AN: HEY PEOPLE! yes im updating on friday :o! not only because today is the 8th and this is chapter 8, but also because... ITS ERIC'S (aka: Street Mime) BIRTHDAY! happy birthday man, this is for you! :D
I blinked my eyes open and could feel my body searing with pain. I groaned inwardly as I rolled over onto my stomach before clambering to my feet. I looked around as vivid memories of the fire fight continuously flashed through my mind; I could see Jet, Kobra, C.C., Street, and Ghoul sprawled out on the desert floor, unconscious, just like I had been. I gently nudged C.C. on her right arm with the tip of my boot clad foot; she stirred slightly, but did not fully awaken. At least she was alive.
I slowly walked towards the others and repeated the same actions, thankfully discovering they as well were alright. Then I realized something: Poison and Missile were missing. I became frantic as flashbacks of finding my beloved sister dead grabbed a hold of my mind. "POISON! MISSILE!" I called, hoping that they would be ok, that they would be alive. "Over here…" I heard Poison call, his voice quiet and strained.
I rushed over to him and saw that he was lying on his back, his chest rising and falling slowly; it would have been easy to mistake him for dead. I dropped to my knees by his side, noticing his cheeks were tear stained. "They took her…" Poison whispered, as if to himself. "Who?" I asked as I wiped away some tears from his face. "Missile…" he replied, but this only caused more tears to flow. "They took her!" he said again, though this time exclaiming it.
I picked him up off the ground so he was sitting up before pulling him into, what seemed to be, a much-needed and comforting hug. When we pulled apart I had tears spilling from my eyes as well. "We'll get her back." I whispered to him, though it sounded more like a vow. He nodded as he wiped more tears away before slowly rising to his feet. I looked towards Poison's face; his usually happy, joy-filled eyes were empty.
"Are you injured?" I asked, wondering why he looked so…down. "No, nothing serious. Just kinda sore. I'm just pissed at myself. I watched as they took her. She looked so scared, and when she looked at me with that fearful expression, I felt like shit.
"And then there's what Korse said. His words… They just keep haunting me." Poison said, tears falling again. I wiped majority of his tears away before asking him what Korse said. "'Keep running.' But the way he said it, like he was mocking us. And I can't stop thinking about it!" he continued, clenching his fists in anger.
"But every time I think about what he said, I think about, about Missile!" he exclaimed, breaking down. I patted his back comfortingly while whispering to him that we would find her and kill Korse for what he's done. He perked up a bit and smiled though tears still dripped from his eyes. I led him towards the others and found Ghoul and C.C. sitting close together, chatting away, as though nothing had happened.
We walked towards them and they looked up, surprised. "Where's Missile?" Ghoul asked, his look becoming more and more worried as we approached. I walked over to Ghoul's side and bent down before whispering in his ear what happened. "Korse. He took Missile. Poison is really broken up about it so…try not to mention it to him." I stood back up and went back over to Poison; he looked more stable now. Ghoul whispered into C.C's ear before they both stood and walked over to us.
I turned and saw the others beginning to come to and walked over to each of them, whispering what happened to Missile. We all walked back to the car after packing up our things and squeezed inside. Street decided to drive since Poison was in no condition to, and asked where we were going. I was about to answer, when the car radio started to yell at us with static. Before we could question, Dr. D's smooth voice filled the car, "Alright children, the dracs are exterminated over here thanks to reinforcement. Just thought we should let you know that we're still alive way out in Zone 4." The transmission ended and we were left listening to static.
"Maybe we should go back to Dr. Death's place…" Street suggested. Poison's head shot up and he shook it fiercely in protest. "What about Missile?" he asked, his voice trembling from sadness or anger, I couldn't tell which. "We don't have a chance if we go right now. We should rest a little at Dr. D's first, then we can get Missile back." Street replied.
Poison gave an exasperated sigh before, unwillingly, nodding his head in defeat. Street took that as our cue to leave, so we tore off down the 'path' back to Dr. Deathdefying.
(Later That Day)
The ride back was long, boring, and silent; except for a whimper from Poison every now and then. He was really beating himself up for what happened to Missile. I sympathized for them both: Poison because he believed what happened was all his fault; Missile because she was captured. She must feel so alone, so scared… Why did Korse have to take her? Why not me or any of the others? What would Korse even want with an innocent little girl who- oh.
Missile had the BOOM box. I quickly snapped my head around in search of the box, scanning the whole car. It was gone. "Fuck!" I exclaimed, causing the veil of silence that covered the vehicle to crumble.
Everyone looked over at me, even Street peered back through the rear-view mirror. "They took something else." I explained. They all began to look confused or trying to think of what else was taken. Many of them shrugged and I didn't wait for the rest, "The BOOM box. Missile had it with her in the beginning of the battle. Now they have her, and the box." I concluded.
Poison, who was seated beside me, tensed up, then began trembling. I looked over at him, expecting him to be crying once again, but I wasn't even close. No, he was seething with anger. If I could read his mind right now, I'm sure it would be full of curse words and the occasional 'They're going to pay!' or other revengeful thoughts. I placed my hand on his shoulder cautiously, half expecting him to lash out, but he seemed to relax a tiny bit.
