Lost Boy (True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys) #Wattys2016

Chapter XX

Hey, Atom. I hope you're there. It's me, Chris. You'll never guess where I've ended up now. You'd never think that I would be here, but I am.

I'm in prison. Not to mention, I'm in her personal prison. I know what you're thinking. It's her personal prison. It's gotta be good, right?

Oh, you're so wrong.

This place is a stone room with cracked walls and a cracked ceiling, so whenever it rains, the rain drips down on the top bunk and through to the bottom one.

There is a tiny window, though. I can see right to the apartment complex I used to live in. I keep thinking about the Soda Shoppe every time I look out of that window. I hope they're alright.

I'm not in here alone. I was put in the same cell as Civil to...how did she word it? Oh right, "Cool down with an old pal." She's such an ass. I wish Civil could say hi to you, but he'd probably think I'm crazy. You probably know for a fact how hard he hits and how good he is at it!

I could've sworn I heard you talking to me once before. I don't know if I was imagining things or not, but I could've sworn you said, "I'm doing okay. How are you?" Then, a few days later, I heard you say, "I care about you."

Well, Atom. I care about you too. Promise you that.

"Hey Boy, check this out."

I looked over at Civil, who'd pulled something out of his pocket.

A microphone?

"Where'd you get that?" I asked, then looked over his shoulder. "And where does the wire go?"

"See that crack in the wall?" he pointed.

I gulped. "Uh...you're pointing at a solid part of the wall."

Civil sighed. "Well there's a small crack in the wall. I had Coke hook up a wire to the radio station." He pulled a box, maybe a recorder with a microphone on its own wire. "All I have to do is push this button and it goes to my normal Killjoy radio waves. I push this one, and it takes over Better Living Industries's own daily Zone reports."

I laughed. "No way! You can take over the Zone reports? That's gotta be good!"

"Oh yeah!" Civil said. "It's gonna be so much fun to take it over. But for now..." He pulled up a little antenna from the box and unclipped the microphone. "I think we should say hello to my Killjoy listeners, shouldn't we?"

I smiled. "Yeah. It's a good idea."

He put the mic up close to his mouth. "Boy, do you wanna start?"

I shook my head. I couldn't start a radio broadcast, especially one put out to the Killjoys.

"Fine with me," Civil said. He counted down with his fingers, then pushed the button. "Hello my Killjoys, Civil Glow here."

What surprised me was that he started to break down in the middle of the broadcast as he mentioned Wayward's name. The connection started to break, and it stopped.

"No! The connection-" Civil pulled himself together and, even though his eyes were still watery, he pulled the box out of his pocket and started fiddling with it. "No, no, no! Boy, do you know how to fix this?"

"No, I don't know shit about technology!" I replied. "Seriously!"

Civil shook his head and ran his hand through his short black hair. "Dammit. Guess you're right. A guy that doesn't even know who he is can't work tech!"

I bit my lip. "Funny you mention that."

His eyebrow cocked. "Huh? What does that mean?"

"The lady," I explained. "She told me the rough and go. I have a last name now."

"Oh really?" Civil asked. "What is it, then?"

"Waker," I replied. "It's Christoph Waker."

The reaction I got was strange. Not a gasp, no pale face, nothing.

Just a smile and these three words.

"I knew it."