Impossible Undertaking

    The day after this final battle, Colin was of course called in to take care of the aftermath, but only by the British forces.  At this moment in time, Colin knew neither the size nor the importance of the battle he was being called in to clean up.  If he had, Colin would’ve probably been more worried about the fact that he couldn’t seem to locate Ian.  Colin received this call himself, as he sat in his office and then went about searching for Ian to come with him.
    He checked the garage but it was empty, Colin found this highly unsettling because every time he came in here, Ian had always been sitting by his workbench, drinking tea and reading his newspaper while Oasis played in the background, occasionally he would be tinkering with one of the vans.  It was a reassuring sight, which let Colin know that even though so many strange things were going on around him, some things could never be changed.  This was what Colin used to believe before the time when he wasn’t greeted with this regular sight as he arrived in the garage today.  Colin reasoned that the next most likely place he would find Ian was the break room he had just passed and really should’ve checked first in retrospect.
    Opening the door to the break room, Colin saw that the television was off, another unsettling sight, in all the times Colin had entered this room, the television was always on.  Turning his attention to the humans in the room, he could see Ian lying on the settee while being handed a cup of tea by Victoria.
    “Get up Ian,” Colin said.  “We just got a call.”
    “Ian’s not going with you today,” Victoria said.  “He’s ill.”
    Colin looked closer at Ian; he was under a blanket and looked terrible.  When he thought about it, Colin couldn’t remember a single time Ian had not turned up to work out of illness, or any reason for that matter, he had always been here.
    “You’re sick?” Colin said.  “That’s not like you; I’ve never known you to be sick once.”
    “Well I guess I was due,” Ian said.
    “Alright,” Colin said.  “What about you, Vic?”
    “Are you actually asking me whether I want to go corpse collecting with you?” she said.  “Even if Ian didn’t need someone to look after him, I’d still say no.”
    “Fine,” Colin said.  “I’ll just go by myself.”
    Colin didn’t mind that the job would probably take longer than usual; this of course was his sentiment before he saw what he had agreed to clean up.  He walked briskly to the garage, took one of the vans and drove off to get this job over and done with as quickly as possible.  
    The afternoon of the 24th of April was a bleak one, light grey overcast skies and a slight drizzle, yet it was still quite warm.  As Colin drove up to the address he was given, it finally dawned on him, where he had been told to go.  It was the Para-militia base; he parked near it and got out of the van to observe the scene of destruction that was in front of him.  Colin wondered why he didn’t realise this as soon as he was told, he had completely forgotten the address of this group of warehouses and it had taken seeing them again to bring it all back.
    Colin had once heard a theory behind the human memory but, ironically, couldn’t remember whether it had been in a medical article or if it was just from an old conversation with Ian.  The memory was one of the least understood parts of humans; it was more studied in the realms of Psychology rather than Biology.  What Colin had once heard was that your memories were stored in cells, not just in your brain, but also throughout your entire body and the reason you forgot certain information was because the cell that contains it dies before having a chance to replicate itself and pass it on.
    Colin seriously doubted the validity of this claim but it had gotten him thinking.  He wondered what it would be like if this never happened, if you never forgot anything.  At first thought the premise would seem quite attractive but in the long term it would probably be like torture, remembering everything that you have ever seen, which includes the most mundane details of each room you’ve been in.  It was probably better to forget the occasional thing if it meant you got to keep your insanity.  Appreciating this parameter, Colin sometimes wished his memory worked more like a computer’s with the ability to choose what useless information he could delete to make room for the more vital data.  
    Sadly, this was not how his mind worked and because of this, he had forgotten the actual address of the Para-militia base and was left here, standing in the middle of the quiet street, staring at the decomposing corpses that littered it.  Colin slowly walked past the bodies, looking at individual faces as he strolled by.  There were mostly British troops here but he could see a couple of Para-militia soldiers among the rubble that was once the adjacent building.  Finally, Colin caught sight of the warehouse that the Para-militia had used as their base; this building had also paid the price for associating itself with the Para-militia.
    There was a gaping hole where the main doors should’ve been, which had the bodies of Para-militia troops scattered al around it.  Colin gingerly stepped over them and ventured into the warehouse, almost slipping on a loose chunk of debris.
    Inside, Colin gravely regarded his new surroundings; it looked more like the result of a slaughter rather than that of a battle.  He began to realise that this was it; this was the place where the war ended and where the Para-militia died.
