"Lex." came a familiar voice from above me. I groaned and reluctantly opened my eyes.
"What?" I said, blinking at Gerard who was opening my curtains. His crimson hair was hurting my eyes about as much as the sudden light in my messy room.
"Wake up! We're leaving in ten minutes."
"Alright." I said, rolling out of the mess of sheets and getting my foot stuck in the duvet, causing me to overbalance fall on the floor with a crash. "Ow! Shit." I'm really not the most balanced of people.
"You ok?" Gee was trying not to laugh.
"I'm fine." I said, jumping back up and going to my wardrobe as he left. I got dressed in the usual: skinny jeans, studded belt, a t-shirt with the American flag on it, which I had drawn the outline of a black widow spider over and a faded black motorcycle style jacket with a skull and crossbones on. I had carefully written 'KILLJOY' in tip-ex on the back. I like personalizing my clothes.
I went to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. There were a few cuts on my pale face. Yesterday's eyeliner exaggerated the dark circles under my eyes. My dull brown hair, which I had made more interesting with multi-coloured streaks, was looking really greasy. We couldn't get hot water in the showers, so we had to brave a brief cold shower about once a week. Some people might find that disgusting, but we really have more important things to worry about. I put some eyeliner on and went into the kitchen of the tiny house we had commandeered as our own, to find everyone else ready to leave.
"Lexy! Wow, you're awake. There is life in the moody teenager!" shouted Frank as I appeared. Ray, Mikey and Gee were all kind of like my parents, but Frank was more like a brother to me, although my real family had all either been killed by Better Living Industries or surrendered and gone to work for them. I elbowed him in the ribs.
"Not as moody as you when you can't find your cigarettes." I said, putting my boots on.
"Yeah, if you say so." He put one of his illustrated arms round my shoulders and we skipped out to the car. Gee unlocked the much decorated open-topped vehicle (mainly me and Frank's doing) and we jumped in the back seats and Ray joined us, leaving Gee and Mikey – the Way brothers – to get in the front, Gee in the driver's seat.
"To Battery City and beyond!" I yelled, pointing forwards as the engine grumbled into life. There came a reply of cheers and yells from my fellow Killjoys.
"Ray, did you pick up the spray paints?" said Gee. Ray nodded and held up a rucksack with a tinkle of spray cans knocking together, and we sped off, leaving a cloud of dust behind us on the dirt road running through the desert. We put on the radio, turning it right up and I smiled as I leaned back in my seat. I'm not usually this happy to be off to a city run by Dracs, but we were going to vandalise the shit out of that place. I tried not to remember that the last time we'd come here I had been kidnapped by Better Living Industries and almost killed…