The White Fox |book 1|

Chapter 26

(Gerard's POV)

I wake up the next morning, stretching my aching limbs, earning several cracking sounds from them. The bed feels colder than usual, as if something is missing.

Then, it all comes back to me. I remember yesterday's events. Jenna confessing that she has been meeting with Skeleton, me yelling at her and slapping her, and me outcasting her for a week.

Tears form at the corners of my eyes, causing them to sting. What have I done? The only girl I have truly loved, besides Rose. I've lost her. Even though she'll be back in a week, I wouldn't blame her if she broke up with me. I was a monster.

The guilt building up inside of me becomes too much to contain. By now, my pillow is soaked in tears and my back heaves up and down as I release heavy sobs.

I am so busy wallowing in my own guilt and sadness that I don't notice someone come in the room. Ashamed to let whoever has entered my room see my face, I keep my head buried in the pillow.

"Gerard?" The voice is unmistakably familiar. I lift my face to see my brother standing beside the bed, his shoulder still slung in a bandage.

"Mikey," I begin, my lip trembling. Mikey quickly wraps his arms around me tightly without saying a word, rocking me in his arms.

I have no shame in letting my little brother comfort me. Mikey is so much wiser than I am. He would have made a way better leader than me.

"Mikey," I choke. "You should have been leader. You're wise and kind; you wouldn't have outcasted Jenna, you would have talked to her. I'm such an idiot."

"Gerard, no, don't say that." Mikey whispers, hugging me tighter. "Father made you leader because he knew what would be best for the Killjoys. I don't have as much courage or determination as you."

Mikey's words put my mind at ease. I give him one last squeeze before releasing him. "Thanks, squirt." I ruffle his blonde hair.

Mikey chuckles while fixing his hair.  It's not often Mikey smiles, but when he does, it has the power to heal any pain I am feeling.

"Ya feeling better, Gee?" Mikey asks, patting my back.

"Yes," I sniffle, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt.

Mikey nods and stands up, leaving my bedside to walk out the door.

As soon as the door of my bedroom shuts, I hear the most awful-sounding scream come from the other side, followed by a loud thud and the sound of footsteps running down the hallway.

Bolting up from the bed, I sprint to the door to see what the disturbance is.  When I open the door, the sight that lay in front of me is too horrible to describe.

(White Fox's POV)

Following close behind Skeleton as we race through the sandy desert dunes, I sigh in delight to feel the wind blow through my long, white hair.  Despite the scorching heat of the sun, the wind cools my skin as I stride gracefully through the sand.

Every so often, Skeleton turns his head around to make sure I'm right behind him.  His sense of protectiveness makes my lips curl up in a smile.  I used to see Skeleton as an arrogant douchebag, but now that I've gotten the chance to know him personally, I see the softer and kinder side of him.

Skeleton stops running abruptly, causing me to slam into his back and making him fall over.

He stands up, brushing the sand off of his pants.  "Watch it," he mutters, scanning the empty road that lay in front of us.

Not far from the road is an old, abandon convenience store with the windows and doors boarded up, covered with BLI posters.  Not far from the entrance to the store stood an old-looking machine with the words "batteries" plastered on it.

"Well, there we go!" Skeleton exclaims, dashing towards the boarded-up building.  I follow him and he stops at the machine.

After taking a good look at it, Skeleton lets out a frustrated grunt, kicking the machine with all his might.

"What's the problem?" I ask, watching him beat up the machine in amusement.

"This darn thing only works on BLI coins!" Skeleton replies, kicking the machine once again.

Once a few minutes roll by, the machine is a scrap of beat-up metal.  With one final blow of Skeleton's foot, the front of the machine pops off, revealing its interior, full of batteries.

Skeleton's eyes light up.  "This will last me for years!" he quickly begins grabbing the batteries from the machine, stuffing them in his jacket.  He looks at me expectantly. "What are you standing there for? Grab some batteries!"

I get an uneasy feeling about stealing the batteries.  I know I used to be a thief, stealing from the convenience stores to feed Tommy and I, but something felt off about this.  It wasn't often that you see a BLI machine in the middle of the desert like this without a Drac or something nearby.

But Skeleton is letting me stay with him for my week of exile, so I might as well do as he says.  Bending down beside him, I begin cramming as many batteries as I could into my jacket.

Soon, we are both carrying loads of batteries in our jackets.  Looking satisfied with our discovery, and relieved that I didn't have to venture into Battery City, the both of us head back to Skeleton's hideout.

As we trudge along the road, huffing and puffing from carrying so much, I hear a humming sound coming from behind me.  I nudge Skeleton's shoulder. "Do you hear that?"

He looks at me, then turns around, eyes widening. "Dracs." he states, dropping the few batteries in his hand that he wasn't able to fit in his pockets, he pulls out his ray gun, signaling me to do the same.

I pull it out, tightly gripping the cold, metal object in my fingers.

The Dracs are on motorcycles, speeding towards us.  Once they get close enough, I see them start to shoot at us.  Skeleton dodges and shoots, knocking one off from its motorcycle and causing it to crash.

Three other Dracs are lined up behind the one that had just crashed, shooting quickly at us.

I aim and shoot, hitting a tire from one of the motorcycles, sending the Drac spiraling and crashing into another Drac on a motorcycle.

Only one remains, stopping the motorcycle and begins to walk towards us.  I raise my gun at it, but the Drac raises its hands up.  "Don't shoot!"

Skeleton cocks his head to the side, giving me a confused look.  "I didn't know Dracs could talk."

The Drac reaches for its mask and pulls it off, revealing a face, a girl's face.

The girl has dark, red hair, short and spiked at the top.  Her brilliant blue eyes stand out against her pale complexion.  Whoever his girl is, there is no way she is a robot from Battery City; she is human.

"Who are you?" I ask, somehow finding my voice in the midst of my fear and shock, lowering my gun.  Skeleton keeps his gun pointed at her as she approaches me.  She touches my face with her long, thin fingers. 

"It is you, White Fox." she whispers. "You have come after all."