    Then, his mind immediately rushed to one thing and one thing only.  Colin went about turning over all the Para-militia bodies he could find in the warehouse so that he could examine their faces.  Some that lay by the opening didn’t have much of a face left so Colin just went to the next one.  He worked his way from the entrance inwards and by the time he arrived at the collection of barriers by the back of the warehouse, he still hadn’t found what he had been searching for.  With every face that Colin didn’t recognise, his sense of dread shrunk a bit more, but it all came rushing back when he saw him.
    When Colin looked around behind the barricades, he instantly found himself being watched by a man lying on his back, head turned towards Colin and his eyes wide open with a smile upon his face.  The only indication towards the sinister reality of this sight was the fact that there was a bullet hole in his temple and his head was resting in a puddle of his own blood.
    Colin approached the former human and sat down cross-legged next to him as if he were a child watching the television.  He sat as close as he could without getting blood on himself and just stared at the man’s face for a few minutes.  His worst fears were confirmed at the sight of this person because this body had once belonged to his friend, Dominic.
    He couldn’t look away, he didn’t feel sad because he knew that this would probably happen eventually.  He continued to stare at what used to be his friend, he was just fascinated by what was once there and now there was nothing.
    Finally, Colin broke his gaze and returned to his feet.  He glanced around at his present task and was really not looking forward to this immense job.  This was no squad that had been ambushed or the result of a minor skirmish.  The only word to describe this conflict would have to be a ‘Battle’.
    It was true that Colin had never done a job this big before, now was definitely the worst time for Ian to be sick, he could’ve chosen any other day than this one.
    Wishing he could find a way to put off getting started, he sighed and faced reality.  Colin decided that this would probably take several trips and just loading them into the van by himself would take hours.  He made up his mind that he would begin with the British soldiers, as there was a lot less of them.
    Colin began walking back to the opening at the front of the warehouse when he realised something, he was alone here, there wasn’t another living person in the entire building.  This should have been blatant, and it was, but he hadn’t fully understood the possibilities of this place until just now.  In the past, every time Colin had taken care of Para-militia casualties, he settled the bill here at the warehouse.  Aden would disappear up to a room on the second floor and return with his money.  Colin had never asked where they got this money from, he always just assumed that near the beginning of the war they once raided a deserted bank, which Colin didn’t know about and that still had some money left in it.  Whatever the real reason was, Colin couldn’t care less about it, all he knew was that this money was probably still there.
    Now finally within his grasp and past an unguarded doorway, Colin seized this opportunity to improve his life.  He walked quickly past the corpses and the barricades and through a door.  Beyond this, he walked up the spiral staircase that he had seen Aden ascend many times before.  On the second floor, he wasn’t sure where to go; he had never been up here before because the guards had never allowed him to.
    Where Colin found himself now was a single narrow hallway without many doors.  The first door was locked, a strong indication that this was the room they kept the money in but then Colin thought to himself, how would they have gotten the key?  The Para-militia were just squatters in this building.  He moved on to the next door, he thought that he may as well check the others first and, if he had to, come back to the first door.  The next one was open and it lead to a small dark room full of dusty cardboard boxes, it looked like no one had disturbed this place in years so he kept it that way and moved on.
    The last door on this side of the hall had a large translucent window with black marks on it, as if it once held words that had long since been removed, either on purpose or just through age.  Colin turned the knob and eased the decrepit door open; through it was an old office of questionable purpose.  There was a desk on one side with a chair that looked like it would fall apart if any human tried to sit on it anymore.  Being in this room made Colin wonder if this place really was a warehouse, possibly it used to be a factory.
    This pondering vanished from Colin’s thoughts when he looked over at the other side of the office.  Near the wall to his left, there was a low table with a settee and a couple of chairs surrounding it, on the table was a large metal briefcase.
    Colin approached the table confidently, what rested on it was so out of place that he was sure he had found what he came up here for.  The case opened easily; there was no lock or combination to hinder him, just a satisfying ‘click’ before it revealed its contents.  Inside the shiny container, Colin saw exactly what he wanted to see, the briefcase was filled with money.
    Obviously, the Para-militia had no use for this money during wartime except to pay Colin, so there was still plenty of it left.  Colin closed the briefcase and carried it downstairs.  As he strolled happily past the rotting Para-militia corpses, not even noticing them anymore, he didn’t feel guilty about taking this money.  Colin could’ve used the excuse that they couldn’t use it anymore so someone else should really put it to use; there wasn’t many things worse than waste.
