No Mercy

The screams pierced the night air, almost immediately joined by the throwing open of bus doors and confused yelling. Danny and Alan shot out of the bathroom, alarm evident on their faces. Ben stumbled back from the vending machine, his hand slowly rising to his mouth as he stared in horror at the mangled body propped up against it. He couldn't tear his eyes away from it, despite the utter fear and disgust that were pulsing through his veins. He had seen that woman before, rushing between stages and at different parties.

Now, her face was slit grotesquely into a Joker-esque smile. Her graying skin contrasted with
the crimson red of the cuts across her face, still shining with wet blood in the moonlight. Her chin and chest were covered with rusted dried blood, still poised in drips as if frozen in time.

He jumped, startled by a gut wrenching scream to his right. Austin had doubled over, and was quite obviously distraught.

"Oh my God!" He cried, his hands cradling his head as he broke down at the sight of the woman's mangled face and wide-eyed dead stare. Her eyes were a piercing blue, breaking up the scarlet-colored dried blood all over her face. He felt arms pulling him away from the scene, but he just couldn't bring himself to move on his own. Austin felt himself fall to the ground, covering his face as tears ran down his face. "Oh my God!" he screamed again, as if his ability to speak had been hindered and just left those three words behind. His voice had cracked.

"Austin, I need you to look at me," a frightened-looking Alan said, holding his best friend close to him in his arms. Austin was shaking, it was as if his mind had completely shut down at what he had seen as he just looked down at his blood covered hand. Alan smacked his friend in the face, who slowly began to focus. "Come on, Austin," He pulled his friend up, helping him walk a bit further away from the horrific sight.

Alan brought Austin over to a bench, close enough to stay involved in the goings on of the crime scene, but far enough so he could possibly calm down. He had no idea what Austin had seen, and he had remembered not to look for too long at the mangled body Austin had apparently touched accidentally. He pitied his friend who at once began crying as he sat down.

The previously deserted rest stop was now flooded with people, some rubbing sleep from their eyes and asking what was happening, others staring with wide eyes filled with fear and panic. Ben stared straight ahead, trying to process. There was a second murder. Austin stuck his fucking hand in it. Someone else was dead.

"I'm calling 9-1-1," a voice called out from somewhere in the crowd. Ben nodded and ran a distracted hand through his hair.

"Ben! Ben, what the fuck happened?" Danny yelled as he made his way through the crowd to where his guitarist was leaning against the bus. "Ben!"

Ben turned towards him, and Danny instantaneously felt more uneasy than before. His eyes weren't quite focused on him, and he was visibly shaking. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally speaking.

"Austin wanted chips. They got stuck," he started before pausing for a few moments. Danny watched him, not sure what to do. "He tried to bang them free. But- There was a body. Someone else is dead."

Danny didn't quite know what to say, or how to react. He pulled his friend into an awkward hug. In the distance, Danny could hear sirens coming down the highway, and pretty soon could spot the ambulance and two police cars that were on their way. As they pulled in, the shocked crowd parted to let the cars get as close to the scene as possible.

Soon, the other Asking Alexandria members were circled around their shocked friend, asking him a million questions. Before Danny could tell them to fuck off and give Ben some space, Ben bent over and puked onto the damp pavement. His dinner from last night was nigh unrecognizable. James, Cam, and Sam all backed away, as Danny began to try and get Ben to go sit down somewhere. He really wasn't that good in situations like this. Unfortunately, he was stopped by a rather official sounding voice.

"Excuse me, we need to ask your friend a few questions," a state police officer with a memo pad had stepped in front of them.

"If you hadn't noticed he obviously just found a dead body," Danny shot the officer a deadly look, almost in a protective stance as he continued to walk to the bench next to Alan and Austin's and having his friend sit down. All the while, the police officer looked taken aback..

Almost methodically, the detectives had taken pictures and had the body escorted out of the crime scene in a body bag. At the sight of the gurney being wheeled off and then further examined by the crime scene investigators, Austin let out a choking sob, beginning to hyperventilate. He had touched a dead body. There was another murder. Everyone was in danger. He was in danger. The kids at every show were in danger. It was as if every realization was hitting him all at once, and he didn't know how to handle it. He was aware of Alan rubbing his back telling him that "things are going to be okay, just relax Austin. Shhhh."

But he was beginning to feel faint, and his adrenaline was pumping like crazy. He blinked and found an unfamiliar face looking at him. The woman was speaking to him in a soft tone, but it was very hard to hear in his current state. He tried to focus.

"...we're going to give you some medicine to relax you, and then we are going to ask you a couple of questions," she said in a sickly sweet tone. She was too nice and relaxed for this situation. Austin almost hated everyone for not being as upset as he was. He nodded and took a plastic cup of water with shaking hands and downed the small pill he was given as the EMT he was talking to wiped the blood off of his hand and a police officer began asking questions.

He answered as much as he could, but found himself getting sleepy and distracted. Alan noted how his friend was leaning on him, half asleep, now mumbling answers to the questions. The Valium that Austin had been given was working well, and now he just wanted his friend to get some rest or else risk him falling asleep right on the bench.

The investigator cleared Austin to go to bed on the bus just as all the other bands were being ushered to their respective buses. Austin was so exhausted he had to be escorted to his bunk and even then he had to have blankets draped over him. And before his head even hit the pillow, he was out.

"Sleep well, Austin," Alan muttered, leaving the band to go back outside and check on Ben who was now being asked questions. Danny had left his friend's side momentarily to smoke his second cigarette in a row. Alan stood next to him.

"Austin's going to be alright, they gave him some pretty heavy sedatives," Alan informed Danny who exhaled, a stream of smoke exiting his mouth.

"Ben has been quiet if anything... They’re almost done with him." He paused briefly. "This is so fucked up, mate." He drew from the cigarette one last time before stamping it out as Alan nodded in agreement. Ben stood up, walking towards Danny and Alan slowly. "We need to figure who's doing this shit." And with that, the two men went to their respective buses, Danny making sure that Ben was comfortable before locking the bus door.

Alan looked around the rest stop parking lot, seeing the lights turn out in each bus and hearing the engines turn over. There were about six buses in total, and Of Mice & Men’s was in front. He sighed, turning his back on the crime scene and climbed into the bus, locking the door behind him. He, like others, did not sleep for the rest of the night.