Killer Laser Rays Part 4: Alabama

“Mom, huh?” I got a good look at the Killjoy in front of us after Disco and Mighty Mouse had mostly detached themselves from her. She was about 5’3, with the same unruly brown hair as Mighty Mouse and the same clear, blue eyes all three of them shared. A neon green mask was pushed up off her face and onto a yellow bandana that she wore on her head, keeping said hair out of her face.

“This is crazy. You’re so big now.” The woman held Disco’s face in her hands and hugged him again. She put an arm around Mighty Mouse, hugging both of them to her sides. And then they realized there were other people in the room.

“Warzone Wasp, nice to meet you.” She held out her hand, which we all shook. She looked down and spotted G.I., who was still lying on the floor. “Woah, who’s this?” She bent down, checking his pulse.

“He got ghosted while we were helping you guys.” Babydoll pulled on my shirt, so I lifted her onto one hip. “His name was G.I. Geronimo, our commander-in-chief.” I bit my lip, studying him.

“I see.” She closed G.I.’s eyes. “We’ll help y’all bury him in the desert, if you want.”

“I’d appreciate that.” I nodded. “We’d appreciate if you and your Killjoys didn’t take any of the supplies we found here first, too. We walked a long way for it, and now that you’re taking two of our own back with you, it’ll be even harder to move it all.” I nodded, all business.

“Wait, we’re not leaving you guys.” Disco looked panicked.

“Disco, that’s how these things work. You go on back with your mom, we’ll be fine.” I nodded. “They can’t take all of us, that’s seven,” I stopped, observing G.I.’s body, “Six extra mouths to feed.”

“No!” Mighty Mouse ran from her mother’s side to bury her face in Lightning’s. “You’re my family, and I’m not leaving without all of you.”

“Honey, you have to go with your mom. She’ll take care of you.” He rubbed her back as tears ran down Mighty Mouse’s face, leaving a wet spot on his shirt. I’d miss them terribly too, they were my family for Pete’s sake, but out in the Zones, finding a parent wasn’t something that happened too often. They had to go, I knew it as well as they did.

“No.” I looked up to see Disco reluctantly tearing himself from his mother’s side and coming to stand next to me. He took Babydoll from me and settled her on his hip, throwing an arm around my shoulder. “They’ve been my family for 7 years out here, and they need me most right now, with G.I.hosted. I can’t just ditch them for a better offer.”

“Woah. Hold your horses, all of you, and let me get a damn word in edgewise.” Wasp tossed her hair back out of her face. “I wanted to take all of you in the first place. How could I justify leaving a bunch of kids out in Zone 2 all alone, their leader ghosted and a target painted on their backs?” Wasp grinned as Mighty Mouse’s face lit up. She ran to her mother, who hugged her tightly. I looked at Disco, whose face was also shining.

“Besides, just from looking at what you’d found, you’re practically impossible to pass up, with scavenging skills like this.” Wasp scanned the place, looking at all the stuff.

“Wasp, we hid the Dracs’ bodies, when are we-“ A darkly tanned Hispanic kid walked in the hole in the wall, a plastic monkey mask from pack in the day pushed up onto his black curls. He was wearing an orange shirt with the words, “Mucho Loco,” printed on it in white lettering and tan cargo shorts that fell just below the knee. “Did you make friends there, Wasp?” He asked slowly, looking from Wasp to Mighty Mouse to Disco and back again, his eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, man, crazy for wearing that shirt.” Rage muttered to his brother in Spanish, prompting Lightning to snort.

“Looked in the mirror lately, muchacho, or how about showered, because I can smell you from here and it ain’t a good thing.” The kid in the orange t-shirt responded in just as rapid Spanish. A moment of shock and excitement passed between the twins and the Killjoy kid, and they quickly began yelling things to each other in rapid Spanish, using hand gestures excitedly. I ducked quickly out of the way as one of Rage’s hands flew wide, almost hitting me in the head.

“Hey, watch it, doofus.” I smacked him upside the head, but he and his brother kept talking regardless. I exchanged looks with Disco and Wasp, snickering at the excited teenage boys’ exchange.

“Hey Wasp, what’s taking so long?” A girl with dark red hair tied back low on her neck and a yellow shirt over a black and white plaid skirt and black pants walked in, a zombie mask hanging from her neck. Upon spotting her, I knew we weren’t going to get along.

