Love Me Dead

She leaned up against the side of the decrepit brick building. Hidden by the shadows of the alleyway she’d been calling home for the past week, Alexia’s eyes lay focused on the end of the street. A loud bang echoed throughout the vacant neighborhood, but she didn’t even flinch.

At first when she had sought comfort in this part town, Alexia had jumped at every strange noise whether it be something as serious as a police siren or a stray cat scuffling around in the trash. She sighed, knowing that with a possible murder scene not too far away that it would be time for her to move on. It wasn’t unusual and she was used to it by now, but it never got any easier with the constant moving around.

A stray cat rubbed up against her leg causing her to lose track of her thoughts. Alexia bent down into a well-balanced crouch and stroked her rough hand down the tabby’s spine. The cat arched his back with joy and began to purr softly. She stayed that way for a few minutes, indulging in the simple act. He let out a silent meow of thanks before sauntering off, fully satisfied from the attention it had just received.

“You know? You and I are very much alike,” Alexia whispered, watching the cat go off towards a nearby trashcan across the street, before getting back up. She resumed her position up against the wall once more again against the cold wall lost in thought wondering where she would go next.

A sharp scream pierced the eerie quietness and at this her ocean colored eyes widened in shock. What the hell was that? She glanced out towards the end of the street, but there was nothing. No movement, no dust, no sirens, nothing at all. Her eyes wandered, looking for the stray that she had just been petting, but the cat was already long gone.

Alexia decided that she could no longer wait there and wonder what had just happened. She moved out into the middle of the street, away from the sweet comfort of the shadows. She slowly made her way down the street, the sun beating down on her skin. A slight bit of perspiration began to seep to the surface. Every now and then, Alexia would glance over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her.

She stopped dead in her tracks and her hands flew up to cover her mouth and nose out of instinct. Alexia’s heart beat sped up as she suppressed the urge to gag from the horrendous smell of dead flesh. A male and a female lay at an awkward angle on the nearby sidewalk; a huge chuck of the males’ neck had been torn out as if someone or something had gotten hungry. The female, too, had a good chunk missing.

Alexia could sense somehow the woman was still alive though, still putting up a good fight of trying to survive. She wouldn’t last long, especially not with the amount of blood still oozing from her wound. Her eyes drifted towards the puddle of bright crimson blood as it slowly increased at the base of the bodies. It traveled down the pavement, making its way towards a nearby drain.

Flies had already started to swarm all over the entwined bodies. Alexia saw the shine of the shine reflect off something in the male’s limp open hand. She saw it, a semi-automatic pistol. With that, she knew had had at least had attempted to save them both. Her eyes stayed focused on the gun for a few more seconds. Then the woman’s arm moved. She stood there frozen from the pure shock.

“Help… me,” the woman said weakness evident in her voice from the high amount of blood loss.

Alexia shook her head to free her from her dazed binds and hurried over towards the woman. As she approached the scent of dying human flesh grew stronger as well, almost too overpowering, but her adrenaline kept the nauseated feeling away.

“What can I do to help?” Alexia blurted out before kneeling down next to the woman. She grabbed the woman’s nearby hand in hopes of comforting her.

“M-my fi-fi-fiancé… ne-ne-ne-needs hel-hel…” the woman’s stuttered before trailed off and the strength in her hand faded.

“He’s already dead,” Alexia blurted out. She realized her harshness as tears began to roll down the woman’s face. A deep cherry blush crossed Alexia’s face out of embarrassment. “I’m sorry…”

The woman’s dark chocolate eyes began to flicker in and out of consciousness. She fought to stay awake. “It… it… attac---“

“It what?” Alexia yelled in frustration, but it was too late. The woman had no strength left to live and in that moment she was gone forever to the world. Alexia bubbled with anger because the woman hadn’t told her what “it” was. She stayed there, kneeling before the woman still clutching her dead pale hand inn her own living warm hand. She let the hand slip and it fell with a dead clunk on the concrete.

Alexia reached over the woman’s dead body and grabbed the pistol from her fiancés open palm. With the gun held firmly in her grasp, she got back onto her feet. She didn’t even feel shaky despite the situation she was in now. She stood there, examining the dead couple silently. She hadn’t given either of them much thought, but now as she surveyed their bodies she saw why they had been such easy targets.

The man was dressed in a nice suit, his jacket and pants appeared freshly ironed that morning. The woman appeared to have on what looked like an expensive black designer dress paired with a nice pearl necklace. She couldn’t understand why such a couple had found themselves in a place like this. Maybe they had come to visit the poor, maybe a friend of theirs lived somewhere nearby, or maybe even a relative.

It was hard to know, but she would never know their true reason for straying from the main city’s streets. Whatever, their cause had been, it was obvious that they had chosen the wrong day. Instead of continuing to question their motives, Alexia just stood with her eyes closed for what seemed like an eternity, hoping somehow that their souls would find some peace.

Why am I still standing here?

Whoever did this can’t have gone far.

Alexia knew she had to get out there and fast. She stuffed the pistol into her back pocket and turned around. She sighed and slowly began making her way back down the street. However, instead of just seeking comfort in a dark corner, she decided it would be best for her to escape the confines of downtown altogether.

She tread lightly in the silent shadows, through a few familiar alleyways, and towards the lighter side of town. Many of the places she passed through had been places of refuge for her once. Some where she had once spent several nights hidden away from the sights of unfriendly eyes, but none felt safe. Not today or ever again for that matter would they.

As she hurried alone, she strained to listen for the screech of sirens, half-way hoping that someone else noticed the poor and unfortunate couple. She never heard them. Like no one cared. Hardly anyone truly cared though. They only ever thought about themselves, never giving a damn for those who lived downtown.

Alexia pushed onwards slowly watching as the pavement began to smooth out, the buildings showed fewer signs of gang graffiti, and the every window appeared to be more or less intact. She paused for a second, realizing that there was an unnerving feeling in the air. Something wasn’t quite right, yet Alexia couldn’t figure out why. At the same time, she wasn’t quite sure if she really wanted to know the truth.

Alexia slowed her pace. Exhaustion started to catch up to her, but kept placing one foot in front of the other; unsure of where she was headed, just knowing that wherever “there” is, it wasn’t here. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t realized that the sun was starting to sink below the horizon in the far off distance. Lights began to flicker on up ahead, the soft glow made the city seem less harsh.

Maybe I can try the hospital for the night.

She’d been there a few times before. It wasn’t necessarily her favorite place, but she was out of options and really didn’t want to seek safety in some homeless shelter, especially not when she had a gun hidden in her back pocket. Now with a solid destination in mind, Alexia hurried along as quickly as she could. She was never very fond of the city at night.

Eventually, she found herself standing in front of the glass electrical sliding doors to the city’s only hospital. She stood there a few minutes, waiting for the doors to magically open. Frustrated she pressed her dirty face up against the glass to peer inside. There was no one at the front desk.

Strange. There is always someone here.

Alexia stood there baffled unsure of how she was going to get in. Then she realized that there was a slight gap just wide enough for her to push one of the doors aside manually. She wedged her thin hand in the hand, braced herself, and pushed with all her might. The gap slowly began to grow larger until it was just large enough for her to fit through. With the opportunity to enter the cold sterile greeting room, she hesitated as an unnerving feeling shot throughout her entire body.

Do I really want to go in?