Killjoys...Make Some Noise!

The sun was high in the sky as Candy and I motored down the street. The only sounds around us were the roaring of our bikes and sound of wind passing our helmets. However a few moments later a puttering sound took over.

“Aw fuck!” Candy cursed as she slowed to a stop, my bike doing the same.

“How the hell are we out of gas?” I asked as I pulled to a complete stop.”

“I have no fucking clue! I filled them both up last night.” she sighed.

Shaking my head I plopped down on the dusty ground next to the road, giving my bike a swift kick for good measure.

“Well whatever happened we have to figure out what the fuck we’re going to do soon. It’s almost dark… the Dracs are going to be doing rounds.” I replied pulling off my helmet and looking up at Candy.

“I know. Look why don’t we walk down a ways and see who or what we can find.” she suggested.

“Okay but not too far. I don’t want to lose my bike. I refuse to walk everyday.” I replied standing up and dusting the dirt from the seat of my jeans.

We pulled on our masks and helmets again, untying our bags from the backs of our bikes and heading down the street. I don’t really know what we were thinking since it was nothing but flat land for miles and quite easy to see if anything was behind or in front of us. Like I said…pointless.

We had only gotten a few feet down the street when we heard a roaring behind us. We turned around and saw a gray Trans AM with a huge American Widow on the hood coming towards us.

“Quick the flares!” Candy said and dropped her sack and moment later came up with two road flares.

When driving 90 MPH down the street, most likely with the radio blaring and dust flying up around you, it wasn’t hard to miss a person on the side of the road. I fumbled around and lit the flare holding it up above me. Candy did the same and a few moments later the Trans AM pulled to a stop.

We quickly tossed the flares aside as four men climbed out of the small car. I saw a child sitting in the backseat, their curly head peaking over the door. The eyes seemed familiar but try as I might I couldn’t place them. Two of the guys wore helmets; one with ‘Good Luck’ across the visor and the other with a space helmet type thing. The other one had bright red hair and a yellow mask and the shortest of the 4 wore a Frankenstein mask.

“Hey thanks so much for stopping we-” Candy started but was cut off as a moment later Good Luck tackled her and Space Man pointed his gun at her head. A split second later someone wrapped their arm around my neck with a gun pressing into my lower back and Cherry Head pointed his gun at the visor of my helmet.

“What in fucks name are you doing?!?” I yelled.

“Don’t play with us!” Frankenstein growled in my eyes.

His voice seemed to ring some sort of bell in my head but not one that was loud enough to let me know who was under the masks.

“We know that Dracs like you have been in this area for the past 2 months. And we know that they’ve been posing as Killjoys making up sob stories so that other Killjoys will take them in then when they start to trust the Dracs the Dracs bring in Korse. Don’t think that we don’t know what you’re up to.” Cherry Head said.

“I’m a fucking Killjoy you asshat! Not a fucking Drac!” I spat.

“Yeah and I’m the fucking Queen of England. Maybe if you tell us the truth we’ll let you go. Just maybe.” Frankenstein replied.

“This is going nowhere.” I muttered to myself. I stole a glance out of the side of my eye and could just make out through the visor of my helmet, Candy pressed to the dirt with her hands held behind her back by Space Man and Good Luck, a blue lazer gun pressed to her head.

I took a deep breath as I readied myself for what I was about to do. This could either end very badly or it could save the both of our lives.

“Candy! Scramble!” I yelled.

‘Scramble’ was the word we used when one of us was getting ready to pull something big. We had come up with it so that we could communicate quickly without having to look at one another when it wasn’t safe or possible to. It had been a huge help in the past.

The moment I had yelled ‘scramble’ Candy had stopped struggling against Good Luck and Space Man. I brought my foot back and stomped on Frankenstein’s foot as hard as I could. He yelped and loosed his grip enough that I could duck down and sweep kick Cherry Head’s feet from under him while I pulled the switchblade from my shoe.

I kicked Cherry Head and Frankenstein’s guns far away as I flicked the blade out pressing it to Frankenstein’s throat while I drew my gun on Cherry Head, pointing it directly between his eyes. I heard sounds of a struggle behind and when I glanced back at Candy she had her sneaker clad foot pressed against Good Luck’s throat and her gun resting against his sternum.

