Take No Prisoners

We set off early the next morning, Angel still making very little conversation. Before she woke I had cleaned the whole outside of the car to reveal a gorgeous bright green paint that matched Angel's hair. This car was going to stick out like a sore thumb in the dirty desert, well, Angel's hair did too and it had got us into the occasional scrape when a Drac noticed the slight flash of unnatural green, but we could handle that. A bright green car on the other hand, now that could be a problem.

When Angel woke she packed up her stuff and began cleaning the inside of the car. I took this as a sign to leave so loaded our guns then as soon as Angel started the engine we could leave. We were not like the normal rebels; we prefer not to use the unreliable ray guns that everyone sports nowadays. Nor do we customise the guns we have, we take care of our weapons and over time we have gained quite an arsenal of quite vintage guns. Angel favours a Colt 1911 A1 and Skippy and I used to tease her that it was a pimp gun with its ivory handles. Maybe too fancy for our brutal lifestyle, but I had to admit it was a reliable gun and hundreds of times better than those stupid ray guns.

I personally liked the Taurus model 99. A brilliant white gun with black handles, but the gun I loved was the AK-47. It was reliable, especially in the dirty desert, but it is not the most accurate so when we’re trying to stay hidden and kill quickly it's not the best. It misses and it is not as light as a little handgun but I love it. I can not help it, guns are just brilliant.

Overall though, we had an arsenal of twenty guns, mostly handguns but we managed to lug around a large Bor Sniper Rifle which we rarely used and had wanted to dump on numerous occasions. But we didn't only use guns, we had our knives as well. Pocket Knives were always on hand but we had more brutal metal hiding amongst our weapons. We were like walking weapon stores, it weighed us down, but it was encouraging to feel all that extra weight. Safety, we were carrying our safety.

As I loaded the weaponry into the car, I saw Angel smile lightly. She had trained me from the timid little posh girl who could not look at a gun or knife without bursting into tears, into a master of firearms who was able to take apart almost any gun and put it back together again in a matter of seconds. That small smile made me brim with confidence, it made me feel proud. We both knew it was a risk taking me with them, but that smile proved that I was a help. I was not completely useless.

Sitting shotgun my Taurus lying on my lap and a Glock 17 in my hand, Angel started the engine, instantly sending Def Leppard music pounding through the air, and we charged out the building, crashing the doors open as we went. It was too obvious to open the doors beforehand. It was easier to scratch a little bit of paintwork than let a few Dracs take aim and risk another of us dying. Paintwork can be fixed, dying can't.

The desert outside was blank and we drove swiftly, dust flying through the air and the engine roaring loudly. To think that I actually thought we could be a little inconspicuous. We were tearing through the desert in a bright green car, engines screaming, music blaring and a huge cloud of dirt following us. We were going to get spotted instantly.

In the distance at (what I presume to be) the Oregon border a huge group of Dracs stood. Their masks shone in the gloomy desert and I heard Angel complain next to me.

"If they even get a tiny scratch on this paintwork I will fucking kill them twice." She hissed.

Spinning the car sharply, Angel nodded at me and as we turned I kicked open the door and rolled out. Kneeling out of the way of the car I pocketed my Taurus and waited for Angel to stop the car and join me. A few seconds later Angel was at my side, a Colt Trooper clasped in her hands and in bulging in her pockets was her Colt 1911. Swiftly, she passed me extra ammo and we waited for the cloud of dirt she had caused to fly up to settle. We were not going to shoot blind, we were not that stupid.

The dust thinned and a sudden fire of ray beams headed our way. Another problem with the ray guns; their 'bullets' were so bloody noticeable. Good for us, they were easy to dodge, but it added to the list of bad points about those pieces of junk.

Firing back, my first bullet struck an advancing Drac straight in the chest and knocking him to the ground. His finger must have still been on the trigger as he sent a ray beam straight into the Drac next to him. Two birds, one stone.

"Good hit." Angel complimented and I noticed she had yet to make a single shot. Her eyes were not on the Dracs, she was staring a little to my left. I did not take my eyes off the Dracs and carried on shooting. The roaring of an engine overpowered the eruption of noise from the guns firing and more dirt went flying through the air as a motorbike powered past us.