Street pulled up in front of Dr. D's place just as Poison managed to calm down. Before we were all out of the car, Show Pony skated over to us. He threw his arms around Ghoul, taking the shorter man by surprise. "Oh, thank God you're ok!" he exclaimed, giving Ghoul one more squeeze before letting go. I snorted, "Thank God we're ok? What about you guys!" I replied, walking over to Pony and hugging him.
I pulled back and noticed Pony's brow was furrowed. "Pony, what's wrong?" "Where's Missile Kid?" he asked, ignoring my question. I whispered to C.C. to fill him in; she nodded once while walking over to Pony and pulling him to the side, explaining what happened since we left here. I watched his face contort from an expression of worry to one of shock and fear; I knew just how he felt.
"When are we going?" he asked once C.C. had concluded. "Going where?" I asked. I instantly kicked myself for asking such a stupid question. "Battery City. When are we going?" Pony repeated. I looked around at the others for an answer, but I never received one. I sighed, "I don't know yet. But soon- very soon. Missile is counting on us. I sure as hell wont let her down." I answered.
Everyone seemed content with this answer. "Alright then! Let's go inside; I need Dr. D about everything." Pony said while skating towards the door, we all followed. Once inside, I noticed Street Mime wasn't with us. 'Aww, fuck! Where the hell did he go?' I thought. I walked outside and right away found Street: he was underneath the car.
I smirked as I walked towards him and heard him whistling. I recognized the tune immediately: Helena by My Chemical Romance. It used to be one of my favorite songs. I looked up towards the sky and smiled: the weather in Zone 4 was so unpredictable; I loved it. It reminded me of sudden storms that used to happen before all of this. I blew a kiss to the methane skies before gently kicking Street's foot.
He must not have noticed I was there because I could tell he jumped- and hit his head. There was the sound of metal clanging and a loud curse. He came out from beneath the car, clutching his head. I saw a small trickle of blood begin to run down his face and instantly apologized- a million times. "It's alright." Street said reassuringly, although I know it was just to get me to stop.
I shook my head and ran to the passenger door of the car, tearing it open before raiding the glove box in search of the first aid kit. I pulled out some rubbing alcohol I've saved throughout the years and a some-what clean rag, preparing them before dabbing his forehead. He bit down on his lower lip, causing blood to be drawn, to keep from calling out in pain. Once I finished, he breathed a shaky sigh of relief.
"Thanks…" he muttered, breaking the silence that has formed. "Any time. By the way, what were you doing under the car?" I asked curiously. "Oh, I'm gonna kinda upgrade it. It'll be quite useful for when we go get Missile back." I nodded. "By the way, why did you come out here? Not to sound rude or anything." I thought about it for a minute and couldn't remember. I shrugged and he looked at me oddly before shaking his head. I looked up towards the sky again and instantly remembered why I had bothered Street.
"I just thought I would come tell you about those clouds. Looks like we may be getting some acid rain." He winced when I said 'acid rain' and I almost did too: ever since those bombs went off, not only did it wipe out everything, the pollution and radiation permanently changed the weather and even the soil in some places. Street sighed before nodding and began packing up the tools that were strewn out on the ground. I turned to walk back inside, but soon found Street and myself running when thunder and lightening began.
We arrived in the living room and found absolutely no one there; they must have went to their rooms. I thought about going to my room for rest too, but quickly scratched that idea: there was no way I could go to sleep after everything that happened today. I plopped down on the couch and noticed I was humming the same song Street was whistling. He seemed to notice and sat down beside me; whistling all the while. I smiled at him and he smiled back; I gasped.
He turned to see what I was seeing, but there was nothing in site. "What's wrong?" he asked, reaching towards me. I scrambled backwards to the other side of the couch while Street kept staring at me, obviously quite confused. "Your, your, your teeth!" I stuttered. He looked quite confused for only a split second before he relaxed from realization.
"Oh… Yeah, I got my teeth filed like this before the bombs went off." I slowly nodded and relaxed as well- I felt incredibly stupid for making suck a big deal out of this.
I let out a big sigh and took this time to think. I thought about my way of life, about everything that's changed. I know it's not something you would think about out of nowhere, but I doubt that I would ever get a chance to think like this again. Why had I chosen this way of life? I could be just like the people in Battery City.
But I'm glad I chose this way of life. I'm free to do whatever I want, I just have to stay alive. But if I did live in Battery City, I wouldn't have to kill innocent, hypnotized people, to sleep on the hard desert floor, to starve every so often because supplies were low. I could- "it's ok to think about a different reality." Street said suddenly. I looked up at him, shocked.
He continued: "But it's a good thing you chose this life. If not, you would be a mindless slave controlled by the worst company in the whole world. If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything." I thought about his words and the truth within them. I nodded and felt a small smile creep across my face. Besides, if I hadn't chosen this life, I wouldn't have met Poison, or any of my other friends.
"Well, I guess we should get some rest for tomorrow." Street said, stretching in the process. I nodded in agreement before heading for the room I stayed in previously. I told Street to rest well; he nodded just before shutting his bedroom door behind him. I closed the door and climbed into my bed, thankful sleep came easier than I had expected. Tomorrow was going to be exhausting.