Party Poison and Kobra Kid looked over Jet Star's shoulder as he put X's and O's and drew various other symbols on the tattered map they had. Poison tried not to look at the X that was covering zone 6. He didn't need to think about his family's demise any more that day. Kobra shifted his weight uneasily as he realized how risky it would be to move closer to battery city.
"So, we are in zone 4, and zones 5 and 6 have been...raided..." Kobra choked on the last word. "We have no other option than to head into zone 3?" He pointed to a stretch of land that took up a majority of the map.
"Its our best chance of keeping hidden. Zone 3 seems to be safe; no Killjoys have reported any danger from over there." Ray explained. "The closer and closer we get to battery city, the less people we will see. They've been rounded up like animals and taken down. Ghosted."
"So we can maybe find an old Killjoy hideout and take refuge there." Party Poison stated. Fun Ghoul walked in at that moment, dangling a pair of car keys in his hand.
"Ready to go?" Ghoul asked excitedly. "The Trans-Am seems to be running fine!"
"You rats be careful out there," Dr. D spoke from the next room. He wheeled in. "I expect you to take care of that car of mine!"
"Wait, you aren't coming with us?" Kobra asked. The group stared at the wheelchair-bound man.
"Hell no! I have a radio station to run! How are killjoys supposed to get their news and jam to their tunes?" He chuckled. "Besides. My wheelchair doesn't fit in the car."
"What if the dracs show up?" Party Poison asked. "They will either kill you, or take you in!"
Dr. D pulled a shiny orange ray gun out of his pocket. "Don't worry kid, I'm not going down without a fight. But I'll lock myself down in the cellar. Maybe they won't find me there. Maybe I'll find another group of kids to follow. Who knows. But get going. You don't know how fast those dracs will be here if they do come."
One by one they shook hands with Dr. D, and Poison pulled him into a big hug. "Thanks for helping us out, man. If you hadn't have let us stay with you for the past month, we'd be dead by now." Poison sadly spoke. "You taught us everything we needed to know."
"Poison, we'll bring down BL/ind, and fix this world. We will get you your family back. Don't lose hope, and keep fighting. I will see you boys again soon." And with that, he spun around and wheeled away. "Keep running!" He said before he left.
Jet Star rammed the acceleration as far down as it would go. It was about 1AM, and the air was still hot. The Killjoys drove past destroyed houses, burnt buildings, and piles after piles of twisted metal and charred wood. What was previously busy a busy town, was now a ghost town. Grafiti was littered on whatever still stood.
"Adrenaline Exploder" "Firework Heartbeat" "Killer Firebomb" Read some buildings. Surely other killjoys, letting others know where they had been. Most likely these killjoys were dead or in other zones, as this town was completely still and silent.
They drove on and on, Jet Star dozing at the wheel. Ghoul poked at his arm, keeping him awake. Kobra leaned against Poisons' arm in the back seat, getting sleep in the dark car. Poison was tired, he hadn't slept yet that night, but he didn't want to let himself lose consiousness. He focused on the colorful grafiti on the few buildings they passed.
"Where should we stop, guys. I'm getting really tired." Jet complained, slowing down.
"Well, we are in the middle of nowhere right now," Poison said quietly. Kobra shifted, and drooled on his brother's jacket. "Ewww. Kobra, you are drooling on me, man." He said, pushing him over.
"S...sorry Gerard." Kobra said groggily. He leaned against the car's wall instead.
Poison froze. That was the first time someone said his real name since the day they met Dr. Death-Defying. He told them that it would be smart to dye their hair, change their clothes, and assume secret identities to protect themselves from BL/ind. He was told to forget his past name.
"We should stop at the next building we see. Find one that has somewhere to hide the car." Poison said stiffly. Kobra was fast asleep, oblivious.
The car remained silent for ten minutes, when they finally saw a small house somewhat intact in the distance. Jet pulled over and yawned.
"Wake up blondie." Ghoul told Poison. Jet and Ghoul got out of the car and stretched. Poison reached over and tapped his brother on the head.
"Kobra wake up. We found a little place that we're gonna spend the night in." Poison spoke quickly, looking out the window as Jet and Ghoul peered in windows, guns ready. Kobra yawned, and pulled open the car's creaky door. He walked with poison to the building.
Ghoul and Jet had just gone inside, but the moment Poison and Kobra approached, they came running out. Jet ran to a nearby bush and vomited. Ghoul wasn't looking so hot.
"You guys don't wanna go in there." Ghoul said shaking. Kobra had a look of fear and worry on his face. Poison was confused. He walked through the front door and froze.
Strewn about the room were the bloody, mangled bodies of women, men and a few childen. All were killjoys.