Battery City Boys

Jet awoke with a start.

Something was wrong.

What was wrong? He didn't know yet, but he intended on finding out.

The curly haired man looked around the small sleeping quarters, realizing that there was one less sleeping bag filled. Worry filled his mind. He couldn't tell who was missing, though, it was too dark. He had to use his memory.

Party always sleeps on the left side of the room, closest space to the door, Kobra close by, but further away from the entrance. That way, Party could keep him safe.

That left Frank and Adrian. Jet had placed the two siblings together, deciding that they would feel safer being in a pair, rather than in separate locations.

But which one of them is it?

He decided not to test his luck, or worry his friends. Jet Star rose out of his sleeping bag, treading lightly on the floor, as if he were the shadows themselves. Walking over to the general area of the newcomers, Jet leaned over the still-filled sleeping bag, and saw a mop of black hair poking out of it, the faint snore of Frank resonating from his hideaway.

Adrian.

Jet knew that if he woke Frank, then the entire room would be out searching for his brother, leaving nobody in full working order, and their sense of judgement impaired.

That leaves me. Great. Where the fuck does a teen hide, these days?

Heading to the exit, forgetting to be quiet, the whining of the floorboards roused Party Poison out of his sleep.

Since when did creaky floorboards wake his lazy ass up?

"Jet, what are ya doin', man? You have any clue as to how early it is?"

Jet Star ignored the comment, then signaled for the group leader to follow him. Looking around, Poison checked to make sure the others were asleep, and followed his friend.

He realized that the younger man wanted to talk outside, and pulled on his boots and jacket, before pulling the door shut behind them.

Teeth chattering in the cold weather, Poison glared at the taller man.

"You do realize that it is currently ass-fuck degrees out here, correct?"

"We have bigger problems, Poison, so shut up for a minute."

"What the fuck do you mean that we have bigger-"

Jet stared at the redhead, who stopped talking. Jet waited for the light bulb.

"Adrian wasn't inside his bag, was he?"

Jet shook his head.

"Glad you noticed that the youngest person in our group is missing. We need to find him, now."

Party Poison nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I'll go wake up Frank."

Jet grabbed his shoulder before he could release the cold of winter into the building.

"You do realize that he will freak the fuck out, right?"

Poison looked at the other man, his face showing that he was serious.


"And you do realize that he will possibly fucking kill us if we can't find his baby brother, right? Just think, Star. If we were to lose Kobra, I'd freak the fuck out also. He needs to know, and that's final."

With that, the leader walked back into the building, pulling the others out of their deep sleep. Jet Star couldn't hear what he was saying, but Frank nodded, a surprisingly calm look waved over his face. Once the final two men were filled in on the situation, they began to change into their day-clothes.

Jet realized that, yes, he was still in his pajamas. Shuffling inside and out of the bitter air, Jet Star stripped down and suited up, grabbing his pistol out of his helmet, which lay silently on a cheap table.

The others were already outside, waiting for him. He could tell that they were all tired, he himself was exhausted. Adrian mattered, though. They may have only known him for a day or so, but the strange child stuck on you.

"We ready to head out?"

The men all nodded, following behind the group leader, watching for possible signs of movement. Party Poison led them all to the edge of the path, pointing towards the other side of the street.

"He might've gone somewhere over there." Turning to Frank, Party asked him, "He ever been in this area, before?"

Frank nodded. "His friend Eliza used to take him to a coffee shop here, I think... Adrian used to sleep-walk a lot, and he's always day-dreaming."

"Alright, Kobra, Jet, you two head over to check it out. Frank, we'll search the other stores, I gotta talk to you, anyways."

Kobra snorted. "Okay, Fred. Let's split up, gang!"

Smacking him on the backside of the head, Party began to walk towards the empty buildings, leaving Frank to chase after him.

Kobra Kid and Jet Star watched them leave, then headed the other way. Kobra walked in front of Jet, his gun drawn, kept at his side, in case they were ambushed. The tall men stalked down the cracked pavement, until they were met with a couple of stores. Kobra pointed Jet towards a small gardening store, while he himself took the coffee shop.

Entering the tiny cafe, Kobra noticed the small band posters that littered the walls. Green Day, The Misfits, The Cure, even Rush and Genesis posters shared the walls. There were countless other bands, and from what Kobra could see, they were posters from live performances.

"Owner must've liked concerts," Kobra thought to himself.

Turning to the right, towards the counter, Kobra Kid went around the side of the counter, looking for any signs that Adrian had been there. Noticing that the bar had recently been disturbed, he went through the door that read "Employess Only". Quickly, but quietly, he looked around the little storage space, not seeing Adrian anywhere.

Not giving up, Kobra moved around the room, moving some boxes and cleaning supplies around.

"Adrian, you here?"

Kobra listened, but didn't hear anything. He tried again.

"Adrian, it's me, Kobra. Frank's wondering where you are, we all are. Are you here, buddy?"

At that, Kobra heard a small rustling noise, and looked up to the top of a shelf to see a bed of shaggy hair. Adrian had popped his head from behind a few boxes. How he got up there, we may never know, but Kobra was happy that he was safe.

"Hey, Adrian, we've been looking for you. You okay?"

Adrian nodded, his hair falling into his eyes. Kobra held up his hand, offering to help him down from the shelf. Taking his hand, Adrian climbed down from the shelf, hopping off of it with a quiet thump. Adrian looked up at the bottled blonde, giving him a small smile.

Kobra smiled back. "Next time you feel like wandering around, just wake me up, okay, kid? We need to stick together, it's not safe to go alone, these days, ya know?"

Adrian nodded, agreeing with his new friend. Together, they walked out of the cafe, and back into the cold.

Notes

So, chapter eleven is now up and running, and I'm working on chapter twelve, as I write this. I plan on writing more short stories, as well. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before, now that I think of it. So, expect more of those, and I will try to have chapter twelve up, tomorrow!

Anyways, time for the Question Of The Day/Night.

What's your opinion of bees?

I love bees. They are majestic little creatures just doing their own little thing.

Leave your opinions in the comment section below, and feel free to leave ideas/suggestions for this story, as well. If you have a prompt for me, for another story, I will be accepting messages!

Until we meet again,
Sweet Horrors And Terrible Nightmares,
XOXO,
Screaming Tears
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