Killer Laser Rays; Part 9 Arizona

They all parked and left their vehicles. Arizona had Babydoll on his hip. Everyone walked around to look at the whole as the group that had been inside ran out. Pink detached herself from Arizona’s side and ran up to Zebra who hugged her tightly, easily picking her up. “Hey Boo, sorry to worry you, but I needed to stay back.” Zebra was saying to Pink as she scolded him. Solar was the next to come out and as she spotted Bird her face lit up and she ran over to him, where they hugged. Bird noticed that one of Solar’s eyes was slightly puffy and slowly turning black. He rolled his eyes as they hugged. He quickly dispatched himself however, when he saw a new girl. She had long blonde hair, which Bird found extremely attractive. He walked up to her, leaving an angry looking Solar behind him.
    “Well hello there, I’m Bird Song, and you are?” He said a sly smile on his face as he looked down at this new girl, looking at her all over.
    Alabama scoffed at Bird, rolling her eyes. “Well, Tweety Bird, fly away because I have no time for a lame ass like you” She said walking around him. Behind Bird, Solar was making a triumphant face that he had been rejected. Arizona watched with mock amusement that could not actually be seen. Alabama was then in front of him. “Can I have her back?” She was asking. Arizona looked down at her and hesitated. He was reluctant to give up the little girl that he had quickly and surprisingly become attached to, but he eventually handed her to Alabama.
    “Alright, I want everything packed and loaded up right now, we have time for introductions later. Get moving!” Wasp said as she hustled everyone back over to the hole. By then Plasma and the twins along with Adolescent were carrying mattresses over to the Ford and loading them in the back, while everyone else went inside and began taking boxes of things and leading them up in everything but the Impala and the Mini Van. Inside Arizona was with Solar as they each had an end of a large and full box.
    “So she punched you?” He was asking.
    “Yeah, it hurt and I didn’t see it coming so she basically whooped my ass.... That girl can fight. And I kinda respect her for that.” She replied just as they stepped outside. From there they loaded the box into the back of the Tahoe then turned to go back inside and get another box.
    “Well, I think I fell in love with the little girl. she is mighty adorable. I think I bonded with her.” Arizona said which caused Solar to stop and look at him.
    “Ari, she is like three, you can’t bond with a three year old who can’t speak or hear.” She told him shaking her head. Behind his goggles Arizona rolled his eyes.
    “Anyway, did you see my bomb cloud?”
    “I figured that was you, why’d you do it?”
    She shrugged. “Just some Dracs coming to look for the group we ghosted yesterday.”
    Now Arizona stopped. “Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Then he took off to find Wasp and moments later, her voice rang out through the whole store. It seemed she had found a bullhorn. “Alright, step up the pace! Just got word that Dracs may show up soon, I wanna be gone before they have a chance to spot or possibly trail us.” With that the activity quickened and within two hours they had everything they could possibly need packed and ready to go. Looking up at the sky they determined it was 3:00.
    Solar was riding in the truck with Bird while most everyone else squeezed into either the Minivan or the Impala with Babydoll and Alabama in the van with Arizona. The ride in the van with Arizona and Alabama was pretty quiet with Babydoll sitting in Alabama’s lap playing with a toy she had been given. A muscle in Arizona’s jaw would occasionally jump as he thought to himself, his eyes set on the truck before him from behind his goggles.
    After a while the girl looked over at him and asked, “So, you got a name?”
    “Toxic Arizona.” He said quickly, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “Or just Arizona” He said. He had been hoping this girl wouldn’t talk at all, he was already ticked that he even had to ride with anyone else. He preferred to be on his own, but he was friendly so he would talk back to her if she wanted to talk.
    “Figures they’d put both the A-states in the same car. Alabama Napalm” She said next with a nod. Arizona not once looked over at her from the road, he decided peripheral vision was fine despite his goggles. “You can call me Alabama, A, or just plain stubborn. I tend to get the last one a lot.” She then shifted careful not to wake the now sleeping little girl. They still had another 3 hour drive.
    “Not much of a talker?” She asked but he didn’t reply, just clenched his teeth, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “Well, don’t worry, your friend Solar Crash talks enough for all of you. I’d rather tape her mouth shut, though.” were the next words to leave her mouth. “She’s got potential to fight, she just needs a little hand-to-hand training.”
    “Look, don’t be so mean about her.” He said through gritted teeth. “And she is good in hand-to-hand, she is just caught off guard easy.” He said coming to her defense quickly. “What did she do to tick you off?” He asked next though he was still holding the steering wheel tight, not wanting to have that conversation.
    “Really? She’s the one who was trash-talking me. She should’ve known if you say stuff like she did that you’re gonna get hit.” Arizona rolled his eyes from behind his goggles. “I guess you fancypants killjoys don’t hit though, do ya?”  
    “She talks smack about everyone, she really is a nice kid, but thinks she has to be a bitch to fit in with Bird’s group. And oh, we hit, and I wont hesitate to hit a girl.” He told her, his voice dropping even lower and sounding deeper than it usually did. “I choked her yesterday morning for being a bitch, don’t think I wont do the same to you for being a bitch as well, so watch yourself.” He was slightly shocked at himself for having said so many words, but he usually did when someone was aggravating him, and she certainly was.
    “You don’t scare me, Killjoy” She scoffed at him.
    “Not trying to.” was his tart reply.
    “Oh, I get it.” She said as she sat forward. Arizona couldn’t help but look away from the road to look at Babydoll to make sure she didn’t waken. “You like her.” Arizona’s jaw clenched again and some light almost not noticable color flared in his cheeks as he shit his head back forward.
    “So what if I do.. It’s not like it matters....” He said his hands so tight on the wheel it looked like they might break it off.
    “It must suck having her begging to be with that douchebag Tweety Bird, eh?” She started a small grin forming on her mouth.“It must hurt awfully bad to have her thinking she loves a guy who’s hurting her, when you’d be so much better for her. It must make you want to wring his scrawny little neck, seeing them together. Maybe that’s what’s up with you Killjoys.” She said as she finally finished speaking he veered off the road and stopped the van. Arizona turned to face her and grabbed the collar of her shirt yanking her face close to his.
    “First off, you have no right to say anything you just did, second, it doesn’t matter if it hurts me, what matters to me at the moment is that she is happy, the moment he hurts her will be the moment I rip his eyes and throat out. I live in constant pain, so seeing people I care about happy is like a shot of morphine. So please... Watch what you say to me, because I was this close to wringing your neck...” He told her, his voice rising more and more with each word. That’s when he noticed Babydoll had woken up and was now looking at him. He felt immensely guilty and let go of Alabama and leaned back into his seat finally taking his goggles off though his eyes were closed. He rubbed his eyes then ran his hand through his green locks sighing silently.
    He opened his eyes and blinked trying to do away with the tears that had formed. He covered his mouth and leaned his forehead on the steering wheel.
    “Fuck man, I’m sorry.” She said “Well, I’m up to two bad decisions in 24 hours. I think it’s a new record. Got my father figure killed, check. Punched a girl I just met repeatedly, pissing off my best friend in the process, check check. Upset the guy who loves her, triple check.” Arizona sat back after she finished speaking and ran his hand over his eyes. The tears had started spilling over and he hated it. He felt weak, one for crying and two for crying in front of this girl. Only, he knew she would think it was because of what she had said, but he knew that wasn’t the reason. “You know what, it’s fine.” He said then swallowed rubbing his eyes again. He felt like he had a lump in his throat that wouldn’t go away.
    “No, it’s not fine.” She replied.
    He nodded to her and looked over at her finally. “It is, really it is. I’m sorry for me breaking down like this,” He paused to sniff and wipe his eyes again.
    “I know what you’re thinking.You’re wondering if I think you’re weak for crying. Well actually, I think you’re that much more of a man for what you’re doing for Solar.” She looked at him directly, which made him a bit more nervous. “And I think you’re that much more of a man for being able to cry about it.” She said the smiled like she understood.