    He could’ve told this to himself, but he didn’t, instead he chose a different lie to tell himself.  Some people are highly gifted; they possess the ability to lie to themselves so convincingly that they are able to persuade that almost whatever they are doing is acceptable from an ethical standpoint.  Colin Shaw was one of these people, and right now, he was telling himself that it wasn’t fair, him taking care of all these Para-militia casualties without them having paid for it.  In his mind, he was just taking what would be owed to him.
    Each conflict he had cleaned up, Colin was always paid twice for his services, once from each side and he really should keep that trend going.  Consistency was considered professional.
    Colin placed the briefcase in the passenger seat, even going so far as to fasten the seat belt round it, and went back to the reason he was here in the first place.  There was nothing left to do here apart from what he was meant to, Colin removed the gurney from the back of the van and began collecting up all the fallen British soldiers as best as he could by himself.  At times, it was rather awkward but nonetheless he got the job done, it was exhausting work and Colin was feeling incredibly tired and hot shortly after beginning.  However, Colin was fortunate enough to have the light drizzle that had accompanied him all afternoon turn into a heavy shower, making him do the rest of the work in the pouring rain, well at least it cooled him off for a time, he couldn’t help thinking.  Colin continued working until all the daylight ran out.
    It was deep into night time when Colin had finished loading his van; he looked into the back of his full vehicle as the rain relentlessly pounded on his head.  He looked at the bodies of all the British soldiers he could find; his van was now completely full of them.  Colin had once heard that there are more cells in one human body than the combined number of humans who have ever lived.
    This sounded like a difficult fact to prove and he wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it was false but it still made its point, humans are incredible organisms.  Along with this fact, he was also told that the majority of cells in humans are actually bacteria, rather than real human cells.  He was amazed at the complexity of the symbiotic system that is always occurring within humans, which is necessary for them to survive, without them even thinking about it.
    As Colin stared at all these corpses, he couldn’t help but think about this, what advanced creatures they all used to be.  He was getting more and more soaked by the second and really should have hurried up but he just took a few moments, then closed the doors and got into the van.  Before setting off back to the funeral parlour, he shot a quick glance over to the briefcase, just to make sure it hadn’t wandered off.
    Then he drove away with his van fully loaded, he would have to come back probably at least a couple more times for all the Para-militia bodies.  Colin liked the sound of the rain hitting his van as he drove on but the combination of the fluctuating windscreen wipers and the blurring water droplets were making it increasingly difficult to see where he was going.  The van that he was driving wasn’t the same as what his father drove around in; they had switched to hybrid vehicles almost ten years ago, now most of the western world only used hybrid cars.
    Colin switched on the heater to dry himself off and the radio to take his mind off how wet he was.
    In a press conference this morning, the Prime Minister has announced the end of the war in Scotland.  Last night an operation was successfully carried out, which eliminated the leader of the Para-militia and effectively brought an end to organised resistance.  Apparently, only a handful of rebels still exist and this is how he explains why British forces remain within the city, to root out these last few Para-militia and make the city safe again.  The Prime Minister stated that all the people currently living in the refugee camps would be permitted to return to their homes once the final threat is eliminated.  This has been well received after the outcry over the poor conditions in these camps.
    So that was that, Colin said to himself with his mind’s voice, it seems that his part in this was over.  The majority of the fighting had been done and so he made him and his purpose here obsolete.  Colin decided right here that this would be his last job, he would cremate all the bodies of the last battle so he would get one more deposit in his bank account from the British Army and then he would be finished.
    He supposed that he could stay, there were still some Para-militia left after all and that meant that there would also be some casualties for him to burn.  Then he came to his senses, he stopped his greed from taking over him and gave himself an objective, he needed to be out of the city as soon as possible after this last job was completed.
    The reason Colin made this decision wasn’t only due to self-control, he realised that, even though he was needed throughout the majority of the war, his assistance probably wouldn’t be required for the latter days.  The recovery of bodies had been especially important in this conflict because the point of the war was to make the city habitable again for British citizens.  This was why the poorly supported Armed forces needed to bring in outside help to clean up the city while the thinly stretched army focussed on fighting the enemy.
    Now that there were much less of the enemy, Colin reasoned that they could most likely handle it from here.  Besides, Colin had more than enough money to start a new life away from this place; he looked over once again at the briefcase to remind himself of this fact.
