Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The One That Falls in Love Loses ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8

 

Warning: Main character death…sort of. O.o

 

-3-3-3-3-

 

Joey sat beside the window, looking out at the people who passed by. Every once in a while he would spot a pedestrian that resembled Seto or Alister. It was only wishful thinking. His father slid into his side, indicating that he had fallen asleep from the bus ride. He shook his head with amusement and allowed his father to rest against his shoulder. “Poor old man. He must have been up half the night with his boyfriend.” Joey chuckled, disturbing his father from his peaceful slumber.

 

“What's so funny,” Mr. Wheeler yawned. He pulled away from his son and brushed the back of his hand across his eyes, wiping the sleep from them. “I'm beat. Are we almost there yet?”

 

Joey couldn't help but laugh. “Almost, dad. Why don't you go back to your napping?”

 

The man smiled at his son and elbowed him gently. “Nah! I don't want you to find out that I've been drooling on your shoulder.” He chuckled and wrapped his arm around Joey's shoulders. “Why don't we play a game or something?”

 

The teen rolled his eyes at his father's suggestion. “No way! I was having fun just watching the people pass by.”

 

Mr. Wheeler opened his mouth, about to protest about his son's interests when there was a loud thump at the front of the bus and everyone around them had fallen silent. It was like the whole world froze in place just from that bump.

 

“What was that?” Joey asked quietly.

 

“Probably someone just smashing a bug,” the man replied with a small sigh of relief. He turned back to his son, completely forgetting what he was going to say to him. “I'm hungry. How about you?”

Joey nodded as he returned to his pedestrian watching. “A little.”

 

There was another thump, except this one was louder than the first, and it vibrated the bus slightly. “Could that have been a coincidence?” Joey asked.

 

Mr. Wheeler growled irritably. “Stupid idiots! It's just an effing bug.” He pressed against his son's shoulders to help him stand in the middle of the aisle. “What the hell are you freaks doing up there?”

 

Two snickers erupted throughout the bus. It wasn't normal to the passengers on board. The mocking laughter reverberated off the bus' walls like the inside of a cave. Everyone visibly shuttered before there was an ear shattering screech from the tires trying to stop on the asphalt.

 

Joey tensed as his father fell back into the seat and wrapped his arms around the boy's body, protecting him from impact. Everything turned black and red before the blonde's eyes as the bus started rolling down the street violently, crushing smaller vehicles in its wake. “Dad?” He weakly asked. His stomach churned with aggression and the anxiety that he or his father wouldn't make it out alive.

 

The bus finally came to a complete halt, landing on its side and preventing anyone from escaping through the doors. Not that anyone would be escaping. All the passengers were quiet. The only sound that flooded the bus was the dripping of something wet. Gas maybe? Or…blood?

 

Joey wrapped the agonizing pain into oblivion as he forced himself away from the window, noting the heavy blood stain splattered against the glass. “I-is that mine?” He touched the side of his head and winced. He pulled his fingers away, starting to feel numb all over. At least it didn't hurt anymore. But how could he still be moving? At that, how could he still be alive? He whimpered to the heavy weight pressing against his body and remembered that it was his father that had tried to protect him. Joey tried to push his father upright, which wasn't easy because of the bus' sideways position. “D-dad?”

 

There was no reply. “Dad? Come on…this isn't funny. Dad?” He shook his father gently, in fear it might be hurting him. But if the man moaned, at least it would indicate he was still alive. “Come on dad! Wake up!” He started wailing, grief overwhelming his intellect. After no response, he concluded that his father had actually… “No…dad…” Joey fell into his father's chest and looked up into his face. His father appeared peaceful, as if he was sleeping. That's the only real reason that Joey didn't want to believe the man might have died. He hugged his father close and cried harder. “How can I still be alive if everyone else is dead?” The smell of blood caused him to cringe. He had to get out of there somehow. He pulled himself up over the dead corpses that were piled on top of one another. He pushed the window down from the other side of the bus and crawled out.

 

People along the street watched with shocked expressions as the only survivor crawled out of the bus and then started sprinting down the highway like all of hell had been set loose.

 

* * *

 

Maybe if he kept running he would die from exhaustion and then he could be with his father again. However, it didn't seem to be working that way. He wasn't even tired. He came to a stop, feeling ill that he didn't have to breathe heavy. “Why am I not tired?” He lifted his hands up, staring at them with disgust. “Something isn't right.” He looked around his surroundings, spotting a small pond in the middle of a park. He approached the water and peered down at his reflection. His face was deathly white with the exception of the blood-fall running down the right side of his face. Black rings had formed under his eyes as if he was heavily sleep deprived. He lifted his left hand to his chest, waiting to feel any heartbeat thumping against his breast. Panic suddenly spread across his features. “I…can't be…How is this possible?”

 

He knelt at the water's edge, placed both his hands into the cool moisture and then lifted them to wash the blood of his face. “I can't be the walking dead…can I?” Joey mumbled into the palms of his hand. He abruptly stood on his feet and screamed out at the sky. “I don't believe in this shit!”

 

* * *

 

“Yes, keep moving,” Duke demanded with boredom in his tone. “The gates aren't going to be waiting all day ya know?” His attention was grabbed by someone scavenging around the bus for something or someone. “Hey, you? Didn't I tell you to get your ass moving? We have a deadline to keep here!”

 

The man looked up with frantic. “I…I can't…I have to find someone. He was with me…”

 

Duke rolled his eyes. He's been through this so many times with mortals; he swore he needed a new hobby. “Tell me his name and I'll see if he's on the list or not?”

 

“Joey…Joey Wheeler,” the man replied urgently.

 

The reaper took in a sharp breath of air and stared at the blonde man with remorse. He had known since yesterday, that that was the name of Seto and Alister's game piece. He reluctantly pulled out a black clipboard from his belt and read over the list of names. Sure enough, Joey Wheeler's had been labeled right below his father's. “I…see…”

 

“What's the matter? Is he still alive? Oh please god let it be.” The man buried his face into the palms of his hands, already letting out the waterworks.

 

Duke shook his head. “He's on here, Mr. Wheeler…but…something isn't right.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Yes, what do you mean?” A sharp, agitated, crisp voice chilled the air suddenly.

 

Duke shivered violently and turned toward his future prosecutors. “Uh…Seto! Alister! How pleasant it is to see you both.”

 

Seto's eyes narrowed dangerously. “Are you telling me that Joey Wheeler was on that bus and he was killed?” He bared his fangs in anger like he had with Marik the other day, but this could have been a poisonous death scenario.

 

The reaper nodded unenthusiastically. “I'm afraid so,” he squeaked. “I'd hate to say it…but the Chaos Demons were on in this one as well.”

 

Seto let out a frightening roar, startling the blonde man, the reaper, and even his partner. “Those bastards!”

 

Alister grabbed his brother by the arms before he could go on a rampage, hunting for the chaos brothers. He hugged him close. “Calm down, Seto. We'll find them and tear them apart okay? But you need to calm yourself.”

 

Seto stared at Alister from over his shoulder. “Oh, they'll get much worse than being torn apart!”

 

tbc

 

A/N: Well…that was…intense. *shrinks from all the Joey fans glaring at her* What? It's part of the plot! Oo;