A/N: an actual chapter yayyy *party horn sound* What the hell would be the onomatopoeia for those things…you know those noise makers at parties that are shaped like rolled up paper? To me it sounds like voo-roodle. Ok…and I've officially gotten off topic. What I did want to say was responses to some of your reviews. I love it when you guys say stuff like "Definitely made me laugh out loud at my computer...in a room all by myself... ah! stupid AP testing making me go crazy. Yeah"

I love that these stories make you guys laugh awkwardly by yourself or in front of your parents or librarian, getting that occasional "What is wrong with that person" look. That's essentially what I write this for. Little are you aware I keep track of who comments, who keeps commenting every chapter and what you guys have to say and it's cool to get a small insight of who you guys are. In a totally non stalkerish way! I SWEAR!

It always cheers me up to see a new review or and especially new reviewers. Just wanted to let you know that some faceless writer in some small town of USA loves you for who you people are, and the fact that you have come this far means a lot to me. So…yeah…this mushy feely stuff has gone on long enough. TO THE EMERALD CITY!…..oh. I mean Batter City.

The sun crept over the horizon. Victory's eyes shot open when the light hit them. She quickly covered them back up under the blanket. Her head pounded a little. The old beer had hit her fast last night. She moaned slightly in pain as she curled into a ball on the desert ground under her blanket. Her mind buzzed over last night's events. She remembered falling out of her seat and shouting something about the Wizard of OZ. The more she woke up the more she remembered until something specific surfaced. Her eyes popped open.

"Oh, shit…" She whispered and brought a hand to her lips. She closed her eyes and remembered the soft warm feel of his cheek on her lips. Why would I kiss him goodnight? She thought to herself. Why would I…. Her mind started wondering. She thought about how soft his cheek had felt, how warm it felt in the cold night air. She remembered having her arms round him and staring at his face. The light of the fire hit his face at just the right angle and the way his eyes…..NO! She stopped herself. He's just some kid from the zones. She told herself. He means nothing! It meant nothing!

"Victory, get up." Mikey's voice broke her thought. She felt his foot bumping into her side.

"Gimme a minute." She mumbled and covered her blushing cheeks. After a few seconds she stood up and wrapped her blanket around her. Ray was already up and ready, packing his things. Mikey walked away from Victory and picked up a small granola bar from one of the larger rocks and started eating it while he started packing. She looked around and didn't see Gerard. His spot was completely empty, not even a blanket or a bag.

"Look alive sunshine!" A voice said from behind her causing her to jump. She turned to look back only to have her heart skip a beat. Gerard stood directly behind her.

"Oh..I um…good morning…." She stammered. "Where have I heard that before?" She tilted her head.

Gerard pulled a bottle from his hip and drank from it.

"Some pre-war DJ used to say it all the time when he started his station in the mornings." He said with a shrug.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about him." Victory said not making eye contact.

"You want a sip?" He asked sticking out the bottle. She felt her cheeks flush.

"No. I'm good thanks." She lied. Her throat felt dry and scratchy but there was no way she was sharing his water bottle.

"Your loss." He said taking another sip. "It's a long trip and it's gonna be hot! You should at least drink something. You were pretty buzzed last night and that'll dehydrate you."

She moved away from him and to a large rock, setting down her blanket and folding it.

"Yup…very wasted. It's all really fuzzy…Don't remember much, just laughing all of you and something about the Wizard of OZ." She said trying her best to sound convincing. She wasn't facing him but he made a small noise in the back of his throat.

"So you don't remember…." Gerard started but Ray stepped a little in front of him.

"You don't remember calling me the Cowardly Lion?" He said with a large grin on his face. Victory giggled, mostly in relief of a change of subject.

"Don't forget I'm Toto!" Mikey shouted walking up with his bag.

"And I'm the Tin Man." Gerard said a little frustrated. Victory stuck her blanket in its bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"I specifically remember you being Party Poison." She said with a wink. They picked up the remaining supplies and started walking for the City.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Gerard said walking behind her. They walked in a V formation like birds. "Party Poison? It sounds like a Japanese drug or something"

Victory chuckled.

"You'll figure it out soon enough."

