Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back

Chapter 4

Author's Note: It's super short, I know...sorry! I wrote this chapter pretty fast, but I needed a bit of a filler before I posted the next part. Also, this is what happens before Party Poison goes outside to confront Alkaline Insanity. So it's sort of back in time, but it fills in some gaps. But anywho, here's the chapter! Enjoy!

*Fun Ghoul*

                “Holy fuck.” I woke up in a cold sweat; the room was dark. They had put me in the back storage room of the diner, I guess in an attempt to keep me isolated. My head was spinning, and I took a few deep breaths to try and clear it. No such luck. I tried to move my hand to wipe the perspiration from my forehead, but cringed, moaning loudly as I did..

                “He’s awake!” I heard someone exclaim, followed by a number of crashes and shoves. Kobra and Poison raced through the doorway to my side, having knocked over a table in the process. “Ghoul! Are you okay? Does it hurt?” The voice said again, and I realized that it had been Kobra Kid. His face hovered above me, entering my line of sight.

                “Uh…” I started, trying to asses myself. I didn’t remember much. All I could think about was seeing Aly full-out sprinting at the dracs…wait. Was she okay? She hadn’t been steady with a gun in a while. There were reasons we left her back home on our missions.

                “Ghoul, answer me.” Kobra said evenly, waving his hand in front of my face to make sure I was fully awake. Poison’s face swam in front of mine then, his hand full of what looked to be first aid supplies. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my mind. Kobra still stared at me expectantly, awaiting my response.

                “No, Kobra, I was shot in the shoulder with a ray that basically evaporated my flesh and it doesn’t hurt.” I muttered sarcastically, recalling the pain I felt when I’d awoken.

                “Sorry…” he mumbled in response, looking away sheepishly. “I didn’t mean…I just wanted to know how you were doing.”

                “I know, I know.” I said, cracking a weak smile. “Just messin’ with ya.” Jet walked in then, laughing.

                “Leave it to Ghoul to have his flesh practically seared off but still manage to poke fun at Kobra.” He said, highly amused. Poison only rolled his eyes and turned back to me, anger flashing across his face for a moment before he replaced it with a poker face. Hah. Taking lessons from Kobra, was he?

                “We managed to reach Dr. Death Defying, and he’ll be here when he can. For now, we’ll just have to do our best to patch you up ourselves.” He said. I could tell he was really upset. His hand was curled around a bottle of clear liquid, knuckles white, and his neutral tone of voice sounded forced. “This will hurt a bit,” he said quietly, bending down toward me. He poured the clear liquid onto an old cloth and placed the cloth on my left shoulder. Instantly I was on fire. I choked back a yelp, trying to keep myself contained. A single tear rolled its way down my cheek.

                “Sorry,” Kobra said, patting my hand. “But we have to. If your shoulder gets infected…” he trailed off, and I knew what he would have said. Out here, when serious injuries went untreated, Killjoys could lose limbs. And call me crazy, but I was pretty fond of my left arm.

*Kobra Kid*

                Poison and I helped Ghoul sit up. He seemed like he was doing better, but there was no way to know for sure. I sighed and handed Poison a fresh bandage to put on Ghoul’s shoulder. This was bad. None of us had ever been hurt quite like this; we’d been pretty lucky.

                Missile suddenly appeared in the doorway, and when she realized Ghoul was awake, she rushed up and hugged him. He winced, but didn’t protest. “You’re okay!” she shrieked, jumping up and down excitedly.

                “Takes more than a shot from a ray gun to bring me down, kid.” He responded, returning her grin. But the smile faded quickly. “Where’s Aly?” he said suddenly, an alarmed expression crossing his face.

                “Don’t know, don’t care.” Party responded coldly. Ghoul raised an eyebrow at Party’s response, but didn’t press the issue further. Smart of him. Party Poison was clearly pissed, and it was a bad idea to cross him when he was this upset. Without warning or so much as a backward glance, he stood up and walked out of the storage room. I peeked around the doorway in time to see him walking out the front door and slamming it behind him.