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Sky hadn’t meant to get tied up with the mafia. All he did was take a job for a lot of money and kill a guy in what once was Los Angeles, but looking back maybe he should have done more background checking.
He covered his head with his hands as bullets whizzed past. He ran in a zigzag motion, making sure to alter his pattern every couple seconds. He did a quick twirl and noticed there were one, two, three men chasing after him, guns poised. He gulped and quickly ducked into an alley, wrenching open a rusty door and slamming it shut once he was inside.
He backed up, panting, and he looked around frantically for any means of barricading the door. He saw a table, and he sighed, flipping it on its side and pushing it against the door. Just then, there was a loud bang on the door. “We know you’re in there Sky! You sure as hell aren’t getting out of this one!” one of the men shouted, and Sky pressed his body against the door, gritting his teeth, body jerking as the men pushed and slammed their bodies against the door from the other side.
As Sky gasped for air and tried to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground, his life began to flash before his eyes. He was two hundred and twenty four years and two months and five days old, he had been through hell and back, lost so many people and killed just as many, if not more. For a while he stared ahead, his heart beating hard in his chest, and everything seemed to slow down.
He couldn’t hold the door any longer. He lunged forward, tumbling onto the ground and covering his head. He curled up into a ball and figured this was as good a time as any to die. It was pretty much what he expected, really; gunned down by angry people because of a deadly mistake he made. There were a lot of those deaths in the Wasteland. He would just be one more of them.
Gunshot echoed in the alleyway and into the room and Sky flinched, his whole body peppered with a ghost feeling of bullets. But then all went quiet, and Sky was not dead. He opened his eyes, breathing hard, and he scrambled to his feet. He turned around and saw a man standing at the doorway, staring at him, a gun in his hands and blood splattered on his clothes. Sky looked down and saw one, two, three dead bodies.
“The hell is going on here? What are you doing in my place?” the man asked, his voice harsh. He was muscular, average height, with bright orange hair, the beginnings of a beard, and gray eyes. He was wearing a hat with goggles resting on it, a tank top, and a bulky ammunition belt across his upper body. He looked youngish, maybe in his mid twenties. He pointed his gun between Sky’s eyes, and Sky stared down the barrel, slowly raising his hands.
“Uhhh they, they were after me. The door was kind of open, I didn’t think anyone would um, be in here,” he tried to explain, and the redhead huffed, taking a step closer.
“Yeah I see that. But what kind of guy are you to be chased down by mafia cronies? You’re unarmed, were they about to harvest your organs or something?” He looked Sky up and down, eyes narrow and fierce. “Or no, were you the dumbass that shot one of them just now?”
Sky nodded. “That would be me,” he said, shrugging. “Look, man, I lost my gun in the rush, I’m not gonna steal any of your shit, can I please just go? I kind of need to get the hell out of LA.”
“The fuck is LA?” The redhead scoffed. Sky cursed and shook his head.
“The, the Metropolis, I mean. Please. Can I just go,” Sky urged, and the redhead was silent for a couple moments. Then, he scoffed and shook his head.
“Dumbass takes a mafia hit and doesn’t expect backlash,” he said, lowering his gun. Sky let out a relieved breath. “Hold on right there, I’ll get you some spare supplies, then you can be on your way.”
“Thank you,” Sky said, exasperated. “It never gets easier, being a bounty hunter. I’m still learning.”
“Bounty hunting, huh. That sounds like a well paying job, though.” The redhead fixed up a backpack with some medical supplies, food, water, ammo, and a couple bottle caps. He tossed it to Sky, who caught it and put it on. He then threw a gun. Sky caught that with ease as well.
“Yeah, except for when you have to dump all your stuff in order to run away faster. That’s always a risk. Thanks again, man,” Sky said, holding out his hand. “I’m Sky.”
The redhead laughed heartily and shook Sky’s hand. “I’m Max Dunphy, pleasure to help you after you barged into my base. Maybe I’ll see you around,” he said, and he smiled. Sky scoffed and slowly smiled back.
“Maybe. I should get going,” he said, pointing to the door. Max nodded and watched as Sky stepped over the dead bodies and made it to the doorway.
“You owe me one, by the way,” Max said, and Sky glanced back. He chuckled.
“I’ll get back to you on that.” And then Sky was gone.
