Lost Boy (True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys) #Wattys2016

Chapter VIII

This only managed to piss off the guys in white. They lifted up their guns and opened fire.

"Boy, get down!"

I dropped behind cover, which was in the form of a few stacked boxes. It was hard to get fully in cover, but I tried to make it work. I took my gun off my shoulder and my knife out of my sheath.

I popped up and started shooting at the guys in white. I kept missing, and I was a little concerned about it.

I finally took in a deep breath and let my body do its job.

I blacked out a little there. I had no idea what it was, but when I opened my eyes, there were four bodies on the floor. One of them was still moving: the guy in the suit.

He reached for his gun, but I shot it away from his reach.

"O-one man."

I scowled. "One man what?"

"Only o-one man I've ever kn-known has been able to shoot like that," he coughed. "And that man is dead."

"And so are you," I scoffed.

"You are the d-dead man, Christoph," he said. "I knew it f-from the first time I looked at you.  You're Christoph-"

A green ray went to his head, killing him.

No...not now.

NO!

I growled and threw my knife on the floor. "Not now!" I yelled. "Why?"

"Boy, you okay?"

I looked up from the floor. "Fine, fine. Are you good?"

I saw his hand go on top of a box, then lose traction, and fall. "Dammit! That hurts!"

I rushed over to the box and gasped at the scene. It was Atom, laying down, holding on to his chest with a pained look on his face.

"What's the matter?" I begged. "Tell me-tell me what's wrong."

I was all to pieces. I could barely speak or understand my own words.

He gave me a smile and said in a crappy Southern accent, "I'm dyin', Forrest."

That relaxed me a bit, but confused the hell out of me. "What?"

"D-don't tell me you haven't seen Forrest Gump," he laughed.

I carefully picked him up, but it was hard from the shakiness. "When we get back with the guys, we'll watch it. How's that? Good, right? Yeah?"

He shook his head and let out a cough that was almost half-hearted. "I don't know if I'll make it there, Boy. I'm ghosted. He shot me where it hurts."

I ran out the door. "No, no, you'll make it, you'll make it! We'll make it back to the guys, we'll clean up this mess, and we'll watch Forrest Stump. Good?"

He laughed again. "Forrest Gump, dumbass."

"R-right, right." I shook my head to try and clear it. "Okay. Where could they have gone?"

He pointed over in the distance. "Over there, if we're lucky. If not, then..." He pointed upwards. "That's where I'm goin'. Or at least, that's where I hope I'm goin'."

"Of course you're going to h-heav- no, you're not going anywhere," I stammered. "And they'll be fine. I-I know for sure. You're not dying yet, and neither are they. They got out safe and are waiting for us with Forrest Gump r-ready for us to watch."

"Shut up, will ya?"

I closed my eyes for a brief moment to hold back tears. What scared me was that he didn't sound mad or frustrated at all when he'd said that, it was the same happy-go-lucky tone he'd used all day.

I bit my lip. "S-"

He shushed me and put his hand on my lips. "Stop. No more words. Just you, me, and this desert."

I nodded. Okay.

"That guy mentioned something with your name, you know," he said, looking off into the sky. "Christoph. That sounds cool." He looked at me. "We can call you Chris. How 'bout that?"

I nodded.

"It's settled then," he said. "Chris, the not yet famous Lost Boy, is not so lost anymore."

I looked up in the sky with him and let out a small laugh. It was beautiful. The blue was contrasted with the white and slightly gray clouds, and the sun shone from underneath a small cloud. I loved it, and if Atom was dying, I was happy for that to be the last thing he would see.

"I-I have a question for you," I brought up. "Why did you shoot that guy in the suit while he was talking to me?"

He looked confused. "What? I didn't shoot him. I was behind those boxes the whole time."

"What do you mean, you didn't shoot him?" I asked. "This green ray came and shot him while he was talking to me!"

"I didn't," Atom said. "Not to mention my gun has blue rays, not green. I don't know why someone would do that while they're talking to you. That's just an asshole move."

I froze, thinking. What the hell? Just as things were coming together, they fall apart again.

Son of a bitch.

"You know, I'd always hoped I'd go out like this," he said. "With an adventure. As a kid, I was hoping with it to be maybe in some cool Indiana Jones-style palace or something, but this is better."

"I-I know, I know," I said. "I know."

"Stop talking again. Breathe and look at the sky."

I nodded. "I'm gonna miss you, Atom."

"I'll miss you too, buddy."