Gunpowder

“Poppy!” came a voice that was all too familiar. The technician gritted her teeth and glared her eyes at the woman.

Abbet stood at the door of the semi trailer, a wide smile of her face. She looked genuinely happy, and much cleaner than the last time Poppy had seen her. Her scars had faded into barely noticeable raised lines of skin, and she was dressed in a nice green shirt, with a tan vest on top, which was tied to her waist with a long piece of dark brown fabric. Her hair was the same dark brown, but it was clean of all the blood and mud that had caked it before.

“Old friend!” Abbet called once again. She shook her hair, which was tied into a ponytail.

Axis looked at Poppy in confusion, and with a slight hint of accusation.

“Abbet!” Poppy called in response, looking back and winking at her roommate, “Oh, how long it has been!”

Abbet raced forwards and brought Poppy into a tight embrace. Now that Poppy got a closer look at her, she did not seem as clean as she had before. Her face was bruised, and covered with quite a few fresh scars. Snot dripped from her nose, and her bones seemed to be poking out from her skin, as if she had not eaten in a while.

“It’s so good to see you! Oh, how are you, how are you? Such terrors you were put through, oh, poor thing!”

“I am alive and well, old friend! I have been through much, but I have lived through it! I’m so glad to see you, alive and as well as me!”

“Yes! Well, there is no need to introduce ourselves. Let us get going, let us, oh yes!” She seemed to be jumping with joy.

Abbet took her hand and led her out the back of the trailer, easily jumping from the metal edge to the concrete below, “I am so very sorry that we had to be so rough. You had a guard, no?”

“I did, yes. Another woman, only just two years older than myself.”

“Oh, yes. She will be dealt with, do not worry.”

They continued walking, hand in hand. They looked to be in a loyal city, a main one most likely. The truck had parked on a loading station, which was designed to be used to input goods into the city.

“Poppy,” Abbet spoke eventually, in a low and hushed tone.

“Yes?” Poppy responded, perplexed.

“You gotta help me out here,”

“Help you out? With what?”

“Okay, look. You know that I don’t like you, and you don’t like me, but you might be the only one who can save me.”

“Save yo-?”

“Shush. I’ll explain. They’re going to have me killed, alright? In some kind of drunken stupor, well, not drunken, I was on a lot of painkillers, it was after the, er, eye removal surgery. They asked me some stuff, and I answered them, truthfully. T-That’s treason, and you know what they do to the treasonous?”

Poppy looked at the holes where Abbet’s eyes should have been, then flicked her gaze towards the ground, watching her feet move slowly across the concrete below.

“Death,” she said at last.

“Yes, and I’m not going to die! Can any of your tech-wizardry help me out here?”

“I may not have my technology, but I have my contacts.”

“Contacts?”

“The other woman in the truck.”

“You know her?”

“Yeah. She’s my roommate.”

“Sure, whatever. Can she help or something?”

“I think so. Why would you head into the city anyways?”

“I-I wanna see my siblings. I want to know if they’re still alive.”

“If they know that you’re alive, they’ll kill you. But I’ll tell you what. We don’t go into the city, and leave now, and I’ll establish electronic contact with your siblings.”

“You can do that?”

“I can do a lot of things.”

Poppy felt like jumping back as Abbet advanced towards her. Instead of attacking, however, she leaped forwards and embraced her into a hug.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” she said, her voice catching in her throat.

“No problem, now let’s get out of this place.”

“Where would we go?”

“Kawden, where we were before. Trust me, they’re nice. Their technology is amazing, and so is their kindness. They may even be able to get your sight back.”

“Really?”

“Really. Now let’s go!”

The two them stopped walking and turned around. They still weren’t in the city yet, more on the outskirts in a type of loading bay. They trotted away, keeping close to buildings as to not be noticed. Soon, they were back to where their truck sat.

There was no sign of Axis, leading them to believe that she was still in the truck. The rest of the people who had been in the tractor of the semi were milling about. Most of them looked to be younger males, some possibly still in their teens. There were only about five of them, but they were all wearing the same uniform, so it was hard to tell.

