Wonders of Post Apocolyptia Chapter 7 - Unrealised Friends and Unseen Enemies
Mark woke up coughing, the taste of blood strong in his mouth. He was lying on his side on the floor, apparently neither Daniel nor Derrick decided to move him. He opened his eyes although they weren't of much use, everything was blurry and he couldn't focus on anything around him. He could see a large blob of red on the floor, probably blood. His back was killing him, as were his two new appendages. He propped himself up on his elbow and spat out some of the blood that was in his mouth. He rubbed his eyes and waited until he could see well enough to get around. Using the couch, he shakily pulled himself up. He almost fell backwards with the extra weight and so had to balance himself against the couch. He checked himself over. His fur was coated in dried blood. He decided to try and flex his wings. He slowly managed to open them, but the joints ached and it wasn't long until Mark had to submit to the pain and stop. Looking around, there was no sign of the dragon or the raven anywhere nearby. "Hello?" Mark croaked out, his throat burning as he spoke. Hurried footsteps came from Derricks bedroom. Both Daniel and Derrick appeared out of the room. Daniel gasped and rushed over to Mark, a few tears present on his face. Derrick stepped behind Daniel. "We though you were dead, you stopped breathing about five minutes ago. We were about to call an ambulance when you woke up." Mark nodded and thought back to before the wings started to grow. He had felt threatened by Derrick, so they grew in reaction. Maybe, if he willed them away, they would. Mark placed a paw on Daniel's shoulder to support himself. "Mark, what are you doing?" Daniel said quietly. "I'm gonna try and fix this" Mark said, then immediately began to will the wings back into his body. Within a few seconds, the process began. It hurt alot, not as much as before, but it did sap the little energy he had left. He fell to his knees, the paw he had on Daniels shoulder slipping away instantaneously. He fell forwards onto his paws, his back hunched ans the bones and muscles receding back into the lumps. With a last spurt of blood, and a gasp from both Daniel and Derrick, the wings disappeared fully. Mark was left panting, wet and dry blood covering his fur and the floor.
Daniel helped Mark back onto his feet. "I'm going to go get him cleaned up, would you mind cleaning the place up?". Derrick grumbled and nodded. Mark placed a paw on Derricks shoulder "I'll do it, just give me a minute or two." Daniel helped Mark to his room. Daniel helped Mark out of his clothes and into the shower. "I can wash myself" Mark said, feeling some life come back into him as the warm water washed over him. Daniel shook his head "In your state you're likely to slip and break your neck." Daniel slipped out of his clothes and began to wash Mark. The water slowly began to run red, then clear again as Daniel got most of the blood off Marks fur. Mark, finally strong enough after getting rid of his wings, turned around. With sponge in hand he began to wash Daniels scales. He cleaned his tail, his wings, his chest and then washed away the dried tears from his face. Daniel was surprised at Marks forwardness, but was relieved by the fact that Mark new he liked him. This was't exactly true, however. Mark only guessed that Daniel was into him. Daniel placed his hands on Marks sides and pulled him into a kiss. Mark felt his long, thin tongue snaking around his. Mark was more excited than ever before, he had completely fallen for this dragon that he'd only met a few days ago. He'd given him a home and cared for him. Mark had no experience being with another person, but he tried his best to return the kiss as passionately as it was being taken. Daniel and Mark slowly moved towards the glass wall of the shower. Mark, with his back to the shower, could feel his member slowly begin to grow. He could also feel Daniel's member begin to grow, rubbing up against his. Daniel, still kissing, slowly moved a paw down towards Marks length. Blushing, Mark broke off the kiss and stayed Daniels paw. "Not yet... Sorry". Daniel nodded and kissed Mark again, then turned off the shower.
