Fallout

Runaway

Mike's POV

A skinny blonde haired guy walked into the room not long after Joe came back. He said he had talked to some of the guys out there and that most are pretty cool but there's one he really liked. The tattooed man looked quite nervous. My mind races around and wonders how his voice is going to sound. By his appearance, I doubt he'll have a really low voice but neither a very high pitched one. Joe's sitting next to me and he roughly pokes my arm. I look over and see him grinning madly, I'm assuming this is the guy he was previously talking about. This was the last person of the day to audition and I was completely thankful for that.

"Hi, Chester!" He greeted the man, who simply smiled kindly in return.

"Oh, so this is Chester Bennington! Your voice over the memo you sent us was amazing, we were looking forward to hearing you audition! Please begin whenever you're ready." Brad smiled at him. Why didn't I hear Chester's memo? They must've listened to it while I was still obsessing over the thought of never replacing Mark. I still want him back in the band, I feel horrible replacing him.

"Um, okay." He spoke softly. I was instantly mesmerized by his voice. "This is one of the sample songs you sent - Points of Authority. I adjusted it slightly to fit it to myself more, but not too much was changed."

"That's okay, I'll start the demo!" Joe exclaimed, reaching over the table to switch the music to the specific song. The music began and Chester appeared to sigh as he picked up the microphone off the ground. He began singing and my mind felt as though nothing else existed but him. His voice was perfect. It was unique and charming, by the end of the song, I was completely dazed, forgetting completely about Mark briefly afterwards. The other guys thanked him, seemingly as speechless as I was and he left to wait for the results of whom we would choose for our next vocalist.

"Guys, so are we choosing Chester or what?!" Joe asked excitedly as if he was little boy receiving a puppy for Christmas.

"What kind of guy is he from what you can tell after talking to him briefly?" Brad questioned Joe, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"He was cool! A good listener by the way," He speaks quickly. A good listener? You don't have a choice when it comes to Jow. "He seems like he might come with some baggage though, I could see he has some troubles. He got a phone call from this guy who sounded oddly possessive towards him, it was weird. Chester said he hated him. Otherwise, I think he's really cool and would fit in with us perfectly!"

"I don't even have words for his voice, it was perfect," Rob spoke up, cutting away from his usual extremely quiet self. "What do you think, Mike?"

"Um-" I struggle with the thought of changing a member in our band to a complete stranger. A piece of me wants me to say no and stick with my fantasy of getting Mark back, but a larger part is yelling yes and telling me he'll do wonders for the band. After a few moments of picking out thought after thought, I came to a conclusion. "I like him. I think he'll be a great addition."

"So that means we're all settled? We're picking Chester?" Phoenix asked, we all nodded and he rose to go tell the news.

"I'm proud of you, Mikey." Brad beams, surrounding me into his arms. "Your stubborn ass finally picked someone!"

"Oh, get off of me, you ass!" I swore loudly, swatting him away as Phoenix came back into the room with a shocked Chester, who then looked at Brad and I oddly as he continued to cling to my arm.

"Welcome to the band," Rob sighed, glaring at us for making such an odd first real impression.

"Sorry," Brad giggles before completely letting me go. Joe walks up to Chester and attempts to give him a hug, but Chester flinches away significantly. That's odd.