Silence // Danger Days (Book 1)

20.

Alien was living.

She considered herself the original shipper of Storm and Poison, and they had literally kissed in front of like three thousand people. And it was Storm that insinuated it!

She was so proud. Not just of Storm for conquering his fear of being in front of people, but of Poison for accepting his true romantic nature.

Poison had always been a flaming bisexual. He knew this, all of the Four knew this, Alien and Vendetta knew this, and pretty much anyone who'd seen him on stage knew this. But for a couple of years before the Analog War ended, he had actually been married. Her name was Lindsey. He had fallen for her so hard and so fast, that right after they graduated high school, they eloped. But then, during the wars, Lindsey had decided that she had to become a Killjoy, so she could fight for her rights and those of her family. Poison (well, he wasn't called that then) had begged her not to, but she did anyway. A year later, she died in battle.

This was the cause of Poison's "inability" to fall in love. He swore to himself and everyone around him that he would never love anyone again. After the war ended, he and the rest of the Four decided to go to Battery City and fight in her honor.

And Alien was so happy that he had found someone, because as far as she knew, Lindsey would have wanted him to.

Storm had insisted on staying behind with the Four for the afterparty. Alien really wasn't a fan of parties, so she decided to go back to the Nest alone. They would be fine to drive home because Jet didn't drink.

So she was alone in her van with her thoughts.

After a while of driving down the dark Route Guano in silence, she decided to play some music. She dug around in the console (which was full of CDs) until she found an old MARS record, entitled This Is War. It was the last one they had released, during the Analog War.

She sang along with every word. To Shannon's namesake, Night of the Hunter, a lullaby-like tune called 100 Suns, her personal favorite, a ballad called Hurricane, and the one that they said was their favorite to play live, Closer To the Edge.

Back when Alien had first come into the Zones, in the autumn of 2016, the three guys had been her first friends out there, other than Ven, of course. Capricorn had been her best friend. He had taught her guitar, trained her to fight, and spent the most time with her. She had thought that his brother Night Hunter was the coolest person ever at the time. She looked up to him a lot because he was the best at shooting and battle strategy. But Modern Myth, he was... she couldn't even think of the words. He was sweet, funny, and generally a great guy. He was always there to lift the other guys up when they were sad or help them when they were injured. She hadn't gotten very close to him, and she regretted that.

She missed them.

🌩

Alien arrived at the Nest's landmark rock. She easily entered the code to the trapdoor under the rock, and swiftly climbed down the ladder.

She hopped off of the last rung to find the large main room dark.

"Ven?" she called. "I'm here!"

No reply.

She set off to find him.

She checked her office, nothing. The med bay, also nothing. She figured she'd find him in the mess hall, but he wasn't there either. Maybe he's practicing in the studio...

She opened the door to the recording studio, expecting to find Vendetta plucking away at his bass.

Instead, she found the worst thing she had ever seen in her life.

Sunset and Vendetta, her Vendetta... were kissing.

They heard her come in, and looked up at her like deer in headlights.

She stood for a moment, shocked, then she did the one thing she could think to do.

She ran.

At top speed, she plowed through the Nest, weaving her way through the tables.

A voice called her distantly, but she ignored it. She climbed the ladder as fast as she could bear, jumped out onto the sand, and locked the trapdoor behind her. She climbed back into the van and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

She was still in shock. She knew she couldn't let her emotions get to her until she found a place to stop. After about five minutes, she found a group of sand dunes and drove the van behind them, out of sight of Route Guano. She turned off the engine of the car, her world going dark.

Then, hesitantly, she went over the images in her head.

Ven. Her Ven.

He sat on a stool, bass in hand.

Next to him, sat Sunset Flash, the young ginger girl that she had risked her life to rescue.

Their lips connecting.

Alien finally let the tears stream from her eyes.

He- he couldn't, he wouldn't... would he?

She sat in the dark, overcome with sadness and disbelief, but also with anger and hatred.

And for the first time in years, she felt truly alone.

She turned the car back on and drove back onto the highway. Tears continued to blur her vision.

She sped up, toward the only place she could think to go.

Suddenly, a light flashed in her rear-view. She looked up and was greeted with a pair of headlights, and the sound of an engine that certainly did not belong to a Killjoy.

Her heart sped.

No, no no no NO!!

🌩

". . . - - - . . ."

". . . - - - . . ."

". . . - - - . . ."

"Hey Poison, I think you're getting a message."

"Oh yeah, I am."

"Who's it from?"

"Oh shit..."

"What's wrong?"

"It's an SOS from Vendetta."

"Answer it then!"

"Alright, Storm, alright! Hey man, it's Poison. What's going on?"

"Al's missing."

"Missing? What do you mean—"

"I mean missing, Storm. She's gone and I don't know where she is. I'll explain later."

"Jet!"

"What is it, Poison?"

"Can you get us to the Nest?"

"'Course. What's—"

"We'll explain later. Come on!"

"I hope she's okay."

"Me too, Storm... me too."