Scarecrow and the Rainbow Solution

Party was having one of those nights where he couldn’t sleep.
Partly because he had drunk far too much coffee and more because he wasn’t actually at all tired. He knew he should be after the fight and all the heavy lifting but the half bottle of vodka that had led to his lover and his brother both ending up in his bed had kind of wiped that out. He smiled lazily at the memory and enjoyed the ache in his back.
So now it was somewhere near three in the morning and he was pacing up the stairs towards the control room. They had the cameras still watching and the night alarm would kick in if there was any disturbance but Party had long since learned to trust only his eyes and his instinct. He had understood why Rainbow hated being underground and half shared the concern, the claustrophobia was catching. He had checked on all his crew and found them sleeping so now wanted to look around.
The hum of the air conditioning and soft click of the machinery was the only sound despite Crimson being wary of whatever creatures might have taken residence in the abandoned building, she had managed to freak Ghoul out over the possibility of giant mutated spiders in revenge for him helping the doc stitch up her arm. Rainbow had threatened to break the other over it and Jet had been forced to intervene which Party had found more amusing than was really fair.
He smiled again and sat down, looking at all the monitors and infra red cameras with some boredom and wondering if there was a real hope of winning the war. He had always kept his private doubts hidden, he wanted people to have hope and believe if only to give them something other than horror and the knowledge that death would find them before they were allowed to live with freedom and dignity. He felt their pain more than was healthy, he knew that but it didn’t stop him wanting to end it.
That was why he had never left with Crimson, allowed her to go but stayed to fight no matter that his heart had wanted to break into a million pieces and that he had not felt whole again until she came back. Party half wanted her to leave again so that at least he would know that she was away from Korse and his man made nightmare although that was now impossible. Soon there would be nowhere left to run unless they stopped BLI for good. Which was why his mind now wandered to the elephant in the room that involved killing everyone in Battery City.
No, I can’t do that.
Yes, as a matter of fact you can. You take the virus and explode it. Simple.
No, the people in the city are drugged. They’re innocent.
His inner voice changed and he heard her voice. Crimson in all her simplistic brutality.
Nobody is innocent Party, not you and not me and not them.
Party sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a headache seemed to be pending and it almost caused him to miss the blinking red light on one of the consoles. His back went rigid as he realised it was the door lock. Two things were immediately clear, somebody was inside and no alarm had sounded. With a snarl he flicked the lights on to the corridors up by the big double doors and his blood went cold.
“Fuck, we’re in trouble.”
The area was filled with dracs, cautiously but surely coming through the doors. Sheer luck had caused him to see that light before they reached the end of the corridor and he now turned on the turrets, the enclosed space exploding into a mix of light and bullets. With his other hand he hit the alarm and locked the door into the control room and the lower areas. They were trapped unless there was another way out but he had got them some time.
“We got a shitload of trouble.”
Party’s voice was tight as Ghoul appeared in the control room, his arm still not in his shirt. His face was a mask of strain and fear. Jet was just behind him, gun in hand and calm despite what he could see in the bank of monitors.
“It’s worse. I can’t wake Rainbow. She’s out cold.”
“Guess we know who betrayed us. Find that fucking doctor and get us the map of this place. We aren’t leaving by the front entrance.”
Ghoul and Jet scooted out of the room as Party checked the ammo load in the security systems. It wouldn’t stand a full frontal assault for more than fifteen minutes and although bodies now littered the floor and blood stained high up the metal wall, still the dracs were coming. Party turned out the lights, hoping to add to the confusion and followed his friends.
Crimson was piling up guns and pulling stuff into rucksacks as she saw him approach. Kobra already had Mayhem in a head lock, the younger man struggling and begging as Jet carried Rainbow in and Ghoul brought more gear in. A map of the bunker lay spread out on the mess table where they had abandoned it the night before. Crimson glanced at Party.
“Emergency exit is near the bottom but I have no clue where it comes out.”
“We don’t have a choice. I’m guessing there is a Scarecrow unit up top.”
Kobra squeezed harder on the doctors neck, his voice one of controlled rage.
“You better hope she comes round, why the fuck did you sell us out ?”
The man continued to gasp and wheeze until Party fixed Kobra with a glare and shook his head. Kobra let go and pushed the man into the table, all of them ready to kill the doctor apart from Party who knew they still needed him.
