Chapter 61.

Reprieve.

Hiru Knight.

Time/Area: August 4th, 2013. Brooklyn, NYC.

4:00 PM

“Oh good, you’re awake.” Henry’s voice entered my ears as I groggily sat up in the passenger seat.

“What…wait!” I immediately whipped my head back, peering through the back window of the car only to view a barren road.

I glanced at Henry, looking for an explanation to fill the apparent gap in my memory.

“We got away from… it.” Henry said, his voice quiet as he kept his gaze on the road.

I shivered at the pictures forming in my mind, massaging my temples as I remembered what happened,

“Okay, good…” I breathed, “H-how long was I out?”

“Long enough for me to get to another gas place, fill up the cans, and then fill up the truck.” Henry replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

I gulped, looking down to realize my rifle was still slumped against my leg.

I really had been out for a while.

“So are we going to your house now?” I asked, knowing that- based on our surroundings- we were still in Brooklyn.

Henry’s grip tightened around the steering wheel, his eyes shooting towards me as if questioning whether I meant what I said, “Y-you don’t have to come-”

“I want to,” I met his gaze for a second before looking back towards the front window, “Besides, you can’t go- MONSTER!”

Henry immediately looked back to the street, noting the one hundred foot gap between us and a hulking creature standing as tall as the streetlamp beside it.

Henry cursed, but upon a second look I realized the thing didn’t even seem to notice us.

Its disfigured, glowing bronze head was instead aimed downwards at a smaller figure…a man.

Henry had put a full stop on our vehicle, prepared to make a U-turn before I pointed out the guy,

“Henry, there’s somebody there,” I nudged him, “Like a human.”

Henry squinted back at the scene, his frown indicating he saw him, “I- I don’t think we can save that dude.”

Before I could protest, the monster released a blood curdling shriek,

“RAAAAAAAAGH!”

Its cry tore through the smoke filled sky, its body seeming to pulse in orange flashes of light as it stalked further towards the man.

I gripped the rifle at my leg, slowly reaching for the door.

“Hiru,” Henry noticed my actions, “What the heck are you doing.”

What was I doing?

I knew what I wasn’t doing.

I wasn’t going to watch as another human being died.

I had been driving around, running from monster after monster as the people around me slowly shrank in number.

Now, as soon as I woke up from escaping a different monster, another one was about to kill some guy like it was commonplace?

I didn’t even know him, but the situation was beginning to be so old it was sickening.

I opened the door, not really sure what my plan was as I stepped out into the broken city of New York.

I leveled my rifle at the monster, feeling my breath shake as I aimed directly at its brilliantly flashing eyeball.

I ignored Henry’s protests to my left, feeling entrenched in my own thoughts as I fingered the metallic trigger of the Winchester.

Why did these things have to ruin…everyone’s life?

My life…

The creature raised its right arm, the familiar shape of sharpened bone and blade-like flesh touching the sky as the monster prepared to gut the man beneath it.

I knew they were bullet proof, but I couldn’t stand not being able to help another soul.

BANG!

Tick!

Click!

I heard Henry curse again from inside the truck as I released a bullet into the abomination’s eye socket, watching it stumble backwards and release another earth-shattering roar.

This time, however, the scream was all pain.

My lips were beginning to tug at a grin until the monster seemed to get over the shot, its piercing gaze now locked on me.

I inched back towards the car, cursing under my breath as the creature began stomping for us.

Once I was inside, Henry glared at me, “...I should’ve kept you knocked out.” he muttered.

“Whatever, I had to help that-?” I looked back towards the man I had just saved, frowning when he hadn’t moved.

I squinted, “Why isn’t that guy running?”

It looked like his form was still moving, so he was still breathing, but he was just leaning against a brick alley.

It was then I noticed his leg, and the pool of blood surrounding it,

“I think he’s injured-”

“Not our problem Hiru,” Henry began pulling the car away.

“Wait!” I said, returning Henry’s glare, “If we escape, it's just gonna go back and finish that guy.”

Henry thought about that, rolling his eyes after a moment, “Dude, people are going to die…and that will be us if we don’t leave now!”

I gave up, falling back into my seat, “Whatever,” I groaned, wondering why I wanted to help so badly, “You’re probably right.”

Throughout this whole day, there had been zero times where I hadn’t felt useless. It was like everything going on was just a movie, and I had no control over how it was going to end. I was just-

“Okay, get ready to help him inside, Hiru.”

