The Resistance

POV Frank

I was sitting at the table, gritting my teeth as I worked my way through a tin of cat food. I couldn’t stop thinking about training earlier. Party’s outburst was enlightening for me today. He seemed so… strong. Like he could stop trains with his glares. Like he could fight off the whole of BL/ind singlehandedly. Oh my God, why did I question his position?! What if he thinks I’m cocky?! No, I was right to question him... Was I over thinking this?

No.

He was powerful, and you could tell that all the students were very respectful of Party, even if they didn’t really show it. He had this aura around him… I don’t know, was he really as strong as he seemed?

I didn’t want him to get the wrong impression of me… I looked weak today, standing at the back of the crowd earlier, urgh. I swallowed more food in disgust.

‘You alright there?’

The man himself interrupted my thoughts, and I immediately think ‘did he hear me?’ before realizing how bloody stupid I was being. He can’t hear bloody thoughts, unless he’s a freaking physic, and he can’t be that amazing. Fuck, I would be screwed then.

‘Uh, haha, yeah, it just tastes god-damn awful.’

He gave me a smile which hit me like a kick in the gut, a shot to the head and a stab in the heart. I’m pretty sure he noticed me gasp a little; why the hell am I feeling like this?! Not that I was complaining, but I could feel all the blood rushing to my head, oh god, please don’t say I was going red…

‘Don’t worry, you get used to it.’

I just smiled, because I was scared that if I opened my mouth I’d be sick. The shitty cat food doubled with Party less than a metre away… I pulled out a chair next to me and slid a tin of cat food over to him. He nodded in appreciation and sat down, whilst opening the tin with such smoothness that had been perfected over a long time.

‘How long have you been here?’ I bent over and looked at him through my fringe, because I think I was still a bit red.

He was looking straight at me, right into my eyes. God, they were so.. wow. They were eyes that had seen a lot of things. Party sighed and looked straight ahead out of the window, into the desert.

‘I don’t know… 6 months? Maybe more, maybe less, the days just merge together.’ He looked down into his tin.

‘You don’t know how lonely it gets.’

What can I say to that? Somehow, I didn’t feel that words could hold him together. His hands were cupped so hard around his tin that it was starting to bend inwards, distorting the cats face on the side of the tin. It was grimacing now, planning, plotting… Party was still just staring through the window, his face just emotionless. It killed me inside. I stretched my hand out, and softly placed my hand on his. His hands are smooth. He raised his head, his red hair getting in the way of his eyes, shaping around his face. He gave me a look that, without a doubt, just said ‘help me.’

Then, without a word, he got up, took his can, and walked out of the room.

****
The stars are so pretty out here. There’s no light pollution like in Battery City, so you can see every star. I was sitting down behind the house, leaning against the breaking wood. I could hear so much too, not the teenagers inside, just the wind rustling the trees, and the sand ambling along the desert.

I’d been there about an hour before I heard a voice. I slid down a little further; the whole reason I came out here was to escape the bloody people. They were talking quite slowly; to themselves? I couldn’t hear a second voice, nor a second pair of footsteps.

As they walked around the side of the house, I recognized Jet; you couldn’t miss him. I quite like Jet. As my roommate, I’ve had to spend a bit of time with him, and he’s a good guy. I stood up as soon as I saw him; I didn’t mind spending a bit of time with him.

I regretted it almost instantly. Walking about 3 feet behind him was Party, kicking his heels against the sand.

‘Hey Ghoul.’ Jet gave me a small smile, which I returned. What’s the point in being surly? Party looked up at me from where he’d been looking at the ground, and looked me straight in the eye. He didn’t smile, but my smile didn’t disappear.

Jet, I think sensing something, spoke up.

‘Uh, Ghoul, Party and I were going to do some shooting practice. Do you, want to join?’

I wasn’t expecting that.

‘Why so late?’ I looked up at the sky, as if to check that it was indeed still night. ‘It must be at least 11.’

‘We need a break from the kids too y’know’ Jet said with a smile. ‘Plus, it’s easier to practice without all that… noise from them too. So, you want to join?’

‘Well, I, um..’

‘No, no, no, Jetstar, just keep it me and you.’ Party strode past us, not looking at either of us, and walked towards the general direction of the dummies that we used earlier today. Ray looked at me, shrugged, and followed him.

So naturally, so did I.

***
They both knew I was following them of course, but they didn’t stop me. Maybe Party wanted me there, but didn’t want Jet to know? Whatever was going through his head, he was afraid to show it. Afraid… or Embarrassed?

We’d been walking for about an hour before we got to the dummies, much quicker than earlier. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stood back and let Jet and Party decide. Party whipped out his gun and started polishing it off, whilst Jet just watched him before reaching for his own.

Party started walking towards the dummies, then stopping and aiming.

‘You look a little tense Party’ I called out. Jet looked horrified at my speech, but I just winked at him. Party looked round at me with dagger eyes, before rolling his shoulders back and aiming again.

‘You could raise your arm a little higher, you won’t hit the heart if you stand like that’ I call out again.
The next thing I know, the wind pressure beside my ear increased, and I felt a bullet slide far too close to my hair, the sound vibrating in my head. My hair flicked out from the speed of the bullet, and the sound of it was so loud I genuinely thought I’d been hit. I raised my hand up to my ear, then looked at y fingerless glove- no blood.

‘And what if I wasn’t aiming for the heart?’ Party was standing with his legs apart, shoulders down, looking up at me through his hair, talking in a voice that would cut steel, panting. Jet had stepped back, gasping at me and Party.

‘You bastard, you shot at me!’ I yelled back, putting my hand on my own gun on its holster.

‘You’re fucking lucky I didn’t try, otherwise your head would be blown from here to Battery City. Now why don’t you crawl back to the house sweetheart, and leave the guns to the big boys?’ Party was smiling at me now, with a glint in his eye that just dared me to retaliate. Oh my god, he looked so… sexy. His lips were so perfect, rolled into that smile that just wanted to be kissed. He stepped closer to me, still with a gleeful smile on his face, man, I so badly wanted to….

‘Right you twats, lets shoot at something other than our boyfriend’s heads shall we?’ Jet stepped in the middle of us, probably for the best.

‘We’re no-‘

‘That’s not tru-‘

‘Shut the fuck up both of you and fucking listen to me for once, yeah?’ He was yelling now; why was he yelling?

‘I’ve got a proposal for the both of you.’ This shut up mine and Party’s protests against being called ‘boyfriends’. Unless people thought we were? I hope so… I shook my head, as if to cleanse the stupid thoughts from my head, and him. Not that he would ever leave my head.

‘Whoever shoots closest to the heart takes Ghoul out.’

There was silence for a second whilst we both registered what Jet was saying. I… was the prize? To take me on a date? Party looked at me, and for a second we just looked each other in the eye. Then, without looking at Jet, strode towards the dummy.

‘You’re on.’