Look Alive Sunshine.

The Killjoys were completely packed in less than ten minutes, throwing their extra clothes and sleeping bags into the trunk. The meagre food supplies they had, as well as the radio and the first aid kits, were tucked under the seats for easier access. With the moon still high in the sky, they peeled out, heading north towards Zone 5. Once they were on the road, Jet Star took a quick nap, resting his head on the window sill. Even though the sun showed no sign of ascending, Grace stayed awake, kneeling on the seat and taking in the surroundings. There wasn’t really much to see; the land was sand, sand and more sand, with the occasional ruin of a building to be seen, half buried. Despite this, she took in everything with wide eyes, head whipping back and forth so she didn't miss a thing.

“So where exactly are we headed?” Party Poison asked. He took the next left, not willing to risk their luck just yet. If they were going to even think about breaching Zone 5, they needed a full night of rest and a game plan.

“Well, there used to be a motel about six miles north, on this road,” Kobra Kid said, placing the outdated road map of California they had on the dashboard so he could more easily see it. “It’s worth a shot.” The map had been made before the Zones were created, so everyone knew that there was a large chance that the motel had either been destroyed by the desert or torn down by the corporation.

To their surprise however, it was still standing and was actually in very good condition. There were two gas pumps outside that looked promising. The only defect that they could see with the building was the lack of a front door. In fact, the entire front of the building had somehow been removed, leaving a gaping hole. Pulling up in front, they stared inside, trying to detect any sign that the building was already occupied, but the moonlight only illuminated the entrance. Beyond that, there was nothing but darkness.

“Is it worth it?” Fun Ghoul asked, twiddling his fingers against his jeans. Jet Star, who had just woken up, rubbed his eyes and looked as well.

“What do we have to lose? If there’s anyone in there, we can deal with it.” Guns at the ready, they stepped out of the car, creeping towards the door. When they stepped into the lobby, Kobra Kid removed a flashlight from his belt and shone it around. The light was faint but they could see no signs of civilization in the former lobby area. There was a magazine rack beside the door with faded issues from years ago. One even had the Doctor's face on the cover with a big red X on the front, from the era when people actually dared to publicly resist.

When they reached the hallway that branched off with the rooms, they split; Fun Ghoul, carrying Grace, and Kobra Kid took the left way while Jet Star and Party Poison took the right. Other than their own footsteps, there were no sounds. At each door, Kobra went in first, gun at the ready. Each room was the exact same; completely void of life.

At the other end of the hallway, the situation was much the same, with one exception. One room had been completely torn apart; curtains torn down, door of the wardrobe kicked into splinters, mattress ripped in half. There was no evidence that it had happened recently but nonetheless, they decided to avoid that room. It had a bad vibe.

When they met back up in the lobby, they decided to pull the car inside and try to drape the tarp over the entrance. Using the headlights from the car as light, they managed to hide it the entrance sufficiently but not too sufficiently; they wanted it to look like the tarp wasn't hiding anything. They could only hope that anyone who happened to go by fell for their ruse.

The sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon but they still needed sleep. Fun Ghoul took the watch and the others went to the first room in the right hall, leaving the door open so that they would hear anything unusual. They were all very light sleepers; you had to be, or you'd wake up with your brains vaporized.

Fun Ghoul set himself up behind the front desk, where he had a good view of the approaching road. The underside of the desk was covered in cobwebs and he coughed into his sleeve. He hoped that the showers worked; to say that he was dirty was an understatement. Showers were considered a luxury to them. It was just easier to wash your clothes. On the floor beside him, Grace had burrowed herself into his sleeping bag. Only the top of her head was visible, a mass of frizzy curls. He couldn't help but pat it. He had developed an amazing connection with her. Even though she was so young, it was like she'd already become one of the Killjoys; he knew that he would give his life up to save any of theirs, including hers.

As the sun came up, he could feel the day getting hotter. Even sitting inside, beneath his long sleeved yellow shirt, his skin was growing moist. Despite the fact that he'd been sitting there for only an hour and a half at most, Party Poison joined him, squeezing in between him and Grace. She moved slightly and then settled back down, burrowing even further into the sleeping bag.

"She likes you," he stated and Fun Ghoul nodded, wiping his brow.

"I think I was a father... back then," he answered, waving his arm backwards. Party Poison nodded, knowing what he meant. A not entirely comfortable silence fell between them, broken only by the quiet sounds of Grace snoring.

"I know my name," Party Poison finally said. He didn't know why the words had come from his mouth but it seemed like the right time to tell someone. Fun Ghoul turned to look at him, one knee pulled up to his chest. His eyes were sparkling with curiosity.