“I’m not crying about what you said. It wasn’t your fault, you set it off, but I think Babydoll finished it for me.” He said then sighed, unsure of why he just said that. The look Babydoll had given him had reminded him so much of the look his own baby sister used to give him when he would wake her up just to be mean. Or the look his mother gave when she was about to scold him. He hadn’t actually cried over their loss since he lost them almost two years ago.

    “You had a sister didn’t you?” She asked.and he nodded sadly, more tears spilling over his eyes.
    “I did, I used to be so mean to her, then the bomb went off that day and just like that, I lost her and my mum. I have regretted every minute of mean things I did to her, and then Babydoll shows up and I feel like if I treat her right, the way I should had treated my sister then it will make things ok. But I know it wont.” His voice cracked and he closed his eyes again, wiping them again. He then felt pressure on his lap and opened his eyes to see Babydoll climbing onto his lap. She wiped his eyes and kissed his cheek before hugging him around the neck. He in turn wrapped his arms around her tiny torso and hugged her close. He then let her go where she promptly sat on his lap. Arizona smiled big and turned to face Alabama, his eyes widening when her lips met his from across the median. It was a soft kiss and as she started to pull away his hand slipped around the back of her neck pulling her back as he kissed her again.
    He jumped back and away just as he had been about to deepen the kiss when Wasp’s southern voice filled the van. “Alright you three, hurry up with whatever you had to stop for.” Wasp’s voice rang out into the air from the radio. “We need to get a move on, so finish up and catch up.” She said unaware of the emotional moments that had just taken place.
    “Oh shut it Wasp.” She said rubbing the back of her head from where she had hit it on the window. Arizona grabbed his goggles from the median and slipped them on before shifting the van into drive and speeding off. “Tell her we had a flat and I had to fix it.” Arizona said thinking fast.
    “Hey Wasp, it’s Alabama, we had a flat and had to stop to fix it.” She said into the transmitter.
    “Next time tell me that as you pull off the road. Understood?” Was the only reply they received.
    “Sorry.” Arizona said after a minute, into the transmitter before placing it back. He pressed his foot on the gas pedal a bit harder. Arizona looked down at the sound of clapping to see Babydoll clapping her little hands and smiling at the two of them

“We must’ve scarred the child for life.” Alabama said rubbing her face.

“I dont think she minded... Sorry about that by the way.” He told her as he turned his eyes back to the road.

“I don’t think I minded either.” She replied turning forward again. A small smile played on his lips as he sat in silence for the rest of the ten minutes before the Caravan of parked trucks showed up, and an aggravated looking Wasp leaning against the Impala. Arizona pulled the van up next to the Impala and parked it turning it off. He took Babydoll in his arm and got out holding her on his hip.

“Flat tire huh?” She asked an eye brow raised as she looked from Arizona to a flushed looking Alabama. He knew she wasn’t conviced, but he also knew she wouldn’t call them out on anything in front of everyone.

“I’ll make sure to tell you next time Wasp. Sorry.” He said his face and voice normal as if what had happened earlier had never even been thought of.

“Yeah well, I dont need no Hormonal teenagers-” She started but her son cut in.

“Mother, there are children in the room.” Disco said as he walked up. He winked at Alabam as he took Babydoll from her,

Wasp was about to reply when some raygun shots fired inbwteen them, prompting everyone to fall to the ground to avoid being hit. Arizona took Alabama to the ground with him then was up again firing over the hood of the van. The scene before him looked like hell. There was some 20 Dracs out there all poised and ready to fight. Disco was on the ground passing Babydoll over to his sister while Zebra then took her and Babydoll and Pink and made a run for the gas station. Rage was on the ground screaming in Spanish while his brother and Plasma fell to his side to make sure he was ok. Plasma then turned and returned fire while Lightning drags him over to where Zebra had taken the youngest members.

