FicWad

It was hot and they were not sure exactly how long they had been walking. They were not even sure of what Zone they were in, only knowing it as somewhere between Mars Bar and their new secret hideout, if they ever even found it. The sun was finally beginning to set, painting the sky vermillion and lilac and watery blue, and casting long, dark shadows across the desert floor. The wind was beginning to pick up as well, kicking up clouds of crystalline dust and blinding the men. They were having a heated conversation on whether or not they should hitchhike, when a very large, white object bolted out from the bushes and disappeared behind a cluster of rocks. They all reached for their guns, holding them out and spinning circles to try and catch who had snuck up on them.

“Who’s there?” Party challenged, firing a shot into the air.

But there was no answer. The other three men piled around him, looking around them for any signs of movement. There was nothing but the sounds of the wind whipping across the desert, until they heard the sound of footsteps drawing closer. Kobra turned around first, aiming his gun at a heap of granite boulders. At first, nothing emerged, but the footsteps started up again and a pinto mare emerged. It nickered softly and stood by the rocks, lowering its head to examine the men but making no move to step forward. Ghoul took a tentative step towards her, tucking his gun in his holster and holding his arm out. The horse tossed her head and nearly bolted, but Ghoul whistled softly and began walking closer.

“I won’t hurt you,” he offered, leaning down to rip a handful of grass from the sand, “Nice horsie.”

She nickered again and stepped forward, stretching her neck at full length to eat the grass Ghoul was holding. It took her a few bites to get comfortable, but soon Ghoul was stroking her nose and running his fingers through her mane. Party huffed nearby, “Ghoul, we don’t have time for this.”

Ghoul turned and glared, “Well if you didn’t nearly hit her, this wouldn’t matter.”

He looked back at the horse and cooed sweetly, “I’m sorry he’s such a big meanie.”

“I am not a big meanie,” Party shouted, sounding increasingly frustrated, “We have to go.”

Ghoul rolled his eyes, “Calm down, would ya? It’s not like we have anywhere to go to.”

Party groaned and made this desperate, pleading noise, “It’s getting dark and we have no car. We can’t exactly stick around.”

Ghoul frowned and pulled away from the horse, tousling her mane one last time. They started back for the road, and the horse followed behind them. She never came close, but kept a steady pace, weaving in and out of the desert landscape like a moonbeam. They had barely gone a mile when the low clanking of an engine cut through the silence of night. Taking a firm hold of their guns, they darted off the road and headed out into the desert. The engine was drawing closer, but the group had come to the edge of a small gorge. They scrambled down the hill and ducked down behind an outcrop of granite, pressing their backs to the soft earth. Much to their surprise, the mare had followed them down, but was galloping down the slope instead of hiding. A few seconds later, the heavy rumble started up. It sounded like the earth was splitting apart, and the rocks were being thrown up from the ground. As the sound became louder, the men realized not only was it big, but it was coming closer. They huddled together and tucked themselves into a corner.

The sound was deafening, and soon dozens of horses were stampeding down the gorge. Not far behind was a BLI helicopter, painted a shiny black with the large, happy logo stamped on one side. It was firing off rounds in random bursts, aiming for the large herd and picking off stragglers. Ghoul gave a throaty growl and jumped out from hiding, firing his gun and trying to hit the back rotor. One shot hit the tail, but the helicopter only wavered for a moment. Kobra was suddenly at his side, loading a cartridge into his gun.

“Aim for the blades,” was all he shouted before he opened fire.

The helicopter quickly lost interest in the horses and turned its guns on the men. They dove out from the rocks and began to run down the slope of the gorge, turning and firing at the helicopter at every chance they had. The helicopter swooped down, nearly clipping them with its legs. But Ghoul just latched on, not caring as he was lifted up and away from the ground. He swung his body out, firing up at the blades and knocking them off balance. One of the dracs leaned out, shooting down at Ghoul’s hand to get him to let go. He growled and shot him in the eye, watching with a dull fascination as the body tumbled out of the seat and down the sandy earth below. He fired at the blades again, whooping loudly when one of them bent and sent them spiraling down towards the ground. Ghoul let go at the last moment, crashing into the sand and rolling down the hill. He groaned loudly once he had finally stopped himself, and scrambled to hide under a sage bush while holding his ribs with a ginger arm. He could hear the helicopter blades chopping through the air, before a deep and resounding explosion sounded somewhere in the distance.