    When Colin looked back at the road, he saw something that made him step hard on the brakes, if he hadn’t torn his eyes away from that briefcase in time he probably would’ve crashed.  Now, even in the dark and rainy night, only a few metres in front of him he could see a road block, the red and luminous green stripes clearly visible.  It was the type of road block that Colin was used to seeing around the city by now; they were the kind used by the British Army.
    The unusual thing about this one however, was that there were no soldiers around it and Colin was sure that it wasn’t there when he set off this afternoon.  This barrier must have been put up during the time he was working.  For what reason Colin couldn’t even hazard a guess, but it was blocking his route back to the funeral parlour and there was no way he could drive through it as much of it was firmly rooted in the ground.  Colin knew he would have to find a way round, it would only have to be a small divergence but it frustrated him nonetheless.  It was pouring with rain, he knew that he would have to go back to get the rest of the bodies and he hated the idea of his plan changing, even just slightly.
    Colin went about turning around and looking for another road to drive down in order to get round this new barricade.  His journey progressed as he opened the window to let in the calming sound of rain but what he received was the worrying roar of thunder of in the distance.  Colin closed his window again to escape the thunder and gave yet another look over to the briefcase, gently resting one hand on it to make himself feel better.  He found himself feeling rather happy just from being in the presence of so much money, it was probably only short term but at least it was something.  Then he began trying to think back to the last time he felt a little jolt of happiness like this.
    After a few moments of remembering, he realised he couldn’t pick out a specific time but he knew there must be at least one, probably when he was with Ian.  So Colin was certain that he definitely had felt happiness before but what about all the other emotions a human could feel?  At one stage or another, had he felt every single emotion that it was possible to experience?  Probably not, but if he had, he would’ve liked to know at what age he reached this completion.
    As Colin trundled along a damaged road, he could hear the bodies in the back knocking about as their positions shifted in transit.  Not exactly a very dignified way to spend your final hours in the material world but he was sure they wouldn’t mind after spending the night face down on a cold pavement.  
    The sound of those corpses bouncing off each other made Colin laugh, nothing was funny about what he was currently doing but it was just such a weird way to make a living.  The impending demise of this way of life made him think about his new life after he leaves this place, at least he could say that his job wasn’t as boring as most people’s, he would certainly have some stories to tell.
    It had been an interesting job, he wouldn’t like to make it a full-time position so, in some ways, he was glad that he was finally getting ready to leave.  He had never thought about this before, but he supposed he really should ask himself this at some point.  Did he like his job?  It was incredibly tiring, somewhat grim and at some times he did feel like he was taking advantage of other people during their times of misery.  But, on the other hand, he had made a lot of money, it was interesting work and it was coming to an end now so he wouldn’t have to think about it ever again, he could just enjoy it’s fruits.
    Colin did this a lot, when he wasn’t sure if he had made the right decision, he would repeatedly look at it from every angle until he found the way he could tolerate it.
    Another way he liked his job, well it was more something about the situation really.  Colin rather liked the deserted city, the lack of people, the freedom, it would be hard to leave it behind but he couldn’t live like this forever.  The most enjoyable thing Colin found about this new form of living was that since the day it began over seven months ago he never had to do regular shopping again.
    Every time he needed something, he would just break into an unoccupied shop and take what he wanted.  This also meant that he had no reason to go to a shopping centre since the war began and for this, he was extremely grateful.
    Colin loathed shopping centres; he hated the warm stale artificial air, the swarms of annoying people and the foundations of pure materialism on which they are based.  Admitting it to himself, Colin could’ve also been accused of this, putting in so much effort during this war to get as much money as he could possibly get out of it.  However, he wasn’t going to waste this money on foolish desires, Colin was planning to use it to disappear and be content forever.
    With Colin still in the rather strange, if not impossible, process of reminiscing about the future, his journey continued in the background.  He was now travelling down a road that he didn’t usually drive down but he just needed to make one more turn, go on a bit further and he would be back along his intended route.
    Colin went round the corner at speed, everything was going fine until his back wheel clipped something, it was a mine.  The resulting explosion flipped the van a full 180 degrees and it landed on it’s roof as it slid into the side of a nearby building.
    A hastily performed check proved Colin to be unharmed by the crash, he unfastened his seatbelt and scrambled out of his broken window as dark smoke stung his eyes and inflamed his throat.
    He got to his feet and looked at the van; the back was seriously damaged and was on fire, which was rapidly spreading throughout the vehicle.
