100 People who have died across the galaxy.

100 People who have died across the galaxy is a series of short stories.

13 - Cynthia Lenneth

Cynthia walked home from work, feeling glum, she was suprised really, that the absence of that Gitten would affect her so
much, she never even caught his name, not from him, anyway.
Her glasses were getting fogged up in the cold, she wiped them down on her big grey jumper, and sighed, her breath clearly
visible in the cold winter air.
She covered her mouth with the turtleneck and carried on walking home.

She walked up to the front door of her building, fiddling with her keys, and got back to her flat on floor 42, it seemed like
nobody was around at all, but she preffered it that way.

It had been three weeks since she'd last seen him, and she didn't really know why she cared so much, she guessed that everyone needed their hobbies.
She looked to the wall of evidence she'd gathered on where the Gitten had gone, pieced together through their conversations.

Her flat was cold, and grey, with small flourishes to make it her own.
She sat down on a chair in front of the evidence wall, by her one large window.

She probably liked him.
Well, enough to care about where he'd gone.

Two Quiboans from the buidling across were sharing a drink of cocoa, they were in a nice cabin like room, with a roaring fire behind them.
One of them was staring through the scope of a light cannon.
"So, all loose ends clear?" asked Jack.
"Nope." replied Andy, seeing the small collection of information on Ludwig.

Jack was quiet.
"Oh man, we've really fucked this, haven't we."
"Yup" replied Andy.

Jack turned over to him, still waiting.
"So, what are we going to do?"

Andy sighed.
"I'm not taking the shot unless she tries to leave, if she gives up, then we don't have a problem."

Jack looked down at him.
"This isn't the first time, is it."

Andy glared at Jack, and groggily turned back to the cannon.

Cynthia walked over to a cd player, and set on a disc of her favourite classical music.

"The fuck are you implying?" Asked Andy, his words slurring.
"I'm implying that you've killed other people in the pod before." Jack replied, bluntly.
Jack stepped up from his prone position.
"You care to say that again?"
Andy shifted back.
"No."
Jack looked back to the window.
"I will say you're a drunk murderer."
Jack jumped up to his feet.
Andy through his mug of cocoa at him, blinding him.
"ARGH, YOU LITTLE SHIT." screamed Andy, charging forward.
Jack ran at him, and they were struggling on the floor.

Cynthia walked over to the window, looking out into the cold, snow covered streets.
She saw a small Gitten trudging through the snow to her building, he looked famished, close to death.
"Ludwig?" she said, to nobody.
She kept looking at the small green dot in a sea of white.
She was going insane.
She had to be.

Right?

Jack fought like a scrappy dog, flailing with his tentacles, something that Andy was suprisingly not well adapted to.
Andy threw him off, and reached for the cannon, Jack swept him, knocking the cannon out the open window.

They looked at each other for a brief moment.

Cynthia took her dressing gown off her bedroom door, and grabbed a pair of slippers, she rushed down the stairs, quickly
pressing the lift call button, best to be sure, she thought.

Ludwig was fading.
He was fading really, really fast.
He looked around, everything was swirling white, the snow had picked up and was pelting his left side.
He saw a road sign.
Huh, that was Cynthia's street.
Wait, what?

Andy and Jack had both reached their feet, they both had two tentacles in the air, ready to strike, Jack shot a quick look behind him.
"What are you doing, Andy" He asked, a small bit of blood pouring from his mouth
"Cutting a loose end"

Jack dashed backwards towards the kitchen, and scrambled for a knife, Andy followed quickly behind, Jack turned, wielding his weapon.
"Doesn't have to end like this man."
"You need help, it's ok, my families had problems with drinking, you can sort this out."

Cynthia saw the lift oin the 1st floor.
"Fucks sake!"
She darted down the stairs, travelling quicker than she ever had.

Ludwig's blood felt like it was freezing, he looked down at his hand.
"Oh god thass not the right colour for that."
He kept trumbling forward, slowly.

Andy rushed away from Jack towards the fireplace.
"What are you doing man?" trembled Jack
Andy scooped up a fire poker.

Cynthia rushed towards the front door of the lobby, smashing into a man carrying presents.
"Sorry!" she repeated, scrambling up, running out of the front door.
The man scoffed and scooped up the scattered gifts.

