Status: Complete
Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back
Middle Of ***ing Nowhere, California
The van rolls to a stop in The Middle of Fucking Nowhere, California at around eight thirty. It’s starting to get hot even now this early, but that’s not the real problem.
“We’re fucked,” Frank groans as the engine sputters. “So, so fucked.”
“Well, let’s get going,” Mikey says, starting to throw canned food in a bag. “We need to find shelter before it’s too hot.”
“What?” Frank asks, a little dumbfound.
“We’re walking,” Bob grunts, throwing Frank his bag. “Start packing.”
Everyone packs up what can be salvaged from the van. They distribute the water bottles evenly, and then get ready to start walking.
“Which way, Mikes?” Gerard asks, looking at the map Mikey is holding.
“It looks like there might have been a town out east of the highway,” Mikey replies, slipping on his sunglasses so he can see better. “So I guess east it is.”
They start walking, Mikey leading, Gerard and Anette next, and then Bob, Ray and Frank all together. As they leave, Ray pats the hood of the van. “Sorry,” he says, and then they’re off into the desert.
-
“Gee, can I have the water?”
Gerard looks down at the water bottle he’s holding, the one he and Anette have been passing back and forth. It’s only been an hour and a half and there’s only a good mouthful left in this one.
“Yeah, finish it,” he says, passing it to her. She doesn’t even protest, just drinks the water, making sure not to waste a drop.
“Thanks,” she says, stowing the empty bottle in her bag. “We’ll refill it when we find this town.”
Gerard smiled at her optimism. “Yeah. Hey Mikey, how much further?”
“Dunno, it’s difficult to judge how far we’ve gone,” Mikey says from the front of the line. “My guess… maybe five more miles?”
“Right.” Gerard hopes that Mikey is right. If they keep this up, they’ll all be dead of heatstroke by tomorrow.
-
By eleven, they’ve stripped off several layers. Anette is in a tank-top and shorts, her shoulders starting to get burned. Frank, Ray and Bob have all shed their shirts, and even Mikey changed into shorts at one point. They are all panting, desperate to find this maybe town that is starting to look like it didn’t actually exist.
“Guys, we have to find shade soon,” Ray says, his voice wheezy.
“Yeah, look, we’ll head for that outcropping,” Mikey assures him, pointing ahead to a rock formation. They trudge on, hoping to get there as fast as possible.
When they do, and they’ve checked thoroughly for snakes, they all collapse in the shade.
“Who’s got the knife?” Bob asks, pulling out some cans of pasta. Their last ones. “We’ll have to split it.”
Mikey mutilates the cans, but they’re opened and consumed by the six starving refugees in no time. They all finish off another two bottles of water, and then they lay there, napping and wondering what was next.
Mikey takes his time studying the map again, wishing it was… less tourist-y. All he knows is that they had walked east and were somewhere, lost, in the middle of the desert.
“Hey, what’s that?” Anette asks, pointing to the horizon. A dust cloud is traveling there.
“Let’s look,” Gerard says before anyone has a chance to really think, and the two of them exit the little cave and take up scout on top of the rock. “Guys, it’s a car. But not like, a Draculoid vehicle, but like a beat to shit thing that’s going… somewhere.”
With that, everyone else scrambles out to see what he’s talking about. In the distance, they do see a car driving some dirt road, and they all kind of sigh in relief.
“Let’s follow it. It’s going in the right direction,” Mikey suggests, and so they pack up.
-
They follow the car, or rather, it’s dust trail, for another twenty minutes before they can see the remains of a pit stop rising out of the sand. It’s only a small handful of buildings, but it’s so remote that they’re sure no one (besides the driver of the car) will be there. They all pick up the pace, and in no time, they’re creeping on the outskirts.
“Okay, so it looks like there’s a diner, a gas station, and some kind of mechanic building,” Mikey whispers, pulling his lazar gun out. They’re all crouched behind a makeshift fence made of some rusting roving. “Let’s split up and search it. Whoever was driving that car has to be here. I’ll go with Frank and Gerard, and Bob, you take Anette and Ray. Meet back here in twenty, okay?”
