Bleached Out Eyes

Chapter 3 - Afterdark

Before too long, Kobra Kid was conscious and aware of where he and Party Poison had ended up, sat up and drinking by himself.

By now, it was too dark to even see the sand and grit swirling past the windows, the four men having brought blankets and lamps into the back room to keep warm now that the sun was gone from the sky.

The two brothers sat on one booth seat, sharing a blanket that was wrapped around their shoulders, while Ghoul and Jet sat on another seat, a blanket each.

Party had said that they did have their own blankets and lamps, but they were still outside with the bike and there was no way of getting to them. Jet had tried to take their minds off the possible loss of what few belongings they had by asking about their lives before coming out to the Zones.

"I was working at a pill dispensary," Kobra explained, sounding ashamed, "I really had no other options. Once you take those career aptitude tests in school, you have to pick one. That was the only job I was told I could have, so... I had to. I would have left sooner but, in the City, credits are credits. You can't make swaps like you can out here. I had to pay for rent and food so saving up to get out of there took a while."

"What about you, Party?" Ghoul asked, "I mean, you're brothers, you must have helped each other out?"

The two brothers looked at each other for a moment, but looked away again, down at their drinks - Party was still holding the same water bottle that Ghoul had given him well over two hours ago.

"I, um... I-I guess... I didn't know about his plan to escape? For a while at least. And I was working a better job so it was easier to save up?"

"What was your job?"

Party hesitated again, fiddling with the cap of the bottle, his face still hidden behind a curtain on hair.

"An entertainer. I-I'd rather not talk about it."

"So you worked for Better Living?"
"He said he doesn't want to talk about it," Kobra cut in, his voice hoarse but stern, "Just drop it."

They fell silent again, Ghoul feeling uncomfortable; he and Jet hadn't spent much time with other desert dwellers for a while, just Dr D and Show Pony, so he'd forgotten how unsociable Jet could be.

"So how about you two?" Party asked quietly, eyes still downcast, "Ghoul said that you've been out here longer. So what's your origin story, Jet?"

"I grew up in one of the old neutral towns left after the Helium wars, but after half of the locals got ghosted for hiding Killjoys, I wanted to fight back. I learnt as much as I could from the people who passed through now and then, and left when I was twenty and tried to find a clan who would take me. I ended up following some Zone runners around for awhile, learnt some basic mechanical skills. One Zone runner, Show Pony, took me to Dr Death Defying. He needed his wheelchair fixing, and in return he hooked me up with someone who had old fix-em-up cars. I got a Trans Am out of it so it was a fair deal. A few weeks after that I found Ghoul."

"And how did you make it out here, Ghoul?"

He shrugged, "I hung around in the Lobby way more than I should have, met people who were there to get out. I didn't really know what was outside of the city, but I heard stories and knew that, whatever was out here, it'd be a better kind of life. It might be shorter, and maybe more dangerous, but at least I'd be living, not just existing. But, yeah... I made it out here on my own. I met Jet on my second day out here and the rest is history, we make a great team - Jet's all about logic and justice, and I'm, like, freedom and anarchy. Like... we're two sides of the same coin, so it works," he glanced at Jet and smirked, "I'm just glad he puts up with my shit, to be honest. I'd be screwed if I was out here alone."