Tomorrow's Money (We All Go to Hell)

Chapter Two

Mass's heart was racing far faster than she'd ever admit to any of the others. Jesus, she hated confrontations. After her sister had tried to strike out at the orientation back in the City...

Better not to think about that.

She wiped her hands on the tight light jeans she had on, strapping an extra detenator to her already-loaded belt. 

"Alright, Mass?" Kobra whispered, crouching next to her near the front flap. It was their standard position.

"Mhm."

Kobra smiled with the right half of his lips. "Don't be scared of these idiots. You've shot 'em before."

She forced herself to inhale and gave him a weak smile. His eyes glinted back.

"Get away from the window, Beam," she heard Cel hiss. The youngest Killjoy dropped to the ground in reply, reluctantly pulling his small blaster from under the couch. He leaned up against the couch with the gun clutched to his chest, his eyes glued to the others in a calm anxiety.

The sound of bike motors was growing. Mass knew that behind her, Toxic and Cel were standing with their guns already loaded and set, that Battery was holding herself off the ground with her elbows by the table with a dart in her mouth, that Skull and Poison were ready to pull the flap open and set off a stream of bullets in a matter of seconds. Kobra's proximity was warm against her gray denim vest and ripped white tee, but even that didn't calm her. It was pitiful to be so nervous, but there she was.

"Mass." She could feel Kobra's eyes on her.

"Yeah?"

"Calm down. I've got you."

She offered him a tentative smile, trying to ignore the flattered feeling in her stomach. 

Outside, the motors had stopped. Mass could hear footsteps in the blowing sand, the click of a blaster. 

"You know the drill." The voice was chillingly familiar. Mass's stomach flopped. "Exterminate."

"Self-centered bastard," Poison muttered before throwing open the front flap and letting the sun and sand whip into the tent. Mass struggled to pull her black goggles down over her eyes before pushing forward towards the waiting enemy.

And sure enough, the second she was outside, the Draculoids were there. She dropped to the ground as a first round of bullets sashayed through the air. Raising an arm, she shot back, hoping the shout of agony she heard was from a Draculoid and not Poison or Skull, who she knew had been the firsts out. 

"Left, Mass!"

She rolled to the left at the sound of Kobra's voice, tripping a masked Draculoid in the process. A volley of bullets and a thud next to her, courtesy of Kobra, gave her the signal to get back up. The sandstorm was picking up, and even with her goggles she found herself struggling to see. She knew that Kobra was behind her (he always was in fights like these), but otherwise she had nothing to go off of. Which way was the tent? 

"Ah!" Mass pulled back as a stream of gunfire whizzed past her, singeing her arm. She immediately looked behind her to Kobra, who had dodged the bullets just in time. She opened her mouth to make sure he was okay, but he was shouting at her before she could say anything.

She turned just in time to see a Draculoid hurling a grenade at them. She shot in his direction, seeing the bullets hit him just as Kobra wrapped an arm around her waist and threw himself in the opposite direction. They hit the sand hard, and Mass curled herself up into a ball as she felt Kobra's arms over her, his head pressed against the back of her neck.

There was a loud BOOM, then a haze of smoke, making the visibility completely nonexistant. 

Kobra rolled off of her, disappearing from her sight the second he pulled away. "Kobra!"

A hand on her wrist reassured her. She let him pull her after him, her blaster still ready to go. 

The distorted shadow of a body met her eyes. She pulled on Kobra's arm to stop him, pointing her gun at the silhouette. 

"Get back to the tent!" Cel. "Poison's chasing the last few off, but Battery's hurt and the storm's getting worse. Go!"

"What if they call in reinforcments?" Mass said loudly, trying to be heard above the wind.

"They won't be able to find us in this weather. Get back! I'll cover you."

Kobra was running again before Mass could ask anything else. She ducked her head behind him, trying to shield herself from the wind as Cel ran backwards behind them. Her eyes were glazed from trying to focus, and she could feel her exposed skin growing rougher and rougher. She clung to Kobra like a lifeline and just stopped thinking.

Suddenly there was a flourish of fabric, and they were inside. Mass dropped to the ground in a heap, her blaster slipping away from her black fingerless gloves as she struggled to take a full breath. Next to her, Kobra was crouched over the ground, coughing up mouthfuls of sand. She heard the front flap move again, and then Cel was on the floor next to her, pulling off his helmet. 

"Finally, Cel, get over here." Mass looked up to see Skull and Toxic standing over the card table, where Battery was sitting cross-legged and wincing as the latter sprayed disinfectant on a gouge on her forehead.

"God, what happened?"

"Korse hit me with his blaster," Battery muttered.

"Stop moving your head," Toxic commanded.

"I can't help it!"

"Korse was here?" Mass's stomach churned at the thought of the BL/ind official. "Why?"

Battery shrugged. "I blacked out for a second. Where's Poison?"

"He'll be here any second," Cel told her, pulling a medical bag from the bottom drawer of the hutch. 

Mass returned to focusing on her breathing. After inhaling sand and grenade smoke, the stuffy air in the tent was a welcome change. She knew she wouldn't have made it back in such good condition without Kobra. 

She turned to thank him, but the sight up him trying to stop himself from heaving up a kidney held her back. Maybe in a few minutes.

Just then, the front flap opened again, and Poison blew in, his cherry hair flying and his yellow mask hanging from his neck. 

"Glad you made it. Did you shoot any of them?" Skull asked, pausing from holding Battery's head still as Cel tried to wrap her forehead in a bandage. 

Poison ignored her, his green eyes scanning the tent in a panic. Mass followed his gaze, a sinking feeling overwhelming the pit of her stomach. Something was missing. 

"Poison?"

The whole tent was watching now. 

He looked over at the card table, straight at Skull. "Where's Beam?"

The six Killjoys turned to the couch. A small blaster was lying on the ground next to a rip in the tent's ground that could've only been left by a set of fingernails gripping the fabric. 

He was gone.