Tragedy of the Fabulous Killjoys

I had been sitting in that chair for what seemed like hours. Where were my friends to rescue me? I was giving up hope. Maybe they figured it was too risky this time, I thought, looking down at the torn knee of my jeans. Red fabric was peeking through and, if my hands weren’t tied behind my back, I would pull it out. Stupid bandana.

My feet were bound to the legs of the wooden chair I sat in and my hands were tied behind my back painfully. I sniffled. This place smelled weird, like a dirty morgue. I would be lying if I said the smell didn’t freak me out... a lot. Was I going to die? Torture? Well, I knew what I was getting into when I came here. It wasn't like this was my first time.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and the room was clouded with dust and glass. My eyes were shut tightly against the blast. I could feel my chair begin to tilt, but it didn't fall over. As soon as I could, I opened my eyes and looked to where the commotion had come. My ears were ringing. The dust stung my eyes horribly, but they went wide when they saw her.

She was standing on the pile of rubble like a heroine in the movies, holding a brick cockily in one hand, and the other on her hip. Her black hair was wild. She was certainly no beauty queen, this was one powerful woman I would never want to mess with. My eyes went wide. She smiled, her lips covered in red lipstick.

We stayed like that for what seemed like forever to me, but was probably only a few seconds. Then, the alarms went off. Loudly. I sighed. So much for a rescue, now we’ll both be caught and trapped and doomed to die in this smelly place. Those alarms are much louder than they need to be.

While I was thinking hopelessly, she was cutting me loose. “Are you coming?” She yelled when she was finished. My ears were still ringing violently and painfully. Above it, her voice seemed like a whisper. I nodded and shakily got up from the chair. I hadn’t stood up in a few hours and me legs were weak. She ran back to the hole in the wall and jumped through the rubble. I followed slower and confused. Anything to get away from that place.

She got in a bright yellow car down the street, and I hopped in beside her as she pulled away like a lunatic. She blasted through the city and out to the zones.

I hadn’t said anything. I was in shock. I slouched down in the passenger seat unconsciously and stared unnaturally ahead. I could tell she turned to me a few times. The ringing was almost gone and my ears hurt a bit less. We were far away from the city soon. Looking in the mirror, I don’t think you could even see the skyline. Finally, she looked at me for a while and asked, “Are you ok?”

I didn’t know what to say. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You seem shaken.” She said, looking forward again and smiling.

I adjusted myself, sitting up. “What’s your name?” I asked, looking at her. The side of her face was a little dirty from the dust. It was a very messy rescue.

Her mouth became a thoughtful thin line. “You’re Louis Forlorn, right?”

I nodded. “How did you know?”

“Louis, can I trust you?”

I thought for a second. “I don’t know." I answered, warily.

“I rescued you didn’t I? I could have left you there to die. I could have killed you all this time we’ve been alone. You can trust me if I can trust you.”

I was wary. We had gotten away so easily, too easily? Who was this person? How did she know I was there? She seemed like a dream. At this point in time, I wasn’t even sure she was real. “I guess we’re at a standstill then.” I said, crossing my arms like a kid and looking forward.

She nodded slowly.

After staring hard at the flat, dull landscape in front of me, I slumped back in the seat and started to doze. I had a very peculiar dream. I woke up, startled, and found myself staring at the sunset in front of us. I looked over at her, perplexed. "Have we met?"

She gave me a strange look, but I could tell she was honestly thinking about it. "I don't think so."

I sat up in the seat and thought for a moment. "Yes, we have. We talked at a rally about five years ago. I was the violinist you admired!"

She gave him a hard look. "That was before all of this shit."

"No," I said, "That was the beginning of all this shit."

*Flashback*
Hotel Flamingo, right off the highway

She walked in the hotel's front doors with her boyfriend, carrying a duffel bag on her shoulder.

"I'm going to check in." He said, kissing her cheek and walking to the front desk.

She heard a faintly familiar tune coming from another part of the lobby. "Alex!" She called. He turned around. "I'm going to be over here!" She pointed in the direction of the music.

