IMMOLATION: CHAPTER 54

Melanie's head swam with the excitement of the day. Just a few short hours ago she and Mike were married, and now they were on their way to their honeymoon. Granted, it wasn't as grand a honeymoon as she would have liked, but considering the current circumstances they were lucky to be going on any sort of trip.

“I wouldn't call going to our home a honeymoon,” Mike was fond of saying whenever he felt like complaining about their plans but Melanie wouldn't be dissuaded.

“I'm glad you saved this last tank of gas,” Melanie said as they turned a corner.

They were about halfway between the church and their new apartment. They could have walked but Melanie had insisted the occasion warranted that they drive.

“Enjoy it while you can,” Mike said, “because no amount of money will refill this tank again.”

“Weird, isn't it?” Melanie asked at the thought of it.

“Yup,” Mike said without further elaboration.

The streets around them were all but empty. People rode on bicycles or walked, many of them in the middle of the street. More than once, Mike had to come to a sudden stop to avoid hitting people who had walked out in front of him. Each time, the people looked shocked at seeing a car as though they were some form of extinct animal.

“I wish Joan could have been there,” Melanie sighed and Mike gave her leg a squeeze.

“I'm sorry,” Mike said.

Melanie had told him about Joan's situation and was hoping to be able to go to the press with the pictures she'd taken on her phone. When she tried to review them, however, she found her memory card had been erased. Since then she hadn't been allowed back inside to visit Joan and so had no way of seeing her, let alone invite her to the wedding.

Just then another group of people ran out in front of the car and Mike had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting them. Melanie cried out in shock and before she could recover, her window shattered, showering her with glass. Rough hands reached through and were pulling her out while at the same time she heard more glass breaking and Mike's shouts of protest were quickly joined by several others, all yelling and shouting for them to get out of the car.

“Get off of me!” Melanie heard Mike shout as her attackers succeeded in pulling her torso out through the broken window.

The car lurched and Melanie suspected that Mike was either trying to drive off or else he too was being pulled out and he was no longer able to keep his foot on the brake pedal.

“Don't touch my wife!” Mike shouted with renewed vigor and Melanie saw two of the men on Mike's side of the car fall back, holding their faces and stemming the flow of blood from their noses.

The car lurched again this time there was no mistake about it, Mike was trying to get away. Unfortunately, the men who had grabbed Melanie kept their hold on her and so when the car moved, Melanie was yanked the rest of the way out of the car. They held her tight and one of them kept his hand clasped over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

Mike stopped the car at once and jumped out with fury in his eyes. He fought their assailants wildly and for a moment it looked like the attackers were about to flee. It was over as quickly as it had begun, there was a flash of metal, a groan from Mike, and before Melanie knew exactly what had happened, the men holding her let go and they all ran and jumped into the car, driving off and leaving them both behind.

“MIKE!” Melanie shrieked as she noticed the red pool gathering beneath him.

She ran to his side and lifted him up into her arms. His shirt blossomed red around his gut and his face was pale.

“I-I'm sorry,” Mike stammered. “I c-couldn't...

Melanie looked around for help but the street they were on was deserted. “HELP!” she screamed, her cell phone still in the car and so she had no other way of calling for help.

“Shhh,” Mike said, his voice a bit steadier than before. “It'll be alright.” He was already tearing pieces of his shirt off to use as bandages. “It'll be alright,” he repeated.