RUSTY | frank castle

SEVENTEEN

Lexi whined, snapping both Rusty and Frank back to reality. The alarm was still playing somewhere in the background, so the three of them ran down the tunnel, their steps echoing as they pushed themselves past the pain of their injuries to run faster.

They were lucky in their escape; there were no soldiers in their way as they ran back to the van, where Fender and David waited for them. Rusty opened one of the back doors, letting Lexi jump in and greet Fender (who had jumped to the back now), before jumping in herself. She slammed the door shut; as did Frank from the passenger side at the front.

He grunted as he did so, panting as he instructed, "Drive."

Rusty wheezed a little, the still bleeding wound taking a toll on her slightly more every minute. Frank grasped his shoulder as he tried to control his breathing. Lexi had her tongue out and was panting heavily.

David started the engine, asking, "You okay?"

"Yeah." He panted. "Shit's a lot easier when you can kill people."

Rusty knew what Frank was talking about, and she fully agreed. She was numbed of the pain and the toll that killing someone had on your mind. She was simply used to it; it was second nature to her. Frank, too.

The lot drove away into the darkness of the night.

•••

Rusty was laying in the back of the van, her dogs at her feet, the bloodied bulletproof vest tossed to the side. The doctor (well . . . nearly doctor) had found some clean bandages and was now holding them to her bullet wound. It wasn't bad, but it ripped the bottom of the vest and hat hit her side. The metal bullet had fallen out itself but the wound was still a bit deep.

Frank was beating himself up and David tried to keep his cool. It wasn't really working as they were getting knee-deep in a disagreement. Honestly, Rusty wasn't bothered to break it up. She was more worried about Lexi's injured paw and Frank's hurt shoulder than to break their testosterone-fuelled fights. She had checked Lexi's paw and had to click it back into place as it had popped out of the joint slightly. It was a wonder how the dog had managed to run with her wrist about to dislocate.

"Should've killed that piece of shit when I had the chance." Frank said. "That's what I should have done."

"And we would have learned precisely nothing." David countered. He sounded tired, too.

"What'd we learn, huh?" Still going at it. Way to go, Frankie. "We're being too smart. That's what I think."

"Hmm." David scoffed, his head leaned back against the headrest. "And by 'we', you mean me, right?"

"Yeah. You're goddamn right."

They were both silent, which made Rusty open an eye to see if one hasn't killed the other, or something like that. They were just staring at each other. Boys.

"Frank, tonight was a success."

Both Rusty and Frank scoffed.

"Yeah?" She spoke. "Who had to jump out of a second floor window, Typo?"

Typo was Rusty's nickname for David. He was a hacker, and she knew if a hacker made a typo, they either end up in trouble or with a bullet in their head. The second option sounds more fun, to be honest. Anyways, she enjoyed pissing him off.

David dismissed Rusty, who crossed her legs at the ankles and closed her eyes again. David spoke to Frank. "Okay? You were right."

Ooh. One point to Team Frank.