We were doomed from the Start.(CLOSED)

[CharlieBoyyy]

A continuation of a thread that accidentally turned into a one On one. Between @LadyStanhope


Last post by @AidanCee:


All was quiet for an hour or two. A moment of quiet contemplation for us both. And I figured that the silence would help Pa relax. It had to do some good right?


We perhaps got a little too comfortable, maybe. If almost forgotten where I was or what was happening to me. But then down the corridor I could hear footsteps. I prayed it wasn't them.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

‘Johnny’ woke up quite pleased in that morning, next to his wife. The brands on his skin were still a bit tender, but he wasn’t particularly worried about it. They really looked cool, matching his older battle scars. Although they hadn’t collected all of his murders…


To be honest, when the nurse burned him, it hurt worse than he thought, making him wonder about that mass of “M”-s on the dentist. It had to be more than a hundred. Maybe even a thousand. Fewer looked cooler, though.


The man smiled, kissing his still sleeping dark angel. He contemplated not even leaving the bed for a few more hours. The last night’s end was exciting, and he longed for a replay…


His happy thoughts were interrupted by knocking. And several booted footsteps.


Oh, hell.


“Sir!” his man’s voice was wary. “Are you in there, sir?”


Johnny yawned, then threw a shirt and pants on, and opened the door.


“Report” he said. If he was interrupted, it would better be important.


“Just… a big herd, sir. And our scouts already went out in that direction. Without working radios, sir. One came back injured. Miss should look at him.”


The man shook himself. He wished everything to hell, as he realized that he was the one who took the last working radios.


Well. Maybe he should leave that two alone for a while, prolonging the doubt. Hunger might be a nice addition to the mix.


“Understood. Prepare the assault team head out…” he said. “I’ll join you at the gate.”


He just kissed his wife, telling her to take care of the injured scout, then headed back to his room to prepare.


Sometimes, even he had to do something right.


Nie was shaking as he realized he was hearing booted footsteps. His son was still right by him, making it very, very clear if the man entered that they disobeyed… the dentist didn’t care about himself getting hurt, but last time ‘Johnny’ hurt Mitchell, too… Nigel instinctively tried to move, to shield his son. However, he couldn’t do it – simply because as soon as he tried it, the wounds on his back, abdomen and side lit up with rejuvenated fire. A pathetic whimper escaped him.


He hated his own weakness. Nie was so overcame by fear that he didn’t even noticed that the footsteps never actually came close to the room…

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"Don't. Don't worry." I say calmly "I expect there's something going on outside. They're probably going to forget about us for a while."


I try to sound brave but, in all honesty k didn't know. He could come STREAMING through the door. And I was the one in trouble. I had to remain positive


The nurse looked at her brands for a while before putting them away. She chuckled. Last night was a good night and she wanted to do it all over again.. This time with company.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

Nigel listened, and after he realized Mitchell was right, he took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself done.


“Sorry” he said softly. He was supposed to be the adult. Not the one panicking, weak. He tried to reach up and pull down the blindfold, when he noticed it’s still on, but he wasn’t able to lift his arms. His shoulder joints almost screamed from the motion when he tried.


Oh, hell.


“Let’s hope they will…” he couldn’t muster up hope. He couldn’t build the base up in his head, but military bases were big things, crawling with people, and while Johnny was evidently some kind of leader, he…


Nigel sighed.


“Mitchell… if you… really intend to break out… I…” he had to stop. Telling this to the kid was painful. “I most likely won’t be able to help, you know…”

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"If carry you. I'm going nowhere without you. Then we'll get to a proper hospital. One that could help you properly. Enough is enough"


I was getting angry with the whole situation. But I calmed down and continued the feeling of serenity


(Off to eat me dinner TTYL)

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

Nie started to laugh, slowly, bitterly, then he was shaking almost silently with painful, hysterical chuckles. Every single motion hurt, and it felt like it was tearing him apart from the inside.


He couldn’t gasp out the reason, his fears, his doubts. It was so cruel, laughing at his son’s words, the irony burned deep, searing out every single speckle of hope from his soul. He was promising things just like that, a few days or centuries before. He failed, even if those aims weren’t so ridiculous as what Mitchell wanted now.


