Hurricane // Danger Days (Book 2)

Epilogue - The Generals

"So you're leaving?" Storm asked, trying not to sound sad.

Alien sighed. "I wish I could stay, but I have to find my dad. He's the only family I have left."

"It'll take a while to get to the border from here," Cola advised, "and there's probably a lot of radiation outside the Zones. What will you do about that?"

"I'll get a mask from Tommy's," she told him. "And I'll stock up on food there too. We all know I have plenty of carbons."

"What if you get bored?" Storm asked. "That's like a weeklong drive if you stop to sleep."

"I'll get like six audiobooks," Alien laughed. "Maybe I'll get sixteen actual books too! And a notebook for writing and drawing. I'd better make a list." She grabbed a yellow legal pad from inside her desk and began scribbling on it with a purple glitter gel pen.

"And, General," Cola added, "what about the chain of command? You have to appoint someone to lead in your absence until the next election."

Alien looked up. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Cola, you're in charge."

"I'm actually not sure about that," Cola said.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

Cola sighed. "I mean that, well, I'm not a leader. Well, I can be if you absolutely need me to, but really, my place is at a leader's right hand. I'm not meant to be telling people to do things, I'm meant to be doing those things. Do you see what I'm saying?"

"Actually, I had a feeling you'd say that," Alien smirked. "You're the best right-hand-man anyone could ask for, Cola."

Cola smiled. "Thanks."

Alien walked over to Storm and smiled at him. "You probably know what I'm going to ask you. You are one of the best leaders I know. If I could have given you a position earlier, I would have jumped at the chance. But hey, why not just do it now?" Alien jokingly cleared her throat, then said in a phony proper voice, "Silent Storm, I appoint you to the position of General of the Killjoys!" then she switched back to her normal voice. "Well, unless you don't want to."

Storm chuckled, and for the first time in his life, he didn't second-guess himself when he said, "Of course I want to!"

Alien grinned. "Awesome! By the way, I'm gonna need you to oversee everyone that's moving. Ya know, assign them rooms, answer their questions, et cetera."

Storm shrugged. "Okay then, I'm on it!"

"Right then! I'm probably gonna go make a transmission to everyone about all this," Alien announced. "Cola, with me."

"Got it," Cola replied, and followed her out of the office. 

"Hey there, rad cats! This is General Alien, as you've probably figured out by now. Anyways! I'm just here to update you on the current happenings over here at the Nest. 

"You probably know by now that we successfully beat the Riot! But since there are so many new 'Joys joining the party, the Nest is getting a bit crowded. So we decided to find a bigger spot, and we did! I'm not gonna give you guys the coordinates just yet, but you'll get 'em from Dr. D soon. 

"Anyways! There have been other recent developments as well. I know some of you guys might not take this very well, but I'll soon be stepping down from my position and leaving the Zones. 'Why', you may be asking. Well, I might just let you know when I get where I'm going. 

"And you also might be wondering who's gonna take my place. Well, I'm glad you asked! If you know me personally, you also know my friend Silent Storm. He's one of the best leaders and all-around good people I know. And, yeah, that's who I picked! If you don't like him, well, at least the election is in a couple of weeks. But hey, if you do like him, let's hope he gets elected!

"Anyways, that's pretty much all I've got for you guys, so I guess this is goodbye. Go listen to some good metal for me, okay kiddos? Oh, and eat some Mentos, if you can find them! This is General Alien, signing off. Over and out!"