Before I could realise what was happening, a powerful looking red head was stood at my side. She held a bright yellow ray gun in her small hands. This girl was on our side, but something about her instantly made me distrust her. She looked rough despite her femininity, and her eyes were lacking emotion. In fact she was lacking any emotion besides distaste. Her deep red lips were set in a straight line and her body stance was solid. I could see the faint outlines of muscles in her arms, and she was very skinny, more so than Angel and I. Angel and I were skinny from the lack of eating we did, this girl looked slender from working out but I knew that the food shortage probably helped her figure.

When Angel did not talk I quickly snapped out a question. "Who the hell are you?" I demanded. I was aiming to sound tough but the slight smirk that graced the girls face told me I sounded typically British and posh. I never can pull of this 'tough' thing.

"My name is Sunshine Suicide. I could ask you the same question." Sunshine Suicide retorted.

I was a nervous about saying our names, but they were our cover names. Nicknames in a way, so I could tell her them. "I'm Dusty Sunset Voltage and this-" I pointed to Angel who was now fixated on the dust cloud, her gun poised for fighting. "Is Angel of Anarchy."

Angel did not say anything and we stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity, but I knew it was only a few seconds.

"Party's over." Angel growled, her eyes once again emotionless and I had to read her feelings from her voice. I could not tell if she was referring to Sunshine Suicide and I's introductions or if she was addressing the Dracs.

A laugh escaped from Sunshine Suicide and I stared at her. Was she stupid or something? Laughing was much more audible than talking, did she want to get shot?

"This is childs play. There's three of us. Thirty of them, that's ten each." Sunshine Suicide explained to us, "You can trust me on this one."

Angel nodded and we returned to our fighting positions, Sunshine slightly in front of us. Angel pulled me towards her slightly and whispered in my ear. "I don't trust her one fucking bit. If she even makes one mistake I am shooting her."

I swallowed, scared. Everyone who knew Angel knew of her violent streak, but to kill a normal human rebel, especially one who was helping us, was not like her. Maybe it was just the helping part which made her so brutal suddenly. I do not have a clue and now is not the time to find out.

The dust began to settle and Sunshine began shooting, sending beams of light bullets into the Dracs. She missed often and did not relax enough, but she was hitting enough. Angel winked at me and we both aimed. Breathing slowly, I let the Glock move freely in my hands. I performed best when even my weapon was calm and steady. Targeting ten Dracs I began firing, hitting each one swiftly. I knew that Angel too would be killing her targeted amount just as fast, if not faster. Angel had more training, but she only had eight rounds before having to reload so instead of reloading, I would shoot the two extra for her.

Dracs fell to the ground and in less than two minutes the entire Drac hoard was lying on the floor, twenty four of them bleeding, eleven simply lying dead.

"Easy," Angel commented, standing up and reloading her Colt. Angel's gun held only eight rounds, I had seventeen in my Glock. Sunshine's stupid ray gun probably held god knows how many. Those things were probably solar powered or something, Dracs never reload. But then again, they had never been around Angel and I long enough for them too. We killed them quickly...or they killed one of us...

The sharp click of a gun being cocked threw Skippy from my mind and I turned to see Angel pointing her gun at Sunshine Suicide.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shouted, about to rush between them.

Sunshine's gun was suddenly pointed at me.

"Oh, come on!" I groaned, not resorting to pulling out my gun. Angel was not going to back down any time soon and it was easy to tell Sunshine was not going to either. "Stop being so childish and put your guns away!"

"We're not being childish." Angel answered back sharply, a malicious smile on her face, "Children shouldn't play with guns."

"Then what are doing with one? What are you, three?" Sunshine replied with a hiss.

Angel laughed, "I think my bust says otherwise, but yours certainly suggests that age."

"Nice, resorting to the clevage remarks already. Could you both stop this behaviour!" I yelled, beginning to get really angry but unable to do anything with a gun pointed at my head.

"I didn't say anything about your absence of tits." Sunshine smirked.