Rage gave a low whistle, saying “Damn, dude, who is she?” in Spanish. The new kid responded, “That’s Solar Crash, and I know she’s fine, but she’ll break your arm if you look at her the wrong way. Trust me, I’d know.” The kid instinctively rubbed his shoulder, as if remembering.

“I’ll take my chances for somebody like her.” Rage rubbed his knuckles and sauntered up to this new girl. Two tall figures stepped out of the bright sunlight right behind her, causing Rage to hold up his hands and back up the way he came.

“Or maybe not.” The two figures stood behind Wasp and the new girl, seeming just a tad menacing. “Yo, Solar...” The large black kid pulled the blue bandanna down from over his nose and mouth, looking at the girl, seemingly questioning whether or not he should kick Rage’s face in.

Wasp saw this and threw him a look. “Chill, Zebra, these are my kids.” She rubbed Mighty Mouse’s shoulders.

“All of them?” Zebra questioned slowly, looking concerned. We all looked at each other and started busting a gut.

“No, we’re the gang that picked them up - what - seven years ago?” I looked at Disco, shaking my head.

“Yeah, it’s been awhile, that’s for sure.” He chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Sorry to break up the love-fest, but Wasp, we gotta get moving.” The kid with green hair finally spoke. He had on black goggles with silver spikes coming out of them, a dark read t-shirt with Anarchy printed in black Gothic type and tight black jeans on. His green hair flopped casually over one side of his face, him not bothering to move it although he probably couldn’t see very well. Killjoys were all about a statement, though, and the old clothes certainly made one.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll take the little kids and any supplies we can pack in the Dracs’ van. Zebra, you’re with me. The rest of you are guarding all of this. Feel free to use whatever, just watch out for the BLI stuff, if there’s any in here. Only eat the dog food if so, ‘cuz you wouldn’t believe the crap they put in people food. That’s how they got people to start taking pills in the first place.” She nodded and walked over to Disco, motioning for him to give her Babydoll. Baby, being difficult, of course, buried her head in Disco’s neck, hanging onto him for dear life.

“Come on sweetie, go with Wasp.” Disco motioned, prying Baby off of him. She started crying silently, tears running her face until Wasp finally put her down. She ran over to G.I.’s cold body, which was still splattered with blood, and hugged him gently, planting a kiss on his forehead before wiping away her tears and walking calmly back over to Wasp, putting her small hand in the older woman’s.

“That’s right, we need to give him a proper burial.” Wasp remembered suddenly, gazing at G.I. A dam was barely holding inside of me, feeling ready to burst any second.I bit my lip and quickly blinked back the tears threatening to overflow onto my cheeks.

“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll take him back with us, clean him up and bury him with a proper Killjoy service.” Wasp walked over and folded me into an embrace. I hadn’t been touched in a motherly way like this since Mother Mayeye, an old gang member who’d helped raise me had gotten dusted out when I was 12. Her younger sister was who I’d stolen my Wolverine claws, jacket and tank top from. I shook my head, clearing it of those thoughts as Wasp released me.

“Now you take care of my son and them, all right?” She wiped away the solitary tear that had run down my face before lifting up Babydoll and taking Mighty Mouse by the hand.

“Hey Zebra, we’re rolling out with our fallen comrade here, can y’all load him in the BLI van with some supplies and get ready to move?” Zebra nodded from across the room, where he had migrated with that other girl and the Hispanic kid. Green hair dude was off patrolling the store after getting filled in about what exactly went down here. People started moving quickly, but I stopped Zebra and disco before they moved G.I.

“Gimme a sec, would you?” The guys nodded, leaving G.I.’s body where it was. I knelt down next to him and pulled his head onto my lap, wiping the dirt from his face.

“What did I do this time, eh G.I.?” I chuckled, tears now running down my face quickly. “I really got us in trouble, I guess.” I sniffed, wiping my tears on the sleeve of my jacket. “You were the last of the original gang. But don’t worry, the Killjoys we met, they’re gonna take care of us, and even if that fails, I’ll watch out for everybody, I promise.” My voice cracked at the end, the lump in my throat feeling like it was expanding until it would make my head explode. I breathed in and out a few times, calming myself down. I wiped my nose of most of the fluids on my face, trying to keep calm. I couldn’t let the kids see me cry, much less any of the gang or the Killjoys. I calmed down enough after a few seconds to plant a kiss on G.I’s cheek.

“Have fun, G.I., wherever you’re at. We’ll be here for now. We’ll be okay.” I hugged the corpse that was once my closest thing to a parent and set him down gently, moving so that the guys could load him into the Drac’s van. This was goodbye, at least for now.

