My Last Night in RavenholmPart 6

Richard is lying unconscious on the ground. Someone is asking him if he can hear them. Richard opens his eyes. A rebel medic is checking up on him.

The medic asks Richard if he can move. Richard starts to get up as the medic tells him to take it easy, as his head has been bleeding. Rubbing the back of his head, Richard asks how long he was out and the medic tells him he found Richard a couple of hours ago. He mentions his squad is waiting for them further up town. The medic then asks what Richard is doing there and if he hasn't heard about the rally point. Richard starts to answer and then sees the blood on his hand.

Richard freezes for a moment at the sight of his own blood, then recalls he was going after his wife Andrea. He explains to the medic he was heading back home when he fell, and that he has to know if she's okay. The medic tells him what's left of them is pulling out of town.

Richard says he doesn't care as he picks up his pistol. The medic notes Andrea is probably already at the rally point and that they have search a lot of these buildings for anyone. Richard states he has to make sure and can't just leave her. The medic relents but tells him he won't be able to make it past the front door, it's hell back there. Richard starts going as the narration states you need only walk a few meters in Ravenholm to find out that it is hell, and that it has been here all along.

Richard notices the medic is looking up and asks him what he's looking at. The medic replies it's where Richard wants to go. Richard looks up as well and sees smoke coming over the building. He thinks to himself it's not where he wants to go, but where he needs to. The emdic asks him if he knows what he's getting into.

Richard thinks to himself he knows what he's getting into, he's just afraid of what's on the other side. They reach the burning wreckage of the Combine gunship that came down. It crashed onto the building, which is now on fire. The medic asks if Richard is sure Andrea would stay in there and that he bets she's up with his squad up ahead. Richard just sighs.

Richard asks the medic to hold his gun. The medic asks him where he's going as Richard gets into the burning building, saying he'll be right back. The medic says shit and runs after him.

Inside the burning building, Richard is coughing from the smoke, trying to breathe. He calls for Andrea and says he's coming.

Richard runs up the stairs and arrives at his apartment. He opens the door and calls for Andrea, saying they have to leave now. He sees Andrea and freezes. In his mind, he thinks that's not her.

Richard sheds a tear and starts repeating that it's not Andrea. The medic reaches him and tells him they have to leave and that she's gone.

Richard gets hysterical, screaming that's not you. The medic starts pulling him away, telling Richard he can't help her. Andrea's charred remains are lying on a burning couch, her right hand the only intact piece of her corpse. Richard screams after her as he's pulled away.

The medic breaks a window with his elbow and tells Richard to get going. Both Richard and the medic leave the building, coughing.

The medic asks Richard if he's alright. Richard simply tells him to give him his gun. The medic slides it to him. Richard picks it up and aims it at the medic, telling him to get up. The medic screams what the hell Richard is doing but Richard simply states he won't say it again, get up.

The medic says alright and gets up. Raising his hands, he tells Richard there was nothing he could have done for her. Richard screams he knows there was nothing he could do and asks the medic if he couldn't leave him to mourn for his wife. The medic tries to reason with him, saying the fire was spreading and both he and Richard would be dead now. Richard shouts then just let him die, he'd be better off dead than wandering this shit-hole of a town, looking for a wait out.

The medic asks Richard if that is what Andrea would have wanted. Richard just stares speechless, so the medic tells him there'll be another time to mourn his wife and asks him to put the gun down. Richard relents and apologizes. The medic tells him there'll be another time for apologies too and to just focus on what they have to do now.

The medic tells Richard his squad is probably at the outskirts by now and that they should hurry. Richard follows him in silence, thinking to himself he's seen this before in a dream. He concludes by thinking that now he is alone. End of part 6.

Next comic:

Part 7

1 thought on “Part 6”

George_Stukas

May 24, 2023

The images are very dark and the frame composition strange. The speech bubbles get in the way, and the font is kind of an eye-sore.
But holy smokes, is that some fine story-telling. The pacing lets things breathe when they need to. The smoke-filled corridors is intentionally confusing, creating that nice suspense. And the dialogue after discovering his wife, as cheesy as that trope is, completely succeeds in its emotional impact: we care for these people.

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