Not really thinking, my left leg swung up and knocked Sunshine's ray gun from her hands and sending it to the floor a metre away from her. Before she could even respond I pulled out my Glock and shot at the gun, sending it flying into a bush and out of reach.

"Bitch!" Sunshine moaned in complaint, staring longingly at the bush that her gun disappeared under.

This time I managed to keep my legs under control.

"Where did you come from?" Angel asked, stepping closer to Sunshine and completely blocking her from diving for the bush to retrieve her gun.

"Canada." Sunshine Suicide replied grumpily.

"Where you heading?"

"California."

"Zone?"

"Battery City."

"How many of you."

"Just me."

"Solo. Risky. How long have you been travelling?"

"Almost two months now."

A beam was put on both Angel and I's faces. We were the experts then, we had been travelling for three months in America alone and another month in Britain and travelling across the Atlantic Ocean. Sunshine noticed our perkiness.

"How long have you amateurs been travelling then?" She questioned.

"Almost five months give or take a week." I replied even though the question was aimed at Angel. Sunshine Suicide glared at me and I smiled stupidly then sat on the floor, twirling my Glock around my finger. From the corner of my eye, I swear I saw Sunshine look extremely nervous for a split second. Not many people are brave enough to swing a gun round like I do. It wouldn't go off but the idiots who sported ray guns were totally clueless about real guns so they were terrified.

"Dusty, stop swinging your gun around. It might go off again." Angel sighed, playing along with me as we began to play a mind game with Sunshine.

"Sure." I responded, pocketing my gun and pulling out a Butterfly Knife. This, I could really have fun with. I flung this thing almost carelessly, I knew how to work this knife well. Better than guns even, and this was definitely more scary to be flinging round.

Angel winked at me and began the onslaught of questions again.

"Age?"

"24."

"Proper name?"

"Is it necessary?"

"Not really. Where did you get the bike?"

"Found it. Where did you get the car?"

"Found it. And I'm asking the questions here. What are you attempting to accomplish? Not much use in a solo fighter going to Battery City."

Sunshine Suicide started at Angel as if she had grown another head. "You aren't going with the killjoys? To join up and fight?"

"What the fuck is a 'killjoy'?" Angel replied with a small giggle, "They make everyone unhappy? Rain on people's parade?"

Sunshine blinked at us, she obviously thought we were uneducated. "Killjoys are rebel fighters against Better Living Industries. Hundreds are gathering to take on the home base and put an end to this hell. You have to be kidding me! You're both completely clueless!"

Angel lowered her gun and I stopped twirling my blade. Our eyes met for a moment, silent communication. She knew more about this than us and we could train her to be an alright fighter, if not a good one. Pick a couple more of these 'killjoys' on the way and we could have quite a strong team. Strike before this home base do when B.L.ind are unprepared and we could end everything. I nodded, it was worth the small risk.

"Get your gun, you're coming with us." Angel demanded.

Sunshine looked suspicious for a second but as we both threw our weapons into the car she looked more reassured. Reaching under the bush she grabbed her gun and brushed it down.

"Am I riding with you?" She asked, staring at her bike. Like Angel, she was attached to her transport.

"Fuck no. Take your crappy thing." Angel replied as she got in the car. I opened the passenger door to join her but she held up her hand to stop me. "Not you either. You're riding with Sunshine."

"Fuck you, Angel." I groaned angrily, grabbing Sunshine's rucksack off the back of her bike and throwing into the backseat of Angel's car.

Sunshine glared at Angel, her eyes actually showing some emotion. "Yeah, fuck you."

"No thanks, darlings." Angel winked happily and started the engine. "I don't bend that way."

She set off, leaving a trail of dust behind.

"You better not be a screamer." Sunshine sulked, scootching forwards to let me sit on the back.

"Are you on about sex or on the bike?" I replied with a laugh, climbing onto the motorbike.

"Shut up." Sunshine laughed; not sounded as hateful as I thought she would be. Maybe, just maybe, we would be able to get on and even more unlikely, she and I could be friends. Beneath that hard bitch outer she wore, Sunshine could be a nice person. Take the 'Suicide' from her name and she sounds cheery already.