Let's Watch It Burn
Fade to Black
*Two Months Later*
Letty walked slowly down the dark streets, hands in the pockets of her black hoodie. She had to walk everywhere now, since some jerk stole her car last week. She was just going in some gas station to get a candy bar, and she came out to find her car gone. The only benefit was the exercise.
She sighed. When would her luck change?
Over the past couple of months, Letty had practically become a walking zombie. She showed no emotion and spoke to no one. She wanted nothing to do with anyone; she just wanted to be alone. She thought that moving to LA and away from her deadbeat parents would be good for her. Maybe she could get a decent job. But no, she hadn't even been living here a month and her house burned down with everything she owned inside. So now not only was Letty homeless, but she was unemployed and barely had any money to her name.
A rattling was heard as she walked over a grate in the sidewalk. She turned behind her to stare at the grate, since it made a distracting noise, and didn't noticed the chunk of chipped cement blocking her path until she tripped over it. Her jeans ripped and the cement cut open her skin on her leg. A crack was heard as her other foot got stuck under the concrete block, succeeding in breaking a couple toes and spraining her ankle. She landed with a hard 'thud' on her right arm after sliding a few inches down the sidewalk. Her sleeves had gotten rolled up and cuts adorned her slightly tan arms. The slight tears in her pants were torn open even more as her legs scratched the ground.
Letty groaned. Her right foot was throbbing and she could feel the blood gushing from her left leg. She could even see it on the cement.
Looking around, she noticed that she was completely alone. Which was understandable; it was almost 3 AM. But still, you think someone would be out.
Pushing herself up with bleeding arms, Letty put pressure on the foot that wasn't hurt. This made her cut seem to bleed more on that leg, but she ignored it.
Letty examined the chunk of concrete that made her fall. It was at least a foot tall and two feet wide. Someone must've set it there on purpose. There was no other way it would be in the middle of the path.
Letty started to feel dizzy from blood loss and clutched her head. Ignoring the pain, she limped over to a nearby alley and sat at the edge. Her phone had stopped working weeks ago and no one was around. She couldn't believe her leg was bleeding that much, but it obviously was. She turned to the direction she came from and saw her trail of blood. Maybe someone would see it and save her before she bled to death?
Her vision became blurry and dark. Letty tried to resist the urge to close her eyes as she took off her hoodie and put pressure on her leg wound. Her efforts were futile, as a few seconds later she passed out and her body went limp against the building.
Her luck must not be changing anytime soon.
------------------------------------------
Two guys, one with a blue mask and the other a bandana and sunglasses, made their way through the streets of downtown LA. There were actually six guys, but just these two were out and about. They ran out of alcohol in the middle of the night, and decided they should go get more. In the dark. Downtown.
They obviously weren't thinking clearly.
"Hey Charlie," the one with the blue mask said, turning to his bandana-clad friend, "why'd we walk all the way down here again?"
Charlie turned to him, "To get beer and shit."
Blue Mask nodded, "Right. But isn't there a place to buy booze just around the block from J's apartment?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Why didn't we just go there instead of walking halfway across town at 3 in the morning?"
Charlie stared for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, "I dunno. You should've mentioned that sooner, Johnny."
Johnny just shook his head, "Sometimes I wonder about you, man."
The two rounded another corner and Johnny nearly ran into Charlie when he stopped suddenly in front of him.
"What is it now!?"
Charlie's eyes widened at the sight in front of him, "The fuck? There's blood everywhere..."
Johnny peered around him, "What? I don't see any-"
He froze. Indeed, there was a huge pile of blood, a bloody cement block, and a trail of blood leading down the street. The two looked at each other before cautiously following the trail. You never knew what kind of stuff went down in this part of town.
Johnny walked in front of Charlie, examining the area in front, while Charlie watched behind and around them to make sure no one jumped out and held them at gunpoint or something.
Charlie bumped into Johnny when he stopped. He was about to ask why he stopped when Johnny interrupted him.
"Oh shit!"
He walked so he was standing beside Johnny and looked into the alley. His eyes widened again when he spotted the source of Johnny's alarm. There was a girl laying against the building wearing only a tank top and ripped jeans, holding a sweatshirt against her leg with a limp arm. The pile of blood around her and the cuts on her arms made it obvious that she was the one who made the trail the two had followed.
"Shit, man! Is she even alive?"
Johnny got down on his knees beside her and put his fingers up to her neck to feel for a pulse. His eyes widened when he faintly felt one. He was sure she'd be dead.
"She's still alive," he replied.
"Should we take her to the hospital or something?" Normally Charlie wouldn't care, but this girl was young and had her whole life to go. Plus, for some reason she was covered in blood in the middle of the night. Who knew what kind of crazy shit went down.