I blinked, leaving my thoughts to register what Henry had just said,

“Wha-?”

“Have you not been paying attention?!” Henry groaned, “Bro…look.”

I gasped when I noticed that Henry had not in fact taken the U-turn.

He was going straight ahead.

The monster seemed to be just as surprised as I was, pausing for a moment to comprehend our actions.

But a ‘moment’ was all the pause it needed, the tears in its flesh flashing bronze once more as electric arcs of the same color began building at its arm.

The light was so bright it began blinding our view, causing Henry to rely on luck as he pressed on the gas.

“Ohhh, so we’re gonna die-”

“Shut up, this was your idea!” Henry hissed, swerving rapidly when the light seemed to be at its brightest.

When the light faded, we knew the thing had to have been behind us, and that was confirmed when another monster-ish roar echoed from over our shoulders.

“RRRAAGH!”

I looked towards the back window,

“It’s already turning!” I notified Henry as he pulled straight into the brick alley.

Thankfully, the alley continued into a street parallel to the one behind us, so it would serve as a great escape assuming we actually got out of here alive.

Without wasting another second, I exited the passenger door again, immediately feeling my hair stand from the static in the air.

“AAAARGH!”

A two second glance told me the monster was getting a bit annoyed, but it didn’t seem like speed was its strong suit, so I had a couple of minutes.

I turned to locate the man we were currently risking our lives for, shock flooding my brain when I saw a familiar face.

He was a dark skinned man, looked to be in his thirties, and was dressed in a bloodstained jacket with torn jeans.

“H-hey!” I ran up to the guy, scavenging my mind while trying to put a name to a face.

I crouched downwards, wincing at the deep gash in his thigh before offering my hand for support.

“Thanks, kid.” He managed, unable to coat the pain in his voice.

When he spoke, I immediately remembered where I had seen him.

“The funeral?” I realized.

“WHERREEE ARE GOINGAARRRGH?!”

Woosh!

I yelped when an uprooted bench sailed overhead, flying through the alleyway before crashing into a clothes shop window yards away.

The monster’s slow stride towards us was almost complete, and Henry made sure I knew through five aggressive slams of the truck’s horn.

“N-no problem,” I coughed, helping the man to his feet while holding up most of his weight with my shoulder.

I was pretty tall for a seventeen year old, but between impending doom and my still incredibly sore ankle, it was no easy feat to get the man to the door,

“HIRU HURRY UP!” Henry shouted from the truck, driving forwards into the alley to accelerate our escape, “GET THE DUDE INSIDE ALREADY!”

I gritted my teeth, deciding to save the ‘did I see you at my friend’s parents’ funeral’ questions for later as I opened the back door,

“Thanks,” The man sounded lightheaded as he slid into the car, closing the door behind him as I rushed to join Henry up front.

“Dang it Hiru, finally.” Henry stepped on the gas as soon as my foot grazed the car floor, zooming straight out of the alley before blasting through the open street.

-

As soon as we were in the clear (whatever passed as clear now), Henry nudged me to say something.

I shrugged off his touch, turning over my shoulder to view the dude we just rescued,

“Um, w-we have extra bandages in that case over there.” I pointed out the supplies we had raided from Sports and Hunting earlier today, “Erm…a-are you ok?”

The man halfway smiled, giving me an ‘are you dumb’ look before cracking open the medical supplies,

“Well,” he coughed, now feeling comfortable enough to speak, “I was nearly stepped on by a twelve foot tall demon thing while trying to visit my now dead niece so…” He began wrapping a bandage around his leg, “No, not really.”

I frowned, realizing the stupidity of the question before trying something else,

“W-well my name is Hiru…and this is Henry,” I paused, deciding to ask the million dollar question, “Have I uh…seen you before?”

The man frowned, taking a good look at me as he tightened the wrap around his bleeding limb, “My name is Drake…Clemmons, and no-”

“I knew it!” I interrupted him, relieved to find a possible outlet to the growing awkwardness, “Y-you were uh, at my friend’s funeral.”

He raised his eyebrow at me, “Uhh wha-”

“Well, not my friend’s funeral,” I rephrased my words, feeling awkward yet again, “His name is Damien? It was for his parents-”

“You know the little man?!” Mr. Clemmons grew a million times more sociable as a grin was brought to his face, “How about that!”

I grinned as well, “Yeah!”

Henry joined the conversation as he drove, “We’re uh, actually gonna meet up with him after we get my folks… if you wanted to tag along?”

