Girls and Guitars

Ulrich opened his eyes. His body ached, he felt chilly, and he was hungry. He looked around at what happened a few hours ago. Maybe it was all some weird dream? Something happened to the water supply, maybe? He looked around him. He looked towards his mother’s store, and the windows were still broken.

Nope. It was real. Everyone was dead.

He checked his pockets, and inside was his phone. After all this, it still worked. He flipped it open so quick he thought he'd break the top half off.

‘3 missed calls-Mina’

Shit! Mina! She was still around, right? She had to be! No way Gene would just leave without her, right?

He slowly crawled over to Mina’s house, knocking on the door as he did. She wasn't picking up the phone. He tried entering, and there was no response. Door was locked too.

He tried getting some more fire back into his hands, and only got a small flicker in his right hand. He put it against the edges of the door and tried pushing it. It fell in a pathetic manner in the opposite direction. He went inside. Her parents were impaled by the broken window, and Mina herself was found lying on her stomach behind the couch on her, stabbed through the heart.

“God…dammit.” Ulrich muttered. “God fucking damn it!” Ulrich screamed, kicking the couch.

“Hey, is someone in there?”

There was a voice outside. Ulrich quickly stuffed his gloves in his pocket. As he stepped outside, there was a man in a helmet, Hi-Viz jacket, and goggles.

“You doing okay?” He asked calmly, putting his hands on shoulders.

“I’m not okay, dumbass.” Ulrich said. “Everyone around me is fucking dead.” He felt as though he screamed it at him, but the lack of his reaction implied it was he weakly croaked it at him.

“I see. Well, we got a helicopter here. Hop inside and feel free to take some food or whatever.”

The man walked him a few feet away into a helicopter. He sat in the back, and inside were some sandwiches. He ate them without even thinking to look at what they were made of. He wasn’t dying any more than he currently was, so it was safe to say it wasn’t peanut butter. He leaned back into the leather seats and overheard the guy speaking with someone else.

“So we have a survivor?” the man asked.

“Yeah.” Another man replied. “Some teenager snooping around. You find anyone else?”

“Two hours in, and nobody.” The man sighed. “This is a pretty standard death toll number wise, but percentage wise? Jesus.”

Once they finished talking, they made their way into the helicopter.

“Hey, you holding up okay.” The man who found him asked.

“Yeah. Thanks for the food.” Ulrich replied meekly.

“Don’t think about it. Mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Go for it.” Ulrich sighed.

“Know when this happened?”

“Few hours ago, July fourteenth.”

“Fourteenth? Kid, it’s July seventeenth.”

“Seventeenth?” Ulrich yelled. “I-It’s still 2008, right?”

“It is, yeah.” The man replied calmly. “So, did anything strange happen beforehand?”

“Yeah. Some chick from Iceland showed up. She seemed to know what was about to happen. She gave me a pair of gloves, and they let me shoot fire and defend myself. I was able to scare off the demons, but everyone was dead by that point.

The man looked towards the man driving the helicopter. “This making sense to you?”

“This whole thing is a chemical weapon from Iceland?” The man piloting the helicopter asked. “Why the hell would Iceland be attacking so many countries? Look, that and the fire thing makes me think the kid had a weird dream in the three days he was out of it.”

“Yeah, guess you have a point.”

Ulrich didn’t try fighting it. He could show his fire, but having some guys think he was crazy sounded more appealing than accidentally setting a helicopter on fire.

“So, how old are ya, kid?” The man asked.

“Eighteen.”

“Old enough to fend for yourself, huh?” The man asked. “Tell you what? A hotel chain in Alabama is offering free stays for anyone affected by the demon attacks down there, and they’d probably take you. Sound good?”

“Yeah.” Ulrich nodded, resting his eyes.

When Ulrich opened his eyes again, the night sky was stretching out before him.

“Good nap?” The man asked.

“Yeah.” Ulrich replied. A lie since the leather seats were almost as bad as the pavement.

“Well, we’re almost there, so hold tight.”

