There's a Certain Loneliness in Your Company

Toxic sat in the back seat of a car the guys called Eight Legs. She wasn’t very happy that Skyla chose to go out with the guys on a run. All she could think of was getting back home. To occupy her time she had been studying the them silently, and what she had already gathered in the short time she knew them was that Party Poison was the ring leader of this rogue group. Kobra Kid was Poison’s younger brother and worked in sync with Poison without ever exchanging so much as a glance. Jet Star was a man of few words and an icy stare. Fun Ghoul seemed to march to the beat of his own drum, even within this tight knit group. He could be a leader on his own, but he didn't dare overstep Poison. Skyla seemed to fit in well with them. She was an adrenaline junkie and loved the chase. Then there was Glitch. As the group of them yelled and howled while they drove out to a secluded part of the desert, Glitch sat scrunched down in the seat, focusing her attention on the monotony of her surroundings.

The windows were down as they drove on, kicking up dust and debris. They were hanging their heads outside, shouting into the void letting it know we had arrived. Glitch wanted to join in on the fun but already felt so out of place. She was amazed at how at ease Skyla seemed to be with these guys. It had only been mere hours since they had met them. True, it’s hard to find others like ourselves out in Zone 5, so it was a nice change to interact with people on the same page as us. There was no time for guessing games out here. You trusted someone or you didn’t. That was it. Not Ritalin Rats. Not Zone Rats. We were Tumbleweeds. All of us, but these guys and Skyla, they were the real Motorbabies. Glitch didn't even bother pretending like she was as excited as the rest of them. She saw no point in faking the rush she didn't quiet have. Instead she kept her eyes on anything that was holding still. She was crouched down between Star and Ghoul, and she was almost sure they didn't notice her through their excitement.

Poison pulled the car to a screeching halt when he was sure there was no one around for miles in any direction. He quickly exited the car, followed by Sklya, then Kobra. The seats flipped up letting Star, Ghoul and Glitch out. Glitch began stretching her legs and walking around aimlessly. The others immediately started babbling about their past runs through the zones and the claps they were in while Poison went to the trunk of the car. He retrieved several stakes and began placing them into the ground. Glitch cocked her head to the side, obviously missing their purpose. The others seemed uninterrupted by this. When he came back from the trunk the second time, she finally saw what he had to put on these stakes. Draculoid masks. Probably from some they had ghosted themselves. This was target practice. Glitch suddenly felt nervous. She wasn’t sure if they would make her shoot or not but the truth is she really didn’t want to. Not after last night. She had never really shot her gun before that anyway, but she knew that she definitely didn’t want to now.

“Alright! Whose gonna smoke these Drac’s?” Poison yelled over everyone’s talking once he was done setting everything up. This caused all of them to howl once more. Glitch scratched at her arm nervously, hoping she would go unnoticed. Skyla immediately took him up on his offer and began running away from the masks, distancing herself to show her accuracy. Everyone followed suit and ran back to where she had stopped. Jet Star stayed back, probably to replace the masks once they were shot off. Glitch thought about staying with him for a minute but decided against it, not wanting to get grief from any of them.

From the look on the guys’ faces, after Skyla shot a few times, it only further proved their acceptance of her. Particularly Poison who eyed her with interest. His bright red hair had fallen over his eyes which he made no attempt to move, not wanting to disrupt his view of her anymore. Glitch felt a tinge of jealous. Not just because of him, but all of them. Toxic didn’t belong here. She wanted to, but she couldn’t. Meeting them only reminded her of the hard decision she still had to make, and time was dwindling. In just a few hours’ time she had to make a choice: leave all of this to join ONE and his team or face his wrath. She began to wonder how long she could run from him if she chose not to join. He already expressed his interest in terminating her. She knew that in this state now, she didn’t stand a chance. Maybe some target practice wouldn’t be so bad. She was brought back from her thoughts when she saw Fun Ghoul approaching her, looking at her inquisitively.

“You alright? You went somewhere for a minute.” He turned his head, inspecting her. She felt her cheeks flush and glanced around at everyone. She didn’t even notice that Skyla was already done shooting and Kobra was up next. Poison had taken a spot next to Skyla and was praising her skills. Glitch shook her head once more of her previous thoughts and attempted to smile at him.

