Silence // Danger Days (Book 1)

11.

As the group moved towards the building, Storm noticed that they were being stared at by several Killjoys milling around. He wasn't sure if they were looking at him and Sunset or Alien and Vendetta.

One group of three came up to them and stopped Alien.

"Hey General Alien," the leader, a girl with pink hair, said.

"Hey!" Alien smiled and greeted her. "What's up?"

The girl looked starstruck. "My name's Sonic Stardust," she said. "These are Neon Revenge and Toxic Rocket." She gestured to her friends, then held a poster out to the general. "Could you maybe sign this for us?"

"Sure," Alien agreed and pulled a Sharpie marker out of her pocket. She scribbled on the poster (Storm noticed that the marker was metallic gold). The message said:

To Stardust, Revenge, and Rocket: Stay awesome, and keep running! -General Al

She handed the poster back to Stardust, who squealed with delight. "Thank you!" she said, and the group ran back to where they were.

Storm was shocked. This was just like how people treated celebrities years ago, as if they were gods.

"Do you do this every day?" he whispered to Alien.

"Yup," she told him. "It's all just acting, really. I pretend that I'm the huge hero everyone thinks I am and act accordingly. It's not so hard once you get used to it. They didn't recognize you, though," she added with a smirk. "That's a good thing."

"I guess so." He realized that if anyone found out who he and his sister were, they would be treated the same way. He was horrified at the prospect, so he pushed the thought from his mind as they entered the building.

The interior was basically a combination of Jared and Shannon's shop in the Lobby and the Fab Four's diner. It had an assortment of racks and shelves which were organized by item, but they were more randomly scattered, and filled with a strange variety of items. There were a couple of Killjoys perusing the shelves, but there were more outside than there were inside (which Storm didn't understand, due to the unbearable heat).

"Tom!" Alien yelled. "Where the hell are you?" All of the others in the room looked at her, but then looked away as if this was normal. For all Storm knew, it probably was.

"I'm at the desk, dumbass!" a masculine voice yelled back.

"Follow me," she gestured, and the other Killjoys complied.

They followed the general through a maze of racks until they reached the back of the room, where a man was sitting at a counter. He was definitely not dressed like a Killjoy, but wouldn't exactly blend in in the city either. He looked overdramatically annoyed when he saw Alien. "Well if it isn't the most annoying little sister in the Zones."

"If it isn't my douchebag brother!" she sassed back.

They stared each other down for a moment, then both burst out laughing. The man held his arms out, and the general hugged him. He jokingly pulled her goggles down over her eyes and she jumped back. She tried to fix it quickly but ended up having to take her goggles off completely to do so. When she finished, she punched the man in the arm. He just laughed.

"If you haven't already figured it out," Alien sighed, "this is my brother, Tommy Chow Mein."

Chow Mein smiled at the two newcomers. "'Sup?" he noticed Vendetta then and gave him a bro hug. After he did this, he held his hand out to Storm. "What's your name, kid?"

He tried to act as if he wasn't anxious, like Alien had. "Storm. Silent Storm." He shook the salesman's hand firmly. Sunset did the same.

Then, Chow Mein did a double take. He looked the two over many times, then turned to Alien and whispered in her ear. She nodded.