May Death Never Stop You

There was still ash crunching under my boots. It got everywhere. In our clothes, in our eyes, in our spirits... I went for a walk for a while, beyond the few makeshift houses we built. None were two storied like they used to be, none were as nice and big as they used to be. They would do for now, though.

I've learnt a lot since being in The Black Parade; the world you know and love can be destroyed right in front of you, people who you know and care about can disappear before you have a chance to say goodbye, your hopes can be shattered to pieces, but as long as you have your friends with you, I will never let the world take my heart and I will never give up. The Black Parade has shown me this, what with Gerard losing Mikey, Alex living through his nightmare again, and us all rebuiling this city right before our eyes. You should never let them win, because they will continue to do so until they ruin everyones lives...Or afterlives.

My thoughts were interuptted by what sounded like crying. It was quiet, and I had to listen hard to check it wasn't my imagination. It wasn't. Someone was here, and they were upset. I carried on walking, trying to indicate where the crying was coming from. It sounded like it was coming East, so I travelled that way.

"Hello?" I called. It was then when I spotted a girl a few metres away, crying into her hands. Her body was shaking from where she was sobbing so hard. Every now and then she made a small hiccup sound. She didn't seem to have heard me, so I made my way over and knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She was wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt and black skinny jeans, with a pair of black converse on her feet. 'At least none of her clothes will get ruined sitting in the ash' I thought.

She turned slightly, as if only aknowledging me.

"Wh-Who are you?" She asked quietly, her big green eyes looking into mine. It reminded me of back at home, when you were walking in a forest and you looked up at the leaves in the trees with the sunshine shining through the gaps. I moved a strand of her brown hair out of her face, coloured a bit like the bark of those trees.

"I'm Jack, who are you?" I answered softly.

"W-Willow" She didn't take her eyes off me. A stray tear ran down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "Where am I?"

"You're in what used to be the city of Imperfectum, it got burnt down not long ago and we're trying to build it back" I explained.

"Th-There's m-more of you?" She whispered.

"Yes, would you like me to show you them?" I asked. She looked hesitant. "We won't eat you" I laughed a little. She looked around, as if considering it.

"O-Okay" She stood up and I took her hand, showing her the way back.

"So Willow, what brings you here?" I asked her. She was a head smaller than me.

"My house got bombed...Where's my mum?" She asked, starting to panic.

"Hey, it's okay. Your mum has probably gone to heaven" I explained briefly.

"Then where are we?" She asked.

"We're in between, you see we both haven't lived long enough for it to be decided where we go, so we are stuck in a world in between" I explained further. "Can you see those buildings in the distance?"

I pointed to the small shadows in the distance, they looked more like small boxes than buildings from here. She nodded. "Well, that's where my friends are. We call ourselves The Black Parade, because before all this-" I gestured to the surroundings "got burnt down, we would hunt demons, but they're all gone now, because we destroyed their creator. Why did your house get bombed?"

"World War III has started" She answered sadly.

"Oh..." I started thinking. That meant more deaths, which meant more children would die, which meant we need to build more houses as quick as possible.

We were almost there, and I could see Frank trying to clear the ash around the houses. I could hear him complaining about it getting in his eyes and up his nose from here and smiled to myself.

"Who's that?" Willow asked.

"That is Frank" I answered. I called his name and he looked up.

"Who is she?" Frank exclaimed, clearly shocked.

"Willow" I answered. "Where's Gerard?"

"Inside..." He still looked a bit shocked and stared at Willow. I glared at him and he carried on sweeping.

"Gerard!" I called, walking in with Willow. This house we had managed to build a wall with planks of wood we had saved, and so we had two rooms.

"What is it Jack?" Gerard called from the next room. I walked straight in as we could not recover that many doors. Gerard stood in the middle of the room, looking out the window which was made purely to save material. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of Willow, but he smiled a little.

"Hello, who are you?" He asked.

"W-Willow" She said shyly.

"I'm Gerard, nice to meet you Willow" He held out a hand and she shook it. "What happened?"
She explained to Gerard what she did to me. Gerard looked at me and sighed.
"We'd better start building. Jack, can you and Frank go to the forest tomorrow and get more wood for us?"

We'd tried to avoid the forest at all costs so far, as we don't know wether the demons who are in there have been destroyed like the others, so we thought it best to just leave it alone, but it's either that or most people will have no where to live.

"Yeah" I nodded. I turned to Willow.

"Would you like to meet the others?" I asked. She nodded and I lead her out, seeing Ray and Alex working on the roof. Alex's leg had healed ages ago, and so he has been helping too.

"Who is she?" They both asked in unison. The same conversation we had with Frank unfolded, and Alex agreed with me whilst Ray was asking her about the war that tomorrow he would look after her whilst Frank and I searched for materials.

I then thought about Heaven, and how big it must be. I had an idea, but I think I should talk about it to Frank first, he knows more about this all than me. Maybe, just maybe, we won't have to be in such a rush as we think. That is, if my idea works.