The helicopter landed on the roof of the tallest building around for miles. Ulrich groggily stepped out, with one worker having to stop him from tripping, and the three of them walked down the stairs down to reception, messing up Ulrich's legs even more.

“Hey, got any more rooms?”

“Well, we’re out of solo rooms, so he’ll have to share with someone.” The elderly receptionist replied. “That okay?”

“Yeah.” Ulrich nodded. “What floor is it?”

“Fifth. We’ll call someone to help you up.”

Once Ulrich struggled onto the fifth floor, the first thing he did was look at the clock. 11PM.

“Oh, something if you need it.” The receptionist handed him a granola bar as he entered his room.

Ulrich silently waved his helper goodbye and went into his new hotel room. Considering time and circumstances, he expected another guy, who would probably be asleep. But when he opened the door, he was greeted with someone yelling on her flip phone, in what seemed like a New York accent, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure.

“Mom, I’m fine! Look, I was playing a show in Alabama when those demons attacked, but I made it out okay! I’m in a hotel right now, free stay. Don’t worry about me.”

“Yeah, I’ll be back in NYC in a couple of days, probably. Wait, moving in with grandma? You can’t be serious! Yeah, I know her place is less populated and safer, but you know why I can’t move in there! Yes, I broke up with Morgan a few months ago, but still!”

“Oh. Daisy and Maya? I…haven’t seen them lately. Now, hold on! I said I didn’t see them, not that they were dead! But…I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

The girl hung up the phone and set it down next to her, before grabbing a pillow and screaming into it. She then lay on her bed, turning her head to see Ulrich.

“Uh…how long were you there?”

“Long enough to hear…whatever that was.” Ulrich replied. “Sorry about your friends.”

“It’s…whatever, dude.” She replied.

“The one eye that wasn’t covered by neon pink hair looked tired and agitated. She also wore a neon blue tank top with the words ‘Trik Mystik’ written on it, alongside some simple ripped jeans, and what appeared to be military boots and a purple guitar next to her bed.

“Yeah, I’m staying here for the night. Sorry.”

“Sure thing, man.” The girl replied with a soft shake of her head. “Just stay on your side of the room.”

Ulrich nodded as he collapsed onto the bed. And before he could even get onto the covers, he was asleep.

Ulrich woke up to some kind of crunching noise. He checked the digital clock next to his bed. 3:13 AM. He still felt like death, but the crunching noise was getting louder. He scanned the moonlight lit room for a few seconds, noticing the girls guitar was now in the middle of the floor. Against any good judgement, he put on his gloves and went up to the demon. The crunching got louder, and then a figure popped out the guitar and turned around.

It was yet another demon.

Ulrich immediately went up to the girl, aggressively shaking her awake.

“You up? You up? We need to go, now! The demons are tracking me down, and we need to get out of here!”

He ran to the portal to see how big the portal got while he was sleeping.

And the portal…wasn’t there. The moon was out in full view, looking more beautiful than ever.

A small thud was heard, and Ulrich turned around. The guitar demon eagerly picked up whatever was thrown. And even though it was dark, he could feel the girl staring at him, as well as her anger burning through him.

“You’re dreaming. Go back to sleep.” She grumbled, before turning over and going back to bed.

When Ulrich woke up again, he checked the clock. 10:15AM. He was refreshed enough, anyway. Enough to eat breakfast. Just some toast and an apple, taking another free granola bar with him for later.

When he returned to his room, the girl was there in a leather jacket, texting somebody on her phone. She noticed Ulrich walk in, and gave a quick “What’s up?” without looking at him.

“Hey…so what happened last night?”

“I…slept?”

“No, the demon in your guitar. What’s up with that?”

Remembering the thud and crunching noise, Ulrich took out a granola bar, and threw it at her guitar. Nothing happened for a second, and the girl looked relieved. Then a purple claw came out of the guitar and took the bait. The girl quickly leapt out of her bed, a wave of panic coming over her.

“Okay, I’m gonna need an explanation for all of this.” Ulrich asked calmly. “Are you connected to the demons?”

“I’m not connected to them! Look, step away from me, and I’ll explain everything.”