matt trying to soothe Tom but scolding him all the while, confusion bubbled in my mind. I gripped harder onto his arm and stared at him, but he didn’t say a word, instead he pointed to the back and took a seat on the couch, without making a sound. I bit my lip as I made it to the back, I pushed open the door carefully, trying to not brake it further, I gasped at what I saw when it was out of the way. The room was in disarray, things tossed around and broken, and the lone mirror was shatter with blood pouring off of it, I turned to look at Matt who was cradling Tom to his chest. The youngest Sykes brothers arm was wrapped in a white sheet that was stained with red, his face was buried in the larger mans torso but I could hear muffled sobs; Matt was pleading for him to stop crying but it was futile. And it was then that I realized he was crying as well, I took a step backwards and left the room, feeling as if they needed time with each other. I returned to Oli's side, slipping an arm around his shoulders and giving him a quick squeeze.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” I questioned, the older man shook his head and gave me the same pitiful stare that he had earlier, but this time it felt like a plea; though I couldn’t understand what for. He slunk further into my hold and I took this as a hint, I grabbed him and pulled him flush to my chest. We eventually settled to where I was laying on the couch and he was laying on top of me, his eyes were closed but tears still found their way out.

“You need rest…want me to sing for you? I'm not the best but I’ll try my hardest.” His smile was small but enough to tell me that he wanted to take me up on my offer, I rubbed up and down his back while I sang the first thing that came to my head. Swing Life away by Rise Against, a song that always hit home for me. Gielle and I used to sing it to each other all the time, and this time, I found peace with myself as the words rolled like velvet off of my tongue. Before I knew it, Oli was fast asleep; his breathing steady and a somewhat peaceful look on his face. I gathered him in my arms and laid him in the bunk we shared before tapping on the door to the back. Matt opened up almost instantly,

“What happened to him?” I asked hoarsely, he shook his head and shrugged.

“I don’t know, I think he punched the mirror and accidentally slit open his wrist…it healed up as soon as he fell asleep, but I think it scared him pretty bad…I'm going to lay him with Oli. Oh, and I think we should get out of here.” He went back into the room and picked up Tom, I held the door open for him as he placed the younger man into the bed with his brother. After that we walked to the front, I grunted as I grabbed the keys from the counter, Matt and I lazily descended the few steps to the front cabin. He tiredly took a spot in the passenger’s seat. I turned the key, successfully starting up the RV; before pulling out of the parking lot and onto a deserted street; Matt made a noise of frustration.

“Austin is this all worth it?” Matt questioned, I cast a sideways glance at him,

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously, he clicked his tongue against his teeth;

“All of this, is this worth all of this pain and heart ache?” he motioned down the road as we turned out of the city and onto the highway. Dozens of cars were toppled over, some burned or still burning, some with bodies still secured inside; I sighed.

“Am I worth it? Is Oli? Or Tom?” I raised an eyebrow as I ignored the destruction and chaos, from the corner of my eye I could see Matt smile.

“You all, yes, you all are worth it…but I just don’t know if the world is as deserving as you all are…I know it sounds selfish…” he paused and I could hear his voice crack, I felt his pain and immediately stopped the RV. I turned my full attention to him as he wiped fat tears from his eyes and sniffled. “I'm sorry, I never cry but this is all so overwhelming.” He made himself breathe in and out, but it did little to calm him.

“Matt, don’t worry about crying, your upset and it helps…but you’re not alone. I know exactly what you’re talking about…we just have to keep moving, and keep those two safe…” I sighed as I started the vehicle back up, he hummed in acknowledgement.

“Do you think we can fix things?” he asked as I weaved in and out of the still traffic, my eyes landed on a woman who was decomposing, looming over a car seat with what must have been her child in it; both of them were still and turning to nothing but bone, I felt tears well up.

“I don’t know Matt, I don’t know…” I whispered as I tried to forget about what I had just seen and done, I didn’t look back in my rear view mirrors as we left the city far behind us. I dwelled on the fact that I was mentally and physically exhausted, I was so tired of being tired. I said a silent prayer to whoever was still listening, before stopping myself. My god had turned his back on the world, so there was no sense in praying to him. Instead I tried to pray to my mom and dad, and silently hoped that Tino could lend me his strength and determination. I may have came off as a strong willed, brave man, but in all reality; I was scared, I was worried sick, and the only reason I kept fighting was for the day that I could see Oli smile again. I did what I did for a lot of reasons, I killed people for people, I started a revolution for them as well; but in the end, I did it for him. I did and would do anything for him. But I was losing faith...I...I was losing hope.

Notes

Title Cred: Asking Alexandria- Dedication

Well sorry for being awol AGAIN. I will be back to posting every other day as of now, so be excited <3 thoughts? Feelings? emotions?

LEAVE ME SHIT :P

xoxo
Siren