"This is fucking bullshit," Skidmark yelled as he paced wildly. He'd been like that since they left the Graveyard. "Those fucks knew the plan. We all had to fight together. We had no chance one on one."

"I know babe," Squealer cooed. "You played it smart. Now would you relax? How about we break out the good stuff, and we take some time to ourselves."

Grasping his shoulder lightly she led him over to the couch that sat in what used to be the office of the garage before they took it over. A few of their boys were already hanging out, watching some old show on the TV. The second Skidmark sat down however, he shot back up.

"Nah, we ain't got time for that," he began to run a hand through his hair.

"Huh, why's that?" she asked curious.

"Why? Let me tell you, how long do you think it's gonna be before that crazy cunt gets done munching on those other fuckers and heads here?"

Squealer paused for a moment thinking about it. Given the state the others were in when they left it wouldn't take all that long. Plus with the tank parked out front... "Oh shit."

"Yeah, 'oh shit'. So we got to get a move on. I say we grab what stash we have and get the fuck out of the city. We swing by New York, grab Mush and the product he was picking up, and move on. I still got buddies back in St. Louis, we can set up there."

"Sounds good babe, but like how we gonna get there? The tank's is outta gas."

Skidmark looked at her wide eyed for a moment. "What about that car downstairs. It runs right?"

"Well yeah, but it ain't done yet. I still need to add in a bunch of features. I haven't even got the flamethrower mounted."

"Bitch does it fucking drive?" asked Skidmark growling.

"It can sure," she told him, not sure where this was going.

"Then it don't need all that shit," Skidmark yelled going back to where they hid the stash.

"The fuck it doesn't. You might be fine driving around in a half finished set of wheels, but I got standards."

Skidmark grabbed a nearby wrench and threw it at her head, missing by inches. "Bitch I swear to fucking god that one of these days-"

"Hey boss," one of the boys said looking out the window.

"The fuck you want Don?"

"There's someone out there," he pointed outside.

"Who?" Skidmark asked his voice getting low.

"I don't know, can't make them out. Tall though, got a coat on so I can't see much."

The two capes paused. A quiet settled over the room. Suddenly Skidmark pushed everything off the nearby table and pushed everything onto the ground.

"Fuck!" He screamed. "Fucking bullshit...alright here's what's gonna happen. Squealer you take Ron and Don and you head downstairs and get that piece of shit started, and I don't want to hear a fucking word. I'm gonna grab the stash and follow you."

"Babe," Squealer said softly walking to him and wrapping her arms around him.

"No, I don't want to hear it. Get out of here and don't stop got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Good," with that he gave her a brief kiss before letting go and nodding to Ron and Don. Nodding at Skidmark one of them grabbed her lightly by the arm to lead her out of the main room. The garage they needed to get to was two floors down, and they needed to hurry. The lights were all out, most of them were busted a long time ago. It never bothered her before now, but with the street lights pouring in through the windows and the eerie silence in the building, Squealer had to hold back a shudder.

"This is super fucking scary," she whispered.

"Don't worry," Don told her. "We're not going to let anyone get to you."

The second he finished speaking he was pulled backwards, flying out the window, barely able to do more than let out a yell. The two Merchants stood in the hallway staring for a moment before rushing down the staircase.

As they reached the entrance for the garage, Squealer felt a force shove her forward the last few feet, causing her to fall onto the hard concrete. Behind her the door slammed shut with a resounding bang. She let out a small whimper of pain as she picked herself off the floor. Behind her she heard a shout and the sound of a gunshot followed by a sound like thunder and a deafening scream. Limping slightly she raced as fast as she could to the car. Built like a dune buggy it was made to be able to get over any terrain. Best part was that it didn't run on gas. Wrenching the door open she clamored into the driver's seat and pressed the ignition. Nothing happened.

"The fuck," she moaned. "Oh no baby, no not tonight. Please."

Trying again the car refused to start. Tears fell down her face as she wrenched open the dashboard and tried to manually start the engine. Still nothing. Suddenly the car door ripped off the frame and flew across the room. Feeling a force grab her ankles, and began to pull. Letting out a scream she tried to find anything to hold onto as she was dragged out, her nails tearing tracks into the leather seats as she was pulled out of the car and dumped onto the floor next to it. Blinking away her tears she looked at the figure standing in front of her, the old boots and ratty coat seeming clash with the sense of fear gripping her heart.

"Powers are amazing," the girl said absentmindedly. "For example I can see how things work, but never why. For instance" she made a slight hand motion and the fusion core that ran the car floated in to Squealer's sight. "I know that this is important, that this is the beating heart of this thing you built, but I don't know what it is. Can you imagine how frustrating that is? How hard it is to just not know? You on the other hand, you know everything. You don't even need to study this sort of thing. Just close your eyes and picture it all in you head. Amazing, I wonder what it's like to be able to know anything. I guess I'll know in a minute. Shame about your boyfriend. I'd love to make him pay for what he did to the docks tonight. Oh well, he can't have run far."

At that Squealer let out a cry. Of fear, pain and sorrow all wrapped up in one. Her body was suddenly forced full against the side of the car.

"Stop that," Samedi barked. "You don't have that right. You've earned this. Don't think you haven't. Normally I'd say this won't hurt, but I know it will and it's nothing less than you deserve."
Suddenly pain exploded in Squealer's head and she let out a shriek before darkness filled her vision.