Let Art Be Our Weapon: Frerard/Killjoys Epic

The Kids From Yesterday

In the distance, I see a motorcycle and a cruiser racing across the zones. I start driving towards the two vehicles and see a kid on the bike, wearing a completely white suit, excluding the dirt and grass stains, and a jet black helmet with a BL/ind symbol. The Draculoids in the cruiser follows right behind the kid. There was definitely something peculiar going on here but I wasn't sure what. I am aware the aftermath is secondary but precaution may be better advised. "Hey, boys," I say. "Let's not kill anyone. Shoot the tires and their knees but keep them alive. They may do us good if they can talk."
Frank wraps his shoulder over the seat belt. "Sure thing but don't get your hopes up that it'll be different, Party," he says, as he leans out of the window and sits on the edge of the door frame. Ray stands through the back window and they both start firing. This draws the attention of the cruiser and the passenger Draculoid returns fire.

  I near the other two vehicles and a gun show goes down. The Draculoid firing at us has a hard time with the blaster, which is only a good thing for us. I grab my blaster with my left hand and start firing out my window, driving with the other hand. I naturally learned how to use both hands for everything, making my life easier in situations like these and also me ambidextrous. Apparently, this is not something everyone can just teach themselves to do, making me a little better than average. I fire a few rounds and the third shot hits the front tire of the motorcycle. The kid flips over the hand bars and crashes hard into the ground. Frank and Ray continue to shoot and they take out the wheels on the cruiser. The car skids and the driver turns it around. It comes to a halt and the two Draculoids inside start shooting their way out. I turn Kemia and hit the breaks. We duck down as the blasts fly through the windows or hit the door. I slide lower down the seat and motion Mikey and Frank to get out on their side, not facing the shooting. The open the door and they army crawl out. Ray and I follow after them.
I slither out of the car and onto the dirt ground. The other three crouch low. I flatten myself against the dust and stick my blaster underneath the car. I fire at the passenger Draculoid's feet. The passenger falls on the ground after getting hit and the driver notices and climbs back inside the car. I hear him scream out, clutching his singed leg. Frank gets on the ground with me and Ray starts shooting at the driver but can't hit him.
I get off the ground and dive behind a large bolder. A blast skims my jacket as I roll to cover but it just misses me. I turn around and see the biker try to drag himself off the ground but he took a hard fall. I hear him moaning out in pain trying to get up but only hurting himself more. I don't need to worry about him. The passenger lies on the ground trying to shoot us. The biggest concern is the driver. He shoots from inside the car. Unlike his companion, he knows how to shoot damn straight. It hasn't yet occurred to him to shoot the tires of our car, which is good for us.
We need to get close enough to them so they stop shooting altogether. The kid has a blaster in his hand but he's not firing it. I lift my head higher over the boulder. The kid sees me clearly but he doesn't take a shot. I see the driver aim at me and I duck down as a blast flies over where my head was a second ago. I look at Ray. Ray holds up a finger for me to wait a moment. He already conjured up a plan? He whispers something to Frank and they nod in agreement.
Ray stands up and fires at the cruiser. He then starts sprinting away, running parallel with the car but he's completely in the open. "Jetstar!" I scream out. "Get down!" He's going to get killed. What is he doing?
The Draculoids concentrate their fire at him. Frank peeks his head over the hood of Kemia and fires at the engine. Hissing and black smoke arise. The driver knows what he did and he leaps out of the seat, however, the passenger is unable to run. The hood of the car explodes and the two Dracs go flying. There is no way the passenger made it; he was right in front. His body flies into the air ablaze and tumbles back. The driver skids across the dirt, his blaster falls out of his hand. I look at the others. I gesture for them to take out the driver. I run over to the biker.
The kid sees me and starts backing away or tries to. He falls on his side trying to get away from me. "Please, don't hurt me," he mutters. Like hell.
