A shoulder in grief

In a hall, lined with fluorescent neon lights on the ceiling, a man stood facing a stone inscription.

The hall was wide, with a high ceiling and tiled flooring. One wall was white, a brilliant white that rivaled clouds. The air was fresh smelling, the fresh air synthesizer vents were of the highest grade and gave visitors air that was far better than that outside. It was saturated with hints of vanilla, hibiscus and mint.

The man didn't really care about that.

Nowadays he didn't care about alot of things.

Liam looked at the inscription of stone on the section of the wall. There were other blocks, each with different inscriptions. The one Liam was looking at wrote;

Lesley Woodsman

D.O.B-1/1/2102

D.O.D-12/8/2119

Dearly beloved

It was Lesley's crypt, where Lesley's ashes were kept. This was one of the many crypts at Grey day cemetery.

Despite being called a cemetery, Grey day cemetery had no bodies buried in plots. It was a full several stories building, where the deceased were burnt and laid to rest.

This was not a preference, but a unanimous agreement of the city council. The problem was that dead bodies buried, no longer stated buried like they used to. To prevent the threat of an internal crisis of undead, the city had a policy that made it mandatory for all deceased citizens to be cremated within 24 hours, regardless of station. This meant that from the Orange zone with the poor and the higher levels with the rich, all burnt their dead.

There were no exceptions. Not for a funeral, a wake or anything.

All dead bodies must burn. That was law.

When Liam had brought Lesley's dead body back, he'd been forced to burn him. At the time, he'd been so numb and pained, he barely felt anything or heard anything when he got Lesley's ashes.

It was the second time he was mourning, except unlike the first time, he was not acting for the sake of the Deadpool HQ persecuting him. No, the bitter feeling of grief was real, as real as the dead body he'd dragged on his back into the citadel, refusing anyone else to touch his cousin.

He had wanted more time, just to hold his cousin longer...but eventually he'd given in. A body or ashes, either way, it was all one fact;

Lesley was dead.

Liam had crumbled apart over the last few weeks.

Wanting to ease his pain, he'd started spending time at Strip clubs in the Orange zone. It was cheaper than in the higher levels, and he was short for credits, like most squad fighters.

But, it was in the Orange zone that he found his... 'medicine'.

Poppsy, the most addictive drug in the Orange zone. Created from 70% narcotics, 5% crude oil, 10% Angel shards and 15% Marijuana powder. It was a stoner's gold chest, an addict's messiah and Liam's life line. He'd been spiralling down a pit of guilt, regret and grief so deep it was like death.

But Poppsy saved him.

A wonder drug, created by citadels in Arizona, the recipe had reached multiple places, including Greenhit.

The drug induced a state of minor delirium, high euphoria and prickles of pleasure in a bodies nerve endings, all the way through the body, even in the brain. Clear to say, it was not healthy, and continuous use had risks of cell cancer in the brain, lungs, liver, kidney and heart.

But Liam didn't care.

Without Poppsy he'd be as good as dead anyway.

Not that he wanted to die, but he no longer had a reason to live.

The only reason Liam did anything. The only reason he has ever done anything, wasn't for humanity or for the goodness of the citadel. Liam did care about people and Greenhit, but, his main motivation for getting a job at 15 years old, for doing odd work and scuffling along in the Orange zone until he could become a Squad fighter was one person.

His cousin.

"Hey."

Liam turned his head when he heard that voice.

"Don't tell me Rick sent you to babysit me. I should have punched him before I left" Liam said with a frown.

"I will pretend I didn't hear that last part." Ross gave a small lift of his lip like a smile" I am not here to babysit you. And Rick didn't ask me to do anything. I'm here to visit Lesley. If that's okay with you?"

"Why not? It's a free city, isn't it?" Liam said sarcastically and pulled out a small whitish grey pill and swallowed it whole. Ross scowled when he saw that.

"You're taking Angel shards too? On top of Poppsy?" Ross asked, Angel shards was a new variant drug created from compressed and reprossessed Angel dust, an old world drug.

"I haven't taken Poppsy in two days. I'm not a drug addict, not that I need you to know that. And mind your damn business." Liam said with a frown,"What I choose to do has got nothing to do with you."

"Nevermind. Forget I spoke." Ross turned to Lesley's crypt and gave a small sigh. He hadn't known Lesley that long but it still hurt to lose another rookie in a year.

Alex, Ross thought melancholy, Lesley...sorry.

"Were you jealous?"

"What?" Ross came out of his thoughts with the question " Jealous of what?"

"When I was kissing Rebecca. You looked pissed. But not because I was kissing her at HQ, but because I was kissing her." Liam gave him a thoughtful look" Ross...are you gay?"

Ross jaw dropped, his mind going blank and for a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

"Remember when you said I should mind my business? Back at you , Liam. You don't just go asking me that out of the blue. At a cemetery too." Ross replied, his eyes avoiding eye contact.

"Sure. I don't care. I just...fuck, whatever. You came to visit Lesley, not babysit me. So, I'm out. Have a good afternoon, I guess."

"It's...6:30 pm." Ross raised a brow, " Are you sure you used Poppsy two days ago or...was it more recent?"

Poppsy side effects were delirium, dizziness, memory loss, fatigue, hyper sensitivity, stomach discomfort, muscle spasms, organ dysfunction and so on and so on. It was basically euphoric poison, but the symptoms were minor at first and only increased in potency when users kept using them repeatedly.

It would make sense that Liam's sense of time was out of focus.

"Don't give me that look. I did use it two days ago. I just...I don't have to give you a full explanation. I'm leaving."

"Me too." Ross said as he got into step with Liam.

"I knew it. Rick did send you to babysit me." Liam spat out Rick's name.

"Nope. Martin did. But I would have done it anyway." Ross smirked as they left Grey day cemetery.