I cross my arms over my chest, not wanting to look down at my hand and see the damage, and stare moodily out of the front of the car. Next to me Party's shaking pieces of glass from his tomato red hair, whilst Kobra is toying with his gun.
Now that the window's have all been smashed the wind whips through the car like crazy, so i sink down slightly in my seat to avoid the worst of it. Luckily there isn't too much sand blowing around to get in my eyes, and i can easily pull my hair around to one side of my head where i hold it in order to stop it from becoming a static birds nest.
"Are you mad at me?" Party calls over the roar of the engine and the sound of the wind flying through us, making his hair go all over the place in a scarlet haze.
"Just a little" i retort, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Why? Because we blew that place up? Because i thought you were planning on blowing it sky high anyway. Is it because we took your job and managed to eliminate a whole bunch of dracs at the same time?" He probes, turning in his seat as he speaks so he is looking straight at me. His knees bump against mine but there isn't any space for me to move away.
"I'm not throwing a tantrum because you took my mission" i glare. "I'm annoyed because you dragged me into this car without even asking me and left my motorbike behind. Do you know how hard it was to find one of them? And then get it to work?"
"We'll get your bike back."
"You better. It's your fault that i don't have it and i swear if the dracs get it then you're going to track it down and get it back for me. I don't care how much sweat and blood it takes, i want it in one piece and i want it soon. I need to get home." I poke his arm for extra emphasis, but he surprises me by grabbing my hand and keeping it there.
"Where exactly is home for you anyway? You don't like at any of the killjoy bases or at Dr D's main headquarters. And it's not like you really get suburbs out in the zones" he asks as he keeps a grip on my hand. I quickly pull out of his grip through and re-cross my arms.
"What makes you think i'm going to tell you everything about me so easily?"
He goes quiet, but as i glance over at him i can see he's still smirking at me. This just infuriates me further, and i shift my body so i'm turned away from him as much as i can in the cramped car, looking out the window in silence as the familiar landscape of the zones flies past.
he doesn't try to talk to me for the rest of the journey, so at least there's that. Ghoul and Kobra talk, but i don't join in their conversation - it's mainly about replacing the windows and exactly who's fault it was the canister knocked over in the first place. They all quickly establish that Ghoul is to blame (i could tell just by the look on his face when we rounded the corner beforehand) and he says he knows a killjoy who will be able to fix up the car the next day.
I nearly tell them to stop when we pass the beaten track that leads to the battery, knowing that i could probably find my way back from there. It would be a good twenty minute walk though, and i'm exhausted with a hand that's stinging like hell. Plus a part of me wants to see where the famous killjoys live. If it's only for one night then it's not like it's a massive problem. I'll just talk to them as little as possible, get some sleep and then get them to help me retrieve my bike tomorrow.
Kobra notices me staring at the path and decides to bring it up. He hasn't really conversed with me up until now, probably because he's smart enough to know i'm not in the mood for talking and that i'll probably bite his head off (metaphorically, i hasten to add.)
"So do you bartend at The Battery?"
"Sometimes" i shrug, deciding i might aswell be polite to him. He seems a nice guy and it's not like he's the one in the wrong here - just his brother. "It's not like a set thing. Now and again when i feel like some carbons i'll go help Crash out but it's not like i'm on a rota or anything."
"I think he might have mentioned you before to me you know" he nodded. "It was a while back so i can't remember exactly what he said, but he definitely spoke about a killjoy who wasn't interested in talking to anyone else. Sounds about right."
"Yeah" i chuckle "i guess that does seem pretty accurate."
He seems happy that he managed to make me smile as opposed to the normal scowl that has been occupying my face for the past journey, and goes back to the comfortable silence that has settled between the two of us.
"Home sweet home" Jet sighs as he turn down a road heading straight for a rocky mountainside. At first i can't see anything out of the ordinary, but then i see that right in front of the rocks, tucked away from the main road's view, is an old diner. It's lime green paint is peeling, and one of the windows is boarded up, but the place still has a rustic charm to it.
"This is your base?" i ask as we pull up in front, everyone immediately jumping out the car. Party goes to offer me a hand in getting out, but i quickly jump up myself without any assistance. This just causes him to roll his eyes.
