Hopeless for You

"Look alive, boys! Up and at 'em! Let's go!" Dr. Deathdefying's voice boomed from the speakers high above the door and out in the halls. Then, he went over the weather forecast which was the same as always. But before he signed off, he announced survivors were found.

I was crawling out of my bottom bunk, Fun Ghoul darted in front of me and hurriedly said, "They found survivors in the area! Do you think they could be...?" he didn't finish.

"We'll see when they get here." I said to him sympathetically. All these years he's been shook up about his wife and kids. He still has hope they're out there...

"In the mean time," I began again. "I'll be in the shower. You gonna be okay?"

He just nodded and stared at his feet, his black hair falling over his face. In the shower, the hot spray of water caught me by surprise and I began lathering soap on my grimy skin. If we still have running water, that must mean our underground water tank is still full and working. It wasn't heated nor air conditioned in this underground bunker, but a nice room temperature. Living in the desert was no paradise resort. Battery City was never even a desert to begin with. After Korse bombed all of the United States, the entire country became an empty wasteland. Survivors band together to keep each other alive and sane.

It's been years since the war began and I can vaguely remember my life before it all...

But those memories were locked away; no sad memories would dwell in this soldier's mind. Not during a war where the whole world would become something evil if the fate of it fell into Korse's hands. We'll all be mindless zombies.

Once out of the shower and fully dressed, I swaggered down to the mess hall. Passing by my brother's room on the way there, I pounded on the door and hollered, "Looks, alive, Sunshine! We've got fresh meat."

In the mess hall, I grabbed a helping of mystery roadkill, put together by Dr. Death himself. I sat with Fun Ghoul. I was about to ask how the breakfast tasted, when the mess hall doors banged open and in came Jet Star and Show Pony, and the new gang.

"They're...all women. And a kid." Fun Ghoul said in disbelief and then looked very disappointed that he didn't recognize them.

I almost hadn't noticed the small child at the side of whom I assumed was the leader of the gang. I stood and approached them. Dr. Death made his way to my side in his motorized chair.

"Welcome, ladies. We're more than thankful that your gang has agreed to join the Killjoys and that you have a purpose as great as ours." Dr. Death welcomed them.

"State your names." I demanded. When gangs formed, or at least when our gang formed and Dr. Death announced it over his radio frequencies, we wanted to avoid bringing back painful and horrific memories of our old lives. We hide our identities with witty aliases.

"Marvelous Mortician, sir." the leader spoke up, saluting me the good old American soldier way. She dressed in all black. Tight black tank-top, black skinny jeans, black Doc Martens, Black bandanna around her nose and mouth, and black netted gloves. I saluted back and nodded to her in acknowledgment.

"Romantic Revenge." another spoke so softly, it was almost mock-seduction. She had long, blonde hair with black dye underneath and wore mostly black and blue; like a walking bruise. Today she wore a bell-sleeved, satin shirt that hugged her torso and exposed her chest from the v-neck collar. She also wore dark blue skinny jeans, fingerless gloves with spikes on each knuckle, a black leather mask over her eyes with holes for her eyes, black combat boots, and a blue bandanna over her nose and mouth.

"Charmed." I replied, nodding to her, too.

"Agent Destroya." the timid voice of the curly-haired girl spoke up. This one wore a faded pink shirt with a faded smiley face on the front, dark blue jean shorts, black knee-high Converse, and a faded pink bandanna over her face.

"I'm Lucky Flame, sir. Nice to meet ya!" said a more chipper girl behind Mortician. She made herself visible. She had long, bright, red-orange hair and pale skin. She sported a Green Day t-shirt, faded blue Capri pants and tattered tennis shoes. Over her face was a white hospital mask and her hands were gloveless.

"This is Grace. We found her stranded and starving a couple of months ago." Mortician explained, stroking the little girl's curly mess of hair. "I hope you don't mind."

"She's more than welcome here." Dr, Death said before I could awkwardly respond. He had a big heart for children. "You ladies may remove your masks."

Each one at a time pulled their masks around their necks, displaying full faces.

"Damn. I missed orientation." my brother said, finally entering the mess hall. He sighed into the silence and then said, "What's for breakfast?"