Keep Running (Killjoy)

08

D.A.'s POV:
The morning was practically the same as the last- Fun Ghoul teasing me about Party and him finding us just before the announcements were broadcasted through all the speakers. We were taking Grenade this time in place of Kobra, who was obviously still healing from his arm wound. According to the guys, she'd gotten the hand of handling ray guns better than Wyvern or Lithium at the moment so she was the first who got called to come with the group. My car was still being checked in so we drove in the Trans Am again, this time closer to Battery City- a more dangerous location since there would easily be more BL/Ind siders.

The various groups of killjoys spread out around the landscape, pairing up together and looking out for Dracs or S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W's. It only took a few seconds before the sound of ray guns being fired filled the hot, desert, morning air to notify us all of the enemy not too far off from us. Grenade and I stood back-to-back so we had eyes on both sides of our positions, holding out our weapons in case we needed to use them within the blink of an eye. The black and white machines managed to split up each pairing of killjoys out, making it harder for us to communicate a solid plan with each other. Some tried to push inwards while others came closer to retreating completely. At that point, we were a mess in comparison. My ray gun had been knocked out of my hands when a Drac had snuck up on both of us and Grenade become occupied with another Draculoid. So in the middle of hand-to-hand combat with the strange robotic creature, a shot rang out and barely missed the side of my ribs before a heavy object collided with the back of my head to turn my vision into blackness. That battle scene was full on adrenaline pumping through my veins and fear crept into my mind for the last nanoseconds that I managed to stay awake for. There was a possibility that I heard my name being called right as my body was thrown over the Drac's shoulder.

P.P.'s POV:
There were a few things I definitely hated about this life. One of them being that the days would consist of fighting machines that couldn't feel a thing then became defective after ghosting. Another was the difficulty of losing people for at least a temporary time from them battling the controlling, government industry. Just as a S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W fell to its knees a foot away from me with blood seeping from its chest, I saw a familiar girl's passed-out body being carried away by the opposing side. The fiery-haired one who had been the other half of her duo fought back, trying hard to reach the other Drac while fighting the one in front of her angered face. Shooting down the Drac in front of Grenade, I ran as fast as possible to catch up with the speedy machines to get back Destroya.

If they managed to get her inside of the city, who knew what would become of her. She'd be experimented on and tortured for never joining the Better Living side. They'd force her to swallow down the Happy Pills several times a day, breaking her mentality and clouding her mind into thinking the way they wanted her to. Her emotions would be gone. My running speed increased greatly at my anxious thoughts but it was no use. The Drac had disappeared inside of the Battery City walls and the only way to get her back would be to sneak into the city in order to save her, hopefully, just at the right time.

The rest of the BL/Ind workers retreated back into their buildings beyond the wall and killjoys ran back to their vehicles. I reached for the other members of our group to tell them about what happened with Destroya only a few moments prior.

"The fückers," Fun Ghoul murmured.

Wyvern started tearing up, "So she's gone?"

"No, we have to make an attack on Battery City and sneak in. She should be strong enough to fight them all for now." I explained.

"We've gotta tell Dr. D." Lithium added.

"He'll round up a good group and it'll be easier for us to get her back. Just as long as she doesn't pass out with the directing leaders since they're the ones who deal with the medication dosages and shït." Jet Star continued.

I grimaced. Destroya was definitely unconscious when the Drac got her and that would mean she might have been given the pills already. And this was why I fücking hated being attached to people- they get taken away or they leave and you're left to pull yourself together. As a killjoy, we were supposed to be able to move on fast and fight well for our freedoms. Attachment and emotional baggage? There's no room for that garbage in this kind of lifestyle.

As I was driving us all back with the dusty wind kicking up behind the tires, my mind was quick to figure out a rough plan of what Better Living was doing and how far they could get with her. Through all the possible tangents of the situation, our fellow killjoy could either have been hiding around the various buildings or turned into a Draculoid by then. Whatever actually happened, we would have to invade the city as soon as possible or else Destroya would be ghosted by next afternoon. Screw attachment. Screw feelings. Screw emotional baggage. No matter wha, we were saving her. Or at least I would go out there on my own.