I Believe We're The Enemy

Glory Girl’s P.O.V.

It happens again. Mikey’s arms around my waist, his lips working feverishly against mine, his tongue in my mouth, his hands dragging me toward that empty bedroom. This time, I let it happen, reveling in the feeling of his skin gracing my own. He pushes me through the door and into a wall, his mouth gripping my neck viciously as I gasp with desperate lust.

Suddenly we’re on the bed, his chest hovering inches above my own, his blond hair shadowing his intensely focused features. “Mikey?” I murmur, but he refuses to speak. He kisses me again, and I let my eyes drift shut, but i still notice him pulling the towel away from his hips, leaving him completely, shamelessly naked.

“Mikey, what are you doing?” I ask, trying to pul away from him. He won’t reply, and I soon find that I’m trapped between his arms as he starts to pull off my shirt. My chest constricts with terror. I don’t want this, I never wanted this, and I’m not ready for it now. “Stop, Mikey, please, listen to me,” gasps my mouth, but it’s disconnected from my brain and it can’t emit anything else even resembling sense. Mikey’s strong fingers wrench off my bra, his smooth lips kissing my ribcage, and I don’t even try to kick his exposed body as he reaches for the button on my jeans.

I’ve seen my own friends after they’ve been raped before; some of the more unorthodox draculoids think it’ll turn us to their side. I never understood why the victims barely fought, but I get it now. I am completely helpless. As Mikey’s fingertips run up and down the insides of my bare thighs, tears stain my slender cheeks, and I start screaming, desperate to be rescued. He ignores me, and no savior comes to stop him from acting out my worst fear.

“Please, Mikey, no,” I wail as he pulls off my underwear and starts to lower his body onto me. My fingers grip his shoulders, but I can’t push him away. A desperate cry of pain escapes my throat as he thrusts into me, his lips cutting off my useless voice. No, Mikey, no...

“Glory Girl, wake up,” Mikey shouts. This is impossible, because he’s still kissing me, and his lips didn’t even move. All the same, his voice rings out again. "You’re dreaming, Glory. Just wake up and everything will be okay...”

Mikey’s P.O.V.

Glory finally gives a powerful jolt and awakens, immediately noticing me. I expect my presence to comfort her like it normally does, but instead she lets out a long, loud scream, her voice fading away only when I clamp my hand firmly over her mouth.

“Glory, what’s wrong?” I ask, trying to keep my level of sympathy higher than that of my irritation.

“Please tell me it’s not real,” she gasps, shrinking away from me. “Please tell me that didn’t just happen...”

“Who died?” I ask, confused. I expected Glory’s dreams to be bad; I had to carry her into the extra bedroom because her screaming was going to wake up the next three Zones soon, but I don’t understand why she’s so afraid of me all of a sudden.

“Nobody died,” she spits, angered by my ignorance. “You fucking raped me!”

For some reason, I taste bile clawing angrily at the back of my throat, begging me to throw up, and I lean away from her. “Definitely not real,” I whisper.

“Good.” I finally dare to look at her again when I realize that her voice is shaking. My fingers defy me, reaching out to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “Mikey,” she gasps, pulling me toward her and burying her face in my chest.

“Glory...” I murmur, confused. “Is that really what you’re afraid of?” She nods silently, her body molding to mine as she grasps my shirt with her small fists. “I’d never do that to you,” I whisper, finally letting my arms wrap around her fragile torso.

“Not in real life, you wouldn’t,” she hisses.

I detach her fingers from my shirt and lay her down on the bed, straddling her with my arms. I avoid touching her anywhere too sensitive. “I know this sounds ignorant,” I murmur. “But I think it’ll help. Can I kiss you?”

She drags my head down toward her own. “Please, go ahead.” I let my lips fall onto hers, kissing her softly for a few long moments. Then a twinge of curiosity pricks my mind, and I put a few more inches between our faces.

“Glory, what’s your name?” I ask gently.

“Charlotte Rose,” she replies in a whisper. “Usually just Rose.”

“Oh. Like your lips,” I murmur, thinking of their beautiful pink shade as I kiss her again. “They taste kinda rosy too.”

