How to Survive Zone 1, Chapter 6: How to Learn More About a New Member

The next morning, we were packed up and readying to leave. I was sitting on the trunk of the Trans Am, flanked by Jet and Ghoul, watching Space Nuke say goodbye to his clan. He hugged both of the girls and bro-hugged the guys, lingering on the girl with the green mohawk, who looked him straight in the eye, as if telling him something important.

“Girlfriend, you think?” Jet said, watching them.

“Nah, he’d have his tongue in her mouth if it was like that.” I shook my head, leaning back on my elbows on the Trans Am.

“Really? Does our Terror have a thing for Space Nuke?” Jet glanced at me, grinning widely.

“If the wind changes, your face will stay like that, Jet.” I rolled my eyes. I looked over, hearing the crunch of gravel and seeing Party striding towards us.

“Ready to go?” He asked, rocking up on his toes. “Where’s Kobra?”

“He’s in the car. What’s your hurry, got a hot date?” I waggled my eyebrows and winked at him.

“Shut it.” Party made a face and headed towards the car. “Go get Space Nuke.”

“Fine, mom.” I stuck my tongue out, walking backwards. “You’re no fun.”

“On the contrary, I’m amazingly fun, when our whole organization isn’t about to turn into zombies, that is.” He rolled his eyes and got in the driver’s seat. I turned around and headed over to where Space Nuke was saying goodbye to his clan.

“It’s time to go, dude.” I offered a smile to him and his clan, who attempted halfhearted smiles in return, but were obviously going to miss him.

“Bye, Nuke.” The girl with the mohawk bit her lip, trying not to cry.

“For Pete’s sake, Cricket, I’ll be back in a few months, stop acting like I’m going to die.” He hugged her again. “I’ll see you soon, don’t worry.” He said softer, to his whole clan. The guys clapped him on the back, while the other girl hugged him again. He turned to me a few moments later, a nervous smile on my face. “Let’s go.”

“Alright. Bye, guys.” I waved to Space Nuke’s clan before turning and walking off, Space Nuke falling into step beside me.

“Hopefully Party already said goodbye to Sally so I don’t have to deal with her.” I said as we walked towards the Trans Am.

“What, you don’t like her?” Space Nuke questioned.

“I can’t stand people who fawn over the guys like they’re some type of gods.” I made a face. “I’ve even been used by people to get in with them. I think it’s disgusting.”

“Well, I can’t blame you.” Space Nuke replied.

“You’re in the back with Kobra and Jet, Space Nuke.” Ghoul called as we approached the Trans Am. “Terror, darling, you’re stuck on my lap.”

“What am I, five?” I grumbled, piling into the car on top of Ghoul.

“You’ll always be my little girl.” Ghoul mocked me, laughing. I elbowed him in the stomach, only causing him to laugh harder.

“And we’re off.” Party shifted the car into drive and sped off down Route Guano under the hot Californian sun.

Three days later, we were stopped for dinner as the sun began to sink beneath the horizon. I sat on the trunk of the Trans Am, having just downed my warmed mush-and-flatbread-type-stuff sandwich, staring at the reddish-orange sun sinking behind the excess radiation.

“Can I join you?” I looked up to see it had been Space Nuke whom I had heard approaching, carrying a newly-made mush sandwich.

“Go ahead.” I scooted over, making room for him to climb up. “Did you get sick of their bickering?” I jabbed a thumb to the guys, who were currently spitting insults and laughing at each other.

“They never stop.” His eyes widened at me in disbelief.

“They can go for days.” I chuckled. “It’s a combination of raw talent and years of experience.”

“How long have you been running with them?” Space Nuke looked at me curiously. “You seem to know them really well, yet you’re not on any wanted posters.”

“Well, I uh...” I leaned back on my elbows, chuckling nervously. I had no idea how to answer that question. “see, it’s like this. I was eight when the bombs hit, in town for a parade with my mother. I got separated from her, thrown into a school, actually, which saved my life. I never saw her or any of my other family again, just hiding and scavenging to survive. I got really good at picking locks and getting into small spaces, so I ate plenty, not enough to be healthy, but enough to keep living.

“They found me two years later, when I was about 10. I'd seen them get out of the Trans to chase some Drac or something and broke in, taking most of their food and all their fresh water and running back to my hiding spot. I fell asleep for the night and woke up the next morning to Ghoul standing over me, taking my food. I sliced his shin open with my knife to get him to drop the food before he could convince me to come with him. They did, eventually, and I rode with them for almost three years after that." I smiled.

"I would've stayed with them if it hadn't been for that last mission." I chewed my lip, remembering.

"What happened?" Space Nuke looked at me quizzically. "I mean, you don't have to tell me..."

"I don't mind. It's the past, I can't change it now. It really isn't my fault anyway." I shrugged, leaning forward to put my elbows on my knees. "We were on a mission in the biggest Drac outpost in the Zones, y'know, Building 473-2, to get some data on Killjoys in prisons awaiting 'rehabilitation.'"

