"We're sitting here today with one of the most famous rappers at the moment, Zero, to talk about his new album that's coming out on August 3rd. Now Zero, I hear there's a special reason on why you chose it to release it that day?" The announcer turned to the man and asked.
Zero was a skinny man with a slender face and his hair cut close to his head. "Yeah, as a few of my fans know, I was in a detention facility for a few months when I was younger for stealing a pair of shoes." Zero said, scratching his head. "That's where I got the nickname Zero and the day it got shut down is the day I'm planning on releasing my album. August 3rd."
"Can you tell us a little more about this detention facility?" the interviewer asked and Zero chuckled, looking down.
"Oh boy, I could go on forever about Camp Green Lake. But basically, we were placed in tents in groups of seven, and every morning we were woken up to dig holes five feet deep." The crowd gasped a bit and others laughed, thinking it was a joke. "I'm not kidding here guys! Every day for months. It was hell. We all got nicknames too. Mine was Zero because I never talked. And then there was Caveman, Barfbag, Twitch, Magnet, Squid, Zigzag, Armpit and X-Ray." The crowd laughed even harder at the names.
"Does anyone else still go by their name?" The interviewer asked and Zero bit his lip in thought.
"I'm not sure about Barfbag because I haven't talked to him in what? Eight years? Yeah, something like that. But for the most part, they've all shed the names, other than Twitch I think. Finally controlled those damn twitches though so I think it's about time we started calling him Ryan or whatever his real name is." Zero chuckled. "The funny thing is that I hated being called Zero and now I'm one of the only ones who still goes by it."
"Now you mentioned it was called Camp Green Lake. Is there any relation between that and your record label, Green Lake Records?" Zero nodded instantly.
"GLR is run by Jack Rogers and Alan Smith. Alan used to also go to the camp but he went by Squid. He dropped the name after his first daughter was born."
"Wow, it's amazing how so many people can go from delinquents to having fairly successful lives. Do you still keep in touch with all of them?"
"I see Alan on a daily basis and he hired a few of the guys to work for his so I always get to see them. He hired Zigzag, Magnet and X-Ray, also known as Ricky, Jose and Rex. I see Twitch every so often and then Armpit, Theodore, I get to see him whenever his girlfriend comes in for recording. And then Caveman, or Stanley, is my roommate so I get to see that idiot every day." Zero explained.
"But out of all of them, you've had the most successful life, right?" The interviewer asked and Zero immediately shook his head.
"All of us are living stable so it's not really based on money. Theo and his girl, Kaira, have been together for ages now and they're really happy. Stanley's had huge success in Yelnat's Science where they invented things like Sploosh, Barlow Cosmetics, and they're working on safe growing hormones for crops and animals. Twitch runs a car dealership and the rest work at GLR. I think out of all of us, Alan's got the best life though."
"And why's that?"
"He has a family, man. That's kind of what we all want and even though music is my life right now, it'd be nice to settle down and have a few kids of my own. I'm still pretty young but Alan was even younger when he had his first kid, Joy, or Pearl as we like to call her. Hell, it took him a year to get a fiancé and a baby. Now he's got a smoking hot wife, two kids and another on the way, and he's running a successful record label." Zero explained. "Man, a few years ago, he was the equivalent to trailer trash and he just flipped off anyone who told him he couldn't."
"Wow, the guy seems like he's been through some serious shit then." The interviewer commented and Zero nodded.
"We all have. I mean, I was homeless for years without a mother, but after CGL, I was living life to the fullest. I found my mom, I got a house, and I got a new family. The other guys had it a little harder after camp. Alan especially. His entire life, he was standing by himself and so when he finally got married, it was like he wasn't alone anymore and he hasn't taken it for granted in the slightest. I'm just happy to see that my brothers are doing so well."
"So do you and Alan's 'smoking hot wife' get along then?" The man asked, moving the microphone closer to Zero.
"If you're asking if I'm having an affair, then no. But yes, we get along in a completely platonic way. El spends a lot of time at the label because she doesn't have a job - Alan doesn't let her get one because, and I quote, 'she carried me for so long so now it's time for me to carry her.' But anyway, so she spends a lot of time at the label and hell, does she make good coffee. Her and Jack's wife, Kim, bring us donuts and coffee every day and I swear their goal is to fatten us up." Zero laughed.
"Okay, we got a little off topic and basically made the whole interview about your friends. Now we have about two minutes to actually talk about the album. We got to make this quick. What's your favorite songs to perform on stage?"
"Oh gosh, my songs are my babies, I can't choose one!" Zero chuckled. "But 'In My Soul' and 'Ride' are pretty fun. 'So Many Girls' really gets the crowd going though so I guess that's one of my favourites. But I do have a little surprise for my fans at the Atlanta concert this coming September." Zero smirked and the crowd cheered. "I can't reveal what it is but it includes a group of special guest and a new song that's never been heard by an audience of any time before."
"Oh, come on!" The interviewer grinned. "Give us a bigger hint than that! How about you give us a line?"
Zero paused and then shook his head. "No, sorry. I'm not ruining this surprise!"
"Well that's all the time we have for today. Give it up for Zero!" The crowd went crazy, jumping to their feet and screaming his name. They waved goodbye before Zero walked off the stage and into the guests dressing room, all while quietly rapping a song.
With broken hands and withered souls, emancipated for all you know.
You've got to go dig those holes...
Just got the Acknowledgements done and then sadly, Alone will be over! I decided to make the epilogue a little different because I'm sure you're all tired of reading from Squid's POV! It explains what happened to Squid and the guys so it did the job. Plus, we didn't really see a lot of Zero through all of Alone so this is for all the Zero fans out there!