Everyone nods to the plan and they split up, Bob leading Anette and Ray to go search the diner, while Mikey, Frank and Gerard take the gas station. They crouch low when they approach the front door, which is actually closed. Most of the windows are boarded up, but they can hear a muffled voice inside.
The three of them exchange nods before Frank unleashes a rather powerful kick and throws open the door.
“I was wondering when you kids were gonna show up.”
Mikey freezes in the doorway, his lazar gun pointed at the man in front of him. But it’s not the furnishing of the room, or the appearance of the man, or even the fact that he’s pointing a gun right back at them that makes Mikey stop. It’s the man’s voice.
It’s Doctor Death Defying.
-
“Go ahead and put the gun down, pretty boy. I’m not gonna shoot you if you don’t try and shoot me,” Death Defying says, lowering his own gun. Instinctively, Mikey lowers his.
“You’re… you’re the guy on the radio!” Frank blurts out. Gerard is standing there, just as stunned as Mikey. “How did you…?”
“I saw you following my car. I figured you were headed this way. Show Pony should have found your friends right about—”
The back door bursts open and Bob, Ray and Anette are ushered inside, escorted by a male wearing roller skates, tights, and a cut off shirt. A helmet hides his face.
“Yeup. Well, now that we’re all together, you kids want food?” Death Defying offers.
“Food?” Ray asks, confused.
“Food. And then you can tell me why SCARECROW is after you.”
Everyone exchanges glances. They’re not sure if they can trust Death Defying and his friend or not, but really, they don’t have much of a choice.
“Sure,” Gerard says, and they all start rummaging around for food in the nearly-abandoned gas station.
-
“So, they’re hunting you because you saw them kill someone, and then tried to silence you,” Death Defying sums up, watching the six of them eat food almost ravenously. They’ve moved to the diner where they can all sit down and eat, except for Show Pony, who has disappeared again. “Sounds pretty typical.”
“Typical?” Anette asks.
“We don’t live in the middle of the desert for nothing,” he replied, taking a drink of coffee. “If you keep your heads down, we might let you camp out here for a while.”
“Really? You’ll do that for us?”
“Why not. We’ve got the same enemy, and hey, the more the merrier. You can have the house out behind the gas station. It’s empty, but it should still work for the most part.”
Gerard swallows his food. “Thanks. We appreciate it.”
Death Defying stands up. “No problem. I’ve got a radio show to start,” he says, and walks out the back towards the gas station.
Everyone continues eating in silence. They don’t say it, but everyone can sense the relief in the air. No more running. At least, not for a while. For now, they were safe.
-
The next morning, Gerard, Mikey and Bob make a trip to the nearest town in the graffitied Trans-AM. They come back with food, two other lazar guns, and bottles of hair bleach and dye. In their absence, Anette, Frank and Ray scowered the house, setting it up in a somewhat pleasant manner. The two bedrooms upstairs have been furnished with enough sleeping space for the six of them, and the kitchen and sitting room downstairs have been turned into a sort of base of operations. And in the attic, Frank makes a sort of exciting find.
“Guys, look at these!” He holds up an old red racing jacket, dusty, but seeming to be in good shape. “They’re so cool! And there’s six of them.”
Ray goes for the first jacket on top of the pile, a black one with an American flag under a giant black widow printed on the back. “Damn Frank, and these were in the attic?”
“Yeah, there’s a whole bunch of shit up there, like helmets and crap like that,” Frank answers, distracted by the green vest he’s now trying on. “Fuck, this one is perfect. It’s so mine.”
“Yours? You’re going to take them?” Anette asks, poking through the pile. They all seem to be men’s sizes.
“Why not? They’re just lying about in this dusty old house. It’s not like we’re actually stealing or anything.”
Anette sighs. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Dude, we should like, make up new identities. Since we’re outlaws now,” Frank jokes to Ray, who has pulled on the coat and zipping it up. “You know. Because then we can like, be super undercover.”
Ray laughs. “Frank, you’re such a dork. But I guess so. These jackets are pretty sweet, anyways.”
-
“They’ve been spotted.”
Korse grabs his walkie talkie a little too hard.
“Where?”
“About twenty miles north west of here. It’s near to where we think the radio transmissions come from.”
