Jenny-"Storytime! Storytime! So, what happens in the latest edition of your story?"
Kelly-"Geez, you wrote it with me, you should know."
Jenny-"Ohyeah."
Kelly-"Sighhh, you're pathetic."
Southwest, 30 iles from December
"Got anymore water in there, Sight?" asked Psych dryly, shielding her eyes against the
blazing sun overhead, "It's hotter than hell out here."
"That's why they call it a desert," replied Sight, draining a canteen, "And to answer
your question, no, I drank the last." She tossed the empty canteen into a nearby sand dune.
Psych fanned herself with her hat as the two trudged through the sand, "How much
further to Mei City?"
"Am I a compass? You're the one with all the scopes and shit," said Sight irritably,
"And what the hell are you complaining about anyways? Maybe you wouldn't be so goddamn hot if you put that cancer stick of yours out."
"Now Sight, you and I both know that ain't going to happen," smiled Psych, "It'd be the
same if you had a jug of whiskey on ya."
Sight licked her dry lips, "Heh, that'd hit the spot, wouldn't it?"
"Whatever you say."
"What's that up ahead?" asked Sight, stopping and pointing towards the horizon.
Psych popped down a scope from her hat that was also equipped with binoculars, "Well, whadaya know. It's a damn bus!"
Both women started to jump around, madly waving their arms. "Hey! Come here, you
stupid bus!" Sight yelled, and started running towards it. Psych was close behind. For about 30 seconds.
"Huff, pufff, wheeeeeeeze, ack damn. I need another cigarette," she said, out of
breath, and pulled one out.
"Honest to God. Did you ever realize that it might be because of the cigarettes that
you can't run? Or how about those six thousand pound boots?"
Psych kicked her roughly in the shins. "Look'ere. Did you ever realize that maybe the
reason you don't get any sleep is because you're always going to the bathroom, which is because of all that damn liquor you drink?"
Sight looked up at Psych and narrowed her eyes. "Leave the liquor out of this," she said, her voice dangerously low.
Psych flicked her cigarette away. "You wanna start somethin'? How about we finish what we started back in 'epril?"
"Hell ya, mother fucker! Wanna piece of this?" Sight said, spreading her hands.
The two started to rumble. Neither of them noticed the approach of the bus. Just as they drew their weapons, the bus honked loudly. They both jumped aside at the last minute, and the bus rolled to a stop. They growled back and forth at each for a few seconds until the bus driver came up to them.
"You ladies need a lift?" he asked, as they quickly concealed their weapons.
"Sure. Where ya headed?" asked Psych, actually smiling kindly.
"July," he replied.
"That's where we're headed!" Psych cried happily, ignoring the strange look that Sight gave her.
"That's not where we're headed," Sight whispered.
"So? This bus is ours for the takin'."
"I see," Sight replied.
"That'll be $$100, each," interrupted the driver, palms out expectantly, "I ain't giving you a free ride."
Sight reached into her bag and pulled out the money. "Here ya go. Thanks for stopping."
"That was so cheesy," Psych commented as they climbed onto the bus.
"So?"
They sat down near the back, and the first Psych did was light a 'grit.
A lady turned around and sniffed. "Excuse me, would you mind not smoking? It bothers
me."
"Really? Well, it's killing me. Would you mind not speaking? Thanks," Psych said, blowing smoke into the woman's face.
Sight hid her face in her hands. "I can't take you anywhere. Let's at least try not to draw attention to ourselves, for once."
"Excuse me?" said a high-pitched voice nervously.
Psych growled. "What now?" She exhaled angrily.
"Um, I don't mind that you smoke, but what you did was really rude," said a big girl with dirty blonde hair.
"Me? Rude? Nonsense. Ma'am, did I do anything rude?" Psych tapped the lady infront of them.
The woman turned back around, just in time to get a face full of smoke.
Sight glared at the woman, as if daring her to say something crazy.
"Uh, um, actually no. It wasn't rude."
"There ya go. You happy? Satisfied? No one here was rude, so just mind your own damn business," said Psych, turning back to Sight.
Suddenly, the bus came to a stop and the driver came up to Psych.
"This is a non-smoking bus. You're going to have to extinguish that cigarette, or else you're going to have to leave."
Psych stood up, towering over the driver.
"Here it comes..." said Sight, "Hurricane Psycho."
"What? I know you didn't just tell me to put out my cigarette. I'll smoke where I want, when I want, and how I want. If I wanna smoke while hijacking this bus, well, that's what I'm gonna do," Psych said, pulling her gun, "This is a stick up. Give me all your money, jewels, nicotine products, etc. etc. You know the drill."
The scared bus passengers got loud. People started screaming, kids started crying, and
the big girl pulled out a giant gun.
"Don't move! Or I'll teach you a lesson, right Meryl?"
"Right Milly! If it's one thing I can't stand most in this world, it's outlaws like you!"
"Oooh, you're scaring me," Psych said dryly, and put her cigarette out on Milly's
overalls.
"M-m-meryl..." she stammered, hiding behind her shorter friend.
"Come on Milly, don't let a bully like this scare you. What would Wolfwood and Vash
say if they saw you hiding from her?"
"Right Meryl! You there, Green-head! Stop or I'll shoot!"
Psych looked up from robbing people. "Really? Even if I kill this lady right here?" she said, looking at the lady that first started all this.
"Yes!"
"All right, now you're talking, Milly!"
