We Are the Kids From Yesterday
Sing
A scream awoke me with a start. I sat up quickly and looked around the diner to count off heads; Poison, Jet Star, Fun Ghoul... Kobra, Grace and the Doctor were just around the corner in the back... Zacky...
Shit.
"She wouldn't!" I muttered to myself as I shot out of bed and grabbed my ray gun. I quietly scoured every room in the diner, and no sign of Dani. I finally decided to run outside and just as I thought, Eight Legs was gone. I knew I had to find her, but this was something I had to do on my own. Dani was one of the most stubborn people I knew, and it took me this long to get her to accept my help on occasion. I peeked into the diner one last time to make sure nobody had woken up, then I climbed onto one of the motorcycles that had been a Drac's. With my bandana tied tightly around my nose and mouth, I doublmy ray gun at my side, started up the motorcycle, and followed the tire tracks out into the desert.
It was early, early morning. The sun was barely visible over the ridge, and it was beginning to become windy. I was hoping and praying the wind wouldn't blow the tracks away, but the further into the desert I got, the less visible the tracks were. I knew she couldn't be horribly far out because I heard her scream... Unless that was just my imagination playing tricks on me. That wasn't uncommon since my sister passed; I was known to have a delusion or two, strictly from the paranoia of living life on the run from BL/ind. I stopped the motorcycle once the trail had been completely blown away and propped my sunglasses up on top of my head. The sun had risen more, and it was already intense in the desert. Sweat beaded on top of my forehead as I gazed out, looking for Eight Legs somewhere in the...
"Dani!" I shouted as I saw the small outline of Eight Legs about half a mile out. I started up the motorcycle again, stalled it out in my haste, then finally got going towards the car I could barely see. A windstorm was coming, that much I could tell, and I had to get Dani back to the diner before it hit, or we might not make it back to the diner period. As soon as I was close enough, I hit the brakes as hard as possible, and cut the engine before I was entirely stopped which caused me to lay the motorcycle over. I scraped up my leg and arm a bit, but was able to jump up and run over to Dani as soon as I saw her.
"What the <i>hell</i> do you think you're doing out here?! What happened to you?!" Blood was caked on her lips and she was holding her side. Her hurt ankle looked warped and I could tell she was in severe pain.
"I was wondering when you'd be here for me." She joked and giggled lightly before wincing from the pain. I propped her up over my shoulders and hoisted her into Eight Legs before taking the keys from her. I made sure I had the motorcycle keys, then I got in the driver's sider of the Trans Am and started it. I tried to get us back towards the diner as quickly as possible, but nothing can match the speed of a motorcycle. Dani was either half asleep from true exhaustion or pain... Probably both. By the time we made it back to the diner, the sun had completely risen over the ridge and it was going to be a scorcher of a day. I pulled right up to the front door of the diner, got out, took my jacket off, and ran through the front doors.
"Anyone want to help me carry Miss Independent in?" I asked. Everyone was awake, and tears were pouring down Zacky's face. He ran to me and attached himself to my leg before I picked him up and cradled him against me. "It's alright little one, mommy's outside."
I hadn't noticed Ghoul and Jet Star rush outside until Ghoul was already carrying Astro inside. He laid her down on a mattress and gently pulled her pant leg up to look at her ankle. He touched it gently and she screamed out in pain,
"Don't fucking touch me!" She screamed at him. He shot up and put his hands up in defense. I knew she was still bitter at Ghoul, and her not liking being helped just added to it. She had learned to care for herself a long time ago, and wasn't about to let anyone change that now. I pushed Ghoul aside and slipped Astro's boot off carefully; I knew she was in a lot of pain. Her ankle was clearly broken, how it was broken was the only thing to wonder. I wasn't one to be able to handle broken bones and blood very well, so I stepped back.
"Astro, someone is going to have to bandage this up for you. How in the hell did you manage this?" I knew she didn't want to tell me what had happened. We all knew she had snuck out in Eight Legs and ended up stranded in the desert with a broken ankle. I tried to remember if, in my rush, I noticed any other faint tracks in the dirt around the Trans Am... And then it hit me. "Oh God Dani, you didn't run into any Dracs, did you?!"
No one was happy about that theory, especially Dani because she knew I was right. Her face flushed red and her lips set in a straight line. Ghoul was the most furious of everyone that I noticed, possibly because he knew it was at least partially his fault. If he hadn't have acted out towards Dani, she wouldn't have gone off into the night alone.
"Dracs alone I can handle, that wasn't my problem." Astro grumbled, propping herself up on an elbow. "There was some bitch with them, and there were several dracs. I don't think they were looking for anything or anyone in particular... They just saw the Trans Am and made a bee-line towards me. She kicked the shit out of me before she got some call to go elsewhere, that's when I crawled back and hoped to God someone came out for me."
Zacky came out from behind Grace and fell into Astro's arms. She smoothed down his hair and kissed it gently. "I'm exhausted and in pain. Can I just get this damn thing fixed and get some rest?"
I knew I would have to wait to get answers from her anyway; she wouldn't tell anyone willingly but me, and even then I knew I'd have to dig. I went into the radio room, saw a pack of smokes laying out and just took one and lit it up. Whether it was my mind tricking me, or me actually hearing her scream, I was glad I was able to get to her. Who knows, the Dracs could've come back for her... Which meant if there wasn't a wind storm... The tracks...