I turned and faced the rest of the room, hoping my face wasn’t too red. I was the leader now, at least under Wasp, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone else get dusted. Not while I was around. Not ever.

Killer Laser Rays Part 5: Arizona

Arizona was driving the van that they had taken from the Dracs and loaded to near bursting with supplies from the beat down store. Next to him sleeping in the passenger seat was the little girl known as Blastzone Babydoll. She was apparently deaf and therefore she couldn’t speak. She was cute, and looked almost familiar but Ari quickly dismissed having met her at all, that maybe she just reminded him of the little sister he had back before they ran, leaving their Draculiod father behind. But a bomb had gone off killing his mother and baby sister. There was no way it could be her.

She shifted slightly, looking positively adorable. Ari smiled to himself, which was an odd occurrence. Ahead of him, Wasp was driving with Mighty Mouse and more supplies. They looked to be having a deep discussion, that or catching up. He assumed the latter. He focused on the road or rather desert area ahead of him. By now the sun was beginning to dip into the sky, and they still had another fifteen minutes to drive.
Arizona felt a pat on his arm ,so he glanced down to see Babydoll looking up at him with a sweet smile. He offered her a small smile before his eyes darted back to the area in front of him, then he glanced back at her to see her pointing at his goggles. He turned back to the road and held the wheel with one hand one while he used his other to pull off the goggles. He glanced down at her and handed them to her, smiling a near full-blown smile. He liked her. She was adorable and didn’t require talking to.
She smiled and started to examine them, placing them over her eyes before pulling them off and placing a finger on one of the many spikes that protruded from them. For the next fifteen minutes, the little girl seemed to be engrossed in both the goggles and sitting in Ari’s lap, playing with the zipper on his leather jacket. He, of course, didn’t mind, as she wasn’t making any noise or being a nuisance.
They finally arrived at the Basket where they pulled around the back and close to the small loading dock that the old restaurant had. Ari got out, holding Babydoll on his hip with his goggles hanging around her neck. He could see everything when wearing them, since they were one-way glass, but he still felt odd without them. As he turned to face Wasp she gave him an odd but approving look before she took Mighty inside. The young girl looked a lot like her mother, the same unruly hair, and she looked tired. Almost as tired as Arizona felt.
They stepped inside and the onslaught of sound erupted around them. The place was as loud as it had been that morning and almost immediately Babydoll buried her face in Arizona’s neck her little arms hugging him tight. Wasp led Mighty away to get cleaned up while Arizona continued in to where the eating and sleeping area was. He was gonna have everyone unload things. He stepped in and after a few moments everyone quieted down. For three reasons. Arizona was not wearing goggles, he had a small girl in his arms, and he was about to speak.
Ari’s eyes instinctively fell to his feet before he sighed and opened his mouth to speak. “Alright, we had a good day, and have a Drac van and half a Impala of new supplies, you know what to do with them, they will be distributed equally among families after tomorrow when we get back from getting the rest of it.” He told them, his voice deep and very masculine. The faces of everyone lit up in the room and they all made a dash for the loading dock while Arizona walked further in and sat down at a table, sitting Babydoll on it then sat down. She smiled at him and grabbed his hair.
He chuckled and poked her cheek invoking a silent giggle from her when she poked him back. He smiled and ruffled her hair, again invoking a silent giggle. “She is mighty cute, where’d you get her? And how come only you and and Wasp showed up?” Came the words of Bird Song, Solar’s illegitimate boyfriend.
“This is Blastzone Babydoll, the other girl is Mighty Mouse, Wasp’s daughter, her son is back at the store with Solar, and the others along with the rest of the gang. Wasp made them stay back to guard everything.” He told Bird. Bird gave a nod then turned around to walk off. He and Arizona didn’t get along to well, Solar and Bird had a thing, and Bird could see how jealous Arizona was of that, even if Arizona didn’t realize it.
Arizona smiled a tiny smile, this was the first time he had seen the dining area completely empty. Babydoll reached forward and tugged on a lock of his green hair. He shook his head and grabbed her hand lightly. His hand was massive compared to her tiny one. He shook his head. “That’s my hair, I know its colored funny, but it’s no toy.” He told her then remember she could hear him. He stood and picked her up and walked her back into the bathroom to get her cleaned up. They had running water, which B.L.ind supplied without realizing it. He set her on the sink counter and turned on the sink, he took a cloth and held it under the water before he rung out most of the water and ran it over her face.
