Save Battery City

Eavesdropping again? Come on, Gerard

Day 420,
I've been sitting in this hellhole for hours. General Hoppus got mad because Gerard and I were singing in the cafeteria. He says our voices are horrible but-

"Hey," Gerard whispered through the cell door. "I heard something going on with Hoppus and DeLonge."

"You interrupted my writing," Hayley said, setting her journal aside. "How'd you get out?"

"Better question is how have I not been caught yet," he winked. "I'm gonna unlock this, then we're gonna go eavesdrop, 'kay?" He pulled out some lock-picking tools and started working on the lock.

"I'm already in solitary, man." She stood up and walked over to the cell door. She rested her head and hands on the bars."I don't want it to get any worse..."

"Oh come on, Williams. Hoppus won't get that mad."

Hayley raised an eyebrow. "So you never wonder where SST (staff sergeant) Armstrong went?"

"He's probably in solitary like us."

"For a year?"

"Has it really been that long?

"I think so. Let me check." Hayley walked over to where she left her journal and scanned through it. Her eyes rested upon mentioning Armstrong's disappearance. "Yeah, it was a year and a half ago."

"Damn, that's a lot of quiet," Gerard said. The lock popped and he opened the door. "Come on. This way to the generals."

"Wait, but remember those two officers who ran away, like, ten years ago?" she continued.

Gerard didn't seem to care. He just kept going.

"Hey," said a small voice as they passed. They stopped to see who it was. "Can you get me out of here?"

Hayley recognized him as PVT (private) Iero.

"Yeah, I can help you," Gerard said. He grabbed some lock-picking tools from his man-purse and started working on the door. "We're going to eavesdrop on the generals. Wanna come?"

"Dude!" Hayley nudged his shoulder. "You have to censor yourself; keep your mouth shut."

"Sure, that sounds fun," Iero said as Gerard unlocked his cell. "I'm Frank."

"You new here?" Gerard asked.

"How'd you know?"

"You're supposed to introduce yourself like this: SGT (sergeant) Gerard Way, Squadron 04."

"Oh, um, PVT Iero, no squadron yet."

"SGT Williams, Squadron 04."

"Cool, you guys are in the same squadron?"

Gerard and Hayley chuckled and they snuck to the generals.

As they passed a hallway, Hayley felt the urge to follow it. She snuck away from the others and followed down the dark path.

As she kept walking, visibility became less and less. Eventually, she couldn't see anything in front of her nose.

"Finally, someone found me," a hoarse voice said.

"Who's there?" Hayley demanded. From years of military training, she'd learned to push fear away.

"SST Armstrong, Squadron 13."

"Oh my gosh! Where are you? I'm gonna get you out." She looked around frantically, even though it was pitch black. A hand grabbed her shoulder and she jumped back. "It's okay, sir." She felt around for a lock. When her fingers found it, she used a bobby pin and a paper clip to unlock it. She heard the click after a few minutes and opened the door. The man insides ran past her but stopped just before the light. She could only see him in silhouette. He turned and said, "Thank you, miss..."

"Williams, Hayley Williams...eh-SGT Williams, Squadron 04."

He nodded his head, "Thanks, Williams. I'm Billie Joe." He turned again and snuck around the corner, almost like he morphed into it.

Now, Hayley just had to catch back up to Gerard and Frank. She caught up to them just in time to hear the generals talk.

"Mark, if this doesn't get fixed, everyone and everything in the universe is going to die," GEN (general) DeLonge said.

"Or, they might get teleported to another universe and start or continue their life there," GEN Hoppus replied.

"True, but there's really no way of knowing. It's better safe than sorry."

"And if everyone dies, it doesn't matter. Life, uh, finds a way."

"I asked Alexa how it would go, and she said it'd be horrible. Worse than burning in lava. Your cells will deteriorate. It would take months to die. It'd be like dying from cancer."

"We cured cancer. So this can be cured, too?"

"The cancer cure took us a hundred years to make! Millions of people died from it! We won't have that kind of time. And not just humans, but animals and even plants would die, too. Everything on Earth will be gone."

"And the people on the moon and Mars?"

"The universe," DeLonge whimpered. It was strange hearing a general whimper like that. "Everything in the universe and quite possibly other universes will die."

The room went silent for a little bit. Hoppus sighed. "Is there any way to fix it?"

DeLonge was panting. "Yes, back in the 80s-"

"THE 80S?" Hoppus roared. "DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG AGO THAT WAS?"

"I know, just listen. There was a gadget, a Flux Capacitor, that can stop this from happening."

"So, who will you send to retrieve it?" Mark asked.

"It's an extremely dangerous mission. Odds of success are 10% or less. I'm gonna send some solitary inmates."

Gerard and Hayley looked at each other.

"We should head back," he whispered.

She and Frank nodded. They started creeping back toward their cells.

"I was thinking of sending Armstrong," DeLonge said, making Hayley stop in her tracks.

"That's good," Hoppus replied. "He'll finally be off my shoulders. Who else?"

"Some...newer inmates. SGT Hayley Williams, CPL (corporal) Tre Cool, PVT Frank Iero, and SGT Gerard Way."

Hayley's heart stopped. By the looks on their faces, Gerard's and Frank's had, too.

"Get back to you cells as fast as you can!" she whisper-yelled. She sprinted to her cell, her orange hair flying behind her. She could only hope Gerard and Frank were safe.

Edit: I thought of a really cool idea way farther along in the story, so anyone who's already past here should probably at least read the edits I made. I'm sorry but the thing I thought of was awesome so I had to put it in here x).