    Arizona fell two Dracs while Alabam had fell four with her second gun, then, off to the left came a huge explosion sending some 6 Dracs flying through the air, many of them having limbs torn off in the process. Solar had been busy tossing a bomb when more and more Dracs fell until there was another explosion killing off two more and sending one of their vans flying towards the air and farter back before it too exploded.
    After the second explosion things calmed leaving only four Dracs. Two were reloading while two were already aiming to fire again. Alabama suddenly rushed forward towards them and was quickly overwhelmed it seemed so Arizona didn’t think twice before he took off running at them. He grabbed one and snapped his head to one side breaking his neck and dropping him while a second Drac tackled him to the ground where they wrestled and exchanged punches before Arizona managed to pin him down using his knees to hold the man’s arms. He ripped off the man’s Drac mask and tossed it to one side before grabbing his head on both sides and picked it up before smashing it to the ground as hard as he could. He only removed the mask because he wanted to watch the life fade from this man’s eyes, he wanted to watch them fill with pain, fear, regret, then he wanted to watch them dull as the soul slipped away to rot in hell.
    Under him the man flailed as pain erupted in his skull, but the kid on top of him didn’t let up, he continued to bash the man’s skull even after he had died. Covering his hands in the man’s blood as it seeped from the smashed skull and onto the ground. Behind his goggles Arizona had a crazed look in his eyes that couldn’t be detected in the rest of his face. After he stopped bashing the skull he simply sat in the man breathing heavily.
    His lip had been busted open in the brawl and was bleeding, dripping onto the man’s chest. He blinked the crazed look fading as he looked around to see Alabama had killed off the other two Dracs with some really cool looking knives. He turned his eyes back to the man under him. Red and pink and grey all mixed together on the ground and on his hands. He raised one hand closer to his face to see the grey chunks were actually bits of the Drac’s brain. he pulled his hand away and let it drop next to his other one on the man’s chest. He didn’t move, just sat there as he stared down at the mess he had made. He wanted to remember it forever.
    His whole body tensed when someone grabbed his arm but he relaxed slightly when he saw it was Alabama. He let himself be led back to where everyone else was. He promptly ignored the frightened and disgusted looks he got from everyone but Wasp and Solar. He briefly and groggily heard Alabama speak, but it didnt register as Solar took his arm and led him towards the gas station and had him sit down. She had a worried look on her face and was stoking his cheek saying things to him softly, almost cooing. Adolescent handed her a wet rag before walking away. Solar then began to clean the nasty mess from his hands leaving them clean and glistening.
    “You doing ok?” She asked him, but received no answer. She sighed and hugged him close. “It’s ok Ari,” She said then left him sitting there staring at the ground as his deed sank into his mind.
    Slowly the high that had clouded his mind faded. He blinked his eyes and took the goggles off rubbing his eyes. He stank so he wrinkled his nose then looked around. Wasp was putting the last of the bandages on one of the twin’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure which one so he didn’t say anything. Minutes later Wasp sat across from him and patted his hand.
    “Feelin’ aright?” She asked a worried look deep in her face. Arizona nodded and smiled.
    “Yeah, I don’t really know what happened.. one second he is punching me in the lip, the next Alabama was leading me back and I’m a bloody mess.” He said trying to smile as if it were nothing. “I guess, I don’t know, blamed him for what happened to me. But you know what, I’m fine, lets get back so I can shower, I stink.” He said wrinkling his nose again letting his eyes drag over to where Alabama was with the twins and Plasma.
    “You want Solar to take over driving the van?” She asked patting his hand.
    “Nah I can do it just fine, just need Babydoll to keep me company. She wont judge.”
    “Alabama too?”
    “Only if she wants.” He said doubting she would after what he had done, but he hoped, and even so, there was only about another 45 minutes of driving left.
    “Aright then.” She said and patted his cheek before she stood and turned to the rest of the area. “Aright! Lets get going right this minute!” She hollered before strolling out with everyone but Arizona in pursuit who took his time putting his goggles back on.

Killer Laser Rays Part 8: Alabama

I blinked my eyes open to the sun splaying across my face from a window in the upper half of the grocery store. I rolled over slowly to see Disco facing me, sleeping soundly, his long, black hair falling around his face. He must’ve run out of mattresses and climbed in with me after his watch. I tucked some of his long black hair behind his ear, watching him sleep for just a moment. His hard times were pretty much over, considering he found his mom, who was also a freaking Killjoy. If anyone deserved it, though, he did.

I untangled myself gently from the covers we were sharing and stood, putting on my new black high tops. As much as I would’ve loved to have stayed in bed with Disco just to see the steam come out of Solar’s ears, I had to relieve whoever was up of the watch so they could get some shuteye. It turned out to be the Hispanic kid from earlier.

“So I can fight, huh?” I smirked at him, running a hand through my newly-cleaned hair.

“You know that already, you don’t need me to tell you, gringa.” He stood and winked at me.

“Then you better watch who you’re winking at, or I’ll give you a nose job like I gave Solar, comprende?” I gave him a solid stare to show him I meant business.

“Yeah, um, okay, of course.” He stuttered, holding his hands up defensively.

“Go get some sleep.”

“Okay.” He walked past me quickly.

“Hey kid.” I called over my shoulder, hearing him stop and turn around. “What’s your name?”

“Plasma Noise.” He responded.

“Stop staring at my ass, Plasma, and go get some sleep.”

“Sorry.” I heard him turn around and head over to his own mattress. I rolled my eyes, chuckling to myself before doing a quick sweep around the entire store, returning to take up the watch position. Disco was there when I got back.

