Part 4: Alabama

“Mom, huh?” I got a good look at the Killjoy in front of us after Disco and Mighty Mouse had mostly detached themselves from her. She was about 5’3, with the same unruly brown hair as Mighty Mouse and the same clear, blue eyes all three of them shared. A neon green mask was pushed up off her face and onto a yellow bandana that she wore on her head, keeping said hair out of her face.

“This is crazy. You’re so big now.” The woman held Disco’s face in her hands and hugged him again. She put an arm around Mighty Mouse, hugging both of them to her sides. And then they realized there were other people in the room.

“Warzone Wasp, nice to meet you.” She held out her hand, which we all shook. She looked down and spotted G.I., who was still lying on the floor. “Woah, who’s this?” She bent down, checking his pulse.

“He got ghosted while we were helping you guys.” Babydoll pulled on my shirt, so I lifted her onto one hip. “His name was G.I. Geronimo, our commander-in-chief.” I bit my lip, studying him.

“I see.” She closed G.I.’s eyes. “We’ll help y’all bury him in the desert, if you want.”

“I’d appreciate that.” I nodded. “We’d appreciate if you and your Killjoys didn’t take any of the supplies we found here first, too. We walked a long way for it, and now that you’re taking two of our own back with you, it’ll be even harder to move it all.” I nodded, all business.

“Wait, we’re not leaving you guys.” Disco looked panicked.

“Disco, that’s how these things work. You go on back with your mom, we’ll be fine.” I nodded. “They can’t take all of us, that’s seven,” I stopped, observing G.I.’s body, “Six extra mouths to feed.”

“No!” Mighty Mouse ran from her mother’s side to bury her face in Lightning’s. “You’re my family, and I’m not leaving without all of you.”

“Honey, you have to go with your mom. She’ll take care of you.” He rubbed her back as tears ran down Mighty Mouse’s face, leaving a wet spot on his shirt. I’d miss them terribly too, they were my family for Pete’s sake, but out in the Zones, finding a parent wasn’t something that happened too often. They had to go, I knew it as well as they did.

“No.” I looked up to see Disco reluctantly tearing himself from his mother’s side and coming to stand next to me. He took Babydoll from me and settled her on his hip, throwing an arm around my shoulder. “They’ve been my family for 7 years out here, and they need me most right now, with G.I.hosted. I can’t just ditch them for a better offer.”

“Woah. Hold your horses, all of you, and let me get a damn word in edgewise.” Wasp tossed her hair back out of her face. “I wanted to take all of you in the first place. How could I justify leaving a bunch of kids out in Zone 2 all alone, their leader ghosted and a target painted on their backs?” Wasp grinned as Mighty Mouse’s face lit up. She ran to her mother, who hugged her tightly. I looked at Disco, whose face was also shining.

“Besides, just from looking at what you’d found, you’re practically impossible to pass up, with scavenging skills like this.” Wasp scanned the place, looking at all the stuff.

“Wasp, we hid the Dracs’ bodies, when are we-“ A darkly tanned Hispanic kid walked in the hole in the wall, a plastic monkey mask from pack in the day pushed up onto his black curls. He was wearing an orange shirt with the words, “Mucho Loco,” printed on it in white lettering and tan cargo shorts that fell just below the knee. “Did you make friends there, Wasp?” He asked slowly, looking from Wasp to Mighty Mouse to Disco and back again, his eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, man, crazy for wearing that shirt.” Rage muttered to his brother in Spanish, prompting Lightning to snort.

“Looked in the mirror lately, muchacho, or how about showered, because I can smell you from here and it ain’t a good thing.” The kid in the orange t-shirt responded in just as rapid Spanish. A moment of shock and excitement passed between the twins and the Killjoy kid, and they quickly began yelling things to each other in rapid Spanish, using hand gestures excitedly. I ducked quickly out of the way as one of Rage’s hands flew wide, almost hitting me in the head.

“Hey, watch it, doofus.” I smacked him upside the head, but he and his brother kept talking regardless. I exchanged looks with Disco and Wasp, snickering at the excited teenage boys’ exchange.

“Hey Wasp, what’s taking so long?” A girl with dark red hair tied back low on her neck and a yellow shirt over a black and white plaid skirt and black pants walked in, a zombie mask hanging from her neck. Upon spotting her, I knew we weren’t going to get along.

Rage gave a low whistle, saying “Damn, dude, who is she?” in Spanish. The new kid responded, “That’s Solar Crash, and I know she’s fine, but she’ll break your arm if you look at her the wrong way. Trust me, I’d know.” The kid instinctively rubbed his shoulder, as if remembering.