----
Max was thrown to the ground, the breath knocked out of him. The big man above him grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up, breathing heavy right into his face. “Jesus,” Max managed to say in between wheezes. “All- all I did was- was take some stuff on- on accident I didn’t think anyone-”
The man punched Max in the stomach, letting go of his hair and letting him fall back to the ground, watching him curl into a ball and desperately trying to suck air into his lungs. The man laughed, got back on his feet, and pulled Max’s backpack off him, as well as any other spare supplies. “If you live, remember this moment, would ya?” the man chuckled, and he walked away.
“BASTARD!” Max yelled, wincing and clutching his stomach. The man kept laughing until he was out of earshot.
Max laid there for a while, the hot sun beating down on him. His lungs seemed like they were the size of beans and his stomach hurt with every attempted breath. It felt like forever.
A gunshot was what made Max jolt up. He turned towards the noise and he looked at the man, who was crumpled on the ground. The gunman who shot him was hunched over, stripping the man of all his valuables. His bangs hung down from his face and when his sunglasses slid forward he pushed them back up quickly.
“Sky?” Max called, wheezing again. Sky looked over and grinned.
“Heey buddy, how you doing?” He waved and jogged over. “I got your stuff back, are we even now?” he asked, and Max gaped.
“Dude, that was a joke,” he breathed, laying back down on the ground. His breath was starting to come back. Sky laughed and sat down with his legs crossed.
“A joke made a month and 17 days ago that I happened to recall when I saw you being robbed.”
“I technically robbed him first.”
“Well he wasn’t being very nice about it, was he,” Sky huffed, looking back at the dead man. Max sighed and sat back up.
“Well. We’re even, thanks for getting my stuff back, you can go on ahead,” he said, and Sky handed him his backpack.
“I don’t think so,” Sky sighed, putting a hand on Max’s back. “I can’t leave you out here like this, man, it’s not right. You can come travel with me,” he offered, and Max shook his head.
“Noo way, you already did all this for me, I don’t want to slow you down. You could get killed because of me and I’d never be able to pay you back,” he said. “I can’t live with that. It’s out of the question.”
Sky thought for a second. “Maybe you just owe me one,” he said, and he smiled. Max looked at him, and then smiled back.
“Maybe I do.”
Sky helped Max up and put an arm over his shoulder to help him walk. “Maybe you can work with me on a bounty when you’re better,” Sky offered, and Max figured that was as good an idea as any.
----
“You owe me one,” Max said after he grabbed Sky’s shirt and stopped him from falling into a lake.
“You owe me one,” Sky said, out of breath, after he distracted a death claw so Max could get away.
“You owe me one,” Max hummed as he tossed Sky an old clock he’d stolen from a client.
“You definitely owe me one!” Sky shouted as he fought off an angry tunnel snake because Max decided to loot her base.
Four years, three months and two days passed since Max started travelling with Sky, and they could not manage to become even with each other for more than a couple days. It became a running joke, or maybe it was a promise, that kept them together and forged a deep friendship.
“You totally owe me one, by the by,” Max laughed, and Sky tilted his head. They were walking away from the baseball field after a successful hit on a man inside. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know. I kicked that rock away before you stepped on it.”
“Oh my lord,” Sky grumbled, but he was smiling. “Okay fine.” He kicked a rock that was previously in front of Max. “We’re even.”
“Ha ha. Fine. We’re even.” Max held out his hand, and Sky shook it. Max opened his mouth to say more but then he froze. Sky did too; they both heard the footsteps behind them, too close for comfort. Sky whipped around first, but had no time to poise his gun as a tunnel snake punched him in the jaw, sending him stumbling back. Max growled and held up his gun, but another tunnel snake grabbed it and yanked it out of Max’s hands. There was a whole group of them, leather jackets in the hot sun, and they circled the two bounty hunters and pointed guns. Sky shook his head and dropped his own, still a bit frazzled from the hit.
“The hell do you want,” Sky said, and one tunnel snake stepped forward.
“You killed our weapons supplier, ponytail,” he hissed, which was very on brand. “You and your friend are gonna pay.”
The group laughed, and one tugged harshly on Sky’s ponytail. Max grit his teeth and smacked the guy’s hand away. “Don’t fucking do that,” he snapped, and he looked around as the group kept cackling.
“We do what we want!” another snake shouted, and he reached out for Sky’s sunglasses. “And these look pretty nice-”
“DON’T!” Sky yelled, pushing the snake back. Max’s eyes widened at the sudden transformation in his friend, like a cornered animal. The snake lunged at Sky and suddenly it all became a blur of fists and bodies, but Max was able to see, almost in slow motion, as a snake grabbed Sky’s sunglasses and took them off. Everyone seemed to momentarily pause as they saw Sky’s eyes.
