Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

Look Alive, Sunshine!

"Look alive, Sunshine!"

"Hey, Mikey, come here! Dr. D is on!" A figure, whose vibrant red hair and bright blue leather jacket were dulled by a thin dusting of desert sand, gestured to an equally dirty boy – his brother – who was sitting a few yards away, tinkering on the engine of an old car with the sleeves of his dusty scarlet jacket pushed up to his elbows. The tall, skinny boy hopped up, smearing the grime on his hands with a greasy rag, and joined the red-haired boy. His blonde hair flopped in his face over his black sunglasses, and he attempted to tuck it behind his ear before giving up and ignoring it.

"One-oh-nine in the sky, but the pigs won't quit! You're here with me, Doctor Death-Defying-" As the radio droned on, the two boys mouthed the familiar intro. While they listened, another boy ran up, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and his curly hair bouncing with each stride. He wore a black eye patch over his right eye and a black jacket with red embellishments, the sleeves also pushed up past his elbows. It was a hot day out in the Zones.

"How much have I missed, Gerard?" the new boy asked, panting as he sprawled next to the red head, who he had addressed. Gerard held up his hand and hushed him, leaving the newcomer to look towards the other boy, who was again struggling with his hair. He gave up again, looking at the curly haired boy from the corner of his eye. "Mikey?" Mikey sighed before shaking his head, smiling slightly at his friend.

"You always do this, Ray. You go out on your runs three minutes before the radio's gonna start and then miss the beginning! Don't worry, he hasn't said anything new yet."

"-louder than God's revolver and twice as shiny." Gerard leaned over to snatch Mikey's glasses off his face, leaving the younger brother to reach for them with an indignant look on his face. Gerard just cleaned the engine grease off them with his sleeve and returned them. Ray untwisted the cap off a battered water canteen and swigged from it, a little bit of the water trickling down his chin and leaving tracks in the dust on his skin.

"The future is bulletproof; the aftermath is secondary. It's time to do it now, and do it loud. Killjoys, make some noise!" The radio hummed as 'Dr. D' yelled through it, and the three boys whooped, smiles stretching across their faces. A guitar riff rang out, and they jumped up, dancing around and singing along to the familiar song. Their boots disturbed the dust that had been tracked into their living space, causing little clouds of it to billow up with each footstep and jump, and soon they had another coat of dirt and grime covering their lower halves.

Once the song ended, they collapsed back onto the old couch they had been lounging on, laughing breathlessly and wiping the sweat from their foreheads. Each left a smear with his hand.

Dr. Death-Defying talked about the known groups of survivors, called Killjoys, out in the desert that were running from the Exterminators – like the three boys. When he mentioned the three of them (Gerard had known Dr. Death before the fallout, and they kept each other updated about the Exterminators), they cheered.

"Last but not least, Party Poison, Jet Star, and the Kobra Kid are alive and well. We thank you boys for your last raid on Battery City – Scarecrow is still pretty hot about it. Tune in next week for the weather report. This is Dr. Death-Defying, and you're listening to 109 in the sky."

Gerard shut off the radio once Dr. D had stopped talking, grinning at his friends. They went by their code names everywhere but their base; Gerard was Party Poison, Mikey was the Kobra Kid, and Ray was Jet Star. These names were sown on patches that they had each fixed to their jackets, and their "symbol" was a giant spider with a lightning bolt on it; Gerard had used the last of their black paint to draw it on the hood of their old car. It was outdated, but ever since the Helium Wars the hover cars that had been popular couldn't fly anymore. Apparently the bombs had upset the magnets, and the only way around anymore was by antique car. They had one of the last few remaining models that were still running; an old trans-am, Gerard told them. It had various colors of paint on it, and the spider took up most of the hood.

With the radio off, the silence grew heavy and the boys grew restless. Mikey wandered back over to the car, finishing off the last of his repairs with the tightening of a few bolts. He grabbed a scraped up red can and filled up the gas tank, flicking the door shut and then cleaning up after himself. Ray went back outside, wheeling his old motorbike back in. He also lifted the backpack off of the handlebars, unpacking a few cans of food, a pair of boots, and two canteens.

Meanwhile, Gerard walked over to the makeshift kitchen area of the base, pulling together a few protein bars and accepting the canteens from Ray when he brought them in. He also took the backpack and packed the few things he had in his hands into it, and then Gerard walked across the base to an inconspicuous wall. He pressed on one of the panels, however, and a table swung down, covered in various weapons that were strapped to it to keep from falling. Gerard picked out a butterfly knife and three weapons that were rather peculiar; they appeared to be guns, but not the antique kind. They were brightly colored, and had embellishments on them. Gerard holstered his own, a flashy yellow gun with the words "give me money" written on the side in Japanese. He tossed Ray the blue gun, which had "because I said so" inscribed on the side, and handed Mikey the red gun, which read "deluxe."

Mikey and Ray grinned at Gerard, reaching past him to pick up their masks. Ray pulled on his black helmet that was reminiscent of the old astronauts that used to fly up into space, and Mikey donned his yellow helmet with "Good Luck" painted (by Gerard) on the visor. Gerard tied on a yellow masquerade mask, threw the backpack over his shoulder, and then led the other two to the car.

"Where are we headed today?" Mikey asked Gerard as they pulled away from their base and towards Route Guano, the main highway that ran through the Zones all the way to Battery City.

"Back to Battery City," Gerard replied, pushing a beat up tape into the tape deck. Rock music rang out, and they turned up the volume as high as it would go as they tore down the highway, chasing the sun.

A/N: Hello! New fic, I wrote this during July for a writing project hosted by NaNoWriMo. No romance, so sorry about that, but it follows Danger Days pretty closely so hopefully y'all will like it :)