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The Fallout

You've still got Hell to look forward to

Oli’s P.O.V

It's been a week since Matt’s ‘procedure’, and it couldn’t have turned out better for him. I’m shocked by the fact that he’s up and walking around, though he still hasn’t risked talking, which is odd, considering he’s such a loud mouth. Tom has basically been enslaved by him, helping him get up, get dressed and eat, which was a challenge in itself; but he really didn’t seem to be minding it either. Which was peculiar…anytime I offered to do something Tom was quick to dismiss it and do it himself, guess he’s just trying to make himself useful? Kean and Jona have been working with Alan and Phil on getting an old broken radio to work, them being tech savvy was definitely coming in handy. Lee and Shayley have seemed to become pretty good friends too, neither of them talked very much so I guess that’s the little connection they latched onto. Tino, Austin and I have been put on patrol duties and scavenging for food and supplies, I tried telling Austin that Jona was a much better option since he was basically double my size, but he seemed adamant about me doing it myself.

“GOT IT!” Alan cried out, closing the back of the old device and slipping two batteries in the bottom, miraculously, the radio screeched to life. A shrill round of white noise filling the room; everyone let out some sort of cheer. Alan twisted the knob, searching for a station,

“This is a local emergency broadcast, everyone is being asked to go take shelter at the federal building on Waller Avenue, 3 blocks west of the hospital on Vine Street. There are supplies there that will be handed out by the US National Guard and US Army…report there immediately.” We all exchanged hopeful glances,

“Let’s go!” Phil chimed, jumping up from his spot and flashing us a grin, Austin grunted.

“Fuck no.” he seethed, storming past me and eying his friend warily, Phil sat back down, a confused glance on his face.

“Why the fuck not?” Jona grumbled, standing up rather quickly and coming close to Austin who laughed in return,

“They’re the reason were in this mess to begin with! Now you want to parade over there and kiss the ground they walk on because they have supplies? Fine by me, you go, and if you do…don’t come back.” Austin crossed his arms, Jona growled at him; before getting into his face

“Oh, who died and made you the leader? You don’t know shit about what happened, it’s obvious. So would quit trying to prove that you’re some sort of genius, in all reality you don’t know anything. Do us all a favor and shut up and do what the government tells you pretty boy.” Austin dropped his arms, stepping that much closer, the tension in the room was so thick, you couldn’t cut it with a knife.

“I saved your fucking life and your friends, I've done nothing but been kind and gave the best advice I could, and if that offends you, by all means get the fuck out of my life.” Austin spat out. I watched Jona cautiously, my eyes traveled to his hand which quickly balled up into a fist.

“No! Quit acting like children and let’s just forget we fucking heard that announcement.” I surged forward, using my hands to push them apart,

“Yeah, defend your little crush Oliver, you’ve been ignoring us all week anyway.”

Jona turned on his heel and stormed down the hall, going into a room before slamming the door shut. I felt myself blush, I had been spending a lot of time with Austin. I mean, we did go on scouting trips to look for supplies; we also hung out a lot at the compound too. After I had seen him so upset last week we kind of clicked, and instantly became really close. He certainly is intriguing, sometimes I find myself wondering what made him they was he was. I did spend quite a bit of my time pondering him; I chalked it up to being a small crush, nothing I could ever dare pursue. That being said, I do admire him, the way he would do anything to help strangers was something special, but…I had also seen him take lives. Sadly, any time we would go out we would run into someone without fail, sometimes even more than one person; who would be so grotesquely ill that they pleaded for their life to be ended…so he did. It always tore him apart, though he would try to put on a hardened face. But when we came back to our new home and he would try to wipe the blood from him skin; he would break down and sob. I felt terrible and guilty, but I just didn’t have it in me to take someone’s life, I knew that I would have too eventually. I don’t know how long Austin will be here, or for a matter of fact, how long I will be here. The world is in a horrific state from what I can gather; and I can only hope that my mum and dad are alright…

“Oli…can we talk?” Austin’s low voice snapped me back into reality, everyone was blankly staring at me, which led me to believe that I had once again, zoned out.

“Yeah, of course.” I whispered, following him down the hall silently, we soon entered the room that he and his band mates slept in. Air Mattresses were set up, the huge queen size bed was the center of the room. It was very similar to the one my band and I slept in; I took a seat on the bed, eying him curiously,

“What’s up?” I popped the last letter off my lips.

“Well,” he started, coming over and setting beside me, “Do you think that we should go to that ‘safe zone’?” he tossed his hands up in mock quotation.

“Well…I don’t think I'm qualified to make that call, Austin. Perhaps we could vote on it?” I inquired, laying a hand on his in reassurance,

“Why didn’t I think of that?” he whined, slapping himself in the face.

“You’re over thinking it, that’s why. Now come on.” I stood up from my spot, grabbing his hand and pulling him up with me.

“Oh, and Oli,” the next thing I knew his arms were around me, my face sunk into his chest hiding the blush that formed on my cheeks.

“Thank you, you’ve really been a big help.” He squeezed me tighter, I absentmindedly squeezed back.

