Foolish Heart //Danger Days//

15. Alive

      Dr. D lived in a very old shack, and I would never have guessed that this would be the home of all Killjoy communication. They called it the hideout. Piled around the outside of the shack were mountains of garbage and miscellaneous objects. It looked as if Electra's shop got sick and threw up all over the place. I followed Ghoul as he jumped over an old tire and walked towards the front door.

"Dr D? It's Fun Ghoul and Party Poison!" He called out. I heard the sound of wheels rolling against wood from the inside of the shack, making its way towards the door. The wooden door creaked open to reveal a very buff man sitting in a wheelchair. He had long black hair and wore a black bandanna over his head. He had a scruffy dark beard and his eyes were covered by tinted sun glasses.

"Ah, my favorite Killjoys! Good to see you. And you've brought a visitor." Dr. D smiled at me. I let down my guard a little, realizing that he wasn't hostile.

"This is Freia, she's one of us now." Ghoul introduced me to the radio host, who stuck his hand out in front of me.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Doctor Death Defying." He shook my hand.

"Come inside, I'm sure you'll want to meet the rest of us." Dr. D wheeled himself inside, and I followed.

The radio station was rather impressive. It came with everything you could possibly need to record. Victor and Jay would have drooled over this entire set-up.

"Party!" A young man with messy brown hair with a streak of white hurried over to the red-head, his arms outstretched. Party pulled him into a firm embrace, slapping the back of his friend.

"Cola! Good to see you." Party beamed, letting the new man go.

"It's been so long! You guys need to come down here more often." Cola stood with Ghoul and Party, leaving me to stand next to Dr. D.

"You want a little tour?" The old man suggested.

"I'd love it." I smiled, feeling exited. If there was one thing I loved, it was electronics. I would always help set up the stages at small venue concerts back in Detroit, and aced my electronics class in school.

"There isn't too much to see here, just radio equipment, but DJ Psycho records all the sweet music you guys here on the radio to get you through the day. I can show you how that works." Dr. D lead me down a small corridor into a brightly lit room. My heart was racing a mile a minute just looking at the set-up. They had mics and an actual producers booth. I think I even spotted an old guitar in the corner. Sitting at a booth was a man with shock green hair and a pink masquerade mask on his face, similar to the one I still held in my hands. I felt it was customary to put it on now.

"Quite the set-up you've got here." I complimented, leaning against the door frame.

"I'll leave you to check out everything." Dr. D grinned and wheeled out of the room. The man at the desk turned around to face me, his rotating chair squeaking as it moved.

"Thanks. It took forever to collect it all."

'Wait, I recognized that voice.'

"How did you come across it?" I tilted my head.

"A lot of it was trash, but I fixed it. Some of it I swiped from Bat City." He boasted.

"Anyways, I'm DJ Psycho, nice to meet you." Psycho smiled from under his mask, revealing a set of slightly crooked teeth.

'Where do I remember that from?'

"I'm Freia." I reached out to shake his hand. Psycho's smile dropped. He reached for his mask, and pulled it off of his face. His eyes were large, and I noticed how incredibly blue they were.

"Everything okay?" I questioned, lowering my mask as well.

"Freia Clark?" Psycho ignored my question completely.

"Yeah..." I told him cautiously. Psycho's jaw dropped.

"No, she died. She was caught in the fires more than three years ago." Psycho stood up, coming closer to me.

"David?" I choked.

'No, he died with the rest of them.'

"Nobody's called me that in years." David smiled, his ocean blue eyes welling up with tears. I immediately threw my arms around the boy I used to love. The boy who used to love me.

"Oh my god." I buried my face into his shoulder.

"I thought you were killed." I heard David sobbing. I couldn't help but laugh.

"That's what I thought about you." I responded, a wave of happiness washing over me.

"What's going on in here?" Ghoul was standing at the door. I let go of David, turning to face the man at the door.

"Ghoul, this is David, the guy I mentioned last night." I rushed to tell my friend. Ghoul arched his eyebrow.

"So you're the famous David." He smirked. David, or Psycho (I guess) nodded firmly, never failing to wipe that smile off of his face.

"Hey Party! Freia found her boyfriend!" Ghoul called. I felt my cheeks turn all different shades of embarrassment.

"Ghoul, shut up." I hissed.

By that time, Party had rushed over to see what Ghoul was yelling about.

"Oh, hello." He looked at Psycho like a scientist would look at a skeleton, or a professional wrestler meeting his competition.

"Thank you so much for bringing Freia here. I never thought that I'd see her again." Psycho spoke to Party, his voice filled with relief.

"Yeah, no problem." Party responded, sounding confused.

"I can't believe this is happening. I have to tell the others." Psycho clutched onto my hand.

"Wait, what do you mean 'others'?" My eyes widened.

"There's so much you don't know. Sit down and I'll explain everything." Psycho guided me over to another rolling chair. I sat down, eager to hear what he had to say.

"Well, after the bombs hit, it killed a lot of us. It just so happened that Me, Brian, Alan, and Peter were in the recording room at the time. We got beaten up pretty bad, but we managed to survive. It was devastating. We weren't able to take any of the bodies out, and we didn't have time. I got out of there as fast as I could. The five of us ran into Jay, Victor and Ella, and we got out of the city as fast as we could. Alan took Ella, Peter and Victor and I drove Jay and Brian. We didn't know where you where, and I wanted to go back for you but Ella told me that you had already left. We drove all the way out here, but Alan's car got attacked by Dracs. He was able to save Ella and Victor, but they took Peter. For all we know, he's as good as dead. We set up camp in an old church, and I went with Alan to look for you. We searched the entire damn desert, but you weren't here. Victor thought that you must have never made it out of the city, but Ella still believed that you were alive."

I couldn't believe it. All of this time, my friends have been fighting against the industry I lived under. I felt horrible. They probably suffered worse than me.

"They're all alive?" My voice was laced with sadness. I was a wretched human being. I assumed they had all died, and I didn't even look for them. They searched for me, though. They looked and looked, but I was selfishly living my life, thinking that they were the bad guys.

"Yeah, they're still in the church in Zone 4." Psycho informed me.

"We have to go." I immediately turned to Party, who was still standing with Ghoul, staring off into space.

"Hmm?" His hazel eyes flicked back onto me.

"My friends! The band! They're alive! I need to see them." I repeated frantically.

"Of course we'll go!" Ghoul seemed happy about finding my long lost friends.

"Promise me you'll come back and visit? I can't go with you right now." Psycho asked me, warmth settling in his gaze.

"Of course I will. I promise I'll never leave you again." I gave him one last hug, and then I left.

I was going to get my life back.