The other men were not far behind him, shouting his name frantically and shooting a barrage of lasers in every direction. Party fell to his knees next to him, shaking his shoulder, “Hey! Hey, wake up!”

“I am awake,” Ghoul groaned, rolling onto his back and pressing his hand to his chest, “Fuck.”

Party screwed up his face in panic, “Shit, what? Did they shoot you?”

He began to grab at Ghoul’s jacket, hands shaky and pale. But the younger man batted him away, scooting further under the bush, “Fuckin’ fell. I think I broke a rib.”

Party made a high pitched whimper, and began to poke at the side Ghoul was holding, “C-Can you breathe?”

Ghoul gasped and punched Party in the arm, “I can’t fuckin’ breathe if you touch it! Fuck!”

He slammed his head down into the dirt, rolling onto his side and glaring at Party, “Go help Jet and Kobra,”

Party looked up over the bush, peering through his sunglasses at the wreckage of the helicopter. He could make out the shape of his brother searching the vehicle, while Jet had disappeared to the bottom of the gorge, no doubt looking for any dracs that could be scouting the area. He looked back down at Ghoul, “There’s nothing to do… you killed them.”

Ghoul laughed breathlessly, before wincing, “You can’t kill ‘em if they’re already dead.”

Party smiled crookedly and held out his arm for the other man to grab. He pulled Ghoul to his feet and allowed him to lean against his shoulder. Together they hobbled towards what was left of the helicopter, now reduced to a pile of twisted metal and bright yellow flames. Kobra sighed as they got closer, “Someone’s gonna see this fire. I don’t really wanna stick around and find out who.”

Party grunted in agreement, and followed his brother down to the bottom of the gorge, where Jet was leaning over the banks of a small river, splashing water onto his face. When he looked up, he saw Ghoul huddled against Party, his face tight with pain. He walked over and pulled the smaller man into his grasp, looking him over, “You alright to walk?” he asked quietly.

Ghoul shrugged and stumbled away from him. He wavered for a moment, but drew in a deep breath and pulled himself straight, “Yeah… yeah, I’ll be fine.”

They followed the river a little ways, keeping a nervous watch on the burning remains behind them. As the gorge began to even out they found themselves at the edge of a large meadow, the river cutting through it as it flowed towards the sea. It was then they heard the sounds of the horses. They could not see the herd in the darkness, but could hear the thundering hoof beats drawing closer as they moved out into the clearing.

It wasn’t until Jet saw a girl atop one of the horses that he realized it had been a trap. He pulled his gun from his holster and started to yell for the others. But something heavy connected to the back of his head, sending him spiraling down to the ground. The last thing he saw was someone shoving a bag over Party’s head, before the lights in his world went dim.

Kobra was the first to wake up.

He sat up and rubbed his head, groaning softly as he took in his surroundings. It didn’t appear as though he had been taken back to Battery City. In fact he was outside, in a tent, a fire glowing lazily just outside the canvas. He shifted and tried to stand, only to find his ankles were encased in thick ropes, with knots keeping him quite secure to a stake in the ground. He groaned again and bustled around, trying to wake the others. He was halfway through shouting Party’s name when a girl came into the tent, guns in either hand.

“Would you shut up?!” she shrieked, aiming the guns in Kobra’s direction.

“Who are you?” he asked, voice fierce.

The girl frowned, “I should be askin’ you the same thing. Just what in the hell were you doin’ on our property?”

She was young, with wavy blonde hair and large brown eyes, and had a heavy southern accent. She was dressed in almost all purple, with layers of tank tops and scarves and jewelry, and silver acrylic boots. Kobra straightened himself and took in a steadying breath, “I’m Kobra Kid… and I guess you could say we were lost.”

The girl cocked an eyebrow, “You the fellas who shot down that helicopter?”

He nodded, “Well, Ghoul did most of the work, but, yeah.”

She smiled brightly, “Well, shit! I s’ppose I should be thankin’ y’all then. Those BLI bastards have been goin’ after our herds for three weeks now. Maybe that’ll teach ‘em a lesson.”

Kobra smiled too, “So, uhh, who are you?”

The girl stepped further into the tent, leaning over Kobra’s feet and beginning to untie him, “My name’s Diamond Dingo. We call ourselves the Valkyries. You’re at our camp.”

He wriggled his legs loose of the ropes and stood up. The other three were still out cold on the ground, and huffing, Kobra nudged his brother’s shoulder with his shoe. Dingo laughed nervously behind him, “Yeah sorry about that. We figured you were spyin’ on us so…”

Kobra shrugged, turned to her, and felt along his leg for his gun, “Where’s my gun?”

