Shock Value

The Fabulous Killjoys

Better Living Industries : The Aftermath is Secondary

Lola wanted to claw her eyes out every single time she saw this phrase.  It wasn't often that she saw it; she lived on the outskirts of Zone 6, where the Better Living Bastards didn't put too much effort into brainwashing people.  But once in a while, her TV signal would be interrupted by stupid BL/ind messages, or one of those stupid posters would blow past her feet, and she'd get angry all over again.

Lola wouldn't be alone if it weren't for the Better Living Bastards.  Her parents had survived the fires, along with her.  But everything was shitty afterwards.  Not enough food, or water, or anything. 

She didn't remember where BL/ind came from, or when, but she remembered the pills.  She definintely remembered the pills.  The pills that turned her parents into emotionless zombies.  The pills her parents had tried to give her.  That was why she ran away; she didn't want to be a zombie.

Some days she wishes she was a zombie.  Like the days when she misses her parents, or the days she hates the entire world, or the days when she could really use a hug.

 Today isn't one of those days.  

Lola rolled off of the smelly mattress she was sleeping on, and stood up.  The room she slept in was dark; she kept the windows covered so that no one could see inside.  She was big on privacy.

 She slipped on a pair of sneakers; an old, worn out pair that she'd stolen a few years ago.  She was glad that they were still usable; shoes were hard to come by.  She walked towards the bedroom door and flicked the light switch hopefully -- nothing.  She sighed quietly and left the bedroom door.  

The living room, unlike the bedroom, was well lit.  Lola quickly checked herself in the mirror; she looked tired, and was in desperate need of a trim.  She turned away from the window and picked up a jacket from the floor.  She put it on and reached in the pockets for her sunglasses.  She put them on and the room immediately darkened.  She smiled to herself and stepped outside.

The sunlight was harsh; Lola's eyes hurt a little, even with the sunglasses.  It was pretty hot too; Lola felt like she was standing inside an oven.  Not many people were outside, for obvious reasons.  Lola started walking, not really planning to go anywhere.  She'd just walk until she got tired, then turn around and go home, like she usually did.  Or, at least, that's what she thought she was gonna do.  

Lola was on an old dirt road, about fifteen minutes away from where she lived. This area was bare; no plants, buildings, rocks, hills, anything.  Just dirt and dust and the cloudless sky.  

Because of this, it was impossible for Lola not to see dust being kicked up way down the road.  She frowned, wondering why someone would be headed this way.  Most people head towards Battery City, where life was supposed to be all sunshine and rainbows. 

Lola stood there and stared, wondering who was in the car.  She started to get an uncomfortable feeling; the car was definitely out of place.  She started walking back in the direction of her home, but the car quickly overtook her.  It was dirty looking, with what looked like the American flag painted on the sides, and a black widow on the hood.  The windows were tinted, so Lola couldn't see inside.  She didn't really want to; whoever was driving the car was probably up to no good.  

She kept walking, and soon, another car overtook her.  This one was much different; painted white, probably washed recently.  And instead of a spider on the hood,  the dreaded Better Living Industries logo.  She clenched her teeth and walked faster.  Whoever was in that car up ahead was probably about to get screwed.  "Picked the wrong people to fuck with." Lola mumbled, even though whoever was in the eight-legged car couldn't hear her.

A little ways down the road, both cars skidded to a stop.  Out of the spider came four guys, wearing colorful clothes that stood out against the boring color of dust and dirt.  Out of the BL/ind car, two Draculoids, wearing those disgusting, ugly masks.  Lola stopped walking and just watched, wondering what was going to happen.  Draculoids were known to be pretty tough, but there were four of these other guys.

The rainbow guys pulled out their guns, and the Dracs did the same.  Seconds later, there was a lot of dodging and colored light flying around.  Lola felt a sudden, searing pain in her left leg, as if someone had taken a piece of burning coal and held it to her leg.  She sat on the ground and examined the wound;  whatever had hit her burned a hole through the denim of her jeans and left the skin underneath an angry red color, much like a rash.  

When Lola looked up, the two Draculoids were sprawled on the ground, probably dead.  A dark-haired guy wearing a green vest was messing around under the hood of the BL/ind car, while one of the other guys, a blonde, was messing around in the trunk.  The red-haired guy, who was probably the leader, walked over to the Dracs and took the guns.  Lola looked back down at her leg and frowned; the burn seemed to have gotten worse -- her skin was starting to peel.

Lola looked up once more to see the red-haired guy walking towards her.  She considered walking away -- if BL/ind was chasing these guys, they must be dangerous.  But after thinking about it for a few seconds, she decided against it; an enemy of the Better Living Bastards was a friend of hers. Plus, her leg was hurting too much.   

The man sat in front of her, a small smile playing on his lips.  "Sorry about that," he apologized, making eye contact with Lola.  "We're still teaching Fr -- Fun Ghoul how to shoot." he said, looking back at his friends.   Lola would have smiled if it weren't for the pain in her leg.

 He turned back to her.  "I can take care of that.".  The guy stood up and hesitantly offered his hand.  Lola took it, and he pulled her off the ground.  "I'm Gerard, by the way. Party Poison, on the outside."  he told her, in a low voice.  Lola nodded as Gerard sort of dragged her towards the eight legged car.

The door to the driver's seat was still open, so Lola sat there, while Gerard dug around in the glove box.  He came up with a tube of foul-smelling stuff.  He squeezed a small amount of it and walked around to Lola.  Lola backed away a little, making Gerard laugh.  "I'm not gonna bite you." He giggled.  He held her leg down and rubbed the stuff on the burn, making it disappear almost instantly.  Lola stared at him and he just smiled.  "Works every time." he said, pulling out of the car.

 Lola felt a little disappointed; Gerard seemed like a nice person and she didn't really want to go back home.  She wanted to be with people, but in Zone 6, no one cared about anyone but themselves.  

"Where are you headed?" asked the guy known as Fun Ghoul.  Lola shrugged; she was technically still on her daily walk.  Gerard smiled at her.  "You could come with us, you know." he offered, much to Lola's surprise.  "You're serious?" she asked, the surprise evident in her voice.  

Fun Ghoul nodded.  "You'll have to hold your own though, we're not the best babysitters in the world."  he confessed,  making Lola smile.

Gerard looked at Lola.  "Well?" he asked, sounding just a little impatient.  Lola nodded. "Yeah, sure." she said.  "Get in the car, then!"  Lola quickly squeezed into the back seat and the car sped off, in the general direction of Battery City.