I Believe We're The Enemy

Ginny’s P.O.V.

The morning wears by slowly, but I march onwards, slowly drawing farther and farther away from the boys. Once or twice I think about turning back, but then I remember that I was the one who ran away. It’s too late to change my mind now.

The sun is blazingly hot, and every once in a while mirages of water, dracs, and sometimes Ray appear on the horizon. I plow onwards, knowing they’re fake. Thinking about Ray makes my heart ache horribly, because I love him, and I could’ve been happy with that, but I turned it away.

Of course, I can’t love anybody. I knew that all along, but I was having so much fun that I tried to ignore it. The boys actually cared about me, and they were there for me, even when I was nasty or irritating or just plain mean. My faint memories of life before draculoids give off a powerful aura of hostility. Real people don’t stick with you through everything. Tears start to flow down my face as I realize how special the boys are, but I’ve left them behind now. I have to carry on.

Around noon I come across a tiny spring hidden beneath a rocky outcropping that juts out conspicuously from the landscape, and after taking a long drink I wash my face, watching the dirt and salty tear-water leach back into the earth where they belong. Everything is just part of the scenery, only there for a while, borrowing its existence from the sand and the rocks and the water. For a moment I imagine myself as only that, a little clay figurine lost in a world of sandstone giants. My tanned skin suddenly seems grayish, my green eyes decorative marbles, my hair crunchy bits of straw. I’m not real. Nothing here is real...

I shake my head to snap out of my thoughts, concluding that the heat must be getting to me. Trudging onward, I ignore the bitter loneliness rising in my throat to the best of my ability. If only I was really made of clay.

Suddenly I hear a loud footstep behind me, and when I turn I see three dracs following my tracks with intense concentration. They haven’t seen me yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Cursing under my breath, I dive behind a prickly desert plant, cocking my gun as quietly as I can. I doubt I can fight off three of them alone if it comes to open battle, but if I’m careful I might be able to pick them off one by one while they’re distracted.

I’m just taking aim at the first one when a gloved hand grabs my arm. Instinctively, I scream, and with good reason. Five more dracs have me surrounded, the boldest of them grasping my shoulder tightly. I ram the butt of my gun into its skull, ducking the laser beams directed at me by the other four. Behind me I hear shouting, first from the three dracs following my trail, then from other, more distant voices. I think I hear someone screaming my Killjoy name, Letterbomb, but I ignore it, choosing instead to duck between two of my attackers and run for my life.

Out of the corner of my eye I see rays of light shooting in all direction, matching sounds reaching my ears, and I force myself to run faster. If the only creatures chasing me are dracs, then I have good reason to run, but if any of the boys are after me too, then I definitely don’t want to stick around. I can’t stand to face them now, especially after I was stupid enough to just run away like I did.

Pain envelops me as a stray laser blast hits my right thigh, nearly knocking me to the ground, but I stay on my feet and keep running. Tears of agony, loneliness, and love are now flying down my face, blurring my vision and making escape almost impossible. For a moment I think I hear Gerard’s voice in the fray behind me and I stumble, suddenly overcome with emotion. What if they hurt him? He’s my big brother! What am I going to do without him?

No. I’m on my own now.

Behind me a drac yells something unintelligible, its footsteps gradually drawing close to me, and when I glance back I only see one of the grotesque creatures. Then I hear that one fall, but I know I can’t be alone. Eight dracs don’t just drop dead out of nowhere, and not even the boys could’ve taken them all down on their own. Suddenly, something heavy rams into my back, knocking me over, and as a pair of sturdy arms wraps around my waist my face hits the sand painfully. After a moment of stunned silence I flip over, still in my attacker’s grip. I know I’m going to die, and it’ll probably be painful, but there is no way that I, Virginia Morgan Sparks, am going down without a fight.

Gerard’s P.O.V.

If Ginny had been blind, I probably would’ve received a faceful of her fingernails, but instead when she sees my face hovering over her own, her confusion gets the best of her and the high-velocity blow to my head misses. Even though her face remains hostile, I can feel her relaxing underneath me. My emotions get the best of me, and I shower her face in kisses, indescribably elated to have her back. As I bury my face in her neck I feel her laughing despite the tears now tainting my lips with salt, her chest expanding as she wraps her slender arms around me and pulls me close.

“Funny that we keep meeting like this,” she murmurs, her voice hoarse.

“I love you, Ginny. Don’t you do that ever again.” She giggles in a rather girlish way as I help her to her feet, still refusing to let go of her. She looks horrible; her hair is matted and dirty, her face streaked with drying tearstains, but I can’t help but think about how beautiful she is as I pull her back toward my body, pressing my face into her hair.

When Ginny finally disengages from my embrace her right leg crumples, but luckily Frank is there to catch her. I notice for the first time the giant blast mark on the back of her leg, and my heart aches as I realize how much pain she must be in. Frank wraps an arm around her torso to support her, but she regains her composure quickly, pretending to ignore the emotion streaming between herself and Frank. He hugs her warmly and she finally gives in, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes as she grins with unquenchable bliss.

“I know Gee already told you this,” he murmurs, his arms taking a protective stance around her. “But don’t go running away again. You messed Ray up pretty bad.”

Her smiles slides from her face instantly. “Where is he?” she demands.

“We had to split up to find you. I’m sorry he didn’t get to you first,” I say gently. “We’ll find them soon, don’t worry.”