"You went in The Beast?" His eyebrows went up.

“Don’t look at me like that.” I narrowed my eyes. “Anyway, the plan was for me to hack the control room while they kept the Dracs busy. I got into the room and was so focused on hacking it that I didn’t hear the Dracs behind me until it was too late. Two held me pinned to the wall while the other gave me this.” I moved my hair to point to the 4 ½-inch scar on my right cheek. “He was gonna slit my throat when Ghoul shot him down. I’d never seen him so angry at anyone, and those bastards certainly paid for it.” I glanced at Space Nuke. “No offense.”

“I’m not a Drac, I’m a Killjoy. It doesn’t offend me.” He nodded. “I was wondering what that was from, though.”

“Everyone does, but no one asks.” I pushed my hair out of my face. “It’d be better if they just asked instead of stared.”

“Yeah, I get that with my tattoo.” He rubbed it almost unconsciously. “You wouldn’t believe the things people say behind your back and even to your face thanks to markings.”

“Yeah.” I contemplated that for a moment before continuing. “The guys pretty much flipped unanimously. I was dumped off at Ma’s right after that.” I looked over my shoulder at the bickering men. “They visited a lot in the beginning, then less and less until they just stopped coming all together. I didn’t see them for two years until they turned up because of this tower thing and Ghoul almost tried to kill that kid...”

“I thought you were bluffing about that!” Space Nuke looked terrified.

“The kid tried to... ahem... y’know...”

“Yeah, I got it.” He stopped me.

“I took him down before anything happened. The guys heard me yelling and ran out to see what happened, which is when Ghoul flipped.” I chewed my lip.

“Do you do that a lot when you’re thinking?” Space Nuke asked out of nowhere.

“Do what?” I asked quickly.

“Chew your lip.” His eyes bored into mine. I looked away quickly, embarrassed he noticed.

“It’s just a gross little habit.” I suddenly found the ground extremely interesting. I hadn’t realized I’d been doing it again, and I was kinda shocked that he’d noticed.

“It’s kinda cute, actually.” He smiled at me.

“Warzone Wasp to the Fabulous Killjoys, over.” The radio buzzed from the car, causing me to jump. “It’s important, come in Fabulous Killjoys!”

“Hey guys, the radio, it’s important!” I yelled to the guys, jumping off the trunk. They all jumped up and ran over, Party, being faster, grabbing the radio to respond. “Fabulous Killjoys to...” He looked at me. I mouthed ‘Warzone Wasp.’

“Warzone Wasp.” Party released the button and we all waited to see what would happen.

“We have just uncovered detailed plans for something top secret and extremely dangerous. It might not be safe to discuss over the radio. How should we proceed, over?”

“Plans for what, over?” Party responded.

“A tower, over.” We all shared a look of terror for a moment before Party could figure out how to respond.

“Okay, listen to me very carefully, Wasp. Don’t show anyone, don’t do anything with it. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” The look on Party’s face was a mixture of fear, determination and nervousness, but he hid it well, like the leader he was.

“I haven’t actually seen them for myself, they’re on their way currently, over.” Wasp replied.

“Okay, tell me when I get there, it isn’t safe now.” Party had barely heard her. “We should be there by late tonight if we hurry, over.”

“We’re in a huge acid storm, we have been for two days, so it might get a little hairy, be careful.” The woman on the other end cautioned.

“Will do, over. Keep running.” Party ended the transmission. We shared a look of understanding before the guys rushed to put out the fire, carefully collect their extra food and pile into the Trans Am again.

I wiggled on Ghoul's lap, trying to get the least bit comfortable in the crowded space. "I'm really starting to hate this car."

Killer Laser Rays Part 10: Alabama

A loud car horn caused everybody to drop their stuff and look up. “What the hell was that?” Rage looked at Zebra as Zebra strode towards the hole.

“They’re here.” We followed him outside as Zebra ran forward to scoop up a young Asian-looking girl. While they exchanged words, some doofus with a haircut straight out of Lameass Weekly sauntered up to me, a grin on his face and a very angry Solar brewing behind him. I should’ve known she’d go for someone like him.

“Well hello there, I’m Bird Song, and you are?” He had a cheezy grin straight out of 1984 plastered on his face. Remembering my promise to Disco, I clenched my fists and responded.

“Well, Tweety Bird, fly away because I have no time for a lameass like you.” I walked around him quickly, his stupid grin quickly fading, and walked up to the green-haired dude holding Babydoll.

“Can I have her back?” I held my arms out for Babydoll. The kid reluctantly handed her over, disappointment showing on his face even though his eyes were hidden.

“Alright, I want everything packed and loaded up right now, we have time for introductions later. Get moving!” Wasp belted as the Killjoys began streaming into the hole. I handed Babydoll off to Mighty Mouse, who was sizing up the Asian girl about her own age, and headed in to keep working.

