It had been 3 days, or maybe 4. It didn't matter. The days blended together anyways so it was no use to keep track. How many days since I had run away from Battery City? How many days since I had been attacked by Dracs and left for dead? How many, I didn't care. The searing pain coming from the spot where the laser made contact came out in waves. Wave of pain, wait 5 seconds, then another wave of pain. I had tried to wrap it up with my bandana, but it hadn't worked.
This was the end, I decided. I couldn't hold on any longer. I closed my eyes, felt the unfiltered sun rays beating down on me, the warmth of the sun-absorbing sand I was laying on, feeling someone at peace. And I lay there, eyes closed, ready to die. But I guess death had a different plan for me, that it wasn't exactly my time to go. He let me live. Something made a noise, a noise that shouldn't belong in the zones. It was a car motor, and it had just stopped. I kept my eyes closed. The undeniable sound of a car door opening and a pair of footsteps followed. Still, I kept my eyes closed.
"You think it's dead?" A voice asked, it was masculine. The was shuffling and another voice.
"Wait a second," Another voice replied. Someone grabbed my wrist and put a couple of fingers in the spot where my palm met my arm and held them there. A few seconds passed. "Yeah, she's alive. Get her in the car."
What! No! I'm here to die! I thought, but couldn't say anything. My throat was too dry to make any noise. A hand slid under my knees, and then another under my armpits. I stayed still. And they started moving back to the car. I think they placed me in the backseat, laying down. The warn leather was a touch I had forgotten, and it welcomed me back. The doors shut, and the engine sprung back to life. I don't remember what happened next, but this. I blacked out.
I groaned, rolling slightly. I was on a bed, or a cot, somewhere cool, out of the burning sunlight of the zones. It was a relief to my skin, but not to my soul, who had waster away to nothing and just wanted to move into the light.
"Jolie? You awake?" A new voice whispered, but this time, the voice was familiar. I opened my eyes, and sitting there, was a ghost of my past.
"A…Anni? Tell me your real." My voice croaked out, cracking slightly. The Ghost nodded, little tears spilling over her eyelids and leaving a trail down her cheek, revealing clean skin under the dusty coat that covered her. Even if there were changes, the resemblance to my past friend was uncanny. Anni sprang from her spot and wrapped her arms around my torso. Her voice hitched.
"Oh Jolie! You're okay! I thought you were dead!" She sobbed.
"A…Anni….
"Oh, it's not Anni anymore. Out here in the zones, names you were born with are a big no-no. It's Cyanide Gunner now. But I guess since you don't have a name yet you can go by your name." Yes, my mind decided, This was my Anni. I nodded.
"How are your parents? How's Danny?" Anni's parents and older brother. Anni stopped for a moment.
"My parents are in Battery City, but Danny is here."
"I ran from Battery City," I mumbled. Anni nodded. "Um, where is here exactly?" I looked around. The room was dark with covered windows.
"Oh! This place is HideOut 51. Danny found it. You're in the upstairs. Down stairs is a safe house/ zone hotspot. It's kinda like the clubs we used to try to get into, remember? Oh! Danny is going to want to see you! Let me go get him!" Anni zipped out of the room. I watched her leave, and waited till she was gone to sit up. All my bones ached. I cracked my neck slightly, and moaned feeling my neck muscles loosen up. A slight squeak caught my attention. I turned my head toward the door. Anni had returned, smiling widely.
A man stood behind he, a couple of inches taller than Anni, he had always been taller than me. My eyes widened, and my jaw, just might have dropped. I started linking together the similar features between Anni and the man. Same sharp features, same silvery gray eyes, and thin lips. My heart stopped when I put together who it was. He had changed so much from the last time I had seen him. He was no longer the immature 20 year old who I had kissed, who I had been friends with since we were little. Time had hardened him, and truthfully, made his features even more sharp.
"D…"
"It's not…" The man closed his eyes and sighed. "It's Bullet Storm…" His harsh eyes stared at me, looking me over. I glanced over at Anni who's wide smile had grown even larger. She had known I had once had a small crush on her older brother, and I guessed she still remembered.
"Okay, so I am going to go help Tony move supplies, you stay here and catch up!" And then she was gone. Danny and me both watched her leave. And then, silence. He stood there awkwardly and I moved so my legs were hanging off the cot. He cleared his throat a little.
"So, how long you been in the zones Jolie?" Danny mumbled as he sat down on an old crate. I smiled slightly, for some unknown reason.
"About a week maybe. I wanted to find my parents." Danny looked up.
"They weren't with you in Battery?" I shook my head. He nodded.
"How did you get out?" I asked.
"About a year ago in a raid. The Fabulous Killjoys got me out with them and a couple of others,"
"Wait, The Fabulous Killjoys?" My eyes widened. They were famous, in the zones and out as the face of the rebellion. Wanted dead by the Dacs and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/.
"Yeah. They stop in here every once in a while, about once a month. They're due to drop in, in about a day or two. Maybe you can meet them." Danny smirked. And I laughed.
It was an interesting thought. Meeting the killjoys, getting chummy with Party Poison and the boys.