Cowboy woke to the light of a streetlamp streaming through the blinds into her eyes. She moved stiffly, trying to get some blood flowing through her limbs and wasn’t surprised to be rewarded with pretty intense pain for her efforts. Not only that, she was hungry. She shifted on the cot and the springs, as they always do, creaked loudly. Maneuvering carefully, she was able to get one leg over the edge of the cot, but standing would have to wait. There was a soft knock on the door and Rally’s voice. "You up?" "Come on in, darlin'. I’m awake." Cowboy blinked as the overhead light clicked on. Rally stood in the door, frowning slightly. "You’re probably hungry." Cowboy nodded. "I’m a fair cook, but there’s not a whole lot of kitchen back here, is there?" She looked at the coffee pot and mini-fridge questioningly. "No, not really. And I’m no cook at all. Can you walk to the car? I know a place we can eat in peace." "Where’s your little friend?" Cowboy looked past Rally into the shop. "May went out for the evening." "She got herself a guy, huh?" Cowboy grinned. "A little thing like her, I’m not surprised." Rally grimaced. "Yeah, well, when he’s not in jail or on the run, he’s great for her." "Oh." Cowboy said. Rally hmphed . "That’s not fair- I think Ken really loves her." "Oh?" Cowboy stared at the far wall. "Uh, how ‘bout you, Rall? You got someone to warm you up at night?" Rally smiled. "Sure do." Cowboy looked surprised. Rally pulled her gun from her shoulder holster and gave it a kiss. Cowboy grinned again. "You know," she leaned forward confidentially, "I think you and me are a lot alike. I can’t sleep without my baby under my pillow and I bet you can’t either." Rally laughed. "You got that right." Reholstering the CZ75, Rally came over and helped Cowboy up. Together they managed to limp over to the door. A tedious few minutes later and Cowboy was awkwardly propped in the Cobra. Rally assured her that the place she was thinking of was close. They hit a bump in the road and Cowboy said around gritted teeth, "Damn I sure hope so. Usually there’s nothing like a little speed to heal me, but this is pretty tough." Rally was as good as her word. Al’s pizzeria wasn’t much of a pizzeria, more like a bar…more like a basement, really, that happened to have a bar in it. Rally sat Cowboy facing the door. "You’re more likely to recognize anyone coming after you." Rally said and went up to the bar to order some of Chicago’s greasiest pizza and worst beer. "But," Rally explained. "what this place lacks for in atmosphere and food, it makes up for in security. No one they don’t know ever makes it in." Cowboy nodded sagely. "Nice plan. How did you get in?" Rally grinned around a slice of pizza. "The first time? Through the front window." "Nice subtle way of making an introduction." "You should have seen the other guy." They laughed. Cowboy rubbed her stomach and sighed. "Man…another of those nasty beers and I think I’ll be ready for a ride." She glanced at Rally. "You up to some sightseeing? I don’t get out much these days, on account of living in near-condemned warehouses and all." Rally shrugged. "Can’t go really fast, though." She sounded wistful. "Sorry. I’m a total drag," Cowboy insisted on paying for dinner. For a drifter, Rally noted, she had plenty of cash to hand. Once again, she wondered exactly who this woman was. *** "Say what you will about Chicago, it is pretty at night." Cowboy was propped on the Cobra’s hood, and Rally leaned against the bumper. The city sparkled in the night air, a crystal city glittering on the edge of the lake. "Yeah - I guess so." Rally said a little distantly. "I never noticed it." "Of course not." Cowboy nudged her good foot into Rally’s back. "You’ve only got eyes for the road." It took a few moments before she realized she was laughing alone. "Yo. What’s gotten into you? I thought we didn’t know each other well enough to be depressing." Rally looked back over her shoulder. "I’m not sure. I have a bad feeling. Maybe I’m paranoid, but I feel like we’re being watched. Can we get out of here?" "Sure." Cowboy slid off the hood and pulled herself into the front seat. Rally had already started the ignition and as soon as Cowboy had her door closed, the Cobra sped off down the road. Rally kept one eye on the rear view mirror and, after a few miles, she smiled grimly. "Got him. He’s seems to be in a Beemer. I hope he’s had that engine tuned up." Rally shifted gears and laid her foot down. Cowboy rolled down the window and adjusted the side mirror, so she could watch the BMW fade into the distance. "He seems to be giving up awfully easy." Cowboy commented. "He thinks he’s going to cut me off - there’s some construction down this way." Rally shifted again and made a sharp turn onto