Hi again readers! Sorry I've not been writing very much lately - I'm trying to balance this story with my other. Anyway, keep reviewing - you're all awesome!

California 2019

Zone 4

Poison looked at her sisters.

"Well, at least we have something to do with our lives now." She smiled.

"Yeah, as long as we don't lose them – our lives, I mean." Valentine responded, looking slightly worried. Static Symphony sprang up from the table.

"Well. I'm gonna go see if I can find some extra gas for the Trans Am. D'you need any for your bike, Poison?" She asked

"Yeah, if you can find it. I'll be fine until about Zone 2, but by then I'll be close to empty." Poison said, and Static nodded.

"Alright, I'm going." She looked at her watch. "I'll be back by 9 am." Poison glanced at her watch – it was 7:30 am. She nodded.

"Alright. Be careful – do you have your gun?" Static nodded.

"Don't be such a mom, Poison!" She smiled, waved, and took off. Poison and Valentine looked at each other and heard the old car start up and drive away. Static was going so fast that they could hear the speed.

"She's gonna get killed driving like that. Or she's gonna kill me." Val looked pointedly at Poison. Poison sighed.

"What am I supposed to do about it? That car makes her happy – it makes her feel like she's safe."

"Yeah, but I don't feel safe in it." Val took a breath before continuing. "Can – can I ride your bike?"

"No way in hell." Poison stood up.

"Wait – why not? I'll be careful – you know I will!" Valentine was begging.

"I said no, because when I tried to teach you, that bike scared the shit out of you. What you need is something like a bike, only smaller and lighter." Poison continued her search for coffee while talking.

"But, that would be a scooter – and they suck ass." Valentine pouted. Poison smiled, but her back was turned to Val. After a few minutes, Val sensed she wouldn't get her way. She sighed loudly, and left the room. Poison knew she wouldn't bug her again. After ten minutes of searching through the abandoned kitchen, she had come up with some old flash-frozen meals, a small jar of instant coffee, and about twenty cans of power pup. Yay. She started making the coffee, and couldn't help but try to sort through the questions in her mind.

How come other Killjoys know about you, but you don't know about them? She had no answer for this – maybe someone was spying on them? But who?

Why were they chosen to help this girl? Well, that on she had an answer for – no one else could do it.

Where are you going to take her afterwards? What if Dracs come after them? She decided they would head out a few Zones farther than where they had ever stayed – Zone 7, or something. And if Dracs found them – she was a pretty good shot, and so were her sisters. They would have to deal with something like that when it happened.

Poison drank her coffee, and headed back to the room she had spent the night in. She pulled a pen out of her pocket and drew random song lyrics on her hand. She looked at her watch. 8:26 am. She grabbed all of her things – which was her wallet – she couldn't leave that somewhere, it had kept her grounded since the bombs went off. It had pictures of her family, and even though she had had to destroy anything that her birth name was on, it reminded her of home. And that she couldn't go back.

After the bombs had gone off, Toronto was ruined. The chemicals in the air had killed anyone that had survived the bombs, and most people in the shelters had been killed by the gas in the air. She and her sisters had been in a shelter with enough supplies to sustain everyone – the shelter had been under capacity. It infuriated her that her parents couldn't have gotten in, but she reminded herself for the billionth time – everything happens for a reason.

If her parents had survived, they would not be in California. They probably would have stayed in Toronto, which became the Battery City of Canada. If they hadn't died, she would be a mindless zombie-like drone in a Battery City. No, what happened happened for a reason.

And then the next big question. Why had she come to California? Poison knew it was because she had always wanted to go there – it had always seemed like a place where nothing wrong could happen. But when she arrived in the old Trans Am she had taught herself to drive, with two small girls, she was heartbroken. California was even worse than Toronto, because BL/Ind had already built its empire. Poison and her sisters were taken in by a group of Killjoys – the first ones they had met – in Zone 6. They were trained by them. The Killjoys – she forced herself to think of their names – Bulletproof Ruby and Battery Drain – were a young, newly married couple. They wanted children, but after the bombs decided they wouldn't bring anyone into this new, dangerous world. So they adopted Poison, Static, and Valentine. They gave the girls their names, dressed them, and fed them.

And then they were killed. Battery had stayed behind to hold off the Dracs when they had come in the night. Poison had never seen him – she didn't even know he had died until they were alone. Ruby had run them to the car, showed Poison the basics of driving, and then went back for Battery.

The girls never saw them again. Poison had refused to go back to Zone 6 since then. She and her sisters had spent 7 years drifting between Zones 5, 4, 3, and 2. But never 1.

The front door slammed. Poison jumped, and shook her thoughts from her mind. She wiped away the single tear that had dripped down her cheek, and got up. She walked down the hall, and into the kitchen. Static was back, and smiling. She looked at her watch. 8:59 am

"Ha! I'm early!" Static shouted, and did a little dance. Poison smiled. Even at 19, Static was child-like. Or, as Static herself put it, 'youthful'. Valentine snorted. Poison hadn't noticed her, but she was sprawled out on the floor of the kitchen, drawing on a piece of canvas with a pencil. She must have found tem in the house.

"You're only early 'cause you drive like the Dracs are after you." Val muttered. Static stuck her tongue out.

"Technically, they are after me. And you, and Poison too." She laughed and spun around. "Anyway, what do we have to travel with?"

Poison motioned at the small pile on the table. "Nothing too extreme, I found some of those fake frozen meals, and coffee." Static's eyes lit up at the word coffee.

"I'll have some quick, and then we'll go. Hey Val, would you like some coffee?" She asked sweetly

"EW. No." Val muttered, and she stood up. Her picture was now revealed. It was dark, sad, and angry – but it was beautiful. Like all her work. Poison patted her arm.

"Let's put it up, okay?" Val nodded. Poison held it up, and Val used the blunt end of her gun to drive a loose nail she had found into it. They stood back. Static came over, coffee in hand.

"Alright, you two art connoisseurs, let's put this stuff in the car and go." They looked at the picture one last time, and walked away to help their sister.

The couple in the picture – Battery Drain and Bulletproof Ruby – stared after them. Val had felt that drawing them was the only way to honour them for their sacrifice.

A few minutes later, Val and Static were in the Trans Am – Static driving, of course – and Poison was on her bike. She looked back at the house, and then took off, following her sisters on the way to Zone 1 and Battery City.