But Maybe We'll Live Forever

It had been about an hour since our Better Living Industries attack. We were staying in the underground sanctuary again for the night, but as soon as morning came, we had to leave. They’d be looking for us, and it wasn’t going to be safe for a while.

We were all high off adrenaline, and it seemed that the previous fight that had occurred within our group was forgotten for the time being. All that mattered is that we did what we came to do, and we’d done it rather well. Even Galaxy Escape was being treated like family.

Although I knew I should’ve been excited and happy, something Korse said was plaguing me. Something deep down inside of me told me that what he’d told me about my brother being alive wasn’t just mind games to make me feel weak. I began feeling it inside me. Rory was alive. He was alive and locked up somewhere.

“What’s going through your mind?” a familiar chipper voice sounded in my ear.

I turned to see Fun Ghoul looking at me with wide, happy eyes. I smiled at him and just shrugged, saying that I was very tired.

He didn’t believe me, I knew it, but he didn’t push it. “Alright, well I assume you’ll tell us when you feel like it,” he said and went back to drinking with everyone else.

I sighed and shook my head, joining the group. I took a drink and smiled and laughed along with the rest of them. Everything was perfect for a while, and then we all drifted off into a peaceful, heavy slumber knowing that the day’s work was done.

[x]

“Look alive, Sunshine!”

I awoke to Bulletproof Liberation waking up Grace, who really did not want to look alive at the moment. She yawned and shook her head, groaning, asking for five more minutes.

“No, honey, we gotta go,” Bulletproof said.

Kobra Kid laughed and picked up Grace and tickled her a little, throwing her over his shoulder. She laughed and giggled and screamed, fully awake now. I couldn’t help but smile at the cuteness of the scene before pulling myself up.

I pulled my hair back into a messy bun and begin gathering up my things, thinking about what was to come. I knew that from here on out, I was one of them. Things were going to get far more dangerous for me, for all of us, with that attack. I was on the radar.

And at any moment, I could die.

I shook the chilling thought away and shoved all my things into a bag, looking toward everyone else who already had their things.

Surprisingly, I saw Galaxy Escape with us. I looked at him questioningly and he simply smiled really big, signaling that Party Poison had given him the okay to join us from here on out. I couldn’t help smiling myself, knowing I’d made a small difference in that decision.

“Ready?” Party Poison asked, looking over all of us like a proud father.

“Ready,” we all replied in unison.

We began walking up and out, getting into our cars and revving the engines. With a honk of Party Poison’s car, we began speeding down the almost-empty highways of Battery City and out of the gate, into the vast desert.

I spotted a cell phone on the dashboard of the car. “When did we get one of those?” I asked.

“I stole it from the Better Living headquarters,” Grace said, giggling. “I stole two! I gave one to Party and the others so that we can talk to each other when we’re in the different cars.”

I began laughing. The rest of the car began laughing. I stuck my hand out the window and smiled, closing my eyes and feeling the warm air hit my arm as I waved it along in the wind. I didn’t want to be anyone else but Atomic Battery. I didn’t want to be anywhere else but here.

And at that moment, I could only think one thing.

Sure, I could die at any moment. All of us could die at any moment. That was the life of a Killjoy. But maybe, just maybe, we’ll live forever.

“So where to?” I asked after a while, looking over towards Ritalin Revolver who, as usual, was driving.

“Well, for a few days we’ll be staying at Doctor Death-Defying’s,” she replied. “And after that, who knows? We’re Killjoys, we only plan when needed. The world is ours – well, almost – and we can do whatever the hell we want.”

I smiled and leaned back, laughing. “I really love this life,” I said, looking at the rearview mirror and watching the city get smaller and smaller, more and more distant.

“Who the hell doesn’t?” Ritalin asked, speeding up.

After a few hours of driving and listening to Dr. D’s radio station, I knew it was probably time to bring it out into the open. I took a deep breath and reached for the cell phone and asked Grace the number. She told me it was in the phone and asked me why. I didn’t say anything.

As soon as I found the number in the contacts, I pressed the call button and held it up to my ear. It rang three times before “Party Poison here” was heard.

“It’s Atomic,” I said, leaning back in my seat.

“Yeah? What do you need?”

“I’ve caught wind of a new mission.”

After I spoke, I heard him talking to the other guys momentarily. They sounded excited, and I knew he was telling them what I’d said. I waited patiently before I heard a small click and Party Poison say, “Keep talking.”

I was silent for a moment. It was time to say it out loud. It was time to tell them what Korse had told me. It was time for them to know. But I felt myself hesitate, thinking of what would come next. I shook my head and took a deep breath, deciding it was time to accept the way things were and to be brave.

“Atomic? You still there?” Party Poison asked, sounding confused.

I took a deep breath and pushed the raging thoughts and images out of my mind. This was how it was going to happen. This was important.

“My brother… Bullet Deciever… he’s still alive.”