“Hey.” I said, cautiously sitting down next to him.

“Hey.” He responded casually.

“Are you still pissed at me?”

“Yes, Alabama.” He snapped. “You don’t always have to do that, y’know? One day, you’re gonna take on someone bigger, and tougher, and a better fighter than you and get your face pounded in, if not killed. And then what would we all do with you, huh?” He looked at me, not so much mad as concerned. “You have the worst temper this side of Battery City, and if you don’t keep it in check, you’re gonna get yourself killed one day, you get me?”

“I-I’m sorry, Disco, I just couldn’t let her say stuff like that and get away with it.” I bit my lip, knowing just how upsetting this was for him.

Disco sighed heavily, pausing for a moment. “You’re my best friend, Alabama. Exasperating, obnoxious and sometimes deadly, yes, but still my best friend. My mom’s crew of Killjoys, they’re not used to you just yet. Sometimes, you need to back off and make someone like Solar Crash make a fool out of herself, instead of you.”

I thought on this for a moment, taking in what he said. Things were changing, and I guess I had to change a little too. “Okay. I’ll try and chill out a bit.”

“Thank you.” He nodded gratefully. “I just want this to work.”

“I know you do, I mean, it’s your mom.”

“Yeah.” We sat in silence, finishing the rest of the watch before others started getting up. Zebra was up first. He took off quickly to get food, coming back with these ancient blue cardboard food boxes which contained rectangles a bit larger than my hand that tasted like gooey strawberries and frosting.

“They’re called Pop Tarts.” Zebra said, handing me a package of two in crinkly metallic paper.

“I remember these, I had them for breakfast constantly.” Disco chowed down. Soon enough, everyone was up, smelling the Pop Tarts Zebra had left on the embers of the dying fire to warm them. As we began eating, Zebra started outlining a plan of attack.

“There’s a lot of stuff here, which means we load the most valuable stuff first once Wasp gets here. That means soap of any kind, mattresses, blankets, pillows, that stuff.” Zebra said through a mouthful of food. “We’ve got a ton of boxes we found in the back that we can pack up. We need to get moving soon, so eat quickly and get going. Wasp said she’d be back at about noon Battery City time.”

“It’s 9 am now.” I nodded, standing to brush the crumbs off my new clothes. I discarded the hoodie I was wearing on a nearby shelf. “Let’s do this.”

The next few hours were a flurry of activity. Disco and I were on soap, packing box after box of bottles and boxes containing trillions of different kinds of soap. I doubted anyone could ever get so dirty to need all of this.

“Hundreds of Killjoys pass through our stop for supplies and other stuff. We feed ‘em, clothe ‘em and send them back into the Zones, so we need a lot of stuff.” He walked past me carrying a box of household cleaners. I shrugged and continued working.

Rage, Lightning and Plasma were hauling mattresses towards the hole, leaning them against the wall to be taken out easily. To avoid a potentially explosive situation, Solar was on the roof, keeping watch.

“Guys, Dracs, headed right for us!” She called down the stairwell hurriedly. We all dropped what we were doing and headed towards the stairwell. “There’s too many for us to take. We need a diversion.” Solar stood at the top of the stairs.

“Do  you have your backpack?” Zebra called up to her.

“Are you kidding?” She scoffed.

“Well then go for it, but hurry back and don’t get spotted. There’s a bike out back.” Zebra nodded quickly. Flashing him a grin, Solar darted down the stairs and towards the hole.

“Plasma, you’re on roof duty.” Zebra delegated. Plasma nodded and climbed the stairway as we heard an engine rev and then speed away.

“What’s she gonna do?” I said cautiously, eyeing Zebra.

“You’ll see. Well, hear, more like.” Zebra grinned. “Just get back to work.” I looked at Disco and shrugged, walking briskly back to our station. Once we’d finished all the soap, we moved on to bedding, packing sheets, pillows, anything and everything. I had no idea where Zebra had found all these boxes, but I used them regardless, filling one after the other. We were about one-quarter done with bedding when an something exploded in the distance, the shockwave knocking me off my feet.

“She did it!” Plasma called down the ladder. We rushed up onto the roof to see a fiery mushroom cloud spitting fire and debris out in the desert, about 10 or 12 miles from here. The Dracs, which Solar had spotted earlier, had all changed direction, heading for the explosion instead of us.

“That’s what you were talking about?” I stared at Zebra, who was chuckling at my expression. “She’s a freaking maniac! There’s no way she survived.”

“Did ya see it?” I heard a voice from below. I poked my head out to see Solar looking up, a grin on her face, her zombie mask pushed up on her head.

“Did you plan on anyone in all the Zones missing it?” Disco stared at her, wide-eyed.

“Come on, we’ve still got a ton of packing to do.” She winked at him and climbed the ladder, taking up her watch spot as the rest of us headed down to continue working.

How to Survive Zone 1, Chapter 5: How to Add a New Member to Your Team

The next day we woke up early, stumbling down to breakfast before anyone else. We had to get out soon, considering we had a long drive ahead of us and the tower’s launch date was a mere two months away.

“Dude, gimme the can opener.” Ghoul slurred as we shoveled spoonfuls of dog food into open mouths. Due to the fact that raids nowadays were only for weapons because we were too nervous to eat the food prepared in BLI factories, considering of what it might contain, it was dog food for all as the main source of our nutrients. Dog food in soups, dog food in sandwiches, dog food baked into flour, water and some sort of substitute to make a pie-type thing. Eventually the mush becomes stomachable, but by no means good. I ate to live here, as the rest of the Killjoys did, considering the words “good” and “food” weren’t used in the same sentance unless it was, “this food is NOT good.”

“Anybody else find it funny that their dogs eat better than us?” Jet said musingly through a mouthful of mush.

