Skip to main content

Chapter 33: The Unclaimed Dead


33

The dead often go unclaimed in Chicago. So many bodies. So much death and misery. The summer time in the City is rife with gunfire.

But not all of the City. Many parts, the Gold Coast, the Water Tower, beautiful Lake Shore Drive, were neatly striated, preppily and mysteriously litter free.

From here the dull and dirty parts stayed hidden, if one chose not to look.

Elsewhere, however, in the violent, alien worlds which ring the hundred million dollar properties that make up the world famous Chicago skyline, the dead often go unclaimed.

Their bodies washed ashore and come to rest in gutters, alleyways and side-streets where they lay putrid amongst the weeds, stashed away in abandoned buildings, were stepped over and around in front yards and on building doorsteps.

Dakari's body lay untouched for hours after Mook's dismantling. Tonio had not stirred either. He was in much better shape than Dakari, though, certainly. Being as though he was still alive.

Bealz had unleashed a sledgehammer of a blow on them when he and Deshaun had tried to rouse him. They weren't even trying to hurt him. They were just supposed to find him for Dakari.

Bealz, though, reacted as if they were trying to hurt him and had lashed out, but whatever it was he had done to them was more than just a physical assault. Bealz had hit Tonio hard in what felt like the very center of his brain. His mind hurt, everything was red and screaming.

Tonio knew that he lay, limbs painfully askew, in an alleyway, but there was not a thing he could do about it. His mind had been jarred slightly a-loose, not completely severed from his corporeal form, but barely hanging on by a few tattered threads.

Tonio screams and screams, but his body only registers the slow rise and fall of his breathing.

Dakari's lifeless corpse lay some twelve feet or so away. Mook had ripped off his arm and had nearly decapitated him beneath the vice grip-like clamp of his massive hands, leaving behind a broken and bloody mess. What seeps from his wounds only bears a passing resemblance to blood. It is a thick, oily discharge, an unnaturally deep red teeming with black specks that move about independently against the flow.

As Dakari's body cools, these tiny flecks begin to coalesce, they leak free of the drying ichor, pooling in the filthy cindered grime, and slowly, begin to run in a single, thin little rivulet, seeking, searching out Tonio's un-moving form.

Upon making contact with the skin just above his exposed ankle, just past the brand new pair of Jordan's he was so very proud of, it quickly seeps down into the epidermis and is rapidly sucked into his bloodstream.

Within moments he goes into a spastic fit and begins to froth at the mouth. When the violent seizures subside, Tonio opens yellowed eyes rimmed in red. A wicked, inhuman grin creases his face, distending once handsome features into a gruesome mask.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Incata Homeland Definitions

Many of the words and phrases used as names and descriptions have been drawn predominately from Swahili as well as several other African languages in keeping with the overall mythology that I am constructing around Bealz, Monie and Askauri's world. I have taken liberties with pronunciation and word formations, attempting to create a unique language structure for the Incata that honors its ties to Africa, as both represented within this fictional framework, and in its creative influence on me. Here's the list of words and phrases so far. I'll add to it as the story continues. The root words, unless otherwise noted, are Swahili: Belozi Bin Askuari = The Emissary, Son of Askauri Balozi – Consul/Ambassador Monique Felani-Kakua Binti = Daughter of Earth, The Undying Warrior Munyika (Shona of Zimbabwe) – Earth Fela (W. African) – Warlike Kokumo (an Oriki name) – Undying/This one will not die Binti – Daughter Askuari Bin Qwana = Graceful Warrior, So...

Chapter 1: Run Bealz Run

1 Bealz was 11 years old. His dad had been gone, locked up since before he was even born. Bealz's mom never really said anything about him, his dad. She would just kinda start looking real sad and say stuff like, “I don't know, baby,” or “I wish I could tell you more, honey,” or “leave me alone, lil nigga!” Or something like that. Bealz was sad a lot. He didn't show it, though. At least not like they do in the movies and on tv. Like the white kids get to do. He couldn't act like that. Not where he was from. He often noticed the kids on tv. They had lawns and always had huge, over-sized boxes of colorful cereals that the Arabs down the street from him didn't have on the shelves and they had brand new bicycles and giant smiles. They also had moms and most of them even had dads. Bealz did too. Just not like theirs. Bealz's mom was around sometimes. He mostly stayed with his grandma, Ms. Penny, though. She was...

Chapters 17 & 18: Jo-Mel Of The Hunt & Duality

17 Jo-Mel slashes the arrow in two with a swift swipe of the katana, snapping its shaft just inches before the tip found its mark. “No time for that,” she says quite calmly for someone who'd just been fired upon. “You must find and free the boy. This one is dead, but its weavings will still have your son bound.” “You stay right where you are,” Monique Felani says with deadly seriousness. She already has another arrow nocked and aimed at Jo-Mel's head. “I can help. If you allow it.” “Yeah, well, I don't know you like that. Ain't done so well with strangers so far.” Lowering the katana, Jo-Mel says, “Understood. But I'm here at Askauri's behest and you should know that the wilds of the Incata are best navigated by the wit of two women.” Peering closer, Monie says, “I know you...” “Yes,” Jo-Mel says. “And you know that I mean you no harm, Monique Felani.” 18 Bealz is gone. No where to be found amongst...