It's More Than Nature

Her feet hurt like fuck, and the effects of three cobra bites were just wearing off. In her Dylakane haze the girl had 'escaped' from 'BLI', also known as her KIlljoy group, and found herself wandering aimlessly through the dried-up grasslands.

She was further than hating herself. The girl knew how dangerous being alone in the wilds of the Zones could be, especially at nightfall.

A soft breath of air from her right, and the loner spun wildly in the darkness. When it got dark here, damn did it get dark. You couldn't see your own nose. But as she stared into the velvet blackness she saw nothing, credited it to her Dylakane poisoning and continued on.

After a few more paces... there it was again! Now she was sure she wasn't imagining it. Squinting into the darkness, she made out the faintest hint of movement, and a few seconds later a "Who's there?" reached her ears. Relief flooded her frail body. Human.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," she promised, and a light flared painfully bright to life in her face. The loner backed up, shielding her face.

About ten feet in front of her stood the bedraggled figure of a boy, no older than eighteen, with shaggyish black hair and pale eyes. His cheekbones stood out alarmingly.

"Hi," she offered. "I'm a Killjoy too... but I don't have a name yet," she added as his eyes questioned her. He sighed. "Too many of you now," he told her sadly. "Too many unnamed Killjoys. I'm Fallout Dust."

She shook his hand and asked him, "Why are you here?"

Fallout's eyes glinted in the light from his little glowing whatthefuckisit. "I'm a Killjoy," he began, "and then I got bit by a D cobra and split cos I thought I was being chased by Dracs. I have no clue where I am now." He chuckled softly, a dark sound in a dark night. The girl shivered.

"I... same story," admitted the loner.

Fallout Dust nodded, running a hand through his hair. He stopped suddenly, eyes widening at a sudden realization. "I... can I show you something if you swear to never, ever tell aybody else?" he asked, breathing quick. Alarmed, she nodded. "But why me?"

He sighed. "Because I've never met you. I tend to trust random strangers with my secrets."

She tilted her head sideways. "Good thing... I haven't seen another Killjoy for weeks, I think, so chat away."

Fallout's narrowed eyes, the color of slushy snow back from when such snow existed, blinked once, and he inclined his head slightly, the black strands of hair falling into his face. He looked up at her, as though making sure she'd not left, and brushed a hand across the top of his head slowly.

At first, the girl didn't see anything. Then just the slightest hint of...

"Oh my God!" she yelled, tripping back a few paces and trying not to all at once. "Youre..."

"A freak," he admitted sadly, flattening his wide gray-tabby ears against his head and covering them with the hair.

She stared.

"Do you have a tail too?"

Mentally smacking herself, the loner wished she could have sewn her mouth shut. ut he just grinned widely and something swished in the air behind him, and the mutant KIlljoy reached back and snagged his tail as it passed.

"Are you still sure you can keep my secret?" he asked again, tucking the tail into his left jeans leg. She couldn't help but watch. "Yes... I promise."