Sing

Chapter 22: Surrender

"Frank! Frank, wake up!"

I slowly opened my eyes, a shooting pain in my shoulder.I grabbed it and groaned.

"Wh-How did I get here?" I asked.

"Well, me and my amazing eyes saw you laying out there on the grass," Ricky said, leaning back against the wall. "We went over to check on you, and Kristan said you were still alive, so we took you with us."

"So... we aren't in Battery City anymore?" I asked. He nodded. "Oh," I said. "Why did you want me to wake up?"

Ricky shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't dead." I rolled my eyes. "Well, I just want to sleep," I said. I laid back down on the mattress.

"But Frank," Ricky whined. "Kristan wants to meet you!"

"She can wait," I snapped. "Look, she's seen me before. She'll live."

"But she wants to talk to you," Ricky protested. "Yeah?" I asked. "Well I wanna talk to Gerard. But guess what?" I couldn't finish. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to cry.

"I know," Ricky said quietly. "I'm sorry. But he died with a good thought in his mind."

"What?" I said. "What kind of bullshit are you spewing?"

"While we were getting you, Grace said Gerard had taken off someone's mask." I nodded, remembering the moments before his death. "So, me being me, I took a look inside the lobby to see if I could see. I could."

"What's so significant about that?" I asked, irritated. I really wanted to sleep some more, maybe never wake up. That sounded nice.

"What's so significant about that is the fact that I knew the guy," Ricky said. "Most big-name Killjoys or 'leaders' knew him, too. He actually worked with us. We always called him Agent Cherri Cola 'cause he loved the stuff, but his real name was Jimmy. He was doing the same thing you guys were, but he got caught, and they turned him."

Ricky sighed and shook his head.

"I have a question," I said, sitting up. Ricky looked at me. "Ask away."

"How did Kristan get here?" I asked. He grinned. "She may have hijacked a plane. Shh. No one really knows; it was a private one."

"Nice," I said. You didn't see too many female Killjoys for some reason.

"Hey, guys?" Kristan poked her head into the room. It was then that I realized the door had fallen off of it's single hinge and was leaning against the wall. "Grace wants to know if she can see Frank."

I was on my feet in an instant, but it immediately proved to be a terrible idea. I got dizzy and found myself grabbing for something to steady myself. I nearly fell over before Ricky grabbed my hand and helped me out.

"I wanna see her," I said. He nodded and led me into the radio room by the elbow, not letting go the whole time.

Grace was sitting with Steve and his equipment. Seeing her face triggered a tidal wave of emotions inside of me. I nearly burst into tears.

"Frank!" The young girl that I had come to love like my own kin jumped up. She ran over, and I knelt down to hug her tight. She buried her head in my shoulder.

"You doing alright?" I asked softly. She shook her head. "I know," I whispered. "It's all going to be okay, though. I promise. One day, it's gonna be okay."

I didn't know if I was saying it for her or for me.

There was a series of beeps, and Kristan took the seat by Steve that Grace had been sitting in. She spun around in the chair, her blonde hair flying out over her shoulders. She looked at a large sheet of paper that was feeding out of a machine making the beeping noises.

"Steve," she said, reaching out and touching his arm. "Look at this."

Steve turned around and eyed the paper. "Are you serious?!" he cried, a smile spreading across his face. Kristan nodded, smiling too.

"What is it?" Ricky asked.

"KORSE SURRENDERS!"

My eyes nearly flew out of my head. "Really?!" I cried. "They're giving up?!"

Kristan slammed her hand down on a button to start recording. "This is DJ Hot Chimp here, interrupting your jams to bring you the breaking news of Better Living Industries' surrender! As of today, Korse and his team have decided to step down, and we have the recording here for you to hear yourself!"

She pressed a few more buttons, then stopped her broadcast to put on BL/ind's. Steve turned on the radio so we could hear it ourselves.

There was a bit of static, and then a woman's voice came through the speakers. "This is Better Living Industries, informing you that as of twenty-one hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty-eight seconds, we will hand our power back over to those who had it before us. However, we shall only do this on several conditions. You must have your memory wiped of the past twenty years. This time frame will be perfect, seeing as we will have a perfect amount of time to clean up any areas that need fixing. All mental and physical effects of the past years will be reversed, excluding death. This will begin tomorrow."

There was more static, then Kristan hit the record button again. "Well, you heard the woman," she said. "All mental and physical effects of their domination will be reversed."

"That's right," Steve said. "So I guess this is it?" Kristan asked. "I suppose so," Steve said. He took a breath.

"Alright, children," he said. "The lights are out and the party's over. It's time for me, Dr. D, to start running and say goodbye for a little while. And I know you're gonna miss me, so I'll leave you with this: You know that big ball of radiation we call the sun? Well it'll burst you into flames if you stay in one place for too long. That is, if the static don't get you first. So remember; Even if you're dusted, you may be gone, but out here in the desert, your shadow lives on without you. This is Dr. Death Defying signing off."

He searched around a little bit, trying to find the best song to play. Kristan directed his hand to a certain button. He smirked and pressed it. The country's old national anthem began to play.

I wished Gerard and Mikey and Ray could have been there for the celebration that night.

Gerard would have loved when we smashed the computer.