Junkyard Jumble

Tonight was simply an unfortunate evening for just about everybody in the nigh-abandoned junkyard.  It certainly was not pleasant for the young woman being slammed bodily into the rusted out hulks of abandoned Cadillacs and Pintos.  They didn't appreciate the attention either and groaned in protest at the impact.   

All she really wanted to do was scavenge a few bits and bobs from the various wreckages that slowly sank into the rutted and soggy earth.  The fist that made violent acquaintance with her jaw was wholly unexpected; so were the stars that danced across her eyes when the back of her head bashed itself into the hood of a Mustang.  She slid down the side of the car and hauled herself up, her long legs nearly tangling themselves up as she blindly skittered away.

"Chrisht, guy!" She slurred as her hands reached up to shield her poor head from continued beatings. "The hew ish your prollem?" And oh, how lucky for her.  She tripped over her own pants and tumbled into another pile of dead cars.

Her assailant, a real 'fire bad' looking motherfucker with a head so flat one could land a plane on and a smashed-in face to match simply barked out a garbled word that sounded suspiciously like 'chutney' to her ringing ears.   A second ugly smashface bounded up the piles of abandoned steel and practically loped towards her.  Wonderful.

Ugly number one leapt for her and wound up his fist for one hell of a pitch.  Charlie really didn't want to have her jaw cracked a second time, so her eyes flicked about for some means of escape.  Seconds later she had slammed herself into the poorly-stacked vehicles behind her and one slid down the bend, missing her by inches.  However, Ugly got a fistful of metal and Charlie began darting through the twisted scrap.   She swiveled her head around to actually -look- where she was running and saw Ugly Two casually pick up a little Deville like it weighed nothing.  She had just enough time to choke back her disbelief before the thing was lined at her head, causing her to dive forward like a linebacker and avert the incoming painful crushing.  Instead of crushing Charlie, it collided with the wall of cars behind her and caused them all to tumble like a poorly-stacked jenga tower.   When she looked behind her however, she couldn't help but smirk as the asshole who punched her jaw in fell when the cars he scaled suddenly gave way.

'Way to go, asshole.' is all that managed to make it through her mind before a car door missed her head by a precious inch and skidded into the mud behind her.    This was getting a bit ridiculous.  Two jerks, one with a mean right hook and one who flung cars around like they were freaking pillows were after her for no discernible reason whatsoever, and she wasn't exactly in much of a position to defend herself.  She turned on a tight angle and tried to lose herself in an area of the yard rife with chunks of twisted,  rusted out bits of steel, hoping the place would offer her a little bit of cover at the very least.   She was breathing fairly heavily at this point, her footsteps leaving deep indents in the soggy earth.  "Fuck!" She hissed between tight-pressed teeth when she noticed the little trail she was leaving.   Her profanity was replaced by a groan as she got a fist to the back of her head, and she hit the ground while cursing her inattentiveness.   The mud slicked through her hair and made her footing terribly unsteady, causing her to slip back as she tried to pull herself up.  Her struggles were quickly ceased however when two hands slammed her arms into the mire and her face was met with a mouth full of sharp, pointy teeth and the disgusting tang of coppery breath.   Goon number two pulled up beside her; she could tell by the heavy press of Doc Martins by her right ear.

"Arigh, you lissen girl." Another sickening wave of bloodbreath washed over her senses as her captor spoke.  "You pis-"

He was cut off by captain Doc Martins with a swift boot to the side. "Don't explain the shit, just off her!" This one sounded much younger; in fact, by Charlie's estimation he couldn't be more than seventeen.  He twitched and fidgeted so badly that if she hadn't seen him line a vehicle at her head she would have taken him for your average idiot thug.  Hoo boy.  She offers her brightest, most charismatic  grin to the guy pinning her down, showing utter nonchalance to this entire situation. "Hey now, Sweets.   I dunno what I did but I sure as hell would like to do right by you and your friend here.  This mud is kinda ruining my outfit, so hows about we let me go and stand and talk about this like rational human beings, eh?"  Granted she didn't exactly appear cherubic what with a muddied face and split lip pumping out blood, but it wasn't like she had many other options.

