Let Art Be Our Weapon: Frerard/Killjoys Epic

The Girl

          I wake up and head over to my locker to change my clothes. I'm not going anywhere for a while so I leave my jacket, blaster and mask inside. I head upstairs to the diner. Ray was at the counter talking to Helena. I grab a can of food off the shelf and Ray hands me the can opener. Mikey and Frank come up and I pass them their breakfast. There's some toast and jam, a luxury only in the diner. As we finished up I see Mitch in the corner of my eyes. I tense up as a reflex. Frank looks at me, raising an eyebrow. I point with my eyes in Mitch's direction. Frank sees and tenses up too. Mitch was with Justin, another annoying Killjoy. It makes sense those two are best buds. Mitch is a douche bag and Justin is a whiny brat. I don't typically hate people. There are enough hate and suffering going on with the battles we fight, but man, I hate those too. They play off of each other and just make everything worse. Whatever.
The two come up behind us. "So, what are you girls up to now?" Mitch says, draping his arms over Frank and me.
"Get a life," Frank says throwing off Mitch's arm and shoving it back at him.
"Like you have one?" Justin laughs. He takes a look at my attire. "Well, Gerard, what's with this emo get up?" he sneers.
"Excuse me?" I ask, jerking back my shoulder so Mitch stops touching me.
"You're all emo! Do you cut yourself for attention?" Justin laughs. Heat rises to my face. This bitch has the nerve.... He snatches my wrist and yanks me forward. Before I can pull my arm back, he rolls up my sleeve. Of course, there are no scars, though.
"Freak!" I shout. I push him away from me.
"Why you girls wearing all black?" Mitch asks. "Whose funeral you going to?"
I swear, if one of them says any name of someone we lost, I will strangle them until they stop twitching helplessly on the ground. But before they can say anything and before I can attack them, Frank growls under his breath. "Yours, you dumb ass," he spits. Mitch and Justin look at Frank, a little lost for words. Frank takes out his blaster from his upholstery and places it on the counter, the barrel facing them. "Watch your six." Frank turns his back to them and takes a sip of his coffee.
They shuffle away. I take a breath now that they left. I loathed those two with every fabric of my existence. Of all the Killjoys we lost, why couldn't they be among the fallen? It would have done a lot of people a favor. I don't shoot them because they are not worth the repercussions.
Of course, those to blithering idiots didn't leave the area. Mitch was a few feet over hitting on Helena. I think it's safe to say we have drilled into her head not to tell anyone else about her identity. Mitch puts a hand on her shoulder. Helena stands up and backs away. "What are you doing?" she asks.
"Oh, don't worry," he says.
Ray grabs Helena's arm and moves her away. "You're unwanted here," he says.
I lose my temper. I get out of my chair and smack my hand on his shoulder. I whip him around and grip his collar. Mitch stares at me. "The hell you doing?" he asks. "Back off!" I don't budge. I stare right through his eyes, which could pass as mine. He looks way too much like me. I might as well be staring in a mirror. I can only see myself, which give me another reason to hate him. My eyes widen as I imagine the different way I could make him bleed. He tries to get me off but my fist is locked on his collar. "Why are you looking at me like that? You psycho!"
"Wha? Me? Oh no, no. I am not psychotic. I just like psychotic things." Mitch tries to one up me but it's a little hard when we are the same height. I stand firm. Mitch tries to escape my grasp again. He retracts back, and I know he's going to use a lot of force to be released. As he whips back, I let go of his collar and he flips backward, his feet going over his head. Success! I let out a boisterous laugh. I turn around and Frank walks with me downstairs proud. Mikey, Ray, and Helena follow after us as we leave the diner and head downstairs.
"I do not like those two. They make me uncomfortable," Helena says.
"No one likes them," Frank blurts out. "Sadly I think Mitch fancies you." Helena's eyes widen. She runs her fingers through her hair and adjusts her red headband.
Frank heads over to the technician's lab and we all kind of follow him there with nothing else planned to do. He starts teaching Helena how to use his tablet. In the corner of the room, I see Alec and Steve hovering over the radio station, both intensely listening into the headphones. They keep muttering something around "I didn't copy that, repeat". I slide in my rolling chair over the Alec and Steve. "What's going on?" I asked.
Alec glances at me but returns back to concentrating on the radio. Steve looks at me. "There's something seeming wrong with our tech but only with a certain frequency. The other Killjoys call in fine but no one can hear the message from some Scouts."
"Scouts, what is your location? Do you copy?" Alec tries again.
"We're out*****attacks****loids*****many***" there is way too much static, but not the normal radio static you get an ear for being a Killjoy. It's a high pitch frequency static that sound almost science fiction like. It's an interference.
"Can anyone pick up on the Scouts location? Alec asks. There are multiple collectives negatory  that follow.
The Scout's voice comes in. It sounds like a girl or a young boy. The voice is quite gender neutral. I imagine a girl. She seems quite frantic and scared, also out of breath like she's running. "***help us-**we're******en*wes**plea*" the Scout manages to get through. The same nasty static breaks through and there is a faint trace of blasts firing.
"These Scouts are attacked and need help but they can't get through for some reason. No one can reach them. I am pretty sure that it's just 2 out there and they are surrounded by Dracs but there's nothing else we know," Steve says.
I turn around and realize Helena is standing right behind me. I startle a little bit. "Oh, Helena, I didn't hear you come up," I laugh. Her face is serious. "You good?" I ask.
"That noise. I know that sound, that specific static." She closes her eyes and concentrates. "Yes, that's a Killjoy's radio interfered with BL/ind tech."