Johnny nodded, "We can't just leave her here. But where is there a hospital?"
Charlie thought for a moment, "Didn't we pass one on the way here? If we hurry...maybe we can make it."
"Yeah," Johnny looked at the hoodie on the girl's leg. It was caked with blood, come of which was still wet. He wondered if it just happened recently, or if it was just still bleeding...
"Johnny!" Charlie said, gaining the other's attention, "Let's just get her there, get some booze and go back to J's. Hurry up."
He nodded and looked at the girl again. He didn't know how to safely pick her up, so just settled with picking her up bridal style and trying to get the hoodie to stay on her leg. It didn't seem to be a problem, since it was dried on anyway. Johnny cringed; that'll be nasty to get off.
"Coming?" Charlie said. He was already starting to walk in the direction he thought the hospital was in.
Johnny sighed, he felt bad for the girl. Her brown hair was frizzy and sticking to her face. Eyeliner was smeared down her face and it looked like she had been crying. Dried blood covered her forearms. Her jeans were torn in various places from as high as her thigh all the way to the bottom. The girl looked like a wreck.
Charlie turned around to see Johnny staring at the girl; examing her. He was probably trying to figure out what happened. Charlie was too. What could've possibly made her bleed that much? And where did that cement come from?
He kept walking until he reached an intersection. He expected Johnny to be behind him, but instead he was back halfway down the block.
"Johnny!"
He looked up at the mention of his name. He shrugged in what Charlie assumed was a sheepish gesture. It was hard to tell with the masks. But anyway, he waited for Johnny to join him at the corner.
Johnny was still looking at the girl when he reached the edge of the street. Charlie was about to make some joke about it but decided against it when he saw Johnny lean closer to the girl and put his fingers on her neck again.
Charlie looked at him strangely, "Something wrong?"
Johnny stood still for a moment, "Fuck! She's not breathing anymore!"
Johnny was clearly getting a little nervous. Even if he didn't know this chick, he would feel it was his fault for not being able to help her. Charlie knew it would eat away at the two of them for a long time if they did nothing, so he nodded and the two sprinted across the street and towards the hospital a few blocks away.
He just hoped they got there in time.
And it's hard to face the facts when the darkness fades to black
Letty walked slowly down the dark streets, hands in the pockets of her black hoodie. She had to walk everywhere now, since some jerk stole her car last week. She was just going in some gas station to get a candy bar, and she came out to find her car gone. The only benefit was the exercise.
She sighed. When would her luck change?
Over the past couple of months, Letty had practically become a walking zombie. She showed no emotion and spoke to no one. She wanted nothing to do with anyone; she just wanted to be alone. She thought that moving to LA and away from her deadbeat parents would be good for her. Maybe she could get a decent job. But no, she hadn't even been living here a month and her house burned down with everything she owned inside. So now not only was Letty homeless, but she was unemployed and barely had any money to her name.
A rattling was heard as she walked over a grate in the sidewalk. She turned behind her to stare at the grate, since it made a distracting noise, and didn't noticed the chunk of chipped cement blocking her path until she tripped over it. Her jeans ripped and the cement cut open her skin on her leg. A crack was heard as her other foot got stuck under the concrete block, succeeding in breaking a couple toes and spraining her ankle. She landed with a hard 'thud' on her right arm after sliding a few inches down the sidewalk. Her sleeves had gotten rolled up and cuts adorned her slightly tan arms. The slight tears in her pants were torn open even more as her legs scratched the ground.
Letty groaned. Her right foot was throbbing and she could feel the blood gushing from her left leg. She could even see it on the cement.
Looking around, she noticed that she was completely alone. Which was understandable; it was almost 3 AM. But still, you think someone would be out.
Pushing herself up with bleeding arms, Letty put pressure on the foot that wasn't hurt. This made her cut seem to bleed more on that leg, but she ignored it.
Letty examined the chunk of concrete that made her fall. It was at least a foot tall and two feet wide. Someone must've set it there on purpose. There was no other way it would be in the middle of the path.
Letty started to feel dizzy from blood loss and clutched her head. Ignoring the pain, she limped over to a nearby alley and sat at the edge. Her phone had stopped working weeks ago and no one was around. She couldn't believe her leg was bleeding that much, but it obviously was. She turned to the direction she came from and saw her trail of blood. Maybe someone would see it and save her before she bled to death?
Her vision became blurry and dark. Letty tried to resist the urge to close her eyes as she took off her hoodie and put pressure on her leg wound. Her efforts were futile, as a few seconds later she passed out and her body went limp against the building.
Her luck must not be changing anytime soon.
