A-O Bomb Squad 3: The Lost City

Salute to Thee

Everyone stood outside in the rain, Coco held Sylvan Jr. while he was bundled up. The boys dug a hole six feet deep as Mamasita and Buzzkill were tending to Smarty's corpse. They managed to lift the blood stain from his jacket and they combed back his long black hair from his, now forever closed, brown eyes. Joe stood sobbing in Mad Dog's arms. She was so upset she couldn't even look at Sylvan Jr. for a long period of time. They lowered Smarty into his grave and Boss Man gave him a long, meaningful eulogy.

They stood in silence until they heard someone singing in a whisper. "You are my sunshine. My only sunshine."

It was Joe. "You make me happy when skies are gray." The others joined in on the next line. "You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

After another verse Joe repeated the last line once more, "Please don't take my sunshine away."

When Joe was finished, the grave was filled and a cross with the name "Sylvan 'Smarty Pants' Karel Gentry" engraved into the wood. Everyone but Coco, Mad Dog and Joe stood in a line.

"Ten hut! Aim! Fire!" Boss Man commanded as echoes of guns blasted in the air twenty-one times.

Charles had noticed that Smarty's death was proper, unlike everyone else that had died, who was pushed to the side and laughed at. He was a keeper, and it was a tragedy that he had passed. Charles decided it was not the best time to mention it and kept her mouth shut. Everyone but Joe and Mad Dog stood gathered in a circle. "We can't keep Joe here. She'll fall apart," Charles whispered.

"Where are we gonna go?" Boss Man argued. "The earth didn't leave us with much gas."

"What about my grandparents' house? Didn't you guys live there for awhile?" Mamasita suggested.

"That's gotta be over 1000 miles from here!"

"Well what do you suggest, sweetheart?!" Coco shouted. Mad Dog looked over to the group and made the slicing motion near his neck. Cut it out, he mouthed. Everyone turned back. "What are we gonna do?"

"Salvage all the fuel we can and try to make it," Boss Man replied. After Smarty Pants' funeral, they took the stairs out of the hotel and loaded back onto the bus. They stopped at a Walmart and restocked their supplies. Joe just sat on the bus with Mad Dog. Mad Dog decided it would be best for Coco to take care of Maxxis until Joe snapped out of her depression.

Joe slept alone that night in a diffrent seat as Boss Man drove to the closest gas station he could find. Mad Dog snuck into Joe's old seat and sat in Smarty's seat. The seat was uncomfortable and quite lumpy. Mad Dog took his pocket knife out and cut into the seat to reveal a thick book. "What the hell?" he whispered to himself.

He turned it over in his hands a few times before actually opening it. On the inside cover it read, "This journal belongs to: Sylvan Gentry." But his name had been crossed out and Smarty Pants was written above it. It looked like Joe's handwriting. He read on for awhile before slowly closing it. He debated on giving to Joe or puting it back. On one hand she could be a little happy she still has something of his, but on the other hand she could still be depressed and this could only make it worse. But then again if Joe had fixed it, she would have had to have known it was there and put it back.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" Mad Dog thought inside his mind, trying to figure out what to do. He put the book back into the seat and decided he would deal with it later.

Joe had awoken a little while afterwards and sat down next to Coco. "Becky, can I hold Syl?" she asked shyly to her friend, who was being overprotective of the boy.

"Are you sure you are well enough Cole?" Coco asked cradling Sylvan Jr.

"He's the only blood family I have left. Plus, I want to do this for Sylvan!" Joe said smiling slightly at her new mood boost.

"Alright, but mind his head it's not firm yet...That's perfect," Coco instructed Joe as she held her son for the first real time.

Junior opened his droopy lids and he began to play with the locket on Joe's neck. Joe smiled and opened the locket and the familiar tune began to play. Joe began to sing to him and his brown eyes lit up and a toothless grin appeared. Joe smiled and a single tear trailed down her cheek.

The baby had fell asleep with the same cute face as its father had.

"It makes me want one," Coco somewhat laughed.

Joe laughed too. She called up to Boss Man, "Hear that, James? Better get a move on!"

"Move on what?" he asked.

"Coco wants a baby!" Joe almost shouted.

Boss Man swerved as he looked back at the two laughing girls. Everyone was thrown back and forth in their seats. Coco kept a hold of Joe and the baby. Joe continued laughing while the baby slept like a rock. He stopped the bus. "You want a WHAT now?!" he asked panicked. Coco and Joe could barely contain themselves as they tried to explain to everyone Coco was joking. Boss Man sighed a sigh of relief as he started the bus again. "Don't scare me like that," he mumbled. Then they started driving away.

On the back of the bus was a memorial painted in black paint. "To Sylvan Gentry, waving from Heaven."

A/N: I (Becky, and I'm pretty sure Liz too) would like to dedicate this chapter to our friend Sylvan, who the character Smarty Pants was based off of. He moved away last school year, and I would like to think of this chapter as our final goodbye. So goodbye Sylvan. We'll miss you at AO. <3