He nodded, “I was about to get a little suspicious of you two kids driving some stranger around, especially with everything that’s been going on,” Mr.Clemmons began to loosen up, “But if yall are friends with Damien, no wonder you two are so nice.”

Henry winced at that, “R-right.” he muttered.

“So were you both at the funeral?” Mr.Clemmons asked.

Henry cleared his throat, “I wasn’t…I actually only really became friends with Damien today…”

“Oh!” Mr.Clemmons slowly nodded, “I see-”

“He saved my life with those wizard powers he has.” Henry laughed.

“Wizard powers?!” Mr.Clemmons squinted, “What-”

“I-it doesn’t really matter right now,” I interrupted, elbowing Henry, “Anyways, it’s good to meet you formally.”

He laughed, pointing at our surroundings, “I wouldn’t really call this formal, but nice to meet you too Hiru.” He nodded at Henry, “You too, Henry.”

Henry nodded and I smiled. Despite not knowing him too well, it was cool seeing an actual adult that was still breathing. It gave me a little more encouragement to share with Henry,

“Once we get your mom and dad, it’s gonna be crowded.” I laughed, turning around to speak with Henry.

Henry smiled at that, “Yeah,” he said, “It’ll be one heck of a ride.”

“So where are your parents held up?” Mr.Clemmons asked from the back, “Doesn’t seem right to just let some kids do all the work.”

Henry blinked, “Oh, erm, they live up in Staten Island,” He said, “B-but it’s okay man, I can-”

“My friend,” Mr. Clemmons nodded at a sidewalk that wasn’t crowded by an excessive amount of corpses or busted vehicles, “Pull over and let me take the wheel for a bit.”

“But-”

“Your eyes are all sunken, and what kind of man would I be if I just let some teenager go through all this crap without some help?”

Before he could protest anymore, Mr. Clemmons continued, “Besides, this is the least I can do after you boys did what you did.”

Henry finally conceded, pulling over to the sidewalk before exiting the driver’s seat.

After he switched with Mr.Clemmons, I was shocked at how quickly Henry fell asleep.

Within seconds, he was already snoring.

I frowned at him from up front, not realizing how much it must’ve taken out of him to be driving this long,

“You two are something else, I’ll say.” Mr. Clemmons began driving, continuing the route Henry was driving as if he knew exactly where to go, “I can drive the rest of the way.”

“Y-you don’t need any help?” I clarified.

“Oh no,” He waved me off, turning on a road that eventually led to the Verrazzano, “Back when I was building up my food business from the ground, I ran a lot of my own deliveries.” He explained, “Took me all over the big apple.”

I smiled, “Well, according to Damien, you have the best bagels Manhattan has ever seen, so I bet a lot of people wanted to order from you.”

He laughed at that, and what a genuine sound it was to hear.

He had one of those laughs that made everyone smile- including me.

“You know, I don’t even remember seeing you at the church.” Mr. Clemmons admitted, frowning as he maneuvered the car around another lifeless body, “But to be honest, I only really knew Damien and his buddy Jason.”

“Yeah,” I shrugged, laughing, “I was that one Asian kid up front with my mom.”

He laughed again, but then paused, “Your mom? Where’s she?”

I frowned, shocked at my own words.

I held back a tear, not meaning to even bring her up.

“Oh sorry,” I coughed, “N-no she’s not…she erm…didn’t-”

“Hey, it’s all good,” Mr. Clemmons stopped me, noticing my shift in voice, “You don’t have to talk about it…I didn’t know.”

I just nodded, thankful he understood.

It was nice though, forgetting about it all for a moment,

“You know, I see why it meant so much for you to be there.” I admitted, “I mean I haven’t known Damien for a very long time, but I know he’s gonna be glad you’re alive.”

Mr. Clemmons was silent for a moment before speaking,

“Thanks…Hiru.” He said softly, clearing his throat.

“You should get some sleep too,” he suggested, “I’ll wake you up if I need you to make a killer shot again.”

I grinned, “Okay, thanks.”

I turned over, using the seat belt as a makeshift pillow as I allowed myself to relax.

‘Relax’.

What a strange word.

I closed my eyes, and for the first time today, I was actually able to think about my mom.

About Tim…about John.

About everything that was happening.

None of it was fair, but I would take any minutes I got.

“Life does go on Hiru…”

A tear rolled down my cheek as I began to drift off,

“Never forget that.”