“Technically, we’re eating the same as their dogs.” Party said, dejectedly staring at his half-empty can.

“Well they don’t blindly kill their dogs in the desert.” Kobra muttered, glaring at his food as though he could just shoot it and be done with it. He hated the dog food more than anybody, barely stomaching it to stay alive. That’s partially why he was so lanky and lean, taller and thinner than any of the other guys.

“Well eat up either way. If you down it faster, you can barely taste it.” Party scraped his can and stood up. "We’re leaving in 20, get going.”

20 minutes later, we were driving down Route Guano, me squished in the back of the old, familiar Trans Am between Ghoul and Jet, Party driving, as usual, and Kobra chilling in the front seat.

“This was a lot easier when you were 12.” Ghoul squirmed next to me.

“Well, you had to go giving skinny the front seat.” I elbowed him. “Now stop moving before I put my foot up your ass.”

“At least she didn’t get too much wider, just taller.” Jet said, chuckling.

“Well what do you expect, living in the Zones, I don’t get a buffet every night.” I rolled my eyes. “I may be lanky but I’m tough.”

“Oh yes, we all know.” Jet rolled his eyes.

“Personally, I blame Ghoul for that mouth.” Party looked in the rearview mirror at us.

“Personally, you can eat it, Party.” I cheerfully flipped him the bird. “If you wanted a say in how I turned out, maybe y’all should’ve stuck around.”

The oppressive silence after that comment was awkward for all of us. “C’mon, Terror, we have to do this now?” Ghoul said quietly, trying to defuse the situation, but I didn’t want to let it drop.

“No Ghoul, she’s right.” Party nodded. “We should’ve at least visited her. We just dumped her there, and it wasn’t right.” He looked at me in the rearview. He didn’t say he was sorry per say, but looking at him, I knew he was sorry, and I think he knew he was forgiven.

“Well, if we’re done with the lovefest, can you focus on driving now? You’re swerving and it’s giving me a headache.” Jet griped. The tension was dissolved as Party retorted some comment about Jet's hair and turned up the radio, everyone secretly relieved that we hadn’t hashed out our feelings in a confined space. Me, I was just glad to be back with the guys.

Three days and around 450 miles later, we pulled up to Suicide Sally’s prison complex gates in the middle of the day, Party merely having to flash his hair to gain entrance, the guards starstruck. Typical. We pulled up to the looming structures, the bars still on the windows and the air still feeling ominous. It was one of the only places not taken over or destroyed by BLI, as were most churches, hospitals and government offices, considering the structure was just too far away to deal with. We pulled into the parking lot and got out, stretching after the long drive. Suicide Sally quickly came out to fawn over the guys, as per usual whenever we went somewhere. This was the part I hated, the fussing and gushing over them. They put their pants on one leg at a time, they were just people. No one seemed to understand that.

“Oh, how’ve you been since we’ve last seen you, my little Terror?” She looked down at me adoringly, like I was some cute little charity case, as I zoned back into the conversation.

“Oh I’ve been fine, just chewing on my feet and playing with my Barney doll, how about you, eh?” I grinned as offensively as possible, poking fun at her old-Canadian accent. She smiled through tight lips as Party’s elbow caught me sharply in the shoulder. Ghoul, Jet and Kobra, however, were snickering behind me, barely able to hide it.

“Would you like to meet our friend Space Nuke now? He and his clan were just heading out for the day.” She said, the hatred radiating off her forced smile.

“We came here to meet him, now would be preferable.” Party nodded warmly, suddenly melting the ice queen. “We really appreciate this, you letting us in on such short notice.”

“Oh, well, whatever I can do to help...” She prattled on, leading us inside. Party looked over his shoulder to glare at us before following her inside, nodding to seem interested.

“That man has some serious skills.” Ghoul said as we followed at a safe distance. Party’s ability to convince stupid women of anything, despite not being particularly handsome or charming, had helped us out many a time. He had a certain aura about him, letting people fall under his spell quickly the second he turned on the charm. Luckily, it had never worked on me, leading me to have an excellent bullshit detector.

“Here’s where we all sleep, most clans taking one or two cells, depending.” Sally led us through the converted prison as though it was a summer camp. Cells with the doors flung open housed lots of mattresses, sleeping well over 200 people should you really wish it. Regardless of my personal feelings, I couldn’t help but admire the resourcefulness.

“This is our main floor, where everybody meets up to eat and such.” Sally shepherded us into a large main room, where a few late-starting clans were preparing to head out. “Here’s the California Bombing Squad, some of our more permanent residents.” She led us to a table containing six people, four guys and two girls, all preparing to head out, strapping up boots and talking. I recognized the back of Space Nuke’s head quickly, given the dreds. He turned around, his lopsided smile quickly disappearing as he recognized the guys.

“Can we help you?” One girl, seeing Space Nuke’s distress, stood up, looking at Party, her green mohawk swaying.

“Space Nuke, right?” Party smiled at him. “Would you mind talking to us in private, just for a few minutes?”

“I swear, I’ve changed.” The fear was apparent in the kid’s eyes, his hand reaching up to instinctively rub his tattoo. “I know what you’re thinking, I’ve heard the rumors-”

“Sally, what is going on here?” Mohawk girl looked to Sally, indignation in her eyes as Party tried to explain himself to Space Nuke, the scene escalating as everyone’s voices rose.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Party boomed, causing everyone to quiet and look to him. It was silent for a second before he spoke again. “It has to do with your past, friend, but I promise you’re not in any trouble. Just let us explain ourselves to you and we’ll see where it goes from there, okay?” Party looked honestly at Space Nuke as he wavered, deciding whether or not to trust Party.

“Okay.” He nodded warily, watching us.

“Sally, do you have somewhere we could talk in private?” Party turned to Sally, who nodded, giggling.