There weren’t any real safe zones. There weren’t any hospitals anymore. Nigel first believed in them, even after he sent his town to their death in one, but as he wandered around what was left of his once so great country, he could see the reality. Haunted, empty towns, bases, or fortresses filled with scoundrels. Military was dispersed. No good deed went unpunished – the ones who were willing to take in strangers, help others were quickly killed by the enemy they let inside. Prisons turned into hellholes, and the convicted escapees were more likely to stay alive by sheer inclemency than the once so disciplined and effective military.


He saw everything collapse. And now – he was collapsed, by every possible means. He couldn’t even speak, he was just shaking with the insane, cruel, mute laughter, unable to move even an inch…

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"What are you laughing at? Eh? It's true!! There's got to be someone SOMEWHERE who can help you. Surely to god. Even if not, and you have to die, I want you to die in your bed. Comfortable. Safe. Not in here. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we can do that."


I look at him with tears forming in my eyes.


"I promise". I hold out my pinky

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

Nie shook his head, unable to break off the hysterical laughter. He wanted to, but that horrible chuckle was still bubbling in him, forcing his way out, taking away his breath. He was dizzy with the laughter, trembling and shaking like some kind of weed, and in that moment, he was almost entirely gone, his mind diluted with the fear and sheer improbability of the situation, that promise…


He couldn’t see anything now. He could understand the words, but they were so surreal, so detached from reality he couldn’t take them, not even with all that determination Mitchell said it. The dentist tried to lift his hands, and it almost worked, then they fell back to his lap, without ever really reaching the intended height.


Nigel was still laughing, head thrown back, without real sound.


It felt like losing his mind.

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

I look on. The poor bloke. This was having an effect on him. I took my hand off him and moved slightly away from him. Not because I was scared of him, I just wanted him to be able to have some alone time with his breakdown. I didn't want to be too overbearing.


"I'm here for you buddy" I said. I half wished Johnny would come back so I knew he was coming from.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

Nie was not aware when his silent laughter turned into broken, half-formed words. It wasn’t determination or willpower that took away the bitter edge of the hysteria. It wasn’t even his consciousness, momentarily locked away somewhere else, in a tiny cell in a burning dungeon.


It was his mantra, his nightly, silent enumeration, the repetitive, almost prayer-like list of names he started to recite instinctively, formulating first only broken strings of letters, then full names. It sounded like a broken record. Like someone else was talking.


“‘Morgans. Bakers. Niederhausen. Hooges. Jolm. Caldwell. Smith. Wells. Nothers. Fields. Verhaiden. Winters. Folkner. Nasaim. Caratos. Mellianaken. Poulder. Lendvai. Normans. Cochrain. Boster. Howles. Two Feathers. Collins. Vortheim. Canbertons. Welchen. Welchen-Canberton. Canberton… Canberton…”

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"I guess I'll try get back to my place" I say as I tiptoe over and kneel down again. I hoped the flour wasn't going to move, but I couldn't really see.


I think it moved a bit but I hoped Johnny wouldn't notice the small details.


It was best to leave Nigel when he got like this. There was something about his that I didn't trust. I loved the bloke. But I didn't know whether he could get dangerous once he'd lost the plot. And I wasn't planning on finding out now.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

Strangely, his own name, the one he shed so long before was the one which broke the vicious circle, pulling him back from the crazy darkness. He abruptly ceased the enumeration, as he suddenly realized where he was exactly.


Still in the dark, and everything hurt… but the sudden emptiness by his side was the worst he felt. Mitchell wasn’t there anymore.


Nie couldn’t recall the previous minutes; he lost quite a bit of time, without really knowing what happened. He vaguely remembered they were talking, then…


…what happened? Where was his son?...


“Mitchell?...” his voice was small and broken, rough from the previous bout of hysteria. He couldn’t move, couldn’t rise from the awkward position. He was just so tired, whole body aching. He wasn’t even sure he actually uttered his son’s name.

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"I'm here, I'm back on the flour. You were having an episode, so I ... I thought it was best to leave you be... Don't worry. I don't think I've moved the flour enough to be noticeable. Im ok "


I take a quick glance around. The Flour was a little displaced in places. I spun my torso round and tried to get the flour off my feet. It was difficult in cuffs.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

“For…forgive me…” Nie found it difficult to breathe. He couldn’t remember anything, and panic rose in him. “Did… did I… hurt you?”


He was scared even more now. An episode? He never had one before, as far as he could remember. It was frightening to think about it. He was trembling even more than before, his mind trying to fill in the blanks with no avail.