We kiss for a long while. Unlike the last few times, Glory never shies away from me or develops sudden hesitancy, and her lips return to mine again and again in a slow, peaceful rhythm. After a while, I lean back to find her fast asleep, her mouth molded into a sweet smile. I lay down next to her, wrap my arms around her slender body, and fall into my own dreams with my face nuzzled into her soft neck.

***

“Mikey?”

“Wha-” My shout is cut off as Rose presses a finger to my lips to quiet me. “What is it, Rose?” I ask softly, still blinking myself awake. I watch her shiver at the sound of her name.

“Sorry. I thought you were already awake. I just... I wanted to tell you that I’m done pretending. I’m going to regret this, but I love you, and I really, really, really want to be with you.”

“I’ve convinced you?” I ask with an excited grin.

She laughs. “Yeah, I guess you did. Just don’t think you’ve gotten into my pants yet, okay?”

I blush, but luckily it’s too dark for her to see. “I’m just as ready for that as you are, Glory. Don’t worry.”

Relieved laughter fills the air as she buries her face in my shoulder. “Good to know. I didn’t tell you my name for nothing, you know. I trust you.”

I watch her closely as my fingers interlace with her own, our legs entangling with each other’s under the covers. “Who else even knows your name, Glory?”

She sighs. “Right now, nobody. My brothers did, and my best friend, Jane. And... And Bob did, too. He was a lot like you, Mikey, except his blond hair was real.” I shuffle uncomfortably.

“Did you love him?”

“A lot.”

“If he was still alive, by some chance... would-”

“Stop, Mikey,” she growls, putting a hand over my mouth. “I love you now, and if he was still alive he probably would’ve been turned into a drac anyway. So just forget about it.”

I heave a tiny sigh of relief. Something in my heart crumbled apart when she said she loved him, because I love Glory Girl. Scratch that, I love Rose. I love her smile, I love her lips, I love her eyes, I love her voice, her words, her personality, her presence. I love that she loves me. To have all of that wrenched away from me, now that I’ve finally succumbed to it, would tear me apart completely. I wouldn’t be Mikey, I would just be Kobra Kid, just Gerard’s little brother and Frank’s best friend. Without Rose, there is no Mikey. Without her there is no-

“What’re you thinking about, Mike-n-Ikes?” Rose asks softly, running her fingers through my greasy hair and down the side of my neck.

“Love,” I murmur, answering her query and finishing my own thoughts. “I’m being overdramatic.”

She kisses me softly before she responds. “Love is never overdramatic, Mikey.”

I bite my lip gently, feeling my skin tingle at her closeness. “You’re beautiful, Rose. You know that, right?” She laughs softly.

“You’d better not be lying, Mikey Way, because you just made my heart go psycho.”

My laughter swills to a climax as I put a hand to her neck to heel her pulse. As she said, it’s insanely fast. “It’s true. I wouldn’t lie to you, Rose.”

She gives a petite, bliss-filled smile. “I love you, Mikey.”

“I love you too.”

Though we stay in bed for another hour, we’re too distracted by each other to fall asleep. Finally, Gerard comes and pounds on the door, shouting that if we’re in there, we’d better come out now or we’re going to be in big huge trouble.

“Gee, you sound like our mom,” I laugh, simultaneously choking back painful memories of our parents. He sighs.

“I knew you were in there.” His low growl is somewhat muffled by the door. “But when we all hear Glory screaming in the middle of the night, and then we woke up and you two were gone, we started to worry.”

“R-Glory had nightmares,” I reply, clutching said girl’s hand under the covers as she shudders with painful memory. “I didn’t want her to wake everyone else up, and it’s much cozier in here than on the floor in the front room.”

Gerard grumbles quietly. “Couldn’t you have at least left a note?”

“In the middle of the night, with no light or writing utensils?”

The door bangs open and Gerard stands in the threshold, glowering in irritation. “Michael James Way, quit that sassy act and get your ass into the front room now. And bring your lover, too.” He storms away, leaving me indignant and Rose a mess of girlish giggles.

“James is a sexy middle name. And who knew I was your lover?” she laughs, wrapping her arms around my neck teasingly.

I plant a soft kiss on her lips before sitting up and sliding off the bed. “Well, we can’t really deny it, my glorious Rose,” I reply, taking her hand and leading her down the hallway.

“I’m not glorious. That’s just a name.”