------------------------------------------
Two guys, one with a blue mask and the other a bandana and sunglasses, made their way through the streets of downtown LA. There were actually six guys, but just these two were out and about. They ran out of alcohol in the middle of the night, and decided they should go get more. In the dark. Downtown.
They obviously weren't thinking clearly.
"Hey Charlie," the one with the blue mask said, turning to his bandana-clad friend, "why'd we walk all the way down here again?"
Charlie turned to him, "To get beer and shit."
Blue Mask nodded, "Right. But isn't there a place to buy booze just around the block from J's apartment?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Why didn't we just go there instead of walking halfway across town at 3 in the morning?"
Charlie stared for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, "I dunno. You should've mentioned that sooner, Johnny."
Johnny just shook his head, "Sometimes I wonder about you, man."
The two rounded another corner and Johnny nearly ran into Charlie when he stopped suddenly in front of him.
"What is it now!?"
Charlie's eyes widened at the sight in front of him, "The fuck? There's blood everywhere..."
Johnny peered around him, "What? I don't see any-"
He froze. Indeed, there was a huge pile of blood, a bloody cement block, and a trail of blood leading down the street. The two looked at each other before cautiously following the trail. You never knew what kind of stuff went down in this part of town.
Johnny walked in front of Charlie, examining the area in front, while Charlie watched behind and around them to make sure no one jumped out and held them at gunpoint or something.
Charlie bumped into Johnny when he stopped. He was about to ask why he stopped when Johnny interrupted him.
"Oh shit!"
He walked so he was standing beside Johnny and looked into the alley. His eyes widened again when he spotted the source of Johnny's alarm. There was a girl laying against the building wearing only a tank top and ripped jeans, holding a sweatshirt against her leg with a limp arm. The pile of blood around her and the cuts on her arms made it obvious that she was the one who made the trail the two had followed.
"Shit, man! Is she even alive?"
Johnny got down on his knees beside her and put his fingers up to her neck to feel for a pulse. His eyes widened when he faintly felt one. He was sure she'd be dead.
"She's still alive," he replied.
"Should we take her to the hospital or something?" Normally Charlie wouldn't care, but this girl was young and had her whole life to go. Plus, for some reason she was covered in blood in the middle of the night. Who knew what kind of crazy shit went down.
Johnny nodded, "We can't just leave her here. But where is there a hospital?"
Charlie thought for a moment, "Didn't we pass one on the way here? If we hurry...maybe we can make it."
"Yeah," Johnny looked at the hoodie on the girl's leg. It was caked with blood, come of which was still wet. He wondered if it just happened recently, or if it was just still bleeding...
"Johnny!" Charlie said, gaining the other's attention, "Let's just get her there, get some booze and go back to J's. Hurry up."
He nodded and looked at the girl again. He didn't know how to safely pick her up, so just settled with picking her up bridal style and trying to get the hoodie to stay on her leg. It didn't seem to be a problem, since it was dried on anyway. Johnny cringed; that'll be nasty to get off.
"Coming?" Charlie said. He was already starting to walk in the direction he thought the hospital was in.
Johnny sighed, he felt bad for the girl. Her brown hair was frizzy and sticking to her face. Eyeliner was smeared down her face and it looked like she had been crying. Dried blood covered her forearms. Her jeans were torn in various places from as high as her thigh all the way to the bottom. The girl looked like a wreck.
Charlie turned around to see Johnny staring at the girl; examing her. He was probably trying to figure out what happened. Charlie was too. What could've possibly made her bleed that much? And where did that cement come from?
He kept walking until he reached an intersection. He expected Johnny to be behind him, but instead he was back halfway down the block.
"Johnny!"
He looked up at the mention of his name. He shrugged in what Charlie assumed was a sheepish gesture. It was hard to tell with the masks. But anyway, he waited for Johnny to join him at the corner.
Johnny was still looking at the girl when he reached the edge of the street. Charlie was about to make some joke about it but decided against it when he saw Johnny lean closer to the girl and put his fingers on her neck again.
Charlie looked at him strangely, "Something wrong?"
Johnny stood still for a moment, "Fuck! She's not breathing anymore!"
Johnny was clearly getting a little nervous. Even if he didn't know this chick, he would feel it was his fault for not being able to help her. Charlie knew it would eat away at the two of them for a long time if they did nothing, so he nodded and the two sprinted across the street and towards the hospital a few blocks away.
He just hoped they got there in time.
And it's hard to face the facts when the darkness fades to black
♠ ♠ ♠
This chapter's a bit longer. yay :DI can't say I know Johnny or Charlie well, but this was kinda how I saw them dealing with a situation like that...I guess.
Tell me what you think! :D
Title credit - Metallica