Hit the Dust

16th August: 2:41pm

Fun Ghoul tosses his rucksack onto the cracked tile of the 'kitchen' floor once he has retrieved his canteen from inside, and he takes a quick mouthful of grimy water and takes a glance out of the broken window. He sighs when he doesn't see the car outside and heads back through to the empty living space where Kobra Kid and Jet Star are sitting on the warm sand looking through an old blueprint of their current home, Zone 4.

"So the border into Zone 3 is somewhere here, right?" Jet recalls, and he taps the top right hand corner of the blueprint with his finger. Kobra opens up a roadmap of the Zones and skims over it for confirmation before he hums out a 'yes'. "Right, so where did Wreckage set up?"

Kobra Kid pauses for a moment. "Are Wreckage the four girls? The ones whose mother got brainwashed last year?" he asks. Jet nods. "Oh, they were about three miles north of the border the last I heard, that was about a week ago. Why?"

Fun Ghoul sits down opposite them before Jet has a chance to reply, legs crossed and eyes on the map, canteen settled comfortably between his thighs. He screws the cap back onto it tightly before lifting his gaze to meet Kobra's. "Because they know how to get into the city," he answers before Jet can. Jet smirks slightly and nods his head towards Fun Ghoul, who continues. "And they're probably the strongest team besides us. I've seen the youngest girl's gun. That shit is insane."

The three men smile and fold up the blueprint and the map, stuffing them under the worn couch for later. Fun Ghoul hands around his canteen for everyone to take a drink, knowing that keeping hydrated is the most important but also the most difficult task out here. They each rinse their mouths with a mouthful of water and swallow, the liquid warm from the desert heat but still refreshing somehow.

"So what, we're gonna try and find those girls?" asks Kobra. Jet nods his head yes, pointing out that they can't go until Party Poison gets back, though. "Any sign of him yet?"

"Not yet," Fun Ghoul sighs, tucking his dark hair behind his ear and dropping his gaze into his lap. As if on cue, the door opens and Poison steps inside, dropping his bag onto the floor next to the door as Fun Ghoul stands up and approaches him eagerly. Poison opens his arms readily and Fun Ghoul throws himself into them, feeling them clutch him around the waist and wrapping his own arms around the elder's neck.

"Hey," Poison mumbles with a smile and pulls back from the embrace. He directs his attention to the group and nods back towards the door. "Sorry I took so long, guys. There's a crate of water in the trunk."

"Thank fuck!" Kobra sighs, getting to his feet to go and retrieve the crate. "Jet, give me a hand, yeah?"

Poison and Fun Ghoul step aside to allow their comrades outside, and accompany each other into the kitchen where Fun Ghoul jumps up to sit on the crumbling counter and Poison stands beside him leaning against it. The pair remain silent for a short while, enjoying the comfortable atmosphere and relishing in the fact they are all still safe and unharmed. After a couple of minutes, the silence is broken.

"Someone died last night, didn't they?" mutters Poison lowly without shifting his gaze, recalling the empty, quiet atmosphere of desert earlier that day. Fun Ghoul glances sideways and sighs sadly. Poison turns to face him with a questioning look. "What?"

"I'm sorry," Fun Ghoul whispers, latching his hand around Poison's, who is still staring curiously at the younger's face. "It was Auntie Matter."