Michael watched silently as a massive piece of scrap metal descended jerkily, barely held in the air by something he could only assume was a pair of highly discolored blades spinning rapidly above it.
There was no way that something like that should ever have been able to get off the ground.
So Michael wasn't exactly surprised when he noticed the person dangling from a rope that had only a single knot at the bottom to help him hold on.
Although they weren't sure exactly what effect, if any, the virus had on technology, there was often at least one idiot who just so happened to be the smartest member of the group. This trope was especially common in apocalyptic settings.
And despite its appearance, Michael had to admit that to drive something like that, something that looked like it would fall apart if he looked at it too hard, unless it was a lot more sturdy than it seemed, you either had to be a genius with a natural talent for navigation and machines, or you had to be crazy.
And for this guy? Michael was guessing the second one.
Although it didn't look like he was driving it at all. There was probably a second guy in it.
Michael walked a few careful steps away, but he was still the closest person to them when they landed aside from Luke. Well, and the short, wiry girl, but she barely counted. She was clearly also crazy.
After screeching to a stop in one of the most grievous assaults on the human ear that Michael had ever heard, the boy that Michael had seen hanging beneath came crawling out from under, while another, much skinnier boy stepped out through a small porthole and stood behind him.
The one in front was about a fourth again wider than the one in the back, but they were both about the same height, with skin a few shades darker than Michael's or Luke's, and wearing matching leather jackets, though the front one's was slightly more sun-bleached.
"Gentlemen, please step up and introduce yourselves," Luke said.
The front boy stepped forward and performed an elaborate bow that looked very wrong with his modern attire and the smirk on his face.
"My name is Arrogance, and behind me is Pride," he said simply.
Michael didn't think that those were their actual names. Although some parents did follow a practice where they named their children after their vices, signifying expelling them from their body (and passing them to their children, but that apparently wasn't considered), most who did that also changed the children's names later on in life, because no one wanted their children actually named something like that.
Although pride was one of the more common names when following that philosophy, the fact that they had felt the need to do it twice was a bit of a negative indicator.
Then again, if they had left their children with names of themselves, maybe he should have already been able to tell that. The best parents encouraged their children on their own paths. To name them after your own problems was a pretty clear sign that you were probably not a good parent.
It was a bit... well, arrogant. Which he supposed made sense in this case.
Michael looked at Luke, but he shook his head subtly. Not named for their parents.
Michael had no doubt that Luke had known what he was thinking. After all, it was prominent enough that anyone who regularly communicated with other people would have heard of it over and over again.
Michael walked forward into a more reasonable speaking range. The black-haired girl crept up behind him slowly, more cautious, and the other guy stayed close to her side, though he seemed a lot more confident. He was likely staying by her to protect her, or just because he wanted to be close to her. He was probably her boyfriend.
Relationships did tend to get messy in the apocalypse, so Michael made a mental note to watch the two of them closely.
Pride walked forward and clasped Luke's shoulder with a jovial grin.
"How have you been?" he asked. "I heard you needed some help."
"Well, as you can see, we have a bit of a pest problem," Luke said.
Pride looked around at all of the other people there, then shrugged.
"None of them seem that bad to me," he said.
Then a loud grown came from the side.
Pride turned, raising an eyebrow, and Arrogance nodded slowly, smirking.
When Pride saw the dilapidated figure shuffling out onto he street towards them, a smile spread across his face.
I'm surrounded by crazy people.