THE RUN AND GO : JOSHLER

26 : KILLJOY

"Alex, shut the fuck up."

"I-I just thought...that you and I-" Alex stuttered, heat rising to his cheeks. He quickly racked his brain, searching for an excuse to smooth over the awkward conversation. "Y-You just go on and on about Missile Kid, and I was just-"

"No no, Alex, really," Jack interrupted. He put his hand on Alex's chest to stop him from walking as he tilted his head drew his eyebrows together in concentration. "Shut the fuck up."

Alex shook his head and gave him a confused look.

"What are you-?" He began, but Jack just violently shushed him again.

Alex's heart pounded as he watched Jack stand there, hand still on Alex's chest, with a focused expression on his face. He sucked on his lower lip and listened.

Alex held his breath and focused on listening too. What exactly he was listening for, he didn't know, but Jack seemed very bothered by whatever it was.

Soon, a quiet sound disrupted the silence of the basement. It was a distant, metallic sound that was so soft you could barely even tell it was there. Though it was almost silent, it was still so haunting it made both Alex and Jack's hearts race.

Jack slowly raised his eyes up to Alex's. "Do you hear that?" He whispered.

Before Alex had a chance to answer, he was interrupted by a deafening, earth-shaking BOOM at the end of the hall, towards the cells.

The explosion made both Alex and Jack fall forwards, and they tightly held onto each other's arms to keep themselves standing steadily. They exchanged glances before pulling out their guns and rushing to the cells.

The corridor was filled with a thick grey smoke, so thick that the two had to wave their arms and hold their breath just to walk through it.

The explosion itself came from the very first cell, where the Young Vein was being held. By the time Alex and Jack reached it, the smoke had cleared just enough for them to see inside the small cinderblock room.

Alex saw them first. Jack was still
behind him, his vision obscured by Alex's shoulder and the smoke filling his eyes and lungs.

There were two of them at first. Then another. Then another. Soon, nearly the whole cell was filled with people. The Young Vein was out of his chains and standing upright, though he was heavily leaning against one of the men.

At first, Alex had no idea where they all were coming from. He simply stared at the people in stunned, frozen shock. Their bright, colorful clothing stood out against the dark cell. They all had some sort of makeup painting their faces, similar to the Young Vein's. Their guns were just as colorful as their clothes. Alex had never seen any weapons like those before.

When the smoke finally cleared, and Alex snapped out of his daze, he saw what exactly had happened-these people had blown straight through the cinderblock walls of the cell. How they got a bomb downstairs in the cellar, Alex didn't know, but he didn't have any time to think about it. Even though the people hadn't noticed them yet, it was only a matter of seconds before they did.

They were the Killjoys.

They had come to take back the Young Vein, and God knows what else. There was no telling what these people were going to do to the Clique.

And Alex wasn't having it.

He quickly turned to Jack behind him and shoved him out of the cell, back into the smoky hallway.

Jack groaned when he hit the wall, but before he had any time to recover, Alex grabbed his wrist and hit the ground running.

The Killjoys behind them had finally taken notice, and they didn't waste any time. They rushed out into the hall and began firing their weapons, but they didn't sound like normal guns. They didn't shoot like normal guns.