Hurricane // Danger Days (Book 2)

13.

Storm wasn't as familiar with motorcycles as he'd like. Alien had taught him how to ride one about a year ago, but he hadn't practiced since. Surprisingly though, he managed to ride one out of the Nest's garage (a feature that was added shortly after people started visiting the Nest regularly) and onto Route Guano without much event. He followed the roads to the coordinates Alien had sent to his communicator.

As he drove, he went over the events of the last two years. Before that first day, March 6th, 2019, he would have never imagined himself in this situation. He was just a kid, a senior in high school, with a slightly annoying little sister and a not-quite-dysfunctional family. The only thing he had to worry about was whether or not he would graduate high school with all his credits.

Now it was June 3rd, 2021, and his world had flipped entirely on its head. He hadn't graduated high school, but that was the least of his worries. His father was dead, he was now living in the radiation-infested desert, and had both met his best friends and seen many of them die. He had met the love of his life, and hadn't even gotten to spend a year with him. He had met his best friend, and she'd suffered the same thing as he did within four days.

Then everything stopped. Alien had been reelected twice, MARS had reaffirmed themselves in the desert, that gang from the Lobby called Palaye Royale had gone on to become Killjoys, but nothing major happened. The army had slowly moved on from the Four, and so had Storm, though he often looked back on his memories with them and relived the sadness he'd felt. Alien hadn't quite moved on from Vendetta yet, but that was to be expected. She lived more in the past than anyone he'd ever known. However, she never cried. He knew she was extremely sad, crushed even, but she never showed it. She told him that she'd built up so many walls over the years that she couldn't bring them down if she tried. The only person who could do that was Vendetta.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, the Ultra Vs, the extremists, and Sonic Revolution had wormed their way into Storm's routine. He was just now getting the time to reflect on how being out here had changed him, and these last two weeks had been a great example. He had friends—no, a family—now, but he was also so loyal to them that he blew up at anything that got in their way or his.

And now it was payback time.

Storm looked into the distance, and he spotted it—a giant, rectangular warehouse, just as Alien had described it to him. The extremists' base.

As he got closer, he psyched himself up for what was about to happen. But what if I start actually believing them? What if I end up joining them for real? He mentally kicked himself. Are you kidding, dumbass? You'd never betray Al.

He wasn't really sure where to go, until he saw a mass of cars surrounding what looked like the building's front entrance. He parked the bike between a few others near the warehouse's wall and hopped off. He was about to head for the entrance when he spotted a familiar shock of bright-white hair and a black denim jacket that he dreaded the sight of.

Val-fucking-Velocity.

He was leaning on the wall, lighting a cigarette. He seemed to be alone. Before thinking about the decision, Storm walked over to him, grabbed both of his shoulders, and pushed him against the wall.

"Hey, what the hell?" Val struggled in Storm's grip. "Who are you?"

"More importantly," Storm started calmly, "What are you doing here, Velocity? It was bad enough, with you insulting my best friend and pulling my sister into your business, but siding with the extremists?"

"Wait." Val looked closer at Storm. "You're Sun's brother. Storm!"

Sun? "Just answer my question."

"I'm undercover, okay?" he whisper-yelled, pulling out of Storm's grip. "With all this shit happening, I thought, 'if the general's not doing anything about it, then I will.' And I'm the perfect man for the job, 'cause I already know some of their point of view! Except without the killing."

Storm sighed, vexed. "You really think Alien's not doing anything? She sent me in here to do the same exact thing. Now, I think you should get on that bike, ride back over to the Nest, and stay there. And if I hear that you've done anything to hurt Sunset—"

"You really think I'd do that?" Val was getting angry. "She's my best friend, I'd never hurt her! And right now, I think I've been more of a brother to her than you have lately."

Storm was definitely not in the mood for this asshole's argument. "Just fuck off, Velocity," he said, then turned towards the door.

"Hey, kid," Val called to him as he was about to answer. "You don't want to fight? That's fine. But if you walk in there randomly, you're gonna be accused of a lot of shit. Sun would kill me if I let that happen to you, so at least let me show you around. Then I'll get out of your hair." He laughed to himself, then said, "Even though you barely have any left."

"First of all, you're three years old, you can't call me 'kid'," Storm argued. "Second, insulting my hair, really? That's low." He sighed. "But sure. Lead the way, dickhead." He decided then and there that Hurricane would not be an awkward, anxious nerd, but rather a confident almost-asshole-but-not-really. He was going to act badass or die trying.

Val stepped in front of Storm and pulled the door open. "After you, ma'am," he smirked.

Storm flipped him off, then waltzed in like he owned the place.

The inside of the warehouse was darker than the inside of the Nest, and of course, a lot bigger. There were very many shelves and racks scattered around, which, if one looked closer, contained many different types of guns, bombs, and other weapons. It was very crowded, and the people looked a lot more... rebellious than ordinary Killjoys.

"This is the Hub," Val said. "It doesn't get more Riot than this. Oh, and they call themselves the Riot, or Rioters. It would be weird if they just called themselves 'extremists', because obviously, they don't think they're doing anything extreme." He said the last bit quietly into Storm's ear so no one would hear him.

"Cool shit," Storm said, attempting to get into character. "Where do I sign?"

"It's not like that," Val said. "It sounds really ganglike and cliche, but there are a couple of challenges you have to complete to get in."

Oh. Well. "Ok then, what are they?"

Val gritted his teeth. "I'm not supposed to tell you," he told Storm. "We can tell people that we 100% know aren't going to do it, but seeing as you are..."

"Yeah, okay." He had not been prepared for this. What am I going to have to do? It's probably going to be bad.

"Velocity! Dude!" a voice said. Storm turned and saw a very violent looking Rioter behind Val. He was gigantic, had jet black hair, was covered in tattoos, and had a heavy Southern accent.

"Hey, Night!" Val bro-hugged the Rioter.

"Who's this kiddo?" he asked, pointing at Storm.

Storm remembered then that Val didn't know that he was using an alias. "Hurricane," he said quickly, remembering to stand confidently. "Hurricane Lightning."

Val looked surprised for a second, then got Storm's drift. "Hurricane here's looking to join the Riot." He turned to Storm. "This is Night Rider. He knows his way around."

Night grinned. "Good shit! It's awesome that we're gettin' so much support. But I always ask this first: are you sure?"

Storm had never heard of a gang member asking first before letting someone join. And he thought about it. I could die here, he reminded himself. I could never see Sunset again, I could never see Al again... but I'm doing this for them. Everyone on our side is in serious danger as long as the Riot is active. I have to do this.

"Hell yeah!" Storm grinned.

And then it was done. He was past the point of no return.