“Korse has my family, my lover. He’s going to use them to test the virus if I don’t hand you over.”
“They’re already dead, don’t you fucking get that ?”
Party grabbed Crimson by the collar as an blast shook the bunker. They all might want to kill the medic but right now they had much bigger problems and all of them would be dead if they didn’t find the emergency exit. She contented herself with giving him the venomous glare that Mayhem knew would mean a reckoning if she was left alone with him. It burned Crimson that she had trusted the guy, he had saved her life and now he had turned on her.
“Trust no one huh ?”
“Fucking right Ghoul, only trust family.”
Party shook her hard, forcing her face back to his.
“The exit Crim, where’s the fucking exit ?”
She pointed to the map and they gathered up the last of the gear, Party and Ghoul piled chairs and a table against the door behind them and they headed down deeper into the bunker. Kobra had the doctor tight by the collar, any movement of his to get away would lead to the gun in his back taking out several vital organs and both men knew it. Jet still carried Rainbow, none of them sure what the doctor had given her although he swore it was only sleeping pills. The intention had always been to hand her over alive.
“Third doorway down that corridor leads to the basement. On the next level is a further security set up we can prime.”
Ghoul looked at Jet and gently took his lover from his friend as they climbed down into a dimly lit passageway that smelt of age and damp. Jet reached into his pocket for tools and circuit breakers, he had found his way around the system enough to ramp up the firepower in the turrets by nearly fifty percent but it took time.
Crimson tucked the map into her top pocket, her own gun in one hand and Jet’s in the other as he worked. Party and Kobra were watching their entrance point for trouble, both of them now carrying the laser rifles that had been found in the armoury further down. They had good firepower and would slice through dracs with ease as long as the numbers game didn’t overwhelm them.
“How long Jet ?”
“Another minute no more.”
The doctor was huddled on the floor, Kobra’s boot pinning him down by the neck. He could still feel Crimson glaring at him and looked again at his watch. The drug he had given Rainbow would soon wear off and his only chance of survival was to be honest with his now captors. He coughed and tried to gain Party’s attention.
“I can still help you. I know where Korse will stop overnight before he enters the city.”
“Fucking liar.”
“I swear !”
The doctor’s voice was strangled off by Kobra’s boot as all of them heard another explosion. Party picked the man up and shook him as Jet snapped the panel back up and took his gun from Crim. Party’s eyes were hard and it took all his effort to not shoot the man where he stood.
“You better not fuck with us again. My killing you would be a mercy.”
“We’re done. Let’s go.”
Party threw the man at his brother and all of them carefully made their way to the basement door. Jet waited until they were inside before priming the system and following. He bolted the door behind them and turned on the main light. It lit a large room and several branching corridors. Crimson frowned and checked the map again.
“Nearly there but this map isn’t exactly accurate.”
“Great.”
Party grinned and kissed her as they started checking the rabbit warren of passages until finally Ghoul found the right one. A hatch in the floor was bolted over a dark tunnel that disappeared into the gloom. The ladder was tight but with some difficulty Rainbow was passed down from Ghoul to Jet, the others lining up behind to follow. Outside they all heard the second set of guns started up. There was hardly any time left.
“Just keep going. Don’t stop and don’t look back.”
Party was aware that he was almost admitting that they may have to watch each other die and waited until it was only himself and Crimson left. She was still by the door, keeping watch and crossed the room quickly to him, an embrace and kiss that was fleeting but all too full of what was happening.
“We can do this Party. We’ve beaten worse odds.”
Her cheery smile almost brought a grin to his lips as he passed the last of the weapons down to Kobra and started down the ladder. His mind was full of ideas, he needed to find a way to get them out and then make that lying sack of shit doctor do his fucking job. Party didn’t realise Crimson wasn’t behind him until he heard the hatch start to move.
Crimson saw realisation on his face and he made to start up the ladder. She knew this was probably her worst idea in a history of really bad fucking ideas but there had to be a way to delay the dracs and give her friends a chance. She blew him a kiss and dropped the hatch, bolting it in place as his muffled screams became louder. Already hands were pulling him back down, Kobra would understand and know that she would do her best to find another exit.
“Save yourself Party, I’ll hold them back.”

Notes