a loading ramp. "With luck, he’ll come out a the next intersection." Cowboy watched as the speedometer climbed. She gripped the dashboard tightly as she realized that the loading ramp was about to run out - and Rally hadn’t slowed down. The lights of the BMW were just visible as they pulled into a cul de sac below… and Rally hit the gas once more, forcing the car over the road below and onto the slightly lower ramp across the road. Pulling to the right, Rally got the Cobra off the ramp and smiled as Cowboy whooped. "Damnation, Rall!" Cowboy was wishing she had a hat to wave as the Cobra spun and bucked around the construction site. "Hey, I owed you for the bike ride." Rally pulled her gun and drove with one hand. "Makes me almost wish I had one of these to drive myself." Cowboy grinned. Rally spun around to the left and killed the lights and engine. "Let’s give ‘em a minute. We may have lost them, but I’m guessing they’ll be a little more persistent than that." Cowboy nodded. "Probably. I stole something from them. Keaton doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who forgives that easily." Sure enough, several pairs of headlights became visible, reflecting off the building walls. Rally floored the Cobra, its wheels spun and they screamed out of the alleyway. Three cars turned and followed, one turned around and headed the way it had come in. The next few minutes went by blindingly fast. Rally seemed to have a minutely detailed knowledge of the streets - but so did their pursuers. When they got close enough, a few shots were fired, but nothing more than cosmetic damage was done, until Rally turned into yet another of those interminable alleys. Blocking the end of the alley was the original BMW that had chased them. In front of the Beemer stood two goons. Rally cursed. Each held something that looked way too much like a rocket launcher for Cowboy’s comfort. "Rall?" Cowboy asked as she pulled her gun. "Can this car climb walls? ‘Cause unless the answer’s yes, I think we’re pretty much done for." Rally cursed again. There wasn’t room to turn the car around. She ducked, as a bullet shattered the front windshield. "Good, that’s one less bullet I have to waste." She turned to Cowboy, who, grey-faced and tight-lipped, hunched her own form down as far as she could. "I’m going to let this baby ride…we’re going to have to jump clear. You see that door behind the dumpster? You get there and we have a way out." Cowboy nodded. Rally shifted the car into first, then second and counted quickly. "On three. One, two…" she floored the accelerator, and slipped the engine into neutral a second later, "three!" As the car raced towards the men ahead of them, Rally and Cowboy rolled out of the doors on either side of the alley. The goons with rocket launchers chose that moment to shoot, for which Rally forever thanked them. The Cobra was hit and exploded backwards in a cloud of shrapnel and smoke, which nicely covered their movements. The momentum of the rockets sent the car screaming backwards into the cars that had blocked them in from behind. Rally gnashed her teeth and sent up a fervent curse to the gods of retribution for the damage to her car, then slid behind the dumpster to join a panting Cowboy. "You hanging in there?" Rally said, as she shot the lock off the door, and edged it open with her shoulder. She cast a last look at the wreckage that had been her Cobra and stifled another fit of cursing. There’d be time for that later. "Yeah, but just." Cowboy’s voice was strained. She followed Rally down a few dark stairs, and helped the other woman to wedge the door shut again. Safe for the moment, the two women stood, leaning on whatever they could find to hold them up. Cowboy’s leg was bloodstained, and her face pale. "We have to get you somewhere safe." Rally said, and placed one of Cowboy’s arms across her shoulders, helping the woman to limp across the floor. "How are we gonna get out of here?" Cowboy asked. "We’re pretty well trapped. They’ll figure out where we are soon enough." Rally nodded. "But we won’t be here by then. These old warehouses are great - they’re full of tunnels, loading passages and underground areas. Most of them have sewer entrances right in the basement. We’ll be out of here before they make it past the door." Cowboy shook her head. "I’m not going very far, Rall. Maybe you oughta leave me here." Rally shot her a look, but said nothing. They reached the far side of the room where an old, ratty door that had been painted shut many times over, barred their path. Rally smiled grimly. "Quit your whining and help me get this open." Cowboy stood and stared at Rally for a moment, then her lips set in a thin line. She nodded.
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