Soon enough, we’d packed most of the valuable things we could find. Mighty Mouse had taken Babydoll inside and traded in her old, threadbare dress for a black, punk rock looking skirt with striped leggings underneath and a red t-shirt with a skull on it on top. She had on a black and white long-sleeved shirt underneath, complete with a black hoodie, even though it didn’t match, and some combat boots for kids she’d found lying around. She’d braided her hair into two pigtails, tying them off with a red ribbon she’d found over elastic hair ties. Babydoll was dressed in a blue sundress with a white sweater on top, living up to her name. Her shoes were little black converse, though, which made me chuckle.

“Well aren’t you the little punk rocker.” Wasp chuckled, seeing her daughter’s clothing choices. “I like it.”

“Wasp, the explosion was Solar, like we’d thought, but it was because she’d spotted Dracs. We need to move, now.” Green-haired kid came running up to Wasp. Babydoll flailed for him, but all he could do was wave to her as he and Wasp rushed back inside to keep working. I was hot on his heels as Wasp started barking orders.

“Alright, step up the pace! Just got word that Dracs may show up soon, I wanna be gone before they have a chance to spot or possibly trail us.” Wasp belted, causing the store to stop moving, but then restart with an even more hurried pace. I rushed to help whomever was closest and soon enough, we were done. I grabbed the duffel I’d found and packed in the changes of clothes Mighty Mouse had found for herself and Babydoll, as well as pajamas for both before slinging it over my shoulder and walking out of the still half-full grocery store. I put on some silver aviator sunglasses I’d found, keeping the sun out of my eyes enough to see better. The non-perishable food and such had been loaded onto the caravan Wasp had brought with her, leaving minimal room for everyone else. They managed to squeeze around the goods, however, as we all packed into the cars.

“Alabama, honey, you’re riding with Babydoll and Arizona over there.” Wasp pointed in the direction of a white van and green-haired kid, who was holding Babydoll. I walked over to them, taking the baby back so he could drive, and climbed into the passenger seat, dumping my duffel on the floor. I tossed my feet up onto the dashboard and sat Babydoll on my lap, who quickly settled into my body and fell asleep.

After a while of driving in silence, I looked over at the green-haired kid. “So, you got a name?”

“Toxic Arizona.” He said quickly, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel. “Arizona for short.”

“Figures they’d put both the A-states in the same car. Alabama Napalm.” I nodded at him. “You can call me Alabama, A, or just plain stubborn. I tend to get the last one a lot.” I shifted in my seat, careful not to wake Babydoll up.

“Not much of a talker?” I shrugged, seeing his knuckles turn white from the death-grip he had on the steering wheel. I probably made him nervous. “Well, don’t worry, your friend Solar Crash talks enough for all of you. I’d rather tape her mouth shut, though.” I looked in the rear-view mirror, examining the nail-cuts on my face. “She’s got potential to fight, she just needs a little hand-to-hand training.”

“Look, don’t be so mean about her.” He said through gritted teeth. “And she is good in hand-to-hand, she is just caught off guard easy.”

“Really? She’s the one who was trash-talking me. She should’ve known if you say stuff like she did that you’re gonna get hit.” I glared through my aviators at the thought of it. “I guess you fancypants killjoys don’t hit though, do ya?”

“She talks smack about everyone, she really is a nice kid, but thinks she has to be a bitch to fit in with Bird’s group. And oh, we hit, and I wont hesitate to hit a girl.” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “I choked her yesterday morning for being a bitch, don’t think I wont do the same to you for being a bitch as well, so watch yourself.”

“You don’t scare me, Killjoy.” I scoffed.

“Not trying to.” He replied defensively, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

“Oh, I get it.” I sat up carefully, trying not to disturb Babydoll. “You like her.”

“So what if I do?” His nostrils flared. I irritated him, and I knew it.

“It must suck having her begging to be with that douchebag Tweety Bird, eh?” I grinned, seeing him squirm. “It must hurt awfully bad to have her thinking she loves a guy who’s hurting her, when you’d be so much better for her. It must make you want to wring his scrawny little neck, seeing them together. Maybe that’s what’s up with you Killjoys.” My converse thumped back onto the dashboard, still not disturbing Babydoll, when the van suddenly veered off the road and halted as Arizona slammed on the brakes.

“First off, you have no right to say anything you just did.” My shoes slid off the dashboard with a thunk as he grabbed me by the shirt, his face inches away from mine. “Second, it doesn’t matter if it hurts me, what matters to me at the moment is that she is happy, the moment he hurts her will be the moment I rip his eyes and throat out. I live in constant pain, so seeing people I care about happy is like a shot of morphine. So please... Watch what you say to me, because I was this close to wringing your neck!” He screamed.