When he turned back to the clerk, she started following the music. She couldn't place it. Was it classical or modern? Was it a guitar? She felt like all of the information was on the tip of her tongue. When she rounded a corner, she saw it. A crowd was gathered around these four men all dressed in raggedy black clothes, playing two violins.

She sat in one of the empty arm chairs and watched. They were all jumping around and laughing, playing each other's violins. Alex came later and sat down on the arm of her chair. "Wow, they're really good." He said.

She just nodded.

Eventually, they finished. Everyone clapped and whistled. She stood up and clapped. The group looked as if they were going to play another one, when someone came over the intercom and said dinner was served. The tall, black-haired one played a part of "The Saddest Song in the World", and then started packing up the violin. Everyone headed to the banquet hall for dinner.

That night was the rally. At the time, it was just a presidential speech with a Q&A afterward. But soon, history would just call it the rally. She was walking around the bleachers, looking for her friend, Taylor. Finally, she found her towards the back and sat in the row behind her. They talked for a bit about news, friends. Other people they knew sat down next to them. The lights dimmed. The huge screen at the front of the room started playing commercials, like in the movie theater. Tyler sat down next to Tay and started talking.

The crowds filing in became nothing more than a trickle. She couldn't see Alex. Tay was talking loudly to Tyler. Finally, she just decided to move. There was no place particularly appealing left. She walked towards the front and spotted a bar through one of the huge glass windows. Walking in, she sat down a few seats away from the only other person in there.

A huge robotic skeleton took up most of behind the bar. He was encased in a glass bell jar and hooked up to the wall. At the moment when she sat down, he was lifeless.

As soon as the lights went out in the auditorium and she heard the music played at the beginning of every presidential address, the robot came to life. Multi-colored lights circled around him. His eyes were huge fluorescent bulbs. And, he was saying the same words the president was.

Rather than have an election next year, as planned, the president had signed a piece of legislature handing the government over to Better Living Industries. The phase change would be gradual over the next two years.

It was a long speech, but that's what it said in a nutshell. She exchanged alarmed glances with the man at the bar. They could hear people in the stands yelling. "It finally happened." She said.

The man nodded. "It was inevitable. Nothing's ever going to be the same."

"So what's the point of a Q&A when we can't change anything?"

"We could've changed something, but the bigger half chose not to. We made this decision by buying into BLI's products."

"A company running a country," She snorted, "Fucking pathetic."

"People aren't going to stand for this. They're going to have all kinds of resistance."

"I suppose that'll be decided tomorrow."

He smiled. "After all, 'tomorrow is another day'."

"'Gone with the Wind'," she smiled too. They both were quiet and looked out to the auditorium for a moment. People were screaming. Someone threw a trash can at the screen. "Hey," She said as he was getting up to leave, "I liked your violin playing, by the way."

*Back to the car*

She smiled at him. "I still remember the violin piece."

"Later on, I thought back to the crowd of people listening to us, and I remember you. You were with a man. What was his name?"

Her smile disappeared. "His name was Alex."

I caught the change in her tone. It was softer now. "What happened?" I asked, carefully.

"About half a year after that rally, he died. Seems just a few months ago, but it was really a rather long time."

"I'm sorry. Were you two alone or did you team up with others?"

She chuckled. "Right after the rally, we went out the the car. He owned a bright blue 1947 truck with custom everything. Anyway, his friend had hidden in the backseat, and he became part of our group. Alex was always putting his friends first."

"My brother died about a year after that rally. I saw a policeman shoot him five times. I'll never forget that." I looked down at the road and shuddered.

"I didn't see Alex die, but I found his body. I hear it gives you more closure if you see it yourself."

"No, it makes you wish you would've stopped it."

"These kids nowadays will never understand. They join because they think it's cool, but sooner or later, they realize they can never go back." She was biting her lip.

"I don't think any of them really remember what things were like before. I remember having a haircut at the barbershop, hanging out with friends in the park, they would've been just kids back then."

She laughed. "I miss walking to the gas station for a candy bar with my friends. When was the last time you had untainted chocolate?"