They glowed like gold, no whites in sight. Max gasped and Sky shouted and covered his eyes, as if the sunlight hurt. A tunnel snake finally hit Sky in the stomach, shouting, “Look! He’s one of those freaks!”
Max then saw another change in Sky; he curled up into himself and didn’t fight back as he was viciously shoved to the ground and kicked at, keeping his eyes shut all the while. Max opened his mouth to shout to his friend but in his moments of distraction his hands were pinned behind his back. He was held like that as Sky took most of the beating and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get himself free and he felt like shit.
----
The tunnel snakes left after a couple minutes. Max nearly ran after them; he was out of breath and beat up but the rage fueled adrenaline. But then he stopped, and turned back to Sky, and collapsed by his side. “Sky,” he breathed, shaking his friend’s shoulder. “Hey buddy look you’re gonna be alright.” Sky said nothing, still covering his eyes, still curled up on his side. Max took a deep breath, and he laid down next to Sky. “I’ll stay as long as you need alright?”
----
When Sky opened his eyes it was dark out, but he could see just fine. He blinked a couple times, shook his head, and finally moved. His whole body was sore but he managed to sit up and lean forward, pulling his legs up from the ground. Next to him he saw Max, sleeping surprisingly soundly on the ground, using his arm as a pillow. Sky sighed and rubbed his eyes, figuring it was time to face the music. He nudged Max. “Hey. Maxie, get up. Dunphy. Max.”
Max groaned and blinked awake. “Hello?” He looked up at Sky, and his eyes went wide. He shot up and said, “Sky, you’re- you- your eyes. They’re glowing.”
Sky nodded. “I know, Max. Don’t know what I’m gonna do when daytime hits, shit,” he groaned, covering his face. “I’m really sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Max asked, and Sky scoffed.
“Not telling you everything. I kind of keep a lot from you, and you tell me anything.”
“Yeah well I didn’t go through anything crazy like you, apparently.” Max lightly nudged Sky. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”
Sky carefully sat himself with crossed legs, clearing his throat. “I’m a lot older than I look,” he said, still hiding his eyes. Max pried his friend’s hands away from his face and looked at him sincerely.
“What do you mean?”
Sky shut his eyes tight for a second, as if bracing himself. “Two hundred and twenty eight years, six months, and twenty four days,” he said, opening one eye and watching Max’s reaction.
“What the fuck,” Max breathed, his eyes wide. “What the fuck, Sky, how is that even- aren’t ghouls only that old?”
“Ghouls and some people who got less radiation than ghouls. I happened to be looking straight at an explosion instead of at my family in their last moments, so, sometimes I wonder if that was a punishment-” Sky was interrupted by Max shouting.
“A family! Oh my god you’re telling me you were alive in 1969 when the bombs dropped and the fallout began and you had a family and you never told me?” Max yelled again, and Sky squinted.
“I thought I didn’t have to tell you anything,” Sky sassed, but Max only gaped and stared. Sky sighed. “And yes. A wife and two kids. Falicia was my wife, Allison and Tyler were my two kids, and they died.” He looked away as it started to come back to him all over again, the way he hugged them, ran to the window, and stared like an idiot. And when he looked back they were gone.
Max put a hand on Sky’s shoulder. “Shit, dude, that, that must…” he couldn’t even find the words. “Two kids. You were a father.”
Sky tilted his head. “I uh, still might be. Actually,” he said, and Max perked up. Sky waved him off. “Don’t get your hopes up. It’s still sad and I was. I was so dumb. I doubt the kid would want to see me anyway. He’d be 17 years 3 months and 11 days old, yeah, he definitely wouldn’t want to talk to me. If he’s even alive.”
Max sat there, waiting for an explanation, while Sky stared off into space. After some time Max slapped his cheek lightly. “Hey. Are you gonna elaborate or not.” Sky gasped and nodded.
“Yeah sorry. Uhh, I met a girl, her name was Meena. I had a kid with her. His name was Nick and we were happy for two years and eleven days but then-” Sky stopped. It was still recent, at least to him. “Meena was shot. I panicked. I left Nick on a stranger’s doorstep I-” He hid his face, leaning forward. “I regret it so much.”
Max looked down, blinking a couple times and shaking his head. “I can help you find him,” he said, and Sky looked over at him.
“Are you fucking serious?”
“Yeah, man, I-”
Sky hugged Max tightly. “Thank you so much,” he said, squeezing Max. “Thank you so much. I owe you one.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” Max said, and he hugged back.