“Yes you are,” I murmur, turning to face her. My fingers fly to the sides of her face, and I lift her head until her lips meet my own. “If you weren’t glorious, then you wouldn’t be my Girl of Glory.”

She rolls her eyes. “I guess.” Then I whisk her away into the front room before Gerard decides to fry our brains with his ray gun.

Frank and Grace meet us at Glory’s usual sofa. “Gerard has news for you,” Frank says vaguely, looking me in the eyes with unusual sincerity.

“Okay... What’s up, Gee?” I call, listening to the routine sounds of Gerard dragging Ray and Ginny, our late sleepers, out of their bedroom.

Party Poison waits until everyone is seated before him to answer. “We’re out of food. Completely. We let Grace have the last can this morning, and if we don’t get more now we’re going to starve.

“What about the cacti?” Rose asks hesitantly.

Gerard’s face darkens. “Gone. Every last sign of them. I think the dracs came by and obliterated all of them, just to draw us into their trap.”

Ginny groans. “I’m hungry! I don’t want to die just to be able to eat breakfast!”

“And this is why you never, ever, ever wake Ginny and Ray up before nine, unless it’s a matter of life or death,” Frank murmurs.

Rose heaves an irritated sigh. “Well, if we must, let’s go, then.”

“That’s the spirit, Glory!” Gerard responds with somewhat false enthusiasm.

“She has a name,” I snap suddenly. Rose glances at me, bewildered.

“You know her name?” Grace screeches.

Rose sighs. “Go ahead, Mikes. They’re my family now anyway.”

“Glory-”

“No, Mikey,” she interrupts. “It’s okay.”

I reach out and take her hand in my own as gently as I can. “It’s Rose,” I mumble. “Charlotte Rose, but just Rose for short.” Grace gapes at me, open-mouthed.

“She told you?”

I nod.

“She never told anyone. Just her best friends and her brothers. You...” Grace’s gaze turns to the floor, still wide-eyed with amazement. “Glory, you’re insane.”

“I’m not insane,” Rose replies defensively, shuffling close to me. “I just... Well... He asked, and I figured he has a right to now, ‘cause... well...”

Ginny’s eyes widen, and she suddenly snaps out of her whiny, sleep-deprived stupor. “You mean it’s official? You’re a couple?”

Rose nods. Behind my ribcage, my heart starts fluttering like a hummingbird. “Really?” I ask hopefully. She buries her face in my shoulder.

“Yes, really, you idiot. I love you, Mikey.”

If it weren’t for the solid reality of her warm hand in mine, I probably would’ve fainted right then and there. Finally.

“I love you too, Rose,” is all I manage to choke out. I almost want to cry. Finally, after all the trouble rabies has caused me, it’s figured out a way to make me happy.

Gerard clears his throat. “As... adorable as this whole lovey-dovey thing is, we need to leave now. I was planning on raiding the base on the Zone 1 border rather than the City, because it’s smaller, they won’t be expecting us as much, and after last time...” He trails off, his face paling substantially. Rose glances at him and Frank, asking for an explanation.

“Last time we went on a food raid, I... Well, I got hit by a hand grenade, and... It was gross. Gee had a bit of a hard time dealing with it.” Ginny nods vigorously, looking almost as sick as Gerard at the memory.

“Can we please forget about this now?” my redheaded brother asks quietly, his normally shining hazel eyes quite dull all of a sudden. “We have to go. Now. I’m hungry. All of you, go get in the car.”

“Even me?” Grace questions excitedly. Apparently she usually stayed behind (with or without a ‘babysitter’) in the City.

Frank sighs. “I guess. But stick close to me, be careful, and do what we say. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Grace grins. “Thank you, Frankie!” We all follow her as she bounces down the stairs and out to the dust-streaked Trans Am. Gerard and Frank take the front seat, with Grace sitting in a makeshift seat between them, while Rose and I share the backseat with Ray and Ginny. over the next hour, we tell jokes and sing songs to ease the anxious tension floating around us, so by the time we get to the Zone 1 border base, even Gerard is laughing his head off at the cheesy entertainment provided mostly by Frank and Grace. However, our smiles fade when Gerard kills the engine and steps out of the car, his face grim and determined.

“You know the drill,” he growls. “Now, let’s go fry some dracs.”