This grabs Alec's attention. "Helena, what do you mean?" he asks.
"I have told you that BL/ind can't overpower the Killjoys, who have claimed the Zones under 22, except for 2 hot spots, which are all certain death traps for unsuspecting Killjoys."
"Those Scouts are in the Hot Spot, is that what you're saying?" Alec asks nervously.
"No, those Scouts can't be in the Hot Spot, otherwise you wouldn't their voice at all, but they are fairly close. Although in order to hear the interference, the Hot Spot would have had to be activated. So either they or someone else is there," she says.
"Helena, you said there were 2. Where are they on the map of our Zones?" Steve asks, quickly throwing open a map.
Helena leans over the book and points to a specific spot very close to BL/ind. "There are two, one here in Zone 21. There was a chase 14 years ago and a guy was shot, he took his life," Helena says trying to remember the pieces. My heart drops to my stomach as the dots slowly connect as Helena explains. That Killjoys was Frank's dad. Helena slides her finger down the map and stops in a different area. "And the other Hot Spot is located in Zone 10. Nearly a decade ago, there were 2 killjoys living in a small house together. They tried to keep hold off the Dracs but we're overpowered. They put up a fight but they were executed."
Alec stands up. "I doubt anyone would go into Zone 21. It's way too close to BL/ind and a death sentence itself. It has to be the one in Zone 10." Alec calls on the radio. "Anyone in proximity to the west side of Zone 10?"
"I'm out in 27," someone replies.
"You're closer than us; we're in 53."
"I've got two but we're in 29."
They Killjoys out are nowhere close to Zone 10. If the closest team is 27, then that means the ones at the base are the closest. Alec knows this too. "Alright Killjoys, don't rush over. We're sending help from the base," He calls. "Scouts? Hang in tight. Do you copy? We're sending help?"
The Scouts breaks in. "Swarm**Drac****house***-other Killjoys at**house**" There she tries to come through exasperated and panting for air.
"I think she's moving away from the Hot Spot. The frequency is starting to clear up just a little," Helena says. "But why is she out of breath? Is she running?"
"It means she's being pursued," Steve says. He looks closer to the map where the Hot Spot is in 10. His head snaps up and he looks at the Dr. "Alec, you don't think..." he trails off.
Alec's eyes widen. "No, she shouldn't be. Unless they stopped at-Helena, in 10, you said there was a facility or something."
Helena nods. "Yes, a house. Very small and quaint." Steve and Alec lock eyes. "Why would that be a concerning problem?" Helena says, slowly turning to me worried she said something incorrect.
Alec looks like he had just been shot. Without saying anything, Steve takes out a hand radio and starts tuning in. He hands it to Alec, who starts walking away frantically. Mikey notices and comes over to me. "Is everything okay?" he asks. "I don't mean to pry."
Steve tries to find the words. "There might be some trouble. I am hoping it's not true," he says. "There was a scout report and-" Alec plays a recording of the Scout. "Swarm**Drac****house***-other Killjoys at**house**" it plays.
Mikey concentrates and listens closely as the recording loops. "Wait, I know that voice. Who is that?" he asks.
"We can't find out. The Scout and their partner are getting interference. We're trying all we can. There seems to be an awfully large amount of activity and we're trying to isolate their location before we send a team out," Steve explains.
"Who is that? I know that voice from somewhere. It's distinctive. I know that Killjoy. Who is it?" he mutters, rambling to himself. He closes his eyes trying to figure out the voice frustrated with himself for not being able to recall.
Alec shouts and cusses out, sounding both distressed and panicking. He runs over to the station and slams his hands on the table. I scoot back in my rolling chair and Mikey moves Helena out of his way as he frantically works at the station. He's trying to contact the Scouts. They don't respond. Their interference breaks through and all that is heard is rapid blasts firing and shouts. Alec changes the frequency on the handheld. "Test! Please come in," he shouts at the radio. Silence. "Do you copy?" he voice trembles. I have never seen him so scared and angry, let alone both at the same time. No one replies on the radio. "Damn it!" he shouts. He doesn't have to say anything to Steve. They both know what to do.
"Bring your teams!" Steve shouts at the three of us. "Mitch, take over the station while we're out! If anyone tells responds from Zone 10, anyone, you report it to us!" Steve and Alec run up to the diner.
Whatever the hell is going on, I don't think waiting around here is going to be the answer or very helpful. "Guys! Let's, we got a mission!" I shout.
"What's going on?" Frank says, packing away his blaster. He and the Ray join us and Helena goes and get's her team.
"We don't know, we just got to get up and go!" Mikey shouts. We run to our lockers and throw on our gear. As we make it back upstairs to the base, Luke, Melanie, and Helena head down to their lockers. "We'll meet you out," I call to them. I push past Mitch going up the diner as he run down to the radio station. We don't acknowledge each other. Whatever is going on, our differences need to subside.
I make it to the garage and see Bonnie getting into a car with Steve, Alec and another Killjoy; they start driving out. Mason sees us and gestures over where Kemia is. I get in the car and fumble with the keys. I hear the three other doors slam shut and take off. In my review mirror, Galaxy, Melanie, and Helena make it to the garage.
I step on the gas and the engine revs picking up speed. Going 130 mph, the base fades to the distance but I'm not catching up to Alec and the others. They are going much faster than us. Whatever's happening with the Dracs, it seems to be a lot more than just some Scouts trying to call in for help. 160 mph and they still are speeding away. Whatever it is, Alec is desperate to get the West bound of Zone 10 fast.