Shattered

As soon as we came to a screeching halt in Ravendale, the stop before I got off, Balz run under to the sink. Chris and Ricky looked up from their breakfast as Balz ducked under the cabinet and came out with a bucket. He carefully dragged it so we couldn’t see it contents. As soon as he got outside, we all glanced at one another.

“I kind of want to see what he’s doing, but I’m also a little afraid.” I muttered to Ghost. It was later in the morning and we had just woken up. Ghost rolled over in his bunk. Somehow, he had smashed his face into the wall during the middle of the night and found it comfortable enough to sleep through it.

“I nominate Chris to go out!” Iren called from his hammock. Quinn was currently making breakfast.

“I second that.” She raised her hand without looking up.

“Third!” I called. Chris was helpless.

“Fourth it.”

“Fifth it.”

“Sixth it!” Ryan finally shrugged and looked up from the book he was reading. It was Of Mice and Men. That seemed like a good book. Maybe I would read it if I had time.

“Okay, okay!” Chris finally held up his hands. It was about nine in the morning, so he hadn’t put his make up on yet. We all watched with bated breath as he stepped outside. We were parked on the train stop in the middle of a large, open field. As soon as the door closed, we all heard Chris harrumph and turn around.

A high pitched shriek followed Chris clawed at the door. We could see the shadow of his figure as a screaming Balz chased him away.

“I feel like I should help him, but I also feel hungry.” Ryan thought for a moment. I nodded, seeing that I should also probably help the tall man screaming bloody murder.

“So what are we having for breakfast?” Ghost asked Quinn. She looked back to the boys and raised an eyebrow.

“Pancakes.” She announced. We all climbed out for the delicious, fluffy breakfast. Quinn made the best pancakes I’d ever tasted. Ricky reached to sneak one, but his hand was smacked away with the spatula. He yelped and cowered behind Ryan. Iren took a moment to laugh.

“You get breakfast after you make sure Balz hasn’t axe murdered Chris!” She scolded. We all sighed and went to the door. Ryan held up his hand for us to wait as we tip toed to the barrier. He peeked out, opening it an inch to glance back out.

All I saw was Chris sprinting away from the field. No one was chasing him. Ryan turned to us and shrugged in utter bewilderment. What had happened?

Before I knew it, a hand grabbed Ryan and pulled him out the door. Chris had disappeared behind a few bushes. Ryan stumbled and covered his head as a water balloon splashed against his white shirt. Ricky leapt forward and slammed the door with a click of the lock, leaving Ryan begging for mercy.

I laughed my head off. This was the funniest thing I’d witnessed in a while!

“Go help you band mates!” Quinn scolded. Ghost peeked out the window to Balz chasing Ryan around. Ricky opened the door slowly and crept out as the two were distracted. Ghost and I followed behind him.

Balz was screaming about vengeance for the puns against his name as Ryan and Chris were helpless against his violent attacks.

“Take a handle!” Ricky whispered. We each grabbed part of the bucket and slid around to the other side of the train. Ghost handed me balloons and crawled up the side of the train’s ladder to the top, belly sliding into position.

The confused voice of Balz questioned the disappearance of his only ammo. As soon as he started to search, Ricky and I leapt out of position to attack the three stranded warriors. The defenseless men ran towards the cover of the train.

Ghost pelted a very flustered Chris from the top of the train. The singer was utterly puzzled from where the balloons were coming from. As Ricky and I chased Balz and Ryan around the field, Chris managed to duck a red water balloon and find our hidden stash. He took the bucket and set it down in the front. Picking up a few balloons, it became an all-out war!

After ten minutes, each of us were soaked to the bare skin, our damp shirts clinging to each part of our body. The last light green balloon was currently held by Ricky, who managed to hit me in the side. I turned around to the bucket, but found it gone.

“Hey! Who took the bucket?” I called out to everyone. They all stood in the field, shaking their heads. The five boys came up to me and jiggled the door.

It was locked.

“Quinn! Iren! Let us in!” Chris banged on the door. Nothing. No sound.

