The Vortex: Killjoys, Book 1

Chapter Six.

Two days later was my first mission back with the team. As I geared up, I shoved two daggers into a knife sheath that had been added to my knee-high combat boots.
Some days required more gear than others, and today was one of them. When I finished tucking the knives into the boot's sheaths, I threw on my combat jacket and looked at myself in the living room mirror.

The entire outfit was black, made of some type of nanocomposite material that helped protect against laser burns, though it wouldn't stop it from going right through, mainly the ones that just grazed.

Most Killjoys decorated their combat gear, but I had left mine as I'd gotten it, aside from two cyan stripes running up alongside the sides of both boots, a cyan-painted jacket collar, and a giant white snowflake outlined in cyan that had been a gift from Jen. In my respect, I stood out from the three other Killjoys in the room who wore the same material, yet theirs was full of color. Aside from Val's jacket, which looked similar to mine, except the back read the words "Praise Her." Not that he ever seemed religious. He'd said it was an inside joke with himself the first time I'd seen it, I never cared to ask more, but I saw the humor in it now.

As I trudged with our rations in one bag and another bag of spare clothes out to the car, Vaya rushed over to help me with the heavier of the two bags two while opening into the cool evening air.
As soon as we were outside and out of earshot from the house, I looked at Vaya and said, "Okay, spill, who was in my room while I was gone?" They seemed confused, then seemed to put two and two together, and almost seemed to laugh.

"Who do you think? He seemed to be moping around the house while you weren't there. He would even call off missions to stay home or send us out in his place. Talk about abuse of power and favoritism!" Vaya whisper-yelled toward the end.

"But yeah, it almost doesn't surprise me he went in there. I'm telling you,  he was acting so off. I can't tell you why, and the room thing is bizarre, but it was like you died or something—refused even to address what was going on, even saying your name and snapping at us when we did," Vaya said, shutting the car door and leaning over the hood. I did the same.

"Could he have been there while I was at The Diner?" I asked quietly. Even though I still didn't understand the invasion of privacy, it's not like it mattered much to me. That place was just a room to me. I was just happy to be back.
Vaya shook their head no and smirked while saying, "Fuck no, that boy would not leave your side or even the building until you were awake. He slept, showered, and ate at that old hideout until you woke up during the middle of them talking,".
"But I thought he went on whatever mission where you all found that journal," I said quietly, a confused expression on my face.
"No, not him or Atomic, obviously not Jen either. Though Atomic and Jen would go home at night, he stayed. He didn't say a word to anyone. Jen just brought him food every morning, he thanked her, and that was that," Vaya said, shrugging.
"He'd probably do it for any of you, too. I know I would," I said, and I honestly did believe that. As tough as Val was, he seemed to care about all of us in his way.
"You're probably right. Still, I think he just missed having you around. Best not to read too much into it," Vaya said, moving away from the hood and heading back inside, so I followed.

Once inside, Vaya went to Vamos and discussed the route to Zone Three. Well, there was really only one route to take; they seemed to be just arguing to argue.
Val sat at the kitchen island with a can of peaches. Canned food was almost all you could get nowadays, there was hardly any area to grow food nearby aside from where Zone 7 would be, but that wasn't somewhere many people went.
So, for the most part, if we were lucky, some gas stations sold canned foods, which helped a lot since canned dog food was the most abundant food and protein source in the Zones, and it tasted god awful.

I walked over and sat next to him on a stool. He looked over at me and passed the can of peaches toward me. It was a little under halfway finished. I gave him a small smile and started eating.
They were heaven compared to the dog food I'd gotten so used to, and it had been a few weeks since I'd eaten anything else.
The twins were still arguing. I turned to him and said, "I just know you were hiding these," I said, shoving more peaches in my mouth.
The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, and he shrugged.
"Maybe I did, but I paid for them. You're lucky you're getting any," he said.