The guy pinning her down hesitated ever so slightly, the weight pressing down on Charlie lessening a pinch; he was just as green as his buddy at this sort of thing, poor bastard.  "Uh...."

Doc Martin lined another nervous kick at his companion, but beyond a quiet grunt, Flathead didn't really react.  Charlie just continued lying there benignly, her eyes occasionally reaching over Flathead's shoulder to stare at something beyond his sight.  "Dude, don't fuckin' listen to her!" The poor boy's voice was verging on hysterical.   Charlie couldn't help but grin.

"What's the matter, kid? You ain't scared of little old me, are ya?" cliché as hell, but maybe it'd work.  "Seriously, guys.  I'll be straight with you.  I'm a lot more useful to the both of you alive than dead.  You know how my folk are about honor and owing people, after all.  Now lemme up." She still wore that disarming smile, looking as charming as she possibly could in this situation.

Flathead hesitated yet again, but his dark eyes flicked to his nervous companion.  He smirked to the boy as if he had just had a genius idea, then turned to Charlie.  "Nope, ain't gonna happen." he said,not buying the bluff.  Fuck.  "We ain't got no reason to keep you alive, girlee.  You've got nothin' worth considerin'."  Oh, he was all puffed up, smirking all cocky and gloating like he owned her.  How horribly amusing.

Doc Martin was searching the skyline like he was expecting Batman to fly out of nowhere and assault him for accosting a lady.  "D-dude, stop fuckin' drawing it out!  She's one of -them-.  Just do it!"

  Charlie simply shook her muddied hair back and acted like she didn't have a care in all the world.  Her gloved fingers rubbed together, the bits of metal at the tips clicking together oddly as she again stared at something behind Flathead. "C'mon, sweets." she comments idly to Doc as she turns to face him fully.  "Do I really look like someone dangerous to you?  Besides, I can get you what you need, doll. I've connections, you know." She inclines her head gracefully, picking at bits of drying mud that stuck to the sides of her poor brown aviator's jacket. "Just spin me a line.  Least I can do for the whole 'not killing me' bit.  That would be decidedly unpleasant."

Doc and Flathead looked rather stubborn.  Charlie stood her verbal ground and opened her mouth to talk again; this was greeted by a solid punch to the face.  Ow. She could tell her little bluff just wasn't going to pan out tonight. "Sorry, Doll." Doc said as the teeth in his mouth got all pointy and fang-like. "We like our lives a bit moren' we like your promises."

This was to be expected, really.  However, Charlie simply nonchalantly leaned her head up and brushed her lips across Flathead's cheek.  Her aim was a bit off due to her left eye being swollen shut, but she managed to get the point across.  She even pushed her lips into a flirtatious pout. "Really? Well boys, that's too bad. And I could have been so good for you, too.  Welp, toodles!"

What the two young men had failed to notice was that the head of a large magnetic crane was slowly swinging their way.  The first thing it did was fling itself into the unfortunate boys, sending them flying into a pile of rubbish and possibly impaled by bits of steel and rebar.  The second thing it did was offer the wayward Charlie a rather handy ride, her gloved hands sticking to the magnet with preternatural strength.  The crane swung around with surprising force, and Charlie let out a wild whoop as she was taken for one hell of a ride.

The magnet set its cargo down gently a scant few seconds later, giving the girl some much needed space betwixt herself and the two flatheads that found themselves extricating their bodies from a pile of scrap.  The first thing they did upon freeing themselves was charge the asshole that was piloting the crane, wondering why they didn't catch the guy earlier; much to their unmitigated chagrin, it would appear that the pilot had escaped.  Infuriated, the two shovelheads began picking their way through the glorified trash heap, searching with single-minded fury for Charlie's mysterious accomplice.

Charlie simply slid her hands back into her pockets and walked off with a jaunty jump to her step, whistling the tune to the army Air Corps song as she shook out her jacket and went her merry way down the cracked, stained sidewalk that lined the busy street.