Chapter 12: Someone Reaching Back For Me
Feels like I'm moving out all over again. Daphne thought as she looked over about three small cardboard boxes sitting at the bottom of the farmhouse staircase, the words "ACE'S STUFF" scrawled in black permanent marker on one of them, while the other two bore the label of "FAMILY STUFF".
"That should be everything." Ace said as she descended the stairs, Casey still clutched firmly in her hands.
"Are you sure?" Daphne asked, only to be answered by a quick nod.
"Well, if you're sure, then let's take this back to the bus."
"Thorn, I've been thinking about something ever since that little girl joined us." Dusk said.
"I'm listening."
"Judging from how old she looks, I think this post-bomb wasteland is all she's ever known. And if that's the case-"
Dusk began to choke up.
"I think we failed."
"Failed at what?"
"Remember that one line from "Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air"? Y'know- 'it's one big Earth we must share'?"
Just then, something clicked in Thorn's head.
"You mean-"
"We could've stopped this! If only we'd had a bit more sway with the public, we could've- okay, we probably couldn't have stopped the Ruskies from launching Coldbringer, but we could've stopped the big one! We could've stopped them-"
Dusk crumbled onto a heap on the floor.
"YOU ****ING MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT ALL UP OVER A ****ING CHUNK OF ROCK OFF THE COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA!"
Just then, Phantasma phased through the door leading from the bunk area, with Tanis right behind her.
"What's going on?" they worriedly asked in unison.
Thorn sharply exhaled.
"Quick question- how much do you two know about the reasons why the world's so messed up now?"
The two former Grimwood students were silent, prompting a sigh from Thorn.
"Well, it all started with a Communist uprising on a little South American island called Corto Maltese…"
"Okay- the first thing we're going to do when we get the chance is get you a bath!" Daphne said as she caught a whiff of Ace.
"Reah- a rath!" Scooby added, desperately trying to cover his nose with his paws.
"But didn't you-" Ace began.
"Doesn't change the fact that both your clothes and the rest of you reek to high heaven and low hell!" a nearby Velma interjected.
"And speaking of clothes, the second thing we're going to do when we get the chance is get you an outfit that hasn't been partially used as firelighter!"
Just then, a hand shot up.
"Yes, Shaggy?"
"Like, Sibella and I've been poking around the barn and we found an old tin bathtub-"
Daphne's eyes lit up.
Looks like an opportunity just dropped into our lap.
Several minutes later
"You and I, in a little toy shop, buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got. Set them free at the break of dawn, 'till one by one, they were gone…" Daphne quietly sang as she ran her fingers through Ace's now-sudsy hair, bottles of homemade shampoo and bubble bath sitting alongside the tub.
"You don't need to sing such a sad song." Ace piped up.
"What'd you like me to sing, then?"
The little girl perked up.
"Well, here's something my dad taught me. Said he learned before the bombs, in someplace called Pennsylvania."
She cleared her throat.
"Some people say a man is made outta mud. A poor man's made outta muscle and blood. Muscle and blood and skin and bones- a mind that's weak and a back that's strong!"
Daphne caught on almost immediately.
"You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt! Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go- I owe my soul to the company store!" the two sang in unison.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Dusk's lamentation and Thorn's explanation of what led to the nuclear apocalypse (namely the mentions of Corto Maltese and Coldbringer) are references to The Dark Knight Returns. Also, this should go without saying, but a more complete explanation of those events will be provided later on in this fic.