“Of course, I mean, anything for you four.” She batted her eyelashes and led us to a nearby office with a desk and enough chairs for only me, Space Nuke and Party. We sat across from Space Nuke, who still eyed us carefully.

“Thank you, Sally.” Party smiled at her, trying to get her to leave. Given she wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, she didn’t get it. “Could you give us a minute, please?”

“Of course, of course.” Sally sashayed away, grinning and closing the door behind her. Space Nuke squirmed under the glances of the five of us as Party took the papers from Ghoul, who’d kept them in a backpack he’d picked up from who-knows-where. Nuke’s hand anxiously tapped his thigh quickly, the nervousness showing on his face.

“I’m sorry we had to drag you away like that. I promise, you’re not in trouble or anything. Actually, we really need you. BLI is planning something big, and we need your help. Can we be sure you won’t share this information with anyone else, not even your clan?” Party’s face drained of charm, the seriousness of the situation showing on his face.

“Wait, I can’t tell my clan?” Nuke’s eyebrows furrowed, unsure.

“What I’m about to tell you is very sensitive and very, very dangerous. If you tell your clan, they could potentially go charging in to be heroes and aggravate the situation, not to mention get themselves killed. This is something they’d kill citizens over without a second thought, not to mention Killjoys, and I want to know right now if I can trust you.” Party stared at him, the intense vibes making even me edgy.

“You can trust me. I promise.” Space Nuke said quietly, his hand still going rapid-fire on his leg.

“All right then. Here’s what’s happening.” He spread the plans on the table and, piece by piece, ran down everything he knew about the tower, filling this kid in.

“So basically, they’re building a tower, and you want me to help you sneak into the headquarters and help shut this thing down with you guys.” He looked at us for confirmation.

“Not us. Her.” Party jerked a finger at me and suddenly, he was staring at me, those dark eyes seeming to stare into my soul.

“Her?” He seemed confused. “She’s so... tiny.”

“Hey-” I leaned forward, about to whip off some remark, when Party silenced me with a “Don’t say another word and fuck this up or I will kill you in your sleep” glare.

“She’s actually the best spy in our organization. She’s broken into hundreds of outposts, killed numerous Dracs and stolen vital information that’s kept us afloat. She could easily kill you now, if she wanted to, so I suggest you watch your comments about her when we’re not here to protect you.” Party said coolly.

“Great, her head’s not gonna fit out the door now.” I rolled my eyes at Ghoul’s remark from somewhere behind Party, which got a chuckle out of Space Nuke.

“He can laugh!” Jet chuckled.

“Only at my expense, it seems.” I sunk into my chair.

“What can I say, sugar, you’re fun to laugh at.” He smiled at me, not nearly as nervous now.

“I can yank those dreds right out of your head, smartass.” I glared at him. “And my friend Ghoul here will gladly do it himself if you call me sugar again. See, I’m like his kid,” I watched his eyes dart to Ghoul, “and he nearly killed a doofus yesterday who tried to kiss me.” I watched the smirk slide off his face, grinning triumphantly at Ghoul, who didn’t look all too happy at my victory. I turned back to Space Nuke, who was once again smiling that lopsided smile of his, unabashed at my threats.

“I’m going to have to watch my back around you, huh?” He smiled at me.

“So are you in then?” Party asked him.

“I’m in. I know that place like the back of my hand.” He said, still looking at me not as though he was checking me out, more as one would observe a friend. “I can help.”

“Great. We leave tomorrow. I suggest spending some time with your clan now, considering you won’t see them for quite some time after today.” Party stood, as did I and Space Nuke, extending his hand, which Space Nuke accepted. “Welcome to the team.”

Killer Laser Rays Part 7: Alabama

I sat on the mattresses we'd stacked around the campfire in the grocery store. It was about 11 pm Battery City time, but I wasn't tired. Disco and that girl, who’s name was apparently Solar Crash, (that’s how she introduced herself to Disco anyway, while sticking out her chest and making goo-goo eyes) had taken first watch from the rooftop of the store. We’d found stairs after that kid Toxic Arizona, the one with the green hair, left with Wasp and the little girls.

I was sitting on the mattresses we’d stacked in twos around the fire, staring at the flames in which we were burning old cardboard boxes we’d found, gently cleaning my Wolverine claws with a rag I’d grabbed, even though I hadn’t even fought with them. I’d thought about it when that little bimbo Solar had looped her arm through Disco’s, but I didn’t. The Hispanic kid who’d been speaking Spanish to Rage and Lightning, plus Rage and Lightning themselves were sleeping now so they could take the graveyard watch at around 2:30 am until sunrise. Every swipe of the cloth on the dull silver knives made me feel a little better, yet so much worse. My chest ached as I stared into the fire, still seeing G.I.’s battered and bloody face in my mind’s eye. It was all my fault. I’d killed him. Why couldn’t I have just listened, just once? Why hadn’t I’d stayed put, like he told me?

“Hey.” The kid with the eraser hair and blue bandanna around his neck sat down on the mattress next to me.

“Hi.” I looked at him sideways, the fire glinting off of his eyes before I turned back to my Wolverine claws. This kid took my claws and rag, setting down the claws and using the rag to wipe away tears I didn’t know were running down my face. I bit my lip and looked away, embarrassed.

“What’s wrong? Your fearless leader?” He smiled sadly at me.

“Yeah. He saved my life so many times, and I killed him.” A sob escaped my lips, my cheeks thoroughly soaked.

“Did you shoot him?” The guy asked.

“No.”

“Then you didn’t kill him. The jag-offs in white suits and masks did.” He rubbed my arm. “You can’t blame yourself like that.”

“But it was my idea. If I hadn’t needed to do the right thing-“

“If you hadn’t done the right thing, the Dracs would’ve got us all.” He cut me off. “This is not your fault. Don’t fool yourself into thinking it was.”

