Bulletproof

We played another round of our game (which I didn’t win, but I wasn’t the first out) and Gracie won- not because the guys went easy on her, either. By the time we went back inside, evening was starting to take over for day, so the sunshine was turning a more honey-gold color rather than just clear rays of heat. It was still pretty hot, though, and the six of us were all positively drenched in sweat. Even my hair was soaked, plus my tank top. My jeans had been rolled up as far as they’d go, just past my knees, so that my pale legs were more exposed to any stray breeze.

“That first game was totally my win,” I declared doggedly as we shuffled into the main room, all of us more or less dropping lazily to the floor.

“No, Show Pony won,” Frank corrected, and I frowned at him.

“Show Pony wasn’t officially playing. You’re just mad because I got you out,” I argued, grinning after a second, “by shooting you in the ass.”

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes at me with his response, and then Gerard rolled his eyes at us both.

“You two are just like little kids. You bicker about every little thing,” he stated, sounding more amused than he looked.

“Well, if someone would act their age,” I murmured quietly, Gracie giggling as she was close enough to me to hear. For a few minutes, all of us just lazed around on the floor. It wasn’t exactly cool, but it was cooler than anywhere else. I could feel the dust from the floor sticking to my damp skin, but I couldn’t have cared less at that point.

“Do you guys hear that?” Ray asked after a second, barely managing to pick his head up off the ground to try and hear whatever it was a little better. We all stopped making all noises possible immediately. It sounded like a metallic something or other closing. I thought about it for a moment.

“Do you think someone was just at the mailbox outside?” I suggested, almost feeling silly. No one ever dropped mail in there, it was mostly just us putting unaddressed letters in there that would never reach their intended recipients. It was a closure thing.

“I guess anything’s possible,” Mikey mumbled, looking as perplexed as I felt. I stood more abruptly than my tired body would’ve liked and made my way outside.

“Be careful!” Gerard whisper-hissed behind me as I left. I raised a hand lazily to show that I’d heard him before stepping out into the setting sun warily. I glanced in every direction twice, but I saw no one. Feeling edgy, I made my way to the decorated mailbox, letting a fond but tense smile show on my face. I opened the little hatch, peering inside curiously, forgetting my caution.

That was the first of the letters I got.

***

A week and a half later found us in much the same position as before, other than we were all starting to get in better shape from all the running and training we’d been doing. Some days it felt more like work, while on others it was nothing but play. I’d received two more letters after the one that I’d found in the mailbox, and their contents made me increasingly more worried. They lost that mysterious Kindred flare they’d had about them, becoming more specific and lifeless. I’d been a wreck in private all week, going to pieces over the thought that she was sick or hurt or dying. Something was up, I could feel it, but I didn’t know what and it was making me crazy.

If the guys had noticed that something was up, they didn’t say a word about it. They let me hash it out in my head, giving me plenty of space to think on my situation. All three of the letters had been alluding to something, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. There was a common theme.

As if she knew that I was having trouble, perhaps looking too deeply into the meaning of increasingly more specific letters, Kindred sent me a fourth, hand-delivered by Show Pony. He shrugged when I took it from him, signifying that he’d found it rather than gotten it from someone.

I made my way into the office to open it. All of the guys were out on a mission of some sort or another, Grace with them. They‘d been gone since yesterday. Dr. D was back in his studio, sending out a broadcast for our fellow Killjoys in the Zones. Even with everyone essentially gone, I wanted to make sure I was absolutely alone. I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. With shaking hands, I tore open the envelope. At first, I was confused. Disbelieving may be a better term, though.

Route Guano- go right now or they will die.

I swallowed hard, reading the note through five times more. That couldn’t be right. The confusion seeped away within seconds, replaced by a primal panic the likes of which I’d never known. I hastily dug my things out from the trunk in the middle of the room, including my mask and ray gun. I strapped the gun to my hip and shoved the hair out of my face to put on my mask. The mask which Gerard had been so eager to see, but might not ever be able to if I didn’t make it in time. A full-face white plastic mask with a big, shiny, bright red X painted across, a black bar stretching across the holes where my eyes would peer through. I’d been so proud of it, a sort of taunt to BLI that they hadn’t been as thorough with me as they should’ve been. I didn’t even give it a second thought as I pulled it over my face and adjusted it so I could see properly.

I pulled on my red jacket and a pair of matching cherry red gloves, leaving the jacket unbuttoned over my aqua blue and highlighter yellow tee. The more color, the better.

