Cities of the Future

                                              Cities of the Future
         Grey towers reached up to grasp the sky as if they could reach out and touch God. Every building was a shade of grey, darker grey and black. Tinted windows stared down into the crowed streets. Shiny cars zoomed along and screeched at corners, leaving behind the smell of burnt rubber. In a damp sweaty ally Alex was breathing his last breathe. Blood pulsed out of his neck and pooled in a red ocean on his lap. One last gasp...
         Alex woke up screaming every morning. His neighbor stamped on the floor to silence him. After a few minutes Alex had screamed himself out and grasped at breathe, it was a butterfly always flickering just out of reach.
         He staggered to the shower. A fluorescent light flickered playing at life. The bathroom was tiled in a slippery, slimy grey-brown, bricks the wall paper couldn't decide whether it wanted to stay on the wall and so was in a state of half on half off. The plastic shower curtain was spotted with black and yellow blobs. He turned the rusty shower handle.
         Water trickled down his scarred back sometimes getting stuck in the place where skin was supposed to be. He aimed the water to hit that spot right between his shoulder blades. He arched his back and let out a sigh and hit the shower handle, again.
         He dried off while he began to cook to eggs. They sizzled and popped in the pan. Pouring himself a glass of orange juice. He pulled the one rickety chair out from the plastic four seater dining table, and sat while the eggs cooked. The refrigerator whirred and hissed.
         Alex squashed the eggs in between two pieces of toast and headed out, the sandwich in his mouth. Leaving behind a lonely sink filled with crusty dishes.
         The floor wobbled every time he took a step. The hall was too small, Alex's shoulders brushed the walls as he walked by his neighbors room.
         A balding man in a white t-shirt accosted Alex at the staircase. A Mickey mouse sweat stain bobbed up and down on his chest. “Every fucking morning, enough with the god damn screaming.”
         Alex shouldered past him, sweat stuck to his hands and chest.
         “Did you hear me”, the man shouted.
         Alex hesitated as he reached for the handle on the mahogany double doors. Then in one fluid motion he opened the door and slipped out.
         The sun was beginning to rise and it cast strange shadows on the smooth streets. Monsters seemed leap out and then die back as the cars roared by. The tall, bent, black lamps were like a row of mothers weeping for their lost children. The cold buildings offered them no comfort as the cool morning wind swirled through the city.
         Alex leaned into the wind, letting its smooth fingers runs through his hair. Walking down the street he saw a gang of the thugs hitting a kid. They had been punching him in the stomach and vomit trailed down his chin. It stuck to his his shirt and pale pink and yellow chunks. Alex's blood began to pound in his ears, his vision narrowed to a point right above the boys and his body started shaking.
         One of the thugs glanced at Alex and laughed. “Look at him, he's so scared he's shaking.”
         The other two dropped the boy and he curled up into a ball on the ground, panting and choking on vomit. They walked over to Alex and shoved him. A smile crept on to Alex's lips. “I'm not scared”, he said as he stumbled back.
         The taller of the two thugs pulled a knife and slashed Alex's arm.
         Fire started coursing through his blood his arms started twitched, a red curtain of rage descended across his eyes and turned everything a hazy pink. A string snapped in his mind, carrying with it his last shred of sanity.
         He lunged at the first thug his teeth closed on the purple, pounding artery on the thug's neck. Alex's sharp teeth bit through flesh and hit something stringy, slippery and tough. He could feel the thugs own knife against his neck. “Let go” he seemed to gasp.
         Alex bit through the artery, a salty and sweat liquid filled his. Sputtering he spat the blood out onto the falling body of the thug. The thug crumbled, staring at something that only he could see.
         The other saw death in Alex's eye and started to turn. Faster than he could move Alex's hand clenched around his windpipe. Slowly his fingers began to tighten. Alex's fingers felt lighter than air, and like a snake they squeezed and squeezed. Something gave in the thug's neck and the windpipe came out in one sticky mess.
         Panting Alex stumbled into a nearby ally. His muscle trembled after the exertion of the fight. He felt dizzy and elated. Alex reached up to wipe off his face and felt his hand slide off all the blood pouring out of his neck. He stared at his bloody hand without comprehension. His vision began to dim, fading from the rosy reds to dull greys. His breathing slowed down, becoming more and more labored.
         A smile slowly spread across his face, as he saw what only dead man see.