Hold on Tight and Don't Look Back

Even Cyanide had a hard time keeping up with Kobra as they barreled down Route Guano.

Tension was high as they drove; they didn't know what or who to expect at any moment. No one knew what Korse was thinking or where he was. It was quickly beginning to take a toll on everyone, and paranoia struck them all.

The loud music that blared through the Challenger seemed to clear Cyanide's mind with ease, a small smile appearing on her face every now and again. Exterminator kept a brave small on her face whenever the girl's made the occasional awkward eye contact, and it nearly killed her to be so fake.

But a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do, right?

Her heart began to race faster as they all passed the border into Zone 5. The farther they went, the more anxious it made her. Venturing into the unknown was, in her opinion, an activity that one should never have to become accustom to.

“Babe, you okay?” Cyanide asked quietly. Exterminator's jaw clenched.

“I'm ready to kick and kill some fucking ass about now,” she said nonchalantly, glaring at the road in front of her. Cyanide smirked wickedly.

“That's what I'm fucking talking about!” Cyanide exclaimed loudly as she laughed. “You sound and look so badass when you're pissed.”

“Doesn't happen very often.”

“Which makes it even better,” she stated seriously, but she turned to give her friend a smirk and a wink. Exterminator shrugged.

“I guess,” she replied in a bored tone.

“What's got you so angry?”

“Just anxious.”

Cyanide nodded understandingly. Her eyes went to the road just in time to see Kobra slam on the brakes and turn his right signal on as he swerved to the side of the road. Cyanide had to brake even more dramatically in order to keep from hitting the back of the boys' car.

Once both cars were pulled over and stopped, Cyanide jumped out of the car and nearly sprinted to Kobra.

“What the hell is your problem?” she shouted at him. “You shouldn't have braked like that! You almost made me run into you!” Kobra smirked and shook his head.

“Maybe you should have kept more following distance. You're a killjoy, you should know to expect the unexpected,” he told her smoothly. With that, he tapped an index finger under her chin and gave her a smile that let her know he was just fucking around.

“Yo, Party,” he called out to the redhead that was getting out of the passenger side. “Find wood, I think there are still some matches somewhere in the backseat.” Party nodded and extended his hand to a very pissed looking Cyanide. She saw his hand and couldn't keep a cheesy smile off her face as she grabbed onto it enthusiastically. Party took an old crank flashlight and flashed it on the ground as they walked off to find wood for a campfire.

Exterminator noticed Fun Ghoul climb out of the backseat while she still sat inside of the car, Show Pony and Dr. D behind her.

Dr. D cleared his throat.

“You mind letting us out, Baby?”

Her face showed no different expression as she reached her hand underneath her seat, causing it to fly forward and press her body against the dashboard. Her eyes were still locked onto Fun, who was completely oblivious to it.

She heard the men file out of the car behind her.

“Thanks,” Show Pony said once they were both out. Exterminator said nothing as she moved the car seat back to its original position and closed her side of the door. She looked around to make sure no one was watching her, and turned on the light inside the car. She reached in the glove compartment and pulled out a leatherbound book of the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe; her favorite. She wasn't sure if BL/ind would take the precious, fraying book from her, but she definitely didn't want to take the risk.

She immediately immersed herself into Poe's words and the world outside of that car virtually disappeared.

She was rudely interrupted when someone knocked on her window. She looked up.

“Hey, babe, come on,” Kobra told her gently. He had an uncanny ability to pick up on other people's emotions. He could tell something wasn't right.

She sighed, putting the book back in the compartment and covering it with papers. She got out of the car and closed the door behind her.

“What's up?”

“We're making a campfire,” he told her. “Dr. D agreed he'll tell us what's going on as soon as we got it started.” She nodded, still no emotion whatsoever showing.

Kobra placed an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

“I dunno what's going on with you, love. But you gotta cut it out. You're a killjoy now, remember? You can't let personal shit get in the way. We have to focus on getting Jet Star back and getting Korse off our asses. I'm sorry for being so blunt, I just don't want anything happening to you 'cause you weren't paying attention.”

Exterminator didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She did know, however, that he was right. She had to keep not only herself safe, but now she had a responsibility to her best, and only, friend, and these new men in her life that, whether by choice or fate, were helping to keep her fighting to stay alive and avenge her father.

