Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back

I woke up the next morning with pressure on my right side. I opened my eyes and saw an arm around my waist. It took me a moment to realize that it was Chris’ arm. I felt my cheeks heat up the slightest bit as I carefully untangled his arm from my body and got up. I walked into the bathroom to do my business. I washed my hands and dried them. When I walked back out, I found Chris sitting up on the bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Good morning, sleepy head.” I smiled and walked over to him. He smiled back and gave me a big, warm hug. I pulled away after a while to make coffee. After I got the coffee maker going, I sat back on the bed and turned on the T.V. to watch the news. What I saw made my mouth drop open. I turned up the volume.

This just in, a woman by the name of Sandra Corrales is looking for her daughter, Elizabeth Corrales. She has brown hair with purple highlights, blue eyes, is about 5’3”, last seen at the home of both Ms. Corrales and Elizabeth with her friend, Christian Ames, who has black hair, green eyes, and is about 5’11”. If anyone has any word about the whereabouts of these two teenagers, Ms. Corrales is offering up a reward. Now, in other news-. I shut off the T.V.

“Well, it looks like we’re going to have to dye your hair, Beth.” Chris said in a shocked tone. I barely nodded. We decided that I would get my hair dyed black, which I was okay with. We went to the store to get the dye. Luckily, no one recognized us and we got out quickly without a hitch.

We went back to the hotel and back to our room to dye my hair. It took a while, but when we were done, I was barely recognizable. My skin looked even paler than before and it made my blue eyes seem much brighter.

“Wow, Beth, we should’ve dyed your hair black a while ago. You look amazing.” Chris said with a smile. I blushed. I dried my hair and brushed it. Then, I put on the deep black eyeliner that we also got at the store. When I was done, my blue eyes really stood out. Chris walked into the bathroom and his eyes grew wide.

“Wow, Beth, your eyes look… beautiful.” He said in awe. I turned to look at him and smiled. He smiled back and I walked out of the bathroom to pack up the things we brought. When I was done, Chris and I walked downstairs, where he paid. Then we left for who knows where.

I turned on the radio and put it on CD to listen to My Chemical Romance. Bulletproof Heart came on and I instantly began to sing along with it. Chris chuckled at me under his breath. I just stuck out my tongue at him and continued to sing along.

After a little while, Chris informed me that we were entering Nevada. I nodded and was grateful. Finally, we were halfway across the country from our original home, New York. I know, you must be wondering why it took us two years to make it all the way to Nevada, but really, we took our time. We kind of enjoyed the trip.

“Beth, you’re so quiet. You’re not even singing anymore. Is something wrong?” Chris glanced over at me from the corner of his eyes.

“Oh, I’m fine. Just thinking, Chris.” I gave him a smile and he gave me one last look before turning back to the road. I reached over and turned the stereo to the radio to look for a station with music. I found one and left it. Suddenly, the station went out and a male voice took over.

Hello, my name is Korse. I am from the Better Living Industries, or BL/ind. I am here to tell you about our company and how we plan to make the world a better place.

I reached over to change the station, but the broadcast was on every station, so I just left it.

BL/ind has made pills to help improve your body and your mind. We have also made food that you may eat and it will honestly do nothing, but we are replacing all other food with it. We are based in Battery City, California. Please, if you would like to know more, you are welcome to visit us. Now, we do have some who oppose us, and they are called the Killjoys. If you meet any of them, do not listen to them. They do not like the way we run things here. But we promise to make this world a better place.

This is Korse from Better Living Industries, signing off.

I looked over at Chris who had an odd look on his face. I turned back to the road and saw a billboard on the side of the road. It had a picture of a man and next to him it said, “BL/ind.” They already had billboards up?

“Chris, let’s head to California. I want to check out this BL/ind thing.” Chris nodded and pressed his foot down harder against the gas pedal.

We got into California in about seven hours, I suppose. I couldn’t help but notice that I didn’t see many pedestrians in any of the cities we passed by, not even Las Vegas. I mean, really, who wouldn’t be in Las Vegas in January? It’s only a week after New Year’s Day, and people should be celebrating 2019.

We passed by many, many signs promoting BL/ind and their ways. To me, though, it sounded kind of stupid. We finally passed a sign saying, “Battery City, next left.” It’s funny, I’ve never heard of Battery City before. Chris took the turn and what a saw made me want to turn around. There were people walking around aimlessly around the streets in what seemed like a fenced off area. They looked like zombies, but seemed civilized at the same time.

Just then, a white van pulled up behind us and got closer and closer. Then, another one got right in front of us. Chris turned abruptly, causing me to hit my head on the window. I rubbed my head and turned around, only to see the vans following us. Chris hit a rock and our tire blew out. We rolled to a stop and Chris banged his hands on the steering wheel. I looked at him with wide eyes, scared for our lives. I didn’t want to become a zombie like those people.

Chris got out and I yelled at him not to go. The vans stopped behind us and about three people in masks got out of each van. They walked over and started to surround our car. I got out too, and went to stand by Chris. He looked over and took my hand. I gave it a squeeze and waited for them to take us away. Suddenly, one of them fell to the ground with what looked like a laser hole in his chest. The others got out there guns and started shooting at someone who we still couldn’t see.

After about five minutes, they were all down and Chris and I slowly turned around to face our possible savors. Four men were standing there with guns in their hands. One had fiery red hair and a yellow mask. The one next to him had on what looked like a ghoul mask and had black hair. Another had on a helmet that read Good Luck on the screen. The last one had on an eye patch and had an afro of black hair. The one with red hair stepped forward and took off his mask. He looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

“Hey, I’m Party Poison. This is Fun Ghoul, Kobra Kid, and Jet Star. We’re the Killjoys. Now, the questions is, who are you?”