They walked for most of the day until they finally reached the city boarder. It looked unreal. Cars had been flipped over and set on fire. Bodies scattered the streets. The smell was unbearable. At one point Gerard had to stop before he got sick behind a turned car. Ray handed him a bottle of water which he was more than happy to accept. Victory walked up to him and pulled something from her pocket. He looked up from behind the car to see a large black and red checkered handkerchief folded neatly in her hands.

"You can wrap it around your nose like a bandana to keep the smell out." She said in a small voice. He could see her eyes tearing up.

"You keep it. We don't need little Miss Princess getting sick on us." He said with a weak smile. She looked down and a tear fell to her shoes.

"I'll be ok. I have another in my pocket. It's just…it hurts me to see the city like this." She pulled a white handkerchief out and dabbed her eyes with it.

"Thank you." He said taking the black and red one from her hands and tying it around his neck. He pulled it up over his nose. It amazed him how much it helped. Ray and Mikey didn't seem to notice the smell as bad but Ray still managed to make two more bandanas from a corner from his blanket. Gerard loaded his gun and led the way down one of the empty main streets.

They were there for only a minute before the first shot was fired. It whizzed past Mikey's head. He ducked down low. Gerard and the others ducked as he returned fire. Someone was shooting out from a window a few stories up. They all linked hands and ducked behind an over turned bus in front of a large apartment. Suddenly it was like a thousand guns went off. Shots flew everywhere. Victory covered her ears and wrapped an arm around Mikey who huddled next to her.

Gerard stood just high enough to shoot back. After a close one shot past his head he crept down behind the bus and covered his head as more shots fired.

"Where the hell are they coming from?" He shouted and looked up. Everyone was gone! He looked around not a single sign of his group remained. Suddenly he felt something grip him by the bandana round his neck and thrust him backwards. He was pulled into a small doorway and the door was slammed shut. It was pitch black inside. It sounded like the door locked and clicked several times. Something bumped his arm.

"Who is that!" Someone shouted. It sounded like Victory. She slammed him hard in the chest.

"RELAX!" He shouted and grabbed her arm. "It's me!"

She pulled back and sighed.

"What happened? Where we are?" It was Mikey. He could hear more shuffling. Ray bumped him to the left.

"Gerard?" Ray asked.

"I'm right here. I'm not sure. Just everyone stay calm." He said clicking his gun back. It buzzed as it loaded. In the dark his senses heightened. He could hear the panic in everyone's breathing.

There was a fifth sound that he knew wasn't one of them. Something loud hit the floor. He jumped a little as a small warm hand closed into his. It was too big to be Mikey's and he sure as hell hoped it wasn't Ray's. Victory inhaled two quick breaths beside him. His heat fluttered a little. He gave her hand a squeeze. She returned it.

Suddenly a bright light flashed on blinding all of them. Victory's hand dropped and she quickly brought it to her eyes trying to shield the light. She pulled Mikey behind her. Gerard snapped his gun up at the figure standing in front of the light.

"Who the hell are you!" He demanded. Their eyes adjusted a little better.

"Easy, dude!" The figure said. He stepped in front of the light and focused a little better. "I was trying to help you! You gotta be fuckin' nuts to run out on a main road! Even I know that!"

Gerard put his hand down and dropped his gun.

"Holy shit!" He said in surprise. "You're the kid from the cafeteria!"

The kid tilted his head and scratched his neck nervously.

"I'll be damned!" He said eyeing them up. "You're the one who tried to pick a fight with me!"

He pointed a finger at Ray.

"Damn and you're the fro guy!" He said laughing. Ray waved his hand to say Hi. Gerard raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry if I ruffled your feathers a bit, Bro. I get a little tense if I'm off my meds." The kid pulled a bottle from his pocket and popped a few pills. He twitched a little and scratched his neck again.

"Name's Frank." He said with a smile and stuck out his hand.

"Gerard." Gerard said shaking it. "This is Mikey, Victory, and Ray."

He motioned. Frank's jaw dropped.

"HOLY FUCK!" He shouted and pointed to Victory. He stumbled back a few steps. "She's fucking dead!"

Victory sighed and put a hand on her head.

