The Only Hope for Me Is You

I revved the engine of the motorcycle as I tried to keep up with the crazy speed of the muscle car in front of me. I think Poison was honestly trying to throw me off of his trail, hoping I would get lost and never come back. I narrowed my eyes, becoming that much more determined to prove to them that I was Killjoy material and that I could keep up with them, no matter what they tried to pull.

We had been traveling for at least an hour and I was starting to get anxious. What if they weren't leading me to headquarters? What if they were taking me somewhere far away from headquarters to hurt me?

I quickly shot down any of the questions that had popped into my head. They were ridiculous! The Killjoys would never harm another Killjoy. We were all fighting against the same thing; we were all on the same side. Whatever help they got, they should be grateful for it. And I knew, somewhere deep inside of Poison, he was grateful.

The car stopped without warning, making me swerve to avoid crashing into his rear bumper and flying into the back windshield. I missed it by an inch.

Okay, very, very deep inside, he felt grateful.

I steadied my bike as I stopped it, one foot on either side. I watched as the drivers door swung open, along with the passenger door. Poison got out, wearing a devious smirk.

"Party Poison! What is wrong with you?! You could have killed her!" A little kid said, climbing out of the car and walking towards me.

So, Party Poison was his full Killjoy name.. Joy. I eyed the kid coming up to me and turned off my bike, kicking my kickstand down.

"Are you okay, lady?" The young girl asked, pushing her helmet up from her forehead a little. She was like a mini Killjoy. It was cute.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Startled, but fine." I laughed, peering down at her. Her head only came to the bottom of my breasts, maybe shorter and, under the helmet, you could see brown wild curls. Her skin was tanned by the merciless sun and she held a tiny smile with bright white teeth coming through.

"I'm Missile Kid." she said, holding out her hand. I smiled down at Missile Kid and smiled.

"I'm Midnight Massacre," I replied, shaking her hand.

"Are you okay, Midnight?" I watched as Frankenstein got out of the car, rushing towards me.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." I shrugged, glaring at Party Poison, who now held a cigarette in his mouth.

"Don't worry, Midnight, he's a complete jackass towards new comers." Frankenstein stated, still checking me over, making sure there were no injuries. "Besides, Dr Death would kill us if we let him harm you."

I shot Frankenstein a tight smile, thinking for a little bit there that he actually cared for my well being.

"Well, while Poison is taking his nicotine break, I might as well, too." he took out a pack of Marlboro's from his back pocket. "He doesn't let anyone smoke in his car. It's way too precious to him." Frankenstein shook out a white stick then stuck it between his lips, lighting it and inhaling.

"You smoke?" he asked, blowing out the smoke through his nose and offering me a cigarette. I nodded and graciously took it. I brought it to my lips and he lit it for me as I inhaled, relinquishing the feel of nicotine in my lungs, once again.

"Ugh, that's disgusting," Missile Kid said, waving her hand in front of her face. She started to head back to the car. Frankenstein chuckled and there was silence for awhile.

"I'm Fun Ghoul, by the way." Franken- I mean, Fun Ghoul, said. I smiled and told him my full Killjoy name.

"That's cool. I like it." he said, licking his lips as he flicked the ashes off of the end of his cigarette. More silence.

"Hey, stop fraternizing with the enemy, Ghoul, and get in the car." Poison shouted and I narrowed my eyes, scoffing at his tone.

"She's not the enemy!" Fun Ghoul shouted back. "She's one of us, get over it." We finished off our cigarettes and Fun Ghoul smirked at me.

"Try not to stay too close to the car. You never know what shit Poison is gonna pull." he told me and I nodded, taking his advice literally. I revved my motorcycle to life as he got back in the car. I quickly followed them, taking Fun Ghoul's advice and staying off to the side a little bit.

As we continued the travel to headquarters, a million thoughts were racing in my head. Fun Ghoul and Missile Kid both went out of their way to talk to me, while the others seemed to have the same attitude as Party Poison. It just made me wonder about Fun Ghoul. I didn't think too much of Missile Kid because she held some childhood innocence, that overpowering feeling to be sweet and nice to everyone she met.

