Status: Slow goings, I'm afraid.
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
The driving was always my favorite part.
The Killjoys, they think it's the saving. The being right all the time. The being in charge.
No. It's the driving.
Out on the old roads that used to be highways that connected city to city out in the Zones. Wind blasting through the windows that may or may not be safe to breathe, depending on which Zone you're in. Shifting gears and slapping the wheel as Dr. D blasts the tunes.
It's the closest to the days before the Fires that I can get.
The Fires ruined everything. No matter what anyone says.
Some people may say that the Fires brought change to a planet that was barely holding on. We were out of control. Using up our oil, killing the ozone.
At least we were kinda trying back then.
Now everyone takes the pills and gets in the pod and pretends that BL/ind is actually doing something to salvage the Zones instead of using it as a place to banish their rejects to so they can slowly die in the radiation.
It's ridiculous.
The Nest seems to be the only safe place. Dr. D made sure of it. He wouldn't have brought Party Animal Amelia here if it wasn't. It was the reason why they survived to fight. It was how I survived. How Ghoul survived. How we all survived together.
It's still a bit of a mystery how News gets out here on those weird ass roller skates of his. Dr. D won't tell us anything, so we've given up asking.
And as safe as the Nest is, it's still nice to go out in the Zones and pretend for five seconds that we're normal and aren't on the run half the time. For the kid's sake. Get a fire going, laugh a bit, eat from a can. She enjoys it. At least until we have to go on a gas run or highjack a new Individual.
Like we're doing today.
Jet almost didn't want to take her.
“She's six, Poison, why do we keep taking her on these runs? She doesn't need to be exposed to this.”
“Look Jet, Amelia needs a new Individual and we all know that Dr. D isn't the biggest fan of kids, even if he was the one who wanted to keep Jenny.”
“Poison, you are going to get Jenny killed one of these days-”
“Drop it. She's coming with.”
So here we are, out on the road. The kid's pleased, head sticking out the window, belting her heart out with the tunes. Amelia's got a fist full of Jenny's shirt but Jet still looks like she's going to fall out and break her face in the dirt.
Honestly, if I had the choice of leaving the kid behind, I would. Jenny is Jet's biggest weakness. Probably all of ours. We're all too attached to her. It's not safe for any of us, and we're all compromised if anything happens to her.
But for now she's happy, so we're somewhat calm. At least, four of us are.
The Thing is always on alert. It's like he doesn't even breathe. He just sits in the back, staring out the window, watching for anything that could be a threat.
I don't like him. Crawling out of a BL/ind laboratory, cold and distant. I have no idea what's going on in his head, and I don't fucking like it. He could give us away at any minute. He could find some twisted logic make us all turn on each other. He could kill Amelia.
“POISON, STOP.”
Ghoul's voice breaks me back to the now. I see News only yards away from the car and I slam on the breaks. Fucking idiot needs to skate on the right side of the damn road.
He just skates up to the window and tilts his head in a way that makes it pretty clear he's giving me a look from under that helmet of his. I just tear out of there, towards the gas station that's still half a day away. It baffles me how News can skate out here every time BL/ind makes a new move. Must take him a week to get to the Nest and back. I'd be surprised if he didn't have radiation sickness.
We reach the camp site just as the sun starts to go down. The Thing pulls on his helmet and steps out of the car, checking the radiation levels to see if it's safe for Jenny. He gives the thumbs up. All clear. Amelia kicks open the door and the kid jumps out, stretching and bouncing as we all get out after her.
She looks forward to these things more than we do.
Ghoul starts up the fire as Jet helps me unload the trunk of the sleeping bags and canned food. The kid just jumps around Amelia, who laughs and encourages the excitement because she thinks that Jenny needs to be as much of a kid as possible before really being inducted as a Killjoy when she's sixteen.
“Hey Jackson. Hey Jackson. Hey Jackson. Hey Jackson.”
As insistent as I am that we go by code names at all times, just in case something goes wrong, I can't ever bring myself to tell Jenny to call me Poison. It's the one thing that Amelia thinks is important, that we all use our birth names at one point or another. So I just let the kid do it.
“Yeah, kid?”
“We're gonna go get Amelia an Individual today, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I get one?”
We all freeze. Jet goes as white as a sheet. Ghoul gives me a look.
“Jenny. No.”
“Why not?”
Jet takes up this one.
“Because they're not safe.”
“Then why do you guys have them?”
“So we can protect ourselves. And you.”
She seems to find this a somewhat acceptable answer, and goes back to bouncing around in that little obnoxious way of hers. Her questions still weigh heavily on us, though. The thought of ever handing Jenny an Individual just seems horribly wrong, but when she's inducted we'll have to give her one. Jet has never liked this idea, and he's almost dead set against ever giving her one.
We eat dinner in silence.
We roll out the next morning as the sun is coming up. The kid's passed out in the back, using Ghoul as her pillow.
She's still sleeping when we get to the Station, but as soon as she feels Jet move on the other side of her she's wide awake. The Thing gets out of the car with Jet, both helmets on because the radiation is too high to go out without one. We're probably deep into Zone 9, maybe even on the edges of Zone 10, and the thought of Draculoids coming out here without any sort of protection is slightly appalling.
