Season 1, Episode 4 - The Microwave XXXIII - "The Weekend Excursion"

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Babs pushed Lynn and the still-unconscious Bandana out of the van. The two landed in a dirty alleyway somewhere deep in a corner of Elizabeth Pond, away from all the police sirens and mayhem.

Babs stood at the edge of the van interior, looking down at Lynn. “Consider yourself lucky all I'm doing is dumping you here. You run with the my gang, you follow my rules.”

One of her arms, wounded from a State Police gunshot, hung uselessly from her side, but Lynn gritted her teeth. She dusted herself off and stared defiantly back at Babs. “If leaving innocent people behind is your rule, then I don’t want to run with any gang of yours.”

Babs crouched down, putting herself at eye-level with Lynn. Staring into her green eyes, Lynn felt something pulling her towards the gang leader, something in the air around them, firm yet warm. Lynn shook her head and collected herself.

Babs spoke clearly. “You saved one guy. Don’t think you’re all that. How many of his friends did you leave behind?” Babs stood back up and grabbed the handles on both of the van's back doors. Seeing her arms stretched out like that, Lynn felt the pull in the air again, beckoning her back towards Babs. Her pose suggested she would forgive Lynn for all her recent transgressions; all Lynn had to do was let the air take her into Babs' embrace.

Lynn took a step back and wiped the sweat off her face.

Babs narrowed her eyes at that. “Sometimes, it’s too late to save people. They’re already dead, just unknowingly counting down the days. That's another real fact of life that people try to shield themselves from, wrap themselves in childish ideas like saving everyone. That's a smokescreen. Everyone can't be saved. Some people will die. It would do you well to remember that in the future.”

Lynn conquered the pull of Babs, the air around her no longer having any pulling effect. "Maybe you're right that we can't save everyone. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try! Should I have just left Bandana here to die?"

Babs almost looked sympathetically at her. "What do you think the whole point of the Revere Gang is? I am going to save people. But let's say you can save one person now at the cost of your own life, or five people in the future? Do you let the one person die? Would saving Bandana be worth it if you couldn't save anybody else?"

Lynn didn't know how to answer that.

"I don't blame you for not knowing," Babs said. "It's a tough question. That's why you follow my rules. Because I know."

"And what's your answer?"

Babs grinned. "As with anyone else in life...it's not black and white. Life works on a case by case basis." She looked over at Bandana. "And in this case, by saving Bandana, you've lost me. You chose poorly."

Lynn frowned. "Why makes your decisions better than mine? How do you know?"

Babs tugged on the van's doors. "Because I'm real, Lynn. I'm one of the few in this godforsaken district who's lived a real life."

Babs slammed closed the van's doors with authority.

She immediately opened them back up. “Can I still see that biology exam study guide this week?”

“Uh…sure.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

Lynn was nice like that.

Babs slammed the doors shut again. The van sped off, Lynn listening to the retreating rumble of the engine, the tired yells of Marty when Samuel got out of formation again.

Lynn sighed.

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When Bandana awoke, he immediately raised his fists.

“The Staties! Where are they?”

He then realized he was laying on his back in an unknown alleyway. He saw that girl from the warehouse sitting next to him, her arms across her knees, her eyes downcast.

“It’s you,” Bandana said.

Lynn smiled softly. “You woke up. That’s good.”

Bandana looked around at the unfamiliar brick walls, patches of dying grass, and long shadows. “Where are we?”

Lynn shrugged. “Somewhere in Elizabeth Pond. I think the Staties are gone, but I’ve been waiting here to make sure.”

Bandana groaned as he felt the pains and aches from the fight wash over him.

“You sure kicked my ass,” Bandana supposed.

Lynn showed him a small smile. “Nothing personal.”

Bandana, at that moment, supposed that it really wasn’t personal after all. “Did you drag me out here? Away from the Staties?”

“I brought you to our van," Lynn explained. "We got away, then they dumped us here because I helped you."