At first, he couldn’t understand the thing about the flour, but then something creeped into his mind. He nodded to himself, thinking about how impossible it was not to move the white powder.


Doesn’t count anymore…

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"No no no, you were reeling off names again. And laughing hysterically. It was that I was a bit disturbed by. But it's ok. Johnny will be back soon. I want to be back here just in case."


The last part was a down and out lie. I couldn't bare to tell Nigel that he scared me a bit. That would break him.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

The dentist shuddered, imagining the scene.


“Sorry” he said, softly, suddenly hopeless again. He was sure it was utterly eerie, and somehow he was convinced that Mitchell could actually hate him.


He was telling him the names. He might have been also talking about his sins. He wanted to be very, very small now, even to disappear. The thought he could make his son lose his love scared him, badly.


He just hoped when Johnny comes back, he would choose him, and not Mitchell, to punish for the insubordination.

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"Nono it's honestly fine " I say dismissively "I still love you" I joke half heartedly


I actually felt sorry for the bloke. He'd been through so much. I just wanted him to know that I still loved him no matter what


I try to distribute my weight differently so my knees did crack under my weight. I was glad Johnny didn't use grits.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

“Could you, really?” Nie asked bitterly, sensing that something was amiss. Lethargy flooded into his veins… he couldn’t see it, but the forgotten transfusion needle was still in his arm, and ruby red fluid travelled back and forth in the tube as his heart beat. He was shuddering from the pain and his furious thoughts.


He was afraid. Johnny made him admit last night that he was a murderer, and told the boy about how many marks he carried as the memento of his sins. And as much as he wanted Mitchell to hate him last night, now the idea seemed unbearable…

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"Honestly " i say through gritted teeth "now please, stop asking. And please stop apologising. You've got nothing to apologise for."


I sighed and looked around. I could just about make out the room. It was bare and unwelcoming. And cold. It was so so cold.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

Nigel closed his eyes with despair, making the darkness even darker. He felt sick in his stomach, burning with fear and anguish.


He didn’t dare to answer, for once, he become afraid of his own words. Once he ruled them so well, quickly, without any effort, but now every one of them seemed betraying him, twisting the truth, the meaning. The mayor was trembling, weakening by his awful thoughts.


What could hide behind Mitchell’s words, his strained voice?...


He wanted to laugh again, but he managed to choke back the hysteria, for a while, anyway…


Johnny was already fuming when he arrived back to the base, the vehicles filled with injured soldiers and dead men’s gear. He never saw a herd so big like that before, not only made of by runners and clickers, but several tanks, with misshaped, supernaturally sturdy bodies and frighteningly fast reflexes. The brandings hurt too much by now, making him even more high-strung than before.


He needed to unwind, to enjoy a bit of leisure time, after he made the reports and finished the accounts. Sadly, he had to make his wife work… there were so many injured soldiers who were not surely infected yet, and she was the only one trained enough.


The anger was boiling in his veins, as he stomped through the corridor, lamp in hand. He practically kicked in the door, and he slammed it shut behind him, looking over the floor first.


His mouth curled into a cruel smile, as he hung the lamp on the wall, stalking closer to his captives.


“Well, well, well… and there was I, thinking you would be good, little mouse” he purred in a dangerously low voice, examining the flour again. It was evident that the dentist hadn’t moved, in fact, he was still laying in the same spot, hands bound and eyes blindfolded, pale despite the blood moving into his arm, but around the boy, there were disturbed spots. The man snorted. “And to think you wanted him safe…”


He moved closer, towering menacingly over Mitchell, then he turned to kick into the dentist’s prone form.

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"Leave him!" I interject. "Please. Any more of this and he will die. It's my fault. Da didn't move. He didn't want me to move but I did it anyway. I will take his punishments and mine. Please let that happen." I move my legs from under me and sit on my bum. My knees where red and there were small marks were flour had worked its way in.


I didn't make eye contact with the man. He was big and looming and I didn't want to lose the bravery that was firing up inside me.


The nurse was under a lot of pressure. A lot of wounded soldiers. Surprisingly she was very professional. She was very caring. The soldiers had no idea that a cruel evil woman was under that facade.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

Johnny snorted. He somewhere deep knew that the boy was right, but he was so pumped up that he frankly didn’t care for a minute. He just stepped on the dentist’s thighs, lightly at first, then he imitated stomping out a small fire.


