Danger Days: The Escape

A few days had passed since the four killjoys and their new recruit had arrived at the house. While things had been very quiet in terms of BL/IND and Draculoids, there was still a sense of danger looming over them. Kobra Kid hadn’t been heard from in two months and now that they had time to themselves to think, theories about his disappearance were beginning to form.

During lunch on their fifth day in the house, prepared nicely by Bob, the topic of Kobra Kid’s whereabouts came up.

“I think he’d have gone back to Zone 5,” Jet Star hypothesised. “I’d have gone back home if I had the chance.”

Party Poison looked at him doubtfully. “He’s not stupid, Jet; why would he go back home when it’s common knowledge that a lot of killjoys came from Zone 5? It’s the first place the Drac’s would go looking. He’s probably driving to the furthest Zone out from Battery City.”

“I hope not,” Bob said worriedly. “The biggest of the BL/IND compounds is out that way. Korse had it built for the purpose of catching anyone trying to run away. He’s got it heavily patrolled, too. If Kobra Kid drove out there I can assure you that there’s a ninety-five percent chance that he’s locked up right now.”

“Well someone has to make up the other five percent, don’t they?” Lady Killer said, attempting to keep everyone positive. She didn’t want to picture Kobra Kid in a white cell, being tortured and tested on, probably beaten, too, while they were all living quite comfortably.

“Get real, Kill,” Party Poison retorted. “With no allies to help him, there’s no chance of him getting past all those Drac’s. We all know what’s going to happen to him. Don’t be so stupid! He’s never fucking coming back! And you know what? I’m starting to wish you hadn’t come back either!”

Tears flooded Lady Killer’s eyes; it was the first time that Party Poison had ever yelled at her. She turned away from the group and walked calmly through the living room, up the stairs, and down the hall to her bedroom. Once she had shut the door quietly she fell onto the bed and let the tears fall freely. She found that she wasn’t just crying over what Party Poison had said, but also over the war and Kobra Kid’s disappearance. Her eyes glanced around the room, landing on a photo of her parents that she had taken when she was a little girl. If her mum was there right now she’d be sitting on the bed with an arm around her shoulders telling her that it would all be okay, and her dad would be downstairs yelling at Party Poison for speaking to her like that. She just wanted everything to go back to how it was before she’d ever become a killjoy.

There was a soft knock on the door, followed by the sound of it slowly creaking open. She lifted her head up to find Bob standing in the doorway, looking at her sympathetically.

“Hey, Kill,” he said gently, “Mind if I come in?”

She shook her head and moved over so Bob could sit next to her. He shut the door silently and joined her, instantly placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. They sat without talking for a few moments. The only sound that could be heard was the soft hiccups and sniffs coming from Lady Killer as she tried to stop her crying.

“What Party Poison said downstairs isn’t true, Kill; you’re not stupid, and we’d all be a wreck if you weren’t here, hell I’d still be working for Korse if it wasn’t for you. The reality is just starting to hit everyone, don’t take what he says personally.”

“What other way is there to take it? He’s right, I am stupid. I know that Kobra’s not coming back...” She whispered the last bit as the tears began to cloud her eyes once more. “I just don’t want to think of him going through what I went through. It’s horrible, and he’s so sweet... I just want him to be okay...”

Bob hugged her close to him as she cried, rubbing small circles on her back. “I know, Kill, I know.”

Back downstairs, Jet Star and Fun Ghoul were dealing with Part Poison. They agreed that sometimes Lady Killer’s frequent attempts to be positive and optimistic could be overbearing, but that didn’t give Party Poison the right to yell at her the way he did.

“She’s nineteen years old, Poison – a baby compared to us!” Jet Star argued back after another foetal attempt from Party Poison to defend himself. “We’re all that she’s got and you just made her feel like we don’t want her here.”

“It’s not my fault her parents are dead!”

Jet star groaned in frustration. “You’re hopeless! I’m going up to check on Kill. She didn’t deserve a damned word of what you said to her.”

The remaining two killjoys stared at each other.

“I suppose you’re on her side, too, huh?” Party Poison demanded brutishly.

“Yeah, I am.” Confidently, Fun Ghoul crossed the room to his bed mate, although he didn’t really feel as confident as he appeared when he was just inches away from those hazel eyes. “You were a dick. She tries to stay positive because that’s how she copes, and you just tore her down in front of everyone. She’s meant to be your best friend.”

“Yeah, well Kobra’s like my kid brother, okay? Him missing stresses me out. Can’t she get that? He’s out there alone, he has no chance.”

“So, because he’s alone he has no chance of survival?” Fun Ghoul asked. Party Poison nodded defiantly. “Well, here’s a newsflash for you. Kill was alone when her parents were killed and she was able to find protection. She was alone, locked up at BL/IND, and she managed to escape and find us all again. And she was alone when she saved me. It looks to me that someone can survive out here when they’re on their own. Perhaps the same can be said of Kobra. Maybe if you had some fucking faith in him like she does then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Fuck you,” Party Poison said quietly. “I really hate it when you’re right...”

