The Only Hope For Me Is You

The next morning we packed supplies into the trunk of the Trans Am, the sun hadn't even risen above the horizon yet. After the fight with Cola, Poison lost his shit. Ghoul had to hold him back from killing Cola, Ghoul told me he had never seen Poison so upset. It made sense, Cola hit his younger brother.

I loaded the last box of supplies and shut the trunk. Kobra was leaning against the side of the car, a cigarette hanging between his lips, he looked upset. “What's wrong Kobra?”

He took another drag of the cigarette, “I messed everything up.” He stated simply.

“What do you mean?” I asked leaning next to him.

“We just lost one of our best allies because I couldn't handle the relationship I was in. Poison is pissed, he won't let any of them near our group.” Kobra muttered.

“That's not true, for one Cola abused you,” Kobra's eyes snapped up to meet mine, “Yes Kobra, Cola was a sadistic asshole who took advantage of you. You were right to break it off. And for two, I'm sure Poison will cool down after some time. Things will be okay Kobra.”

The door of the shack opened, Ghoul and Poison walked out of the building. Kobra snuffed out his cigarette with the heel of his boot. Poison pulled on his sunglasses and looked to Kobra and I, “You guys ready to go?” He asked.

Both of us nodded and got into the backseat of the Trans Am. We sped away from the small diner and into the desert. “Where are we going?” I asked.

Poison smiled, “Don’t know, we’ll know when he get there.” He the turned on the radio up loud and began to sing along to the song that was playing. Ghoul joined in, smiling the entire time. It stayed like that for a while, we made jokes and laughed. It was a blast. I had never seen Kobra smile so much, which in turn made me smile.

Just as the sun was setting Poison stopped the car, we were in the middle of the desert, the only things around us were dirt and a few dead bushes. “Alright,”Poison said turning off the engine, “This is where we will camp tonight.”

We all filed out of the car and Poison quickly got to setting up a fire. Ghoul took a gas can out of the trunk and began filling the car with gas. Kobra and I took out a few boxes filled with some food, sleeping bags, and other various things. After the fire was started we all sat down around it, Poison pulled Ghoul close to him and kissed his temple. Kobra handed out a can of beans for Poison and Ghoul to share and a can for us to share.

“Never have liked beans very much.” Kobra muttered scrunching his nose in disdain as he put a spoon full of beans in his mouth. I shrugged, they tasted alright to me. As we were eating Poison pulled a map out of one of the boxes and set it on the ground in the middle.

“Alright, the diner was in Zone 3, hopefully Korse is still busying himself with searching that zone. We are currently in Zone 5. We cannot under any circumstances go into Zone 6.” Poison said, pointing at the map.

“Why can't we go into Zone 6?” I asked.

“That's an area that got hit hard when the Pig Bombs fell. It's still too radiated to inhabit. They say that once people cross into Zone 6 they die within an hour.” Ghoul explained. I nodded, alright no Zone 6.

“We can try to make our way into Zone 2. There are some buildings that may be intact there. We can find supplies and shelter for a few days.” Poison continued. He looked up at us and said, “Does that sound okay to you guys?”

We all nodded in agreement. Ghoul and Poison began to talk amongst themselves, I stole a glance at Kobra and saw he was looking at the ground. “How are you doing Kobra?” The dark purple bruise on his cheek stood out in the glow of the fire.

Kobra shrugged and sighed deeply, “I don't know.” He whispered just so I could hear, “I just don't understand. Sure Cola could be a little forceful but he had never hit me. Ever since he first saw you he was consumed with the thought that you and I were a thing.” I blushed at his statement, “But I kept assuring him nothing was happening between us. He just wouldn't listen to me.”

“I'm sorry Kobra, really I am. If I had known that I was causing trouble between you two…I would have talked to him myself.” I answered placing a hand on his shoulder, he looked at me, the fire made his eyes sparkle.

“It was my fault. I always let him do whatever he wanted with me. And then when you came along and you were so confident in yourself, you knew who you were and what you wanted to be. You showed me that it was okay to stand up for yourself.” I was surprised by what he said, I never really thought myself to be an extremely confident person.

“Don't give me credit for what you did Kobra. That was all you. You took that stand all by yourself. I noticed what Cola was doing to you, but I was afraid to talk to you about that…and for that I am sorry.” I muttered.

“Why would you be afraid to talk to me?” Kobra asked.

“I…I didn’t want to lose you as a friend. I was afraid that if I got in the middle of you and Cola that you would push me away.” I said, Kobra lips pulled into a small smile.

“You could never lose me Jet, you're a part of me now. You're stuck with me for the long haul.” Kobra stated, in the faint light of the fire I could still see him blushing.

“I'm glad.” I smiled. After a few more minutes of talking, we all fell asleep. Even though I was homeless, and being hunted by the most lethal exterminator, I had never been happier.

Notes

Thanks again to everyone who takes the time to read my story!