Playlist for the Apocalypse

Chapter 10: London Calling

"DON'T!" The sound of Jonathan's voice startled Evelyn. She'd become so engrossed in the scene playing out in front of her that she hadn't noticed that he'd left her side. He had hobbled out from their hiding place with his hands on his head as if he was under arrest. He'd hastily rolled his sleeves up to expose the chevron tattoo on his scarred forearm.

"You don't want to do that," Jonathan said calmly. There was something different in the way he carried himself in front of these strangers, Evelyn realized. She'd never noticed it before, but now it was all too apparent. Jonathan was a soldier. It was in the way he moved, in the way he spoke and even in his eyes. They were grey, too grey... almost silver. As she looked between Jonathan, the soulless woman, and River District guards, she knew if she'd been in his shoes, she would have frozen and withdrawn but, Jonathan was eerily calm.

No, not silver. It was steel she saw in his eyes. It was something to be admired about him, but also it was something that made her feel incredibly sad. If there was one thing his perfect poker face told you, it was that he was used to putting up walls.

"Johnson?" The taller soldier said, lowering her gun. There was noticeable surprise in her voice and her head whipped to look at her partner, as if she could try to gage his reaction through their helmets and goggles.

"Hey Captain Singh," Jonathan said, using one hand to offer a small wave.

"Christ! We thought you were dead!"

"Nope, nope. Unfortunately, still very much alive."

Singh looked Jonathan up and down as if drinking in the fact that he looked like he had walked through a paper shredder. "What happened to you? You look like hell!"

"I stand corrected, maybe very much alive is a bit of an exaggeration, perhaps mostly alive is a better answer?"

The soldier, Captain Singh apparently, was not impressed. She made a small noise as if she were about to respond when suddenly a gunshot rang out. The bullet caught Martha in the shoulder. The corpse released a loud howl in pain, jerked upright and lunged towards Jonathan and the two soldiers, shrieking like a banshee. The involuntary scream was out of Evelyn's mouth before she could stop it and the monster's head snapped to attention. Her glassy white eyes turned on Evelyn, locking on to her new target. The lost soul was on all fours and snarling, any trace of the pleading woman she once was, now gone. She hurtled towards the rusted car and Evelyn scrambled backward, hopelessly trying to get to her feet but tripping over herself clumsily.

Suddenly there was a loud popping sound as a second bullet was fired and lodged itself into Martha's back. Martha staggered but kept moving towards Evelyn. The soldier fired twice more, and Martha's body fell limply to the ground. Evelyn recoiled in horror. The woman's arm was still outstretched towards Evelyn, the chevron tattoo on it was a disfigured mess of flesh covered by a freshly branded Greek letter, Σ.

Jonathan's hands were clamped tightly over his ears. Singh let out a low whistle. The second soldier holstered his still smoking gun and shot both Singh and Jonathan a cold look before disappearing back into the tunnel without another word. Though perhaps she only imagined it, Evelyn thought she saw Jonathan flinch as he passed him.

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Evelyn had never taken a blood test using the Sigma testing unit, it had been developed early on in the pandemic and was reserved for military personnel. In the bunker, they had always used saliva testing, so she was unprepared for the process of getting her finger pricked.

"It does hurt a bit, sorry," Singh apologized as she pressed Evelyn's finger against the pressure pad. Evelyn nodded and stole a glance at Jonathan. He'd been quiet since the incident with Martha. While Jonathan had never been the most talkative, there was something in the way his jaw kept tensing and his unfocussed eyes stared at the floor, that made Evelyn wonder what was wrong. After he'd gotten his finger pricked, he had secluded himself on the opposite wall of the tunnel with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Every now and again, he'd reach one hand up to the collar of his jacket to stretch the fabric away from his throat. Singh didn't seem to notice anything was amiss. She just eventually stopped pestering Jonathan with questions when she'd realized that he was not going to answer her and instead had turned her attentions to Evelyn.