The radio plays loudly, masking the silence in The Fabulous Killjoys trans-am. Unlike their usual, bubbly selves, the team are currently all staring off into space, lips pursed, and gripping their respective door handles. This is not to disrespect Party Poison's driving, it is merely a signifier that Killjoys are making their bi-weekly trip to Battery City for supplies. Everyone is on their metaphorical toes, prepared to tuck-and-roll if any Dracs disrupt their drive.
It was early, the perfect time to visit Battery City, because most of residents took enough sleeping pills to be knocked out until 7:30AM. Except of course, the poor soles who work grave yard shifts at mini-marts, but those people are pumped up with so many anti-depressants they can't even remember to give you correct change half the time. These were the people the Killjoys were targeting, lazy low life's, who work at convenience stores, and don't have the intuit to contact BL/ind if they see anything suspicious.
It was approximately 5:00 am, giving the boys plenty of time to get in, get stuff, and get out. To avoid attracting attention, they had to wear "disguises". These consisted of hats, for those with socially unacceptable hair styles (Party, and Fun), and casual wear to substitute for the colorful numbers the boys prefer to parade around in.
Party manages to get through the Battery City tunnel with no trouble at all. After achieving this great feat, conversation is welcome again in trans-am land. The entire gang exhale in relief after passing by two patrol officers, who are far more interested in this months Playboy than the cities safety.
"Good job, man!" Kobra whispers, patting Party's shoulder. Party gives him a tense smile, still not entirely comfortable with the current situation yet.
"I hate this place so much." muses Fun, whose face was glued to the window.
"Good thing we don't live here then." says Jet, obviously trying to lighten the mood. His attempted was a failure, no one even cracks a smile. There are a few minutes of awkward silence before Party mutters "Here we are" and pulls into the mini-marts parking lot. Party turns off the engine, and looks to the other killjoys.
"We all know the plan, right?" The red head says sternly, looking from one grime covered face to the next. Fun roles his eyes.
"Buy necessities, steal it if it's not a necessity, don't talk to anyone besides the clerk, and if you think you're in danger, get the fuck out." says Fun in a monotone. Party nods, he is well aware of how depressed Fun gets whenever the gang goes into Battery City, the poor guy can't hide his emotions for shit.
"Let's go." Jet announces, opening his door. The other members follow suit, and enter the store. They fan out in search of products that would prove useful in the zones. Each man took his own aisle, this was based off of expertise, Jet was in charge of food, Fun was the mayor of entertainment, Kobra was given the godly duty of choosing toiletries, and Party was captain of everything else.
About five minutes into the gangs shopping trip, a woman walks into the store clutching the hand of a sniffling 10 year old. The 10 year old sneezes loudly, causing Party to momentarily glances up, and something yanks on his heart strings when he does. The blonde haired woman was instantly identified as his former wife Lindsey, and the child was clearly Bandit. Both had been presumed to be dead after "the accident", along with every one else's spouses and children.
Partys jaw hangs below it's usual height, as he watches Lindsey carefully. She had dark circles under her eyes, and there were a few lines around her mouth he didn't remember from last time. Also her usually dark brown eyes were being eaten by her dilated pupils, an easy indicator of over medication. Bandit on the other had seems to be as alive as ever, except for her aliment of course. Party notes remorsefully that Lady B was dangerously close to being a teenager, she stood about 4ft 9in tall, and came up to Lindsey's elbow. Soon Party's gawking was interrupted by a sharp poke to the ribs, he spun around to be met with Fun's icy glare.
"Stop staring!" Fun grunted through clenched teeth. Party nods, and returns to searching for items. He steals glances at Lindsay and bandit at 10 second intervals for the rest of the trip.
"Ready?" Kobra, asks, his hands full of bags.
"Yeah, just give me a sec." Party says, trying to think of an excuse, but thankfully Kobra doesn't ask for one. The rest head to the car, but Party lagged behind, waiting near the exit.
"Lindsey?" Party asks, when she neared him.
"Hello, I'm sorry, but I don't remember who you are." Lindsey says after blinking a few times.
"I'm Gerard." He chokes, shocked that his own wife can't remember him. Bandit was staring at him, she seems to have some recollection of Party's former life.
"I'm still not sure where I know you-" Lindsey starts but is interrupted by Bandit.
"Daddy!" she squeals, and runs to give Party a hug. Shocked at her display of affection party gives her a small hug back and pat her head. Lindsey quickly pulls her away, and looks Bandit straight in the eyes and says, "Now B, you now daddy isn't alive anymore." Lindsey then turned back to Party.
"I'm so sorry sir, see you again sometime!" she says before leaving, dragging bandit who was still staring at Party behind her.
Party took a long, depressed sigh, and made his way back to the car. His fellow Killjoys were glad to see him again hen he returned to the car. Fun got out of the passenger seat and slid into the drivers side before Party even had a chance to sit down.
"I'm driving." He stated simply, holding out a hand for the keys. Party handed them over, relived he wouldn't have to be put under the stress of getting the gang home safe after what just happened.
Once they started cruising back to Battery City tunnel, Kobra was getting anxious. Before Party had rejoined the group, Fun had explained to the rest of the gang that Lindsey was in the store, and Party was probably doing something stupid, like breaking his own rules. Now Kobra was tapping his feet, trying to think of the perfect way to ask Party about what had happened in the store, but Jet beat him to the punch.
"What held you up at the store?" Jet says trying to be nonchalant.
"Lindsey is one of them." Party whispers, his eyes closed, trying to process this information.
"She's drugged up, living in haze, and Bandit is going to grow up and be exactly the same!" He cried, Leaning forward in his seat.
"At least you now she's alive!" Kobra says, suddenly aggravated. Jet, and Kobra had had the misfortune of seeing their wives dead decomposing bodies during the Aftermath. The gang fell silent then, with Party crying quietly next to Fun. Everyone was stressed, and tense because of the dangerous trip, and could probably all use a nap when they got back.
"Oh, shit." Fun muttered, his face going pale.
"What is it?" Jet asks, squinting into the distance. Then he sees the cause of alarm, a group of six Dracs stand in the road, blocking the Killjoys path.
"Well, shit indeed." Kobra, grins, kicking some Drac ass was the perfect distraction from a terrible day in Battery City.