Never Just One

The Killjoys went up to the car as I hung back, waiting for them to all take their seats. When I slid into the back seat, squeezed next to Jet Star, I noticed a little girl sitting in Kobra Kid’s lap.

“And this little ray of sunshine is?” I smiled at her, and she smiled back, a curly mop of hair on her head. She looked a lot like Jet Star.

“That’s Grace,” Fun Ghoul said over the seat. “We call her Sunshine, though, funnily enough. She’s a Killjoy to be.”

“Hi Sunshine, I’m Cellophane Diamond.”

“Hi, Cellophane! Dr. D told me about you before!”

“Did he?”

“Mmhm, said that you were a really special Killjoy. You were one of the first people to not like that big corporation we all hate.”

I nodded. “Yup, that’s me. Left Battery City at the age of twenty.”

“What was your real name?” she asked innocently, and I paused for a minute.

“I… I can’t remember,” I said with a frown. “It’s been so long without people around me, and when people were around, I just said I was Cellophane Diamond.”

“I’m sorry,” she replied, grabbing my hand across Jet Star’s lap, and he smiled sweetly at her.

“We’re all her ‘uncles’ and we take care of her. Doc told us to, because it was dangerous with him, and he didn’t want her subjected to that. So we all got to have her in our lives.”

Party Poison was speeding along the dirt road as the sun started to sink dangerously low in the sky. “Listen, Diamond, do you have a camp?”

“Yeah, in Zone Four, ‘bout five miles west of this road.”

“Sorry, Cell,” he said, shortening my alias, “but with the sun settin’ we’ve gotta head back to the hideout. We’ll grab your shit tomorrow, first thing.” He glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Sound cool?”

“Whatever – I’m new to this group, don’t lemme change any of your routines or habits or whatever.”

“You’re chill, I like you,” Kobra said.

The darkness enveloped the land slowly but surely, and as we drove straight ahead, Fun Ghoul flicked on the radio. Dr. D’s familiar, comforting voice bled through the static and the speakers.

“Looks like a big clap went down off the route into the city in Zone Two today, tumbleweeds. Feeds from the BL/ind cameras we hacked show us it was Cellophane Diamond and the four legendary Killjoys – maybe we got a new alliance forming, who knows – but it went all Costa Rica for the Dracs… seven in total were ghosted.”

“’Cause that’s how we do,” Kobra Kid said, high-fiving Sunshine.

“Stay out of the dark, kiddies, and sleep with your gun close and your boots on, ‘cause you’ll never know when you gotta run.” The Doc’s voice faded away as heavy guitar riffs faded in, and Fun Ghoul turned the radio off as we pulled up behind an old, abandoned gas station.

“Welcome to Casa del Killjoy.” Jet Star smiled at the run-down building. “Running water and some comfy couches. A poorly stocked refrigerator. But it’s all we need.”

I opened the door and the cool night air rushed into the cramped car. I took a deep breath, glad to not be choking on dirt for once. “It looks better than my makeshift shack.”

The crunch of dirt and gravel underneath my boots seemed louder and more magnified in the eerie silence of the desert. “I’ve never been out this far before.”

“Weather sucks. Really harsh. But hey, it’s far enough from the city that they aren’t sendin’ out Exterminators at all hours.” Kobra Kid smiled, and I noticed Sunshine was grinning brightly at me as she held his hand. “BL/ind seems to know that this area’s as dangerous at night to us as it is to them.”

“I’m so glad there’s finally a girl Killjoy!” Sunshine’s bright voice and random interjection startled both Kobra Kid and I slightly, but I laughed and squatted down to give her a quick hug.

“I’m glad to be here.”

“Hey, Kobra! Diamond! Sunshine! Get in the house or you’re sleepin’ outside tonight!” Fun Ghoul’s voice trailed off into a girly giggle, which made me laugh even more.

“I’ve been sleepin’ outside for four years. I’m ready for shelter. C’mon.”