"Ludwig!" yellwed Cynthia.

Ludwig giggled.
"Oh dearie, i'm dying."
"again."
"Corrrrrrrrrrrr!" he screamed.

"Corrrrrrrrrrr!" heard Cynthia.
She ran to his voice.

"Cmon man!" pleaded Jack
"Cmon!"
Andy began swinging his fire poker like a sword, cutting just in front of Jack's face.
Jack was backing up to the back wall of the kitchen.

Ludwig's eyes were failing.
He saw a tall woman in a grey jumper, with a hastily thrown over light blue dressing gown.
Ludwig giggled again.
he closed his eyes.

Cynthia grabbed him, and dashed forward back to reception, the snow lashed them.

Jack looked one last time into Andy's eyes, they were possessed.
Jack lunged forward, knife in tow, he felt a fierce knock to the side of his head, but he had stabbed Andy between the eyes.
He stepped up, and felt woozy, he looked down at the fallen fire poker, to see it covered in brain matter.
His brain matter.
He fell to the floor.
"oh god."
Andy wasn't dead at the moment of the stab, and he was making a horrific deathrattle, Jack grabbed the fire poker.
Then he looked over at Andy.
"I'm not letting you get away with having it quick." he spat.

He stumbled forward to the phone.

Cynthia burst through the front door of her Building
"Sam!" she yelled to the doorman
"We need a doctor!" she said, gesturing to Ludwig, who she'd covered in her dressing gown in a desperate bid to wade off the cold.
Sam was shocked, and quickly phoned emergency services.

The voice on the other end responded:
"Unfortunately, due to the snow storm, ambulances will be unable to function, if your issue is truly essential, then a team of
medical professionals can be dispatched
via SolarPlane, but please note that this will take a signficant time, in an event of a serious injury, please press 5 for our
basic medical guide for stabilization"

Jack dropped the phone, blood still pouring from his head.
he crawled over to the fire.

Cynthia scrambled, she was shaking.
"The Ambulance's are shot Cynthia."
"Damnit!"
"Uhh, uhh, Oh! Dr Calin, my neighbour, call him!"
Sam checked down his long list of room numbers.

Ludwig was dreaming.

Dreaming about Cynthia grabbing him and putting him in a comfy blanket, and sharing a mug of hot cocoa in front of a roaring fire.
He really needed to thank that guy with the beard.
She was standing there, beautiful, in her grey jumper, and cute glasses, and they were talking about books, again, all kinds.
Ludwig felt happy, and a smile arose on his freezing body.

Jack kept crawling towards the flame.
"Gonna, close the wound." he said.
"Gonna, get back home." he said.
"Gonna, make a mug of cocoa." he said.
He didn't truly believe any of it.

Dr Canil woke up to a ringing.
he grumbled and harumphed his way over to the phone.
Downstairs, cynthia had snatched the phone out of his hands.
"Mr Canil!"
"We need you downstairs now, there's a very sick patient and he needs immediate help!"
"Please come to the lift with anything you'd need for frostbite!"
Cynthia called down the lift.
It was a tense ride up.

Jack leant his head wound close to the fire, a trail of blood followed him from the kitchen to the fireplace. "sealsealsealsealseal" he repeated.
he felt the wound with his hands, and brought them back, they were covered in wet blood.
"Fuck."

"You did good in giving him that dressing gown." Said Dr Canil, checking around Ludwigs discoloured skin.
"We'll need to bring him to the hospital tomorrow, but for now all we can do is make sure he doesn't get exposed to anymore cold."
Dr Canil pulled out a small syringe.
"This should help him with the pain." he declared, injecting into his left arm.
"Thank you so much doctor."
"It's fine."
"Now, if i may, i'm going to go back to bed, he should be fine, but just in case anything comes up, call me again."

Cynthia walked over next to the chair Ludwig was sitting in, and sat down next to him. His arm felt like Ice.
She stayed the rest of the night.

Jack kept feeling the back of his head, the world was becoming fuzzy.
"help" he tried to yell, but it came as a whisper.
"help"

"Andy?"
His deathrattle has stopped, Andy was gone.
Jack gave a devilish smile.
"Prick."

Jack closed his eyes.

13- Andy Destrewth, Jack Ruddi