Hurricane // Danger Days (Book 2)

02.

The Nest was an abandoned nuclear bomb shelter in the middle of Zone Four. Its existence was yet unbeknownst to BLI, which made it a great spot for the Killjoy General to hang out. General Alien thought of the old bunker as her home, which it was.

The army had taken a huge blow after the Four died, and a lot of them had moved into the Nest for comfort. It was a hub of activity for nomads and merchants, and a home for a lot of groups. Alien had vowed to have it open for anyone who needed a place to stay, and she kept her word.

When Storm and the rest of the group arrived at the Nest and climbed down the long ladder into its main room, Sunset Flash came running towards them. She enveloped her brother in a hug, which he gladly reciprocated.

"Hey Sunset," he greeted her. "We got the new kids out!"

"Really?" She grinned at him. "Are they here?" She looked behind Storm, and saw that the answer to her question was indeed a yes.

What she saw were two of her friends, and three people that she didn't know who looked about her age. There was a boy with bright blue eyes, a girl who was really tall, and a boy with really frizzy hair that stuck up in all directions. They looked like a perfectly normal group of kids except for the fact that they all had white hair. Literally, their hair was pure white. Sunset suspected that this was BLI's doing, and she was right.

She walked up to the boy with blue eyes and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Sunset! What's your name?"

The boy froze for a moment. He looked at her hand, then back at her. "My name's Val," he said tentatively. "What are you doing with your hand?"

Oh yeah, Sunset realized, he has no idea. "It's a handshake," she told him, sounding a bit harsher than she meant to. "When a person holds out their hand to you, you take their hand and move it up and down a bit."

He hesitantly lifted his hand to take hers. She grabbed his hand and shook it up and down a few times.

"Um," he attempted, letting go of her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Sunset. Is that your, uh, Killjoy name?"

"Yeah," she informed him. "The full thing is Sunset Flash, but most people just call me Sunset. Is Val your real name?"

"No," he said quietly. "I never had a name. It came from my subject number, VA1. My whole Killjoy name is Val Velocity."

Val was extremely overwhelmed. He had never seen this many people in one place; he'd never even seen this many people in general! Sure, he was still running on pure adrenaline from his escape, but apparently, he had anxiety. Great.

"I'm not sure if we have any beds left," Sunset interrupted his thoughts, "but I'll see if I can find you one. The quarters are downstairs." She took his hand again and began to lead him through the crowd to the stairwell.

Meanwhile, Volume was loving the attention. A bunch of people came to introduce themselves, and he loved seeing the surprise on their faces when he told them that he was raised in a lab.

And Volt was still talking with Benzedrine. They were really getting along. He explained to her what it was like being a medic, and she instantly fell in love with the idea. He promised he would teach her everything he knew. They both knew they were going to be best friends.

"Hey, you're back!"

The room went silent as heads turned to the back of the room, where a girl with a long braid of purple hair was standing.

"Why'd y'all go quiet? Keep talking, I'm not stopping you!" She began making her way through the people until she reached the newcomers. "Hello, I'm Atomic Alien, but you can just call me Alien for now," she told them.

"She's also the general of the entire army," Storm added jokingly, "but she always forgets to mention that."

Alien stuck up her middle finger at him. "Anyways, if you have any questions, just come to me. These three..." she moved to gesture to the three Killjoys who had brought them in, but she trailed off as she noticed that something was missing. "Wasn't there three kids on that list?"

"Val already ran off with Sunset," Hunter told her. "She taught him how to shake hands, it was pretty awkward."

"Oh, okay," she sighed in relief. "Anyways, what are you guys' names?"

"I'm Volume," said Volume, "And that's Volt." He gestured to Volt, who was still engaged in conversation with Benzedrine.

"One-worders, I see," Alien commented. "Did you say the other guy's name was Val? Does he have an alias yet?"

"That is his alias," Hunter answered. "Val Velocity."

"Ah, alright," she smiled. "That's actually pretty cool. Anyways, I'm gonna let these guys take care of you from here on out. Over and out!" She two-finger saluted the group, and the Killjoy veterans responded by formally saluting her.

Suddenly, Volt seemed to appear behind Volume and scared him to death by saying, "She seems pretty cool," in his ear.

"Ahh!" he flinched. "Don't do that! And I think she's a bit weird."

"She looked sad," Volt realized. "She had that look, right behind her eyes."

🌩

Alien managed to sneak out of the crowd to the ladder, which she used to climb to the surface. She walked along the highway for a moment, until she found the spot she was looking for. She sat down on the sand, her braid falling over her shoulder and her bangs falling into her face.

"Hi Taylor," she said casually. "How're you doing?"

No reply.

"Remember that one patrol we went on?" she began. "With those kids who were arrested for singing—well, more like screaming—Bohemian Rhapsody in Central Square? Yeah, that was crazy. They practically tripped over themselves running to join us." She paused for a moment. "You know, that was the first time I really realized that I loved you. We were walking out of there, and it just hit me like a pile of bricks. I love Taylor Alvarez was repeating itself in my head for hours. Well, I wasn't saying Taylor Alvarez, but you know what I mean. You don't need your alias anymore."

She pulled a small flower from her pocket. "I brought you this. I figured it was a good time, you know?"

She placed the flower on the sand in front of the headstone, and stood up.

"I really hope you can hear me right now," she commented. "I mean, it seems scientifically impossible, but sometimes... sometimes I just feel like you're here with me, ya know?"

Still silence.

"It's nice talking to you anyway though," she smiled. "Well, I miss you. I love you. Talk to you tomorrow."

And with that, she walked back towards the Nest.

Violent Vendetta stayed there, resting peacefully in the sand.