The car was silent for a second, the vibrations ringing in the car. Babydoll flinched in her sleep, a frown crossing her face as she turned towards Arizona. I stared at this real quiet guy in shock, not knowing he had a voice that big in the first place.

Arizona seemed startled by his own outburst. He turned forwards once again, taking off his goggles and running a hand through his striking green hair, his eyes closed. He blinked them open, his amazingly green eyes brimmed with tears. You really did it this time, doofus. I thought as I watched him breathe in and out, calming himself down.

“Fuck man, I’m sorry.” I gulped, biting my lip. He leaned forward, resting his forehead on the steering wheel. “Well, I’m up to three bad decisions in 24 hours. I think it’s a new record. Got my father figure killed, check. Punched a girl I just met repeatedly, pissing off my best friend in the process, check check. Upset the guy who loves her because of my big mouth, triple check.” I breathed in and out, the attempted humor gone from the situation.

“You know what, it’s fine.” He rubbed his hand over his eyes, trying to hide the tears but failing. Rage did the same thing when he got upset.

“No, it’s not fine.” I paused, gauging his reaction.

“It is, really it is. I’m sorry for me breaking down like this,” His voice was hoarse as he wiped away the tears, sniffing.

“I know what you’re thinking.” I turned carefully, looking him square in the eye. “You’re wondering if I think you’re weak for crying. Well actually, I think you’re that much more of a man for what you’re doing for Solar.” I looked straight into his tear-stained face. “And I think you’re that much more of a man for being able to cry about it.” I smiled a small, understanding smile at him, trying to prove it was okay for him to cry.

“I’m not crying about what you said. It wasn’t your fault. You set it off, but I think Babydoll finished it for me.” He snorted, looking mournfully at the little girl.

I saw the way he looked at her, the way he wanted to hold her and play with her when most guys would’ve shied away.

“You had a sister, didn’t you?” I saw him differently all of a sudden, trying to comprehend what that must’ve felt like. He nodded quickly, the tears spilling over his eyelids and onto his bright red shirt.

“I did, I used to be so mean to her, then the bomb went off that day and just like that, I lost her and my mum. I have regretted every minute of mean things I did to her, and then Babydoll shows up and I feel like if I treat her right, the way I should had treated my sister, then it will make things ok. But I know it won’t.” He sobbed, looking at the little girl sleeping peacefully on my lap. As if sensing the pain he felt, she chose that moment to wake up, yawning, and observe her surroundings. Seeing Arizona upset, a line deepened on her forehead as she frowned, looking at him. She stood off my lap carefully and climbed over the median to him, standing between him and the steering wheel. With her little pudgy hands, she wiped away his tears, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek, just like she had done to G.I. and then hug his neck. I stifled a sob, fresh tears springing to my eyes as Arizona consumed Babydoll in a hug, crushing her to his chest. Babydoll sat in his lap once he released her, causing him to look at me with such joy and sorrow all mixed up in those amazingly green eyes. I cautiously unbuckled my seatbelt, leaned over the median and softly pressed my lips to his. The initial shock caused him to  stiffen for a moment, but gradually he relaxed as our faces were pressed together, the tears mingling. I started to pull away when he softly grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me into another kiss. It seemed to last for ages, when in reality it was probably only a few seconds. My mind went blank as I was totally consumed by the feeling of his lips on mine.

“Alright you three, hurry up with whatever you had to stop for.” Wasp’s voice crackled from the radio. We both jumped about eight feet in the air at getting caught, even though she couldn’t see us, me hitting my head on the window as I sprang back. “We need to get a move on, so finish up and catch up.”

“Oh shut it, Wasp.” I rubbed the back of my head as her voice rang out from the transmitter.

“Tell her we had a flat and I had to fix it.” Arizona said quickly, getting back onto the road.

“Hey Wasp, it’s Alabama, we had a flat and had to stop to fix it.” I said quickly, trying to mask my heavy breathing. I released the button on the transmitter quickly, holding it away from my face as we waited for a response.

“Next time tell me that as you pull off the road. Understood?” Wasp responded after a few seconds.

“Sorry.” Arizona took the transmitter from me and responded, both of us breathing a collective sigh of relief. He put the transmitter back, putting both hands back on the wheel and pressing down the gas. I heard clapping and looked down at Babydoll, who grinned at both of us, clapping her little hands.

“We must’ve scarred the child for life.” I shook my head, rubbing my face absentmindedly.

“I don’t think she minded... Sorry about that by the way.” He chuckled, looking bashful.

“I don’t think I minded either.” I shot a look at him before turning forward, my cheeks getting hot. Corny much? I mentally curb-stomped myself repeatedly, thinking, What the fuck did I just do? He was smiling slightly as he focused on the road. I leaned back in my seat and put my feet on the dash once again, pulling my aviators back down over my eyes for the rest of the 10 minutes it took to catch up to Wasp and everybody else.

