Last time:

I stood to my full height as the car started. Pulling the door closed, I revved the engine a bit and smiled mischievously.

"I've always wanted to do this." And with that, I was full speed ahead.

Present:

Zone 6- 116 Fahrenheit; 80% chance of acid rain

I fiddled with the car's radio as I sped down the dirt roads of Zone 6. I switched quickly to Dr. D's station, hoping to kill the silence.

"Bad news from the zones, tumbleweeds. Exterminators are roaming zones two and three, so be on the lookout for your lives and don't get ghosted. As for zones one and six, there is a high chance of acid rain that will continue throughout the week. As for zone five, the killjoy Dust Bunny has been found dusted out on route Guano. Let's all have a moment of silence for this brave rebel."

I closed my eyes for a moment, making sure to keep my hands steady on the wheel so as not to drive off the road.

"This next song is from an old band who happens to be my personal favorite. They started back when this BL/ind epidemic had first started, and I am sad to say that all members excluding the drummer have been ghosted. This is for you Bitterly Ironic."

My eyes widened as I stared at the open road ahead of me. How could he have known about the band? It wasn't like we were famous or anything, we were just a group of Rock n' Rollers traveling the zones when he met us.

A few tears left my steel-colored eyes as the sound of a guitar blasted from the speaker.

"Time kills, go ask Jesus

I'm done, makes no difference

Stare straight, stare at the sun

I'm done, makes no difference."

A smile lit my face as I heard the all too familiar voice of my old friend Tyler. Laughing, I turned the music up louder, drumming my hands against the steering wheel to the beat that I had memorized much too long ago.

"Time takes us all

(So why am I not just living for today?)

Time takes us, time takes us all

Will I die right now, I'm only seconds away

Time takes us!"

I couldn't help but lose myself to the music that my old band and I had put together. If only that damn nuclear war had never been started back in 2012, the maybe we could have gotten somewhere with our music! More tears streamed down my face as I reached into my front pocket. Pulling out a small, torn photo, I took only a quick glance at it. It was of me, Tyler, our friend and lead guitarist Kevin, our bassist Christian, and my- A sob shook my body as I saw the last person in the picture with his arm around my shoulders.

"Why did he have to die? Why not me? Huh? Oh, god! It's my entire fault!"

A flashback overtook me as I pulled over to the side of the road and cried harder than I have in years.

"Riley! Look out!" I turned just in time to get out of the path of a bullet, or laser thing whatever you want to call it, shot past.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt warm arms pull me into a hard chest. I smiled and buried my head into the man's neck.

"Jesus, what were you thinking? You could've been killed! Are you nuts?" I giggled a little before pulling back to look at the man before me. His blonde hair was swept sideways from always brushing it away from his face and his bright blue eyes were brighter than any star I've ever seen.

Smiling, I caressed his tan cheek with my hand. "Relax, David. I'm fine." I looked up into his eyes before placing a small kiss on his pink lips.

He sighed before leaning into my hand and closing his eyes. "Don't ever do that to me again. I thought I was going to lose you."

I quickly pecked his other cheek before wrapping both my arms around his torso. "You don't ever have to worry about that. I'll always be here."

"Hey, lovebirds! Do you mind hurrying up? We don't need another exterminator on our tails!" a loud voice called from the small car we had managed to find a few days back.

I groaned and pulled away from my lover's arms reluctantly.

"Shut up, Tyler! We're coming!" I shouted, interlacing my fingers with David's before walking over to the car.

I looked at the driver's side to see Tyler's head sticking out the window. His brown eyes watched us with mischief as his eyebrow ring glinted in the sunlight. "Nice of you to show up!" Another voice joined his.

"Yeah! What's with the hold up?"

I glared at the red-head pushing Tyler out of the way.

"Go back to making out with Kevin, Christian!" Christian rolled his eyes before sticking his head back into the car.

"I'm not gay!" A deeper voice called from the back.

I laughed lightly before looking back at David's face. He was staring intently at something behind my shoulder. I turned before backing up slowly.

"No." I mumbled, my eyes widening. Around half a mile up the road there were three BL/ind company cars driving straight for us. Before I could pull out my ray gun, I was pushed towards the car.

"Save yourself, I'll hold them back!" he yelled, pulling a small bomb from its holster.

"But-"I started.

"NOW!"

I nodded frantically before jumping into the already moving car. I stared out the back windshield as we got farther away. I only caught a quick glance at him before the whole area behind us exploded.

I burst into tears as Christian and Kevin held me.

"NO!"

I shivered violently.

"And that song was called The Ripper. This next song is called Paralyzed." Before any music could reach my ears I turned the radio dial quickly, leaving only silence to comfort me. I took a deep breath before wiping my face of any traces of tears.

After making sure there were no more traces of tears, I started the car back up. After David died, I promised myself I would never love again.

