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I opened my eyes to bright sunlight. “Get up!” Fallon called to me from the truck. “We’re leaving!” Party Poison helped me to my feet. I made my way to the truck, climbing in the passenger seat, putting my mask on. Fallon threw the truck into drive, and Fun Ghoul just barely had time behind us to start the engine of their car before we were half-way down the street.
“Where are you going?” I asked, staring at her suspiciously.
“To the diner down the street. Today they’re having a…shall we say, special.”
“What?”
“Party Poison said everyone inside got ghosted. That means if we don’t get there soon there won’t be any good food left; it’ll all have perished.”
My stare turned into a glare. “Are you excited?”
“No. But it’s free food, man.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so damn morbid sometimes.”
“How? I just want free food!”
I shook my head, staring out the window. I was probably cranky because of my arm, but I didn’t really care. “Hey, where’s my gun?” I asked, looking around us.
“Not here. I think you left it back at that old gas station.”
“Dammit. Now I need to find another one.”
“I think Fun Ghoul was talking about some kind of way to get a free gun out of a vending machine.”
“Whatever. My first gun was free too.”
“The whole point is getting the gun before they get to you, so you don’t have to kill a Drac to get it.”
I sighed. “I liked my old one.”
“Well if it’s not in the hand of a Draculoid by now, it’s gonna sit at that old gas station and rot. We can’t go back.”
“Tell me about it.” My arm stung as I scooted closer to the window. More than anything, I was pissed off that they’d seriously hurt me. I would have bled out if Fallon hadn’t been there to get me a bandage and help. They’d killed my best friend’s mom, who had also been a mom to me after my real one was killed, and then they nearly killed me. Which would have left Fallon completely alone. I narrowed my eyes at the thought. How dare they?
“Here we are,” Fallon said, stopping the car and climbing out just as I did. Party Poison and Fun Ghoul caught up with us just as we opened the door of the old diner, Grace tagging along slowly. I waited, holding the door for her. She didn’t look at me as she passed. Poor kid. She was so sad.
We raided the kitchen. I got myself some pancakes and packed a sandwich for later. I didn’t really pay attention to what the others were getting. I collapsed in a booth and started eating. The others soon grabbed seats around me. I took off my mask; it was starting to give me a headache.
“I’d keep that on, if I were you,” Party Poison warned. “It’s good that they not know exactly what you look like when they come.”
“I know. I’m just taking a break.”
He shrugged and let it go. “So I need a new gun,” I said.
“There’s a vending machine about a mile away from here,” Fun Ghoul said through a full mouth.
“Vend-a-hack is right under it. Grace is really good at it,” Party Poison added.
“At what?”
“Vend-a-hack,” Grace said. “It’s this game that hacks the system. It’s really hard. But I like it.”
“Yeah. BLI’s systems are pretty weak. It gets you free guns. And good ole Grace here helps a ton.”
She smiled.
After breakfast Party Poison said he’d take me to the vending machine and that the others could either follow or Fun Ghoul could take them and go set up one of the bombs. Fun Ghoul decided to go set up a bomb. Fallon went with him. They took our truck and went in the opposite direction of Party Poison, Grace and I. I wasn’t sure about the whole splitting up thing, but I didn’t say anything. We’d decided to meet back at the diner in an hour, and if the other group didn’t show for a whole hour, we were supposed to move on. It didn’t take long to reach the vending machine. Grace soon had the little hand held game going and beat it even sooner. I got myself a gun, and Party Poison helped me paint it purple.
“Oh, hey, forgot I grabbed this when you left it,” he said, putting my purple mask over my face while I attempted to paint the trigger black.
I frowned. “You totally could have made me mess up there.”
“I don’t care. You’ll probably lose it,” he smirked.
“Shut up. I had a dizzyingly painful arm and I’d lost some blood already. I forgot my gun.” I glanced up from the gun just long enough to smack him with a paint-covered hand.
“Hey man!” he complained at the purple paint mark on his jacket.
“Serves you right,” I mumbled, taking the extra gun I’d also taken from the hacked vending machine and sticking it in my jacket pocket. I set the purple one down in the floorboard to dry. Party Poison pulled out of the parking lot at the old gas station sporting the vending machine and started down the road to the diner. We met the others there and set off. I ate half the sandwich I’d made for myself earlier, and laughed, passing half of it to Grace, who had been eyeing it hungrily. She thanked me and ate it.
We went down the road and, over the course of the day, didn’t have one problem. It was peaceful and free of any Draculoids. The real problem came when night fell and we chose a place to camp. I was sprawled across the sandy ground, the fire warming me on one side and Fallon flanking me on the other. We were talking about nothing in particular, giggling every time one of us brought up a fond, funny memory. Fun Ghoul and Party Poison were gathered around another bomb, whispering so as not to wake Grace, who lay directly behind Party Poison, asleep.
My thoughts had just randomly shifted to zombie movies when the wind picked up around us, and I heard a sound I hadn’t heard in hours. The engine of a car. I sat up and watched as a white car zoomed up the road toward us. I grabbed my new gun and climbed to my feet, Fallon doing the same as Party Poison and Fun Ghoul looked up from the bomb. They started shooting at us as soon as the car stopped, climbing out of the car as we ducked for cover. I ran to Grace, shaking her awake in between shots aimed at our attackers.
The Draculoids swarmed around their cars, hiding behind them. I ducked low, pulling Grace behind me. I saw Party Poison fall, grabbing Grace when she tried to run to him. Fallon grabbed him and pulled him away from the crossfire. I handed Grace a gun when I caught a break, telling her to shoot with everything in her.
The fight itself was quick. Fun Ghoul was hit in the arm. Fallon got a few cuts and bruises from hand-to-hand combat after she and the Draculoid cornering her lost their guns. Party Poison had gotten a nasty wound from being shot in the leg—at least, that’s what it looked like from the distance I was at. Grace was at his side as soon as I let go of her.
No, I didn’t really know what had happened to Party Poison. At least, not then anyway. Because the minute I thought they were gone, I heard a loud crack! resound off the surrounding mesas of the desert, causing everyone nursing their wounds to look up, and, after a chorus of screaming, my head exploding in pain, everything went black.