“I’m fine. Really.”

“You sure?” He didn’t seem convinced.

“Ghoul, you up?” Poison called, taking them both from their conversation. Ghoul looked back over at Glitch and smiled, winking at her before walking away.

“Sure.” He took Kobra’s spot and retrieved his own gun from behind him. He raised it and aimed at the masks a few yards away. Before he shot, he reached up and pulled down his mask over his face, showing off. He let off a few rounds and the group watched as three masks in a row flew off the stakes, causing them all to cheer. Jet Star picked them up and sat them back on their pillars. Ghoul slid the mask back on the top of his head and smirked as he replaced his gun and retrieved a cigarette from his pocket. He lit up and blew the smoke up into the air before turning back to Glitch.

“Wanna give it a go?” He nodded toward her.

“Oh … I – I don’t think I should …” She felt everyone’s eyes on her and she began to panic a little.

“Come on, it’s not that hard.” He walked over to her, the lit cig dangling from his lips. She shook her head once more and opened her mouth to protest. He stood right in front of her and reached down to her thigh causing her to freeze. She felt slightly relieved when she realized he was grabbing her gun from its holster, but it didn’t make her feel any better about shooting. “Let me show you.”

“Fun Ghoul’s one of our best shots. You can trust him.” Kobra spoke up, seeing the concern on my face but not fully understanding it.

“Next to me of course.” Poison piped up. Skyla chuckled and pushed him jokingly. Glitch watched as Ghoul walked back to where he was standing. He looked at her and motioned for her to come and stand with him. She took a deep breath and slowly walked toward him. She looked ahead at the masks and swallowed the lump in her throat. They suddenly seemed further away from when the others were shooting. He placed his hand under her elbow and pulled her to stand in front of him. She tried to ignore his touch, but the way he guided her and moved her made her feel … strange. He placed his other hand under her other arm and brought them up to eye level before handing her gun back to her. She began to shake as she tried to aim at one of the masks. He brought his hands down and stood behind her as she took aim and fired. The bullet went under the mask and kicked up some sand. Her face flushed and she dropped her arms.

“No. You’re fine. Bring your gun back up. You’re just a little under it. Try turning your head … like this.” He flicked his cigarette and came up behind her once more, tilting her head a little to the right. His touch made her shake even more. “Don’t be nervous. They aren’t going to say shit to you. Just concentrate, love. Keep your back straight and focus your view”

The sound of his voice and his hot, smoky breath on her neck was enough to make her head spin, and she wished he would stop with the names. It just made it worse. She took a deep breath and let it out slow. She shut one eye and zeroed in on one of the masks. He let his hands linger on her back from where he had straightened her stance. She did her best to ignore it and fired once more. The force of the gun caused her to bump back into his chest, where she chose to stay for a minute. She was so focused on their contact that she didn’t even notice when everyone began shouting. She opened her eyes and saw that she had actually hit it. A grin began to spread across her face and she looked back over her shoulder at Ghoul, who was now only inches from her.

“I told you. Not too bad.” He smirked and she felt his grip tighten a little on her back. She realized she was still leaning against him and quickly took a step away. She tucked the gun back in its holster on her thigh and walked back over to where she stood before, this time Ghoul following her. Poison decided to step up and take his shot at the Drac masks. Ghoul and Glitch stood awkwardly with a just a foot between the two of them. Ghoul pulled another cigarette and offered it to her. She shook her head and tried to keep her eyes on Poison who was hitting the targets with no effort. She heard the sound of the match striking as he lit up again and watched as the smoke seemed to mix and disappear into the dust around them.

“You’re not a bad shot.” She surprised herself as she spoke first, still not turning to look at him. She could almost feel his smirk next to her, infecting the air around them.

“You got potential. You just gotta trust yourself. Trust your gun. It should be a part of you out here. You don’t have a choice anymore.” He sounded nonchalant but the last part came out almost as a warning. She tried her best not to let her mind wander back to ONE. She instead focused on here and now and the way she felt. She let a sly smile creep up on her lips and she bumped her shoulder into his. He chuckled and she felt that unusual pulling in her stomach again.