Left for Dead

05

Ghoul came in to visit her the next day, leaving the door propped open, just chatting. They traded small talk about the families they used to have, and eventually he started asking more & more about City life, then being a Scarecrow. As his questions got more pointed, Sunshine's eyes narrowed.

"I already gave the Nest anything workable. I didn't know much & it didn't go far. We follow orders, not think."

"I see you do a lot of thinking." Ghoul said quietly. "I know you watch & listen to everything that goes on around here, I know you've probably been eavesdropping, and I saw you check 3 ways to get out of this room while I was making sure the door stayed open."

Sunshine stayed quiet. He wasn't wrong, & he wasn't stupid. Ghoul was quite possibly the smartest one of their little group, & she'd been caught underestimating that boyish face.

"I think you gave the Nest everything they asked for, I believe that. You're out here, away from the drugs, and almost no one is loyal to the City without those. But I think you know more than what the Nest asked for." Ghoul crosses his arms over the back of his backwards chair. "I want to know all the little details and weaknesses they didn't ask about. All the things our smart little Sunshine noticed on her own."

Ghoul saw her left hand flex as she rolled through options in her head. The wristband widened to cover most of her forearm, hesitated, then slid back down into a narrow band. She wouldn't get far with her leg, and her skates weren't in the room – that was intentional, Sunshine realized – so the window wasn't an option, neither was blitzing the door. She wasn't going to shoot her way out with just her wristband; she'd never take them all without the advantage of surprise, and she didn't want to hurt Mikey's people, anyway.

"What do you want to know?" Sunshine asked slowly, meeting Ghoul's eyes and liking the trouble she saw there.

"Hey, Poison, c'm'ere," Ghoul called into the hall, holding Sunshine's gaze as her eyes narrowed. She hadn't agreed to all this.

Poison must have been close, probably having planned this out with Ghoul, because he popped right in. It was the first time Sunshine was seeing him without his mask & jacket, just in skinny jeans & a black sleeveless shirt, and she was surprised by how slim & flowery he was. Without all his pomp, he didn't seem like any kind of desert rebel leader.

He shut the door behind him, and Sunshine shifted, reevaluating the room.

"We're not gonna hurt you, or force anything out of you." Ghoul saw her eyes dart. "Just talk to us. I'm not in the mood for us to hurt each other." He smiled, all boyish charm and cold eyes. This was the desert rebel leader. Poison was just a diva figurehead with a temper. Sunshine cocked her head as she stared Ghoul down, and he winked.

Second in command was always the best place to be.

"Do you know where they take prisoners?" Poison asked, and Sunshine glanced at Ghoul for an instant, waiting for his tiny nod before she answered Poison.

"Yes."

"Do you know where Grace is?" Poison leaned forward, and Sunshine frowned slightly, turning her head just a tiny bit away.

"No."

Poison opened his mouth, but Ghoul put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back out of the woman's space.

"10 year old girl, wild hair, blue vest. A year ago. Do you know where they took her?" Ghoul tried.

Sunshine met his eyes.

"That's Grace?"

"Yes." Said Poison, voice twisting, and Sunshine looked him over, detached behind her scars. She was not the broken, beaten, or damned he cared about saving; Grace was. Sunshine was spare parts at best.