Andrew

I left Poison’s room with a troubled mind. I mean, I understood WHY he didn’t trust me, but it didn’t make it any easier… my stomach churned horribly.

I ran down the hall and into the empty room Korse had prepared for me.

There was heat rising from deep in me… and it was scary.

In a second, I was retching. That one skittle had upset my stomach. Was I even supposed to eat sweets? Another wave washed over me and I found myself on the bathroom floor… throwing up and… overheating?!

Everything was blurring fast as my temperature rose higher that the worst fever. Water… WATER! I opened the faucet on the cold side and dragged myself into the tub. There I lay, until it was full with freezing brown and blue water. My eyes couldn’t focus. Finally, I heard my teeth chattering. I leaned forward to turn the faucet off.

A few seconds of sitting in the silence.

Then, I took off the wet clothes and grabbed some shampoo for my hair.

The excess dye flowed down the drain with all the dirt and expired blood. I finally stepped out of the tub when the water was clear. I wrapped a towel around myself and went back to my room. There was a maid placing fresh clothes on my bed. She backed away as soon as she saw me.

“Korse said to come down to the meeting room in fifteen minutes.” She stuttered.

I nodded and turned to the clothes. She was still there. Trying not to stare.

“How is it out there?” she whispered “can you really do what you want?”

I looked back to her hopeful eyes.

“We… shouldn’t talk about it… you could get into trouble.”

She nodded. There was a hint of disappointment in her eyes. She murmured an apology and left the room. I looked at the clothes. Black jeans, black shirt, white boots and a white jacket with the BL/ind symbol in the front. I looked at the nametag. 37-4.

I quickly put on the clothes and combed my hair down.

Everyone was already at the meeting when I got there. I tried to slink in without being noticed, but Korse called me to the front. There, I sat next to him and a lady with short black hair who kept giving me weird looks.

“As you know” Korse was saying “the rebels are in Zone 3.”

There was a murmur from deep in the crowd.

“We are going to organize ourselves. Whoever has any objections dies now.”

Silence. Kose sneered and continued.

“Group 1, the city. Collect all the experiments and put them away. Group 2. You will be fighting. You must give the impression that Poison is in my quarters. Group three. Prepare route seven for usage. If we don’t win this battle, we will NOT lose the war. No prisoners.”

Nods all around. Korse turned to me. I felt someone putting something around my neck. Something cold. It felt like a dog collar. “If you even think about betraying me, everything within eight miles of this place will soon be part of the desert.” Korse said, with a smile “Do your job well, and I’ll set you free.”

Gasps all around the room. I looked at everyone. They were all jealous. This was probably the first time Korse had offered anyone freedom.

“What do I do, sir?”

I was trembling.

Korse leaned into my ear and whispered the plan. When he was done, I was horror stricken.

I couldn’t hurt them… not like that… I couldn’t hurt HIM.

I swallowed and nodded.

---

Fun Ghoul

We arrived in about thirty minutes. I jumped off the bike, making Kobra fall forward and hit his head on the dashboard. He cussed, rubbed his head and sat up. “Hey Jet, Missle Kid, Cherri, Dr. D. “ He said yawning. “Sup” Pony said, coming down from the sidesaddle position on the bike. “Pony! Kobra! Pink!” Missle Kid ran to each of them and gave them a hug. “Ready to go save Party?”

“Where’s my hug?” I said, trying to look sad, but breaking into a smile. She jumped into my arms and hugged me.

“Let’s go save Party.”

We remained silent for a moment. Everyone was looking at me.

“Um…” I tried to imitate Party’s casual stance, but failed miserably “I don’t think we should all go. I think Missle Kid, Dr. D and Pink should stay back.”

Pink pointed her gun to the bottom of my chin. “I dare you to try to make me stay back. I’m going to save Party if it kills me.”

I gulped. This was the perfect girl for Party.

“Fine. But only Pink. Party would kill us if we ever brought Missle Kid into battle.”

Cherri sat Dr. D on a bike and then sat down Missle Kid, who was pouting. Then, she turned back to Pink. “If you fight, you probably won’t make it.”

“I know. But I won’t sit here and watch Party die for me.”

After Cherri left with Dr. D and Missle Kid, I turned to the rest of the group. 5 people. Versus an army.

We separated into two bikes and took off.

“We’re never coming back.” Jet said in a low voice.

“We have to try.” I said, my voice breaking on the last word.

They understood.

“Party’s a hero” Jet said a little louder “I would die for him.”

I saw Pink look at the desert before nodding. A tear escaped her and the wind took it away.

“We might live, you know.” Kobra said, louder that usual “We’re going to save Party, then rip that motherfucker’s head OFF HIS SHOULDERS! HE’S GOING TO PAY! I NEARLY COMMITED SUICIDE BACK THERE!”

I nearly stopped the bike.

“What are you talking about?” Pony said. He looked as freaked out as I felt.

Kobra then began to tell us why they had stayed back. Everything that had happened. And how he remembers everything.

“Ok….” I said, taking it all in “Anybody have any more confessions before we go to the city?”

“I’m gay.” Pony said.

DAFUQ?!

---

Kobra

As we got closer to BL/ind, I fell silent again. “Here.” Fun Ghoul said, taking one hand off the bike and handing me a small ointment. “For your hands.” I took it and rubbed it on my burned skin. Instant soothe. I then threw it to the other bike, where Pony caught it and gave it to Pink.

Silence. Pink hadn’t spoken a word since she agreed to come.

We met no resistance. We literally strolled right into Battery City. The streets were empty and all the lights were on. We got off the bikes and got into defensive positions. Nothing. I was getting jumpier by the second.

A small cough.

I flipped around and nearly shot a girl huddled in the shadows.

“Guys… there’s someone over here.”

The girl was about our age. She was pale and seemed to be muttering something over and over. “Guys… I think she’s been drugged.”

Pink ran to her without a word. The girl looked up. “Shirley.” She choked out. It was then she noticed us. She squeezed Shirley’s jacket and pulled her close. “Rebels! Oh, Korse help me!”

“It’s okay.” Shirley said, taking her hand. “They’re friends. It’s safe, Mary.”

“No, they’re not friends! They can never be friends! They’re monsters who want to destroy us!”

“How many pills did you have? Mary. Please tell me you didn’t overdose again.”

The girl began crying.

“They called mom and dad to the main building again!” The girl sobbed “Sam’s already dead… I don’t want them to die!”

Pink gave her a good shake.

“Your dad helped design BL/ind. You know this building. How can I get in without Korse finding out?”

“You can’t defeat Korse! He has an army! Just run away!”

Pink grabbed some garbage bags from a nearby trash can and fashioned a rope. She then tied up Mary’s hands and feet. “Stay here. Please. Don’t do anything stupid.” She kissed Mary’s forehead and stood up. “Let’s go.”

Notes