The Kids From Yesterday ➸ Danger Days

forty four • the end.

Kobra had tuberculosis. 

It could've been a lot worse, Party mostly supposed, because he could have had cancer or something. The only issue was the fact that he needed a lot of medicine, and they couldn't keep making runs to the city every time they ran out. Jet had gotten vaccines for the rest of them to at least try and keep it so nobody else got sick (yes, he'd stolen them and he felt a little bad about it, but they couldn't make this shit and Battery City could at least get shipments). He'd had to label the one he'd gotten specifically for Grace, then he felt bad due to the fact it had made her cry.

He'd seen it coming, he really had, but it still made him feel bad. She was slowly but surely getting older though, and kept being able to do more and more things for herself, which made things a lot easier on them in the long run. 

Seeing everything change was an odd feeling, it made Jet feeling incredibly reminiscent of his own youth. Of course, it was a mess, but it was still better times. Sometimes, he questioned whether or not he was on drugs during a few years, and whatever the hell made him kill a bunch of people, but it didn't matter any more. 

It was about three months later that Jet figured Ghoul was coming down with tuberculosis too. Honestly, Party trying to stay positive kept getting crushed and it was rather depressing for everyone. Still though, the fact that they both kept smoking was frustrating because it wasn't doing anything good. 

Instead of worrying about it too much, they'd go on runs instead. Sometimes, Jet and Ghoul would take turns playing the old acoustic they still had. Occasionally, Kobra would join in by coming up with something to drum a beat on. It worked for the most part when it came to forgetting, it made it nice.  Sometimes, Party would bring Ghoul up to the roof and they'd sit on the edge, have some goddamn juice, and watch the sun set over the desert and well into the night. The redhead also went on runs with Kobra, eventually getting to the point where the blond had staked his claim in shotgun. 

Sooner or later, they started to all go out together again. It had been a very, very long time since that had really happened, but there they were. Eventually, they started to take Grace out too. Not too often, but something to get her out of the diner when Show Pony was being a dick. Yeah, sooner or later they'd have to actually give her a gun, but right now with her just coming along for the ride...that was good enough.

Kobra was standing atop a hill, looking around as he kept his free hand near his gun. His other hand adjusted his sunglasses and then pulled up his bandana to cough into. Today wasn't a good day; he felt like shit, and not that it wasn't rare for him to feel in such a way, it was to a higher extent. Jet wandered up the hill after some time, standing next to Kobra and wrapping an arm loosely around him.

"Hey," he said softly, looking down at the blond. "You feeling okay?"

"Okay, I guess," he said with a small shrug. "Could be a lot worse, but today's still not a good day."

Jet sighed softly, glancing out into the desert. "We should head to the meeting point. I ran into three dracs on my way here. It's not what it used to be, c'mon." 

Kobra followed afterwards, staying quiet for a long time as he tailed the taller Killjoy. Eventually, they found the parked car and Party and Ghoul inside. The taller of the two walking had to knock on the window, the two Killjoys inside jumping apart to look at them. Ghoul ended up climbing into the backseat, Jet getting in next to him while Kobra took his usual place in shotgun. 

"You guys ready?" Party asked, glancing back.

"Yeah."

Ghoul had to get close enough to whisper "I'm there, baby" in Party's ear (this earned a small laugh, and in turn a small bite on his ear).

"Fuckin' ready."

Party looked between all of them, putting his glasses back on. "Then let's go."

-

With the other killjoys asleep (Kobra finally just laying on Jet's chest and Ghoul in Party's own lap), Party looked at the still awake Grace and smiled as much as he could muster, which wasn't much. "And that's it. How we became who we are. More or less."

"I liked that."

Party chuckled. "We're a mess, honestly, but aren't we all?"

"You guys aren't. Some of my other friends think you're gods or something."

"We aren't gods, we're just regular guys. Regular guys who are busy running and trying to keep from getting ghosted. That's a lie, isn't it? Because one day, we will, and I'd rather die fighting than live and grow old with Better Living still intact... If we don't make it out of this, promise me, fucking promise me that you'll bring that shit down for us. In our memory."

"I promise."

It was within the month that Better Living Industries took the Missile Kid, and the Fabulous Four made their final stand against the corporation.

-

You only live forever in the lights you make.

When we were young we used to say;

That you only hear the music when your heart begins to break.

Now we are the kids from yesterday.