Gas Mask Girls Issue #1

Gamble leaned back against the rusted car, idly swinging her bat at stray weeds within her reach. “Do you think they are still after us?” she asked, her voice muffled. Doze gave an indistinct grunt beside her. Gamble smiled behind her mask and spoke louder, “I said, Do you think they are still after us?”

She waited a bit, thinking she might have to ask again when Doze finally answered her. “Probably not, it’s been three days. They had to have lost our trail and given up by now. Yellow Dancers are never that persistent…even hungry.”

Gamble shivered slightly thinking of their hunger. “Yeah, you’re probably right…still, I don’t know if I’ll be able to relax till we get another few days away from Reno. I told you it was a mistake to go there.”

Doze grunted again and Gamble decided to interpret that as an apology. A comfortable silence settled over the two as more and more weeds fell to Gamble’s determined attacks. Idly she began to hum and then sing, “I don't want to set the world on fire, I just want to start a flame in your heart.” Again she smiled, knowing what would come next.

“War…” Doze said in a husky voice, only slightly needing to mimic the tired, resigned tone of the narrator. “War never changes…” She trailed off, sitting up from the hood of the old wreck. “I still can’t believe you never played any of the Fall Out series,” she said, looking across at Gamble.

“I told you, I was never much of a gamer girl. I spent my time on music and movies.”

“Still…they are like classics…classics!” Doze laid back against the shattered windshield of the old car, feeling the spidered glass give slightly beneath her weight. She stretched her long legs across the hood, dangling her feet over the edge. Folding her hands behind her head, she looked up at the yellow clouds above. It was a light day today…maybe even light enough to take off her mask. But who wanted to chance it? Doctors were saying long-term exposure was inevitable and the slow build-up would probably get them all at some point. But it seemed like later was better than sooner in Doze’s mind.

Now the scientists were saying the half-life of the CY-X17 gas was shorter than previously thought. Some were even predicting in 100 years or more masks might not even be needed. Doze gave a muffled laugh. 100 Years? That wasn’t going to do them any good. Captain Yellow was going to get them all in the end.

“Speaking of movies, “ Doze finally said, breaking the silence and trying to distract herself from the morose line of thinking. “Do you ever feel like we’re in a movie? I mean granted there’s a lot less testosterone and tricked-out cars than the post-apocalyptic movies led me to believe. But like where are the kick-butt rock anthems? I mean, maybe we don’t need another hero…but we could sure use another Tina Turner right about now!”

Gamble laughed loudly, briefly fogging up the lenses of her mask. They cleared after a few seconds. “So…” Doze asked after, Gamble's mirth had subsided. “As a self-described movie buff,” she gestured with a nod to Gamble. “Gibson or Hardy?”

“Oh,” Gamble mused for a moment. “I love the classics…but I have to go with Hardy.”

“Yeah, no one ever picks Gibson.” Doze agreed. “I mean I guess they were good for their times…but give me Fury Road any day.”

“Well that’s not a fair comparison, “ Gamble retorted turning to her friend lounging behind her. “You have to consider that Mad Max Fury Road was building off a legacy of….” She trailed off sensing the smirk she couldn’t see behind Doze’s mask. “Jerk.” She turned back to decimating weeds.

“You’re too easy,” Doze laughed. “Still, I wonder what our movie would be like. I can just imagine the trailer for it. ‘In a world destroyed by a chemical attack, two school girls work together to survive burned out, violent sub-humans and genetically altered monstrosities.” She began her voice low and overly dramatic.

She stopped her monologue suddenly. “Man, talk about the epic fail of epic fails. ‘With minor genetic modifications, we can engineer animals that will withstand the deadly effects of the CY-X17 gas.’” She quoted in her best approximation of a nerdy scientist. “Yeah, like Captain Yellow wasn’t bad enough as is, killing the animals, turning everyone into rabid abominations. No!” She cried, her voice getting louder and angrier. “We had to go mess with mother nature and “modify” the animals. Cause that NEVER goes wrong!”

She was working herself up now, and Gamble knew when she got like this, it was best to get her off on another topic as soon as possible. “Oh!”she exclaimed, interrupting Doze’s growing steam. “Can I pick the soundtrack for the movie?”

“What, like Radioactive by Imagine Dragons?” Doze said mockingly, knowing what Gamble was trying to do, and silently appreciating her friend’s efforts to distract her.

Gamble rolled her eyes dramatically, even knowing that Doze could not see the gesture behind the tinted glasses. “No, that’s too obvious. I’d go for obscure stuff. Introduce people to new things.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know…” Gamble thought for a bit, running through her extensive repertoire of obscure music. She had always prided herself on that. “Oh!” she said at last. “I’d use Neon Nation by Bathazar De Ley! It’d be perfect for a movie trailer.”

“Balthazar De what?” Doze exclaimed, sitting up again. “Come on! You just made that one up!”

“No, it’s a real song! I swear! From the early two thousands. It’s got a great 80’s vibe to it. It’d work so well!”

“So, like if iTunes or Spotify were still around, I could find that song Neon whatever on them?” Doze challenge.

“Well no…not really, “ Gamble dissembled. "I mean it was obscure. I ran into it on YouTube.”

“You are such a li…” Doze trailed off as an unmistakable moan rose over the trees.

“I don’t think we lost them,” Gamble said, moving away from the car, swinging her vicious nailed bat to warm up her muscles.

Doze hopped off the hood, lazily stretching her 5-foot 10-inch frame like a cat, before rolling her shoulders and pulling her pistols from their holsters. “What do you know, I guess you were right. We shouldn’t have gone to Reno.”

“Shut up,” Gamble replied as seven shambling figures came out of the trees. It was dusk and starting to get dark, but Gamble could still clearly see the yellowish tone of their skin. Their violent, jerky spasms as they shuffled forward, left no doubt as to what they were facing.

“How many rounds you got left?” she asked as she adopted a Gedan-no-Kamae stance, her bat low before her, awaiting the first dancer. They moved slowly, lacking coordination now, but she knew from experience how fast they would move when they got close to prey.

“Full deck in my babies,” Doze replied without having to think about it. “Two and a half clips to spare.” Doze always knew how much ammo she had left. Always. She was glad she had been able to find a dealer in Reno. The bullets had been pricey, but the extra weight on her belt was reassuring. Then because she couldn't resist tweaking Gamble a little she added, “I guess it WAS a good idea we went to Reno, huh”

Gamble didn’t bother to answer as she moved her bat above her head in an aggressive Jodan-no-Kamae stance. The creatures were near, they’d be charging any moment now. When you could make out their yellowed eyes…that was when it would happen. She worked hard to empty her mind of distractions, as her Kendo sensei had always instructed her.

“OH!!!” Doze yelled out, startling Gamble and throwing her mental preparations off. “Now THIS would be in the trailer!”

With a heart-piercing cry, the mutants attacked.

Find out what happens next in Issue #2!