Crashing the Boardwalk (Human Lapidot)

22. Doubles

     "Oh my God," Lapis said, "Oh my-dammit I should have stayed there!" The girl rushed to her friend's apartment, and her herself was sleeping on the couch. "Blue!" Lazuli shook the girl, grabbing her black-and-white stripped shirt and nearly ripping it off her while doing so. "Wake up!"

     Blue, startled, woke, grabbing Lazuli's arms and forcing her to quit shaking. "What the hell...?"

     "I need a ride, please."

     "Where, Beach City?"

     "Yes. Where else?"

     "Aww damn. They arrived didn't they?" The girl stood up, wobbly. "I'll try."

     Lazuli smiled wide and dragged the girl outside to her car-momentarily pausing to let her fish for her keys. It was a nice car, but it wasn't fancy like Blue's apartment. Either way, she knew how to speed through the streets at this hour, so Blue took the wheel and gunned it.

     Our Lapis was reminded of when her and Jasper sped down the highway, and again with Pearl, but getting pulled over that time. Pearl, after catching her breath from the exhilarating ride, rolled her eyes in anger and rested her head on the window while Jasper tried to convince the police not to charge much. She remembered her heart beating faster as the man arrived at the car, an slowing down after fifteen minutes of the ride to the barn without him. It was funny now, but it was also sad to look back on in the particular moment.

     Lazuli tried to control her breathing, which had become heavy as she looked over her texts to and from Peridot. Blue put a hand on her lap for comfort, and normally it would do just that, but now there was no affect.

...

     "I can't believe this," muttered Peridot. "they changed our mission again! Who cares about Delmarva anyway?"

     "Complain about the Diamond's wishes one more time, and I'll give you their head!"

     Her and Hessonite had destroyed and taken over a bike shop, which was where they decided to take in their wounded and heal them. Not the best place to chose, but it was big, and had lots of things to kill people with if there was a break in. Some healing equipment was available, but it was-quote-better to protect the wounded than waste time healing them-unquote. Hessonite wasn't a trained nurse anyway, and she enjoyed the thrill of combat. And even if Peridot was to object, she had to, eventually, follow Hessonite's rule.

     There were two terribly wounded soldiers from the last battle, and surprisingly, Hessonite didn't demand that Peridot stayed by her side. "I can't let these Quartz's stay here. Peridot?"

     Peridot sat up, hitting her head on the counter. She was sitting behind the cashier's side putting together a gun. "Yes, Dear Hessonite?"

     "Go find some meds."

     The girl was about to stand, but didn't. "B-But we've already looted this place for those."

     "Exactly."

     The girl stood, surprised and a little afraid. She had no idea where to look, and though she's faced this before, she has seen two strong figure's take on about three Quartz's each with little broken sweat. She didn't want to run into them at all. "Send me out? Why can't I take care of the place while you do it?"

     "Because you'll get yourself bashed or worse, and besides, I'm the one in charge here. Get going now, ok, before your questioning rats us out."

     Peridot swallowed. "Yes Hessonite."

...

The city view from the highway was beautiful, and accompanied by the calm ocean waters, it was a sight everyone should see. Lapis drove on, her friend looking out the window at the ocean. She felt bad for her, and wanted to comfort her the best she could, but didn't really know how. She didn't deal with world-ending stuff, and hasn't even heard about The Diamond's 'return' until about a week ago. She knew she'd have to face the hell sometime, and figured that's what she'd help Lazuli with. She tried to keep her mind off the terrors and focused of driving as fast as she did without getting pulled over.

...

Everything seemed to spin. It's been about an hour and Peridot had found nothing to help her fellow soldiers, and shivered at the thought of returning to Hessonite empty. There had to be some kind of something around. First Aid, painkillers, something! The rebels stole them all, I swear. Peridot rounded a corner where one of the two fierce woman were battling two other Quartz soldiers. She stopped and backed up, reaching for her gun and getting ready to fire. The blonde caught the gaze of the woman, and she gritted her teeth and tried harder to resist the soldiers. Peridot pointed the gun at the woman, and held it with shaky hands.

     She hasn't fired at anyone in this 'City' before. She didn't know what is was, but she felt a strange pity for these people. She's felt bad before and after killing other cities before, but this was different. How and why, she couldn't begin to explain to herself, but she was determined to kill this buff woman to bring ease to her people. The soldiers parted for a few seconds, not much, however, it left enough room for Peridot to get a free shot. She was ready to kill this time, and she gritter her teeth and brought her finger down on the trigger.

...

     "So Lapis," Blue asked, "tell me about your girl. You never said much about her." Blue worried the conversation she was trying to start was a trigger for Lazuli, but the words already left her mouth, and she couldn't cover them up.

     Lazuli snorted and blushed a little, shoving Blue's arm playfully. "She's funny, especially when she's flustered. A-And she's like a little Dorito too."

     "A Dorito?"

     "Yeah! She's got this triangular hair, right, and she's so short!" Blue and Lazuli started laughing loud and hard. "She's like a creamy ranch chip!"

     "Wow." Blue wheezed. Once they stopped laughing, Lazuli spoke again.

     "Yeah, that's funny and all, but she's really nice. She's.. she's done a lot for me. Some things I've told her not to do, but she took the risks anyway. I.. I haven't done much in return yet, and hell do I feel bad about it. I just need to come home to my Dorito. I need to know she's doing well."

     "How to do you plan to make up for leaving though?"

     "I'm gonna fight solely for her."

     Blue smiled, nodding. "That's the way." She said, softly. "And the only, it seems like."

     "Yeah." Lazuli leaned on the window again. "Don't know how else to repay her."

...

Peridot was dragged in the sand, her gun taken, and her chances of getting meds diminished. She still resisted, though, but with her own gun pointed at her, she didn't much know what to do. Her ribs had been near smashed with a bat earlier, and now she was being taken to the rebel base.

     "Garnet!" Someone yelled. The owner of the vice stood on a porch, awaiting the captor's arrival. Peridot shivered. A rebel with a Diamond neck-piece? Disgusting. "Who's that? And where's Jasper?"

     Said 'Garnet' nudged Peridot in the head with the gun. They were at the bottom of the stairs now, and Peridot refused to let them take her in. She said nothing, and squirmed, trying to escape her bonds. Shouts filled the area around them, accompanied by gunshots and other war noises. They blurred in the background, the blonde on the porch staring daggers into Peridot's own eyes.

     "Talk." Garnet demanded. Peridot shook her head and spat at her. The gun was slammed into her head. "Who are you, now!"

     "Nobody you clods!" She shouted. Garnet dragged her up the stairs by her wrists, the girl a the door looking offended.

     "That's my word you idiotic sack of rocks." She growled. "Garnet, lock her up somewhere, I'll deal with her later. Taking my shift early."

     "Looking for Jasper?"

     "Precisely." The blonde waved to Peridot with a sick grin. "Later you bloody clod."