“They want to be here, Poppy. They won’t let us take the truck!”

“Then we fight them for it.”

“What?! We can’t fight them! There’s five of them, and two of us! And you’re weaker than a crippled..... weak thing!”

“Three of us.”

“How do we know your “roommate” is going to help us, huh? She’s the enemy, she’ll just take us as prisoners once we get back to the rebel city!”

“I trust her. Sometimes, you just have to trust people. And, now, you have to trust me to get us out of this.”

“Fine, cheesy-speech-lady, I’ll trust you or whatever. Let’s move!”

Poppy nodded and took one hesitant step forwards. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to do in that moment. But, remembering her own little cheesy speech, she decided to trust her instincts, and trust herself and Axis to get out of the whole mess.

She nodded stiffly and gestured for Abbet to follow her. The air was tense, but, strangely, it was not because of the fact that the technician’s past rival, and abuser, was so near. It was because of the pure fear in the woman’s voice; The woman whom Poppy had always thought to be so strong, so fearless, so brave. This woman, the one who she thought of as a hero, though she wasn’t exactly kind, was terrified for her life.

The woman led the other down the short stretch of road that was left between them and the truck, and stopped at the side of the vehicle’s gray metal trailer.

“We have to be quiet, but we’re going to get in the back of the truck”

Abbet rolled her eyes and begrudgingly nodded in agreement. They creeped along the side of the trailer, as if in some sort of old spy movie, and quickly sprung into the back of it with a resounding clang.

Axis was still there, pacing back and forth with her hands behind her back, cupped together tightly. She seemed to be spaced out, her eyes permanently locked on her feet, unblinking.

“Axis,” Poppy called out quietly, cupping her hands around her mouth. The policewoman looked up, her countenance showing her surprise. The ‘o’ shape of her mouth quickly changed into a smile, however, and she called out back to Poppy:

“You’re back!” she whisper-yelled, signaling for her to come closer with a quick wave of her hand.

Poppy gave a curt nod and trotted over to where her roommate stood. Abbet nervously followed, a glare making its way onto her face whenever she gazed at Axis.

“Who’s this?” the policewoman whispered, tilting her head towards Abbet.

“Abbet, remember? The one.. with no eyes,”

“Oh, yes.” With a hint of scorn in her voice she stated, “Greetings, Abbet.”

“Greetings-”

“Axis. My name is Axis,”

“Yeah, whatever. Greetings, Axis,”

“Yes. I don’t think we’ve met. But now is not the time for introductions. We need to get out of here. I am assuming that is why you returned?”

“Yes. She’s coming back with us,” Poppy responded.

“I thought she was a loyal?”

“Loyal-born, yes. But you must understand, she will be killed if she stays. I may not like her myself,” this statement earned a look of scorn from Abbet, “But she is human, and no human deserves to die before it is their time. We must help her. The rebellion took me in, why not her?”

“Fine, fine. We will allow her. But if she does anything fishy, she’s getting a punch to the face,”

“Hey! I’m here too you know!” Abbet piped up.

“Yes, I am aware. I just don’t care. You are not to be trusted. You have injured many, both physically and emotionally.”

“I’m blind. What harm could I really do?”

“Helen Keller did a lot of damage herself,” Axis grunted before turning away, “So, what do you propose to get out of this place?”

“Easy,” Poppy responded, “Drive the truck back home,”

“Okay, good idea. Problem, however. I have no idea how to drive, and I’m not trusting the blind murderer with the wheel.”

“I’ve never driven before, but I’ve read manuals. It doesn’t look too hard. Just use the wheel to turn, the stick to change modes, and the pedals to stop and go,”

Axis gave a nod of approval, “Alright. You get in the tractor and drive. And go fast, fast as you can. I think those people behind us will be a bit suspicious if the whole truck just leaves. I’ll stay in the back with your little friend, and I’ll slam down the door as soon as the thing starts to move. You’ll be okay up there alone, I hope?”

“I think so. If I need assistance, I’ll holler.”

“Good. Let’s do this.”