Madness and Meihem in the Outback

Chapter Twelve

Mei's eyes narrowly stared at the metal floor beneath her, absently, her mind off in another place at some other time. The only thing keeping her bound to this place was the stinging of her face, the throbbing of her bruise constantly reminding her of her situation, despite thinking of home or her friends, or even that cave from just a few hours ago.

She jumped in her seat at the massive truck sped across the desert, her hands bound behind her chair, making each jerk more uncomfortable at the ropes violently ran across her wrists, abrasively. She had attempted to examine her surroundings, but was instantly punished with a swift kick to her body by her captor, though she had been able to see Junkrat in the same room as her.

He was on the other side of the room, head shaking freely in his unconsciousness. Mei could only barely make him out in the corner of her eye, knowing she'd feel slightly safer if only he would wake her up, though knowing that being asleep offered a despite from this misery.

The only other person here was the man who'd administered her punishment. Oliver stood at a desk, bolted down to the bottom of the trailer, with a collection of boxes that had been collected at Junkrat's hovel before leaving. He'd been going through them since they'd gotten here, angrily muttering phrases of incompetence or stupidity.

His frustration building, he finally grasped onto one of the objects, furiously winding up and throwing it against the wall with a loud *CLANG* as he growled angrily, "How in the fuck-!"

He breathed through his nose, heatedly, staring at Mei, "For one so dedicated to restoring this hell hole, you certainly enjoy screwing around with a lot of shit. Not merely with that rat over there; there's nothing here of value."

Oliver shook his head impatiently, "Are you on board, yet, with our little plan, missy?"

Mei clenched her teeth, "I told you, I'm not-"

Oliver slammed a large piece of metal against his desk, the crashing sound ringing in her ears as he rounded the table, his eyes thin with anger. He grabbed a bucket of water as he walked over to Junkrat, grabbing a tuft of his hair before yanking it backward, pouring the water over his face. Soon enough, Junkrat burst awake at the sensation of drowning, spitting at coughing as Oliver threw his face downward again, throwing the bucket to the other side of the room, leaving Junkrat gasping for breath.

"YOU!" Oliver shouted, "Convince her! I've gotten a shit ton done as is; I'll happily kill you both before I let Arch have you to himself."

He grunted angrily as he reached for the door, slamming it closed just before the only sounds left in the room were the grinding of wheels on dirt and Junkrat's sputtering attempts at coughing up the water that had gone down his nose. As he slowly recovered, he quickly found Mei sitting across from him, her head hung low helplessly.

"They didn't hurt ya, did they?" he asked, gravely, "I told ya they were sickos."

Mei didn't speak, but lifted her head to offer him a glance, though his only retort was an angry tug at his ropes as he saw her bruised face, "That tears it! I'm gonna beat the tar outta them!"

He could only tug for so long before exhaustion caught up to him, his own head dangling limply as he gasped for breath, "What did he mean?"

Mei silently watched her feet against the floor, still, as she spoke up, quietly, "I guess word got out. He wants me to do what I was sent here to do, but under his watch; basically heal enough land for him to rent out to people so they can all come groveling to him. Of course, I do this work for everyone, or no one."

"Ah. I see," Junkrat nodded, weakly, "That makes the water a bit more bearable, then."

Mei tried to hold back a sob, but found quickly that she had no tears to shed, anyway, her voice almost croaking, "I-I'm so sorry to put you through this. Just because of my-"