June 8, 2019
The sun beats down on my back like a gun. And honestly, these days I wouldn't be surprised one bit if the fucking sun pulled out a bazooka. Ever since BL/Ind's rise to power in 2012, everything has been completely insane. Literally.
You see, BLI is a drug company. In the beginning, they used their drugs to sedate political leaders into even more useless bastards so their agents could take over. It's exactly what it sounds like—a crazy conspiracy. Only it worked. And even now we aren't really sure when their operation started or even who all was part of the scheme.
But what we do know is that on December 21st, 2012, life as we knew it ended. That was the day Better Living Industries, better known as BL/Ind, dropped its ruse as a company working for the people and revealed its true face—a power hungry band of demons who wanted nothing less to leave the world brainless and drooling in a stupor that would bring them domination. On that day they declared war on the world. Bombs were dropped, world leaders killed, genocides committed. And while it didn't take long to take most of the world, they haven't won yet.
Because of us.
Killjoys, as we call ourselves, are freedom fighters dedicated to fighting the "joy" of sedation BLI tries so hard to promote. We aren't really an organized society. Living in groups of five or so, we basically use guerrilla warfare to attack factories and Draculoids as needed.
But we're planning something. Something big.
And that's why I'm riding around on my motorbike in the desert wasteland once known as California. The Master Plan—code name The Big One—isn't coming into effect yet, of course. It's still on the drawing board. But what we do need is to find somewhere to house all the various Killjoys around the world without being noticed by BLI. So Dr. Death Defying, the unofficial leader of the Killjoys, sent me to drive around and find that sweet spot where BL/Ind is, well, blind to. And it needs to be somewhere around here, because BLI's headquarters are in this area. But with only a few hills rolling around, I'm thinking we may have some burrowing to do.
I stop my bike and take off my goggles. If we're gonna build a cavern, we need an entrance. Probably at the base of one of the hills.
Somewhere behind me I hear the sound of a motorbike. My hand on my gun, I whip around to see the rider. Though the person wears a full face helmet, I instantly notice the leather and colour he or she wears. Obviously not a Draculoid. Probably a Killjoy. Still, as the stranger approaches I keep my gun in my hand.
I raise my gun as he—I can tell it's a man now—gets off his bike. He takes off his helmet to reveal bright red hair.
I push my own blue and purple hair out of my eyes. "The name's Angel Knives. Don't mess with me 'cause I'm Dr Death's best girl. Who're you?" I bark.
"Party Poison," he answers with a smile.
I look him over—young, attractive, and bright red hair. Yep, looks like the guy on the 'Exterminate' posters. I smile, putting my gun away. "Good to meet you. You're from Zone 4, right? What're you doing out here?"
"I got a tip from Dr. Death that a S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/ unit was camping out a few miles north. I just thought I'd check out exactly what they're doing up there."
"By yourself?"
"Yeah, so? You're here by yourself."
I shrug. "Actually, I'm out here on an assignment from Dr. Death too." I gesture to the short hills behind me. "I'm scouting out locations to hide when The Big One hits."
He nods, understanding. "Any luck yet?"
"Well, I have a couple ideas but I have to run them past Dr. Death before I tell you anything."
"Okay. Well, if you want a break, you can come check out the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/ camp with me." He wears a mischievous grin.
I purse my lips, thinking. I'd actually really like to go with him. His group is the most infamous of all in the Zones. The experience in working with him would be invaluable. But still, I do have a duty to perform here.
I'm just about to decline when a laser beam flies by about an inch from my nose. Both Poison and I turn, guns already drawn. The Draculoids are still quite a distance away; they must have a sharpshooter with them.
Poison jumps on his bike, but I stand still. I squint at the approaching car. I can't tell how many there are. But I see shadows in the cab. So I pull the trigger.
The car swerves. Hell yeah!
But I must not have hit the driver, because the car straightens up. By now they're only about a hundred meters away. That sucks, because while I'm the best shot in Zone 2 I'm terrible at close combat.
Poison's already firing from his bike, only a few feet away from the Dracs. I hop on my bike and speed towards them.
It doesn't take long before laser beams are fired in my direction. I shoot back, but fail to deliver any fatal blows. I look over to Poison, who is off his bike and engaging three Dracs. I shoot towards them, but none of my shots hit their mark. A fourth Drac fires at me, and as far as I can tell they're the only four here. I fire twice, missing once. In the meantime, Poison's killed the other two Dracs and is running towards me. I turn back to the Drac, shoot once, and dodge twice. As I'm about to fire again, it falls due to a shot in the head.
"What the hell was that?" Poison asks irritably as he puts his gun away.
"What was what?"
"You kill a Drac from four hundred yards, but you can't get one from four?"
"I'm sorry!" I yell. "I panic, okay? It's all good when I've got space. But I can't think when they're closing in on me!"
He sighs and rubs his forehead. "You're not hurt or anything, are you?" I shake my head. "Good. You still up for that S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/ camp?"
"You sure you still want me around?"
He smiles. I can't help but notice how charming that smile is. "A sniper's always a good thing to have."
"Thanks. Hey, how far north is it anyway?"
"Ah… a couple hours. I was thinking, if we drive straight there we'll get there by the time it gets dark. It'll be a lot easier to spy on them if they're all asleep, right?"
"Okay, then what do we do after we're done the recon?" He just looks at me. I raise my eyebrows in disbelief. "You did think about that, right?"
He smiles sheepishly. "Nah, it was really a spur-of-the-moment type thing."
"Well, do you have any supplies?"
"A couple EnerGo bars and some water.
I moan. "Men are so irresponsible." Sighing, I continue. "Okay, I have lots of food and water as well as a sleeping bag and a small tent. We can go to the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/ camp, then drive a few miles west and stop for the night. One of us can have the sleeping bag and the other can have the tent, okay?"
He nods, then smiles. "Let's do it!"
