Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back

“Gerard, where exactly are we going?” I asked. Chris, Gerard, Mikey and I were in one car, while Ray and Frankie were in the other one. I had no idea where we were going, and neither did Chris.

“I don’t really know. We’re just scouting for roaming Dracs or S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/Ws, or for any strays.” I nodded and sat back into my seat. Chris smiled and took my hand. I smiled back and gave his hand a little squeeze.

After a while, Gerard hit the brakes, making me hit my head against the back of Mikey’s seat. I sat up and rubbed my head, sending a glare at the back of Gerard’s head.

“Mikey, we have a stray. Looks like a girl, and she looks like she’s about to pass out.” Mikey nodded and told me and Chris to stay so that they could lay the girl on top of us to bandage her up if needed. We agreed and they got out.

I watched out the windshield as they just barely caught the girl as she fell. Gerard took her feet and Mikey took her hands as they brought her back to the car. As promised, they laid her on our laps, with her head on mine and her feet on Chris’. I cleaned and bandaged a small cut on her forehead. It’s a good thing that I took a first aid class a few years ago.

We got to the house and Gerard and Mikey took her inside to lay her on one of the couches. After we checked for more injuries and only found a few scrapes on her legs and arms, we bandaged her up and left her to wake on her own. Of course one person had to stay with her at all times, so I volunteered to go first. I was only in there for a few minutes with a bottle of water for her, when she suddenly gasped and woke up. Her dark, dark brown eyes were wide with shock and I handed her the bottle of water.

She took it without hesitation and guzzled it down without a second of thought. When she was done, she looked around and I held out my hand for the bottle. She handed it to me and then finally looked my way.

“You’re hair looks dyed.” These were the first words that came out of her mouth. Well, thanks, I guess.

“Um, that’s because it is. I dyed it a few days ago.” I said, lifting a single eyebrow.

“Oh okay, I was just checking. Anyways, I’m Mental Madness.” She held out her hand. I cautiously took it.

“Mental Madness? Is that your Killjoy name?” I asked.

“Duh. Like my parents would name me Mental Madness? Geez.” She rolled her eyes and I felt like an idiot. Duh, of course her name wouldn’t be Mental Madness.

“So, what’s your real name?” I asked.

“Moe. What’s yours?”

“My name’s Beth. My Killjoy name is Broken Holiday.” She nodded.

“You know what would sound better with that than Holiday? Nightmare.” I chewed it over a bit. It did sound a bit better, but I didn’t want to hurt Mikey.

“She’s right, it does sound better.” I jumped at the sound of Mikey’s voice from the other side of the room behind me. He had a little smile on his face, but I couldn’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses he still had on.

“Are you sure, Mikey? I mean, your idea is great, too.” He smiled even wider and nodded.

“Its fine, Beth, don’t worry.” I smiled at him and he left the room, probably to tell the others about the minor change. I turned back to Moe.

“Thanks, Moe.” I said. She smiled a bit.

“No problemo, Beth.” Her short, strawberry blonde hair swung around as she looked around as she took in her surroundings.

“So, Moe, how did you end up in the desert?” I asked. She looked at me with those nearly black eyes and tilted her head.

“Oh, I escaped from a couple of Dracs. You know, they’re not the brightest stars in the sky.” I let out a small laugh and nodded.

“I’ve been told. So is that how you got the little cut on your forehead and the scrapes on your arms and legs?” She nodded.

“Yeah, one of the idiots hit my head on the top of the car when they were forcing me into the van. I managed to get away and I’ve been running ever since. That was actually yesterday, come to think of it.” She’s been running for two days? No wonder she passed out.

“Oh, wow. And it was just you?” Her face darkened. Oops, bad question to ask, I guess.

“No, I was with others. Three, to be exact. We were in a fire fight with some S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/Ws and our leader was shot and killed on the spot. I had to take over. So, I saluted him and lead the fight. The other two people with me, Karma Hurricane and Heated Tsunami, who were brother and sister, were taken to prison inside Battery City. I managed to escape, like I said, but they weren’t. I just… I feel like it’s my fault…” She trailed off as a single tear fell from her eye. I rushed over to her side and pulled her into my arms. She turned into my small frame and I felt the moisture from her tears on my shoulder. I rubbed her back and murmured soothing words to calm her down.

After a while, her breathing slowed and she pulled back to look at me, her dark eyes puffy from the crying.

“Thank you, Beth.” She said softly. I nodded.

“No problem, Moe. We’ll get your friends back, I promise.” Her eyes lit up.

“Really?”

“Of course.” I said, though I was unsure. What would Gerard say?