But Maybe We'll Live Forever

When Party Poison and I got back, the group was arguing about me again. The words ‘slut,’ ‘whore,’ and ‘junk punk trash skank’ were being thrown around quite a bit.

I was still seething from my confrontation with Party, so I lifted up my gun and fired a warning shot up at the ceiling. It left a burn in the cement and the noise echoed through the tunnels. Even rebels who weren’t in our group were staring at me at the moment.

“Alright,” I said, making my voice cold and, trying to imitate Party, filling my voice with authority. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You guys will stop making remarks about my drunken mistake, and I won’t shoot all your sorry asses. Sound good?”

All of their mouths fell open, even little Grace’s. They looked from me to Party Poison, waiting for him to say something. He didn’t. I smiled to myself and leaned over to him, whispering, “You can take on fifty Dracs but you can’t deal with one rebel girl with an attitude.”

He stiffened and shot me a glare. I laughed.

“I see my point’s been made,” I continued. “I have one more thing to add. Galaxy Escape will be joining us on the road; Party Poison and I had a little talk and he’s seen the light. Now before you guys pull out your guns and shoot him when he shows up, let me say that I’m willing to take him in the girls’ car.”

Now I really had their attention; they were all staring at me with a shocked expression.

“Galaxy! Come out, come out, wherever you are!” I called, letting my voice echo through the tunnels.

“This is a joke, right?” Kobra Kid said quickly as soon as he found his voice, looking at me with disdain. “Some elaborate, cruel joke?”

“Party?” Fun Ghoul asked, turning to Party Poison and looking at him. “It’s a joke… right?”

Party looked at me, then back at the group. “It’s not a joke. Galaxy Escape will be joining us. We’ve got to stick together, guys. I don’t want to hear one word about what you think of him, got it?”

I shot Party Poison a grateful smile, but he wasn’t looking at me. I knew he was probably very, very angry at me, and that later I was going to pay for it. At the moment, though, I didn’t care. Things were going my way for once, and I was going to enjoy it while I could.

Galaxy Escape made his way out of the shadows, coming up beside me. He looked at me questioningly, and I whispered to him, “He said yes. It took some serious negotiating, but he said yes.”

The smile that spread across his face at that moment was a mix between the saddest and most wonderful thing I’d ever seen. I held back from hugging him; I knew that if I did there would be lots of talk among the guys, saying things that most definitely weren’t true and making my current standing with them worse than it already was.

“Let’s get going,” Party Poison said, his strong voice returning to him slowly but surely. “We don’t want to put this off any longer. It’s time to make our attack. Let’s go.”

We all began scampering like sewer rats as quickly as we could, getting all our things together and filing through the tunnels to get out. We climbed up the stairs and went to our separate cars, getting in. There was lots of talk and exciting chatter throughout everyone.

Before I got in the car with the girls and Galaxy, I looked over to the boys’ car, examining all of them. Fun Ghoul with his mischievous smile and carefree composure, Jet Star with his obvious emotional strength and kind heart, Kobra Kid with his passion and attitude, and Party Poison, the leader of the pack, strong and beautiful.

I realized then, as I stared at them, that I loved them all. They hated me at this point, but I loved them more than anything in the whole world. They were my family; all I had now. They all stood for something that I needed more of inside of me. They were my entire world, and I loved every last one of them. Even if they did want to shoot me and leave me to die in the desert.

Kobra Kid’s eyes met mine while I was staring. Something was in his eyes, something unreadable. I knew I was never going be able to understand him. He glared at me and whispered something to Party, who looked over at me for a moment before shaking his head and getting in the car.

“Atomic! Honey bunches! Puddin’ pie! Atomic Battery! Jesus Christ, are you deaf? Are you coming with us or not?” Ritalin Revolver was looking at me like I was stupid.

I turned and smiled at them. “Sorry. Let’s go kick some Better Living ass.”

They cheered and I hopped into the car.