It's Death Or Victory // A Killjoy/MCR FanFic

Chapter 21 - Changing Tides

"You surrender your heart, I surrender every dream, every weapon you've got, every secret that I keep. You can fight this all you want, but tonight belongs to me." ~ Surrender the Night

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The ride to Zone 6 was the most uncomfortable ride I'd ever experienced. I swear you could've cut the tension in the air with a knife.  It was that horrible.

Party and Kobra sat up front, as usual, while Jet, Ghoul, and I took up the back.  But instead of our usual arrangement with Ghoul in the center, Jet had opted to take the middle seat, seeing as Ghoul probably couldn't stand to be anywhere near me.  None of us a said a word, and the silence felt like an oppressive force, suffocating my existence, amplifying my guilt, and making me want to fade away into nothingness.

I stole glances at Ghoul periodically, but it was obvious he wasn't doing the same.  He just stared vacantly out the window, his face the most expressionless I'd ever seen as he watched the barren landscape of the Zones pass by.

I fiddled with my purple blaster in my hands, looking out at the midnight sky and wondering why I had to be cursed with such horrendous luck.  First Party, now Ghoul.  I could cope with myself falling for someone, but having to hurt my best friends in order to protect them, that stung.  Seeing them hurt that way hurt me worse than it did lying to myself that I didn't have feelings.  Ghoul especially.  Seeing the look on his face after I said what I did felt like someone had carved out my heart with a spoon and left a gaping hole there.  I was a little bit empty inside, knowing what I'd done.  I knew I'd never forgive myself.

Apparently Dr. D had received several calls that there was some sort of disturbance on the outskirts of Zone 6. Some told him is was Dracs, others said it was a gang of rowdy Killjoys. Either way, we needed to go clean up the mess, which meant a long 2 hour drive to the far edge of the Zones, a good 20 miles out from what used to be the Arizona border. The silence made it unbearable, but I eventually decided to allow myself to sleep a little, knowing I'd been up all day and I needed to be sharp for whatever was waiting for us in the desert.

It felt like I'd only just started to doze off when I was jolted awake by an ear deafening bang and screeching while the Trans Am shuddered.

"Motherfucker!" Party cursed as he tried to control the seemingly out of control vehicle as it swerved before stopping in the middle of the road.

My heart was beating a little faster than I was used to as I started wide eyed, wondering what the hell had happened. It didn't appear we were under attack, so what was going on?

Kobra, who seemed to be the only quick thinker in the moment, pulled his gun and immediately got out of the car, blaster raised as he scanned the dark horizon. The rest of us followed suit, making sure our masks were on as we stepped out of the vehicle, blasters in hand.

"God damn it," I heard Kobra mutter.

"What is it?" Jet asked from the other side of the car.

"We blew a fucking fire," Kobra responded.

I walked around the Trans Am to Kobra, and sure enough, our back tire was practically non existent, a few black pieces of rubber sticking to the metal that once held the tire. That's what had caused us to stop.

"Where's the spare?" Party asked, coming over to join us, as well as Jet and Ghoul.

"That is the spare," Kobra sighed.

"Dammit," I mumbled. "How far are we?"

"Ten miles from the disturbances," Party responded. "There's no way we could walk that distance."