Things Fall Apart

15. Art is The Weapon

Kobra had been back for a while when the sun rose over the Wasteland again.

Cola kept his eyes shut, pretending to sleep. He didn't want this to be happening. He didn't want to know.

He hoped that, maybe, if he kept his eyes shut long enough, he would never wake up, and this would have been all but a bad dream, and things would be just right. And Kobra would still be There.

He knew too well how this would end.

He could feel the weight of his heart when he eventually opened his eyes to an empty bed.

He got up before it started to get suspiciously late.

And he faked anger and incomprehension when they broke it out to him.

Because of course Kobra had been with him all night long. He would have known.

Nobody ever suspected Kobra anyways. Nobody ever noticed him.

Maybe being the Silence wasn't such a bad thing, sometimes.

Cola didn't know whether his lover thought he knew. Whether he cared.

There was no guilt in his empty eyes when he looked at him.

Cola didn't know if Kobra knew he didn't know whether he was or he wasn't.

Maybe Kobra had been, before, but wasn't anymore since he was Kobra.

Cola had been too. And he wondered whether he still was, now.

All Cola wanted to know was his name.

He knew that it was all their fault, really, that Kobra had turned out to be everything they had taught him.

So he kept it a secret.

Because Cola loved. Because he thought maybe Kobra wasn't. Because his heart ached. Because he still shivered in the summertime.

He knew how they would call him.

A Traitor.

About The Girl, they were all sad, of course, but Poison had got it worse.

Except he wasn't sad, this time. Just angry, terribly angry. And that anger shook him up like a giant earthquake under his skin. And his eyes were wide. And his breath was powerful. And his heart was loud.

"It's Korse. Of course it's Korse. That bald devil has always made our lives a living hell. I won't let her die. Not this time. I lost Bunny, and I lost Bandit to him already. I can't afford to lose her too. She's all I care about in this ugly world."

There was a bitter taste in Kobra's mouth, but none else noticed.

"Get ready for the fight of your lives, boys. We're getting her back. This is suicide. We won't get out of here alive this time. Who's with me?"

"I am." Ghoul chuckled, playing around with his laser gun "You know, I always am baby. Always there."

"You're all I have." Jet Star said "And I know that's cheesy, but you're my family. And, damn, do I know I'd do anything for you. I'd follow you anywhere. And I will. We'll get her back, Poison. Because, in the end, the Good Guys always win."

But who were the Good Guys he did not say.

And Cola knew there were no Good Guys.

And Kobra knew they didn't always win.

But they all loved the Girl, and they all were determined to get her back.

And even though Doctor D thought this was Madness, he didn't try to stop them, not this time.