Jenny presses her face to the glass as Jet highjacks the Vender and pulls on gloves to retract the still-hot Individual from the drop slot. The Thing keeps watch while Jet passes it between his hands to cool it down before slipping back in the car and handing it to Amelia.
“God I hate the white ones.”
“We have paint at the Nest, you can mess with it then.”
She just scowls at me as I turn the car and start the drive back. We won't be stopping for anything.
Korse has other plans.
The next morning, only miles from the Nest, he blocks the road with four Draculoids. I almost just want to barrel through him, but then he would take out some sort of weird ass personal revenge. We'd never sleep.
We sit there, staring at each other. No one very intent on making the first move. Finally, I give the signal and Jet, the Thing, Ghoul, and I step out of the car. I make a note of Jenny's squirming, obviously an attempt to get away from Amelia and try to fight Korse herself. It's the one thing that we've all taught the kid. Korse equals bad news and should be taken down at any cost. And she just wants so badly to prove herself. That she's not a stupid kid.
And that's dangerous for us.
But I can't focus on that now. I have to focus on the threat in front of us.
The Draculoids go out first, that's always what happens. Then Korse, if we can.
The Thing draws first, as always. That used to be me. Fucker. Within seconds we're firing the only sounds in the Zones coming from our Individuals and the grunts from the Draculoids as they go down one by one.
“Jenny, no!”
Jet turns, which is always the wrong move. Korse fires, hitting him in the back. I fire at Korse, but he's gone before the shot reaches him. He's always got those stupid tricks up his sleeve. I pause for a second before turning to Jet. He's hurt pretty badly, but nothing that Dr. D can't fix.
Still, I'm pissed.
I turn on Jenny, who's standing a foot from the car, frozen and scared looking.
“Never leave the car! How many times do I have to tell you? It's not safe, not when Korse is around!”
“Jackson-”
“Do not call me that, Animal.”
“My name is Amelia.”
“We were just in the presence of Draculoids, and Korse. Code names will be used.”
“Poison, oh fearless leader, do not talk to Jenny like that.”
“She almost got Jet killed. She needs to learn! Come to think of it, why didn't you stop her?”
“I tried!”
“Obviously not hard enough!”
We were shouting so much that I barely heard Jet's voice.
“Guys, where's Jenny?”
Amelia and I both freeze. We look around us. Jenny's not there. Amelia runs to the car, then looks at me. She's not there.
Ghoul says the one thing we're all thinking.
“Fuck.”
The Killjoys, they think it's the saving. The being right all the time. The being in charge.
No. It's the driving.
Out on the old roads that used to be highways that connected city to city out in the Zones. Wind blasting through the windows that may or may not be safe to breathe, depending on which Zone you're in. Shifting gears and slapping the wheel as Dr. D blasts the tunes.
It's the closest to the days before the Fires that I can get.
The Fires ruined everything. No matter what anyone says.
Some people may say that the Fires brought change to a planet that was barely holding on. We were out of control. Using up our oil, killing the ozone.
At least we were kinda trying back then.
Now everyone takes the pills and gets in the pod and pretends that BL/ind is actually doing something to salvage the Zones instead of using it as a place to banish their rejects to so they can slowly die in the radiation.
It's ridiculous.
The Nest seems to be the only safe place. Dr. D made sure of it. He wouldn't have brought Party Animal Amelia here if it wasn't. It was the reason why they survived to fight. It was how I survived. How Ghoul survived. How we all survived together.
It's still a bit of a mystery how News gets out here on those weird ass roller skates of his. Dr. D won't tell us anything, so we've given up asking.
And as safe as the Nest is, it's still nice to go out in the Zones and pretend for five seconds that we're normal and aren't on the run half the time. For the kid's sake. Get a fire going, laugh a bit, eat from a can. She enjoys it. At least until we have to go on a gas run or highjack a new Individual.
Like we're doing today.
Jet almost didn't want to take her.
“She's six, Poison, why do we keep taking her on these runs? She doesn't need to be exposed to this.”
“Look Jet, Amelia needs a new Individual and we all know that Dr. D isn't the biggest fan of kids, even if he was the one who wanted to keep Jenny.”
“Poison, you are going to get Jenny killed one of these days-”
“Drop it. She's coming with.”
So here we are, out on the road. The kid's pleased, head sticking out the window, belting her heart out with the tunes. Amelia's got a fist full of Jenny's shirt but Jet still looks like she's going to fall out and break her face in the dirt.
Honestly, if I had the choice of leaving the kid behind, I would. Jenny is Jet's biggest weakness. Probably all of ours. We're all too attached to her. It's not safe for any of us, and we're all compromised if anything happens to her.
But for now she's happy, so we're somewhat calm. At least, four of us are.
The Thing is always on alert. It's like he doesn't even breathe. He just sits in the back, staring out the window, watching for anything that could be a threat.