Everybody else happened to be stopped at an abandoned gas station in the middle of the desert, a pissed-off looking Wasp leaning on the Impala, arms crossed.

“Flat tire, huh?” Wasp looked from my flushed face to Arizona’s rumpled hair, unconvinced.

“I’ll make sure to tell you next time Wasp. Sorry.” Arizona suddenly found his shoes extremely interesting.

“Yeah, well, I don’t need no hormonal teenagers-”

“Mother, there are children in the room.” Disco swooped down, taking Babydoll from me and coming to my rescue. I mouthed thank you to him as Wasp looked towards someone else calling her name. He winked at me playfully and started walking away as I heard laser fire before being tackled to the ground by Arizona. I rolled to a kneeling position behind the hood of the van and drew both my rayguns, popping my head up to look in the direction of the shots and return fire. Coming at us were about 20 or so Dracs, rayguns drawn, prepared for battle. I started shooting with both hands, taking down four of the unprotected ones before ducking again. Disco had taken Babydoll inside along with Mighty Mouse and the little Asian girl I’d seen earlier. Rage was cursing something awful in Spanish as his brother dragged him towards the gas station, Plasma covering them with fire. I turned back to face the Dracs and start shooting when my guns jammed simultaneously. I dropped them, cursing loudly when an explosion rocked the van, causing me to curse again. I ran around Arizona, who was dropping them like flies, and opened the van door, climbing over the seat on my stomach to keep my head down, and dug quickly through my duffel, pulling out my Wolverine claws. A second explosion rocked the van again and I poked my head up briefly to observe the situation. Two Dracs had stopped to reload their weapons, so I figured now was as good a time as any and bum-rushed the Dracs, catching them off-guard.

You know how, in the movies, the bad guys all wait patiently, coming at the hero.heroine one by one? Well, that sure as hell doesn’t happen in real life. The two who still had guns shot at me as I attacked the two unsuspecting ones, slashing one’s chest open as a laser grazed my shoulder. I ignored the searing pain and slit the first one’s throat as he fell, turning to face the second one who had tried to tackle me from behind. Arizona had tackled the doofus, leaving me to charge the ones shooting at me. I did so, spinning to catch the first one and knock him down. I kicked the second one in the chest, knocking him on his butt and ripping his face open with one set of claws before slitting his throat with the other. Kicking his gun away from his hand, just to be safe although he was probably already dead, I turned around to see Arizona had already snapped the neck of the first Drac with a gun I’d taken out. Then I spotted the bloody mess of a head strewn about the body Arizona was sitting on, his hands covered in bits and pieces of said head as he stared blankly at the space where the head was supposed to be. The scene was horrifying, and as far from squeamish as I was, it was hard not to gag. I walked over to him and gently pulled him up by the arm, off the ghosted moron, and led him back towards the trucks.

“Somebody toss me a gun.” I said briefly. Wasp tossed me hers and i caught it, heading back around the killing field on the other side. Blood was everywhere as I began to shoot every single Drac in the forehead, making damn sure he was dead before moving on. I continued this way until I came to the pile of brain matter and a body Arizona had, um, taken care of.

Won’t have to shoot that one. I cringed, finishing off all of them for good before walking back to the gas station. I heard Rage’s curses before i even got through the door.

“Ay Dios Mio!” He cursed as Wasp began to stitch a laser wound in his shoulder.

“Quit whining.” Wasp said quickly as he howled in pain. I rolled my eyes, chuckling at the overly-dramatic Rage and turning to see Solar sitting at a booth, gently cleaning Arizona’s hands of blood and brain matter. Not wanting to start another fight, I walked away slowly, leaving them alone.

