Try to Survive

Prologue

She couldn't leave him. Not another driver, especially not him. He just saved her life. Lani cared, and she new if he wasn't gone now he would be soon. Burning debris fell all around them, and she refused to move. She'd rather die along side him that is what she would do. She wasn't going to leave him. Then the other drivers came…

Chapter one:

They all stood there silent. The Teku, Metal Maniacs, Dr. Tezla, Lani and Gig. They looked out over San Francisco from across the Golden Gate Bridge. The only words that were spoken came from Lani, "Oh, God. We lost." The Drones had started taking over the world. The only driver that was aware of the future ahead of them was Teku driver Kurt Wylde. He knew what would happen next, it would be like reliving his past as a young teenager. A boy lost in his own fear and anger, afraid his dad would find him. And angry at the man who made him ashamed of his life. Running away with his little brother hoping, just hoping. But as usual after he finished school he turned into a racing criminal. Even if he was good at it, but not everybody was 'crime smart'. He knew some of the drivers would die. He'd seen death, for loved ones and friends. He'd even died before; he remembered being a spirit for a split second, screaming "I don't want this!" When he thought he had, he remembered coming back to his body, the pain that came when air rushed into his lungs. He shuttered, he'd never been so scared in his life. Nolo came and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. And as the sky grew black with smoke they all wondered what would happen next. They went into the city the next day and they couldn't believe the horror, innocent people were being killed and some joined Drone forces to escape being slaughtered. The drivers stood again, silent. Until Tezla spoke, "We'll have to work together if we plan to survive." And Nolo in hearing that yelled, "No way! The Teku can take care of the Teku. We don't need anybody." Then Tork scoffed,"Yeah right." And then a feud broke in between them, all except Kurt.

"Enough!" yelled Kurt. The other drivers froze," I'm sick of this! And if you're going to fight we might as well kill ourselves and save the trouble!" he growled. "Listen Stinku," Porkchop started but Kurt stopped him cold. And as the largest Maniac froze in fear Kurt screeched,"NO! You listen, if you want to die instead of working together let me give you a little hint buddy. I. Can. Make. That. Happen!" he snarled as he yanked a large dagger from inside his racing suit. The driver's faces turned three shades of white as they stepped back from Kurt. "Kurt, let's listen to reason here…" Lani squeaked. "No! If they can't get along in two minutes, I, you, Tezla, and Gig will get through this on our own." Lani stepped forward and said quietly, "Kurt. You know you don't-"He cut her off.

"Lani, if they can't- you know quite frankly I don't care if they die anymore maybe if they die together they can understand to-to live together in peace as restless spirits for all I care!" Lani looked at him compassionately," Kurt. You don't mean that." He looked back at his fellow drivers and saw what he never expected. He had hurt the Teku and scared the Metal Maniacs. Was he really so much like his father? This time he spoke to them kindly and compassionately, "Look, Lani's right I didn't mean any of that. But Tezla's right too. We will have to stick together to survive. But first you have to be trained to survive. You have to know everything about being a criminal, since that is what the world is now. But," he sighed," since I happen to be an expert in that department. I'll teach you." he finished. The drivers gave him a quizzical look, "And how would you know?" Monkey asked quietly. Kurt frowned and took off the top half of his racing suit and let it fall to the ground. What the driver's saw was a man with thick arms and a ripped body. His skin looked hard as granite and the pale shade of skin gave him a vampire kinda look. But his skin wasn't vampire white, nor could it hide all the scars that covered the man's body. The scars almost covered his whole body, big, thick, gross, ugly, scars of all types. Scrapes, cuts, gash wounds, and plenty more. And once shock visibly covered their faces he said, "This. This is how I know." The driver's stood there, startled by this discovery. But Lani, she'd never seen anybody with just as many scars as her. Her scars were less noticeable or visible during the day. But at night…they could clearly be as seen just as Kurt's scars right now. She'd always liked her scars, but was always ashamed of them too. She couldn't hold her question any longer, "Can I touch them?" Kurt turned to look up from picking his clothes from the ground, "What?" he asked. Lani looked at him dead in the eyes this time,"May I touch your scars. I've seen plenty, and sometimes they feel odd." Then he nodded once, and Lani stepped forward. She wanted to touch them all but one drew her attention, she had one in the exact same place, same size, same shape, even the same shade of pale. Was the same type of scar too, she placed her hand against it. It was vertical down Kurt's ribs and was a gash wound. It was the biggest and scariest looking scar on his body and she could feel his heart beat. It fluttered like a bird, fast but soft and rhythmic, and as she traced her fingers down the scar Kurt's heart beat became faster, louder, and harder. Kurt couldn't understand what had happened when Lani touched him. Almost like a spark of electricity or whatever. His emotions went from solid solemn permission into unexplained burning. It was almost like a wave of water, warm and its creamy feel to it. And he liked it and hated it all at the same time, so he pushed it aside. He didn't let himself know what it was, and frankly he didn't care.