They both got out, got dressed and went back out to where Derrick was. Derrick had some paper towels on the ground over the pools of blood. "I did some of it for you, just let them soak it up and it should be fine." Derrick said, looking at Mark. Daniel walked to his bedroom in silence and shut the door. Derrick looked towards the door then back to Mark. Derrick walked over to Mark, who by now had most of the blood off the floor. Derrick bent forward to Marks level and whispered "What did you do this time?". Mark, pissed off at Derricks constant hostility towards him, dropped the towels on the floor and stood up. He stared directly into Derricks eyes. "I didn't do shit! All I said was "Not yet"." Mark growled through clenched teeth. Derrick crossed his arms "What do you mean "Not yet"?". Mark sighed "He came onto me into the shower, alright? Now I want to ask you something. What's your fucking problem with me? Did I offend you somehow?" Mark picked up the towels again and dumped them into the bin. Derrick followed right behind him "You're bad for him, you're bad for me, you're even bad for yourself. You'll just be putting him in danger and I can't have that.". Mark growled again "This isn't your decision, this wasn't even my decision. It wasn't my choice that I survived, that I was rescued. The only good thing that's happened to me is Daniel, and I wouldn't let anything happen to him. Infact, I think I'm better than most in that respect. Who else has these... abilities, huh? So just fucking back off, alright!". Derrick was taken aback. He breathed in and was about to shout Mark out of it when Daniel emerged from his room. "I... I heard what you said." Daniel said quietly. He walked over to Derrick and placed a hand on his feathered chest "I want you to stop worrying about me, I can handle myself. I'll be fine" He smiled weakly, which made Derrick relax. He nodded and gave Daniel a quick hug. Daniel turned to Mark and took his paw in his hand. "Were you telling the truth? Do you really feel that way about me?". Mark nodded and nuzzled Daniel, smiling. Daniel stood back, looked at Mark from head to toe. "You need some new clothes." A big smile grew on his face "Let's go shopping!".
For the following few hours, Daniel took Mark to a variety of clothes shops throughout the city. Mark didn't protest much, even though secretly he thought half the clothes he bought were pointless. Daniel wanted to see what looks suited Mark, so he took him to goth shops, emo, camp, slutty, business, leather shops and even a nineteen fifties nostalgia shop. By the end of it all he had more outfits that a sane fur should have. I took in total about three hours for him to get a complete wardrobe worth of clothes, and the both of them to carry the bags back to the appartment. Daniel called Derrick and planned for the three of them to have lunch at a pizzaria nearby. When the three of them finally met up, they sat down outside and ordered their food. Mark finally began to relax about everything, and let his mind empty of all the strange and wrong things that have happened. He sipped from his glass of Coke, listening to Daniel ramble away about their time shopping and looking around the resteraunt. His eyes fell on a table, a table with a familiar looking tiger and a familiar looking black wolf sitting at it. Mark downed the glass and took another look. He was right. Both Than and the priest were sitting at the table, wings and all. They were talking to eachother and glanced at Mark occasionally. It seemed that no one except Mark noticed the two winged beings sitting at the table outside of a bustling resteraunt. Mark stared at them for a minute until Daniel noticed that Mark had appeared to have zoned out. "Hey Mark, remember that fishnet top I picked out for you?" Daniel said, laughing a little after. Mark snapped back into the conversation and laughed too. "Yeah I can't believe I agreed to buy it, when will I be wearing it?". Daniel smiled took a bite out of a pizza slice "Actually, we're going out tonight!". Mark smiled and raised an eyebrow "Oh really? Where to?". "Oh just a small club downtown, I think you'll like it." Daniel said. He leaned over and kissed Mark on the cheek. Mark kissed him back and smiled. He glanced back at the table at where Than and the tiger were.. Daniel tilted his head to the side "You ok?". Mark nodded "Yeah, just some people I recognised". Daniel followed Marks gaze to the table. "Mark," Daniel whispered "There was never anyone there.". Mark frowned at Daniel and looked at Derrick, who was shaking his head while cleaning his beak with a napkin. "He's right, it's been empty since we arrived.". Mark looked back at the table, but they were gone. Mark frowned and sat back. They should have seen Raphael at least, he was real. Well, Mark hoped he was. "My mistake then." Mark finished off the last slice of his pizza. Daniel and Derrick glanced at eachother. They finished off their food and headed back home in silence.