“I’ll take my chances for somebody like her.” Rage rubbed his knuckles and sauntered up to this new girl. Two tall figures stepped out of the bright sunlight right behind her, causing Rage to hold up his hands and back up the way he came.

“Or maybe not.” The two figures stood behind Wasp and the new girl, seeming just a tad menacing. “Yo, Solar...” The large black kid pulled the blue bandanna down from over his nose and mouth, looking at the girl, seemingly questioning whether or not he should kick Rage’s face in.

Wasp saw this and threw him a look. “Chill, Zebra, these are my kids.” She rubbed Mighty Mouse’s shoulders.

“All of them?” Zebra questioned slowly, looking concerned. We all looked at each other and started busting a gut.

“No, we’re the gang that picked them up - what - seven years ago?” I looked at Disco, shaking my head.

“Yeah, it’s been awhile, that’s for sure.” He chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Sorry to break up the love-fest, but Wasp, we gotta get moving.” The kid with green hair finally spoke. He had on black goggles with silver spikes coming out of them, a dark read t-shirt with Anarchy printed in black Gothic type and tight black jeans on. His green hair flopped casually over one side of his face, him not bothering to move it although he probably couldn’t see very well. Killjoys were all about a statement, though, and the old clothes certainly made one.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll take the little kids and any supplies we can pack in the Dracs’ van. Zebra, you’re with me. The rest of you are guarding all of this. Feel free to use whatever, just watch out for the BLI stuff, if there’s any in here. Only eat the dog food if so, ‘cuz you wouldn’t believe the crap they put in people food. That’s how they got people to start taking pills in the first place.” She nodded and walked over to Disco, motioning for him to give her Babydoll. Baby, being difficult, of course, buried her head in Disco’s neck, hanging onto him for dear life.

“Come on sweetie, go with Wasp.” Disco motioned, prying Baby off of him. She started crying silently, tears running her face until Wasp finally put her down. She ran over to G.I.’s cold body, which was still splattered with blood, and hugged him gently, planting a kiss on his forehead before wiping away her tears and walking calmly back over to Wasp, putting her small hand in the older woman’s.

“That’s right, we need to give him a proper burial.” Wasp remembered suddenly, gazing at G.I. A dam was barely holding inside of me, feeling ready to burst any second.I bit my lip and quickly blinked back the tears threatening to overflow onto my cheeks.

“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll take him back with us, clean him up and bury him with a proper Killjoy service.” Wasp walked over and folded me into an embrace. I hadn’t been touched in a motherly way like this since Mother Mayeye, an old gang member who’d helped raise me had gotten dusted out when I was 12. Her younger sister was who I’d stolen my Wolverine claws, jacket and tank top from. I shook my head, clearing it of those thoughts as Wasp released me.

“Now you take care of my son and them, all right?” She wiped away the solitary tear that had run down my face before lifting up Babydoll and taking Mighty Mouse by the hand.

“Hey Zebra, we’re rolling out with our fallen comrade here, can y’all load him in the BLI van with some supplies and get ready to move?” Zebra nodded from across the room, where he had migrated with that other girl and the Hispanic kid. Green hair dude was off patrolling the store after getting filled in about what exactly went down here. People started moving quickly, but I stopped Zebra and disco before they moved G.I.

“Gimme a sec, would you?” The guys nodded, leaving G.I.’s body where it was. I knelt down next to him and pulled his head onto my lap, wiping the dirt from his face.

“What did I do this time, eh G.I.?” I chuckled, tears now running down my face quickly. “I really got us in trouble, I guess.” I sniffed, wiping my tears on the sleeve of my jacket. “You were the last of the original gang. But don’t worry, the Killjoys we met, they’re gonna take care of us, and even if that fails, I’ll watch out for everybody, I promise.” My voice cracked at the end, the lump in my throat feeling like it was expanding until it would make my head explode. I breathed in and out a few times, calming myself down. I wiped my nose of most of the fluids on my face, trying to keep calm. I couldn’t let the kids see me cry, much less any of the gang or the Killjoys. I calmed down enough after a few seconds to plant a kiss on G.I’s cheek.

“Have fun, G.I., wherever you’re at. We’ll be here for now. We’ll be okay.” I hugged the corpse that was once my closest thing to a parent and set him down gently, moving so that the guys could load him into the Drac’s van. This was goodbye, at least for now.

I turned and faced the rest of the room, hoping my face wasn’t too red. I was the leader now, at least under Wasp, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone else get dusted. Not while I was around. Not ever.