Danger Days

9

Opal yawned. "I'm hungry," she said. "Can we get something to eat?"

Ray hummed. "I dunno if that's such a good idea, Ope," he said. "I mean, we have our rations..."

"Yeah, but what about Miss-"

"Okay, okay," Ray said quickly, waving a hand to quiet her. "We can go get something to eat. But we'll eat fast." He directed Mikey to a small diner a few miles up the road.

"Do we have to put on our white shit?" Mikey asked. "There's no one here. And, um... it's kinda the middle of nowhere."

Ray chuckled. He looked around, ensuring that they were truly alone. "I guess not," he said. "But now we have to eat even faster." He reached behind him and picked up a blanket from the car's floorboard, handing it to Opal. "Lay under this. We'll bring you back something good."

Opal stared at the blanket, then looked up at him. "What?" she said. "I can't come in with you?"

Ray laughed. "Are you joking?" he asked. "Absolutely not. Did you forget who you are?" He patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll try to be quick."

Opal groaned. The others got out of the car and walked into the diner. There were two waitresses, and an older woman behind the counter. When she saw Ray, she removed her glasses, letting them dangle from the sparkly chain around her neck. "Well, I'll be damned," she said. "Where have you been?"

Ray flashed a charming grin at the woman, leaning on the counter. "All over the world," he said.

She let out a laugh with a shake of her head. "How're you doin', hun?"

"I'm doing alright, thanks for asking," Ray said. "Any chance I could sit down with you for a few?"

The woman looked behind her into the kitchen. "Rhonda!" she called. "Get me a couple quickies out here."

"How many do you need?" Rhonda called back. The woman turned to Ray.

Ray thought for a moment. "Six alright?" he asked.

The woman reached up and patted his cheek. "That's just fine. Y'all go sit over there in the back, alright? They'll be right out." She nodded at the others before retreating to the kitchen. Ray led them to a booth.

"Who was that lady?" Mikey asked quietly.

"She just knows me and Steve," said Ray.

"Okay, but... Who is she?" Frank said.

Ray shrugged, making a sound to indicate that he was unsure. "She owns the place, I guess. Manager, maybe?"

Frank glanced to Gerard. His gaze was fixed on Mikey, who was glancing between Ray and his brother. Before anyone could say anything else, the woman appeared at their table with a large tray. There were six quick meals, two with lids on them. She set the tray down. "Don't worry about cleaning up or nothin," she said. "You just eat and skedaddle."

"Yes, ma'am," Ray said. "Thank you very much."

"Anytime." She squeezed Ray's shoulder before shuffling back behind the counter.

Ray took one of the meals from the tray and a small packet of plastic silverware. He opened it up, and was about to take a bite when he realized no one else had moved. He sighed, dropping his fork into his food. "Okay," he said with a sigh, "Why the fuck is everyone looking at me like that again?"

"Who's that fucking woman?" Gerard said, smacking his palm against the table. Mikey pressed his lips together as he aggressively elbowed Gerard and shushed him.

"Oh, my God," Ray muttered. "We used to come here a lot, okay? I'm from here, remember? I wasn't supposed to be in Jersey. And that lady has a soul, and she doesn't call the feds on Killjoys. Now, can we please just eat and get the hell out of here?" He shot Gerard a look before picking his fork up once again. He began to eat, and Mikey was the first to reach out and take his food from the tray. Frank snapped to attention and did the same, and Gerard rolled his eyes before removing the last open meal.