“Now you’re going to fucking listen to me! We are NOT Dracs and the mere assumption we were one of those brainless low lives is almost an unforgivable insult. We are Killjoys. We have been for the past 3 years. Our bikes broke down not far back. We ran out of gas when we were trying to out run a pack of them that found our hideout. Do you believe me now?” I asked.

“Yeah we believe you.” Cherry Head replied.

“Thank you.” I replied and pulled my gun back and tucked it in my holster and folded the blade of my switchblade back in.

“Sorry it’s just been crazy in this sector lately.” Good Luck said as he stood up, dusting off his clothes.

“It’s okay.” Candy replied as she holstered her gun.

“You guys said you ran out of gas?” Frankenstein asked.

“Yeah just back there.” I replied.

“Well we have some extra gas in the back of the car if you want.” Space Man replied.

“That would be great.” Candy replied.

“Welcome. And it’s probably smart for you to come back to our hideout since it’s about to get dark. We swear we won’t try to attack you again.” Cherry Head said with a lopsided smile.

“Really? Oh my god that’s amazing. Thank you so much.” I replied.

Good Luck grabbed a gas can out of the back of the car and walked with us back to our bikes. Once the tanks were full we climbed out and walked them back over to the car.

“Alright you’re going to follow us okay? It’s not that far.” Space Man said.

“Okay. Oh by the way I’m Poetic Graffiti and this is my friend Cyanide Candy. We go by Poet and Candy.” I replied.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Party Poison and this is my kid brother Kobra Kid and our friends Jet Star and Fun Ghoul.” Cherry Head said motioning to himself then Good Luck, Space Man and then Frankenstein.

“And that little one in the car is my niece Boom.” Jet Star replied pointing to the curly headed child who I now saw was a little girl. She gave a small wave but kept mostly hidden.

Candy and I mounted our bikes and followed the Trans AM down the street. A few moments later we stopped at an old diner. The ‘n’ and ‘r’ had been knocked out making the sign above it simply say ‘Die’. I smirked as I grabbed my bag from the back of my bike and followed the guys inside. When we got inside Boom walked into one of the back rooms and a few moments later I could hear small snores and I realized she must have been asleep. Kobra Kid was outside setting the detectors while Fun Ghoul and Jet Star grabbed something to eat. Party Poison walked up to Candy and I.

“You two can stay in Jet Star and Boom’s room, there’s an extra bed in there if you two don’t mind sharing. Oh and the bathroom is just behind that door if you want to clean up. The shower’s cold but it’s not bad after the heat.” Party Poison said.

“No it’s okay. We didn’t even have a shower at the last place we had and one bed is all we need.” Candy assured him.

“Okay then. Well you can have first dibs on showers if you want.” Party Poison said and left the room.

Candy and I headed to the room he had indicated. It wasn’t very big but it worked. Two queen sized and one twin mattress were pushed against the walls. Each had just enough space between the heads and feet of them that the occupants wouldn’t be on top of one another. There was an expanse of floor between them so that you could walk in and around just a bit.

We tossed our bags down on the bare mattress in the back of the room. After a quick and, since Boom was asleep, quiet game of rock paper scissors Candy won first rights to the bathroom. A while later she emerged in a blue tank top, faded blue jeans, her VANS and her rosary. Now that the bathroom was free I grabbed clothes and my towel and assorted toiletries and headed to the bathroom.

I emerged 20 minuets later fully refreshed. I wore a pair of gray jeans, a neon yellow zebra print tank top and my converse.

“Feel better?” Candy asked as I sat down on the mattress.

“Yep. Much. Can you help me with this? I don’t have the patience.” I asked Candy.

She nodded and I turned around just as there was a knock next to the curtain that served as a door.

“Hey if you guys want we’ve got food ready.” I heard Kobra Kid say from behind me.

“Great we’ll be there in a moment.” Candy said.

When she finished my hair we headed to the main part. Everyone was chattering happily however the moment we stepped through the door all five of them fell silent and they all turned to look at Candy and I.

“Why are they staring at us like they’ve never seen us before?” I whispered to Candy.

“Not me Poet…you.” she said stepping aside.

A moment later Jet Star was scrambling towards me.

“Cassie?” Jet Star asked.

I looked up at him, “H-How do you know my name?”

He looked at me, “Because I’m your brother.”