The Tainted Ones (discontinued)

[6]

Andy

I heard yet another scream in the distance. Yet another person had fallen into their hands. Another person who died today.

I had managed to find an old shed that probably once served as a tool shed. The handymen had ran right passed it. But the sounds from outside told me many people weren't so lucky.   I whimpered as I thought about how many people I had seen being slaughtered in juist a matter of minutes.

I had seen what the handymen were truly capable of. Was this their true purpose?  I almost jumped up when I heard a noise close to me. I gazed into the direction of the noise. On the other side of the shed was a shadow.

It made the same noise again. I was now focussed on the noise it made and understood it was saying a word. A single word. "Hey" the shadow whispered.

It was a person. I instantly felt a little more at ease, as if someone had just lifted an invisible weight off my shoulders. Someone else surivived. Thank god someone else survived!

I slowly approached the figure in the shadow. Now I was closer I could see what the person looked like. It was a boy, but he was taller and more muscled than I was. Some of his  black curly hair stuck to his forehead because of sweat. His white button-down shirt was sprayed with blood, most likely not his own.

"Are you okay?" was the first thing I said.
"I'm fine" he panted. "They couldn't catch me. Did you get hurt?"
I shook my head.

The boy sighed. "What madness have we just gotten into"
"I don't know... I don't know why this is happening at all" I said.

"So this is what really happens to the uglies huh? Well that's just great" the boy spat sarcastically. "What's your name anyway?" he asked absentmindedly, as he glanced at his shirt to see the bloodstains.

"Andy" I said quietly.
"Andy? Oh I think I might've heard from you before. Good to know you're alive. I'm Mikey" he said, scrunching up his nose in disgust at his shirt. 

I heard a loud crash from further down the road. What if that was Rye? Did Rye make it? The last thing I saw was him standing in front of a boy to protect him, before the chaos started. "Do you think it's safe to go out?" I asked myself rather than Mikey.

"I wouldn't do it mate. It's dangerous out there" he said.

I nodded, "I thought so. It's just that my friend is somewhere out there you know" I said.

"So? What difference do you think you're going to make then?" Mikey said firmly.
"I have to try, what if he's alive-"
"And what if he's not! Are you really going to risk your life to go look for someone who's probably already dead?" 

It felt like he hit me in the face with that statement. I looked at him about to say something back, when I saw his hurt expression. "I'm sorry... That was a little too harsh. Just don't leave me here on my own okay? Who knows if anyone else made it." he muttered.

"Your friends didn't make it did they" I whispered.

"That's none of your fucking business" Mikey mumbled, subtly wiping his nose with his sleeve.
"Did they?" 
"I don't fucking know okay?" he snapped. "For crying out loud are you always this nosy?"

I glanced at his button down shirt. Who's blood was on there? I felt a sting of sympathy for the boy.

"I'm sorry" I said, scooting closer to him.

"Just because I said I don't want to be all alone doesn't mean I need you invading my personal space" he muttered, rolling his eyes, but even though he looked angry, I could see his eyes glistening. 

"Hey" I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We're in this together okay?" I said. Mikey brushed my hand off his shoulder and scoffed.

I took the hint and moved a little further away from him. As we both sat in silence I noticed the distressed sounds of people running away had stopped. 'So everyone is either dead or hiding' I thought.

My mind wandered to home, to my parents. Would they be sad that I was taken away from them? Or did they ignore it and pretend I never existed? After all, I was ugly. I was nothing but another dissapointment to the city. And they wanted me dead, that was clear. But surely not my parents, right?

I guess it wouldn't matter anyway, I could never go back to how it was anyway. The city, the good life, the happiness, it was all reserved for pretty people. And I wasn't pretty.

I fiddled with whatever was left of my left sleeve. In the panic someone had tried to grab my arm in an attempt to escape the handyman chasing her. When he yanked her away she almost ripped it off. I didn't see what the handyman had done to her. After only a few seconds of hesitation I had ran off without looking back once. I felt guilty for that now. What if I could've saved her?

I inspected the sleeve. It was only dangling over my shoulder attached with a few stubborn threads. In a quick movement I ripped it off. It had no purpose left anyway. I stared at the white fabric for a while, before tossing it aside.

That was the most formal shirt I owned. I had expected to come home and celebrate with my family after the scanning. Ironic how different everything had gone.

Strangely I didn't even feel that awful. Was I supposed to feel awful? I didn't feel anything. I felt numb. Perhaps my body hadn't processed what had just happened. Or maybe I was insane, and that was my uglyness all along.

After a while Mikey broke the silence. "We can't return home can we?"
"I guess not" 

My mind kept going back to Rye. Mikey was right, there was a big chance he died. But maybe, just maybe, he could've managed to get away. Maybe he was hiding somewhere else, thinking the exact same thoughts...

Author's note

Mikey is officially a part of the story now hehehe. So I know Sonny became an official member of Roadtrip today and I'm happy for him, but I've had this story in mind for a long time before he joined and Mikey was still a member so yay Mikey!

I love the Dynamite EP it's just beautiful. I've listened to it on repeat all day lmao.
Little Mix also releases a new single today titled Bounce Back and it is a huge bop!
Ahhhh so much great music released at once heaven is real! 😍

Not so very good news is that I have an infection on my guts and it's painful af! The doctor also first thought it was appendicitis so I spent two days in the hospital deprived of food and water incase I would need surgery and it was horrible! Oh and did I mention I missed three exams because of it? Yeah loving life rn😖
It's fine though once I feel better I'll contact my teachers and ask to reschedule them🤷‍♀️

Anyway thank you all for reading chapter 6 of this story, I hope you liked it! 💕
Have a great weekend!

Palsyofts! 🌵

-Manon