Silence // Danger Days (Book 1)

17.

The three gangs departed after a while. Storm had discussed drum lessons with Benzedrine (due to Donnie's injury, he couldn't play, so Poison had thought it easier to just ask Benzedrine), as well as having shared his extensive knowledge of Analog tech with Horseshoe. He was still buzzing with adrenaline after the... the Event. He hadn't been as happy as he was in that moment since the Wars began in 2012. His hand was clasped in Poison's for the majority of the time until they had to get into their separate cars. Poison helped the Girl climb into the car, then turned to his... friend? Boyfriend? Partner? Storm had no idea at this point.

"So we're gonna spend the night at Al and Ven's place tonight," Poison told him.

"Really?" Storm grinned.

"Al said we need some 'quality time'," he made air quotes as he said this.

Storm laughed. "Of course she did! That's our Al!"

Poison gave the younger boy a small kiss on the cheek. "See ya on the other side," he said with a wink.

Storm's face turned as red as Poison's hair. "I—um, you too," he stuttered.

"Stormy!" Alien's voice called him.

Poison got into his car, and Storm ran over to the van. He got into his usual spot next to Sunset and grinned at her.

The van leaped forward suddenly, and the two of them were thrown backward, as they tried to catch up with the Trans Am.

They found it barreling down the highway, music blaring from its speakers, specifically the Fab Four's own song, Na Na Na. Storm remembered that his own group were filming for the music video, and laughed at the coincidence. The Girl leaned out of the window and stuck her hands out, whooping in delight. Poison was driving and screaming every lyric, his voice echoing with the recording. Of course, all Storm could think about was how beautiful his voice was.

"For mall security,
To every enemy,
We're on your property,
Standing in V formation!"

The rest of the group dutifully sang along with the na na nas. Alien rolled down her window and waved, Ghoul waved back. He leaned forward to notify Poison, and the redhead turned and saluted before continuing to sing.

"Let's blow an artery,
Eat plastic surgery,
Keep your apology,
Give us more detonation!"

Storm loved how happy he looked. He couldn't help but wonder if it was because of him; before when Poison looked happy it always felt forced, in a way, but now it seemed completely genuine.

And Storm? Well, he'd never been happier.

🌩

They arrived at their destination as the sun was sinking below the horizon.

Alien said "Here's our stop!" but the only significant thing Storm could see was a large rock.

They got out and walked over to it. It was about Alien's height (a bit more than five feet, Storm guessed) and looked exactly the same as hundreds of others they'd seen.

Poison slid over to Storm and took his hand. Storm knew it was him without having to look, and his face broke into a grin. They laced their fingers together.

Vendetta walked to Alien's side and bent down to the bottom of the rock. Then they slid their fingers underneath it and lifted it up. It turned out that it was hollow, and underneath it was a metal trapdoor.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Sunset remarked.

The general knelt down and entered a code onto the trapdoor's keypad. It beeped, and the trapdoor opened. Underneath it was a dark manhole with a ladder leading down. Alien pressed a button, and a light turned on at the bottom. She climbed into the hole and motioned for the others to follow.

Each of the Fabulous Four went first, then Sunset. Storm hesitated a bit, but took a deep breath and climbed down.

The tunnel was a lot longer than he thought it would be. It was filled with yellow light from the outdated lightbulbs next to the ladder. However, it was also a lot tighter, and he realized that he was severely claustrophobic. After a few minutes, Alien's voice echoed up to them. "I'm at the bottom. Y'all okay?"

There was a chorus of yeses.

When Storm finally reached the bottom, Poison was waiting for him. The redhead wrapped his arms around him. He smiled into his blue leather jacket.

Poison chuckled and broke the hug. "Come on, I'll show you around." He took Storm's hand again and guided him into the next room.

What Storm found was a large room that looked like a nuclear bomb shelter, which he assumed it probably was. There were a ton of weapons scattered around on tables, as well as various tech items and computers. There were a couple of doors at the edges of the room and a pair of double-doors at the end of it.

"This is what Al likes to call the Nest," Poison told him.

"They have this all to themselves?" Storm was incredulous.

"Well, being the leader comes with a lot of privileges. They need all of the tech to keep track of the army and any attacks that might happen."

The three other members of the Four were milling around. Ghoul was messing with an unfinished contraption, attempting to fix it. Kobra was looking at a shelf that held Alien's CD collection and Vendetta's record collection. Jet had found a guitar and was tuning it.

Poison led Storm to each of the rooms. "So here's the med bay for anyone that's injured... This is Al's office, she's probably in there, never go in unless she says you can... That one at the back leads to the mess hall, there's a ton of food in there, but it's mostly Power Pup... Here's the studio, D's got one too, we recorded our record in here, oh hi Jet... And this leads to the living quarters!" There was a staircase going downwards. Poison gestured for Storm to go first, so he did.

At the bottom of the stairs there was another large room, but instead of tables everywhere, there were beds. Well, more like comfortable-looking cots. Most of them were singles, but there were some double-beds (double-cots?) for couples. There were two doors on the opposite side, which were probably bathrooms.

"We'll probably sleep in one of the corners, near Al and Ven's bed," Poison said. "So, that's pretty much it, do you like it?"

"It's huge," was all Storm could say. "What do they use all this for?"

"Well, sometimes they offer refuge for Killjoys who don't have gangs, or who they just picked up. Most stay here to ride out withdrawal from the meds. But now that you guys are a gang, you'll probably just live here."

"So you mean... we're gonna stay here forever?"

"Unless you don't want to."

Storm wanted to. He loved hanging out with Alien, and even though he and Vendetta weren't that close, he was still a nice guy and was good in a pinch. And of course, Sunset wanted to stay, and he never wanted to leave her.

The only problem was that he didn't know when he'd see Poison again.

"Will you visit?" he asked, taking the redhead's hand.

"'Course I will! You're my boyfriend, right?"

Boyfriend?

Boyfriend...

"Yeah, I guess so!" Storm grinned. "But, uh, how does that work?"

Poison smiled. "Of course... well, the main principle is that we'll only love each other and no one else. But there's lots of PDA involved too," he winked.

"Sounds alright," Storm grinned.