AUTHOR'S NOTE
It seems a little self indulgent, I guess.
But here we are. Feels right, in a way. If that makes any sense.
Joyful Tree Friends
Buddy hated this. She felt awful when Cuddles had taken her away from Lumpy. She felt even worse when she was brought there, to that concrete cage. The floor was better than dirt, and the blankets were warm, but she couldn't sleep. The food was good, but she hadn't found the will to eat more than a bite before the sobbing crept up her throat.
She cried. She cried more than she had ever in her life. Eventually she ran out of tears. That's when Cuddles came to her cage. He found her trembling. She was holding one of her ear, rubbing it guard unlocked her cage and let Cuddles in. He crouched next to her, but she didn't meet his eyes. She was wearing that mask Lumpy made for her. Cuddles pulled it aside. She let him.
"Buddy?" He whispered, "Are you okay?"
"No." She moaned, "Where's Lumpy?"
"He'll… he'll be here soon." Cuddles hated lying to her. It never got easier, "But look, we need to talk about why you're here. You know that, uh… shit."
"What? What's wrong?" She was clearly upset now.
"No no, just, don't get upset Buddy. This is good. This is why we brought you here. Because you're gonna save everyone. You know that? You… you know how you're different, right?"
"Because I'm a girl?" Buddy looked up at him now. He could see how red her face was
"Yes. You see, Buddy, you're the only girl left. You can, you can help us. There's only men left, Buddy. We can't make any more babies without women. We'll all die eventually and if we do, there'll be nobody left. You can help us all survive. It won't be easy. In a few years, o-one of these men are going to…"
"Do what?" Her face was troubled now.
"They're going to have sex with you. Maybe a bunch of them will. It's not going to feel good. It's gonna be strange and hurt. But do you understand why they're doing it? They're trying to put a baby in your belly. If you can give birth, you can save us."
Buddy was frowning now, "I don't want to. I don't want these men touching me."
"Listen, you're going to save us all. Please. Please realize how special you are."
Buddy looked away from him. She looked to her lap. She looked back at him. She opened her arms. Cuddles leaned in and hugged her. He stroked her hair.
"I'm so sorry Bu-"
He choked. Something hit him hard. A red rush of pain seared in from his side. Buddy had stabbed him. The mask slipped onto her face again. She threw him off and ran, right past the guard.
"Hey what the fuck?!" The guard pulled up his rifle and aimed to shoot her.
"NO!" Cuddles screamed, "Stop! You can't shoot her!"
"Shut the fuck up," The guard said. He walked into the cage with cuddles and smashed him in the face with the butt of his rifle, "How the fuck did you let her get away?!"
"I…" Cuddles gagged. He spat out a piece of tooth, "Just, just look." He gestured down, "She left this behind."
The guard crouched down, "What are you-"
Cuddles ripped the knife out his side and plunged into into the guard's throat. He stabbed the guard a second, and third time. The fifth time, he stopped moving. Cuddles stood up, clutching his side. He screamed for help, and several of the nearby guards crowded to him, asking him questions, demanding answers. One smashed him in the jaw and he fell to the ground. They kept screaming at him. It didn't matter to Cuddles. If they were attacking him, then they weren't chasing Buddy.
…
They left it behind, what was left of that camp. Lumpy, Toothy and Pop all silently agreed that there was nothing there for them now. That, and the smell of corpses was going to make Toothy puke. Again.
Some silence padded their travels. Toothy hated the silence. He asked from the back of the pack,
"So uh… what the hell was that, anyway?"
Lumpy didn't turn around, "Joy mutant. It's what happens when you take too much Joy."
"O-okay." Toothy nodded. He elected to quietly shove all of that to a dark corner of his mind, "So then, where are we headed now?"
"Giggles," Lumpy said, "she's the only one who could've done this. I was hoping we could get some more information or at least something useful from these guys. But, well, that didn't happen. So now we go straight towards her."
"Hey wait," said Toothy, "Isn't uh, Giggles, you know, the worst warlord around here?"
Pop chuckled, "Ha! Yup. She's the most rotten bitch in the entire wastes. Got quite a few people following her, since she's such a ruthless killer. She's done a good job of organizing everyone though, I have to give her credit. Makes me wonder what she used to be before all this happened…"
"Doesn't matter. She's a bitch." Lumpy said.
