Foolish Heart //Danger Days//

16. Just Call Me a Survivor

      "So, that was David." Party began to speak. We were driving through Zone 4, trying to find where the church was.

"Yeah, that's him." I smiled dreamily out of the window.

"Eh, he's alright."

"Can it, Party. Can't you see she's happy?" Ghoul scolded from the back seat.

"What? Just sayin'." Party's voice went quiet again.

"Can you believe it? What are the odds that I'd ever see them again?" I was overjoyed, and I didn't have time to notice how bitter Party was acting.

"Wowie, what a marvelous day." He said in a monotone voice.

"What is wrong with you?" Ghoul rolled his eyes.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong." Party replied with the same hollow tone. Half an hour later, I caught sight of the church.

"This is it." I pondered aloud. My heart seemed to be doing cocaine, because it was beating so fast. I was nervous and exited and scared all at once. Party parked the car outside of the doors of the church, and I nearly threw myself onto the desert floor.

"JAY! ELLA! IT'S ME, FREIA!" I cried out.

"Can you be quiet? We don't know these people." Party warned me, but I didn't listen to him.

"ALAN, BRIAN, VICTOR! I'M ALIVE!"

The doors of the church swung open. Out stepped a skinny boy wearing a black t-shirt and what looked like a boat captains hat. He was followed by a very short boy with shoulder-length brown hair and a grey and red ray gun in his hands.

"What the hell..." The skinny boy stared at me.

"FREIA!" A tiny girl with dark red hair and a crimson crop-top barged out of the church, sprinting in my direction. She tackled me to the ground.

"I knew you were alive! No one listened to me, but I always knew!" Ella beamed at me. Her smile was contagious.

"I didn't know where you guys went! I found David- I mean- Psycho and he told me everything." I sat up of the ground. Ella pushed herself back onto her feet. I watched as she caught sight of Party and Ghoul, who stood together by the Trans AM.

"Is that Fun Ghoul and Party Poison?" Ella's eyes widened.

"Yeah, that's them." I grinned.

"Never mind. Come inside!" Ella dragged me up the stairs of the church. I looked back at Party, giving him a look of I'll-be-right-back. He nodded.

"No fucking way!" Alan was next to bombard me with hugs. For a really short guy, he was rather strong, and easily picked me up.

"Last time I saw you, you were only a few centimeters taller than me. I see nothing has changed." He teased. I missed Alan's raspy voice. It reminded me of an avid smoker, except Alan wasn't one of those.

"Where did you go? We couldn't find you anywhere?" Victor was next to pull me into a bone-crushing embrace.

"We went into the city, and we never left." I explained.

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Ella asked.

"Me, Dylan, my mom and my dad." I paused for a moment.

"The only reason I'm out here is because the Scarecrows took them. They're on the pill now. We tried to rescue them, but they're pretty much dead." I looked down at my feet.

"Freia, I'm so sorry." Alan put his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, someone go find Smoke Bomb and Neon Blow." Victor instructed.

"Who?" I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"Oh, right. Smoke is Brian, and Neon is Jay." Victor explained.

"I'm Charismatic Volume." Ella told me.

"And I'm Ghost Shot, nice to meet you." Alan joked.

"I'm Toxic Rift." Victor bragged, obviously proud of his name.

"I still don't understand the names, they're absolutely ridiculous." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, everyone else was doing it, so we just followed along." Ghost shrugged.

"WHATHEVERLOVINGFUCK??" Smoke was standing on top of a flight of stairs, his short black hair still as messy as ever.

"Hey." I could hardly contain my happiness. Smoke and I were very close back in Detroit. We were inseparable. Smoke sprinted down the stairs.

"I can't believe this." He panted.

"Good to see you too." I wrapped my arms tightly around him.

"Well, look who finally showed up."

I let go of Smoke. Neon was standing in the same spot that Smoke had just left. His voice was bitter and mean.

"I'm so glad to see you." I smiled at him, but my grin was quick to fall away.

"You abandoned us, Freia." He spat, looking down on me like I was garbage.

"I didn't mean to. I-"

"Oh just shut up. You were in the city, weren't you? You were just one of B.L.I's pets."

"Neon, quit it." Ella warned.

"You don't even know how much we've suffered. Everyone else is dead." Neon continued.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was the only one to make it out. I didn't know you guys were alive." I pleaded with my old friend.

"No, and you wouldn't have cared anyways. You just let the city poison you, and it didn't even cross your mind that people were dying." He spoke to me with so much anger in his voice. It scared me.

"I thought about it all the damn time. I missed my friends, but I wanted to stay safe. I wanted to protect my family. If I would have known that you were alive, I would have been out here with you." I started to feel a bit angry myself.

"Bullshit. It's all bullshit!" Neon shouted, and then he stormed off.

"Hey, don't worry about him. He'll come around." Toxic gave me a one-armed hug in an attempt to comfort me, but it didn't help.

"I can't stay long, Party and Ghoul are waiting for me." I told my friend miserably.

"Oh yeah, you're with the Fab Four now. Good job." Alan praised me.

"Don't forget us up in the top ranks, and make sure to visit all the time." Ella hugged me one last time.

"Like I would ever forget you guys." I smirked. I gave one last farewell, and went back outside to meet the two Killjoys in the car.

"Finally, we have to get back to the diner. Something's come up." Party seemed panicked.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Korse, he's been spotted on the border of Zone 6 with a patrol of Dracs." Party pushed his feet on the gas pedal.

"So I get to fight again?" I could feel my stomach turn. I was nervous as hell, but I had to get used to the whole fighting thing.

"You betcha." Ghoul was in the back, preparing his gun.

I was ready to take Korse down. He took my family away from me, and I wouldn't hesitate to fight him.