The outside of the wall was unlike anything i'd seen in the past two years. Well, who am I kidding, of course they were. I could only marginally remember what deserts looked like from video games. Living in black and white does some wicked shit to your head.
As soon as Frank and I exited the tunnel, I was hit with a wave of heat from the sun beating down on us. There was sand. Literally everywhere. I could barely see anything because of the intense sensory overload, but there were three figures in front of us leaning on a van. Sure enough, a blonde, a black haired one, and a blue haired one.
They looked weird. They were all wearing colors. Another thing I wasn't used to seeing. I hadn't seen any form of colors since the BL/ind C-2 ban, I could only barely remember what the names of them were.
"Why hello!" The blue haired short guy beamed. "I'm Basket Case! These handsome men behind me are American Idiot," he motioned to the black haired one and he waved, "And Stray Heart!" He motioned to the blonde. "And we're gonna take the two of you to Dr. Death Defying. Don't tell anyone your names, though." This guy was energetic. Like, he was actually bouncing slightly. Short and energetic. He and Frank would get along just fine.
"Um, o-kay." Frank said.
On the car- er, van ride, Basket Case was ranting about something in Frank's ear and they were both laughing. I thought they'd get along well. I kept my gaze out the window, taking I the new surroundings. It was so different from what I was used to. I'd seen things about the zones on the news, but I'd never actually been in them. It was definitely hotter. And dear god so much sand.
The desert was a bland orange, I think, color and it stretched out all the way to the horizon and most definitely farther. There was an occasional rock pile with some cacti here and there, and loads of dead bushes.
"It's weird, isn't it?" I heard a smooth male voice beside me. I looked over to see the one called American Idiot smiling at me. "I thought the same when I first saw it too."
I nodded. "I haven't seen anything like it since watching action movies before the war. It's very different from what I was forced to get used to."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He let out a short laugh. "Try living in it for a while, it gets boring and annoying." I laughed a bit then there was a moment of silence. "At sunset and sunrise, if you're outside looking over the horizon, the sun hits the rocks and sand and it's absolutely gorgeous. You'll have to see it." Huh, he had a slight lisp when he talked.
"I hate sand." Basket chimed from the front. "It's rough, coarse, and it gets everywhere."
"No one asked, dummy." Heart chided, making everyone else giggle.
"I understood that reference." I laughed along. "Who doesn't get a Star Wars reference?" I smiled back at Idiot. There was a silence as he and I gazed out the window at the endless desert. "So, uh, may I ask some questions?"
He crossed his legs and waved his hand. "Fire away, kid."
"How do you survive out here? In the dessert it would only take a few days out In the open to die of dehydration... What do you do to stay alive?"
He threw his head back to look at Stray Heart, who grinned and leaned over the seats to listen to our conversation . "Well," American Idiot started, "BL/ind is kinda stupid sometimes, and there's these vending machines that dispense batteries, guns, and cans of Power Pup. They're supposed to be for the dracs who patrol the zones to refuel, but someone built a thing to hack into them and get what we need." He explained. "And for the water situation, originally we raided the cars that dracs came in, but over the years Dr. D had a well drilled."
"So I assume some buildings survived the fires and they're where you all stay?"
"You assume right."
"What's it like living in the zones on a daily basis?" At this question, all three killjoys seemed to stiffen slightly.
American Idiot gave me a grim look. "You see a lot of death. Draculiods are merciless, cold blooded monsters. Many of our friends were murdered right in front of our eyes. The sickest part, is that over time you become desensitized to it all."
Basket Case nodded in agreement. "It's true. Our good friend Morse Code Corruption was brutally beaten and shot multiple times right in front of us."
I could see worry in Frank's eyes. He visibly shivered in his seat, so I reached over the front passenger seat where he was and put a hand on his shoulder.
"So, enough about doom and gloom, tell us a little about yourselves." Basket Case resumed his cheery attitude.
"Uh, well, we're twins." Frank said.
"You don't look that much alike." Heart observed, crossing his arms.
"We're not identical. I'm an energetic short shit, she's a reserved genius. She can be crazy off the shits feral sometimes, though." Ghoul explained.
"Energetic short shit." Idiot laughed. "Hey Basket, sound familiar?" Basket Case scoffed playfully.
"Genius, huh? What's the square root of pi?" Basked questioned.
I rolled my eyes and deadpan playfully. "I wouldn't call myself an actual genius. More of a creative genius. But really dude? That's the most overused question ever."
He laughed. "Okay, how about you impress us with some creative genius smarts?"
"Uh, well, I do art n' shit. And I play-ed several instruments. Not sure if that counts as genius. He," I jabbed a thumb in Franks direction, "just hypes me up."
"So you're talented in the arts and he just makes you out to be something bigger than that?" Heart spectated.
"Yeah! That's exactly it!" I laughed giving Frank a look.
"No but like, She's a female Spencer Reid. He's uh- from a cop show. Full of random facts and weird shit that no one else really knows. Just more- secular."
I smirked and leaned back in my seat. "Well I try."
The van rolled to a stop and Basket spoke up.
"Anyway, we're here. Twins, welcome to Killjoy HQ."
__________{~>*<~}___________ HIHHIHHIHII !!! so something i forgot to talk about is the fact that updates are gonna be E X T R E M E L Y spaced out,,,
also, i know i'm making Mai out to be a bit of a mary sue, but wait until the story picks up. there's more to her than she lets on ;);)