That sentiment started another bout of silence that lasted until they reached another cavern. Lumpy recognized this one as well. He rarely went out this far but he knew the lay of the land well enough. Candles were left around in oil pots to help guide them. The path was clear enough, but Toothy was still nervous. His eyes darted from place to place. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone on a ledge. The someone looked at him underneath his fedora, sneered and pointed at him,
"L-lumpy!"
Lumpy turned around. Toothy gestured up, but whoever it was had retreated.
"What?" Lumpy asked.
Toothy stammered for a second, then spat out, "Someone was watching us! I think we should be careful…"
"We're already being careful. But yeah, I don't doubt it. We're almost out of here anyway, c'mon."
The trio, Lumpy in the lead, pushed through the narrow cracks and ledges. It was quiet, save for the shuffling of their own feet and the dripping of the walls. Light was just up ahead, but Toothy still kept his eyes on their backs. Lumpy poked his head out into the midday light… and was cracked across the face with a metal bat.
Pop heard the noise and jumped out after him, "Lumpy!"
He was knocked clean out. Two brothers were aiming revolvers at them. Sneering. Toothy stepped out behind him,
"What's going-...shit."
…
The light was dim around him, but Lumpy's head still throbbed. He instinctively reached for the pocket he kept his Joy in. He'd forgotten that there wasn't going to be any in there and quietly cursed when he realized.
He opened his eyes. He was in some grimy warehouse. A man wearing dark glasses sat on a stool across from him. Two brothers were standing beside them, each holding revolvers. One of them offered his to Lumpy.
"We're gonna play a little game, old man," that brother chuckled, "It's called Russian Roulette. You know how to play, right?"
Lumpy looked around. Toothy, Pop, and a handful of other spectators sat on a catwalk above them. The man with the black glasses held a revolver to his temple. He didn't seem to realize what was going on.
"Yeah." Lumpy said, "Let's do this."
He pushed the barrel to his head. The brother holding the gun pointed at him.
"You." He said.
Lumpy pressed the trigger. There was a click. Nothing happened.
He turned to the man with the glasses, "You."
The man pressed down on his trigger. The bullet exploded out of the chamber and slammed into the far wall. He collapsed.
Lumpy kept the gun to his head, "There. Are we done?"
The brother holding the gun looked up at the catwalk. He looked to the far end, where a strangely dressed man was standing. He had a red bucket over his head, with only one eyehole cut in it. The man shook his head slowly.
The brother aimed the gun at his own brother. He tossed a bullet at his feet, "You. Pick up the gun. Put a bullet in it. Play."
"B-but" The brother trembled.
"DO IT."
Shaking, the brother fumbled a bullet into the chamber and spun it. He used his foot to push the corpse off of the stool. Lumpy spun his chamber again. Lumpy looked the brother right in the eyes. He was swimming in fear.
The gun was pointed at Lumpy. He pulled the trigger. A click. The brother followed. Click. Lumpy pulled. Click. Back. Click. Forth. Click. Back. Click.
The bullet exploded. The brother fell dead. His brains pooled next to the last man's. He stained the floor like a dozen other men. His brother looked up to the catwalk. The man in red shook his head again.
"I-I'm sorry Lifty." The brother pushed his own kins' corpse aside. He sat down across from Lumpy, spun his chamber. Lumpy did the same. "You first."
Lumpy pressed his trigger. Click.
"Game over." The brother said. He pulled the trigger. The third bang hardly registered to Lumpy. He just saw the body slump over. He lowered his gun and looked up to where that man was standing.
"We done here?" He asked.
The man nodded.
Lumpy stood up and dropped the gun on the brother's corpse. He looked at the gun the brother was clutching. He bent down and peeled it out of his fingers. He flicked the chamber open. Five bullets clattered out, one empty casing.
"Dumbass." Lumpy spat. He left through the warehouse door. Toothy called for him as he dashed down the fire escape.
"Lumpy! Man! A-are you okay?"
Lumpy nodded, "I'm fine, don't worry."
Pop was close behind, "Pretty lucky fella you are."
"Guess so."
Behind Pop stood that man. The one in red. His eyes were glowing yellow beneath his red bucket helmet.
Lumpy narrowed his eyes at him, "The fuck do you want?"
The man extended a gloved, tape-wrapped hand. His poncho shifted to the side to show he had two revolvers strapped to his side.
"So," Lumpy said, "You gonna shoot me?"
The man shook his head.
"You gonna shoot people for me?"
The man nodded.
