Danger Days

2

Mikey slowly rolled the car through the streets of the abandoned neighborhood. It was eerily silent. He stopped the car at the end of the street in front of what appeared to have previously been some business building.

"How'd you know about this place?" Mikey asked quietly.

"I hid out here once before," Frank whispered. He opened his door and stepped outside. He looked around, trying to pretend he wasn't disturbed by the emptiness of the town.

"Sh-Should we, um... look around?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah," Gerard said. "You never know who else might be hiding out around here." His eyes flitted to Frank. Frank rolled his eyes. He drew his gun and started walking towards the tall building to their right. Mikey and Gerard followed close behind him.

As soon as Frank opened the door, the scent of death overwhelmed them. Bodies lined the hallways, distinguishable now only by their clothes.

"Oh, my God," Mikey said. He clasped a hand over his mouth and ran back out of the building. A few seconds later, Frank could hear him violently retching.

Gerard sighed and shook his head. "Hey, listen," he said, "Uh... Thanks for helping us out back there."

Frank shrugged. "Yeah," he said. "I mean... You guys would've died otherwise."

"Yeah." Gerard shoved his hands in his back pockets. "I'm, uh, gonna go check on Mikey."

"Okay," Frank said. "I'll take a look around."

Gerard glanced around the old entryway. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'll be alright," Frank said. "If I feel weird, I'll leave."

Gerard nodded, then walked outside. Frank turned down the hallway again. He gagged before taking a few steps forward. As he moved further into the building, there grew a knot, deep in his gut. An intense feeling of unease overtook him. Shit, okay, maybe I should leave, he thought.

He turned around, and was immediately grabbed and restrained, his gun being knocked from his hand. Frank grunted, but the person crossed his arms hard behind his back, holding him in place.

"Who the fuck are you?" someone growled. "White suit-wearing fuck!"

Frank was thrown forward onto the ground. He scrambled for his gun, whipping his arm around and aiming it. He looked up and saw a Killjoy standing over him. He had dark, curly hair to his shoulders, and a blue pistol in his hand.

"No, wait, I'm a Killjoy," Frank said quickly. Deja vu. "My name is Frank, I'm wearing these clothes because I just ran away from some Draculoids in town. Look, my gun is green!"

The man glared at him. "I don't care," he growled. "This is my house. Get the fuck out."

Frank stood up. "Come on," he said. "I'm just trying to stay alive out here, same as you. Please? We only need to stay for a couple hours."

"We?"

The man lunged forward to grab Frank, but this time, Frank ducked down and managed to avoid him. He grabbed the man's ankle and yanked it, causing him to fall onto the ground. The man groaned. Frank scrambled to his feet. At that moment, he heard footsteps entering the building. "Frank?"

He turned his head to see Gerard running towards him, Mikey stepping carefully behind him. His attacker used this moment to seize Frank once again, wrestling him into a headlock. He felt the barrel of a pistol being pressed against his skull and stopped struggling.

The brothers lifted their guns and pointed it at the man. "Let go of him," Gerard demanded.

"And just who the hell are you?" asked the man.