"Poison!" I screamed, knowing what my driving the Trans Am back could have caused.
Shit.
"She wouldn't!" I muttered to myself as I shot out of bed and grabbed my ray gun. I quietly scoured every room in the diner, and no sign of Dani. I finally decided to run outside and just as I thought, Eight Legs was gone. I knew I had to find her, but this was something I had to do on my own. Dani was one of the most stubborn people I knew, and it took me this long to get her to accept my help on occasion. I peeked into the diner one last time to make sure nobody had woken up, then I climbed onto one of the motorcycles that had been a Drac's. With my bandana tied tightly around my nose and mouth, I doublmy ray gun at my side, started up the motorcycle, and followed the tire tracks out into the desert.
It was early, early morning. The sun was barely visible over the ridge, and it was beginning to become windy. I was hoping and praying the wind wouldn't blow the tracks away, but the further into the desert I got, the less visible the tracks were. I knew she couldn't be horribly far out because I heard her scream... Unless that was just my imagination playing tricks on me. That wasn't uncommon since my sister passed; I was known to have a delusion or two, strictly from the paranoia of living life on the run from BL/ind. I stopped the motorcycle once the trail had been completely blown away and propped my sunglasses up on top of my head. The sun had risen more, and it was already intense in the desert. Sweat beaded on top of my forehead as I gazed out, looking for Eight Legs somewhere in the...
"Dani!" I shouted as I saw the small outline of Eight Legs about half a mile out. I started up the motorcycle again, stalled it out in my haste, then finally got going towards the car I could barely see. A windstorm was coming, that much I could tell, and I had to get Dani back to the diner before it hit, or we might not make it back to the diner period. As soon as I was close enough, I hit the brakes as hard as possible, and cut the engine before I was entirely stopped which caused me to lay the motorcycle over. I scraped up my leg and arm a bit, but was able to jump up and run over to Dani as soon as I saw her.
"What the <i>hell</i> do you think you're doing out here?! What happened to you?!" Blood was caked on her lips and she was holding her side. Her hurt ankle looked warped and I could tell she was in severe pain.
"I was wondering when you'd be here for me." She joked and giggled lightly before wincing from the pain. I propped her up over my shoulders and hoisted her into Eight Legs before taking the keys from her. I made sure I had the motorcycle keys, then I got in the driver's sider of the Trans Am and started it. I tried to get us back towards the diner as quickly as possible, but nothing can match the speed of a motorcycle. Dani was either half asleep from true exhaustion or pain... Probably both. By the time we made it back to the diner, the sun had completely risen over the ridge and it was going to be a scorcher of a day. I pulled right up to the front door of the diner, got out, took my jacket off, and ran through the front doors.
"Anyone want to help me carry Miss Independent in?" I asked. Everyone was awake, and tears were pouring down Zacky's face. He ran to me and attached himself to my leg before I picked him up and cradled him against me. "It's alright little one, mommy's outside."
I hadn't noticed Ghoul and Jet Star rush outside until Ghoul was already carrying Astro inside. He laid her down on a mattress and gently pulled her pant leg up to look at her ankle. He touched it gently and she screamed out in pain,
"Don't fucking touch me!" She screamed at him. He shot up and put his hands up in defense. I knew she was still bitter at Ghoul, and her not liking being helped just added to it. She had learned to care for herself a long time ago, and wasn't about to let anyone change that now. I pushed Ghoul aside and slipped Astro's boot off carefully; I knew she was in a lot of pain. Her ankle was clearly broken, how it was broken was the only thing to wonder. I wasn't one to be able to handle broken bones and blood very well, so I stepped back.
"Astro, someone is going to have to bandage this up for you. How in the hell did you manage this?" I knew she didn't want to tell me what had happened. We all knew she had snuck out in Eight Legs and ended up stranded in the desert with a broken ankle. I tried to remember if, in my rush, I noticed any other faint tracks in the dirt around the Trans Am... And then it hit me. "Oh God Dani, you didn't run into any Dracs, did you?!"
No one was happy about that theory, especially Dani because she knew I was right. Her face flushed red and her lips set in a straight line. Ghoul was the most furious of everyone that I noticed, possibly because he knew it was at least partially his fault. If he hadn't have acted out towards Dani, she wouldn't have gone off into the night alone.
"Dracs alone I can handle, that wasn't my problem." Astro grumbled, propping herself up on an elbow. "There was some bitch with them, and there were several dracs. I don't think they were looking for anything or anyone in particular... They just saw the Trans Am and made a bee-line towards me. She kicked the shit out of me before she got some call to go elsewhere, that's when I crawled back and hoped to God someone came out for me."
Zacky came out from behind Grace and fell into Astro's arms. She smoothed down his hair and kissed it gently. "I'm exhausted and in pain. Can I just get this damn thing fixed and get some rest?"
I knew I would have to wait to get answers from her anyway; she wouldn't tell anyone willingly but me, and even then I knew I'd have to dig. I went into the radio room, saw a pack of smokes laying out and just took one and lit it up. Whether it was my mind tricking me, or me actually hearing her scream, I was glad I was able to get to her. Who knows, the Dracs could've come back for her... Which meant if there wasn't a wind storm... The tracks...
"Poison!" I screamed, knowing what my driving the Trans Am back could have caused.