ISSUE TEN
The Ultimate Sacrifice
"Apple pies are very nice, when you eat them with cold ice! You can have them everyday, 'cause they're made with MARMALAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE!" Vicky sings insanely. She hops down the stairs, having gone down multiple flights by now, she's lost track of where they are. Vicky leads the trio down, Johnny pressed next to the railing behind her and Devi pressed to the wall, the two trying to keep their distance from one another.
Devi is in deep thought. She was positive that she despised Johnny with the deepest part of her soul before, however now she isn't so sure. Splinters of her old feelings were starting to rise to the surface. She is rather confused with her conflicted emotions, and this makes her even angrier at Johnny for making her feel that way. She catches Johnny looking at her, and he quickly shifts his gaze, a few of his bangs falling down in his face. She sighs and silently curses at her attraction.
Vicky keeps up her insane façade. Vicky's not a moron; she is quite able to feel the increasing tensions between her two companions. She knows Johnny likes Devi; it's obvious from the way he goggles at her. Vicky is also able to tell there's something going on inside Devi's head, so Vicky tries to keep the situation light to make it easier for both of them. And she is hoping that if they think that she's not paying attention, they'll talk to one another. She really did think they made the cutest couple and figures Johnny wouldn't be as grumpy all the time if he finally got a girlfriend.
Johnny takes a deep breath, trying to muster himself up to saying something to Devi. He looks at Vicky who, as if on cue, picks up the pace down the stairs out of earshot. Johnny clears his throat to say something but is cut off by the anticipating Devi.
"Don't think anything is changed between us because it isn't!" She snaps, almost too quickly, trying to convince herself out loud that it's true.
Johnny looks down and nods.
"Because I still don't forgive you," She quickly adds.
Johnny nods again.
"I don't know what I was thinking, it was momentary insanity so don't think anything of it!" Devi continues babbling on. It's quite obvious she's lying to herself and doesn't even know it. "I mean, I hate you…" She pauses then mumbles under her breath. "At least I think I do…"
Johnny looks up at Devi, not quite sure how to respond.
"Devi…" He starts but is cut off by Vicky, shouting a ways down the staircase.
"Ooo! New friends!" She says. "Howdy! I don't suppose you have any coffee with you?" Johnny and Devi quickly race down to Vicky.
"HALT! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!" The leader of a large group of security rent-a-cops commands the three. Vicky raises an eyebrow at the plethora of doughnut eating pigs in front of her.
"Why? We have ID cards. There's nothing you can do…unless you're here about the elevator 'cause I can explain…" The guard simply snatches a radio from his waist and speaks into it.
"Resisting arrest, shoot on sight," He says, and puts the radio back.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! No need to be hasty!" Vicky says, putting up her hands. With amazing quickness, the legion swipes their pistols from their holsters. Devi, Johnny, and Vicky quickly exchange glances, and duck inside the door opening to whatever floor they were on as the firing opens. The three spot a large vending machine and hurriedly push in front of the door.
"BEAT THAT DOOR DOWN!" A voice commands from outside it, and loud thumps sound from the barricaded door. The trio rush down the hallway.
"What the fuck is going on?!" Devi screams over the loud thumps. Just then, the guards knock the machine over and point down the hallway.
"GET THEM!!!"
Shots fire again and they duck around a corner, running for their lives. Johnny still clutches the weapon laden duffle bag, but there are simply too many guards so retaliation is out of the question.
The three turn another corner, Vicky still in the lead. They reach a service elevator and Johnny slaps the 'down' button, hitting it repeatedly, waiting for the doors to open. A few bullets ricochet above their heads as the doors finally open and the three rush in. Some guards try to reach the elevator unsuccessfully as the doors close and the elevator jets downward.
"What the hell was that all about?" Devi pants. Johnny and Vicky shake their heads.
Surprisingly, the elevator ride down is very quick. Of course, the announcements of intruders in the building who should be executed on sight coming over loudspeakers are quite unsettling.
"Whoever is in charge must have found out we're coming," Vicky comments.
"It must have been that horrible green thing; I knew I should've killed him!" Nny says spitefully. Vicky whistles innocently.
"Screw this. Let's get out of here while we have a chance," Devi says.
"NO!" Vicky screams, her voice and eyes full of steely resolve. "I came for answers, I going to get them!" Devi opens her mouth to object but sees sane meaningfulness in Vicky's eyes, probably for the first time Devi's ever met Vicky. She looks at Johnny whose eyes also share that saneness. Devi nods, surprised at how soft she's getting.