I don't like him. Crawling out of a BL/ind laboratory, cold and distant. I have no idea what's going on in his head, and I don't fucking like it. He could give us away at any minute. He could find some twisted logic make us all turn on each other. He could kill Amelia.
“POISON, STOP.”
Ghoul's voice breaks me back to the now. I see News only yards away from the car and I slam on the breaks. Fucking idiot needs to skate on the right side of the damn road.
He just skates up to the window and tilts his head in a way that makes it pretty clear he's giving me a look from under that helmet of his. I just tear out of there, towards the gas station that's still half a day away. It baffles me how News can skate out here every time BL/ind makes a new move. Must take him a week to get to the Nest and back. I'd be surprised if he didn't have radiation sickness.
We reach the camp site just as the sun starts to go down. The Thing pulls on his helmet and steps out of the car, checking the radiation levels to see if it's safe for Jenny. He gives the thumbs up. All clear. Amelia kicks open the door and the kid jumps out, stretching and bouncing as we all get out after her.
She looks forward to these things more than we do.
Ghoul starts up the fire as Jet helps me unload the trunk of the sleeping bags and canned food. The kid just jumps around Amelia, who laughs and encourages the excitement because she thinks that Jenny needs to be as much of a kid as possible before really being inducted as a Killjoy when she's sixteen.
“Hey Jackson. Hey Jackson. Hey Jackson. Hey Jackson.”
As insistent as I am that we go by code names at all times, just in case something goes wrong, I can't ever bring myself to tell Jenny to call me Poison. It's the one thing that Amelia thinks is important, that we all use our birth names at one point or another. So I just let the kid do it.
“Yeah, kid?”
“We're gonna go get Amelia an Individual today, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I get one?”
We all freeze. Jet goes as white as a sheet. Ghoul gives me a look.
“Jenny. No.”
“Why not?”
Jet takes up this one.
“Because they're not safe.”
“Then why do you guys have them?”
“So we can protect ourselves. And you.”
She seems to find this a somewhat acceptable answer, and goes back to bouncing around in that little obnoxious way of hers. Her questions still weigh heavily on us, though. The thought of ever handing Jenny an Individual just seems horribly wrong, but when she's inducted we'll have to give her one. Jet has never liked this idea, and he's almost dead set against ever giving her one.
We eat dinner in silence.
We roll out the next morning as the sun is coming up. The kid's passed out in the back, using Ghoul as her pillow.
She's still sleeping when we get to the Station, but as soon as she feels Jet move on the other side of her she's wide awake. The Thing gets out of the car with Jet, both helmets on because the radiation is too high to go out without one. We're probably deep into Zone 9, maybe even on the edges of Zone 10, and the thought of Draculoids coming out here without any sort of protection is slightly appalling.
Jenny presses her face to the glass as Jet highjacks the Vender and pulls on gloves to retract the still-hot Individual from the drop slot. The Thing keeps watch while Jet passes it between his hands to cool it down before slipping back in the car and handing it to Amelia.
“God I hate the white ones.”
“We have paint at the Nest, you can mess with it then.”
She just scowls at me as I turn the car and start the drive back. We won't be stopping for anything.
Korse has other plans.
The next morning, only miles from the Nest, he blocks the road with four Draculoids. I almost just want to barrel through him, but then he would take out some sort of weird ass personal revenge. We'd never sleep.
We sit there, staring at each other. No one very intent on making the first move. Finally, I give the signal and Jet, the Thing, Ghoul, and I step out of the car. I make a note of Jenny's squirming, obviously an attempt to get away from Amelia and try to fight Korse herself. It's the one thing that we've all taught the kid. Korse equals bad news and should be taken down at any cost. And she just wants so badly to prove herself. That she's not a stupid kid.
And that's dangerous for us.
But I can't focus on that now. I have to focus on the threat in front of us.
The Draculoids go out first, that's always what happens. Then Korse, if we can.
The Thing draws first, as always. That used to be me. Fucker. Within seconds we're firing the only sounds in the Zones coming from our Individuals and the grunts from the Draculoids as they go down one by one.
“Jenny, no!”
Jet turns, which is always the wrong move. Korse fires, hitting him in the back. I fire at Korse, but he's gone before the shot reaches him. He's always got those stupid tricks up his sleeve. I pause for a second before turning to Jet. He's hurt pretty badly, but nothing that Dr. D can't fix.
Still, I'm pissed.
I turn on Jenny, who's standing a foot from the car, frozen and scared looking.
“Never leave the car! How many times do I have to tell you? It's not safe, not when Korse is around!”
“Jackson-”
“Do not call me that, Animal.”
“My name is Amelia.”
“We were just in the presence of Draculoids, and Korse. Code names will be used.”
“Poison, oh fearless leader, do not talk to Jenny like that.”
“She almost got Jet killed. She needs to learn! Come to think of it, why didn't you stop her?”
“I tried!”
“Obviously not hard enough!”
We were shouting so much that I barely heard Jet's voice.
“Guys, where's Jenny?”
Amelia and I both freeze. We look around us. Jenny's not there. Amelia runs to the car, then looks at me. She's not there.
Ghoul says the one thing we're all thinking.
“Fuck.”