Bleached Out Eyes

Chapter 10 - Earwig

When the zones were filled with as much static as they were, it was hard to know which frequencies would be used for broadcasting on any given day. This left Jet to fiddle with the dial of the radio, waiting for Dr Death-Defying's voice to crackle into clarity.

"As I live and breathe, that has to be one of the worst storms I have seen, and that's including when them Dracs kick up the dust. But happy spirits, we are blessed. I've heard news come in from Zone Six saying that the storm is near enough passed and y'all should be free to go and rain havoc in the Zones once more in a day or two. Now, don't get ahead of yourselves, mind. If you've gotta go out and the sky is still howling, then keep your pretty lil' faces covered. We don't want no injuries. I will say, I have missed my dear sweet Zone runners; and, if you're listening, babies, Daddy can't wait to have you all home again. Now over to my darling diamond, Hot Chimp, for your daily dose of delicious tunes."

"Finally!" Jet laughed, "We can probably head out tomorrow, start looking for batteries!"

"First things first," Kobra started, "We've got to get to our bike though, see how much stuff we can salvage from our bags."

"What about after that?"

They looked to Party, who was sat on the edge of a table, feet hanging limply as he looked around at the other three.

"After that, we go and trade with other killjoys and get batteries for you," Kobra replied plainly, "Jet just said."

Party frowned and shook his head, "No I mean... After that. Once we have batteries. Do we all just..." he shrugged, "Go our separate ways?"

All eyes were then on Jet, who looked a little stunned at the attention.

"Ah, well... Uh," Jet scratched his head, looking at the floor, " I-I mean... You guys, from what you've told us, it's a miracle you've lasted as long as you have out here. And if your bike's ruined... The Trans Am is a five seater, so it's not like we don't have room."

"Is that you offering to let us join you permanently?" Kobra raised an eyebrow, something like hope glimmering in his eye.

Jet raised his eyebrows and nodded, like it wasn't obvious, "Yeah! Of course! I don't want... If something happened to you guys, I'd feel responsible for not, like... Taking you in."

Party's eyes seemed to light up, possibly quite literally, as he smiled with glee at Jet's decision.

"You really mean it?"

"Yeah! Out here, there's strength in numbers, and I think... I think we make a great team, you're both pretty shiny. Kobra," he turned to the blond, "You seem to be great at math and, as a mechanic, you're the kind of guy I need on my team. And Party," Jet's smile softened in a way Ghoul had never seen before, "I think you need us, people who know electronics. We fixed wiring you didn't even know was broken! And we need you... You spend twenty hours out of every day awake, and having you keeping watch at night, it could be really great for my paranoia."

Jet had some great points, and Ghoul wasn't about to argue anything; Jet's paranoia was bad at the best of times, his hand always resting on his gun, finger twitching towards the trigger. Having someone watching over them all as the slept would be one of the best additions to their lives out in the zones.

"Also," Ghoul piped up, finally finding his voice, "How many killjoy clans and factions have you seen with less than three people? We always group together, it's only natural. Jet's right, we should stick together. It'd be best for all of us."

"So," Kobra looked around, one side of his mouth curling up, "That's that then? The two dangerous duos are now a fab four?"

"Yeah," Jet laughed, "But we've gotta come up with a better group name than just the fab four."