"This is gonna get old." She said annoyed.

"ZOMBIE!" Frank screamed and pointed. He stumbled back more and fell into a broken overstuffed chair.

"FRANK! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

They all turned as someone shouted from an archway leading to a kitchen. A guy with blonde hair and a few days of scruff stood in the arch looking very annoyed.

"You'll have to excuse him." The guy said in a rough voice. "Guy gets a little tweaky on or off those damn pills."

Frank stood up shaking still.

"Bob!" Frank shouted and pointed to Victory. "She's a zombie, Bob! She's a zombie!"

Bob sighed.

"She's not a fucking zombie dumb shit!" Bob said annoyed. "Frank, calm the fuck down."

Frank stood up straight and started scratching his neck and arms again eyeing up Victory. Gerard stepped in front of Frank's view to block him from staring at her.

"Why don't you guys come with me? It's safer up stairs." Bob motioned them to a set of stairs past the door way. They followed him to a small hall with two rooms.

"Just ignore Frank. He's harmless. He's addicted to some crazy form of Ritalin that makes him super alert." Bob explained as he led them to a room filled with computers and technical things that looked hand built. Bob sat in a roller chair in front of one of the computers. The windows were poorly boarded up and a single lamp was in the corner next to the computers.

"They made it for the military during the war to heighten their senses but after the bombings it got on the street. It's helpful if we get attacked by a Draculoid or a raider but other than that it just makes him annoying as shit." Bob finished.

"Draculoid?" Mikey asked.

"You guys are so not from the city." Bob smirked to himself. "Better Living Industries has been coming after the war rebels. It's spent the past few days trying to hypnotize the public and make us all mindless drones. Those of us who caught on formed a resistance they are calling Killjoys. Better Living started sending soldiers that look like men dressed in Dracula masks."

Bob got up and opened a closet. He stepped back holding a large metallic skull with several wires hanging from its neck.

"We pulled a mask off one of them to find this!" He handed it to Gerard. It was heavy as lead.

"They've been making some weird androids to fight for them. It's fucked up shit. We came up with the code name Draculoid because of the masks." Bob took the skull and tossed it back in the closet.

Frank stood behind them in the door way and kept his eyes on Victory. She'd glance back every once in a while. He raised a hand up to her arm to see if she was real. Gerard's hand snapped up holding the gun to Frank's face.

"Touch her, you're dead." Gerard said with aggressively. Frank stepped back holding his hands up. Victory was surprised and relieved at his actions.

"Frank go fix the toaster!" Bob demanded. Frank nodded and dashed down stairs.

"Damn kid's been trying to fix that toaster for three days. I'd tell him the wire was cut off but I think it just gives him something to do." Bob shrugged. "Now."

He got up and crossed his arms as he walked towards Victory.

"As it is you are obviously not dead…or a zombie. Do you mind telling me how the hell the daughter of Korse X is still alive and in my lab room?" Bob raised an eyebrow.

She and Gerard told him everything that happened all the way up to being pulled into the apartment. Bob nodded and listened intently. In return he explained how he was a bit of a conspiracy theorist even before the war. He explained about how the rebels fought amongst themselves for shelter and supplies day and night.

He set up a constant news feed to the only radio station left that didn't broadcast hypnotic sound waves. He explained that he listened to an old DJ that was a war vet even before 2012. He called himself Dr. Death Defying and broadcasted in an undisclosed location in the desert.

A resistance had formed called the Killjoys who worked together and they were trying their hardest to bring down BL/ind. Not many of them were in the city so it was like a constant war zone outside. People struggled to get what area they could and claim it as theirs. The Killjoys called them Ritalin Rats because most of them were ex-soldiers or just simply addicted to the drugs and getting and selling what they could to get their next fix. He found Frank in one of the Ritalin Rat's hide outs. They just left him there to die after being badly wounded. Bob took him in and had him help keep their fort safe. All he really wanted to do was survive.

It was new to Bob that Korse was dead. He found it hard to believe an android was in his place instead.

