Sing

Chapter 4: They Said All Killjoys Work Alone

People around me were screaming, running away from the whole scene. I must have looked insane running into the mess.

"What are you doing?!" Mikey cried, shooting at one of the guys who was going after Gerard.

"You're going to get yourselves killed!" I yelled as a third bomb went off at my right. "So I have to help you! Where's the girl?"

"Hiding!" Mikey cried. He ducked and took started running to help Ray, who had been taken to the ground by one of the masked guys.

"Hey, moron!" I turned and found Gerard with his back against a white car. "Little help?!"

I ran over and started shooting with him. I thought there were only seven, but the other masked fuckers in town were flooding outside, shooting blindly.

Mikey and Ray joined us after taking out three guys. "We have to get out of town!" Ray said.

"Then help him shoot!" Mikey cried. "Gee, the car!"

They ran around to the windows of the car, leaving me and Ray to shoot.

We managed to get them all down, but we kept our guns at the ready, just in case.

"Get in, get in!" Mikey grabbed us by the arms and threw us into the backseat. He jumped into the front seat, and Gerard took off before he even had the door shut.

"Don't forget about Grace," Ray said, putting his gun away. "We won't, princess fro-fro," Gerard said. Everyone smiled, a little too nervous to actually laugh.

Gerard pulled off of the road when we were miles away from the town. I wondered if Grace was scared.

"So... where is she?" I asked. "You'll see," Mikey said, smiling.

Gerard drove all over the place, which made me wonder how often he'd driven before.

Probably not often.

We almost hit three trees.

When he parked the car, Ray took a deep breath. "I'm not sure I want Grace riding if you're the driver." Mikey grinned as we got out.

"Where... Where are we?" I asked. "What's it look like?" Gerard asked, cuffing me in the back of the head softly. He gave me somewhat-friendly smirk.

"It looks like a refugee camp," I said. "And an old one at that."

"No one comes here except the poor people who lost their homes in Killjoy flushes," Mikey said sadly. I shuddered.

Killjoy flushes. The reason I ran away from my family. I didn't want them to get hurt.

I wasn't letting someone track me down and bomb my whole neighborhood to get me.

No way in Hell.

"So Grace is hiding in there?" I asked. Gerard nodded, putting his hands in his back pockets. "She said she'd be fine," he said.

"I don't doubt that," I said. "She's a tough kid." We both sighed. "But she shouldn't have to be," Gerard said. "She should be out playing with her friends, not worrying about being drugged up by some multi-million dollar company. It... It's just fucked up."

I nodded in agreement. He was so right.

"But that's why we're doing what we're doing, right?" I said. Gerard glanced down at me. "Right."

All in all, it was a beautiful area. Minus the camp.

Actually, scratch that.

The camp added something to the area. It gave more character to the trees, the grass, the flowers. It told a story.

When this was all over, it would tell one of the most beautiful and terrible and inspiring and heart-breaking tales there had ever been.

A legend for the masses, a legend that would make people cry.

A legend that told the lives of the ones who fought the BL/ind.

I didn't care if I didn't live to see it. Just as long as it happened.

When we got up to the door of the camp, it wouldn't open.

"Over here!" Mikey called. I looked around and found him further down the wall. He waved us down to him.

There was a small hole in the wall. "You expect me to go through that?" Gerard asked. Mikey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I do," he said. "Stop being such a pansy and get your ass in here."

Gerard sighed dramatically, and I grinned. I watched as he crawled through the wall, then followed him. What was inside shocked me.

Bones. Human bones. Everywhere.

And the smell? Oh, God, the smell. How did we not get it before? The whole camp reeked of death.

"And Grace said she'd be fine?" I asked. I wasn't going to be fine if we stayed here much longer.

"Just come on," Gerard said. I followed him until we found Ray and Mikey. "Where is she?" Gerard asked. "We have got to get out of here."

"What's the big deal?" Ray asked. Mikey, Gerard and I looked at each other. Our jaws dropped and our eyes widened.

"Ray, how much shit have you seen that this isn't a big deal?" Mikey asked. Ray shrugged. "Look, I know it's not the best place to be, and as soon as we find Grace, we can get out."

The three of us exchanged glances again. I could tell we were all thinking the same thing: Why didn't Ray answer Mikey?

"What do you mean, 'As soon as we find Grace?'" Gerard asked.

"She doesn't trust anyone," Ray said. "She won't come out until she knows for sure it's us and not BL/ind allies."

I guessed that was understandable. I mean, if they got her, they would manipulate her in more ways than I could count. They might even torture her. I shivered at the thought.

I didn't even know the kid. Hadn't said a thing to her, but yet it was my job to keep her safe.

But that was okay.

It was something to besides running.

And besides, having her and the guys? They were pretty fun, really.

They said all Killjoys work alone.

They were wrong.