Hopeless for You

A week or so of shooting practice with the girls and they were getting better. Lucky seemed to get the hang of it faster than the others. Today, we were beginning hand-to-hand combat, in terms if your gun was knocked away from you. The girls picked their partners. Revenge was partnered with Jet, Lucky with Kobra, Destroya with Poison, which left Mortician with me.

We each spread out, putting yards and yards between our groups.

"Do I really have to hit you?" she asked me, tucking her bandanna in her back pocket.

"I give you permission to hit me. It makes the simulation easier." I replied. She nodded once and then, without my acknowledgement, elbowed my nose. I staggered, staring at her incredulously.

Mortician smirked and lunged toward me again, but I caught her fist, twisting her flat on her back. She grunted in pain and coughed.

"I didn't think you were gonna fight back." she rasped, squinting up at me. I shook my head.

"You think it's that easy?" Those Draculoids fight back. They're not gonna let their asses get kicked; especially by a female." I put out my hand to help her. When she was on her feet again, she threw her fist into my stomach, then knocked my shin with the soles of her Docs. I went down on my knees, which she took to her advantage. Mortician kneed my face and shoved me on my side with her foot. "Uncle!" I called.

She sighed and stood over me, her legs on both sides of my body. She put her hands on her hips and smiled. "You give up too easily. I'm just getting started."

She turned to walk off, but I grabbed her foot as she lifted it and pulled. Mortician fell flat on her stomach and yelped in pain. I chuckled this time. I crawled up on her back, pinning her legs with my knees and her wrists with my hands. I bent to her ear and spoke softly, almost tauntingly.

"Make sure I'm dead before you turn your back." I said, finally letting her go and standing. She stood too, rubbing a hand across the lower part of her rib cage, then dusting the dirt off her clothes. She lunged for me once again, and this time, I embraced her. She locked her legs around my waist, got her hands around my neck, and squeezed. Going into self-defense mode I removed my ray gun from the holster and pressed it under her chin.

She gasped.

"I swear to God, I will fucking kill you." I growled. Mortician's hands fell from my neck and she wrapped her arms around me. I restored my gun to the leather holster and awkwardly secured my arms around her.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, the sound almost lost over the strong winds.

"It's okay. Just get off of me." I replied slowly and calmly. Mortician slowly slid to the ground, I steadied her with my hands on her upper arms. "If you're going to get up-close and personal with your attacker, be the first to pull the trigger."

"Do I just whip out like you did or should I have it hidden and ready?"

"If you're able to get that close without being shot, whip it out."

"Note taken."

We stood in silence, she was staring at the ground between us, I was staring at her. The wind picked up, blowing dust into our months and eyes and nearly knocking us over.

"Dust storm." Mortician said almost inaudible. She turned her head toward the horizon, I followed her gaze. A large cloud of dirt was rolling our way. My hand found hers and we ran. The bunker was nearly a mile away and suddenly Mortician's knees gave way and she collapsed. The cloud was getting closer.

"Come one, keep running!" I yelled to her. I helped her get back on her feet and we were running again. The dirt cloud began to envelope us, making it hard to see.

Flashbacks played through my mind. All the ash, all the smoke, all the running.

"Hey, is anyone still out there?!" I heard Jet shout.

"Hey, we're here!" I shouted back.

"Hey!" Mortician yelled. We were getting closer.