“Please! We’re dripping wet and cold!” I begged them and began to shiver. Wrapping my arms around my cold body, I clutched my skin in a desperate attempt to shiver away the cold. My hair was went and stuck to every inch of skin that was exposed.

“HAHAHA!” Two voices exclaimed as entire shower of water fell down on our heads. We jumped and looked up to the two old iron riders using every muscle to laugh. They had stolen the bucket, filled it up, and now gave us a very cold shower.

Those two clever, old birds!

“By the way, pancakes are inside!” Quinn chuckled and dropped the bucket over the side. Balz caught it and continued to shiver. Iren came and unlocked the door to our chorus of chattering teeth.

Our damp, artic cold group ran inside and raided the closet with towels in it. Ghost tossed me one that I wrapped around my shoulders and dried my hair quickly. The boys threw off their damp shirts to dry by the fan, which made the entire room colder. I just switched into another drier shirt and short quickly.

Around our small feast of warm pancakes and juice, we all shivered from the cold and retold epic stories of the balloon battle.

“We heard you screaming your head off from across the field! It was like some demon was summoned and went rampant!” Ricky chuckled, his hair still frazzled. We all laughed and recalled Chris’s vocal range.

“That was for all the Balz puns!” Balz triumphed. Ah, I figured he would get vengeance eventually. I’m glad I was there for the epic battle!

For the rest of the day, we joked around and played games as the train chugged on towards my final destination. It had been a nice week with the boys. Every day was filled with plenty of time to sleep, eat, play Gin Rummy, attempt at Twister, and even hide and go seek.

Yes, you can play that on a cramped passenger car.

Yes, there were some pretty amazing hiding spots. Between the cupboards, the overhead compartments, and hiding in the bunks, there were many spots people could craw into.

Ricky won the game on the last championship round after he managed to shove his body into a pretzel behind the TV. Yes, there was a TV behind a rolled out door on the wall. Yes, the space was tight.

Ricky was from then on, deemed the champion.

The train slowed to a halt late afternoon. It was four o’clock and I had another five mile walk to the end of my journey. It would be sad to leave these guys, but the understood. Previously, I explained my mission and they all wished me luck.

So as the vehicle paused Tuesday evening, I had gathered up my stuff and was ready to go. Chris, Ricky, Ryan, and Balz all gave me a tight hug and told me to visit sometime.

“I’m sending you tickets to our next closest show. No arguing.” Chris stated firmly. I nodded.

“I wouldn’t miss it!” I laughed. It would be exciting seeing their show in person! Ghost was the final man to say goodbye to.

“I’ll miss you, Kynder. You better not get abducted again!” He shook his finger disapprovingly. I rolled my eyes but smirked.

“Like I have any control of that!” I teased. He ruffled my hair that I had managed to throw into a ponytail. After the water dump by the iron riders, it took a while to brush it out.

“Bye, guys!” I waved to the seven people and stepped off the train. The conductor wailed on the horn and as I stepped onto the dirt, I waved goodbye to my group. Balz was heard screaming about more Balz puns, even over the roar of the wheels spinning.

I would have to call them up and tease the keyboardist some time.

So as I turned, the final thoughts in mind, I walked down the dirt road. I was ready to face the next step, whatever that would turn out to be. They might not be finished with their drawbacks, so I could be patient and wait if I needed. My feet carried me further down the track, the sun high overhead and not a cloud in the sky.

Today was the day.

Notes

Hey everyone! Thanks for continuing to vote and we only need THREE MORE until we reach our goal! I can't say this enough, but all of you are so awesome for reading this story! I couldn't have written these chapters without your positive words!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the water balloon fight! It adds a touch of humor to Kyn's life.

By the way, I have the video with writing tips already up! Even if you're already an awesome writer, I encourage you to watch the video because you might get a laugh out of me rambling about space cowboys fighting space pirates! (I know, it was a random idea that popped into my head.) If you decided to watch all of me boring you to death, please subscribe/like! I'll be posting more of a vlog soon, and that'll be better than my first video!

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja-HxaW1-TY

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