I more or less screamed the situation at Show Pony as I hauled ass out of the diner, who simply looked confused but nodded before making his way back to inform Dr. D. I made my way to the side of the diner, thanking my lucky stars for the fact that the guys had the power of foresight; they thought I’d need a ride of my own for a situation such as the one I found myself in, so they’d been kind enough to dust a Drac and give me his bike. We’d splashed it with neon paint to make it known that I was no friend to BLI and no enemy to Killjoys. I pulled the key from my pocket and shoved it in the ignition before tearing out and sending a spray of dirt and debris behind my squealing tires. It occurred to me shortly that I didn’t know which direction I needed to head on Route Guano, though, and I let out a scream of frustration that was caught and swallowed by the wind that howled past my head as I pushed the bike to a faster speed. Swearing under my breath, I picked west and kept to it, eyes scanning the area tirelessly in search of my friends, Dracs, or anything at all that could point me in the right direction. After a few minutes of seeing nothing, I started to lose what little cool I’d regained. Kin’s message had been perfectly clear, but there was still no sign of them.

Did I pick the wrong direction?

I got so wrapped up in my thoughts that I nearly drove right off the road. I swerved back sharply, nearly toppling myself in the other direction. Out of sheer frustration and anxiety, I let out a long, soundless scream. It felt good, and it cleared my head a little bit. However, when I saw two Dracs headed my way on bikes, my mind clouded over with doubt. I was still only beginning to get better at shooting, and I stood next to no chance at such high speeds.

“Fuck,” I murmured, steadying the bike with one hand as the other snatched my gun from its holster. My fingers locked around it, and I tried my very best to aim at the Dracs as they came closer. Neither of them, I noticed, looked particularly nervous at the prospect of shooting and driving at the same time. I cursed everything silently. I sent out the first shot, which missed both Dracs by such a margin that I was instantly embarrassed and infuriated. They made neat U-turns so that they were tailing me; my best hope was to try to swerve out of the rays that they shot at me. I did well for a time, guiding my bike out of the way each time, until a third Drac came to view on the horizon.

Fuck, this is bad!

As I was trying to figure out what to do, I found the sign I’d been waiting for. Or, rather, I heard it. A long, loud, shrill, and demanding war-cry made itself heard even through the wind and the sounds of rays being shot off. A feral grin made its way to my face without my consent, but I was glad it did. I sucked in all the air I could manage without screwing my face up and crashing the bike before belting out my own returning scream, loud and strong and excited. A black and orange bike came tearing out of a hidden little nook in the rocks up ahead, headed straight for me and my little entourage of Dracs. I turned hard to the left, spinning to a stop to face the Dracs as they were distracted. I shot and miraculously hit one of the Dracs square in the chest. He flew backwards off his bike, the hole in his chest smoking slightly.

I watched in awe as the rider of the non-Drac bike shot two quick rays with precision and ease (with a shout of, “EAT DUST, MOTHERFUCKERS!”), nailing both Dracs nearly instantaneously. They barely had time to look surprised before they toppled over, bikes landing on top of them and still running. My mystery helper pulled up alongside me, looking me in the eyes from behind their own black mask (with what appeared to be lime green fingers dragging from all directions, like someone had been dragged away against their will).

“About fucking time you showed up!” I exclaimed brightly, temporarily forgetting the dire situation. I smirked even though I knew she couldn’t see it. “The love notes were getting a little old.”

“Yeah, well, you know me. Found something I wanted to do and had to go out and do it,” Kindred replied easily, grinning. “We should get to your friends, though.”

The grin fell from my face, so my mouth set itself in a determined line in its stead. “Right. Lead on.”

She kicked her bike to life and took off. I followed close behind. Neither one of us tried to say anything as we sped off down the highway.

I was almost dreading arriving. As much as I wanted to help, I was afraid of what I’d find. We started to slow soon after that, Kindred signaling that she was going to pull over on the right. I could see why immediately, and my heart nearly stopped. We both jumped off our parked bikes and rushed to the four bodies on the ground. I swore at the top of my voice, not caring who heard, as I looked over the bodies of my friends. Only Poison looked even a little conscious.

“Shit,” I murmured after I’d calmed down a little. I glanced around and spotted the Trans Am, whose doors were thrown open wide. I could hear music spitting from the speakers inside as F.T.W.W.W. kicked up. I silently agreed with Dr. D’s choice in songs. I dropped to my knees beside him, looking him in the face. “Poison, can you hear me?”

He made a sickly gasping noise which I took as confirmation. He looked like he was going to try talking, but I stopped him. “Hey, hush. Don’t waste your energy, you know I won’t listen to whatever you have to say anyway.”

