Faith Is Unavailable

Faith Is Unavailable: Chapter 8

I couldn’t help the sharp intake of breath that went into my lungs. I prayed it wasn’t too audible. Just then, Doctor D. rolled out of the shack on his wheel chair. “Alright, everyone. Meeting. Inside.” he barked.

We all followed, of course. I leaned against the wall over to the right of the door. Mad Gear and his companion (which I automatically guessed to be Missile Kid) leaned against the desk that had Doctor D’s radio equipment. Jet, Kobra, Fun, and Party all stood against the wall with me. I was in between Fun and Kobra. Show Pony stood over by Mad Gear, Doctor D. wheeled into the center of the room, and Blue Collar Doom stayed by the door.

I sneaked glances at Blue Collar Doom. FINALLY, another female. And she seemed pretty cool, even though I’d only known her for about two and a half minutes. She caught me looking at her, and flashed a quick, very small, smile at me. I flashed an identical one back before turning away to take in Missile Kid and Mad Gear’s appearances. I loved their music; it had gotten me (and Fire Star) through the past weeks after….Well, you know. They were quite the interesting looking fellows.

Missile Kid had ear-length blond hair and soft baby blue eyes. His kind eyes had quite the story to tell if you looked into them hard enough, though. They told a tale of distant memories, of harshness, and of depression. His light blue leather jacket stood out against his red, somewhat tight-fitting, t-shirt. His black jeans were a bit big, and so were his feet. His hiking boots must have been at least size 12! Strapped to a holster around his waist were two colorful looking ray guns.

Mad Gear, on the other hand, was a bit more wild-looking. His brown hair reached his eyebrows, but he fussed it up and messed with it, so it was now unruly and bushy on the top of his head. His green eyes flashed with challenge, danger, and excitement. He had on a deep forest green leather jacket, a black t-shirt with a circle of gold on it containing the Batman symbol, and dark skinny jeans. He had worn, black (somewhat blood spattered) army boots on.

His weapons were quite the sight to behold. He had two ray guns strapped to each side of his belt. Each of the four ray guns were striped with different colors. On his right side, he also had a small dagger resting in its sheath strapped on in front of the ray guns.

Doctor D. spoke in long, drawled out syllables, as if he was being cautious with his words. “Everyone. Blue Collar Doom. Blue Collar, everyone.”

Mad Gear grunted all cool-like, “Mad Gear.” I was starting to get the vibe that he was putting on an ‘I’m a cool tough guy’ act.

Missile Kid, however, introduced himself in a more polite manner. “Hello. I’m Missile Kid.”

Everyone then went around, saying who they were. I was last.

“I’m Massacre Maze, pleased to meet y-”

“Massacre Maze?!” Mad Gear burst out, interrupting me. We all gave him a weird look.

“Yeah….. My name is Massacre Ma-”

Mad Gear interrupted me yet again, “Yeah, yeah. You’re Massacre Maze. We all got that. Missile Kid and I heard your transmissions! How long ago were they, about a month and a half? We know you! …But…”

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. “But what?”

“Well,” Mad Gear shifted uncomfortably, “I kind’ve thought you’d be…..”

“Don’t say it, Gear! DON’T do it!” Missile Kid warned, his eyes wide, “You’ll regret saying it!”

“Well, do you want the truth?” Mad Gear asked me.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Mad Gear shrugged. “I kind’ve thought you’d be… Older….and taller…And, frankly, hotter.”