Take No Prisoners

Dusty Sunset Voltage

The sun burned down on my back as I pulled my faded denim jacket from off my sweating body.

"You'll want to keep that on," Angel advised, her lips barely moving. "Overheating is better than dealing with sunburn."

Knowing that Angels knowledge was much greater than mine I quickly put my jacket back on. As I pulled the jacket back on, the cold metal of my new gun brushed against my fair, boiling skin. Grabbing my glock, I held it against my head sighing at the instant cool.

"You're an idiot." Angel said with a slight laugh in her voice.

"I am overheating." I replied with a giggle.

Angel shook her head and nudged me with her elbow gently. I had not seen her so relaxed for ages and it was somewhat surprising. Skippy's death had had such a dramatic effect on both of us, I had not expected her to become more 'normal' that swiftly, and even though I had never been a strongly religious person, every night I would sneak from where Angel and I rested to pray to the night sky. I never prayed for anything realistic, only for Skippy to return, but she has gone now and there is nothing I can do to alter the past. What happened, happened and I am just going to have to deal with it the best way I can.

"Thinking of Skippy?" Angel asked, her voice caring.

I nodded slowly, my eyes tearing.

Angel smiled softly, "We're going to take down B.L.I. We'll avenge Skippy's death, you know we will."

"I know." I replied quietly. Even untrained ears could hear that my voice withheld a secret more that I was not speaking, but it was ignored.

On the horizon a dark building loomed, it's almost black walls looking alien in this sun burnt world. I glanced at Angel quizzically and when she drew her gun I knew that she was worried by this building as much as I. Holding my gun cautiously, I followed Angel. Angel always faced the danger head on, I was lookout, I kept her safe.

We walked swiftly and within minutes we reached the threatening building.

"I'll barge down the front door, you take a back window." Angel demanded quietly as we hid in the blind spot of a window.

"Upstairs?" I questioned.

"As high as you can get." Angel replied before rolling over to the front door.

Raising from my sitting position, I crouched low and ran quickly to the back of the house. A tall, aged drainpipe reached the roof. A perfect way in. I tested its strength then began climbing up it like a monkey on a tree. Before I was sent to boarding school, I spent most of my time up the many trees that surrounded my home. The grounds were huge, as were the trees, so there was always a new one to find and a new challenge to defeat, I was a 'monkey' from a young age.

The drainpipe swayed under my weight, it was obviously weak and dangerous. Angel and I had not had a decent meal for almost a month now, we were merely snacking when we had the chance. Food was in short supply and we were fast become skin and bone, but my fragile figure did not stunt me when it came to overcoming the slight obstacle. I climbed it easily, then wrapped my legs around the pipe tightly and clinged to the slight overhang of the roof to keep myself balance, before smashing the window with my elbow.

No noise came from within the building. No shouts of violence, no screams of terror. Just silence.

Swinging through the window, I landed in the dark upper room and pulled a torch from my rucksack. Despite it being the sunniest day I had ever witnessed, the house remained pitch black except from the small patch of light on the floor cast through the smashed window. The rest were too dirty or boarded over to pass any light through, so using my initiative, I held my torch above my gun and searched for a light switch or hidden enemy.
I found the light switch, the object I would have preferred to find. I switched it on and watched as the whole building came alight. The top floor I could see was completely abandoned and from the lack of gunshots from downstairs, Angel had not found anyone either.

"Hey, Dusty. Help me with this!" Angels voice rang through the building.

Curious, I hurried downstairs and saw Angel trying to heave a heavy tarpaulin off a large, seemingly metallic, object.

"What do you think it is?" I questioned, completely clueless of what the mysterious item could be.

She smirked at me as we grabbed hold of the sheet.

"I'm not certain, but I sure as hell hope it's a car."