Baby

Baby watched as Dom kicked the man lying on the ground before them. She still liked to call them men and women because they were once.
“Fucking dirty fucking…” Dom muttered under his breath, pulling his right leg back again and placing another kick into the man’s side. The man’s head rolled awkwardly around, looking like it was only held onto his neck by the skin. Baby had heard it snap as Jake had twisted it sharply 180 degrees. The man’s eyes had still looked crazed as he fell to the floor.
“Fucking come on,” Dom snarled, stepping over the motionless body and pulling his bag higher onto his shoulder. Baby followed, after a sharp dig in the ribs from Angie, and she hadn’t realised that she had been pressing her short nails into her palm. She looked down at the red marks she had made on the delicate skin. Angie swung the garden shears that she’d stolen from Wilkinson’s onto her shoulder. The shop windows had been smashed, glass glittering on the wet pavement and Angie had lifted her leg gingerly over the broken shards in the window frame. Baby had stood watching and Angie had re appeared after a couple of minutes waving the garden shears, two packets of cigarettes and a box of blue hair dye.
“I’m gone to dye your ‘air blue,” she announced to Baby. Dom had laughed and taken a cigarette packet from her, opening it and placing a fag into his mouth. He offered one to Baby but she shook her head. “What you think?” Angie asked her.
“I…”
“I think it would look awesome,” Dom answered for her, he reached forward and grabbed a strand of Baby’s blonde hair. He pulled her towards him, still holding it and she let herself be dragged into his chest. “It would look good,” he said leaning down and breathing tobacco smoke out. He smelt of tobacco and sweat and leather. Baby cringed away from his face and his fingers looping themselves round into her long hair. Dom finally let go and Baby slowly moved away from him. It was always this way, ever since Dom had found her cowering behind a low garden wall, the grass slowly making her jeans damp and the her teeth chattering in the cold night air. He had leant over the wall, laughing and dragged her up by the collar of her jacket.
“What are you doing down there?” he asked, half pulling, half helping Baby get over the wall. She remained silent, staring up under her hair at the rest of the group. “Hello?” Dom called to her.
“Hiding,” Baby whispered.
“Hiding? From what?”
“People,”
“Like us?” Dom asked. Baby stayed quiet. Dom increased his grip on her jacket, pulling it tight against her throat. “Like us?” he repeated.
“I don’t know who to hide from,” Baby choked out. Dom released her jacket.
“Come with us,” he said. It wasn’t a request. “You can be Angie’s new fuck buddy,” Baby looked up and saw Angie sticking her middle finger up at Dom, her long black hair in a Rapunzel braid draped over her skinny shoulder.
They were walking now, although they had no destination. Baby looked up into the dark sky that now permanently lay above them and sighed. She thought about summer and August and how blue the sky was in the early afternoon. She thought about lying on cold grass and cloud watching with her sister. She thought about her Mum. She thought about her Dad. She tried not to think. Jake cracked his knuckles, as though snapping that man’s neck had created the need to flex them. Angie cringed at the sound and hit him lightly on the arm.
“Fuck off bitch,” Jake muttered, continuing to walk, his huge form casting obscure shadows in the dim light. They passed a house and Baby could see a light on in the top window, she didn’t tell the others. Dom would break the door down, kill the man in there. If there was no man he’d drag the women with him. He didn’t care for children. Baby’s hair was a pale green colour. The dye hadn’t worked and her scalp had itched resiliently for days, but there wasn’t enough water to wash it out properly. Angie insisted that it looked even better, that no one gives a fuck bout’ how you look no more so you might ‘swell fuckin’ embrace it. Embrace the green. There aint’ no more round ‘ere no more.
The trees had been the first to die. She had coined the name Baby.
“You’re like that skank from that film innit. With that bloke who died,”
“A lot of actors have died,” Dom said.
“Piss off. You know that bloke in that film with the pot making,”
“Ghost?”
“Yeah,”
“Patrick Swayze?”
“That’s it. Swayze innit. What’s that other film?”
“Dirty dancing,”
“What are you, a faggot?” Jake interrupted. Dom gave him the wanker sign, shaking his right hand slowly at Jake.
“I’m just cultured,”
“Fucking gay,” Jake still muttered.
“Yeah fuckin’ dirty dancing,” Angie continued. “You’re like er’ that bird with the massive nose, Baby,” Baby stayed quiet. “Do you ever talk? I’m goin’ call you that now,”
“Not like we ever knew her real name,” Dom muttered. Laura. That had been Baby’s name, but now she only answered to Baby it had been that long. They had picked people up a long the way, left them behind when things had gotten messy. It was always the four of them. Dom, Angie and Jake had known each other before, had been attending college together. They had taken a liking to Baby and that was why she had never been left behind. School and an education and a routine were foreign ideas now. Baby thought about the time they had found stacks of hundred pound notes in a house they were looting. Jake had stuffed them into his coat pockets greedily whilst Dom laughed at him,
“You knob, no one wants money now do they?” he said. Jake stared blankly at him.
“Why?” he asked.
“I don’t know if you haven’t noticed but the fucking world has ended. Asda isn’t open anymore,”
“It was the second coming of Christ,” Baby had interrupted.
“She speaks!” Dom cried. “What did you say?” he asked grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her across the room to him.
“It was the second coming of Christ,” Baby repeated.
“Fucking bullshit,” Dom scoffed. “If Christ had come back why are we in this shit hole?” he snarled, kicking a bundle of money across the room. Angie laughed,
“You religious or something Baby?” she asked. Baby shook her head,
“No, but that’s what everyone was saying, that in six months after the 22nd of May the world was going to end,”
“Who said this?”
“I read it on someone’s status,”
“Facebook told you that the end of the world was going to happen?” Dom let her go and sat down on one the grubby sofas in the room.
“Well, who ever said it wasn’t far off,” Baby said.
“Bullshit,” was all Dom could say. They left the money behind, but Baby took one note and slipped it into her pocket when the others weren’t looking. Sometimes she took it out and looked at it, it reminded her of when she was younger and her Dad taught her how to pay for things in the shop. She had been so shy handing over the money to the assistant and always forgot her change. Her Dad said she was too nice, sometimes he let the assistant keep the change, but never when Baby had paid with a twenty pound note.