Memory (H2OVanoss)[Completed]

Chapter 3

Space, blackness, it was all so empty. It felt cold.

Is this what death is like?
-------------------------------

That was the worst year of their life, living without him. Most of the time they forget, expecting to hear him crack a joke or burst out laughing.

When they laugh, they cut themselves off because he never joins in, until they remember.

His birthday was one of the worst days, because he didn't live to celebrate it. May 31st, two months after his passing, it was too soon. Yet, it felt weird not celebrating, not worrying over what gift to buy, whether there would be a party or not, debating over his favorite alcohol and what type of cake. It was like they just automatically had that thought process, it was so hard to ignore, the thoughts rushing through their heads.

And finally, when the day arrived, they wanted it to be over. The sun shone brightly through the red curtains in the living room. It was partly cloudy, his favorite spring weather, it was awful.

They couldn't stay in the house, it seemed to scream at them with memories, so they left.

And ended up at their own little memorial hill, a makeshift cemetery, even with no headstones they knew which plot of land was his.

Tears ran down their cheeks as they rambled out apologies and regrets, some even on their knees as they gathered around the small rectangular plot of dirt, hugging each other tightly, afraid that if they let go, another may disappear.

-----------------------
Silence, only for a few moments as it all sunk in. The building crashed behind them, no doubt spreading debris all over the city and its citizens. Air whipped their faces as the helicopter stayed in one place, as if it too was in shock of the events that just happened.

Gone, that's what happened. He was gone. He gave his life for them, he died so that they could live.

Why, they asked themselves, why would they need to live instead of him? What made them so important, when he had so much more in life?

------------------------

They hated silence now, because now it was stiff instead of comfortable, it was ominous instead of calm. Silence made them nervous. And after what they've been through, I think silence could make anyone nervous.

Months went by, completely unproductive, no missions, no recon, and no communication with any of their ally gangs. Their funds were running low, despite being the richest gang in town, they couldn't live like this for much longer. They needed to get back into the swing of things.

But sometimes it's harder than you think.

-----------------------

Ring. Ring. Ring. That's all I heard, ringing. It hurt my head, and it felt so cold. The ground was hard, I could feel rocks all around me. There was a slight breeze as well, I could feel it hit my back every once and a while. I was face down on the ground. For what reason I'm unsure, but I know my face was pressed to the concrete underneath me.

Screaming, it was distant, but it was there. I don't know if it was out of fear, shock or pain, but it was there. It was oddly calming in a way, I wasn't as alone as I thought I was.

It took a while for the pain to reach me, specifically in my stomach, which I could feel a sticky liquid run from. Blood? Why would I be bleeding?

Why would I be here, on the ground bleeding? Where am I?

Who am I?

-----------------------

Jonathan laid the blueprint flat onto the planning table, unsure of what to do first. He wasn't usually the one to do things like this, he usually just watched.

"Ok, we need a plan. Just think of how we could pull this off. Sounds simple enough." He mumbled to himself, staring at the paper in confusion.

"How the hell did he do this? And how do I know nothing about this when he did it in front of me?!" He was frustrated, not just by the paper, but by the fact he would have to take over. As leader.

"I can't do this, I just can't do this. He was too good at everything! Why can't I just figure out this stupid blueprint?" He was venting rather loudly, it was nice they had this room soundproofed, he didn't want everyone to know how incapable he was to lead them.

-------------------

Jonathan was sat at a swivel chair in the Planning Room as his boyfriend sat hunched over the blueprint, marker in his right hand as he drew arrows darting across the page in different directions. So fast, it was almost as if they had done this mission before.

Jonathan watched him for a moment, wondering how he could do this with such ease, he made it look easy.

"How do you do that?" He asked, walking towards the table to see a maze of arrows on the blueprint.

"Do what? It's just simple planning, nothing special." His eyes didn't leave the blueprint, he was thinking.

"It is special, can't you see? There's no way I could do this."

He turned to look at him, smiling. "Sure you can, just watch, ok? So Marcel is good with a sniper right? So you just take a look at the location and see if you can use that, and since there's a building he can snipe from right here, he can be useful there. So that's one possible location for him, now let's take a look at everyone else, ok?" He continued to explain his process to Jonathan, just so he could understand, since he saw that his boyfriend was bored.

But he didn't expect it to come in handy.

------------------

"Alright, Jonathan, think. What makes everyone special?" He couldn't think of anything off the top of his head, just that Marcel was handy with a sniper. "Maybe he wrote this all down somewhere"

He searched all the drawers, knowing his boyfriend was the only one to really use the room. Eventually he found a black notebook, a sketchbook to be more specific. Jonathan opened it up to find several notes about everyone, including their skills and what they could be useful for. It was exactly what he needed.

"Perfect. Thank you useful memory." Jonathan said, flipping through the book and writing down a plan, he needed to be smart about this.

"Come on, Jonathan. Focus. No place for Marcel, so maybe we can use his recon skills instead. So I can put him right here, next to Brock, the lookouts. No one comes in, no one goes out. Lui can protect Mini by the van, and we can park the van in a secluded location about, two blocks away. Simple." Jonathan looked at the now arrow filled blueprint on the table. He turned back to the notebook.

"Now let's figure out where everyone else goes."