He let a grimacing smile show on his face for a brief second before he started dangling between awake and unconscious. I looked to Kindred who was busy looking over the other three guys. Jet had a particularly worrying wound over his right eye, or maybe dead on. I couldn’t tell.

“We should load them up in the car and get them back to the diner,” Kin mentioned, and I nodded, not even bothering to ask how she knew about where we’d been staying. After the years I’d spent with her, I knew that she had ways of working things out that I couldn’t ever fathom.

“Okay, Poison, sorry if I hurt you,” I whispered to him, using my the strength that’s born of adrenaline to lift him and carry him haltingly to the car. I deposited him in the front seat. He groaned a little, though it was soft and raspy. I shot him an apologetic look and jogged back to get Ghoul since Kin had grabbed Kobra and taken him to the back seat. I followed suit with Ghoul, then we took Jet between us since he was much taller than either one of us. With all four of my friends safely (or, more safely than before) back in the car, I let out a long sigh.

Wait…

“Shit!” I yelled so suddenly that Kindred nearly jumped out of her skin.

“What?” she demanded, quickly glancing over me to make sure that I wasn’t injured. Bless her for caring.

“Grace is gone. They fucking took her! Again!” I hollered, throwing my arms up in the air and kicking at the dust. Kin wouldn’t have it, however.

“Calm the fuck down, Freak! You’ve got four seriously injured men that need immediate medical attention, so I suggest you get your ass in that car and give them a hand!”

I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, thanks for that. Okay, you’re coming with, right? I don’t think I can tend to them all at once.”

“Sure, I’ll follow on my bike and we’ll come back for yours later.”

I sprinted quickly back to the car, slamming my door shut with more force than necessary as my nerves started to get the best of me. I revved the engine before speeding back towards the diner, Kindred hot on my trail.

***

Once we’d reached our destination, we unloaded the guys quickly into the office. Dr. D and Show Pony showed up in the doorway, looking on with concern. We cleaned cuts, burns, and other various wounds to the best of our abilities, dressing them after they’d been sanitized. It worried me that on each one of them, I could see more gauzy bandage than skin. When we’d finally finished, I was up to my elbows in blood that I knew was most certainly not mine.

“They really got themselves in deep,” Kin commented lowly, gazing at my friends as well. “They look awful.”

“Yeah,” I agreed without much emotion. She looked over at me, concerned. “They’ll be alright, they’re tough dudes.”

Wow, even I’m unimpressed by that.

“They will, Harley,” she whispered, pulling me into a hug. I clung to her in a needy fashion, unwilling to give her another chance to escape.

“You really saved my ass back there,” I sighed into her shoulder. I felt her chuckle slightly before she started to pet my hair.

“Yeah, well, you’re still useless with a gun.”

“Slightly less useless,” I defended, letting a weak laugh bubble up my throat. I pulled back and looked at her. Her long, intensely auburn hair was tangled and matted from blowing in the wind and blood. Her face was tired, heavy purple circles surrounding her eyes like they did mine. She looked a little paler and maybe a little thinner than usual. “Where the hell have you been, Kindred?”

She shook her head. “We’ll talk about that later, okay? Right now, I think you need to just relax a little. You might feel fine now, but you’re probably falling apart on the inside.

How do you know me so damn well?

“I’m fine,” I dismissed. She raised a brow but didn’t press the matter. “You should get yourself something to eat, though. God knows you don’t eat half as well when I’m not constantly nagging you about it. You and Kobra both,” I sighed at her while looking at him, laying motionlessly except for the shallow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. She nodded, so I pointed her in the direction of the Power Pup. She returned moments later with a can and spoon in her hands, popping off the top before digging in heartily.

“This shit is disgusting,” she told me with a huge grin on her face as she ate at a rapid pace. I chuckled quietly at her.

“Hungry, lovely?” I inquired innocently. She stuck her tongue out at me between mouthfuls.

“Shut up. It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to relax and eat without being on the move.”

“Mhm,” I hummed at her noncommittally, watching my boys as they rested in their little makeshift beds. I wished I could do more for them, but I was useless until they woke up and asked for something. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was really afraid that they wouldn’t wake up. I didn’t know exactly what’d happened out there in the desert, but I knew that it was bad enough to leave them all half-dead in the dirt. I also knew that it was bad enough that it rendered them incapable of protecting Grace.

Grace… I’ll come for you. I’ll kill every last bastard that even looks at you, wherever the hell you are. I’ll save you.