Danger Days

14

Frank stared at the unconscious bald man in front of him, uncomfortable. He had gone nearly the entire car ride without speaking a word to the others, too nervous that Korse may spring awake and rip free of his restraints.

When Ray pulled the van up to the back of the house, Frank could see that they had been preceded by several of the others. Gerard hummed, tightening the corners of his mouth. Frank reached over, touching his arm. "Gee, it's okay," he said in a low voice. "We literally have Korse in here. It's not like he's sending people after us."

"Yeah, but BL/ind is," Gerard muttered. He waited until the van was slowed, but not stopped, before throwing the door open and jumping out. Frank chewed his lip, knowing he was right.

Mikey turned around, rolling his eyes. "What's his problem?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Frank retorted. Ray put the vehicle into park and turned around, assuring that Korse was still out cold.

"Don't worry, fucker sleeps like a log," Ray said.

"I don't exactly think this counts as sleeping."

Ray shrugged. The three exited the van, and Frank heard a whistle. He turned his head to find Gerard holding up his pack of cigarettes in one hand, eyebrows raised. Frank nodded in assurance, and walked to the back doors of the car. Ray rubbed his hands together and sighed. "Okay, let's do this again," he said. "Ready, Frank?"

"Ha!" Frank stretched. "No. But let's do it." The pair each grabbed a side of the chair Korse was tied to, lifting it out of the van. Mikey closed the doors as they began walking, then scrambled ahead of them to open the door of the house.

As they entered, they were met with cries and cheers, whoops and taunts directed at the unconscious man Frank held above his head. Frank could faintly make out Boobah barking and growling. Ray was loving the experience, his eyes lighting up as he looked at Opal, Steve, and Ricky. He smiled a wide, toothy smile, and Mikey did the same. As Ray and Frank set Korse's chair down in the kitchen, Ricky pranced over with a small, paper party hat. "I found this in the closet when I was cleaning," he said to Korse. "I thought it would be perfect for our guest of honor."

Frank laughed, Gerard appearing at his side. "What'd I miss?" he asked.

"He's got a party hat now. That's pretty much it."

Steve made his way over to his radio station and began playing music. He then returned to the group. "Hey, thank you guys for everything," he said.

Mikey reached out and squeezed his wrist. "Thank you, Steve," he said. "You welcomed us into your home as strangers and gave us a place to sleep." Frank nodded and added his own thanks, followed by Gerard.

Steve's eyebrows rose. "Gerard? Thanking me for something?" he teased.

Gerard glanced to the floor, smiling uncomfortably. "I'm not a total asshole," he mumbled.

Steve laughed heartily, slapping a hand down onto Gerard's shoulder. "I know you aren't. You're not a bad guy, Gerard. You got trust issues, and shit, I don't blame you."

Gerard's face was reddening, and Frank took his hand. "C'mon," he said, "Have a smoke with me."

The two retreated to the back of the house, and Frank lit a cigarette for himself. "Thanks for that," Gerard said. "I-I didn't know what the fuck to say to that."

Frank held back a smile. "I know. But he didn't mean anything bad by it. We've all been, like traumatized by this shit, y'know? We... We've killed people. We were just... normal guys one day, and now we've killed people."

Gerard sighed, bobbing his head. "Yeah." He rubbed his palms against his thighs. "God, I-I'm not used to like... talking about it with people. Other than Mikey, really. And you."