"So I guess that makes you a pretty valuable package if BL/ind is looking for you and I suppose if most Killjoys knew you were alive they'd probably want you dead since they think your father bombed their towns…" Bob said sitting back. "You're lucky I'm open minded and have been researching a lot of BL/ind's history. I noticed there wasn't too much bad activity until the second bombing. And most of it was under the name of some Doctor named Zulo. His signature is on almost all of the gun blue prints, Draculoids and hard core medications."

Victory was glad about this. She didn't need another person trying to kill her.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not going to keep an eye on you, BL/ind has still done a lot of damage and I can't be fully sure how responsible Korse was in those actions."

Spoken like a true conspiracy theorist.

Bob set them up a place to sleep in the living room of the apartment. All of its windows were boarded up with sheet metal or parts of the furniture. The living room was in the center of the house so it was windowless. He and Frank slept in the second room upstairs so they could take turns being look out. They were glad they had a lot more blankets and pillows and didn't have to sleep on the hard desert floor.

As they settled in they could hear bombs and gun shots going off just outside. Every once in a while the building would shake. Victory took the beaten up couch while the three boys took the floor. Ray was the first to fall asleep, then Mikey. They were all worn out from days of walking. Victory lied awake listening to their soft snoring.

She jumped every time she heard a gunshot or a bomb explosion waiting for one of them to make contact with the house. Her heart raced. She imagined a grenade hitting the side of the apartment and blowing a hole into the living room or a Draculoid kicking down the door and shooting them all up. She held her breath as a few tears streamed down her cheeks. In the dark a figure sat up and leaned on the front of the couch. She could make out Gerard's messy black hair.

"Ya know…you cry a lot, even for a girl." He whispered. She glared at him and sniffled as she tried to wipe away her tears.

"Well you're a pretty big ass hole, even for a boy." She whispered back. He chuckled lightly and turned his head towards her.

"We're gonna make it…you know that right?" In the dark she could see him raise an eyebrow. She looked at him in disbelief.

"Yeah...sure with our great team. A guy who's afraid to fight." She motioned towards Ray. "A twelve year old kid." She motioned to Mikey. "A Ritalin Rat who thinks I'm a zombie, an extremist who is watching my every move and a guy with an attitude problem. We'll make it far!"

Gerard pretended to glare at her.

"I resent that last one." He said raising both eyebrows.

She balled her hands into fists as more tears ran down her cheeks.

"Face it. We're going to die." Her voice crackled.

"We're not going to die." He said annoyed. As he finished there was a loud explosion and the room shook. Victory made a small sound in the back of her throat. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. More tears fell down her cheeks. Gerard sighed and got up.

"Move over." He huffed as he pushed Victory over on the couch. She looked up as he lay next to her. He pulled his blanket up and over the both of them. It suddenly got very warm under the blanket.

He reached an arm around her neck so he could fit all the way on. He could feel her heart race as she rested her head on his shoulder. He couldn't help but smile.

"Look, as long as I'm here I'll never let them hurt you. I promise." He whispered in her ear. Deep down he hated himself for allowing him to get this close emotionally. But above all of that he knew it was unstoppable and the truth was that it would go one of two ways. 1. They really were going to die trying, or 2. She would make it back home they would win and she would take over the company never to see the likes of him again. So why not just enjoy the feeling while it lasted.

"You can't promise that." She bit her lip and looked up at him.

"Well I am. And I always stay by my word. I want you to try something my mom would have us do when Mikey and I were little and we couldn't sleep." He said pulling the blanket up to her chin.

"Count to seventeen and close your eyes." He tightened his grip around her. She looked in to his eyes for a few seconds and then finally closed them. He could see her counting in her head. Slowly her expression softened. Her breathing evened out slowly. She was asleep.

"I'll keep you safe tonight." He whispered in her ear and then rested his head on the pillow closing his eyes. His breathing soon matched hers and he slowly drifted away.

A/N: This would have been up yesterday but I fell asleep…for 18 hours…yeah. How long do you have to sleep before it counts as a coma? Any hoo I'll be typing up the next chapter soon. Hope you liked this one. I sorta liked the ending myself. I'll be the first to admit I've fallen in love with the whole Gee/Victory love fest and I'll be happy to announce Victory WILL in fact be in MCR asylum (the story after this one) So yup…see you kids next chapter…. REVIEW!