Bandana scratched his head. “And you stayed with me this whole time?”

The smile disappeared. “Not like I have anywhere else to be."

Bandana didn't like seeing her face without a smile. He sat up straight and rubbed his head.

“Thank you,” he said before he realized it.

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“Aw, don’t thank me. I oughta be apologizing to you.”

“Apologizing?”

“I only got you out. I couldn’t save the rest of your buddies.”

Bandana could see the smiling faces of his friends.

They’re gone? If the State Police got them…then they really are gone. To know them for years, and for them to disappear forever, just like that…

Bandana looked away from her. “If you people never came here, my friends would still be free,” he said bitterly. “The Revere Gang...they didn’t even exist before that Rddhi Babs girl arrived in town this summer. There are the other Rddhis in her gang, too. But I wasn’t going to give up. I’ve been tracking you guys. I thought if we could just make off with those Microwaves, we could use the cash from that and do whatever the hell we wanted to next. But just when you think things are looking up...the Rddhis get involved.”

Lynn looked at him defensively. “Don’t blame me. I’m not part of the Revere Gang. I was only with them to get a microwave, just for the day. And it looks like the State Police followed you guys to the meeting, not the Revere Gang.”

“What are you saying? That this is like a vacation for you?" Bandana spat on the ground. "There you go, flaunting your Rddhi-derived wealth in the faces of those less fortunate than you.”

“It’s not for me, it’s for my friend,” Lynn corrected. “Her microwave was important to her and I broke her because of my own stupidity. I just wanted to make things right for her...but I guess I walked in on something much bigger than myself.”

“Life’s always much bigger than you,” Bandana explained. “I thought I could just ride motorcycles forever. But thanks to things we don’t understand, like politics and economics, I’m out of luck. Someone makes a big decision upstairs, the population goes one way, and all of a sudden my individual life gets thrown out of whack. We get born into a world filled with forces outside of our control, and we’ll die from forces outside of our control.”

Lynn looked up at the setting sun, thinking on everything she observed and learned today - or perhaps the realization that she didn't know much at all - about life, society, and her place in it all. It all consolidated into the obvious answer in her mind. “Then I’ll control them for you.”

Bandana didn’t say anything.

“Well, I’ll get there,” Lynn continued. “I’ll start off by understanding things first. Because you’re right, there are things beyond me that I’m very much a part of. But because I’m a part of them, I can affect them, right? I can create change from within and all that. Because I’ve been thinking about what you said. It’s one thing for me to say that we’re equal as individuals. I really do you think you and I could be best friends. Just because I’m a little different doesn’t mean you’re any worse or better than me. We're both human. You and I both got feelings and dreams and a girl we want to be with.”

Lynn sighed. “But it’s a different thing for us to be equal when it comes to those forces larger than us. You’re right. Because I can use the Rddhi, I have a nice home, I have spending money, I have lots of opportunities. But even though we’re really not better or worse than each other, you get seen as worse, so while I just see this whole gang thing as a weekend excursion, for you, it’s a whole way of life. I’m eating in fancy restaurants while you’re eating scraps. And that’s not right. So I think…I think my voice in this society is larger than yours. And I’ll use that voice to fix things. Make things right for everybody.”

He kept quiet for another moment. “And how are you gonna do that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know where to start. But I do know that I have to start.”

Bandana took off his top bandana, revealing a buzz cut of brown hair. He reached his hands around Lynn’s arm.

“You were bleeding,” he simply said, tying his bandana tight.

Lynn didn’t even realize.

“Thanks, Bandana.”

He looked away again. “You don’t have to call me Bandana. My real name’s-“

Lynn stood up instinctively. “Something’s coming this way.” She looked around, then pointed up in the sky. “There!”

Bandana squinted his eyes. Through his goggles, he saw a black, rectangular object high up in the air. “It’s gonna land near us,” he realized.