Kobra smiled at the girl comfortingly, and turned to give her a long hug.

“If you ever need to talk, you better come find me, okay?” he whispered in her ear. She just nodded.

“Okay.”

He kept an arm around Exterminator's shoulders as he walked with her to the campfire that was subtly growing bigger as they piled more wood into it.

She looked around the small circle. Fun Ghoul looked up at the two and his gaze switched between them, an unreadable expression on his face. She could tell he was judging every single thing about her at the moment. She turned to see Show Pony and Dr. D sitting down on the ground, looking, well, nervous as hell. They were hiding something.

They were hiding something bad.

Party Poison casually threw pieces of wood into the fire and smiled to himself as the wood would crackle from the heat while Cyanide sat on the ground behind him, watching him.

“Alright, fuckers,” Kobra said loudly. “Time to find out what the fuck is going on.” He plopped his body down on the ground and gently pulled Exterminator's arm, bringing her down to sit next to him. All eyes turned to Dr. Deathdefying.

“Well, you see, Jet's got himself in a bit of a pickle.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Cyanide mumbled bitterly. Dr. D threw her an empty glance.

“What information does Korse have that let to all this shit?” Party asked.

“You want the short or long story?”

“Short,” Fun interrupted. “We can get details later.”

“Jet Star has a daughter,” Dr. D explained to the group quickly. “Korse send him a message anonymously, saying his daughter would be somewhere. And Jet, being stupid, went. Alone. To see his daughter, who clearly was never there. Korse got him and is holding him captive.”

Everyone was silent as they tried to process this new information.

“That fucking bastard!” Party exclaimed, his voice low and harsh. His words echoed through the dark desert. Both Cyanide and Exterminator involuntarily shuttered.

“I swear to God,” he continued to shout, “if I see that fuck ever again, I'm gonna fucking shoot him.” Cyanide shot up and grabbed onto his arm.

“Party, come on,” she cooed quietly. “Let's go walk around and talk okay? You don't mean that.” He laughed darkly.

“The hell I don't. I treat him like a brother, let him stay with us and tell him everything like I shouldn't have been doing, and he doesn't have the decency to tell me he has a fucking kid? The least he could have and should have done is ask for backup! Now look what he's gotten all of us into!”

Cyanide bit her lip to contain herself. She knew Party had a point, but she also knew she was the only one he'd listen to. And right then, she needed him to calm down. The more of a scene Party caused, the easier it would be for Korse to catch them again.

Cyanide tugged on his arm forcefully this time.

“We're going to go for a fucking walk, okay? Just walk away. Dr. D didn't do anything, so stop yelling. You're just going to draw attention to us.”

Party couldn't argue with her anymore. They walked together towards the car and walked straight down away from the group.

Dr. D and Show Pony said no more to anyone else; they only whispered to one another, careful to make sure no one else could hear them. Exterminator looked over to find Kobra with, not surprisingly, a relaxed facial expression.

“You don't seem surprised,” she said, nudging his shoulder with hers. He shrugged.

“I could tell something was up,” he told her casually. “I just didn't want to start shit.”

Exterminator got up and walked over to Fun Ghoul, who was staring at the fire, his mouth covering his hands. She sat down next to him.

“Haven't talked to you in a while,” he said quietly. “I miss you.”

The short, sentimental statement couldn't crack a smile on her face. Not even a fake one.

“I miss you too,” she admitted. She rested her head on his shoulder and grabbed one of his hands, holding it close to her.

“Party got pissed at me for telling you my name,” he murmured. “He doesn't like how comfortable we're getting with each other.”

“Do you?” Fun was quiet for a moment. He licked his lips.

“Yes and no. No because it scares me. I don't want to get all paranoid of losing someone. Jet could be out there, dead. We don't know. It's too much, you know? But I suppose, I'm happy you came around, too. It gives me a reason to fight. A reason to live.”

Exterminator let out a sigh of sudden content. She'd never been so close to a male, mostly because when you're a killjoy flying through the zones, you pretty much don't have any time for romance bullshit.

She leaned up and placed a kiss underneath his jaw.

“We've all got to keep fighting. If we don't, who else will?”