"Let's test that, shall we?" Psych said, and shot into the air. The bullet ricocheted
off of the ceiling and killed the woman instantly. Milly fired her gun and blew Psych out of the bus windshield. She rolled in the sand a few times before finally coming to a halt. "Ouch," she said while lighting a cigarette. Meanwhile, Sight was laughing her ass off.
"You think that's funny?" sobbed Milly, kneeling next to the dead woman, tears streaming down her face.
"Heeeell yes! I can't believe she actually did it!"
"How could you? How could you say something like that? Have you no feelings at all?"
"Not really, no. I guess I have to start where my friend left off," Sight said, and
shot the bus driver, who also died. "I can't believe that idiot got blown out the freakin'
window!"
"Who're you calling an idiot? I landed on a damn cactus. That shit hurt!" Psych said
climbing back into the bus while brushing herself off. She looked down at the dead bus driver, "Heh, good work. That's some good shootin'."
Sight bowed, "Thank you, I'll be here all week."
"Well, big girl, looks like you and me have a score to settle now. I don't have many enemies, most of them are dead, but the few I do have I like to watch die, nice and slow," said Psych, looking at Milly
"Please," said Milly, looking scared, "I'm sorry. Don't hurt anymore people."
Psych aimed her gun towards the ceiling again, "You mean that person? Or that person?
Or that old man?" Every time she named a person, a bullet ended their life.
"Please stop," cried Meryl, running forward towards Psych. Before she could reach
Psych to try anything, Sight's gun tripped her, knocking her onto the bus floor.
"Now, that's enough mindless violence for one day," said Psych, putting her weapon
away, "Everyone offa this damn bus now, and take these miserable corpses with you." She sat down and started smoking as the people filed sadly off the bloodstained bus. She put her leg out as Milly and Meryl walked by. "Oh, I'm sorry, I meant everyone but you two. We're taking you both as hostages. If you give me any trouble, killing a few others would be nothin' for me."
When everyone else was off, Sight closed the door and jumped into the driver's seat.
"Where we going?"
Psych looked up, "I dunno."
"Well, I thought we were headed for Mei City," replied Sight, leaning on the steering wheel.
"Just go anywhere but here!"
"Fine, fine. Geez, touchy touchy," muttered Sight, putting the bus into drive, "Hey losers!" she called out the window, "Have fun dying!"
"That was just wrong," laughed Psych. She stopped to pull a piece of glass from her mouth and she noticed that her lip was bleeding. "Damn, my lip is split."
Milly and Meryl sat near the back, bound and gagged, their eyes as wide as saucers.
"Hey, chubs!" called Sight, taking her eyes off the road...sand, "You mentioned a
Wolfwood before. That name seems sort of familiar to me."
"Yeah, now that you mention it," Psych scratched her chin thoughtfully, "That, uh, priest, that's it. He was called Wolfwood."
"Hehe," chuckled Sight, "You took his cigarette."
"It was a shitty brand too," remarked Psych, "GPC: generic pieces of crap."
Meryl somehow managed to twist her mouth free of the gag, "I don't see how you two can laugh. People are dead! You both are horrible, vicious monsters!"
"She's observant," said Sight, "And really smart mouthed. Don't you know when to
SHUT UP!"
Psych pulled her hat over her face and propped her feet up, "Quiet. You're both givin'
me a damn headache. Wake me up when you want me to take over Sight."
"Sure thing," Sight replied, taking one last glance at her friend in the mirror, "You might wanna put that thing out before you take your little nap. I don't really feel like burnin' alive in a stuffy bus just so you could get your daily intake of nicotine."
Psych's mouth curved into a smile, "G'night, Klepto. Hehehe."
"Don't call me that!" whined Sight.
Outside, the hot desert day turned into a cool desert night. The hostages somehow
managed to fall asleep; their soft snores could be heard above the rattling bus. Psych was now driving, her partner getting some much-needed shuteye. She glanced back and smiled. Her friend rarely slept so peacefully. Either it was overdrinking to the point of insomnia, or it was the nightmares that kept her awake throughout the night. Psych could recall many occasions where she'd wake up and find Sight sitting up in her bed, fully awake. She never really said anything about the problems though, unless they were in a heated argument, which was pretty rare. The last time they had really quarreled was in Inepril City. That fight actually had led to bloodshed. Deep down, Psych truly regretted that fight. She never meant for it to go so far.
"Where'd you meet Wolfwood?" asked a quiet voice from the back of the bus.
"So, you're finally awake," said Psych, not even blinking.
"You didn't hurt him, did you?" the voice asked, sounding afraid.
"No, it ain't our style to kill men of the cloth, Milly, was it?"
"Yes," she replied, her voice sad, "Why'd you have to kill them? What did they do to
you? They all had families of their own somewhere on this planet, people that they loved and cared for. I don't understand..."
"It's a tough world. Some people have had a tougher time than most. It's time for
others to suffer. To have to feel pain and sorrow," said Psych coldly, "Someone like you wouldn't understand that though."
There was a five-minute silence. Milly waited for Psych to continue, but it seemed that the conversation was already over.
"A-are you going to kill us?" asked Milly a few minutes later.
Psych didn't reply. She took a drag of her cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly,
watching it swirl around her.
Milly waited patiently for an answer, but never received one. She nodded back to sleep,
dreaming of a future that she hoped to see one day.
end part 2