The Vortex: Killjoys, Book 1

Chapter Five.

All I could do was stare at the Power Pup before me as I sat at a table inside The Nest.

It had been two weeks since the journal was found, and we still needed to figure out who wrote it.

For the most part, things had gone back to normal. Vaya and Vamos were the first to lighten the mood; Atomic and Jazz checked up on me whenever they could, and Val returned to being the same Val I knew before everything happened.

He talked to me again, but only to tell me about missions and raids, what chores needed to be done, and not much else. We never spoke about the Ramona situation, which was fine with me. I wasn't keen on the deep stuff conversation, and he never struck me as someone who enjoyed it. Yet, he still didn't know I knew what he had said, and I planned to keep it that way.

The past two weeks had seen less activity from Dracs since they lost the Motel; it was mostly pretty quiet.

That never meant anything good.

As I finished my food, I got up to throw the can in the trash when I bumped into someone, snapping me out of my thoughts, Cherri.

He smiled and stepped back; I returned the smile.

"Glad to see you on your feet; you had us worried; never seen someone react so quickly to carbon poisoning," He said; I nodded,

"It runs in the family, I guess," Cherri's expression changed from a smile to a pitiful look. He was there the day I'd lost my family and the people I'd grown up with.

I remember most things from that day so vividly it's like they were happening in front of me. My mom died of carbon poisoning, and my father and I tried to save her, and none of it was enough. She died within ten minutes, and my father and I were forced to abandon her as we ran in opposite directions.

Even now, I still remember looking back at him as I ran and meeting Cherri's eyes as he tried to protect my father.

My father never made it to the Nest, though, and Cherri refused to tell me what happened, only that he found peace. I knew what that meant.

"Are you feeling better?" He said, walking with me as I threw away my can.

"I feel fine, I promise," I'd hardly gotten alone time since the incident. Truthfully, it was almost suffocating, but I felt lucky to have people around me that cared enough to check up on me. He nodded, and I called after him as he turned to walk away.

"I know I'm okay now, but I have some questions about the Witch, actually," I said, staring at him; he turned around and met my eyes; he was smiling softly and motioned for me to follow him.

As we walked outside, he turned to me with a glance that told me he knew exactly what I was about to ask. "The Witch and I have had a past; I've met her twice within my lifetime," he said, walking with me outside. Despite it being so hot, the Sun's position told me it was around afternoon time.

Cherri continued as I listened intently, "So many of us strayed away from her when I grew up, and now she's nothing more than a mythical being. For others, even myself, I had trouble wrapping my head around. Most people pass you off for being high on radiation or something, but I think it's something you don't understand until you've gone through it," I nodded slowly; Cherri stopped walking and stood staring at the horizon.

"It's true, we should've been dead, and we were brought back; I can't explain why she chose us, but she did. I understand it's not something you can share with everyone, most people won't even give you the time of day, but I'm here for you, Frost," Cherri said, smiling without looking at her. I could tell he was thinking of something, but I had no clue; he just seemed to be remembering a time that I had no recollection of, off in a distant memory.