Dingo frowned, “I can’t let you have that. Not until we know who you are.”

He was getting panicky, “I told you who I was! I-We saved your horses!”

She put her hands on her hips, “Don’t matter. You’re on our property, which means you play by our rules. Now, wake yer friends up and I’ll make y’all somethin’ to eat.”

He huffed and glared at the girl, but she only smiled and began to back out of the tent, “And don’t try runnin’ away, we got riders all over these parts.”

With that she left Kobra standing alone in the tent. He knelt by his brother first, shaking him vigorously until he lurched awake, moaning in pain and stretching his limbs out across the floor. Ghoul was much easier to wake, in fact he’d been listening to Kobra and Dingo speak, but did not want to interrupt the conversation. Jet was the last to wake, coming to in a string of curses and trying to take a swing at Kobra when he started poking at his chest. Party shook his head vigorously before rubbing the spot on his ankles where the ropes had been tied, “Where are we?” he asked dazedly.

Kobra gave a small smile, “Umm, in a tent. And we’ve kinda been kidnapped.”

Party frowned and started scratching at the bruise that was forming on his temple, “Are they nice?”

Ghoul started laughing at the question, falling backwards and nearly braining himself on one of the stakes, “We get taken hostage and all you can worry about is if they’re nice.”

Kobra punched him, “They are nice. And we’re not being held hostage. I don’t think, anyways…”

“Y’all comin’?” Dingo shouted, and there was the sound of glass and plastic clattering to the ground.

The men shuffled out of the tent, blinking tiredly in the early morning light. There were about ten people scattered around a large fire, all of them women. They ranged in every age and color, and some of them wore a fierce expression as the men quietly took their places among them. A tanned, elderly woman looked up from her hands and glared at them, “And just who the hell are you?” she spat.

Ghoul nudged Kobra in the ribs, “I thought you said they were nice,” he hissed.

Kobra retaliated by elbowing Ghoul’s side, ignoring his moan as he introduced himself. “I’m Kobra Kid… we’re, uhhh, friends of Dr. Death-Defying.”

She turned her gaze to Party’s long, greasy black hair, “How about you, hippie? You gotta name?”

Party furrowed his brow and blew a stray lock from his eyes, “It’s Party Poison,” he said, sarcastically accentuating the consonants in his name.

The woman growled and started loading very real bullets into an old .45, “Don’t you take that tone with me boy. I’ve ghosted men twice yer size.”

She pointed her gun at the remaining men, “And you two? You mute or just stupid?”

Ghoul stood from the log, habitually grabbing at his side for his gun, “Look lady, I didn’t risk my fucking neck taking down that chopper for nothing. You’re all damn lucky it didn’t find you out here.” He raged.

The woman stood as well, still holding her gun in front of her, “We coulda taken ‘em. We’ve beaten them back before.”

Dingo scrambled in between them, pressing her hands to the woman’s chest, “They’re not dangerous Maggie, and they did save our horses. They just got lost.” She explained.

The woman, still fuming, only nodded and tucked her gun away, “They can stay until sunset. Best I can offer,”

Jet, who had been standing behind Ghoul ready to hold him back if necessary, smiled kindly, “We won’t be any trouble.”

Dingo passed out breakfast in silence, slopping chili onto large, stale pieces of bread. It was quite good, though tasted as if it had been sitting in the same pot for weeks. Ghoul was wincing every time he moved his arms too much, and Dingo gave him a sympathetic look, “We got a doc, she’s in the green tent.”

He glanced down at his plate, “I’m fine, I swear. I just bruised somethin’.”

He rubbed at his chest for emphasis and went quietly back to eating.

The sun was cresting huge and gold when everyone had finished, and all but the four men started about their daily work. Dingo came over after collecting all the dishes and setting them in a neat pile near the wheel of a wagon. Kobra stood and rubbed at the back of his neck, “Anything we can do to help?”

Dingo put her hands on her hips and smiled, “Sure, we need someone to go on a supply run, but it’s in dangerous territory.”

Kobra’s face fell, “… and I’m guessing that ‘someone’ means us?”

Dingo’s smile only grew wider, “Yep.”

Jet stood up and eyed the girl carefully, “Will we get our guns back?”

“Course… once you’re done with your mission.” She said with an almost sadistic giggle.