Mark, not knowing where Daniel would bring him, put on a tight white shirt, black trousers and threw on his new jacket. He stuffed some of the remaining money from his bag into his pocket and slide the pocket knife into an inside pocket on his jacket. He didn't have to wait long for Daniel to knock on his door "Hey, you ready?". Mark opened the door to see Daniel in a thin black hoddie and fairly worn jeans. Mark looked Daniel up and down "You look nice," He opened the jacket to let Daniel see what he was wearing "What do you think?". Daniel nodded then shook his head "Lovely, but change the jacket. We'll be going through a fairly rough area and a new jacket like that is going to get you mugged." Mark nodded and grabbed his other jacket. He threw the knife and the money into it and followed Daniel out of the appartment and into town.
They walked for about twenty minutes before Daniel became visibly nervous. Looking around, Mark could see why. The run down buildings, the unlit alleys that could be harbouring any sort of criminal or junkie and not a cop in sight. They had definitaly entered the "rough area" of town. Mark walked closer to Daniel, trying to comfort him. "Don't worry, we'll be grand" He said, his breath like white smoke in the air. They quickened their pace, catching glimpses of movement out of the corner of their eyes. Daniel eventually led them out of the rough area to a bustling main street, similar to the one Mark happened upon a few days ago. Daniel headed towards one of the buildings on the right of the street. Compared to the large buildings either side of it that look like they've ben around for quite a while, this was a modest modern building. It had the word "TAILS" in large metal letters above the entrance. It had a glass front with "Bar & Resteraunt" in frosted letters. There was a lot of metal and mirrors inside the bar, which was interesting at first but the novelty wore off fast. There was music playing over at one end, mostly light hearted songs or slow, sad songs. They sat down at a small table for two. Even the table was mostly metal. A female otter with a pad and pencil came along and asked them what they wanted. Daniel ordered some strange and exotic drinks, some Mark couldn't even pronounce. The otter went off and Daniel turned to Mark. "So what happened back at lunch, you seemed pretty out of it.". Mark nodded and scratched his head "I guess I just got lost in thought." Mark chuckled and Daniel smiled. Daniel held Marks paw "Ever get that feeling that someone is watching you, but you don't know who?". This got Marks attention immediately. Could James be following Daniel too? Mark leaned forward a bit "How long have you been feeling this?". "Since we got here, but I guess it's just me." Mark glanced around, seeing if anyone was following them. Satisfied, he kissed Daniel on the nose and went on to talk about the resteraunt, about Daniels life and about him and Derrick. Eventually the otter came back with some drinks and a delightfully fake smile. Mark and Daniel both got martini glasses with an unappetising green liquid in them. Daniel laughed a bit at Marks expression of disgust. "Don't worry, they look rotten but they taste like heaven.". Mark nodded and sipped the strange beverage. It had a fruity taste at first but faded to a bitter aftertaste. "Lovely" Mark said, placing the glass down on the table with an unusually audible clink. "Has a bit of a strange aftertaste though.". Daniel frowned "It's not supposed to.". Mark shrugged "Maybe you're so used to it you don't taste it anymore". Daniel nodded and sipped some of his. "It does actually, now that you mention it". Mark and Daniel spent most of the time there sipping at their drinks and talking about Daniel. Mark didn't mind, he liked to listen more than to talk. After about an hour, however, Daniel shook his head. "I'm not feeling to great, do you mind if we head back home?". Mark grabbed his jacket and helped Daniel up and out of the building.