Just then, the elevator stops. The floor gauge informs the three that they have finally made it to the basement. Johnny and Vicky quickly arm themselves with some fearsome, glistening blades. Devi stares at the other weapons in the bag but doesn't arm herself. The door opens and Johnny motions for the two girls to stay behind him. He steps out into the hallway and looks around, leaving the bag behind.
"Clear," He says and Vicky is instantly behind him, Devi a few feet away.
"So…where the hell do we go now?" Devi asks.
"Uh…well…" Nny stumbles over his words.
"We could start by walking," Vicky adds, sarcastically, taking up the lead once again. They walk a few feet before the hallway splits in three.
"Great, which way now?"
"LEFT!" Vicky trumpets and heads on without consulting anyone else. They other two shrug and follow. The hallway turns and Vicky comes to a stop.
"What now?" Devi sighs, irritated.
"LAWN GNOMES!" She cries.
"What?!"
"Lawn gnomes! Aren't they cute?" Low and behold, stretched out in front of Vicky, is a large group of motionless, knee-high, green and red bearded lawn gnomes.
"What the fuck?"
Nny hisses at them. "Evil!"
"Don't be stupid, they're so cute!" Vicky chirps and she kneels down the gnome. "Aren't y'all just the most adorable thing?!"
The gnomes' eyes start to glow.
"Um…" Devi pipes up. "Are they supposed to do that?"
Then, little gun barrels pop out of the gnomes' eyes.
"Well that can't be good," Nny comments, exchanging a look with Devi.
The gnomes start shooting lasers at Johnny, Vicky, and Devi.
"SHIT!" Vicky exclaims and falls back. "RUUUUUUUN!" And the three do just that.
"THIS IS PATHETIC! WE'RE RUNNING FROM FUCKING LAWN GNOMES!" Devi screams as the gnomes start to give chase. Soon, the three are back to the fork in the hall.
"Where now?"
"RIGHT!" Vicky cries and the three run away from the closing in gnomes. A few moments later, the three start to slow down.
"I think we lost them…" Nny pants. Vicky giggles.
"That was fun!" Devi and Nny stare at her. "What?"
"HALT!" A deep voice says. The three turn to see two very, VERY large guards dress all in black plastic armor suits, carrying rather impressive laser guns.
"Aw, fuck," Devi swears. "THAT'S IT! YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE ANYMORE DECISIONS!" She scolds Vicky.
"FIRE AT WILL!" The guard says and the two guards open fire. Vicky leaps out of the way.
"DEVI!" Nny exclaims and he pushes Devi out of the way of the shot. The two trip and Johnny falls on top of Devi. The two lie there for a moment, staring at each other. It's at that moment that all detest in Devi for Johnny melts away. Johnny gets uncomfortable and gets up, helping Devi up after him.
Vicky, meanwhile, is making short work of the two guards with her knives, apparently enjoying herself.
"Um, Vicky?" Devi says; Vicky ignores her. "Vicky?! VICKY!"
"WHAT!" Vicky jumps, startled.
"I think they're dead."
Vicky looks down.
"Oh," She grins, sweetly. She just about to start walking when she stops, a horrified look on her face. "JOHNNY! LOOK OUT!"
"Wha?" Nny starts to turn around but is too late. One of the gnomes had caught up with them and was shooting non-stop. One of the shots grazes Nny's arm. "FUCK!"
Without thinking, Devi grabs the one of guns of the fallen guards and shoots at the gnome. It promptly blows up. Devi rushes over to Nny.
"You ok?" She asks and tears a piece of fabric from her shirt sleeve and start to wrap Johnny's wound. He's shocked at the tenderness in her touch and can't say a word.
"I don't think this is the right hallway," Vicky says.
"Why?"
"It's a dead end!" She chirps, pointing behind her. Devi sighs and Johnny takes point.
"We better get to the other hallway before more of those EVIL gnomes come," he says and start running down the hallway, Devi at heels and Vicky close behind.
They get back to the fork without incident, the gnomes appear to have dispersed, but the trio stays on their toes, just in case. Soon they come to a doorway with a button by the door instead of a door handle.
"Hm, I wonder what's in here?" Devi asks.
" 'The Boss's Lair'." Vicky says.
"How the hell do you know?" Nny asks.
"The big sign over the door," Vicky says matter of factly. Johnny and Devi look at the big fancy sign over the door.
"Oooookay…"
"Let's go kick some HONEY BUNS!!" Vicky says, enthusiastically. "Go get 'em Nny!"
"What? Why me?"
"Because you're the guy."
"So?"
