THE DEAD ZONE ~ Marhinki

.05

Author's Note:

The video attached is a trailer I made for this story! It would mean a lot to me if you would check it out. In case the video is not working, here is the link:  https://youtu.be/5VD38aZKzeA

~*~

Mari wondered if she could get more unlucky. She never really had luck to begin with, but whatever luck she had, was running out at a very rapid pace. And this day was just about her most unlucky.

It all started when someone decided to set their house on fire. Which was honestly not that uncommon, but these people decided to burn down their front door, and there wasn't exactly an abundant supply of water. Long story short, they lost part of their house, and they knew exactly who did it.

"This is their warning," Mari said gazing at the men around her, desperately trying to tame the fire that demolished what they called a home. "This is to throw us off our guard, the real attack is still coming." Mari smirked. "And now we can kill them before they can kill us." She shook her head, smiling at the glowing flames. "Bad move. I've got you cornered now."

She watched as the flames grew, ignoring the efforts of her... gang members. She stepped forward, gaining the attention of those around her. 

"Stop," She said, her voice was very calm, sending shock into the boys. "We have everything important out, there is no need to save the house. If they think we've lost everything, then they won't expect us to be able to hit them back with as much force as we are going to." 

"But, the house," Joven mumbled sadly. "Where will live?" Mari smirked, eyeing a section of cement. 

"Oh, no, absolutely not," FLitz complained, seeing what she was getting at. It took the others a little longer to catch on, before each one (expect Sohinki), turned to her and refused. 

"We are not living in a sewer," Wes protested. 

"Think of it this way," Sohinki offered quietly, gazing at the entrance to the sewer with mild disgust. "At least they can't burn it down." 

~*~

"This is disgusting," Joven said, drinking his nose at the scent. Mari shrugged and continued forward, ignoring as dirty water sloshed around her ankles.

"It's not any worse than the streets," Mari reasoned. "The stench is a little worse, but once we find a dry area, we can steal some comfort items and make it quite homey. Our brains can figure out something for heat and electricity for the phone." She smirked and jabbed Sohinki with her elbow, causing him to stumble slightly.

"You guys do realize I only work with computers, right?" Sohinki questioned after he righted himself. Nobody responded. "Right?" Silence.

~*~

When someone says they stumbled upon something, they usually mean that they found something suddenly, or unexpectedly. For Mari's gang, this wasn't quite the case, when they stumbled upon something, they meant literally, as in Joven tripped and went sprawling into a different area. Therefore, "stumbling" upon the area they decided to call home, although anybody asked Mari, she would have responded that they tripped upon their new home. Which, everyone could agree was much more accurate. 

"This is perfect," Mari said as they ducked into the area Joven had fallen into. "Needs some furniture, but this is perfect." The guys were more skeptical. 

"Right..." FLitz judges, scowling at the area of the sewer. Lasercorn just shrugged.

"Just as long as we get to light those fuckers' house on fire, I'm fine with anything," He said walking around the space. He shrugged again and plopped down onto the ground, pulling his lighter from his pocket and playing with the flame. 

"Oh, we will," Mari smirked as she turned to Lasercorn. "They have no idea what's about to hit them." She turned away, and headed to the exit of their little hideout. "And I wouldn't be surprised if this whole city was in ashes after we're done with them." Lasercorn smiled, and pocketed his lighter, following the woman. Everybody else exchanged uneasy looks, but followed her none the less. 

~*~

Their first order of business was transferring a table into their new home. Which you wouldn't think hard for a league of murderers, but due to the fact that the word "together" was absent from all of their vocabularies, it was rather difficult. 

"Lift up on your side, Sohinki!" Lasercorn yelled at the man who was supposed to be handling the other side of the table. 

"I am!" Sohinki defended. "You're not moving!" Lasercorn looked exasperated. 

"That's because your not lifting up!" He bellowed. FLitz and Wes gazed at the sight in displaying in front of them, before finally shoving the other men out of the way, before maneuvering the table with ease. Mari stifled her laughter, as she quietly marked everything she wanted to be moved. Some of this was scavenged from their old house, and some was taken from the streets and what people called "homes". 

She brushed her fingers over a stuffed animal, laying abandoned in a corner. A child in the Dead Zone? She questioned herself, wondering if it was simply another person who struggled with insanity, or an actual child, a child condemned for a hell that they would never escape. There were no schools in the Dead Zone, there was nothing for a child in here. A child didn't deserve this type of life. Just thinking of this possible child made her sad, made her terribly sad. But that sadness never had time to overwhelm her, for she moved away from the animal and into the next room. 

The next house, she let the boys do the scavenging. There were people inside when they kicked down the door, they had readied themselves for attack, but Mari fired two shots, both of the hitting the man square in the head, who was closest to her. She turned the gun onto the woman, who dropped her weapon and raised her hands. Mari left her finger on the trigger, and her gun aimed at the woman's head, but did not fire a bullet.

"You're very lucky that you found me on a nice day," Mari hissed at the woman. "Search the house," Mari ordered, never letting her eyes leave the woman standing in front go her. "You're very lucky you found me on a nice day, otherwise there would be two people laying on the floor with bullets in their head." The woman smirked. 

"There's no such thing as a nice day," The woman said, drawing a gun from behind her and firing at Mari. Mari retaliated with a bullet of her own, and the woman fell to the floor with a hole through her forehead. Luckily, the woman was a bad shot, and the bullet only grazed Mari, but she could still say with confidence that it hurt like hell. 

"This is why I'm never nice," She hissed to herself. "I'm never hesitating on a kill again." 

"I heard shots." Sohinki ran back into the main room, worry etched onto his face. "Are you okay?" Mari glanced down at her shoulder.

"I'll live," She replied curtly. "I deserve it, being as stupid as I was." She turned to him, her eyes digging into his skull. "Never hesitate," She told him. "The people here deserve much worse, death is an easier way out. Remember that, for most people, death would be sweeter."