Upstairs in Lady Killer’s room, Bob and Jet were just leaving. While Lady Killer did appreciate their attempts to cheer her up, she just wanted some time to herself to process everything. The thought running through her mind at that moment was to pack a couple of things in a bag and leave. Obviously Party Poison didn’t want her around, and it’d only be a matter of time until the others guys felt the same. She had no idea where to go, that was the only problem; she had no family and no other friends. There were plenty of abandoned houses that she could take up temporary residence in if she really wanted to, but with Korse on the warpath she didn’t particularly like the idea of being in a big house by herself, even if it was in Zone 2.

Deciding that that was her only choice in the current situation, Lady Killer moved from the bed where she had been lying for the previous half hour and dug out a small bag from underneath it. She packed a few items of clothing and some photos from her walls, plus some other essentials. As she was putting in a well folded blanket she heard the bedroom door creak open behind her. She turned around, expecting to see Fun Ghoul coming to check on her also, but was surprised to see Party Poison standing there instead.

“Hi,” he said awkwardly.

“Hi,”

Party Poison shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, letting his eyes wander the room; he wouldn’t look her in the eye. His gaze landed on the half filled bag that was sat on the edge of her bed. He analysed it for a moment until the reason why it was there came to him. Despite the argument downstairs, he didn’t want to believe that what he had just surmised was true. “I hope you’re unpacking that bag.”

She threw another shirt into her bag. “If my best friend doesn’t want me around then there’s not much point in me staying. I’m just in the way. You don’t need stupid people getting in the way of the mission.”

Without a second thought, Party Poison picked up the bag and tipped the contents onto the floor. He guided Lady Killer down to sit on the bed with his hands gently on her shoulders.

“I should never have said those things to you, and you should have never believed them. I’m sorry, Kill, you can be angry, but please don’t leave.”

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, you told the truth and shouldn’t be angry at you for doing that. I am stupid, and you’re right, Kobra’s not coming back – ”

“No, Kill, I was wrong. After you left, Ghoul pointed out something to me; you. You survived out there when you were alone. If you can, then why can’t he?” Party Poison argued softly. He placed a hand gently onto her cheek. “You belong here with us, Kill, tell me you’ll stay.”

Lady Killer stared into her best friend’s eyes; she could see the honesty behind his words. Party Poison, Fun Ghoul, Jet Star, Kobra Kid, and even Bob, were her family now. She knew that she needed them, and quite honestly, she couldn’t imagine being on the run without seeing them every day. They needed each other.

“I’ll stay,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

They continued to hug for a few moments before Fun Ghoul arrived at the door, coughing slightly to acknowledge his presence. Fun Ghoul motioned for Party Poison to follow him downstairs. The two friends broke apart and Party Poison headed for the door.

He turned his head back to her when he reached the door frame. “Hey, Kill, just in case you ever feel you need to, you can run away with me...”

“Anytime you want...” she smiled back to him.

***

After dinner that night, Lady Killer had gone to bed early, leaving the four men together in the living room. A discovery had been made earlier that day by Bob and Jet Star that they wanted to discuss, preferably without Lady Killer around to hear.

“Now, what did you want to tell us?” Fun Ghoul asked. “Something about Kobra?”

“Bob was fiddling around with his little PDA and found this Satellite application that shows where all the BL/IND compounds and facilities are located. It can also access the main servers within the buildings, too,” Jet Star said.

Party Poison took a sip off his coffee. “While it’s great that we have this information, I don’t see how this can help us find Kobra.”

Bob slid his finger across the screen a couple of times and brought up the application Jet Star had been describing. He then put the device onto the table, allowing the other men to see what he had discovered.

“This here is the compound on the boarder of Zone 30 and the outer world, the one we were talking about this morning. For the past couple of days I’ve been checking out the inmate count at all the compounds and monitoring any changes. At this exact compound there has been only eighteen inmates here in total since it was built a few months ago. But here’s the important part, about two months ago, around the same time Kobra Kid went missing, there was a new inmate admitted. I’m willing to bet it was him.”

The smile on Party Poison’s face was huge. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s wake Kill and go get Kobra – ”

“There’s some bad news, though.” Bob interrupted. The room went silent and Party Poison lowered back into his seat, send a Bob a questioning glare. “That number hasn’t changed since then, except for six days ago, it went down to seventeen.”

“A week ago...” Jet Star mused aloud. “That’s when we broke out of BL/IND in Battery City.”

They all sent worried glances to each other. They were all thinking the same thing; after their escape, Korse had Kobra killed as a form of revenge.

Fun Ghoul looked to Party Poison. “What are we going to do?”