Killer Laser Rays; Part 9 Arizona

They all parked and left their vehicles. Arizona had Babydoll on his hip. Everyone walked around to look at the whole as the group that had been inside ran out. Pink detached herself from Arizona’s side and ran up to Zebra who hugged her tightly, easily picking her up. “Hey Boo, sorry to worry you, but I needed to stay back.” Zebra was saying to Pink as she scolded him. Solar was the next to come out and as she spotted Bird her face lit up and she ran over to him, where they hugged. Bird noticed that one of Solar’s eyes was slightly puffy and slowly turning black. He rolled his eyes as they hugged. He quickly dispatched himself however, when he saw a new girl. She had long blonde hair, which Bird found extremely attractive. He walked up to her, leaving an angry looking Solar behind him.
    “Well hello there, I’m Bird Song, and you are?” He said a sly smile on his face as he looked down at this new girl, looking at her all over.
    Alabama scoffed at Bird, rolling her eyes. “Well, Tweety Bird, fly away because I have no time for a lame ass like you” She said walking around him. Behind Bird, Solar was making a triumphant face that he had been rejected. Arizona watched with mock amusement that could not actually be seen. Alabama was then in front of him. “Can I have her back?” She was asking. Arizona looked down at her and hesitated. He was reluctant to give up the little girl that he had quickly and surprisingly become attached to, but he eventually handed her to Alabama.
    “Alright, I want everything packed and loaded up right now, we have time for introductions later. Get moving!” Wasp said as she hustled everyone back over to the hole. By then Plasma and the twins along with Adolescent were carrying mattresses over to the Ford and loading them in the back, while everyone else went inside and began taking boxes of things and leading them up in everything but the Impala and the Mini Van. Inside Arizona was with Solar as they each had an end of a large and full box.
    “So she punched you?” He was asking.
    “Yeah, it hurt and I didn’t see it coming so she basically whooped my ass.... That girl can fight. And I kinda respect her for that.” She replied just as they stepped outside. From there they loaded the box into the back of the Tahoe then turned to go back inside and get another box.
    “Well, I think I fell in love with the little girl. she is mighty adorable. I think I bonded with her.” Arizona said which caused Solar to stop and look at him.
    “Ari, she is like three, you can’t bond with a three year old who can’t speak or hear.” She told him shaking her head. Behind his goggles Arizona rolled his eyes.
    “Anyway, did you see my bomb cloud?”
    “I figured that was you, why’d you do it?”
    She shrugged. “Just some Dracs coming to look for the group we ghosted yesterday.”
    Now Arizona stopped. “Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Then he took off to find Wasp and moments later, her voice rang out through the whole store. It seemed she had found a bullhorn. “Alright, step up the pace! Just got word that Dracs may show up soon, I wanna be gone before they have a chance to spot or possibly trail us.” With that the activity quickened and within two hours they had everything they could possibly need packed and ready to go. Looking up at the sky they determined it was 3:00.
    Solar was riding in the truck with Bird while most everyone else squeezed into either the Minivan or the Impala with Babydoll and Alabama in the van with Arizona. The ride in the van with Arizona and Alabama was pretty quiet with Babydoll sitting in Alabama’s lap playing with a toy she had been given. A muscle in Arizona’s jaw would occasionally jump as he thought to himself, his eyes set on the truck before him from behind his goggles.
    After a while the girl looked over at him and asked, “So, you got a name?”
    “Toxic Arizona.” He said quickly, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “Or just Arizona” He said. He had been hoping this girl wouldn’t talk at all, he was already ticked that he even had to ride with anyone else. He preferred to be on his own, but he was friendly so he would talk back to her if she wanted to talk.
    “Figures they’d put both the A-states in the same car. Alabama Napalm” She said next with a nod. Arizona not once looked over at her from the road, he decided peripheral vision was fine despite his goggles. “You can call me Alabama, A, or just plain stubborn. I tend to get the last one a lot.” She then shifted careful not to wake the now sleeping little girl. They still had another 3 hour drive.
    “Not much of a talker?” She asked but he didn’t reply, just clenched his teeth, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “Well, don’t worry, your friend Solar Crash talks enough for all of you. I’d rather tape her mouth shut, though.” were the next words to leave her mouth. “She’s got potential to fight, she just needs a little hand-to-hand training.”
    “Look, don’t be so mean about her.” He said through gritted teeth. “And she is good in hand-to-hand, she is just caught off guard easy.” He said coming to her defense quickly. “What did she do to tick you off?” He asked next though he was still holding the steering wheel tight, not wanting to have that conversation.
    “Really? She’s the one who was trash-talking me. She should’ve known if you say stuff like she did that you’re gonna get hit.” Arizona rolled his eyes from behind his goggles. “I guess you fancypants killjoys don’t hit though, do ya?”  
    “She talks smack about everyone, she really is a nice kid, but thinks she has to be a bitch to fit in with Bird’s group. And oh, we hit, and I wont hesitate to hit a girl.” He told her, his voice dropping even lower and sounding deeper than it usually did. “I choked her yesterday morning for being a bitch, don’t think I wont do the same to you for being a bitch as well, so watch yourself.” He was slightly shocked at himself for having said so many words, but he usually did when someone was aggravating him, and she certainly was.
    “You don’t scare me, Killjoy” She scoffed at him.
    “Not trying to.” was his tart reply.
    “Oh, I get it.” She said as she sat forward. Arizona couldn’t help but look away from the road to look at Babydoll to make sure she didn’t waken. “You like her.” Arizona’s jaw clenched again and some light almost not noticable color flared in his cheeks as he shit his head back forward.
    “So what if I do.. It’s not like it matters....” He said his hands so tight on the wheel it looked like they might break it off.
    “It must suck having her begging to be with that douchebag Tweety Bird, eh?” She started a small grin forming on her mouth.“It must hurt awfully bad to have her thinking she loves a guy who’s hurting her, when you’d be so much better for her. It must make you want to wring his scrawny little neck, seeing them together. Maybe that’s what’s up with you Killjoys.” She said as she finally finished speaking he veered off the road and stopped the van. Arizona turned to face her and grabbed the collar of her shirt yanking her face close to his.
    “First off, you have no right to say anything you just did, second, it doesn’t matter if it hurts me, what matters to me at the moment is that she is happy, the moment he hurts her will be the moment I rip his eyes and throat out. I live in constant pain, so seeing people I care about happy is like a shot of morphine. So please... Watch what you say to me, because I was this close to wringing your neck...” He told her, his voice rising more and more with each word. That’s when he noticed Babydoll had woken up and was now looking at him. He felt immensely guilty and let go of Alabama and leaned back into his seat finally taking his goggles off though his eyes were closed. He rubbed his eyes then ran his hand through his green locks sighing silently.
    He opened his eyes and blinked trying to do away with the tears that had formed. He covered his mouth and leaned his forehead on the steering wheel.
    “Fuck man, I’m sorry.” She said “Well, I’m up to two bad decisions in 24 hours. I think it’s a new record. Got my father figure killed, check. Punched a girl I just met repeatedly, pissing off my best friend in the process, check check. Upset the guy who loves her, triple check.” Arizona sat back after she finished speaking and ran his hand over his eyes. The tears had started spilling over and he hated it. He felt weak, one for crying and two for crying in front of this girl. Only, he knew she would think it was because of what she had said, but he knew that wasn’t the reason. “You know what, it’s fine.” He said then swallowed rubbing his eyes again. He felt like he had a lump in his throat that wouldn’t go away.
    “No, it’s not fine.” She replied.
    He nodded to her and looked over at her finally. “It is, really it is. I’m sorry for me breaking down like this,” He paused to sniff and wipe his eyes again.
    “I know what you’re thinking.You’re wondering if I think you’re weak for crying. Well actually, I think you’re that much more of a man for what you’re doing for Solar.” She looked at him directly, which made him a bit more nervous. “And I think you’re that much more of a man for being able to cry about it.” She said the smiled like she understood.