"What is it?" he asked, putting his head on his knee. Party Poison licked his lips, throat dry. It always felt weird letting the name pass his lips. He just couldn't properly associate it with the person he was in the present. And until he knew who he was in the past, it wouldn't be his true name.

"Gerard," he whispered, forcing himself to spit the name out. "My name is Gerard." Fun Ghoul stared at him for a moment before bursting into a grin, shaking his head.

"Nah. You'll always be Party Poison to me."

"And you'll always be Fun Ghoul, even if you do remember your name for once," he chuckled, barely resisting the urge to tousle the other man's hair.

"I wish I could... I don't understand why it doesn't stay in my memory. I mean, do you even remember what it is?" Party Poison shook his head; even though the other three Killjoys had all had multiple moments of revelation regarding their names, none of them could remember their own or the others after an hour. It was like their minds had been wiped completely clean. They lapsed back into silence, looking out into the empty desert. After another half hour, Jet Star joined them, followed by Kobra Kid a few minutes afterwards. When they began to talk, Grace wriggled out from her hiding spot and listened as they discussed the game plan over handfuls of dry cereal.

"Well, I was thinking," Party Poison said and the men all sighed. Although his plans were, admittedly, quite genius, they were also absolutely insane.

They were also a lot of fucking fun.

"The Doctor knows the rough area of where we are, correct? So, I think we should just bolt for Zone 5 while he's looking for us. 'Cause you know he's out there right now."

"So we're going to basically run over anyone who gets in our way?" Kobra Kid asked, spilling cereal onto his pants. Party Poison nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. As long as there's shooting involved, of course."

"Speaking of guns," Jet Star added, "we really need to find some spares. We should search the rooms today and try to find some extras, and some clothes for Grace while we're at it."

"I think there's a vending machine so we might be able to get a few extras," Fun Ghoul said, "as long as the Vend-A-Hack is working."

"It's always working," Kobra Kid huffed, making them all laugh. He was always creating new gadgets that had come in handy but they weren't exactly what you would have called stable. The Vend-A-Hack was constantly malfunctioning and Kobra Kid spent as much time as he could spare tinkering with it. Without anymore speaking, they went off on their own. Jet Star and Party Poison went on a salvaging mission, searching every room. Taking the Vend-A-Hack from the inside of his sleeping bag, Kobra Kid headed outside and inserted one end of the device into the coin slot of the machine. There were three rows of buttons beside a four inch screen that showed what appeared to be a meaningless string of constantly moving numbers. To Kobra Kid however, their meaning was as plain as if they'd been written in straight English.

He waited until the numbers were arranged in a certain pattern before tapping furiously on the buttons, fingers flying in a pattern only he could recognize. He was biting his lip again, the torn skin on the verge of bleeding. After nearly a minute, a small pair of batteries dropped from the rack and he quickly snatched them up, one hand still moving. Only seconds later, a larger battery dropped out and, soon after it, more canned food to add to their stash.

But now came the hard part. The vending machine also had a large button with a picture of a laser gun on it. He remembered Jet Star's comment and switched to another pattern, sweat dripping to his forehead. The Corporation had made it nearly impossible to steal the laser guns from their machines. Hell, it was nearly impossible to get anything legally from them; only Draculoids were given the appropriate coins needed for the task.

However, it was only nearly impossible to do it.

After five minutes of furiously tapping, the Vend-A-Hack beeped and Kobra Kid whooped. With his empty hand, he hit the button and a brand new, shiny white laser gun dropped from the slot. Tenderly removing the machine from the slot, he kissed it.

“Good job,” he said before heading back inside. Fun Ghoul had the hood of the Trans Am up and was poking around, muttering under his breath. Kobra Kid nudged him with his foot and he pulled his head out, face streaked with automotive grease. He dropped the batteries at his feet and Fun Ghoul grinned, winking at him.

“Thanks man.” Before Kobra could respond, Party Poison yelled at them from the right branch of the hallway. Whipping their guns out, they ran down the hallway and burst through the door of the room he was in. Coincidentally, it was the same room that Party Poison had had such a bad vibe about the day before. He was standing in the middle of the room, holding up a large rectangle of fabric. When he turned around, they saw that it was a flag, but not the official one of the Corporation. Instead of the white happy face that they considered so ironic, it was a large black spider on a white background. The legs were skinny and filled nearly the entire rectangle of fabric.

“Someone was here before us,” he said quietly. “Someone like us.”