As they walked through the rough, run down area again, Mark could see that Daniel was having difficulty walking properly. He himself wasn't feeling so good, his head was beginning to feel lighter and his vision was blurred around the edges. Eventually, Mark had to sit Daniel down on an old, worn out bench in a poorly light section of the street. Mark stayed standing, trying to make himself think. The martini's must've been spiked, Daniel even said they tasted a bit off. He searched around, eyes squinted, looking for a bin or pile of rubbish or what-have-you. Upon finding a wire mesh bin, Mark pawed through it until he found a paper wrapper with a half eaten, fungus encrusted burger inside. Mark forced himself to take a bite out of the mass that was once food. The taste was indescribably awful, but fortunately he didn't have to taste it for long. The short time the rotten meat was in his mouth caused his stomach release its contents all over the ground beside the bin. Mark leaned against the nearest wall, letting his system purify itself through his stomach contents. He could see the remainder of the martini on the ground, and within a few minutes he stopped getting worse. He wasn't getting better, but he wasn't getting worse. Mark made
his way back to Daniel, burger in paw. MArk paused as he say a shady figure seemed to be rummaging through the now unconscious Daniel's pockets. Mark dropped the burger and advanced towards the unknown figure. Mark couldn't make him out, it was too dark, but the outline of a gun in his paw was easy enough to make out. Mark took out his pocket knife and held it behind his back "Hey! Fuggoff! Leave him be!". The armed fur pointed the gun shakily at Mark "Hey man, this doesn't concern you.". He stepped away from Daniel and towards Mark, sticking the gun directly in his face. Mark stared at him in silence. The furs hand was twitching slightly, and his finger was tugging tentatively at the trigger. Mark just needed him to lose concentration for a fraction of a second, then he might be able to wrestle the gun from him. Mark tried to make himself angry, thinking about Than and Derrick and James and what they have done or how they made him feel. The mugger's hand began to shake rather violently, seeing the relatively inebriated wolf infront of him change before his eyes. Marks fur had begun to darken, with red patterns drawing themselves up his neck, down his arms and across his back and chest. His eyes began to glow a deep yellow and Mark felt like he had limitless energy. Mark didn't know whether the world was slowing down or whether he was speeding up. In one fluid motion, Mark grabbed the furs wrist, breaking it as he did, and pulled him forward onto the knife. He twisted his wrist, almost bending it onto itself with a sickening crunch. The knife went in the furs side, just missing his intestines. He dropped the gun and almost immediated passed out at Marks feet in pain. Mark stared at his knife, the length of it covered in blood. Then, Mark did something that he thought he'd never do in his life. Mark ran his finger along the flat side of the blade, collecting the blood on the tip of his finger, and tasted the blood the same way you'd eat a lump of ice-cream you scooped with your finger. The taste of blood was familiar with Mark, generaly it was his own, but the taste of another beings was... strangly delectable. He resisted the temptation of tasting more, cleaning the knife off with his sleeve and tucked the bleeding furs pistol inside his jacket.
He turned his attention back to Daniel. Since he was unconscious, making him eat was out of the question. Mark tried sticking his fingers down Daniels throat, but they weren't long enough to set off the nerve. He took out the burger, hoping the smell alone would wake him up at least. It worked better than he expected, because after only a few seconds he not only woke up but also vomited onto the burger. Daniel moaned, probably because his stomach was at him. Mark checked Daniels jacket for a phone. When it turned up empty, he checked the buglar. He found the phone, amongst various other things, and called an ambulance. Mark could take care of Daniel, it was the bleeding fur on the ground that was in worse condition. He told them where to find the fur then hung up. Sirens could be heard in the distance, which meant that he didn't have long to get Daniel out of there. Mark placed his laeft paw on Daniels stomach and tried to think of a way he could possibly have the power to heal. He thought about various forms of healing, about happy things, about good things, all to no avail. He thought about the body, about how it works and everything about it, still to no avail. Mark began to lose hope, thinking he might not be able to save what may be his love. The red insignias and lines in his paw began to glow and run a darker red. He felt a warmth in his paw but a coldness in himself, as if he was losing some of his own life. Mark pulled away, letting the red "tattoos" go back to normal. Daniel opened his eyes and yelped. He tried to push Mark away but ended up throwing up again. Mark kissed Daniel on the forehead and helped him stand up. They hobbled down the street, back on the path towards home.
This chapter was way overdue, and I apologise for its lateness. I'm not even sure it's finished yet.