"JUST GET YOUR ASS IN THERE!!!" Nny sighs and hits the button on the door. It slides open.
"What the…IT'S THE INTRUDERS!! GET 'EM!" A massive army of huge, black clad guards starts to move and chaos ensues.
"Whoops!" Vicky says. The three scream and they dive for cover as the guards rush to get their guns and attack. Johnny, Vicky, and Devi hide behind a large pile of black barrels. Devi skillfully shoots a mirror on the other side of the room which ricochets giving the illusion that they were actually elsewhere. This buys them a few minutes.
"WHOOPS?!" Nny exclaims once their under cover. "Is THAT all you have to say?!"
"Quite fighting you two!" Devi scolds.
"Well, I sure as hell don't see any boss!" Vicky says, angrily.
"He must be behind that door," Devi points to another door in the room where two guards stand unmoving.
"How do we get past them?"
"We need a plan," Johnny pipes up and grabs two cans, spacing them apart on the floor. "Ok, ok…." He says thinking. "Here's the guards and here's the door," He points to the respective cans. Devi looks over his shoulder.
"Ok…"
"Here's the guards and here's the door," Nny repeats.
"Yeah, I got that. And?"
"Well, here's the daurds and here's the goor…wait a minute…"
"We need something a bit more substantial Nny!" Devi exclaims. Vicky peers out over the barrels to make sure they hadn't been found.
"We need a distraction," She says.
"How?" Devi asks.
"I'll do it,"
"Don't be stupid, Vicky, that's suicide," Nny says absentmindedly, staring at the cans. "Ok, if we…no…"
Vicky stares at Devi and Nny crouched over the two cans like generals over their toy soldiers, fruitlessly trying to pull together a plan. She knew it was pointless.
"Nny, the only way…"
"No, forget it."
"Johnny…"
"Vicky! We're in this together!" He says, shooting Vicky a stern look before returning to his cans. Devi tries moving one of the cans but it doesn't help. Vicky sighs, seeing how something had happened between the two of them; they were starting to understand each other. Vicky sees a connection that she knows she will never be able to have with anyone. If they all try to get out together, they'll all die. Vicky knows what she has to do.
*I'll miss you Johnny.*
"Johnny?" She asks.
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry for everything," Vicky quickly grabs Devi's gun and before he realizes what's happening, Vicky cuffs him in the back of the head with the butt of the gun, just hard enough to stun him, drops the gun, and leaps over the wall of cans.
~ ~ ~
"Hey Johnny?" Vicky asked her brother thoughtfully, sitting on the roof of their large home on a big, fluffy green blanket. She leaned back from staring in the large telescope that was set up in front of her.
"Hm?" He sounded, continuing on his charcoal drawing of the dark, starry night. He itched his nose, smudging black all over it.
"Have you ever wondered what it was like to die?" She asked, gazing at the stars.
"What?" He looked up for a moment. "You're only eleven and wondering about dying?"
"Well, I mean, I was just thinking…"
"Don't hurt yourself."
Vicky shot a look at Johnny as he went back to his drawing.
"What is it like to know that you're going to die? Like those people who commit suicide. What goes through a person's head when they decide to sacrifice themselves? Do they get some eerie sense of clarity? Do they really see their life pass before their eyes?"
"I don't know."
"What if you've never really lived? You know, what if you know absolutely nothing about life? I mean, it has to be like standing over an abyss, not sure what's coming, and missing what you're leaving…" Vicky trailed off. "It must be very lonely…"
"I think you think too much."
Vicky shrugged and continued looking at the stars.
~ ~ ~
It only takes Johnny a few seconds to regain his bearings but an explosion from nowhere occurs and Johnny instinctively protects Devi from the shrapnel. Devi, realizing it was their only chance, grabs Johnny by the wrist, still in quasi-shock from what was happening, and drags him to the door. Devi shoots the guards and then leaps inside the door as it hisses closed. Johnny drops to the floor and sits for a moment, staring disbelieving into space with wide, vacant eyes.
"Vicky…" He whispers.
"Johnny?" Devi steps up behind him. The realization of what just occurred starts to dawn on him. He leaps up and starts beating on the door.
"YOU SONS OF BITCHES! I'LL HAVE ALL YOUR FUCKING HEADS!" He rants, beating the door so hard his fists start to bleed. Devi touches his shoulder, seeing tears stinging his eyes. Johnny hits the door one last time and heaves silently, feeling all strength slowly drain out of him.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't our favorite waste lock. How are we today, Johnny C?" A mocking voice sounds from behind them.