Sunlight streams through the windows, and the brightness breaks through my closed eyelids. I try to close my eyes tighter, but going back to sleep is pretty much impossible. Groaning, I slowly sit up and open my eyes. My sunburnt skin is tight and stinging, and my muscles need to be stretched. My head is pounding as well, and as I put my palm to my forehead, I see red. Dried blood covers my palms, and there are even darker red lines scattered about. I must've cut myself on the shattered glass around me. Speaking of glass, I look around, and see shards everywhere. Did I really go ballistic last night? And did I really fall asleep on the floor like this? The memories escape me, but I can piece together fuzzy images of bottles shattering and food spilling. Last night was a disaster.

I slowly stand, being careful not to cut myself any more on the glass. My ankle, which was pretty much a dull ache yesterday, is now throbbing as well, the sprain having been irritated from my actions last night. Limping over to the cases of water, I grab two bottles, then take a bottle of peroxide off the first aid shelf, and go out the back door. Gingerly, I twist the cap of one water bottle off, careful not to reopen the wounds on my palms, then pour the water onto my hands and forearms to wash the dried blood. Next I open the bottle of peroxide and pour it onto my arms. It stings as each cut fizzes white and cleans itself. Finally I open the second bottle of water and empty that, rinsing the peroxide. Assessing the now clean damage, I'm relieved that none of the cuts are in need of stitches.

Leaving the empty bottles out back, I return to the store area. I would sweep the floors to clean the glass up, but maybe if someone finds my little nest, they'll leave because it's such a dump. I look out the window and guess that it's probably around nine, so now would be a good time to pack supplies and head out before it gets too hot. Carrying this stuff back to my car in the heat would be unbearable.

There are Dead Pegasus drawstring bags hanging from a hook, so I grab four and walk the aisles. I load a bag and a half with food: a few cans of Spaghetti-o's, chicken noodle soup, some tins of tuna, cans of corn, green beans, potatoes, peas, and carrots, and canned peaches, pears, pineapples, and mandarin oranges. The other half of the second bag and all of the third is strictly water. I manage to store twenty bottles, which is a good amount, but I'll need to use it sparingly. The fourth bag is full of miscellaneous items: shampoo, an extra bar of soap, two rolls of toilet paper, and a handful of first aid items like bandages, aspirin, ibuprofen, antacids, gauze pads, and a bottle of peroxide. There isn't much space left in the last bag, and as I look around the store, I could smack myself for realizing I forgot something. Behind the counter, I hold the bag open and stuff in as many packs of cigarettes as I can, which turns out to be twelve. Then I shove six lighters down the side. Pulling the string on the bag, I smile slightly, deciding I have enough.

With the four bags waiting by the front door, my next mission is to find a gas can. This isn't hard, as I quickly find two in a utility closet. As I walk by the drink refridgerators, I suddenly stop just after passng the second one from the corner. Slowly, I turn my head to the left, and immediately sit the gas cans down. A huge grin is plastered on my face as I marvel at the rows of liquor in front of me. How did I not notice this?! I nearly pull the door off its hinges as I open it to grab a bottle of rum from the rack. The bottle is untouched, if not a little dusty, and it appears to still be drinkable. Twisting the cap off, I take a sniff. Still good! I restrain myself from doing a little dance as I hold the rum under my arm and take a bottle of blackberry brandy and a small bottle of vodka as well. The bags by the door are packed full, so I decide to bring one more drawstring bag with me, and put the liquor inside. Before I gather my things, I collect my mask from the office and strap it on.

With the strings of two bags over one shoulder, and three over the other, I take one last look around the station. I do think I've got everything I'll need for a little while. I crouch slightly to pick up the gas cans, and step through the broken front door. Limping over to the gas pumps, I drop everything once more and remove a nozzle from the cradle. I try to squeeze the handle, but no gas comes out. No surprise there. So I do what I have to do, and the thought makes me shudder. I remove my mask, squeeze the handle, and put my lips to the end of the nozzle and suck. Bile immediately rises in my throat as the fumes enter my system, and I have to pull away in fear of throwing up. When the feeling passes, I continue to take pulls on the nozzle until the toxic gasoline rises through the hose. I cough and gag as I spit out the liquid, and force myself to quickly unscrew the can caps, completely filling both.

Now that everything I could possibly think of is done, I tie my mask, throw the bags back over my shoulders, pick up the heavy gasoline cans, and set off back into the desert towards my car. Hopefully it's still there.

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This day just keeps getting hotter and hotter. The sunburn on my shoulders and arms is stinging faintly, even though it had lightened up over the past two days. My knees feel like they're about to give out from under me and my ankle is throbbing painfully, but I keep pushing myself, only to stop to take a sip of water. And even then, I don't sit down, because I know I won't get back up for a while. I really just want to get back to my Jeep. [i]At least I have food, gas, and supplies for this adventure.[/i] I think. That remains to be my motivation for now.

A large bush comes into view, and I nearly jump for joy. Well, I would if I wasn't weighed down by all this stuff. I do this odd cross between a run and a waddle to get to my precious Jeep, but skid to a halt when I get close enough to hear voices. My heart speeds up and my stomach starts twisting itself into knots.

"Where do you think they went, Fun?"

"Dunno. But where ever they went, they're probably dead now."

"Yeah, probably. We'll have to tell Dr. Death about this."