She blinks at me forlornly. “I love him, Gee.”

“I know you do,” I reply, running my fingers down the side of her face.

Suddenly a pair of distant figures appears on the horizon, and I feel a smile split my face in two as I realize that they’re Mikey and Ray.

“Mikey!” I call, effectively startling Ginny. “We found her!”

I don’t think he hears my exact words, but as Ginny steps away from Frank, one of his arms still wrapped firmly around her waist, Mikey realizes what’s going on and starts to dash toward us, his long legs carrying him easily across the rocky landscape. Behind him, Ray stares uncertainly at us for a long moment, his body stilled by disbelief. Ginny calls his name once and he starts to run, easily overtaking Mikey in his rush to get to his love.

The moment Ray reaches us he sweeps Ginny into his arms, holding her with one arm under her legs and the other supporting her fragile torso. She throws her arms around his solid neck, laughing blissfully. They lean in to kiss, but in the rush to be near each other they misjudging the distance, and instead they end up nuzzling one another’s faces like lovesick puppies. Ginny’s eyes roll back with pleasure as Ray kisses every inch of skin that he can find on her entire face and neck, his rich brown eyes glowing happily.

“Don’t run away like that ever again, you got it?” he whispers, halting his kissing for only a moment to speak to her.

“Wasn’t planning on-” Her reply is cut off as his lips finally find her mouth, and they engage in a brief, passionate, and very public kiss. Ray sets her down on the ground carefully, leaving his arms wrapped gently around her waist so that she can stand.

“Why... why did you leave?” he asks, looking at her with indestructible affection in his gaze. She sighs, running her fingers through his bouncy hair.

“Because I love you, and I was afraid.”

Ray smiles sadly. “I love you, Ginny. We all love you, and don’t you forget it.”

“Even Mikey?” she asks shyly. Ray laughs, and behind him Mikey rolls his eyes in exasperation.

“Come here, bitch,” he growls teasingly, pulling her out of Ray’s grasp as he hugs her from behind. Giggling warmly, she turns around to hug him back, burying her face in his skeletally thin shoulder.

“If I had to deal with one more minute of Ray’s hopeless griping about how you don’t love him and everything is his fault and he can’t live without you and he just wants to give up and die, I was seriously going to murder him,” Mikey groans.

“I never said any of that!” Ray exclaims defensively.

“It was implied.”

“Was not.”

“Oh come on, Ray.”

“You’re both so immature,” Ginny interjects calmly. As she steps out of Mikey’s embrace, she then proceeds to fall into Ray, unable to support herself on her injured leg.

“Ray, Frank, you’re in charge of getting Ginny home in one piece. Mikey and I will go ahead and start the car. Meet you at the diner as soon as possible,” I finish, touching GInny’s arm lightly before following Mikey back the way we came at a leisurely jog.

After half an hour Mikey speaks up. “Gee... Am I just being paranoid, or is Ray... different?” he asks hesitantly. I turn to look at him, raising my eyebrows.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s convinced that he needs Ginny to survive. She’s the same. They’re both completely dependent on each other! I mean, what happens if one of them dies? The other one would go insane,” he exclaims, making wild gestures with his skinny hands.

“I’d go insane if you or Frankie died.”

He rolls his eyes. “Of course you would, because you love him,” he mutters under his breath. My ears turn hot.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Apparently I wasn’t supposed to hear that last comment.

“No, Mikey, you said something. What the hell were you talking about?” I ask, incredulous.

He sighs. “I was just talking about how you and Frank are so best-friendsy all the time, and how it might seem to you average outsider that you guys are... you know... romantically involved. I’m just... Well, even if you’re not, you sure do act like it sometimes.”

I feel my entire face flushing with embarrassment. “Frank and I are not... involved,” I growl, my teeth gritted. “I don’t know what you’re problem is, if you’re jealous, or you’re just being ignorant, but that’s not true.”

“I’m not jealous of him! It’s just irritating to watch you two joke around like a 20-year-old married couple all the time, and then have to listen to you denying that you have any feelings for him.”

“I don’t! He’s just my friend!” I shout, glaring at him furiously.

Mikey throws his hands up in surrender. “Fine! I get it! You’re just friends. Can we return to the topic on hand now?”

“Ray and Ginny.”

“Yes.”

I sigh. “I see where you’re coming from with them. At first I was surprised that her clinginess didn’t annoy him, but then I realized that he’s just as bad.”

“Exactly,” Mikey mutters. “I’m just worried about them. Ginny’s never going to make it as a Killjoy unless she gains some independence, and if she gets ghosted... Ray’s not going to take that well.”

“We know Ray will be alright. He’s tough, and he’s been through hard stuff before. I mean, he handled Sun Beam’s... death... pretty well. But Ginny... Well, maybe we need to teach her how to rely more on herself,” I murmur thoughtfully.

Mikey claps his hands together in a slightly childish way. “Operation Crappy Romance Novel, where we convince Ray and Ginny that they don’t live in a crappy romance novel. This plan may or may not be expanded to cover Gerard and Frank.”

“Watch it, Mikes,” I snarl.

“Okay, okay. Frank and Gee are not in love with each other, and they don’t live in a crappy romance novel,” he replies in an exasperatedly sarcastic tone. I shoot him a venomous glare, and we both remain silent for the rest of the walk.