Hopeless for You

Our first morning in our new home in Battery City I hoped to be as peaceful as the night, but I was sadly mistaken when a loud siren disturbed my slumber. I jumped out of my sleeping state and sat up as quick as I could. Agent Destroya ran in my room, horror all over her face and body language.

"What is that noise?" she shouted over the hypnotic siren.

"I don't know!" I yelled back, jumping out of bed and running past her to the living room.

Everyone was emerging from their rooms in alarm. When I searched the living room for the source of the noise, I saw black and white rings circling and spinning on the television screen. Everyone stared at it with me. Then, a chilling voice, a female, began to speak in a sort of dead, illusive tone.

"Please stare into the center of the moving shape," she said. "I am so happy to be alive."

"What the fuck is this?" Ghoul whispered to me. I shrugged.

"Everything is going to be fine," the voice continued. "Did I take my medication today? Keep working hard to stay alive."

The spinning rings suddenly vanished and the illusion of the BLI smiling logo was left in its wake and the female's dead, sing-song voice said, "Goodbye." The program ended and the Battery City
fact News preceded.

"That was...odd." I remarked. Everyone nodded in agreement.

Then, there was a loud knock at the front door. Everyone scrambled and looked around in question of who it might be.

"Just sit on the couch, I'll answer it." I whispered-yelled to them.

Once everyone was seated, Poison looking a bit uncomfortable from taking orders from me, I answered the knock. There stood a masked Drac, presenting a hefty-looking box on a dolly. I nodded and allowed the Drac entrance. Once the Draculoid had finished stocking all of the personal bathrooms with medicine, she shook my hand and said "Bulletproof Vandal" and left without another word.

"She was a rebel." I said as I shut the door behind her.

Everyone relaxed after that and went about the house.

"This place freaks me out." Lucky said, staring at the television as if lost in thought.

"I second that." Romantic added. "I nearly had a freaking heart attack when that siren went off."

"It sucks that these people have to endure that everyday." Ghoul said. "Do you guys ever wonder if...maybe they like it here?"

"Of course they like it, they're brainwashed!" Kobra answered. "Dumb-founded zombies of a very fucked up government. It's like, fucking, North Korea."

"This place was supposed to be some sort of safe haven for people after those bombs were dropped," Poison began. "Of course they like it here. What they probably don't like is the thought adjustments, and the pills, and the lack of human interaction outside of these homes."

"What if a woman is pregnant? Where does she go?" Destroya asked half to herself.

"Guess we'll never know until we get the chance to ask another rebel or one of you gets knocked up." Jet answered.

We all exchanged awkward glances. After a couple of minutes of silence, I decided to raid the kitchen. Destroya, Ghoul, and Poison joined me.

"They stocked the entire kitchen with-" Destroya cut off to read the label of the can she found in the fridge. "POWER PUP® Pre-Moistened Kibble."

"The entire kitchen?!" I question in exasperation. I swung open the doors of cabinets and saw every shelf stocked with the same canned product.

"Holy shit." Ghoul said. He pulled out a can and started reading the nutrition label. "Well, good news is this is filled with all the vitamins, minerals, and proteins we would normally get from different foo groups."

"That sounds really nasty." Poison commented. "I miss Dr. D's mystery roadkill already." he added, rubbing his stomach.

"It doesn't have the ingredients." Ghoul said. We all took turns searching the cans for the ingredients. "Looks like they don't want us to know what they're feeding us."

"I'm not eating it." Destroya said, tossing the cans back in the cabinets. "If I don't know what's in it, I'm not eating it."

"Same!" Lucky called form the living room.

"We have too. They inspect houses and shit to make sure we're abiding by their rules." Poison ordered.

"Hey, I can handle it, Poison." I said.

"We're all one gang." he retorted.

"And who made you leader?" I shot back.

"You joined my gang, you take orders from me." Poison took a giant step forward toward me and we were suddenly nose to nose, battling our domination.

"I don't take orders from anyone. Especially not you." I growled, stabbing a finger in his chest.

Poison's hands found my upper arms and he shoved me back against the wall. "YOU WANNA DO THIS ALONE?! GET OUT!"

"Whoa! Calm the fuck down!" Ghoul shouted, pulling Poison away from me.

"You have no idea what we're up against," Poison continued. "Because there's a war, you want to seem like some hero because you're a woman. All you care about is your pride."

"That's not true!" I screamed at him until my throat was raw, which was probably a bad idea. "You don't tell me what the fuck I care about! You have no idea what the fuck I care about, you selfish prick!"

"Okay, that's enough. You two need to keep your voices down. You possibly attracted the attention of a patrolling Draculoid." Jet stepped in, dragging me out of the kitchen.

I ran to my room and slammed the door, feeling pathetic and naive. I was a teenage girl that was put down by her parents all over again. I flopped down on my bed and crossed my arms, hot tears spilling from my eyes. I thought about myself about 3 years ago, crying in my bed about how I felt my life wasn't worth it and I was better off dead. Now I felt empty and totally stripped of the power I had built up over the year to hold my gang and I together. My authority had been stomped on and thrown in the trash by A MAN. I'm no feminist, but this is the most degrading I've ever felt; being put in my place by a male figure.

A knock startled me from my thoughts and my trembling voice called "Go away." But the door opened anyway. It was Fun Ghoul.

"Hey, don't cry over him." he said quietly. He hesitated before finally deciding to sit beside me on my bed. "It's a little intimidating for him to have another leader who's..."

"A female." I added for him.

"Yes. You know guys and their pride and their protective nature-"

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry he feels like I've intruded on his territory in the leadership position. I have no place to do that. After all, I am a woman and have no place for authority. I hadn't realized we were enduring the fifties period again."

"That's not it, Mortician." Ghoul said, his hand gripping my let shoulder, turning me to face him. "He's a boy. Boys will be boys. Yes, he is used to being the leader. But all he wants is to protect you and everyone else. I've gotten to know this man very, very well for a year. All he does and wants to do is serve and protect."

"Natural born soldier." I said after a moment of silence. Ghoul smiled and nodded. My heart swelled and I sighed at the sight of his smile. He caught my eyes and his smile toned down a couple notches. "Um..." I trailed off, sounding idiotic. I had something to say, but my mind was swept clean. Like I had exhaled every known thought I'd had before this.

"Um?" Ghoul mocked me. I giggled at him and wiped at my tear washed cheeks. He helped me. His rough hands on my face felt so good. Warm, callused, gentle hands, stroking my face. I let my head fall on his shoulder absently. He didn't stir or speak. I felt a hand on my back, holding me here.

"Just tell that fucker to keep his hands off of me and stop belittling me." I said in a low tone, closing my eyes and relaxing against him.

"I'll tell him. Do you want to be left alone?"

"Actually..." I hesitated. "No, I don't." I let my right arm wrap around his neck and attach me to him.

Fun Ghoul fell back against the mattress, taking me down with him. I awkwardly position myself next to him by the wall. I rested my left arm under my head and my right hand on his chest. He held my hand in his and I felt a shiver rock through me. He closed his eyes and smiled. I inhaled his scent and bit my tongue to keep from moaning. We laid like this until he drifted to sleep and I shortly after him.

Being beside him like that just felt right.