“I’m not crying about what you said. It wasn’t your fault, you set it off, but I think Babydoll finished it for me.” He said then sighed, unsure of why he just said that. The look Babydoll had given him had reminded him so much of the look his own baby sister used to give him when he would wake her up just to be mean. Or the look his mother gave when she was about to scold him. He hadn’t actually cried over their loss since he lost them almost two years ago.

    “You had a sister didn’t you?” She asked.and he nodded sadly, more tears spilling over his eyes.
    “I did, I used to be so mean to her, then the bomb went off that day and just like that, I lost her and my mum. I have regretted every minute of mean things I did to her, and then Babydoll shows up and I feel like if I treat her right, the way I should had treated my sister then it will make things ok. But I know it wont.” His voice cracked and he closed his eyes again, wiping them again. He then felt pressure on his lap and opened his eyes to see Babydoll climbing onto his lap. She wiped his eyes and kissed his cheek before hugging him around the neck. He in turn wrapped his arms around her tiny torso and hugged her close. He then let her go where she promptly sat on his lap. Arizona smiled big and turned to face Alabama, his eyes widening when her lips met his from across the median. It was a soft kiss and as she started to pull away his hand slipped around the back of her neck pulling her back as he kissed her again.
    He jumped back and away just as he had been about to deepen the kiss when Wasp’s southern voice filled the van. “Alright you three, hurry up with whatever you had to stop for.” Wasp’s voice rang out into the air from the radio. “We need to get a move on, so finish up and catch up.” She said unaware of the emotional moments that had just taken place.
    “Oh shut it Wasp.” She said rubbing the back of her head from where she had hit it on the window. Arizona grabbed his goggles from the median and slipped them on before shifting the van into drive and speeding off. “Tell her we had a flat and I had to fix it.” Arizona said thinking fast.
    “Hey Wasp, it’s Alabama, we had a flat and had to stop to fix it.” She said into the transmitter.
    “Next time tell me that as you pull off the road. Understood?” Was the only reply they received.
    “Sorry.” Arizona said after a minute, into the transmitter before placing it back. He pressed his foot on the gas pedal a bit harder. Arizona looked down at the sound of clapping to see Babydoll clapping her little hands and smiling at the two of them

“We must’ve scarred the child for life.” Alabama said rubbing her face.

“I dont think she minded... Sorry about that by the way.” He told her as he turned his eyes back to the road.

“I don’t think I minded either.” She replied turning forward again. A small smile played on his lips as he sat in silence for the rest of the ten minutes before the Caravan of parked trucks showed up, and an aggravated looking Wasp leaning against the Impala. Arizona pulled the van up next to the Impala and parked it turning it off. He took Babydoll in his arm and got out holding her on his hip.

“Flat tire huh?” She asked an eye brow raised as she looked from Arizona to a flushed looking Alabama. He knew she wasn’t conviced, but he also knew she wouldn’t call them out on anything in front of everyone.