Korse laughs. “Excellent. Pack up, we’re going hunting.”
“We’re fucked,” Frank groans as the engine sputters. “So, so fucked.”
“Well, let’s get going,” Mikey says, starting to throw canned food in a bag. “We need to find shelter before it’s too hot.”
“What?” Frank asks, a little dumbfound.
“We’re walking,” Bob grunts, throwing Frank his bag. “Start packing.”
Everyone packs up what can be salvaged from the van. They distribute the water bottles evenly, and then get ready to start walking.
“Which way, Mikes?” Gerard asks, looking at the map Mikey is holding.
“It looks like there might have been a town out east of the highway,” Mikey replies, slipping on his sunglasses so he can see better. “So I guess east it is.”
They start walking, Mikey leading, Gerard and Anette next, and then Bob, Ray and Frank all together. As they leave, Ray pats the hood of the van. “Sorry,” he says, and then they’re off into the desert.
-
“Gee, can I have the water?”
Gerard looks down at the water bottle he’s holding, the one he and Anette have been passing back and forth. It’s only been an hour and a half and there’s only a good mouthful left in this one.
“Yeah, finish it,” he says, passing it to her. She doesn’t even protest, just drinks the water, making sure not to waste a drop.
“Thanks,” she says, stowing the empty bottle in her bag. “We’ll refill it when we find this town.”
Gerard smiled at her optimism. “Yeah. Hey Mikey, how much further?”
“Dunno, it’s difficult to judge how far we’ve gone,” Mikey says from the front of the line. “My guess… maybe five more miles?”
“Right.” Gerard hopes that Mikey is right. If they keep this up, they’ll all be dead of heatstroke by tomorrow.
-
By eleven, they’ve stripped off several layers. Anette is in a tank-top and shorts, her shoulders starting to get burned. Frank, Ray and Bob have all shed their shirts, and even Mikey changed into shorts at one point. They are all panting, desperate to find this maybe town that is starting to look like it didn’t actually exist.
“Guys, we have to find shade soon,” Ray says, his voice wheezy.
“Yeah, look, we’ll head for that outcropping,” Mikey assures him, pointing ahead to a rock formation. They trudge on, hoping to get there as fast as possible.
When they do, and they’ve checked thoroughly for snakes, they all collapse in the shade.
“Who’s got the knife?” Bob asks, pulling out some cans of pasta. Their last ones. “We’ll have to split it.”
Mikey mutilates the cans, but they’re opened and consumed by the six starving refugees in no time. They all finish off another two bottles of water, and then they lay there, napping and wondering what was next.
Mikey takes his time studying the map again, wishing it was… less tourist-y. All he knows is that they had walked east and were somewhere, lost, in the middle of the desert.
“Hey, what’s that?” Anette asks, pointing to the horizon. A dust cloud is traveling there.
“Let’s look,” Gerard says before anyone has a chance to really think, and the two of them exit the little cave and take up scout on top of the rock. “Guys, it’s a car. But not like, a Draculoid vehicle, but like a beat to shit thing that’s going… somewhere.”
With that, everyone else scrambles out to see what he’s talking about. In the distance, they do see a car driving some dirt road, and they all kind of sigh in relief.
“Let’s follow it. It’s going in the right direction,” Mikey suggests, and so they pack up.
-
They follow the car, or rather, it’s dust trail, for another twenty minutes before they can see the remains of a pit stop rising out of the sand. It’s only a small handful of buildings, but it’s so remote that they’re sure no one (besides the driver of the car) will be there. They all pick up the pace, and in no time, they’re creeping on the outskirts.
“Okay, so it looks like there’s a diner, a gas station, and some kind of mechanic building,” Mikey whispers, pulling his lazar gun out. They’re all crouched behind a makeshift fence made of some rusting roving. “Let’s split up and search it. Whoever was driving that car has to be here. I’ll go with Frank and Gerard, and Bob, you take Anette and Ray. Meet back here in twenty, okay?”
Everyone nods to the plan and they split up, Bob leading Anette and Ray to go search the diner, while Mikey, Frank and Gerard take the gas station. They crouch low when they approach the front door, which is actually closed. Most of the windows are boarded up, but they can hear a muffled voice inside.
