The Only Hope for Me Is You

I looked out the window, my hand still entwined in Gerard's, watching the desert fly by, the sunset making the methane skies turn a mixture of red and orange. I turned to Gerard, and licked my lips before I spoke.

"Gee?" He looked at me, taking his eyes off the road.

"Hmm?"

"I'm worried about the others..." I hung my head, putting my free hand between my legs, and stared at my feet. It was getting dark, and they had not even contacted us at all, to update us about anything. I wondered....what if.......

"What if they're gone?" I asked. "What if they don't make it back, Gee?" I imagined their lifeless bodies, sprawled out on the desert ground, eyes glazed over, masks still on. I winced, picturing this, and Gerard could tell something was wrong. He squeezed my hand, reassuring me.

"Hey...stop it." he said, smiling slightly. "They will be fine, Cy. Frank knows what he's doing. Unless......" He trailed off, and I perked my head up.

"Unless what?"

"Unless he takes the shortcut." He says, shaking his head. "Fuck, I didn't think about that." He let go of my hand and punched the wheel.

"Damn it Frank, don't do it...."

"Do what? What?" I asked, and Gerard sighed.

"There's a shortcut to get back home," He said. "But it's dangerous as fuck." He looked at me, and bit his lip.

"Dangerous...how?"

"They would go through a secret set of underground tunnels." he explained.

"Well that doesn't sound to bad..." He cocked his head as he spoke.

"Oh, and they have to go through a Scarecrow manufacturing unit to get there." My heart skipped a beat.

"No."

"Uh huh."

"That's basically suicide!" I exclaimed in shock. I mean, I know it was a shortcut, but to go dead straight into the enemy was fucking suicide, a death wish.

"Frank, babe, you better not fucking do it..." I said, shaking my head, looking back out the window. It was completely dark now, and the only light was coming from our headlights, shining the path in front of us.

"He'd better not fucking do it," I said. I couldn't lose my Frankie...not now. Not like this. I was beginning to like him more and more, almost to the point where I loved him as much as I loved Gerard. I kept thinking I would be better off with Frank, but that would absolutely CRUSH Gerard, and I couldn't do it. I honestly did not know what to do about the three of us...

"Something tells me he is already on his way there..." Gerard said, and right then and there I prayed for the first time in years, asking to bring them back alive and unharmed.
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Gerard pulled up to the shack, turned off the car, and walked around the front to open my door for me, and grabbed my hand, pulling me out. I stood up, seeing Dr. D and Show Pony emerge from the shack. Immediately, Show Pony realized the others were gone.

"Shit, fuck," he said. "PLEASE tell me that they aren't..."

"As far as we know, they aren't." Gerard said, opening the door to the car again. "But we have one that is." He leaned in, produced Atomic in his arms, and kicked the door closed. I turned my head, not even wanting to see Atomic's lifeless body again. It was too much...

"Oh my God." Show Pony said, his face falling even more. Dr. D. shook his head, and wheeled over to Gerard, and kissed Atomic's forehead.

"You know what to do, Poison," He said, and wheeled back into the house to give out his report to any other killjoys out there. I looked at Gerard, eyes swelling with tears again, and I followed him down the road, to a small cemetery where so many other killjoys had been put to rest, headstones and all. Graffiti was all over all their graves, and I saw mostly Frank's and Gerard's artwork over the tombstones. He set Atomic on the ground, and took a shovel that was set aside on the ground, and began digging. I sat on the ground, picking at rocks, watching his body move gracefully as he dug up load after load of dirt, until there was a shallow grave, just long enough to place her into. Gerard crossed her arms over her chest, and put the dirt on top of her, threw the shovel aside, and wrapped his arm around my waist. I hugged him tightly, crying into his chest.

"Atomic, I hardly knew you..." He said. "But you had potential, kiddo. Your shadow lives on without you, kid. You'll always be one of us." He rubbed my back.

"Come on, let's go," he said to me, and I nodded.

"Bye, Atomic," I said. "I'll miss you..." We started walking back to the shack, and his walkie went off, and I heard his brother yelling on the other side.

"POISON GET BACK NOW. WE HAVE TROUBLE. SOMEONE'S HURT, BAD." He looked at me, shocked, and we started running back.

"We're almost there," he said, and we ran, his hand grabbing my elbow. I prayed nobody would get hurt, but look what happened. God, this is why I don't believe in you; you shit on me, and now someone's dead, and another's about to die. I prayed to god it wasn't Frank; I don't know if I could live without him.

"Please be all right..." I said as I was dragged by Gerard back to the shack.