Smiling, he thought for a moment, "Oh, my friend found half a Snickers bar in this safe house we stayed in. It was the best thing I've eaten in five years, much better than baked beans." They laughed.

The gas light came on and she sighed. "Thought we had enough to make it. I'm dropping you just five miles into Zone 4." A small gas station was on the horizon. "Looks like we'll have to stop."

We pulled into the gas station. It was the only one in Zone 3. I'd been here before. "Do you want anything?" She asked, pulling up to the pump and getting out of the car, taking the key with her.

"Candy bar, please." She smiled and slammed the door, started pumping gas into the car and walked to the store.

I looked around, wondering who she was taking me to. Curiously, I opened the glove box and searched it silently. She had a laser gun, laser blade, registration for the car and a spray paint can. I picked up the laser gun and examined it.

I heard shots from outside and swung my head around. She was running from the store, firing cover shots as she ran towards the car. I rolled down the window and shot at the dracs running around the side of the building toward her. Fucking dracs. They were creepy as hell with their white masks and wild black hair. I shuddered.

A laser seared the car, going through to the back seat. I fired shots back as fast as I could. She skidded over the hood of the car and got in the drivers' seat, revved the engine and sped out of there while I fired out the passenger window.

"What happened?" I asked when we were far enough away.

"The owner sold out." She said angrily, spitting out her window. Her lip was bleeding.

"Mo' Fo sold out?" I asked, shocked. The old man was a pervert and not really anyone's ally, but a sell out? Damn.

"No, he died last month. His fucking team mate sold out."

"I haven't been here in a while." I said.

"I know." She smiled slyly.

I was taken aback. "Who are you taking me to?"

"I'm dropping you at Doc's place. Sparkle Pony and -" She fumbled in her jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Impressionnant Mec, some French dude. They want you to do another mission I think. Sorry, I didn't really catch a lot of the details."

I was panicking. I had done five missions this month and all involved being captured. This last one, I almost got killed. "What if you don't take me there?"

She thought for a moment. "Then I become a traitor and we both get ghosted."

"Don't you have a safe house?"

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" She looked at me confused.

"I can't do another mission for them, it would be suicide! I almost got killed this time!"

"Yeah, but surely Doc-"

I shook my head. "Doc got taken over by the French. He's just a puppet in their scheme."

She looked concerned and pulled off the road, stopping the car. "Why should I trust you? Not bringing you there could mean death for me and my dad. You need to give me a better reason."

"I've been on five missions in the past month. All of them had been highly dangerous. Every time I'd get back, Doc would send me on another one, each one crazier than the last! They think once Korse has me dead, he'll lighten up on them. Don't you see? They want him to kill me." I was staring at her.

I could tell she understood me now. She sighed. "Alright, I'll take you to my dad. But, you're going to have to wear a blindfold. I'm sorry. No one can know where our safe house is."

I was going to be totally honest. "I don't know if I trust you."

She gave me that hard look again. "I don't know if I trust you. I mean, it makes sense, but how do I know?"

"Touche. Do you have a smoke?"

She reached behind her and threw the pack his way. "Why didn't you say something before?"

"I don't know. I just got the urge." I rolled down my window and lit up, taking a long drag.

She was quiet for a second, then smiled. "You're going to be the death of me."

I flipped the gun around like a cowboy. "I could've killed you anytime, sister."

"Well," She said, smiling, "we are rebels." She started the car. "Besides, my dad will know what to do with you. A vacation would be good." We got back on the road. The sky before us was turning dark, and I asked if we were driving through the night. "We'll stop when we pass Zone 4. I don't want them to stop us."

I finished the cigarette and threw the butt out the window. "I'll drive," I said, confidently.

"Am I emasculating you?" She snorted.

"No!" I protested. Although, it was true. I wished she wasn't so in control.

"You can drive tomorrow. We'll have to stop soon." It was getting darker quicker now. It was almost too dark to see.

"Are we going to camp?"

"Keep it," she said when I offered her the pack back. "I don't see any other way to sleep tonight."