But, Fun Ghoul. He was a completely different story. He seemed close to Party Poison but still went against him to make sure I was okay, no matter what his reasons were. Poison looked at me in disgust, Fun Ghoul looked at me like a friend or someone he could easily become friends with. I liked it. He was extremely nice and friendly. Like I had said before, I immediately took a liking to him. But I didn't trust him. Confusing? I know.

While flicking my eyes around, making sure no Better Living agents were around, another thought entered my mind. Well, it wasn't really a thought but more of a decision. During the duration of my stay with these Killjoys, I would keep my mask on at all times. They didn't need to know who I really was. Also, I could not and would not get attached to any one of them. Even Missile Kid who seemed so cute and easily attachable. I didn't need anymore emotional blows.

I could soon pick out a building on the horizon. It wasn't very big from what I could see. One story, very simple.

As we drew closer, I could see that it was more of a diner and I smiled, seeing the sign on top. I'm guessing it had once read, DINER, but the 'n' and the 'r' were knocked out, so now it just read, DIE. I smiled as the car pulled in and went around it, hiding the car behind the building.

I stopped my motorcycle outside of it and smirked at sign. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Fun Ghoul come up beside me.

"It adds character, don't you think?" he asked and I nodded, smiling at him.

"C'mon," he continued. "You can put your bike inside, behind the main counter." I got off and went to push it by the handle bars but Fun Ghoul batted my hands away and started to push it by himself.

"Uh, thanks." I smiled sheepishly, while blush crept up into my cheeks. Thank God, most of my mask covered them. I needed to come off as tough, completely bad ass, to Poison, or he would think of me as a joke.

We got inside and Poison saw that Fun Ghoul was pushing my bike and he rolled his eyes.

"She already got you whipped, Ghoul. What a shame." Poison muttered, grabbing a can of Power Pup from the counter where a stack of them stood.

"Shut up, Poison." Fun Ghoul growled, placing my bike gently against the counter on the other side.

"Kobra Kid, can you show Midnight where to place her stuff?" He asked the one with Good Luck helmet on.

Jet Star nodded and got up from where he sat and motioned for me to follow him. I took my backpack that I had carelessly thrown onto the counter and held it close to me, following him past the main counter and into a back room. Several mattress' were strewn haphazardly around the floor with multiple blankets and poor excuses for pillows on them.

Just seeing it made me smile with gratitude. I had been sleeping on dirt and rocks for the past several weeks, so this was like a five-star hotel to me. He pointed to a small mattress in the far corner, away from the rest. My smile dropped.

"Poison told us to let you sleep on that mattress." he spoke in a monotone voice. I rolled my eyes, completely expecting it and weaved my way towards it. Jet Star left, trusting me that I could get to the main room and that I wouldn't plan any attacks on them. I rolled my eyes and sat on the thin mattress.

I sighed and looked around, finally alone. You would think that after so many weeks alone, I would want to be with someone, chat up a storm and hang out. But no. I like being alone, taking everything into my own hands.

The door swung open, making my head snap up. Missile Kid came in with two bottles of water and two cans of Power Pup. She handed me one of each, then went to a mattress that was farther away and pulled it up next to mine. She sat down, handing me a can opener and a spoon.

"Thanks." I smiled and she replied with a smile of her own. We sat and ate in silence for awhile before Missile Kid spoke again.

"Don't mind Poison. He has serious trust issues when it comes to new comers." she explained, sticking another spoonful of Power Pup into her mouth. "He's lost a lot people out here in the Zones. He doesn't really get close to anybody anymore." I nodded to what she was saying, biting my tongue from telling her that, that wasn't an excuse. I lost people, too.

We ate the rest of our food in silence and Missile Kid gathered the empty cans and bottles. She turned to leave but then looked back at me.

"Are you coming?" she asked and I shook my head. She sighed and looked to the door then back to me.

"There's no sense in being anti-social. You're stuck with us, now." She cracked a smile and I gave a hesitant smile back but stayed where I was. She sighed once more and then left me alone.