Broken Glass In The Morning Light

Chapter 39

"Okay, stick as close behind me as you possibly can".

Frank peaked around the corner into the alley to his right, eyes scanning the area for any sign of life. Empty. He gestured for Poison to follow him and the two sped down the street, Frank leading the way as Poison followed like his shadow behind him. After being cooped up in the apartment for so long, Frank wasn't surprised Poison had been so eager to get out into the city, despite how very obviously dangerous it was out there. They'd done absolutely everything he'd asked them to, no questions asked, following his orders to a T and at this point just happy to be included. Frank had started feeling a little bad for not keeping them up to date on everything he was planning out over the last while, but ultimately the time he'd spend trying to just get them to grasp the basics of how the city functions would be hours he could have spent putting the finishing touch on said plan wasted. They understood, of course, but he could see it in them that their seeming lack of use was driving them up the walls. He couldn't blame them.

Reaching the end of the street, Frank stopped, shutting his eyes and running through the directions he'd memorized in his head, mapping it all out mentally.

"All good?", Poison whispered, slightly out of breath.

Frank nodded sharply and opened his eyes. "Left", he blurted out, glancing quickly over their way before continuing on, taking a left and starting a light jog as the two weaved their way through the desolate alleys.

Before the two had left, Frank had made sure to dress the both of them in the most normal and boring clothes he had in his dresser, shit he'd worn a million times over the years for jobs like this. The point of it all was to blend in, to try not stick out, to be as mundane and as ordinary as humanely possible. He was wearing grey jeans and a plain black t-shirt, that paired with his old pair of converse left him looking as dull as he'd looked since arriving in The Zones. However, glancing over at Poison, he just couldn't get over how dramatic of a change there was from how they normally look versus how they were currently dressed. Party Poison, the famous Killjoy, neon red hair with a luminous yellow mask across their eyes, an ocean blue jacket worn over some form of sleeveless top and a pair of skin tight jeans. Nowhere to be seen. In their place? A plain black button up shirt, black straight leg jeans, all covered up by some old Star Wars hoodie Frank had yanked out from god knows where. They looked... Frank couldn't even find the words to describe accurately how dramatic of a change it was. Nonetheless, it was the hair that still made him double back every time he looked their way. It shone a deep, raven black, darker than any piece of clothing they had on them. They...fuck it looked so good on them. He had seen the fearful look in their eyes when he'd first suggested dying it, but the result was nothing short of spectacular. He just couldn't get over it. They were something straight out of a magazine, a troubled artist's muse, and someone men and women alike would collectively lose their minds over.

Before long Frank slowed down once again, lying back against the wall behind him and tilting his head back, breathing deeply as he tried to catch his breath.

"Okay", he said, Poison now next to him in a very similar position, hand on their chest as they heaved heavy gulps of air. "You good?"

They let out a chuckle. "Yeah I'm fine, don't worry". They let out one last long breath before opening up their eyes and staring over at him. "Man maybe Jet was right, skipping my route patrol days might not have been my brightest idea because I don't remember running being this hard".

Frank rolled his eyes. "Alright, over here then". He gestured for them to follow him, leading them to the edge of the street and pointing over to a very brightly lit building across the way. "Now, see her? That there is where we're headed".