hello there reader-peoples! sorry i haven't been writing much lately, it's just that i...well, i haven't. i don't really know what the end result of this story will be, so for now i'm just wining it. anyway, i've also started a new story (hahaha...yeah) and i don't know which of my stories is going to be written more. thanks again for reading, and please review!

California 2019

Zone 5

Malice picked Angel up and carried the small girl towards the old Trans Am. She placed her in the backseat, and pulled an old blanket over her. Tucking a stray hair behind the girl's ear, she smiled, and closed the car door. She turned back to the small fire, where the other Killjoys were listening to their transmitter and speaking quietly.

"Is Angel sleeping?" Static asked Malice.

"Yup. Did I miss anything important?" She asked, glancing down at the small radio-like device.

"Nah, there normally isn't much important on here – we just love listening to Dr. D's show." Static responded, reaching for the last few coffee beans her sister had found in the small house they had recently stayed in. Poison glared at her.

"What're you doing?" Poison asked her. Static smiled, and replied,

"I'm using the coffee beans to make dog food taste better." She ground up the beans with the blunt end of her gun and poured the tiny pieces into the can. Poison rolled her eyes.

"EEWWW!" Static spluttered, spitting the shitty food out, "That is disgusting!" Poison looked pissed off.

"Why the fuck would you waste the last of our coffee trying to make shit taste good?" She muttered, glaring at her sister. Val and Malice looked at each other, and Val started to giggle.

"What're you laughing at?" Poison shot out at Val, but Malice had also started to laugh. Static was rinsing her mouth out with water, but when she saw the look her redheaded sister was giving her, she lost it. She spit the water from her mouth, like a movie spit-take, and got it all over Malice.

A moment later, all 4 were in hysterics. It took them at least five minutes to calm down, and eventually they had to stop. Malice and Static were leaning against each other, trying to catch their breaths. Poison was wiping tears from her eyes and frantically trying to stop her silent giggles, and Val was clutching a stitch in her side. Eventually, they had all calmed down enough to continue listening to their transmitter, talking quietly until they all began to fall asleep under the desert stars.

California 2019

Zone 6 – The Diner

Cherri walked up to the booth that Mikey, Gerard, Ray, and Frank were sitting in, trying to swallow their canned dinner. She smiled.

"Alright, boys, I was talking to Dr. D, and he thinks it's time you learned how to shoot." She said. Gerard frowned.

"Why?" He asked, and the other 3 men looked up. They knew where this would go.

"Because you're all kinda useless at the moment, and you need to b able to defend yourselves." She answered, not knowing what Gerard's problem was all of a sudden.

"I don't care if I'm useless. I'm not gonna go out there and kill some innocent person for my own well being." He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. Cherri frowned.

"Well then, listen up, Gerard. You don't have a choice. You have to do this, whether you want to or not." She, too, folded her arms. Gerard looked away. Cherri squinted her eyes menacingly.

"Alright then Gerard, what's most important to you? Hmm?" She asked, but he didn't respond. "Because you seemed pretty upset when you heard what the Industries had done. I don't think you understand that, though, so I'm gonna tell you point-blank that they will kill you. They will kill anyone who gets in the way of their power. Including you. Especially you. You four are the inspiration behind the Killjoys. You are the reason we're fighting them. That's why you were brought here."

Gerard felt tears rise up in his eyes, and he looked at Cherri. He shook his head, wiped the tears from his hazel eyes, and gave a small nod. Cherri reached into a small bag she had placed on the floor. From the bag, she pulled out 4 brightly coloured ray guns. One green, which she handed to Frank. A red one, which was given to Mikey. Another, blue, she gave to Ray. And finally, the yellow, which she handed to Gerard.

"By the way, boys – you have new names now. The Industries can't find you, so Dr. D has created a name or each of you. Frank gaped at her.

"Whaddaya mean? We can't even keep our names?" Cherri shook her head.

"No. It makes it too easy for them to find you, and you're way too important to be found and killed by them." She looked at Gerard, "You're Party Poison." He looked at the table.

Cherri turned to Mikey and Ray, saying, "Kobra Kid for you, Mikey. And Ray, you're Jet Star." She looked at Frank last. "Fun Ghoul." He looked out the dirty window.

Cherri stood up. "Alright then, guys, let's teach you how to shoot a gun.

3 hours later, Cherri and Pony were working frantically to replace Fun Ghouls' targets. He was shooting through them at a rapid pace, while the other three were still trying to get their shots directly in the center. Ghoul laughed,

"This is awesome!" He shouted as he shot the middle of another target. Cherri frowned.

"Alright guys, I think that's more than enough or today. Go on, get lost." Party, Kobra, and Jet walked off, leaving their friend to beg with Pony to let him keep shooting.

"You'll lose the energy in your gun." Pony said to Ghoul, for the fourth time. Ghoul frowned, and turned away to catch up with his friends. He had to run to get to them.

"Thanks a lot for waiting, you guys." He said sarcastically. No one replied, but Party ruffled his hair. Ghoul smiled.

"Y'know guys, we just might make it!" Ghoul said, and the four headed back into the diner to find Dr. D and ask him if he had any Smashing Pumpkins albums. Which, of course, he did.