Look Alive Sunshine.

The Killjoys couldn't take their eyes off of the posters, even though they knew that it was dangerous to be lingering in one spot for too long. The more they stared, the more it sunk in that these men were them, in a past life long forgotten. Kobra Kid couldn't help but gently prod his eyes. His vision was fine, but if he'd had glasses, what had happened to them? They'd been staring for at least fifteen minutes when they heard a rustling behind them. They all spun on their heels, guns already out. The noise was only Fun Ghoul however, who had awakened from his sleep. He stepped onto the ground and his legs gave out, sending him to the dirt.

"What the fuck happened to me?" he asked, pulling himself back up and bracing his body on the car. His stomach was churning madly and, leaning off to one side, he spilled its contents.

"The Draculoid injected you with something," Party Poison said, putting his gun back in its holster. "He tried to take Grace." Panting, Fun Ghoul wiped off his mouth and looked up, confirming that Grace was still with them.

"I knew something wasn't right about him," he said, making sure his legs were stable underneath him before he walked over to join them. Before he could say another word, his eyes were caught by the posters and he stood in front of the one on the end. The man had a tattoo visible on his neck and Fun Ghoul ran his fingers over the same area, knowing that there was an identical patch of ink in the same spot.

"That's me," he said, dropping his hand. "But... why aren't they us now?"

"I don't know," Party Poison sighed, leaning his forehead against the wall. "I just don't know."

"Maybe we've been at this a lot longer than we think," Jet Star said. His fingers curled around the edge of the poster and he ripped it down, crunching it up into a ball. The sun was now a glowing sphere above the horizon and they knew they had to get moving quickly.

"Well, I'm going to check out the inside," Kobra Kid said, switching on his flashlight and striding in. In the glow of the light, he could see a long snake slither off into the shadows. The room was empty, other than some rusted automotive tools on the ground and a table that was missing one leg. There was a large wooden door off to one side and he approached it, twisting the door knob in one hand. It was locked but that was quickly solved. Stepping back and putting the flashlight in his mouth, he spun around and kicked out with his right foot, easily knocking the door open. Walking in, he found a light switch and tried it, not expecting a favourable response. However, a harsh florescent bulb in the ceiling lit up and he could only gaze around, dumbstruck.

"Hey, get in here!" he yelled out and when the other Killjoys walked in, they had the same response he'd had. Each of them swivelled their heads, not knowing where to look first.

The room was rather large, as big as the one before it, but looked much smaller since it was crammed with stuff. The walls were crowded with posters, many from the time before. On the far wall hung a flag like they'd found at the motel, with a background of desert and a long-legged spider overlaid upon it. There were tables on each wall, each loaded up with various gadgets. One was devoted to clothing and this was what Party Poison found most interesting. The table was dominated by a large animal head that at one point, was probably part of an entire costume. However, it had been customized by someone to have a microphone on the outside and he picked it up, putting his head in it. The inside was filled with various buttons but he didn't touch any; it was safer to let Kobra Kid do that.

Fun Ghoul was attracted to something a little less odd; there was a box full of food tucked underneath one of the tables and he dove into it, clawing until he found a bottle of water. Although it was warm, it felt glorious to his dry throat, washing away the taste of vomit. Jet Star looked through the gadget table until he found a pile of maps. Many were hand drawn and, to his surprise, one was even a detailed look at Battery City. Grace had pulled herself up onto the clothes table and was digging around, pulling on various layers that were exactly her size. She had a paisley shirt and a vest, as well as another pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers. Lastly, Kobra Kid picked up a helmet that was yellow and pink with the words Good Luck stencilled on the windscreen. He planned to replace his own with it.

"Who left all this here?" Grace asked, pulling a hat with flaps over her curly hair.

"I don't know," Fun Ghoul said, finishing the bottle of water. "But I think it was the same people who were at the motel before us."