The next morning was the start of a new generation of darkness. The drivers awoke to the screams, black sky, and to the smells of smoke. The Drones were still wreaking havoc. Kurt awoke first and decided to start criminal training now. He looked around then he grabbed a metal pole and banged against a metal trashcan. The ear splitting noise woke up the other drivers, "What the-?" Dr. Tezla moaned. "We start training now. Lesson number one: Trust your partner with your life. And Lesson number two: Never ever, ever, ever leave your partner behind." Then he scowled at them, Why are they still on the ground? He growled in his mind. He banged the trash can harder and twice this time. Then the drivers became alert and almost jumped to their feet. One he had their attention he said "Our first lesson is trust, Nolo, Tork." He motioned for them to come forward. "Tork climb that building and jump." he said flatly.

"What?" Tork yelled.

"That's not the fun part…Nolo find a way to catch him."

"There's not a snowball's chance in Hel-", Kurt cut Nolo off and screamed "TRUST YOUR PARTNER WITH YOUR LIFE!" Nolo, unhappy with his assignment be grudgingly searched for a mattress while Tork was busy trying to figure out how to climb the building. Kurt shook his head and slapped his forehead in annoyance. It was time for a new tactic, "Lani, come here please. Nolo you and Tork go sit down! You have failed to listen and therefore your risk of dying is very high." Lani stepped forward; Kurt smiled warmly at her, "Climb." He said softly and pointing to the building. "Kurt are you sure this is the proper way to teach this?" he looked down into her face. "Lani, you have to do this. It may be a lot to ask but…I'm gonna have to ask you to trust me. Please." Lani looked up into his eyes and saw in his face a pleading desire. She nodded once, "If I can't do it wha-", she almost finished. Kurt looked at her sadly, she knew the answer. If she didn't pass her chances of ever seeing her friends again was very slim. Kurt watched a determined look come over her face as she turned to climb the building. He put a hand on her shoulder; she turned to see him staring blankly down at her. "A quick tip, dig your fingers into the cracks of the wall and thrust your body upward. Try it." Lani dug her fingers into the brittle brick and trust her body upward. She found that she moved up the wall fairly quickly. She was faster and felt stronger climbing this way; she had so much energy, until she reached the top. Surprisingly the manual way to climb took all energy while this one took little to none at all. She looked down, it wasn't tall but it wasn't small either.

"Jump! I'll catch you!" Kurt yelled from the bottom.

Lani gulped, suddenly she wasn't so confident, "Promise?"

"I swear on my mother's grave!" His voice called to her, begged her to jump. So…without thinking she jumped.

Chapter two:

She closed her eyes, and wished she'd thought this over. Then she landed into Kurt's arms, just like he'd sworn. She looked up into a pair of deep blue eyes through his orange racing glasses. His face hard and soft looking all at the same time, kind, caring, and loving. His face promised to never let her go, to keep her safe…"You okay?" he asked. "What?" she said. He laughed, a dark evil barky laughter,"I'll take that as an okay. Alright, and that ladies and gents is how you will perform this exercise." And as he set her down, she almost fell over. "Whoa!" She felt Kurt grab her arm and jerked her back into his arms. "Hey, you need to learn to contain balance after a scary situation. Losing your balance could be deadly." He said as he set her back down again, but this time he held on to her. She wobbled a bit before she quickly regaining her balance. And the day went on, Porkchop and Shirako, Nolo and Tork, Vert and Mark, and Taro and Karma. And after that they all switched, to gain trust between them all. So now it was time for a new lesson in crime. "Since you've developed trust with all of each other, if you ever leave your partner alone…there will be a severe punishment. I can not stress that enough." Kurt said harshly. The drivers knew he wasn't kidding nor was he bluffing. "Lani, since you were the first to trust, you can be the first with this next session.", Kurt said softly. Lani walked forward and stood beside him, he smiled warmly at her. "Lesson number three: you have to be willing to do anything to keep you and your partner alive. Lani here is our story ." He made sure to emphasize the word our to let her know she was his favorite at the moment. Then he began his and Lani's pretend crime spree, "We are stealing food and we get caught, you know they take us back to their base, question us yadda, yadda, yadda. And how cliché they tell us they're gonna kill us if you don't…" he paused for a moment. Thinking it over, there were so many things he could say, so many wrong things…Then he spoke, "cut me open and sew me back up with just sewing thread and a simple sewing needle. What do you do?"

"Cut you open and sew you back up buddy." She said.