Ghoul started looking angry, “You’re sending us out to god-knows-where to do god-knows-what in a big, hot, fucking desert. And you’re making us do all of this completely unarmed,” he drew in a tight breath and held back a groan, “Don’t send us to our deaths because we’re strangers out here.”

Dingo frowned, “You won’t be unarmed. We’ll give you guns, we’re not stupid. We just need a reason for y’all to come back.”

Party moaned, “And exactly how are we getting there? We don’t have a car.”
At this she smirked, “You’ll be takin’ horses o’course.”

The men gave a collective groan, and Kobra made a terrified, little sound, “We have to ride horses?”

Dingo rolled her eyes, “It ain’t that hard. Besides, surely y’all know how to ride a horse.”

They all shook their heads, and the girl gave a frustrated sigh, “Aright… well, I’ll find y’all somethin’ to ride while you talk to Tiger Lily.”

“Who’s Tiger Lily?” Party asked.

“She’s got the supply list and the maps, but she can also teach y’all a thing or two about horses.” Dingo explained, pulling down a white cowboy hat from the nearest tent post.

“Now, y’all just go to the last tent on the left, you’ll see a big white horse outside. That’s Lily.” Dingo shouted, before dashing up the hill and disappearing over the other side.

Silently, they shuffled through the camp, before reaching a very large tent made up of several California state flags. There was also a stark white horse tethered outside of it, chomping placidly at a crop of grass that had sprung up around the tent. Jet went in first, calling out ‘hello’ and stopping just short of the entrance.

But no one was inside. He peeked around, taking in the piles of cassettes scattered around the tent’s floor. From the back, he could hear the faint beats of hip-hop music, and he stumbled back outside, “She’s not here.”

Ghoul was already walking around to the other side of the tent, following the faint scent of acrylic paint. The horse watched him warily, following him as he stepped over a pile of rusting car parts and to the back of the tent. Tiger Lily was dressed in all orange, down to a pair of painted Nikes, but her face was covered by a gold gas mask. She had a can of spray paint in either hand and was going away at the hood of a car. Notorious B.I.G. was blaring out of a brightly decorated ghetto-blaster set up on a pile of bricks. Ghoul waved his hand and shouted, “Whatcha doin’?”

She turned and looked at him, but he couldn’t make out an expression behind her mask. She pulled it off and tossed it rather carelessly aside, but never dropped her spray paint, “Who the hell are you?”

“Fun Ghoul. Dingo sent us,” was all he said.

She narrowed her eyes, “Oh yeah? Are there more of ya?”

He nodded, keeping a straight face, “We’re not armed,” he added.

She laughed and ran her hand over the glimmering gun at her side, “Well good thing I am. What do you want?”

By this time the others had joined him, and Ghoul took a step closer. “Dingo said you had maps,” was all he told her.

She set her eyebrows in a firm line and stared up at him, “So you guys are doing the run?”

They nodded collectively and Lily sighed, wandering over to her stereo and flipping the switch. She then beckoned them inside her tent where she began to root through an old, green chest on the ground. It seemed like reams of paper spilled out, some covered in brightly colored art, others filled with guitar tabs and scratched out lyrics. Finally though, she pulled a long, yellowed roll of paper and set it on the ground in front of them. “Did Dingo give you any details about the mission?” she asked quietly.

“No,” Party stated, looking over the map with curious eyes, “She did say something about riding horses though…”

Lily smirked, but said nothing as she crouched down. She smoothed the map best she could across the rocky earth and began to explain the plan, “We need medicine, and food. And no one provides as wonderfully as BLI.”

Kobra made a face, “Are we going to Battery City?”
Lily shook her head, “No, a S.C.A.R.E.C.R.O.W. outpost, actually. It’s on the border of Zone 3.” She explained.

Jet made a very concerned expression, “S.C.A.R.E.C.R.O.W. outpost? Those places are guarded more heavily than the Towers.”

She bit her lip, smoothing her hair back, “We know, which is why we haven’t been able to do it ourselves.”

“What makes you think we can do it?” Party questioned, his voice heavy with skepticism.

She gave him a smile, “You brought down that helicopter by yourselves, seems like a bunch of brainless idiots wouldn’t be much of a threat to you.”

Ghoul rolled his eyes and made a frustrated noise, “How far is it?”

Lily looked up at him, “Not far, 30 miles at best. If you leave soon you’ll be there by nightfall.”

There was a lapse of silence as the men cycled the plans through their minds, huddling together to talk in hurried voices. After a few minutes of delegation Party separated from them and turned to face Lily.

“How do we get there?”