The Untitled Story

Chapter 5:"The Hangovers"

Jackie awakes in her cabin, soft fleece blankets draped over her. She leans upward and stretches in order to prepare herself for the hell that is hungover Maddi. She steps out of bed and out of her room, finding herself on the deck in a few short seconds. She makes a beeline for Maddi’s room, and gingerly knocks on the door.

“Come in~” A familiar voice groggily orders. Jackie steps inside and sighs at the disheveled figure of her captain lying on the floor. “Ugh, my head hurts so bad.” she says. Her hair is tangled and matted, her blouse is ripped and partially unbuttoned, and she’s missing a boot and the feather worn in her hair.

“Why do you get drunk if it hurts so bad afterword?” Jackie asks, an innocent tone in her voice.

“Why do you think?” Maddi snaps. When Jackie frowns she quickly apologizes. “It...dulls the pain.”

“What pain?”

“The sickening emotional turmoil I tentatively face daily.” Maddi answers. She rubs her throbbing temples and repeats a few curses under her breath. She attempts to stand up on shaking legs.

“Where’s Kole?” Jackie asks, trying not to mention the strange answer Maddi gave.

“Why would I know?” The latter responds in a rude tone. “He’s probably stumbling around the town wondering where he is and why his head hurts.”  She attempts to leave the room but Jackie blocks her.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Not really,” Maddi answers, shoving past Jackie and out of the cabin. She gives a dramatic hiss when the bright sunlight strikes her eyes, so she covers them and dips to the side. “Son of a whore, it’s bright as hell out here.”

“Are you okay?” Jackie runs to her side and repeats the same question from earlier.

“I guess?” Maddi responds, uncovering her eyes. She squints so hard that the crows feet at either side of her eyes crinkle upward. She sighs softly and curses a few times under her breath, steadying herself on the warm wooden deck. “So, should we look for Kole and Matt?”

“Yay! Adventure!” Jackie shouts, excitedly jumping up and down. “We should go visit Danny first.” Maddi nods and hobbles toward her cabin to retrieve her melee and ranged weapons as well as search for her missing boot. When she’s done the two head toward the dock that their ship is next to, and then hobble toward the shop that he manages in the daytime. They enter the shop and are greeted by an enthusiastic Danny.

“Hey!” he says, waving to them ecstatically. “Come to check on your weapon shipment? I ensured that it’ll be here by the end of the day.”

“We’re not here for that,” Maddi says, clutching her throbbing head as she leans against the polished counter. “We’re looking for Kole and Matt.”

“Oh, those two? They’re holed up in some hotel on the strip that I bargained for the night,” Danny responds. “You want the directions?” Jackie nods as Danny reaches under the countertop for a strip of ivory-colored paper. He ebbs a few numbers and letters on the paper with a black charcoal pen, and hands it to Jackie. “Anything else? Some aspirin maybe? Tylenol?”

“Yeah. Please. I’m literally dying right now.” Maddi answers, stretching out her palm. Danny nods and places a bottle of Tylenol in her hand, which she gratefully takes. She leans upward, does a two-finger salute, hands him 5 dollars, and then leaves for the hotel with Jackie.

Down at the hotel, Matt and Kole are wide awake and arguing over something trivial. “My God, you’re so stupid!” The latter shouts, pretty much making his hangover 10x worse with the loud noise. He’s as equally disheveled as Maddi, if not worse. His amazingly luscious hair is matted underneath the beanie he usually sports, which is ripped around the seams.