"How old are you?" I spit at him. BL/ind is now sending children to do their work.
"I'm 10," he stutters. There is something different about him. He's scared? He's afraid, afraid of me. He has an emotion. The other Dracs might as well be droids. I have always tried to get information out of a Drac. On my first mission, if there weren't armed, I did my best but they had lacked personality. It's all been wiped out of them all. This boy was different. He was scared and had self-preservation. "My name is Caleb," he whispers.
I can't help my choke a little. "What?" I ask.
"I-I said my name is Caleb," he repeats. He moves his hands off the ground and I aim my blaster at him. "No, no. Don't shoot me," he cries out. "I'm just taking off my helmet." He pulls the black helmet off and he sets it on the ground. He clearly was a kid. Young face and scared eyes.
"You actually have a name. I call you Caleb?" I ask him. In all the missions, not once have they said a name. They give me a number instead. Even having a name was too much originally. Too much meaning behind it. The numbers wiped away that problem. Maybe this kid isn't authority but a runaway.
I hear the shouts from behind. No time to check, just go. I grab the kids arm and drag him as I sprint to the others. He lets out an agonizing wail as he's arm is yanked at an awkward angle. I don't have time to comfort him. I don't know if I can trust him so I can't let him out of my sight.
The driver has a blaster and fires at the others. I'm 15 feet away when Mikey jumps off the incline and tackles him to the ground. They start fighting but the Drac knows combat. This is one of the Dracs meant to be out in the Zones. They know how to fight. Frank and Ray try to shoot but they can't without risk hitting Mikey.
Caleb yells out. "Stop it! Stop!" he screeches. He fights to get free but I don't let him go.
The Drac fires the gun and it hits Ray. He flies back and his blaster explodes into the air, creating a blinding and painfully bright flash. He lands on the ground in shock, looking for the wound but he's okay. Miraculously, only his blaster was hit and not him. The pieces of what is left of his gun scatter around him. He is stunned from the explosion of the blaster and lies dazed on the ground confused. I throw the kid to the ground and make sure Ray's okay.
Mikey knocks the gun out of the Draculoid's hands and swings a punch. He ducks out of the way and kicks Mikey in the chest. Mikey catches their ankles and drags him to the ground. The wrestle more. Frank stares watching the two, still aiming the gun but scared to fire.
Frank falls forward and smashes into the ground. Caleb pins him down but Frank easily rolls him off. Caleb fights for Frank's blaster. "Don't shoot! Please!" he begs. "Stop fighting!" he calls out. Mikey gets the upper hand on the Drac. He pins the driver to the ground with his knees and starts punching him in the face. Caleb screams out bloody murder and Frank pries his hands off of him. He hisses something that doesn't make sense. "SISSSS!" he hisses like a snake.
The Drac lies flat on his back pinned to the ground. Mikey kneels over them punching his face repeatedly Caleb goes berserk trying to run towards them but he doesn't get free. After the fifth blow Mikey lands, he knocks the mask off the Drac. The vampire mask goes flying back and long black hair flows out onto the dirt. A young girl lies on the ground, her fair and pale skin swollen and starting to bruise. Her lips and hair glistening with blood and more trickles from her nose. Caleb now makes sense. He was trying to say, sister. He was calling for his sister. Mikey stops for a minute, a little taken aback by the girl. We all freeze staring at her. Mikey hesitates to do anything. For a moment, he freezes up, but a moment too long. The girl uses this time to reach for Mikey's upholstery and grab blaster. By the time Mikey realizes what she did, the Drac holds it in her hands, aiming the barrel of the gun at his chest. Before he can make a sound, she pulls back the trigger.
As the gun flashes and the distinctive sound of a blast echoes across the zones, I find myself screaming. My eyes readjust from the bright light and I see Mikey fly backward off of her, his head whipping back and his back colliding with the ground. Numbness consumes me and I call out for my baby brother, but I'm not the only one shouting. Caleb and I scream out at the same time. Both of us shriek out siblings names.
"MIKEY!"
"HELENA!"