“I’ll make sure to tell you next time Wasp. Sorry.” He said his face and voice normal as if what had happened earlier had never even been thought of.

“Yeah well, I dont need no Hormonal teenagers-” She started but her son cut in.

“Mother, there are children in the room.” Disco said as he walked up. He winked at Alabam as he took Babydoll from her,

Wasp was about to reply when some raygun shots fired inbwteen them, prompting everyone to fall to the ground to avoid being hit. Arizona took Alabama to the ground with him then was up again firing over the hood of the van. The scene before him looked like hell. There was some 20 Dracs out there all poised and ready to fight. Disco was on the ground passing Babydoll over to his sister while Zebra then took her and Babydoll and Pink and made a run for the gas station. Rage was on the ground screaming in Spanish while his brother and Plasma fell to his side to make sure he was ok. Plasma then turned and returned fire while Lightning drags him over to where Zebra had taken the youngest members.

    Arizona fell two Dracs while Alabam had fell four with her second gun, then, off to the left came a huge explosion sending some 6 Dracs flying through the air, many of them having limbs torn off in the process. Solar had been busy tossing a bomb when more and more Dracs fell until there was another explosion killing off two more and sending one of their vans flying towards the air and farter back before it too exploded.
    After the second explosion things calmed leaving only four Dracs. Two were reloading while two were already aiming to fire again. Alabama suddenly rushed forward towards them and was quickly overwhelmed it seemed so Arizona didn’t think twice before he took off running at them. He grabbed one and snapped his head to one side breaking his neck and dropping him while a second Drac tackled him to the ground where they wrestled and exchanged punches before Arizona managed to pin him down using his knees to hold the man’s arms. He ripped off the man’s Drac mask and tossed it to one side before grabbing his head on both sides and picked it up before smashing it to the ground as hard as he could. He only removed the mask because he wanted to watch the life fade from this man’s eyes, he wanted to watch them fill with pain, fear, regret, then he wanted to watch them dull as the soul slipped away to rot in hell.
    Under him the man flailed as pain erupted in his skull, but the kid on top of him didn’t let up, he continued to bash the man’s skull even after he had died. Covering his hands in the man’s blood as it seeped from the smashed skull and onto the ground. Behind his goggles Arizona had a crazed look in his eyes that couldn’t be detected in the rest of his face. After he stopped bashing the skull he simply sat in the man breathing heavily.
    His lip had been busted open in the brawl and was bleeding, dripping onto the man’s chest. He blinked the crazed look fading as he looked around to see Alabama had killed off the other two Dracs with some really cool looking knives. He turned his eyes back to the man under him. Red and pink and grey all mixed together on the ground and on his hands. He raised one hand closer to his face to see the grey chunks were actually bits of the Drac’s brain. he pulled his hand away and let it drop next to his other one on the man’s chest. He didn’t move, just sat there as he stared down at the mess he had made. He wanted to remember it forever.
    His whole body tensed when someone grabbed his arm but he relaxed slightly when he saw it was Alabama. He let himself be led back to where everyone else was. He promptly ignored the frightened and disgusted looks he got from everyone but Wasp and Solar. He briefly and groggily heard Alabama speak, but it didnt register as Solar took his arm and led him towards the gas station and had him sit down. She had a worried look on her face and was stoking his cheek saying things to him softly, almost cooing. Adolescent handed her a wet rag before walking away. Solar then began to clean the nasty mess from his hands leaving them clean and glistening.
    “You doing ok?” She asked him, but received no answer. She sighed and hugged him close. “It’s ok Ari,” She said then left him sitting there staring at the ground as his deed sank into his mind.
    Slowly the high that had clouded his mind faded. He blinked his eyes and took the goggles off rubbing his eyes. He stank so he wrinkled his nose then looked around. Wasp was putting the last of the bandages on one of the twin’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure which one so he didn’t say anything. Minutes later Wasp sat across from him and patted his hand.
    “Feelin’ aright?” She asked a worried look deep in her face. Arizona nodded and smiled.
    “Yeah, I don’t really know what happened.. one second he is punching me in the lip, the next Alabama was leading me back and I’m a bloody mess.” He said trying to smile as if it were nothing. “I guess, I don’t know, blamed him for what happened to me. But you know what, I’m fine, lets get back so I can shower, I stink.” He said wrinkling his nose again letting his eyes drag over to where Alabama was with the twins and Plasma.
    “You want Solar to take over driving the van?” She asked patting his hand.
    “Nah I can do it just fine, just need Babydoll to keep me company. She wont judge.”
    “Alabama too?”
    “Only if she wants.” He said doubting she would after what he had done, but he hoped, and even so, there was only about another 45 minutes of driving left.
    “Aright then.” She said and patted his cheek before she stood and turned to the rest of the area. “Aright! Lets get going right this minute!” She hollered before strolling out with everyone but Arizona in pursuit who took his time putting his goggles back on.