Around ten minutes later, I pulled up to a small rundown diner that was basically in the middle of nowhere. I checked my face in the rearview mirror. All traces of my breakdown have disappeared, leaving only a dead look in my cold eyes.

Stepping out of the small vehicle, I walked into the front doors. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. I looked around confused before I was roughly tackled to the floor.

"Irony! You're here!" a high-pitched male voice shouted in my ear, his arms crushing me to him.

"Show Pony! I can't breathe!" I yelped, my face starting to turn the color of my hair. He immediately let go.

"Oh, sorry! So sorry! But I just can't believe it! I haven't seen you since David-"he stopped, looking down at me fearfully, "I mean, since a year ago!" he continued, nervousness laced in his voice.

I gave him a weak smile before pushing myself off the ground. "It's okay Show Pony. I'm over it." I gave a weak laugh.

He looked at me for a moment before shaking his head sadly but he didn't comment. I thanked him mentally for that. I brushed my bloodied shirt off before looking back at him. "So where's Dr. D? Did he ditch after he heard I was coming' here?"

He laughed loudly before pointing towards a door in the back. "He's in there. I was just about to head over to Zone three to take a look at the traffic and get some more tunes so I won't be back for awhile. Are you going to be okay without me?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I shoved my hands into my pants pockets. "I've been out hunting Dracs for the past year on my own. I think I can handle bein' in the same room as Dr. Ditz."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I guess I'll see you when I get back." Turning away, he started to head towards the door before looking back at me. "Oh, and Irony?"

I blinked. "Yeah?"

He sighed before shaking his head. "You know I'm always here if you ever want to… I don't know, talk. So don't be a stranger, all right?"

Nodding, I shot him a weak smile, which was more of a grimace than anything. "Yeah, man. Just go get those tunes."

He flashed me a small smirk before turning and skating through the double doors.

I watched him until he was too far for my eyes to see. I heaved a large sigh before heading towards the back door. Knocking lightly, I called out, "Yo! Dr. Death! Can I come in?"

Hearing almost silent whispers erupt from behind the door, I took a small step back.

"Irony! That you?" I heard him call back from behind the wood. "Come in, come in!" Smiling largely, I pushed the dilapidated door open before stepping inside.

The backroom was small. Dust covered most of the room except for radio equipment set up against the back wall. And there, in all his glory, was the very man I came to see; sitting in an electric wheelchair and playing with what I could only assume was a soundboard.

He looked over his shoulder at me, seemingly taking in my appearance before laughing. "You look like you just had a run in with them motor-babies!"

I let out a small giggle before rolling my ice-blue eyes. "Nah, just a few Dracs here and there. Nothing too dangerous." I replied, looking around for the record of my band's music. Maybe I can snatch it when he's not looking. A ha! There it is! Reaching towards it, the older man's voice caught my attention.

"Good, good. Oh, yes I was wondering if you could do me a small favor. You see there are these four guys who-"He started while rifling through a stack of papers on his desk.

Raising my eyebrow at his turned back, I stopped my hand in mid-grab. "Really? You've been housing a group of killjoys? Do I know them?" I questioned, dropping my hand back to my side, completely forgetting about the record laying in front of me.

He sighed dramatically before turning back to me. "As I was saying before I was interrupted," queue me scratching the back of my head in embarrassment, "These four guys are good friends of mine. But recently they went to get back a little girl that was taken from them by Korse and his group of SCARECROW men. And unfortunately-"

"Wait! Why do they bring a little girl around with them? Isn't that dangerous?"

"They rescued her from a BL/ind prison a few months back, but anyways! That's not the point. They managed to rescue the child, Grace, but in turn were shot down." As he said this, he ducked his head sadly.

Frowning, I looked at him questioningly. "And you want me to do what exactly?"

"Well, recently Grace brought up the idea that they had been shot with stunners instead of being killed. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it myself."

"So, basically what you are trying to tell me is that you want me to break into Better Living Industries and risk my life, just to see if these guys that I don't know, are really dead? Not to mention save them without being caught if they just so happen to still be living? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" I demanded more than asked, flailing my arms in every which direction.

Looking towards me cautiously, Dr. Death Defying nodded slowly. "What do you think?"

Keeping up my angry façade, I looked into his dark eyes.

Out of nowhere, a mischievous grin lit up my face; my normally dead eyes lighting up menacingly in the dim light.

"I'm in."

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! My computer is being a real ass! No, seriously! My bro hacked into my computer, and SOMEHOW made it so my screensaver is a picture of a monkey mooning me. Delightful, I know. I had to get it fixed because it wouldn't start up afterwards. Lemme tell yah, the screensaver caused for interesting conversation with the computer guy. Also, the FABULOUS KILLJOYS WILL MAKE THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE SOON! VERY SOON INFACT! THE NEXT CHAPTER!