Beez gasped and jumped when he woke up, which made the pain in his gut flare up.  Roxie looked over from the window she was parked in front of, but said nothing.  

 

“Oh god…Oh god… Oh, it hurts.”

 

“I know it does, Beez, but just hang on.”  

 

He groaned and rolled around on his back a little.  “How long have I been out for?”

 

“Maybe 12 hours.”

 

“Oh god…Where are we?”

 

“Had to stop about halfway back.  They were out in packs lookin’ for us, so we’re laying low.”

 

“I don’t know how long I can lay low for.”

 

“Don't worry.  Help is on the way.”

 

***

 

“I think he’s waking up,” said a man.

 

“Isn’t it too soon?”

 

“All things happen in time with The Maker’s plan,” he said sonorously.

 

“For fucks sakes, Wheezy, we don’t have time for your sermons.”

 

“I’m know, I’m sorry.  Force of habit.”

 

“Yeah, well, force that bullet out already.”

 

Beez was sure that, if someone had a pair of tweezers deep in his stomach probing around for a stray piece of metal, he’d have felt it, but when he peeked an eye open and looked down, there was and he didn’t.  

 

“I’m gonna need something else from ya, Wheezy, and you’re not gonna like it.”

 

“I’m here to help, Roxie.  If I didn’t want to do it, I wouldn’t have come.”

 

“I’m gonna need…”  Beez couldn’t make out what she said as she leaned in and whispered in Wheezy’s ear.

 

“That’s suicide!  Why in the world would I do that?”

 

“You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary!”

 

“Tell me why.”

 

“I can’t carry him past Mr. Bubbles.  He’ll need to run.”

 

“Why don’t you just kill that motherfucker already?”

 

“How would that solve my problem?”

 

Beez cried as he laughed, and laughed as he cried.  It was so horridly funny.  Wheezy scrambled and gave him another shot, and he sank back into the black.  

 

***

 

Beez had never felt better in his entire life when he woke up next to a pile of cars.  Roxie was eyeing him nervously as he stood up and slapped his hands down over his stomach and legs.

 

“That doctor is amazing…  I don’t feel anything wrong!  It’s like I was never shot!”

 

“Oh, you definitely were shot.  I just gave you something that takes away your ability to sense pain.  We need to hurry before it starts to wear off, or this will have been worse than not doing anything at all.”  Beez took a few steps, then skipped a few, and then started hopping.  “Don’t jump around any more than you need to!  You’ll tear your damn stitches!”

 

“I’m a living god!”  The rush was incomparable, beyond any sensation he’d ever had, beyond any description he’d ever attempted.  When Roxie started running, he ran right with her.  Effortlessly.  He even ran a little ahead.  As he approached the borders of the pile, he began shouting.  “Come on, you sack of crap!  Show me what you’ve got!!”

 

“I’ve gotta give you this stuff when you’re healthy!”

 

Mr Bubbles roared in response from deep in the bowels of the chaos.  Roxie darted ahead of him, clearly displaying her superior speed, but Beez just laughed and enjoyed a good run.  Stretching his legs hadn’t felt this good since his childhood.  He was starting to get a handle on the turns they took, and felt confident he could make this run on his own if necessary.  He didn’t even feel that pit in his stomach when Mr Bubbles burst out through a slanted door frame not less than 10 feet behind him.  His feet were so light, it was like running on air.  He was even putting some distance between himself and Mr Bubbles.  One more turn, and they’d b-

 

In the space between one second and the next, a burning sensation grew in his middle.  

 

“..roxie…”  

 

He’d wanted to scream it, but it came out so weak.  She’d already rounded the corner ahead of him.  A numbness settled over his legs, but he had quite a bit of momentum.  If he could just keep them pumping and maybe lean a little, he’d be ok.  He looked back over his shoulder.  Mr Bubbles was salivating, closer behind him than he was a few seconds before.  Suddenly, Beez was tumbling forward.  As he flipped, he saw that his legs had gotten tangled together, although he was sure he was still pumping them.  He landed on his back, although he barely felt it.  His eyes rolled up, looking backwards, and he saw Mr Bubbles had leapt at least 10 feet into the air.  His hands were knotted together to form a club.

 

Just as the double fist was about to crash down on him, Mr Bubbles slid out of view above him.  He both felt and heard the incredible thump as the savage little monkey hit the ground.  A small dust cloud flew up around him.  Through squinted eyes, he saw Roxie let go of his ankles and the two charged each other.  Roxie landed a kick to his stomach which sent him sprawling, but as soon as he stopped sliding, he was on the move again.  She ducked down, and when he pounced, she sidestepped, grabbed one arm, and swung him around like a giant sack of Potatomins.  She didn’t wait for him to land to start running towards the boy, and she scooped him up into her arms without hardly slowing down.  The door shut behind them in plenty of time.

 

“...why don’t you just kill him…”  

 

“I swear, I must be the only person alive who appreciates a good moat monster.”

 

***

 

“Beez?  Beez, c’mon.  It’s time to wake up.”

 

“I don’t want to, Mom.  It’s Saturday.”

 

“I’m not your mom, and you don’t have to go to school, but it’s time for you to wake up.”

 

“No!”

 

“C’mon!  I’ve kept you in a coma for a week, and I’m bored.”

 

“A w…”  Beez opened his eyes and looked around.  He didn’t recognize this room, but it looked fairly...medically?  “A week?”

 

“Yeah.  You tore yourself up pretty good getting in here.  I figured a week to be safe.  Had to stitch you back up again.”

 

In his mind, Beez pictured pulling up his shirt to find that his torso resembled a clown suit, held together with stitches, staples, and scotch tape, but the reality was much cleaner.  The wound, while still pink and sore, was clean and healing.  He tentatively touched around it, and while it was sore, it wasn’t a deathly pain.  “A week!?”

 

“Yeah.  I’ve had some time to pour through all the stuff you got.  You got way more than just the personnel files I wanted, so it took some sifting, but you got everything I needed.”  Her smile was unusual.  “...And as a thank you, I have a surprise for you!”  She handed him a tiny white pill

 

“I don’t think I’m up fo-”

 

“Nonsense.  You’ll just need to lay there.  Don’t worry!  Oh!  But I forgot the best part in the... other room!  I’ll be right back!”

 

Beez popped the pill and propped himself up on his elbows.  When she opened the door and left, he thought he was looking out into the hallway where their bedrooms were, making this that first door that was locked before.  He had most of her apartment mapped out in his head now, and as soon as the cobwebs cleared out of his head, he thought he was going to start… what?  Feeling more comfortable here?  Feeling like this was home?  He certainly felt a massive amount of gratitude towards Roxie.  His eyes widened when he started to think about how far she must have carried him.  That was miles and miles!  On foot!  She’d been shot herself!!  No matter what information he’d gotten her, he owed her.  

 

“Hey Beeeeeez!”  Roxie walked around the corner, smirking.

 

“Roxie, listen, I-”

 

“What?!”

 

“Listen, I don’t know how I’m ever going to-”

 

“No!  What was that first part?”

 

“Uh….Roxie?”

 

“That’s… never happened before…”  Her smirk got weird, like the kind of smile people get when they’re trying to hide an enormous amount of nervousness.  The boy couldn’t figure out why that would be.  He must just still be a little loopy from all the drugs.  “Listen, Beez, I’ve gotta go see my friend Three Legs.  It’s really important, but I’ll be back in a couple hours!  Don’t go anywhere!”  And then she was gone.

 

As he sat there on the medical table, shaking his head, he was reminded of something his father had said to him once.  “Women, am I right?”

 

“Yeah, Dad.  Yeah, you were.”