"But wouldn't we have heard about them from Doctor Death Defy?" Jet Star asked. There was a small door set into the back corner and he opened it, leading into another small area. There was a sink and toilet in one corner and there was even a small bed. The walls were covered in news clippings and propaganda posters from the Corporation. Examining one of the yellowed slips of paper, he read about the execution of twelve food hoarders.

"Maybe they weren't as attention grabbing as we are," Kobra Kid said, stepping into the room as well.

"That's doubtful. I mean, they obviously had a very organized operation," Party Poison said, voice muffled in his animal head. "But I think we should start moving soon. The sun is up."

After quickly eating a can of noodles in some kind of meat sauce, they once again piled into the car and drove, heading towards the Zone 6 border. Jet Star had the hand drawn maps laid in his lap, looking from them to the official one released by the Corporation.

"According to this, the border is actually fairly weak in some spots. However, we'll have to sneak through."

"What about Battery City?" Party Poison asked, looking up in the rear view mirror. No sign of pursuit.

"It's actually quite far away from the border, about fifty kilometres," Jet Star said, tracing the route with his finger. "And there's some marks after it, which doesn't correspond with the other map at all. It says that there's nothing after the City."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to find out which one is right," Fun Ghoul said. His stomach still hurt a little bit but he was keeping his food down.

"Do the bad men want to hurt me?" Grace asked. She'd been quiet for much of the day, looking like she was thinking quite hard. Although they all wanted to assure her otherwise, they also knew that she was one of them now. And they never lied to each other.

"I think they do," Kobra Kid said, looking back at the little girl.

"But we won't let that happen," Fun Ghoul quickly added, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We won't let anything happen to you." She smiled at him, momentarily looking like the innocent little girl she should have been.

"Thank you," she said, leaning into between the front and passenger seats so that Party Poison and Kobra Kid knew that she was addressing them all. "Thank you for taking care of me."

***

They reached the point where they would have to abandon the car rather quickly, while the sun was still high in the sky and the heat was sweltering. Standing on top of a ridge, they could see below them the glint as either a car or motorcycle drove into Zone 6. There was no physical sign that the Zone had even changed; the land was still as dry, sandy and dead as it was where they were standing. The car sat behind them, covered by the tarp. Each of them was carrying a few supplies, in their pockets or in small sacks on their back. Jet Star was carrying the precious maps tucked inside his shirt, Kobra Kid the Vend-A-Hack and the prototype of the Electric Glove, Fun Ghoul some of the food and Party Poison the extra gun and medical supplies. Each of them wore their helmets or masks, both to save from carrying them and so that their faces would be hidden. Party Poison had both his yellow half mask and the animal head on but his vision was surprisingly not impeded.

"Let's do it," he said, the first to walk forward. The others followed without a word, carefully picking their way down the rise. The ground was loose and it was hard to stay upright but they managed to get to the bottom without any major slips. In front of them, it was only flat land. The highway lay parallel to them, a few kilometres to their right. There was no sign of a guard post or anything. They just knew that, directly in front of them was Zone 6. They were about to enter the final frontier of their journey.

Making absolute sure that there was no sign of anyone, they slipped out from the rocks and jogged forward, keeping their pace moderate so that Grace could catch up. As soon as they stepped over the invisible line that separated Zone 5 from 6, they could feel something change. It wasn't something that was tangible but something changed nonetheless. This was now serious. If they were caught in Zone 6, they could and, most likely would be, killed. Party Poison stopped and turned around, pulling the head off so that he could address them properly.

"Are you guys sure that-" He hadn't even finished the sentence before they all nodded, lifting up their masks as well.

"Too late to turn back now, isn't it?" Fun Ghoul asked, smirking.

"We've got no one else," Jet Star agreed, looking at each of them in turn. "If we die, we die together."

"Killjoys stick together," Kobra Kid said. "Let's take them down."

"I'm not leaving," Grace said, holding onto Fun Ghoul's hand. "I like you guys." Her statement held the same power as the others. They were in this together, to the end. They knew that their chance of actually taking down the Doctor was low and that they were most likely going to die. But it was better that they died resisting than as passive robots.

"Then let's get moving."