Hurricane // Danger Days (Book 2)

20.

"What the actual hell was that?" Killer asked, getting closer to look at the boy.

"I have no idea," Alien replied. "Let's take him back to the kitchen."

So they did. With Killer's help, they managed to get him onto one of the sleeping bags.

"I wonder if we should wake him up," Killer suggested, poking at the guy's face.

"That's probably not a good idea," Revolution advised.

Then, without hesitation, the boy reached up and punched Killer in the face.

"Oh really?" Killer said. "It's on, kid." Then he punched him right back.

"Dude, stop!" Alien tried.

"Hey," the unknown boy slurred, "is it just me, or does this guy have two foreheads?"

Without a word, Killer punched him again. This time, there was a sickening snap, and Alien knew he'd just broken the boy's nose.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?" He pressed a hand to his nose, which was now bleeding and dripping all over his face. "If I had a dollar for every time I've gotten a nosebleed... well, I'd have about twenty dollars, I think. This was one hell of a twenty dollar nosebleed."

"Killer, you don't even know this guy! Stop punching him!" Alien yelled.

"He insulted my forehead," Killer defended himself. "Which by the way, is a perfectly normal size!"

"We need a medic," Revolution said. "Killer, go find a medic."

"Oh, fine then!" He shouted, and stormed out of the kitchen.

Alien looked at the boy again. "What's your name? I never asked," she said.

"Raging Rampage, at your service." He held his nose with one hand, and shook Alien's hand with the other. "And what's your name, pretty lady?" He smirked.

Oh Destroya. Not now. No. "Uh, Cyber Crash," she said, coming up with a name on the spot. He could be with the Riot, she couldn't reveal her true identity.

"Hiya, Cyber," he continued to smirk, trying to look sexy, and totally failing due to the blood all over his face. "You single? Maybe we could go for a ride sometime."

"I'm gay," she blurted. She had no idea why her brain came up with that to say, but she went with it.

"Damn," Rampage sighed. "Why are all the pretty girls taken or gay? Or both?"

"I don't know." She was starting to laugh. This guy was clearly shitfaced, and his behavior was hilarious. Revolution was laughing too, but they weren't trying as hard to hide it. Thankfully, Rampage didn't notice.

Killer burst back through the doors. "Guess who happened to be here?" he said.

Then Dr. Benzedrine's face popped up behind Killer's. "Hey guys—oh man, this guy got hit pretty good." He went over to inspect Rampage.

"This is gonna be one hell of a night," Revolution sighed.

"You betcha," Alien replied.

By hour 0, Benzedrine got Rampage's nose bandaged up, and Rampage passed out where he was (unsurprisingly). Killer ended up just leaving; he said he didn't want this dude insulting him or punching him again. He needed to get his priorities straight. Palaye said they were fine with Rampage staying for the night, so he slept where he'd passed out. Alien and Revolution agreed to take him back with them to the Nest the next morning.

🌩

Alien awoke the next day to a call from Storm. She picked it up eagerly and said, "Stormy! I didn't hear from you yesterday, what's up?"

"Well," Storm began, "I had my initiation." His voice was surprisingly raspy, as if he hadn't talked in days.

"Really? How'd that go? What'd you have to do?"

"I had to go into a Drac base and blow it up. But I ended up not having explosives. But the good news is that instead, I hacked into its system and self destructed it..."

"Wait, really?" Alien smiled.

"...as well as every other Drac base in Zones Three through Six."

That statement left Alien speechless.

"Holy. Actual. Shit!" Alien was freaking out. "That is awesome! But, wait, is there bad news?"

"I got blown out of the building and got knocked out. I was stuck in the infirmary all day yesterday," Storm reported. "And I broke my wrist."

"Oh man," Alien said. "That sucks."

"But overall, it went well. The mission is going as planned, boss." She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Good man!" She smiled as well. "Report to me tomorrow, okay?"

"Will do. See ya, Al."

"Bye, Stormy!" She ended the call.

"So," Revolution piped up next to Alien. They'd had to share a sleeping bag due to Rampage taking one of them. "How's he doing?"

"Pretty well," Alien told her, and retold his story.

"Wait, he's a tech guy? I had no idea!" Revolution was just as surprised as Alien was.

"Yeah, me either! I mean, he's never really had access to a computer out here, I get that. But having someone like that on the inside would be awesome, I don't know why he didn't tell me."

Revolution shrugged. "Well, I'm gonna conduct the wake-up ceremony. You in?"

After that was done, everyone bid their goodbyes. It had been really awesome to meet the Palaye guys, and Alien told them so. She also said that she'd be at their next show at any cost, which they all advised against, but she didn't care.

They ended up having to drag Rampage out to Alien's van (which the guys picked up for her the night before) due to him being very hungover and still passed out. They just shoved him in the backseat and went on their way.

He woke up about halfway to the Nest, and he woke up fighting. "Where am I? Oh no, take me back, you filthy animals!"

"Calm down, Rampage," Revolution said, turning around. "We're just taking you back to our place for a while. You were drunk off your ass, we couldn't just leave you at the bar."

Rampage seemed to calm down after that. "Oh, okay. So... I can crash there?"

"Yup," Alien replied. "By the way, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Hit me," he said. "Not literally. You know what I mean."

"Do you know about a group of people called the Riot?"

Rampage scoffed. "Do I! When I first showed up out here, they were the first people I found. Turns out, they've got this thing where you have to kill someone to get in. I said, 'hell to the no!' and got right outta there. Found my bike, found the bar, and I just hung out there. I don't really have a place out here."

"Well, now you do!" Alien smiled at him in the rear-view mirror. "By the way, my name's not Cyber Crash. It's Atomic Alien."

His eyes widened. "Oh shit. You're General Alien? You're not bullshitting me?"

She pulled her beanie off. "No bullshit detected," she smiled.

They continued on towards the Nest, with Rampage still in shock and Revolution dying of laughter.