The three of them exchange nods before Frank unleashes a rather powerful kick and throws open the door.
“I was wondering when you kids were gonna show up.”
Mikey freezes in the doorway, his lazar gun pointed at the man in front of him. But it’s not the furnishing of the room, or the appearance of the man, or even the fact that he’s pointing a gun right back at them that makes Mikey stop. It’s the man’s voice.
It’s Doctor Death Defying.
-
“Go ahead and put the gun down, pretty boy. I’m not gonna shoot you if you don’t try and shoot me,” Death Defying says, lowering his own gun. Instinctively, Mikey lowers his.
“You’re… you’re the guy on the radio!” Frank blurts out. Gerard is standing there, just as stunned as Mikey. “How did you…?”
“I saw you following my car. I figured you were headed this way. Show Pony should have found your friends right about—”
The back door bursts open and Bob, Ray and Anette are ushered inside, escorted by a male wearing roller skates, tights, and a cut off shirt. A helmet hides his face.
“Yeup. Well, now that we’re all together, you kids want food?” Death Defying offers.
“Food?” Ray asks, confused.
“Food. And then you can tell me why SCARECROW is after you.”
Everyone exchanges glances. They’re not sure if they can trust Death Defying and his friend or not, but really, they don’t have much of a choice.
“Sure,” Gerard says, and they all start rummaging around for food in the nearly-abandoned gas station.
-
“So, they’re hunting you because you saw them kill someone, and then tried to silence you,” Death Defying sums up, watching the six of them eat food almost ravenously. They’ve moved to the diner where they can all sit down and eat, except for Show Pony, who has disappeared again. “Sounds pretty typical.”
“Typical?” Anette asks.
“We don’t live in the middle of the desert for nothing,” he replied, taking a drink of coffee. “If you keep your heads down, we might let you camp out here for a while.”
“Really? You’ll do that for us?”
“Why not. We’ve got the same enemy, and hey, the more the merrier. You can have the house out behind the gas station. It’s empty, but it should still work for the most part.”
Gerard swallows his food. “Thanks. We appreciate it.”
Death Defying stands up. “No problem. I’ve got a radio show to start,” he says, and walks out the back towards the gas station.
Everyone continues eating in silence. They don’t say it, but everyone can sense the relief in the air. No more running. At least, not for a while. For now, they were safe.
-
The next morning, Gerard, Mikey and Bob make a trip to the nearest town in the graffitied Trans-AM. They come back with food, two other lazar guns, and bottles of hair bleach and dye. In their absence, Anette, Frank and Ray scowered the house, setting it up in a somewhat pleasant manner. The two bedrooms upstairs have been furnished with enough sleeping space for the six of them, and the kitchen and sitting room downstairs have been turned into a sort of base of operations. And in the attic, Frank makes a sort of exciting find.
“Guys, look at these!” He holds up an old red racing jacket, dusty, but seeming to be in good shape. “They’re so cool! And there’s six of them.”
Ray goes for the first jacket on top of the pile, a black one with an American flag under a giant black widow printed on the back. “Damn Frank, and these were in the attic?”
“Yeah, there’s a whole bunch of shit up there, like helmets and crap like that,” Frank answers, distracted by the green vest he’s now trying on. “Fuck, this one is perfect. It’s so mine.”
“Yours? You’re going to take them?” Anette asks, poking through the pile. They all seem to be men’s sizes.
“Why not? They’re just lying about in this dusty old house. It’s not like we’re actually stealing or anything.”
Anette sighs. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Dude, we should like, make up new identities. Since we’re outlaws now,” Frank jokes to Ray, who has pulled on the coat and zipping it up. “You know. Because then we can like, be super undercover.”
Ray laughs. “Frank, you’re such a dork. But I guess so. These jackets are pretty sweet, anyways.”
-
“They’ve been spotted.”
Korse grabs his walkie talkie a little too hard.
“Where?”
“About twenty miles north west of here. It’s near to where we think the radio transmissions come from.”
Korse laughs. “Excellent. Pack up, we’re going hunting.”