Summertime

Chapter Twenty-One-Absolute Zero's P.O.V / Absolute Zero, The Girl on Fire

Absolute Zero’s P.O.V

I flicked the lighter and lit the battery bomb on fire. In a single swift movement, I hurled it overhead into a small cluster of Dracs.

Wait for it—

KA-BOOM!

I pumped my fist and darted around their charred bodies, pulling out my ray gun in the process. Ping, ping, ping! Several more Dracs were taken out.

“God, do they ever run out of you guys?!” I shouted at the Draculoids as I gunned them down. They seemed to be multiplying, appearing out of nowhere. It was as if they knew where I was going, what my motive was…

I was sprinting through the streets towards BLI headquarters. Today was the day I would fulfill something I had sworn to do many years ago; burn Better Living Industries to the ground. And I was going to do it if it cost me my life.

An Exterminator popped out from behind a building and shot at me. The laser barely grazed the edge of my jacket. With ninja reflexes, I shot the ugly thing in the face. I wasn’t injured, but now a large ugly burn ran down the sleeve of my Killjoy jacket.

“Fuck you,” I snarled at the dead Exterminator, and spat on it.

I continued jogging towards headquarters when a Drac leapt out at me. But this time, instead of shooting, it tackled me to the ground. I screamed and tried to struggle from its grip but it grabbed my neck and aimed its gun at my head.

Wham.

The Drac took a laser to the side and rolled off me, dead. Gasping, I sat up and peered through the haze to see who had saved me.

A tall boy with curly brown hair, a thin face, and dark brown eyes walked over to me. I stood up, dusting myself off, before looking straight at him.

“Miss me?” he said with a grin.

Oh.

My.

God.

“CRASH TEST!” I shrieked, throwing my arms around his neck. Crash Test was my old boyfriend, who I had lost in a fight before joining the Fabulous Killjoys. I didn’t know where he had gone, but I never forgot him. He was incredibly sweet, yet mischievous, and always managed to make me laugh.

“I missed you, too,” he laughed. He gave me a quick, gentle kiss on the lips.

“What have you been up to lately?” he asked, taking my hand and walking me down the rubble-covered street as though we were going through the park.

“Joined the Fabulous Four after I lost you, helped organized the rebellion, and now I’m here and I have to go burn down BLI headquarters,” I quickly summarized.

“Sounds like fun. Can I come?” he chuckled.

“This is something I have to do by myself. I know that sounds incredibly stupid and corny, but that’s how it is,” I said, looking down at the ground.

“That’s okay. I’ve got to go do something myself. See you later?” he said, stopping me and taking my shoulders.

“Yeah…”

“Great,” he smiled. He kissed my forehead and walked off, ray gun in hand.

Well that was certainly an interesting turn of events.

I turned and sprinted back down the street, taking out Dracs as I went. My target, the headquarters, loomed in front of me. Not far now. I could only hope no Dracs ghosted me before I got there.

Luckily, I didn’t die before I reached the tall white building. I kicked down the door and ran inside. The stench of chemicals wafted over me and I coughed. Shaking my head, I jogged through the familiar headquarters. I glanced towards the wall where Party Poison had been shot and supposedly killed. There was no sign of the awful events that took place here.

“There better be an elevator,” I muttered to myself as I read a large map of the headquarters. The main control room was on the top floor. Of course, I thought bitterly, they just had to pick the top floor for the control room. I quickly located the elevator on the map and jogged around the corner.

“Oh, hell no!” I yelled as I saw the out of order sign. Swearing under my breath, I kicked the elevator door. With a sharp ding it opened. Kicking things always works, I decided as I stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.

After about five minutes of waiting, the elevator opened at the top floor. I stepped out and cautiously crept down the hall, my ray gun in my hand. Then I spotted it; a large door with a sign that said Control Room on it.

Bingo.

I pulled a battery bomb out of my pocket and started tossing it from hand to hand as I walked towards the room. It was dead silent. All of the Dracs were most likely out fighting instead of working.

I silently pushed the door open and peeked inside. No one was there. The room looked as though it hadn’t seen a person in months. Breathing lightly, I took the lighter from a pocket inside my jacket and flicked it. I held the small flame close to the pack of batteries, and launched it at a large, expensive looking monitor the second my bomb caught fire.

BAM.

The bomb exploded and I covered my face as small burnt shards of glass landed around me. When I looked up I could see flames crawling down the wall. I grabbed another battery bomb and repeated the process until the room was engulfed in fire.

Holding my jacket sleeve over my nose, I ran out of the room. I had brought just enough bombs. As I ran back to the elevator, I lit and tossed the remainder of the bombs. The entire building would be on fire in minutes.

I slipped inside the elevator and hammered the ground floor button with my fist. For about a minute I travelled downward, until the elevator stopped with a groan.

“What now?!” I screamed. But I knew it must have broken down because of the fire. Beads of sweat ran down my face. The fire had spread, and it felt like it was on the back of my neck.

I kicked and pried the elevator door open. The floor I ended up on was half on fire. I ran down the hallway away from the flames, choking on the smoke. In minutes I found the stairs. Without hesitation, I hopped onto the railing and slid down like Mary Poppins, only about twenty times faster than that bitch could ever go.

My heart was racing and the smoke clogged my lungs. The thought came to me that I might not make it out in time. I could die, burnt to a crisp, just like my parents had.

Staggering, I leaned against the wall once I had come to the bottom of the stairs. I was coughing so hard my back hurt, and my stomach lurched. I thought I was going to throw up. Hazes of black, red, and orange swirled around me.

Then I glanced up through watering eyes to see a light at the end of the hallway. I could make it. Maybe, just maybe…it would be a miracle.

Gathering all the strength I had left in my body, I sprinted for that small light. All of those years doing track in high school must have paid off. I burst through the door and fell to my knees as Better Living Industries headquarters collapsed behind me. Ash rained on my head, and I staggered to my feet to avoid sparks. But I had done it.

I burned Better Living Industries to the ground.