"Good…now do it." Kurt said deviously. Then he pulled out his knife and put it in Lani's hands. Lani was horror struck, how does he expect her to do that? Kurt could see it in her eyes, she was afraid he meant it, she was afraid he was going to make her do it. He felt sorry, for her. But he had to scare her enough to make her understand to avoid situations like this. "Kurt…", she begged him. Her eyes almost welled with tears," I'm so sorry…" she sobbed and drew the knife back. The other drivers were shocked, Lani was actually gonna cut Kurt open! This is gonna kill her! You gotta stop her! , he yelled in his mind. He laughed aloud; Lani stopped and looked at him. "Lani, your trust is the strongest I've seen so far. And I don't think you want to cut me open do you?" he said softly. She shook her head slowly as if she was trying to find the strength to do so. And Lani knew she didn't have to cut him open anymore, but she trusted him. She'd follow him anywhere any how. She'd do anything he said because she knew it was for a good reason. And maybe one reason would be is because she loved him. But he didn't love her back…it was strictly survival. Kurt knew he felt something for Lani… he'd felt it before a long time ago, but that person he felt that for… The thought and the feeling itself made Kurt sick to his stomach. Why couldn't he just ignore it like all the other emotions? But, he could almost bet his life that what felt for Lani was… he even had trouble thinking the word. It hurt him so badly, to even say the one he used to feel for's name. He knew only to trust himself, he was the only person who would never let him down or even hurt him. He just knew he wanted her in his arms…all the time. After a few more practices Kurt moved on. "New chapter, Weapons 101: anything that's sharp enough to draw blood and cut deep into skin, suffocate, intoxicate, poison, knock out's, or even bashes to the skull is killer." The driver's nodded intently, they knew Kurt wouldn't hurt them, and they knew he was careful but freak accidents do happen. "Lani and Karma. I'll need you both for this exercise considering your size and speed." He gave them an sinister crooked smile. And unlike Karma who was instantly afraid, Lani thought it was the sexiest thing he's done so far (besides taking his shirt off of course.) Kurt positioned himself in front of Lani and then arranged her stance. It was quite a task, keeping his eyes and mind on Lani's face. Maybe he could let them stray to see places of her he shouldn't… No! She's too good for that and you know it you pervert! He yelled to himself in his mind. But it was so hard, she was so, so, so…inticing. But what if she wanted him to? That would be awesome, to gawk at her, all of her and for Lani to like for him to. He had to make up an excuse to look, so he pretended to think her stance was wrong and moved his hands around her to fix it. He was extremely careful not to make it noticeable or to let his hands slip into a place they weren't supposed to be. Once he found the strength to pull back he stood in front of her and smiled. She smiled back, a warm friendly smile. Once he positioned Karma he turned back to Lani, "Punch me. "he said flatly. Lani looked at him puzzled, "What?" she asked.

"Lani, this is weapons and basically defense training. Punch me."

"No. Are you out of your mind?"

"You're willing to cut me open but not punch me?"

"No, you said weapons training, and obviously I'm gonna be the one that gets stabbed."

He rolled his eyes at her,"Lani. Punch me." He commanded.

"No! I'm no-" Before she could finish Kurt had his mouth pressed against hers. He was kissing her, why? She knew she couldn't kiss him back and when he let go she couldn't not punch him in the face. She had to, no matter how badly she wanted him to. The other drivers stood in the alley completely dumbfounded. They couldn't process what they were seeing, Kurt Wylde kissing Lani Tam? Then he pulled away and Lani pulled back her arm. And Wylde saw the look on Kurt's face, they all did. All but Lani of course.

Then she brought around a punch that would've broke his jaw, until he grabbed her fist and pinned her back up against the wall behind her. He held her arms in his firm grip and wouldn't let her arms move. He had wanted her to attack him, that's why he kissed her. Kurt while other that being pleased with his reflexes was wishing he could redo the whole thing and use his tongue this time. He pulled her up off the wall and stood her straight.

Chapter three:

Lani kept looking at him, wanting so badly to kiss him again and again. Then in all the confusing talking and moving about she began to lose her balance, and consciousness! Kurt noticed before anyone else and screamed, "Lani!" Then he reached to grab her arm to hold her up. She passed out in his arms, and Kurt felt horrible. Jeez, did he have to kiss her? He obviously freaked her out even more, he told her to cut him open and jump off a building. And the hardest thing he ever asked her to do today was trust him. He cradled her in his arms and gently set her on her back and the ground. He gently began to shake her, "Lani? Lani, wake up. I'm so sorry." He began saying continuing to shake her. "Lani…?" he laid his head on her chest to check for a heartbeat. Tempting isn't it?, he purred in his mind. He swallowed his feelings and continued to listen for her heart. And he was more than happy when he heard her heart flutter in her chest. Then her eyes slowly opened, "W-what happened?" Kurt began apologizing immediately, "I'm so sorry Lani, I didn't mean to-" Her voice cut him short, "No, no. It's okay." She murmured. She felt so stupid, did she pass out because Kurt kissed her? Or because she was weak and would die soon? Kurt had made up his mind right when she passed out, "No more weapons and defense training for you today. We'll have a day for just you and me to make this up."

"What?", Lani asked in surprise. What? Was the same thing he asked himself. But he couldn't lose her, not now…not ever.

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