Taking out the Trash

It was silent.  Paulie waited for something; anything, before he made a sound himself.  Then he heard a sputter and a sharp intake of breath in the darkness like Orin was just coming out of the shock of what had happened.  Paulie could hear Orin moving, trying to hoist himself off the cement.  There was another rustle of movement, quick and percise, and then the thud of Orin falling back onto the cement floor.

"Mother Fu--"

"Moira? Where are you? What happened?" He cut her off.  He couldn't stand not knowing; he could barely see a hand in front of his face. "Orin?" He ventured meekly.

"He's dead." Moira's low and cold voice resounded in the emptiness. "Or at least he will be soon."

"Oh."

"Where's the exit in this damn place."  He could hear Moira standing up and taking a few steps into the darkness. "We're leaving."

Paulie stood up too, leaning against the wall.  He gently felt around his mouth with his fingers to determine the extent of the damage.  Yup, one tooth gone, a couple others chipped, he confirmed.  He gingerly touched his nose and winced in pain.

"C'mon Paulie," Moira was making her way around the perimeter of the storage unit, feeling the walls for the door.

Paulie took a few steps forward.  He couldn't be sure where Moira was exactly from the echo in the space.  After another step. his foot came in contact with a large immobile lump; Orin.  Paulie backed away quickly, his shoes now making sticky impact with the cement.

"Jesus," He muttered to himself.  He circled around Orin, keeping as much space between them as possible until he made it to the other wall.

"Help me open this, it's heavy." Moira's voice floated over to him.

He guided himself along the wall until he met Moira.  He found her forearm and followed it down to her wrist until they were both clutching the handle on the door.

"Ready, pull!"

Moonlight flooded the empty storage unit.  In the natural light of the night, Paulie could see how beat up Moira really was; the bruising around her eyes and mouth, running up and down her arms. 

Paulie glanced back into the unit.  Orin was lying in the far corner, a pool of blood encircling his head and shoulders and getting bigger.  Paulie looked at his face; his eyes were open and lifeless but the gash in his throat was very much alive as it continued to pump more and more blood from his body onto the cement.

"Help me close this." Moira motioned to the door.

Paulie continued to stare inside at Orin.  Alive one second, drenched in his own blood the next.  My, how things change, he thought in disbelief.

"Paulie!"

"What?!" He pulled himself out of his own head.

"Help me close this, for Christ's sake!"

"Sorry, sorry."  He made his way over to help.  They pulled it shut, and stood in the moonlight for a few seconds in silence.

"Now what?" He asked.  Moira seemed to be in better control of the situation than himself.

"Good question." She answered, placing her hands on her hips.

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