Text shoves him into the van, registers the sound of plastic skidding across the cracked desert land a second before the door slams shut and the driver guns the engine, speeds them away from the screaming.
Everyone is shouting, but the brute — Static, she’s started calling him, because he seems to like the sound — he’s trying to jump back out of the fucking van. He’s manic, clawing at the door, and Text isn’t sure why but she knows that if he makes it out, she won’t see him again. So she grabs, tugs, digs her bloody nails in and fights with him until he settles on the floor, shoulders between her knees. Despite the pounding in her chest, she thinks it’s done.
Then his head smashes against the door and she reaches, instinctive, and pushes her fingers into his hair to pull him back. His hair is matted and sticky with blood and who knows what else; she gags, makes a comment, but doesn’t move her hand from his hair.
He was trying to get to the radio.
...
.ń͚̭̹̥̬̳̟́̍͊̔̔͘͞͡͡ ţ̶̠͖̩̤̬̣̇͐̃̃̅̇͟ s̡̳͚̼̙͚͖̖̀̏̽̓̽a̡̝̟̠̣͔̠̰͒͆̅̈́̋͞ f͓̖͙͊͂̉͑͜͝<̜̘̖̭< ̭͢e̊͆i t;today killed the signal box / first humming next quiet / dead thing quiet / forever quiet / myself will not meet the signal box again / dead is dead is dead / myself let it fall / let it crushed / not everyone can hear the secret humming in the skullheart of the signal / not everyone knows how to get home / home is many voices locked in the secret humming / myself knew the echo in the signal box / myself let the secret humming crushed / they are / they are / they are big-eyed / and clean / they are in the signal box / they are a voice in the sky / an un-secret humming / locked in big eyes / looks hard / does not look away / they are hiding / they are hiding / they are hidden / inside big eyes / they are a voice outside the signal box / it has never been one voice before / they are one voice in my ear / they gave myself the signal box / myself let the signal box crushed / be crushed / but they are / they are / still a voice in my ear /
she /
she is still a voice in my ear /
she is not crushed /
a new voice in the skullheart of myself /
text, the news & [the] static, the gunlugger
played/written by @matriarchal & @sonnywortzik, respectively