I paused for a moment, my tears starting to dry up. “Thanks. I needed that.”

“No problem, thrill-killer.” He rubbed my back as I turned back towards the fire.

“What’s your name?” I asked him. “I didn’t catch the whole thing.”

“Zebra Kiss, the one and only.” He grinned. “You?”

“Alabama Napalm.” I nodded.

“That’s a sick name.”

“Thank you.”

“Where’d you get the claws?”

“My Wolverine’s? I took them with my husband-beater and jacket off of a chickie who got ghosted a few years back in my gang. She wouldn’t have wanted them to go to waste. She loved these things far too much.” I ran a finger along the dull edge, which faced my hands so I wouldn’t cut myself.

“Nice.” The kid nodded. “You could probably actually get some newer, cleaner clothes over by the racks, if you wanted to. I guess it’s been awhile since you had anything clean, huh?” Zebra nodded

“I haven’t taken a shower since the last acid rain 2 weeks ago, and even that doesn’t do much.” I shrugged.

“Yikes. There’s one of those old-fashioned bathrooms like we all had back in the day and the water still works for some weird reason. They probably had a reservoir underground. You can go change and stuff, I’ll cover for you.” Zebra suggested, settling into the mattress, watching the fire.

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer.” I stood slowly, tucking the rag I’d found in my back pocket for later, but then realizing there were 20 more on the shelf next to me and tossed it on the floor next to my claws. I started moving away from the fire, but stopped short. “Thanks, by the way.” I said to Zebra over my shoulder.

“Don’t mention it.” He replied, getting more comfortable in the mattress. I picked up one of the flashlights we’d found earlier along with tons of batteries and used it to light my way in the dark to the first real cleaning I’d had in years.

I used a soap dispenser older than dirt and a rag I found on a shelf to clean away the layers of blood and grime covering my face and body. The ice cold water sharpened my senses and heightened my awareness, not to mention scrubbed away stuff that had been there for years. I scrubbed out my hair as well, braiding it down my back once I was done and wrapping a towel around my terribly skinny but surprisingly strong frame. I hadn’t felt so alive and clean in my entire memory before the war, and I was positive it was the best feeling ever.

I slipped out into the clothing department still in my towel, confident no one was around to see me, and found myself some tight regular jeans and an actual belt, not a piece of string like I was currently using to hold up my torn-up and bloodied knee-length cutoffs.

The next section I came to was just awkward; underwear. I put on some clean, blue boy shorts after scanning the place and grabbing the closest thing, not wanting to be within a hundred feet of the place. I found an old-fashioned torture device my mother used to use called a bra and grabbed a green polka-dotted one that fit my small chest and put it on, through much struggle and trial and error. These things were confusing, but having one on was almost somewhat comfortable. Next, I found a purple t-shirt with a skull on it and slipped it on, putting a green hooded sweatshirt on over it. I chose to keep the leather jacket, just because throwing out something I’d had for so long seemed sacrilegious, putting it on over the hoodie I’d found. I grabbed a pair of normal cotton shorts and a tank top, just to have something else to change into if need be.

Next up I wandered into the shoe section and stumbled upon some standard black high tops in my size, which I took along with some socks.

I found a black duffel bag in a nearby aisle and started putting things into it to use later, such as deodorant, a toothbrush and toothpaste and some actual soap. My dirty black combat boots were in the bottom, along with a handful of packages of socks I’d found in the shoe section. I also added another set of clothing, just in case, as well as a teddy bear for Babydoll and a little stuffed puppy for Mighty Mouse. Satisfied, I turned and headed back to camp.

“Hey.” I nodded to Zebra, tossing down my duffel and settling down for watch with him. Solar Crash and Disco returned later, all giggles and smiles.

“What’re you guys so happy about?” I remarked pointedly, seeing as how their faces were flushed.

“Well look who decided to grow up and be an actual girl. From what you looked like before, no wonder all of your guys were drooling over me.” Solar remarked cattily.

“Excuse me?” My eyebrows shot up to my hairline, staring at this girl.

“Did I stutter?” She said slowly, enunciating every syllable slowly. I stood up and walked over to her, standing awfully close.

“Come on guys, let’s not do this now.” Disco tried to cut in, but I refused to back off.

“I dare you to talk to me like that again.”

“Just ask your little boyfriend here. He didn’t mind it.” She smirked smugly. Well, at least she was smirking smugly before I put my fist in her nose. That tends to wipe the smile off somebody’s face.

She recoiled violently, but came back at me, pulling my hair and clawing at my eyes. She was an amateur compared to me, though. How many times had I wrestled two or three people for supplies? How often had I snapped a Drac’s neck after it got too close to my family? She was a distance shooter, like most Killjoys, and I was quickly sitting on top of her chest, pinning her arms with my knees and going to take a swing at her face one more time when Disco grabbed me from behind, dragging me off.

“Hey! What the fuck, I had her! You heard what she said, Disco, now Goddammit let me go!” I tried to worm out of his grasp, but he gripped my biceps too tightly. Zebra had Solar by the waist, and with her hair pulled back still, you could see the damage I’d inflicted. Her left  eye was puffy and swollen, while her nose was still streaming blood. I probably hadn’t broken it, I’d hit her hard but not that hard, but the eye would look hideous for awhile. I’d cut her cheekbone right under her right eye, which would look awful for a few days but would heal up eventually. I myself had merely a few nail marks in my face, nothing too horrible, although the girl did pretty well for herself.

“For the record, I shot her down, but when you punch first and ask questions later, that doesn’t always get communicated, does it?” Disco said harshly into my ear as the adrenaline and rage started to wear off and I stopped struggling quite so violently. He was really pissed, I could tell from the vice-like grip he had on my arms and the way he’d reprimanded me.

