Scarecrow and the Rainbow Solution

Ghoul pushed harder on the pedal as the desert streaked by.
His concentration was somewhat split by the odd glance at Rainbow in the passenger seat beside him. She was singing along to the radio, her hair whipping back in the wind as the car hit a steady ninety five. He didn’t want to be out in the open in Zone 5 for too long without Party to back them up, it tended to be a hive for drac patrols and they needed to get to the bunker in one piece to have any chance of helping this doctor.
“You think he can find a cure ?”
Rainbow shrugged, still singing along before sliding her fingers up his thigh.
“He was getting somewhere before we left Vegas but the work is slow as we had so little tech. Let’s hope this bunker is as stocked as the map says.”
His grin broadened as her hand worked higher into his lap and her head rested against his across the interior of the car. There was a slight swerve as she touched him through his jeans and both of them felt a flutter of fear until he regained control. Her teeth nipped his ear.
“I don’t want to be found dead in a ditch next to your very stiff corpse.”
“Quit playing with the stickshift then.”
Ghoul smirked as she laughed and leant back to check the weapons stowed on the rear seats of the car next to where Jet slept. Most of the fun stuff was in the trunk but they still had enough to ward off any patrols that might fuck with them. Dr D had sent out some decoy patrols and she knew that Party and Kobra would be itching to start some trouble with their old sparring partner. Already she half expected Zone 6 to have exploded.
“We need to fuel up, we’ll go into the gas station on second street but you’re gonna have to watch for me. Place is crawling.”
She kissed his cheek at the protective tone in his voice and checked again that her gun was charged and that the road behind was still clear. It was strange how quickly she had fallen back into this routine, in Vegas Crim and Rainbow had been able to move around fairly easily. Here it could be a deathrace just heading out for coffee.
“Where we at ?”
Jet’s fro entered the space before he did prompting a loving kiss on his cheek from Rainbow. He was a quiet but passionate man, she had long come to recognise that he played a huge part in keeping the gang alive and still together while receiving very little recognition. Jet was more than happy for this to be the case but she still felt he needed to be appreciated once in a while.
“Third of a way through five, gonna stop for gas.”
“Got it.”
Jet reached for his gun and for one of the laser rifles that laid next to him. The weapon was sleek and somehow sexual, a bringer of death that felt such a comfortable extension that he was unconsciously caressing it. His eyes shot back in front as Ghoul slammed the car into a spin and skidded to a halt next to the nearest pump. Rainbow slid out with Jet just behind, each of them taking up position in front and behind of the car as Ghoul pulled the petrol cap from the car and started pumping gas.
“Anything ?”
“Nothing.”
Rainbow gritted her teeth, it was too quiet. There was no sign of an attendant or any other customers while the decayed rooftops were perfect for snipers. She kept her eyes moving, almost waiting for the whine of laser fire.
“Can I help you ?”
The old man flinched at three guns now pointed in his direction, his face paling under his tan. He couldn’t see their faces, one hidden by a helmet, one a horror mask and the shortest hidden behind an exquisite half Venetian mask that allowed a set of sensual full lips to smile at him. He had heard the rumours that the killjoy leaders were on the prowl but hadn’t seen any of the old guard around in a long time.
“Sure buddy, how much ?”
“Hundred credits a gallon.”
Jet strode around the car, picking the man up easily by the collar as Ghoul leant back against the car, his hand still on the pump.
“Extortion gets you killed like the last three owners of this place.”
“Please ! I didn’t mean anything by it, if the exterminators see you here I’ll get closed down.”
The man was allowed to dangle there a little longer, both Ghoul and Jet enjoying seeing the man squirm as Rainbow headed inside the small office. It was dark and smelt of damp but there was still a decent stock of supplies and a robot butler slowly sweeping the store. It took no notice of the woman, programmed to do its job and nothing else as she grabbed some food items from the shelves.
“Cash it up pal and don’t think of calling the dracs the minute we leave.”
Jet dropped the man behind the counter and the clerk nodded vigorously. He rang up the fuel at a considerably lower rate before clocking the groceries and bagging them neatly. Jet passed Rainbow a lollipop as she inspected the wanted posters hanging behind the till. She recognised four of them intimately and several of the more faded ones she knew were dead. Two new ones made her pull a face.
“Well that was fucking quick.”
“You blew up half of Battery City.”
Jet grinned at the picture which appeared to show Rainbow with pigtails and slightly drunk whereas Crimson was clearly drunk and flipping the bird. The photos were faded but the posters were very new.
“Shit, Crim’s gonna take this as a challenge.”
The clerk took advantage of the fact that both killjoys were distracted and that Ghoul was still out with the car. A small button below the counter activated the bot into a more lethal mode, its arms turning toward the customers as it continued to quietly work.
“There we go folks, anything else ?”
Rainbow smirked, leaning across to grab a final pack of chewing gum from behind the man. This simple movement allowed the bolt of white hot laser fire from the robot to skim over her and burn into the wooded slats of the shop wall.
Jet turned, his shot hitting the bot clean in the neck joint so that it’s head went skittering across the floor as Rainbow grabbed the man by his stringy grey hair and bounced his face off the counter several times.
“What the fuck ?”
Ghoul appeared at door in time to witness the now bleeding clerk mewling on the floor under both Rainbow’s boots and Jet’s. He grinned at the look of pure enjoyment on their faces and added several dozen more items to the already bulging bags before pulling his two friends back outside.
“He could have tipped off the exterminators. We need to move.”
Jet pushed Rainbow into the back of the car where she started charging up the laser weapons as they pulled away. Ghoul kept to the back roads through the remains of what had once been a town until they hit open desert and finally the border lines of Zone 4. She rested the powerful weapon on the window sill and gave both men a demonstration of the power of the weapon. Arcs of blue white energy disintegrated the customs shack and the dracs in it as they barrelled through the striped barrier and into the wilderness of a largely radioactive zone.
The dangers here were more pockets of high rads and large ants and scorpions that had been mutated into giants that could carve up a vehicle with one pincer while still bitch fighting each other. Ghoul felt slightly safer knowing they were now packing serious firepower but he was still happy to pick up the co-ordinates they were looking for and head slowly into an outcropping of rocks that looked like a sheer wall. Only close up could you see the entrance and the shaded disguise of old trees and bushes.
A man slept in the doorway, looking like nothing more than a bundle of rags. Rainbow gave the others and encouraging smile and poked at the bundle with her foot.
“Looks like the doctor is in.”

Notes