Lynn’s eyes widened. “It’s a New York Minute!” She struggled to raise her bad arm, the bandana tied tight around the bullet wound. “I need to catch it!”

“You’re in no condition to catch it,” Bandana said in disbelief.

“Can’t you see?” Lynn exclaimed. “It’s not moving like a normal object. It’s being slowed by something. Slow enough to catch!”

Bandana ignored the throbbing headache and dizziness and got himself to his feet. “It’s still going pretty fast, though. You’re gonna need two arms to catch it.”

“I have two arms.” Lynn gritted her teeth and tried to brace her bad arm for impact. The movement reopened her wound and drops of blood appeared on the ground below her.

Bandana watched her. “I need this microwave,” Lynn said with a grunt. “It’s something I need to do for my friend.”

“Step aside,” Bandana ordered. More than a head taller than her, with broad shoulders and strong arms, he shifted around the alleyway, trying to align himself with where the microwave would land.

“You have a concussion!” Lynn protested.

“I still got one more working arm than you do,” he simply said. He smiled at her. “Trust me. I’ll catch it. Oh, and I’m smiling right now, I guess you can’t see because of the bandana.”

After a moment, Lynn stepped aside. She worked on tightening the bandana around her arm while Bandana found the right spot.

The microwave was on him. The sleek and rectangular shape plunged through the sky, down into the alleyway. Something definitely slowed it down, but it still went fast, arcing downward, right at Bandana, his arms outstretched, and the reality of the situation hit him-

“...oh, man...” he mumbled.

He timed it so his hands would catch the microwave right as it got close enough to him, his palms connected with a loud metallic clap. That slowed it down somewhat, but it still slammed into his chest, knocking him down, sending him sliding back across the alleyway. His back hit a wall and he came to a halt.

“Bandana!” Lynn cried out. She knelt next to him and sighed in relief when he gave a weak thumbs up. Since she couldn’t see through his goggles, Lynn couldn't help but giggle, imagining his hidden eyes becoming circling spirals of dizziness.

Bandana spoke in a strained voice. “What time...is your friend coming back?”

“Soon. But that doesn’t matter, are you okay?”

Slowly, Bandana managed to sit up straight against the wall. He held up the microwave. “Take it.” He smiled. “I’d be pissed if I went through the trouble of catching it just for you to get there too late. I’m also smiling again if you can’t tell.”

Lynn smiled back. “I think I can tell now.” She gingerly took the microwave from his hands. “What about you? Don’t you need help getting back home?”

Bandana waved her off. “The entire Pond’s my home, remember? I know these streets and alleys better than anyone. I’ll make it home. Takes more than falling microwaves, State Police raids, and a Rddhi girl to beat me.”

Lynn laughed. “I’m not just a Rddhi girl. I have a name. It's Lynn.”

“Lynn,” he repeated. For the first time he noticed the light strands of blonde hair on her forehead, the relaxed way she stood, how she could shift lightly from one foot to the other.

Lynn looked down the alleyway. “Well, I better get going then. Make it home okay, alright? Otherwise I’ll find you and beat another lesson into you.”

Bandana let out a low laugh. “Wouldn’t want that.”

Lynn nodded and smiled, then started walking away, microwave in tow.

Bandana watched her retreating form. “Lynn,” he called out. She stopped and looked back at him.

He had one more question for her. “Are you serious about changing the world?”

Lynn grinned. “I know what it’s like, being powerless as forces bigger than you take away something precious. So I worked hard and that’s why I made it here. But I wasn’t sure what to do after making it here. But meeting you and everyone else this weekend...I think I got a pretty good idea now.”

Bandana nodded. “Take care, Lynn.”

“You too, Bandana!”

Lynn walked off, leaving Bandana in the alleyway. As she headed around a corner, out of sight, Bandana let out a long groan of pain and stood uneasily.

But still, there was a slight bounce in his step and a good feeling in his heart as he headed in the other direction back home.