“I told you before, didn’t I? Your missteps are your father’s pain… and vice versa.” he bent down, somewhat amazed that Nigel stayed silent. “I wonder if you still lie to him and call him Dad, though. You had time to think, right? About what we were talking about…”


He took off the blindfold, and sneered, realizing that the dentist was really awake. He thought he had passed out… well. That was certainly interesting. Just like the dull, broken look in the grey eyes… he wondered if they actually managed to break him this fast.


“Well, murderer. Let’s continue yesterday’s game” he said, slowly cooling off, admiring their handiwork. “I ask, you answer, and the boy won’t get hurt too much.”


Nie nodded, still dazed from the mind-numbing pain. He was barely aware the cold, piercing fear in his stomach, the disturbing presentiment…


The question came in an almost soft voice.


“How many Ms are there?”


“Six hundred… ninety-five” his own voice was croaking, weak. Barely more than a whisper.


“Six hundred ninety-five? Damn! One for each person?”


“One… for each… family…”


“Fuck! That’s a lot. How many people in total? Say the number” the voice was positively gleeful. The dentist replied in a pained, drained vertigo.


“Two thousand… fifty-eight…”


He understood the thought that was scratching on the end of his consciousness too late – that Mitchell was there, and could hear everything. Nigel jerked, losing to the hysteria once more. The horrible, pained, almost soundless laughter ruled his whole mind again…

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

I shove my head into my knees. I didn't want to hear this. I couldn't hear it.


The murders were in their thousands though... Dont think like that.


Would he ever murder me No!


I curse myself for ever thinking that about my father. But in these situations one couldn't help it


"Please I've heard enough". It was worth a try to make the man stop. I was trying to make it look these things didn't bother me. These games.

 

[DeadnotSleeping]

“Well, I didn’t” laughed the man cruelly, bending down to grab into the crudely chopped hair. “I am interested in all the small details… You know, since I saw you get up and fight, I cannot shake off the feeling I know you. I’m quite sure I do know you, murderer. Maybe from reports? Did I meet you before? Maybe you stepped out of a time machine for all I know…”


He didn’t get any answers, just that disturbing, silent laughter in his face, without any kind of inhibition and fear. Damn. They really managed to broke him. Too soon, maybe…


He realized then that the dentist was way too hot under his fingers, skin almost scorching his own. He started to look over the man more seriously now, and Johnny swore as he understood that Mitchell was right.


The dentist was dying; his body was all ready to give in. Most likely, his mind was gone now, too… crap.


“You stay right there, without moving anymore” he ordered the kid, burning with anger, and he made his order clearer with a kick into the boy’s ribs. He picked up the still laughing Nigel, so easily like a plaything, and gave him a good slap with full force.


Well, that certainly shut him up. The dentist’s eyes went all white, head leaning back like his neck was broken… at least the convulsions stopped.


“I’ll come back to mete out your punishment soon” the man growled, looking at the boy. “He just earned you quite a time for tonight, kid. I’d seriously reconsider who do you call dad next time, boy… even I would have been a better choice.”


He left the room still carrying the unconscious man, mockingly imitating that disturbing laughter, then turned to the way to the infirmary.


Hopefully, it won’t be too late. Otherwise, he’d had to go to shop around for a dentist again, and it would be even harder than before…

 

[CharlieBoyyy]

"Dad!! Dad!" I scream at the top of my lungs trying my hardest not to move. The kick to the ribs made me feel frail. I sat still for a bit rping as loudly as possible in pure panic. Then I decide this wasn't time for cowering. This was a time to be an adult.


So without much due care to the scattered flour, I got to my feet and went to the door which was, of course, unlocked. And I snuck out trying to find the infirmary.


It was difficult. There weren't many people in there underwear and handcuffs walking about. It was safe to say I was the only one. If I wasn't cuffed I'd get a soldiers uniform like in the movies. But I just hid.


I peered into the infirmary. There were quite a few soldiers. Injured but well cared for. Water in jugs beside them, a bunch in grapes on their tables. Like in real life. And there was my dad. Slumped on a much older looking bed no water. No grapes. No instructions of care. Nothing. I bend myself over double and go to Nigel


"Da... I'm here.. I won't leave you. You're too weak to move right now, but that's okay. I'm here."


If I heard anyone at all is climb into a small crevice under the bed... I was invisible.