    Colin took this as a bad sign and began to run as fast as possible away from the burning machine.  Then, a thought hit him; it made him stop so suddenly that he had to place a hand on the ground to prevent him from falling over.  
    He had forgotten the briefcase; it was still in the van.  The metal case would protect the notes from the flames but not from what was about to happen.  As fast his movement was when fleeing the van, he was even swifter when returning.
    Colin squeezed back through his window and crawled over to the upside-down passenger seat.  He grabbed at the case and pulled but it was still being clung to by the seat belt.  Colin frantically clawed at the device until it submitted, releasing the precious briefcase and allowing it to land right on Colin’s face.
    He didn’t have the time at being annoyed at that, instead he just pushed it out the window and followed soon after it.  When they were both safely out of the van, he picked up the briefcase, held it close to his chest and went back to running away from the van.  Colin had almost made it to the other side of the road when it blew.
    This second explosion from the flaming van knocked Colin off his feet, the briefcase flew out of his hands and he fell face down on the ground, his forehead making direct contact with the edge of the pavement.  He pushed himself up a few seconds later to see a small splatter of blood where his head had rested.
    It wasn’t really needed to say how severely dazed he was now, everything had split itself in two, forming a blurry double and Colin was having trouble focussing on anything particular.  All around him were the burning wreckage, which the van had littered the street with when it had decided to explode.
    Colin shook his head and immediately began searching for his briefcase, it was resting patiently against a wall, waiting for him to pick it up and resume the journey.
    Colin then struggled shakily to his feet and touched his head, it stung him.  Looking back down at the blood on the ground, he realised that he had never seen so much of his own blood before.  Even in his hazy state, Colin’s sense of reason was still active and there was a strong compulsion to go to the hospital but, even if he did, he would find them vacant.  This was the first time he had seen the downside of being virtually alone in a city, it may have been fine when he didn’t need any help but, for now, he would have to manage on his own.
    He staggered over to the briefcase and picked it up, once again holding it close to his chest.  As Colin looked back at his van, he couldn’t find it anymore; all he could see was a blazing wreck of ruined metal.  The heavy rain was doing little to quench the high licking flames, Colin began to smile at this sight.  It may have been due to the head wound but he just couldn’t help the grin from appearing on his face, he found it amusing that he didn’t have to cremate those bodies now.  Colin liked the fact that his eyes were seeing the bright side of everything; he liked it so much that he barely noticed the rain falling on him.
    The thick raindrops pounded on his cranium, each one giving him a reason to find somewhere to shelter his damaged head.  Colin began wandering aimlessly through the streets, every step becoming more and more erratic.
    Brief flashes of lightning frequently appeared in the sky, these electric pillars streaked down from the clouds and caused Colin’s pace to quicken.  The static sound of howling dogs filled the background noise surrounding Colin; he reasoned this to be the abandoned wailings of all the forgotten pets of the exodus.
    Colin began following these moans, still half in a daze, but they were coming from every direction and so he did his best to follow each one.  His vague trail eventually lead him to an old church, trees of an unfamiliar species stood firmly in it’s courtyard and the thin metal gates and fences were all caked in rust.
    It was as good a place as any, Colin thought to himself, actually no, it was better; he probably wouldn’t have to break in to this building.  This was good, Colin was feeling quite weak for the moment and just wanted to rest somewhere out of the rain so that he could compose himself and then…actually Colin wasn’t sure what he was going to do then.  Should he walk all the way back to the funeral home so that he could finish this last job like a professional?
    No, he was originally going to do this but now, after the unfortunate mine incident, he wasn’t in the mood.  His only other choice, however, was to go home and prepare to leave this city.  This was exactly what Colin decided he was going to, after the rain had stopped that is.  For now, Colin focussed on forcing open the old church gates, fighting against the rusted base that kept getting stuck in the dense soil.  When they finally agreed to swing open, it was still accompanied by a shrill squeak of protest from the rusty hinges.
    Colin wondered what the name of this church was but the sign that once held the name just behind the fence had been removed, leaving only the two concrete bollards, which had once held it up, standing quietly at the entrance by the road.
    Strolling through the churchyard, Colin looked about to see the small rows of lichen covered gravestones.  Some rich or ‘traditional’ people were still getting buried, this much was true, but from the look of these crumbling lumps of rock with rain sliding down their surfaces, it was clear no one had been buried here for quite a while.  It was a small courtyard so Colin arrived at the main doors of this church relatively quickly; they were large, wooden and didn’t look all that inviting.      