----
“Max.” Sky tossed his gun aside right after the kid with the camera face fell. He knew somewhere deep down the shot wasn’t fatal, maybe a bit on purpose. He shut his eyes for a second, not feeling very good. He tried to shake off the guilt, kneeling by Max, who was holding his stomach and groaning, gritting his teeth from the pain.
“The fucker stabbed me,” Max hissed, and Sky nodded.
“Yeah, he did, but let’s just- focus on you. You need to stay with me. You need to stay with me buddy, just keep looking at me, don’t close your eyes,” Sky said, waving his hand in front of Max’s face. He pulled out a rag from his backpack, applying pressure on the wound. Then he took off his belt. “Bite on this,” he ordered, and Max did. Sky could see the veins in Max’s forehead as he clenched his jaw.
“Calm down, Sky,” Ross said, dragging the unconscious boy he’d knocked out, who Sky hadn’t gotten the chance to really see. “He’ll be just fine, give me a second to move this brat with the others, and I’ll patch Max up. Just keep him awake.”
Sky nodded and let Max hold the rag over his stomach. “You’ll be fine,” he said, trying more to convince himself of that fact. Max noticed.
“Look, Sky, don’t worry. I’m right here. I’m not dead yet,” he reassured, his voice muffled from the belt. He spit it out, shaking his head. “I think you’re freaking out more than me.”
“You got fucking stabbed in the fucking stomach, of course I’m freaking out,” Sky said, and Max smiled.
“Avenging my stabbing, I think I may owe you one now,” Max joked, and Sky shook his head.
“Don’t make jokes. Don’t even make jokes.”
“Okay, move,” Ross grabbed Sky by his jacket collar and pulled him away. “Max, bite on the belt, you’re gonna need that a lot.”
Sky stood, disoriented, and Max looked at him with calming gray eyes. “I’ll be okay,” he said. “I owe you one.”
“If you turn out alright then we’re even,” Sky said in return, and Max scoffed.
“Fine.”
“Belt. In. Your mouth.”
“Okay Ross.”
Sky stepped back, nearly tripping over the boy he hadn’t seen. He shook his head and looked down at him for a moment. All of a sudden he stopped breathing, falling to his knees beside the boy. He carefully lifted the goggles off the kid’s face and the image of Meena struck him like a lightning bolt and he got up and staggered away. “Nick,” he gasped, covering his mouth. “Oh my god.”
And he stood there and he shook and he almost stepped forward and made the boy wake up but then he stopped, and he stared some more, and he shut his mouth. And as he glanced over at Ross and Max he figured that his son would not be safe with him for one single second.
----
“Sky, where are you going?”
“I’m just going.”
Max jogged to keep up with Sky as he marched towards the exit. “Sky, hey! Wait, dude-”
“What we’re doing isn’t right!” Sky shouted suddenly, whipping around to face Max. He took off his sunglasses. “I can’t do this any longer, none of it. The hunting, the killing, it’s not what anyone would have wanted for me. None of my friends, my family, my lovers, my children. It took me too long to realize that,” he said, his voice shaky. Max stepped back.
“It’s not like we do this for nothing,” he said. “We’re not murderers-”
“YES WE ARE! Yes we are, Max.” Sky was shaking. “They’re kids. Cory is a kid. Uni is a- he’s a dog but he’s a kid too. And Nick.” He wiped his eyes as tears began to fall. “Nick was a kid. And I can’t take it anymore. I have to go, I just have to go.”
“But Sky, we’re-” Max reached out and grabbed Sky’s arm as he tried to walk away. “You’re my best friend, Sky. You can’t just leave now. We’re in the middle of a job, and you don’t leave a job! You could get killed and I can’t live with that!”
“I’m leaving the fucking job!” Sky yelled. “I’m going, and I’m not doing this anymore, and if I die I die! I’ve lived long enough, Max. I’ve seen it all.” He held out his arms and scoffed. “Aaaall of this evil bullshit. Aaaaall of the Wasteland’s effects on both our heads. Max. Come with me.”
Max stepped back as Sky outstretched a hand. “Cameraface got to you. No, the ghoul, the one you knew before! They all got to you!” he said, slapping Sky’s hand away. “You’re not in your right mind.”
“No, I’m finally in my right mind again. I’m not a bad person,” Sky said, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry Max, but I’m leaving, whether you follow me out or not.” He turned around and started walking. Max took a deep breath, fighting back tears.
“If you leave and I let you go you owe me one. Big time,” he said.
Sky stopped. He looked back. “If that’s how it has to be,” he said, and he smiled, sliding his sunglasses back on. Max couldn’t help but smile back.
And Sky left.