“I’m glad you think so.” I muttered as he let me go. We quickly made our way back into the room; catching everyone’s eyes as we did so.

“All in favor of going to the safe zone?”

-*-

“Here we are.” Austin pointed at the huge lot in front of us which was filled with patrol cars and military vehicles. Tino, Austin, Jona, Alan, Phil and I had gone to gather whatever was offered, while the others kept the compound in order. We quietly got closer; my mind was racing as I observed the unsettling scene. Hundreds of people in all states of health were stuffing their faces with food and chugging water, I was thankful that we had actually been able to eat pretty normally. We got closer to the line where a large man was handing off large boxes, he smiled as we came to the front.

“What can I…” his face suddenly changed as his eyes met Austin’s, he quickly grabbed his walkie talkie and pressed it to his mouth, muttering something. Austin took a step back as the man lowered the device. Austin's face was almost nervous, his bottom lip was tucked slightly behind his teeth, and his eyes were frantically scanning the area. Tino was in the same state as he was, though he seemed to be shaking.

“Sir,” A deep voice bellowed behind me, nearly making me jump out of my skin. Austin whipped his head around at the same time I did, 3 men stood before us, one in a suit, and two in fatigues with large guns drawn.

“Ah, so it is you two. Austin Carlile and Valentino Arteaga you’re under arrest for treason, you have the right…” The two large men came closer,

“Over my dead body.” Austin cursed, stepping forward in time with Tino. Before I could blink the two armed guards were on the ground, and Austin and Tino were standing behind the well put together man, guns placed at his temples. Screams erupted from all directions as people took notice; I felt my jaw go slack.

“There’s no way you’re going to do me what you did to my dad,” Tino roared, I shook my head in disbelief.

“You can't just act like you don’t know what you did…especially you Austin! The damage you will cause will be catastrophic!” The man in the suit screamed, anger flashed on his face as Austin’s turned to confusion.

“You don’t know what you’re capable of! You’ll kill us all!” The man screeched in Austin’s face, he shook his head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Austin growled, taking the blunt end of the gun and hitting the guy in the head with it,

“Run.” He stated, before sprinting off in the direction in which we had came, I didn’t mull it over. As we ran down the street I could hear heavy foot steps behind us, and commands to stop running, which I wasn’t going to do. We ducked our way down an alley which luckily, came back to the area that we were stationed in. As soon as our building came into sight we rushed in, slamming the doors and barricading them once again.

“What just happened?” Jona breathed out, putting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

“I have no clue…” Tino whimpered, clutching the gun to his chest, Austin took a step forward before falling to his knees.

“Austin!” I called out, decking down beside him and catching him before he fell on the floor,

“Shit! Alan, are his meds in the room?” Tino questioned quickly, Alan nodded in response. The dark haired man shook his head, kneeling down and snatching Austin from my arms before darting down the hall towards the stair well. As much as my body protested I followed them. What exactly was going on?

-*-

“Ugh…” Austin groaned, trying to sit up from his spot, but my hand halted him.

“Ah ah ah, don’t move.” I commanded, earning a frown from him in turn.

“Did I black out?” he questioned, running a hand through his tangled hair.

“Yeah…you really shouldn’t push yourself if you have a heart condition.” I sighed, sitting down next to him on the bed and turning to face him.

“I know…but shit happens. We probably need to find a new town to live in after what happened…I have no clue what that guy was talking about. But I do remember him, he used to work with my dad and Tino's…” he trailed off, his voice was halted to a whisper.

“What happened with your parents?” I inquired, pursing my lips as he fidgeted around, he pushed himself upwards, before slipping his shirt off and pulling it over his head. I ducked my head down, my cheeks felt like someone had held a lighter to them. He exhaled deeply, launching himself into the story of how his dad and Tino’s worked for the government and subsequently disappeared. I found myself feeling rather baffled by this.

“Wow…I'm so sorry.” I whispered, resting my head against the frame of the bed.

“It's not your fault…but I am really…concerned. What did that guy mean I was going to kill us all? And I'm sorry for dipping out before I made sure you all were running, I was...scared. It wont happen again.” he sighed rather loudly.

“Nonsense, I'm a grown man, I can handle myself somewhat. It must be Crazy talk from the fumes though,Don’t worry about it, Austin.” I gave him a reassuring smile, trying to push the butterflies away when he smiled back.

“Oli, I know this is a bit much to ask…but will you lay down with me? I'm just stressed and need someone close to me...” He chuckled nervously, rubbing his arm with his hand. I didn’t try to fight the blush that rose to my cheeks, instead I kicked my shoes off, before slipping under the covers. He reached his arm around me, pulling me into his chest as I draped an arm around his bare torso, allowing my head to fall on his shoulder. We didn’t say anything, I think we both needed this, needed something to make us realize that the old normality of the world still remained; even though it was covered in layers of blood and a foundation so corrupt that even North Korean leaders would be furious. As we laid there, I tried to shake the feeling pitting in my gut, tried to shake the feeling that something very wrong was about to happen, but unfortunately, I couldn’t. Something awful was going to happen, and I only wish I would have realized it sooner.