    The doors were of a remarkably good quality when compared with the rest of the churches’ exterior, they had large polished stone door knockers, which Colin didn’t bother trying to use, and the wood didn’t look at all rotten, which Colin expected it to be.  Someone had definitely taken good care of these at some point in the past and had given them a strong resilience.  Colin pushed on the double doors, causing on of them to open surprisingly easily.  A large dark opening had now replaced where the door stood and beckoned Colin to enter.  He took his first few steps inside the church, it was incredibly dark but he could just about make out the dark red carpet at his feet, illuminated by the grey light spilling over it from the open door behind him.  Colin used to think churches were beautiful, the truest example of style over substance.  He used to like them, before tonight.
    As expected, this place of worship was no longer being used by worshippers but, unexpectedly, the church wasn’t being used for anything at all that Colin could see or hear.  All was silent inside the building, the only sounds Colin could hear was the clamour of the weather outside.  So many churches had fallen into disuse now, simply because people just weren’t going anymore.  It was cheaper to construct new buildings rather than renovate or convert these old-fashioned ones so many of them just lay vacant and had become havens for the homeless, but for some reason this one was empty…
    Colin wondered why this was, he told himself that this was probably due to the evacuation and ventured a little further into the church, half-expecting the door behind him to slam shut, but it didn’t.  Instead, he just continued walking, leaving behind wet foot prints as he wiped the clinging water droplets off his face.  It got darker the deeper Colin proceeded within the church, the only lighting was that of the minuscule natural light, which seeped in through the stained glass windows lining the walls that depicted various saints and martyrs.  Some extra light, along with rainwater, trickled down from several holes in the roof.  The largest of these was letting in rain from the outside and produced a small pooled at the base of the drizzle in the middle of the central aisle.
    As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, Colin could distinguish both the outline of the pews ahead of him and also the distinct lack of human shapes, which he wasn’t surprised by.  Water molecules still clung to every hair on his head and fibre of his clothes as he stood by the first row of pews.  His position in the church was fortunate because at that moment, he suddenly began to feel very woozy.  He touched his left hand to his head and started to collapse, but he reached out with his other arm and braced himself against the nearest pew.
    Colin took some deep breaths and steadied himself, he felt alright but was certainly not thinking clearly.  Rather than lie down on one of the pews, like he should have done, he continued his exploration and began walking further forwards.
    He arrived at the part of the aisle that was underneath the large hole in the roof.  The constant pressure of the water falling from the opening had made a slight dip in the ground, allowing the rain to collect and form a huge puddle, almost verging on pond-size.  Colin closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the falling water consistently hit the pool of water; he loved the noise it created.
    Colin stepped forwards and stood, nearly ankle deep, in the centre of the basin to let the water above wash all over him.  Technically, it was just the same as if he remained outside in the rain, yet it didn’t feel the same, it felt better.  Colin looked straight up at the hole in the roof and allowed the rain to cleanse his face.  He opened his eyes to see what appeared to be a miniature waterfall coming down towards him.
    The reason why Colin was doing this wasn’t fully known, even to Colin.  When he realised this he stepped forwards a few steps out of the interior rain and shook as much of the water from his face and hair, now he was only mostly soaked rather than completely.  Occasionally, a flood of light would pour in through the windows from a rogue spark of lightning outside, permitting Colin to see more of his environment.  The church wasn’t as small as Colin’s initial estimate had led him to believe.  In addition to this main area on the ground floor, there were also two large galleries up on the second level, one attached to each of the walls on either side of him.  Colin identified the two circular stone stair cases on both walls that lead up to these upper tiers of the church.
    The moment Colin turned his head forwards so that he could observe the area at the front of the church, he noticed something else, but not with his eyes, it was his ears that detected something out of the ordinary.  The unchanging background noise of water from the leaky roof splashing into the puddle behind him changed.  It was no longer the sound of water hitting water; it had been replaced by the oddly unsettling muffled tap of water dripping onto fabric and being absorbed.
    Colin wasn’t sure what could cause this, so he just turned round to find out.  He saw a man behind him who was presently standing in the middle of the endless stream of falling rainwater.  This large dark figure looked roughly in his late sixties, he had long grey hair, an unkempt beard and behind his rectangular silver frameless glasses were a set of small eyes that refused to blink.  
    Colin could’ve listed all the mundane factors of this man’s appearance but the aspect, which most seized hold of his attention, was the white of his collar.