“Yeah yeah, I get it, violence isn’t the answer. That bitch had it coming, though, I hadn’t said two words to her and she starts insulting me.” I shook the stray hairs out of my face and stood proudly, my arms crossed as much as possible and my chin jutted forward, making me look tougher than she thought. Well, she knew not to mess with me or my own after this.

“Who the fuck do you think you are anyway, bitch?” I glared daggers at her. “I did nothing to you, and you walk in here and start insulting me. Was it because my BEST FRIEND shot you down?” Solar said nothing, only glared at me from the bear hug Zebra had her in. Her arms were pinned to her sides, but I could see her fists clenched. This wasn’t over to her, and who knows how many times I’d have to punch her face in again to get that through to her.

“Both of you, get some sleep. Wasp’s gonna hear of this in the morning, and then you’ll get your just desserts, that’s for sure.” Zebra tossed Solar onto a mattress across the fire, just as Disco tossed me.

“Hey, watch it.” I grumbled, but he ignored me, instead walking off with Zebra. I grumbled and stood, opening some blankets and grabbing a few nearby pillows before finally settling down to get some sleep. And then I heard some teenage boys whispering.

“Damn, your chica can fight.” The kid whose voice I didn’t recognize said quickly in Spanish.

“Well, you’re not the only three who speak Spanish here, so shut your mouth and go to bed before I kick your ass too.” I spoke in Spanish in response, prompting the mattresses over by where the boys were to get awfully quiet awfully fast. I chuckled to myself.

“Good night.” I called cheerfully in English before turning over and going to sleep.

How to Survive Zone 1, Chapter 4: How to Get a Tattoo Early

I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table as Party walked around the other side of said table, heading towards the coffee machine.

“Dude, it’s my place, let me.” I stood to go and make coffee for them, but Party waved me back down.

“Sit down, I know how to make coffee myself, thank you very much.” I rolled my eyes and sat down.

“Is he always this bad?” I looked over at Ghoul, who had just followed us into the kitchen.

“Yep!” He nodded, grinning cheerfully. “We call him the Car Nazi for a reason.”

“So here’s the deal;” Party sat down, handing Ghoul coffee, which he slurped appreciatively. Coffee was a luxury only the biggest outposts could afford, and it was usually guarded viciously, rarely brought out for consumption. “The first part of your team is in Zone 3, up at Suicide Sally’s. His name’s Space Nuke.” Party dropped the file in front of me. I flipped it open to see a kid, maybe 19, staring back at me, with long dreds and a lopsided smile.

“Okay, what’s his deal?” I tipped my chair backwards, my feet on the table.

“He used to be a Drac.”

“A what?!” My feet hit the ground with a thunk as Ghoul started choking on his coffee.

“You want to put her on a team with-”

“Shut up and let me explain, both of you.” Party said quietly as we both sat staring at him like fish gasping for water. “There’s a clan up at Lulu Laserbrain’s airport that can detox and turn Dracs back to normal. They spend three days with that clan, at which point they get the option to go back to Battery City or stay a Killjoy. That’s what they did with him. He was one of the few who decided to stay. He’s been living up at Suicidal Sally’s with his clan, the California Bombing Squad, for almost a year with no incident. He’s as safe as we are, and he knows Battery City inside and out. We need him.” Party tried to reassure Ghoul, who didn’t seem convinced.

“When are we picking him up?” I looked to Party.

“Well, we’re leaving tomorrow and taking Route Guano, so we should be there in three days.” Party nodded.

Ghoul wasn’t happy. “I don’t want-”

“Ghoul, I don’t care what you want right now, okay?” Party turned to Ghoul, exasperated, before looking at me. “Would you be okay with it?”

“Are you sure he’s safe?” I stared at him.

“Absolutely. Look, how about you decide when we get there and both of you,” Party’s eyes slid to Ghoul, “meet him.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “It’ll be interesting, to say the least. Does he still have his barcode?” I was referring to the barcode that all Dracs had tattooed onto their necks so they could be “scanned” to affirm where they were, like items in an old-fashioned grocery store.

“It’s part of his Killjoy tattoo.” Party took the file from me and rustled through some papers, pulling out a picture of it. The tattoo was awesome, the telltale barcode with a bright red X through it, surrounded by barbed wire with the words, “No more shall perish,” written in cursive at the top with his name underneath in graffiti. I passed it wordlessly to Ghoul to let him look.

“Speaking of tattoos,” I smiled cheekily at them, flipping my eyes back and forth between them. “You know who’s 16th birthday is next month?”

“Oh my God, my little Tear Gas is getting her tattoo.” Ghoul rubbed his hands over his face. “I never said you could grow up!” He moaned, his voice muffled. I was referring, of course, to the coming of age ritual every Killjoy teen got on their 16th birthday, their tattoo that identified them to every other Killjoy out there. On your birthday, you got your very own art anywhere you wanted, done by Neon Zombie, the best (and only) tattoo artist in the Zones, almost like, “Hey, you made it this long, we should probably throw you a bone.” Any kids that didn’t survive to their 16th birthday would get a tattoo, regardless of age, on the back of their hand, a little green ghost with a black X in the background, the international sign for ghosted. I’d only been to a few funerals of that kind, but they were always the worst.

“Hey Party...” I looked over at him. “I was wondering, could you help me design it?” He'd been a cartoonist back in the day, and was just what I needed for what I wanted to get.

“I’d love to, kiddo.” He smiled at me. “We might have to track down Neon before your actual birthday though, considering this whole thing.” He motioned to the air, as if he could stop BLI with some waving.

“Oh darn, how would I ever survive that?” I rolled my eyes and shuffled through some more papers, trying to take in as much info on this stupid thing as possible. It was ending now, and I’d be damned if some stupid tower was standing in the way of my tattoo.