"yep" he walks over to the door and disappears inside. I stand outside, looking the place up and down, not sure weather i really want to go inside or not. I mean, then i would have to stay overnight and spend even more time in their company.
"You coming?" Jet asks, holding the door open for me. I don't really have a choice. The sun's low in the sky and i can already feel the slight chill in the air. Once it's completely set the desert will become a freezing wasteland, and to be out in it would be a risk i'm not willing to take. It's looks like i'm stuck here overnight.
"Yeah" i give a small smile as he holds the door open for me. I step inside, taking in the place. The diner counter is still at the end of the room, covered in boxes of power pup and other food and drink. The diner tables have been pushed around the edges of the room, and in the middle in a large table full of mismatches gear and equipment. I can see old posters on the walls and a whole collection of spray cans in the corner. It's a mismatched mess, but it seems homely enough. I spotted a log fire outside on my way in and as i look back near the entrance i see that there is a door leading off, no doubt to where they sleep.
I decide i like the place, although it would be even better if it was just me here and all this stuff could be mine to use. Instead though there are four men walking around. Ghoul's grabbing some cans of power pup for us all, whilst Kobra's disappeared behind the door. Jet's shrugging off his jacket in the corner and Party's momentarily disappeared.
"You want the tour?" He asks from behind me, making me jump backwards in surprise and almost crash into the table. I throw my hand out to stop myself from falling and realise as it collides with the table that i chose the hand that got caught in the explosion earlier.
I wince and bring it up to my face, see the red raw blisters covering the palm of my hand that looks almost as painful as it feels. Party looks over my shoulder and frowns, grabbing my hand before i can stop him.
"Why didn't you mention you were hurt?"
"I can deal with it" I shrug, but he's already pulling me towards the other door.
"Come on, I think we have something back here for burns" Party pulls me through the door, revealing a long corridor with multiple rooms leading off. He pulls me into the second room, which turns out to be a makeshift first aid room. There's a gurney in the middle with cupboards of medicine around the edges of the room. There's an old heartbeat monitor that looks like it's been stolen from one of the hospitals in battery city and a few other prices of equipment I don't recognise.
"I know you owe me and everything but i think i can treat a burn by myself" i continue to grumble, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and watching as he goes over to the cupboards and begins to rummage through them all.
"Spark, just let me help you okay?" He turns around to give me an eye roll before going back to searching, giving a small whoop of joy when he finds the burn cream and bandages that he's been looking for. "Hold your hand out" he instructs, placing the bandages down next to me and gripping my hand with his own.
"Fuck" i hiss as he starts to slather on the cream, which stings like hell and has me crumpling up my face in a grimace. He keeps going, layering it on thickly until the pain subsides to a cool stinging that i can cope with.
"I'm sorry you got hurt" he sighs after a while, placing down the cream and beginning to bandage my hand up.
"So am i" i retort.
"Are you always like this or is it because your mad at us for interrupting you?" He's sitting on the bed beside me as he wraps up my hand, slowly layering the bandage so that it won't come off overnight.
"I guess i'm normally like this" i shrug "although you did probably make it worse by nearly blowing me to pieces back there. It's not exactly grounds to start a friendship on, even if i was interested in something that trivial."
"How is friendship trivial?" He frowns, looking at me from under his mess of hair like i just said i hated puppies. "Without the guys i would most certainly be dusted by now, and they keep me sane when we're out here in the zones."
"Sure, they can help. But what happens when one of them dies and you're left crushed? When Korse uses them against you? How great is the friendship going to be then?" I snap a little more than necessary, but i feel like he needs to know the truth.
"You have to take those risks though" he cries. "What sort of life is one without anyone else? Then you're letting Korse take any sort of relationships you could have away from you, and then you're losing your freedom too."
"I have the freedom to chose not to get attached to anyone, and i chose that on a daily basis" i retort. "Believe me, i've learned that the hard way, even if you haven't. So forgive me if i don't want to be your best friend, but i'm better off alone."
I pull my hand out of his grip just as he finishes tying the knot in the bandage and stand up from the bed. "Now if it's all the same i just want to go get some food down me. I'll need it for tomorrow when we go get my bike back."
I walk out of the room then, yelling a vague thanks over my shoulder as i head back towards the others and away from our conversation, which had gotten too deep for my liking. No way did i want to talk about my past with Party of all people.
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~ Headfirst for Helena