“Look at you, you poor thing, so dirty..” He said frowning as years of dirt and grime rubbed off onto his cloth. He rinsed it again then took his goggles from her then took off her clothing and set it to the side to be washed. The next thing he did was take a cup and fill it with water then pour it over her head. She frowned and tried to pull away but he assured her it was ok and after a while she sat there, drenched. Then he pulled out some soap. Usually they werent allowed but he had seen loads of soap and shampoo in the store so he figured it would be ok, and even if it wasn’t he was making a special use of it for the dirty little girl. He put some soap in her hair and massaged it around, suds quickly forming and turning a dark dirt color.
After he had a good lather worked up he closed his eyes hoping she would understand. She didn’t so he touched her eyes and she closed them then reopened them when he pulled away. He sighed and laid her down, placing her head in the sink and turned the water on so that it flowed down over her hair, then he began rinsing the soap out. She looked up at him as if confused by this new ritual, her pretty blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. After he had her hair rinsed out and the rest of her clean he started drying her off when Mighty mouse stepped in quietly, just in time to hear Arizona say, “So you’re a little blonde huh?” Mighty’s eyes widened and she pushed him away, and in his surprise he fell over.
“Don’t touch her you pedophile freak!.” She shouted, scooping Babydoll up.
“What? No, she was dirty, so I cleaned her up, nothing wrong with that.” He said standing up. He looked down at her his eyes showing all truth and after a moment of intense stare down Mighty nodded and set a scared looking Babydoll down.
“Sorry. I’m just protective of her.” She said averting her eyes and stepping around him towards one of the stalls. “Do the toilets work?” She asked nervously. Arizona nodded then turned back to Babydoll where she was wrapped in a green towel. He blocked the sink drain and filled it with water then submerged her clothing in the water then set to washing it clean with the rest of the soap while Babydoll once again engrossed herself in his silly looking goggles.
Shortly after he heard the distant flush of a toilet then Mighty Mouse walked out. “I didn’t catch your name..” She said looking down at her hands as she ran water over them at another sink.
“Toxic Arizona, you could call me Arizona if you want.” Was his short response as he rung out the little clothes and set them out on the counter to dry. By now Babydoll was dry so he took off his leather jacket and then his red Anarchy shirt. He set his jacket down next to the little girl then took the towel and finished drying her blonde locks. Next to him at the other sink Mighty was watching, her cheeks slightly flushed. Arizona took no notice as he took his shirt and slipped it onto Babydoll, turning it into an overly large dress.
“You got a name or did your voice stop working?” He asked finally facing Mighty full on. By now her face was more then just flushed. “What? Never seen a guy without a shirt?” He said tilting his head a fraction, making fun of her. He didn’t usually do such a thing, but he found her nerves to be cute.
“It’s uhh, M-mighty Mouse..” She finally responded before she made her way out careful not to dash nor look at him. After the door closed Arizona chuckled to himself then looked over to Babydoll who was holding her arms out waiting to be picked up. Arizona obliged but only after he put his goggles back on and slipped out, leaving his jacket and the girl’s clothes.
Back out in the dining area Arizona could tell by the sound of the dying noise of conversation that it was late at night. Many of the Killjoys were already asleep though there was a few who were still awake and talking quietly. Namely the ones belonging to Bird’s group. They were chatting when one of the girls saw him and broke away. She sauntered up to him and looked up at him, cocking out a hip.
“Don’t you look mighty sexy with a baby on your hip and no shirt exposing all that muscle.” She said her southern accent thick on her tongue. Arizona rolled his eyes which she couldn’t see.
“Shut up Cyanide.” he said tartly and stepped around her. That girl was not only queen bitch, but queen whore and it ticked her off that she still hadn’t been able to get into Arizona’s pants. She followed him closely to where he usually slept. He sat down, Babydoll immediately snuggled up to him in his lap closing her blue eyes. Moments later she was asleep. Cyanide sat next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder her hand on his upper thigh rubbing slowly and seductively.
“Cyanide, do you remember what I did to Solar this morning when she ticked me off?” Arizona started, speaking slowly and maliciously. “Because if you do, I want you to understand that if you don’t leave me alone to sleep then it will happen to you, only I will not let go, I will let you die at my grip.” He said to her, which caused her to pout then got up and walked back over to her Killjoy family swaying her hips a little extra though Arizona wasn’t even looking.