When Dr. Death Defying is mentioned, a little relief washes over me. They must be Killjoys! I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, but it sounds more like a balloon deflating loudly.

"What was that?"

[i]Shit![/i] I could kick myself in the ass for letting my guard down for that split second. There's no way for me to move fast enough to hide with my supplies, and I'm sure as hell not leaving them here for these guys to take. So instead of making an attempt to escape, I do the next best thing. In the blink of an eye, the gas cans are on the ground and my gun is out, aiming at the chest of the man who steps out of the bush. His gun, which I'm surprised to see is green, is also pointed at me. My head to be exact.

"Who are you?" he asks. He has a latex Frankenstein mask on, which makes his voice a little muffled.

"I could ask you the same thing." I reply. "And also why you're lurking around my car."

"This is your car?" asks the second man, who has now come into view. He's wearing an astronaut type helmet with the visor up. He doesn't have his gun drawn, but his hand is hovering around the holster.

"No, I just said it was mine for shits and giggles." Stupid much? I should probably watch my mouth though; I don't know these men, and my sarcam could get me killed.

"Why do you have a Better Living laser?" the first man asks.

"I stole it from a Drac two days ago."

Never moving his gun away from my head, the Frankenstein man turns and looks at the astronaut wannabe. They don't speak to one another, but kind of just stare, then Astronaut nods. Frankenstein looks back to me and lowers his gun. He holsters it, and I take this as a sign that mine isn't really needed either. That doesn't mean I'll let my guard down though. After putting my own gun into the waistline of my pants, I take this opportunity to drop my bags from my aching shoulders and crouch down, my breathing heavy. Frankenstein pulls his mask up and takes a step closer. I tense, ready to jump at any second.

"Are you the girl Dr. Death was talking about the other day?" he asks. He squats in front of me, leaning his head down, but looking up at me, trying to get my attention. "The one that escaped from Battery City?" I nod slowly.

"Unless another girl managed to get out of the city alive, I'm the only one."

I peek up at Frankenstein from under my eyelashes. He's got black hair that stops just above his shoulders, bright hazel eyes, and I think I see a scorpion tattoo on the side of his neck. Whoever this man is, he's strikingly attractive.

"Korse cut into the transmission. Why is he after you?" Frankenstein questions.

"I don't know. Probably because I escaped. That's the only thing I can think of. But I don't understand why they would send the top Scarecrow operative after me."

"Fun, why don't we bring her to Party? Let him decide if she's worth taking to Dr. Death." says Astronaut.

Without taking his eyes off mine, Frankenstein nods.

"Sounds good. Would you do that?" he asks.

"We're... Going to a party?" I question. Why would we go to a party in the desert? Is there a double meaning that I don't know of? Both Frankenstein and Astronaut laugh.

"Not [i]a[/i] party." Astronaut says. "Our um... head of the group, I guess you could call him. His name is Party Poison." Oh. Now I feel stupid.

"Oh... How did you guys get out here?" I ask.

"Walked." They say simultaneously.

"Well... If you promise not to kill me and hijack my car, I can drive you where ever it is we're going. I just want to get my stuff in."

With a little speculation, they both end up agreeing to my offer of giving them a ride. They even help me load my things into the car and fill the gas tank. I only need one can, so the spare and the empty can go into the trunk as well. We hop into the car, Frankenstein in the passenger seat and Astronaut in the back. I smile as my baby roars to life once again, and we back out of the bush and head in the direction Frankenstein tells me to go.

On our drive, I find out a bit about these two, as they find out a bit about me as well. Both men are Killjoys, and there are two more back at their camp. Frankenstein's alias is actually Fun Ghoul, and Astronaut's is Jet Star. The other two at the camp are Party Poison and Kobra Kid. They know Dr. Death Defying personally, who lives in a shack of a pirate radio station. Dr. Death has another Killjoy and a child living with him; Show Pony and Missile Kid. Fun and Jet were out in the Zones looking for me, apparently; Dr. Death asked them to. Even though they were weary about the search, they did as they were asked. As for me, my car was left in Zone 2. When I explain that I got my stash from Dead Pegasus and point out a general direction of where it was, Jet Star tells me that that should be somewhere in Zone 3. I didn't think I made it out that far. I don't let on that my ankle is injured though, and I don't tell them about my vision in the desert. I don't want them to think I'm crazy.

"So you stole your laser gun from a Drac. Does that mean you don't have one of your own?" Fun Ghoul asks. I shake my head. "Well maybe we'll be able to talk Party Poison into giving you one. If he decides we can trust you."

"I have you in my car. I may not have my own laser, but I still have one. I'm not leading you away from your destination, as far as I know. I haven't killed you yet. You still don't trust me?" I chuckle lightly, and out of the corner of my eye, I can see Fun Ghoul smile.

After another thirty or so minutes, we finally pull up to a diner. It's old and broken, looking uninhabited for quite some time. The N and the R in the sign have fallen, making the building say "DIE." There's a classic Trans Am parked on the side, so I decide to park next to it. We climb out and I open the trunk to take some of the bags, but Fun Ghoul stops me.

"Don't grab your things just yet. We have to make sure Party Poison thinks you're welcome here." He gives me a sad smile and a shrug of his shoulders when I look at him. Sighing and rolling my eyes, I close the trunk maybe a little too hard.

"Fine. Let's get this over with then." I don't understand why I'm getting irritated over this. It's completely understandable procedure here in the Zones. I guess I just expected a little more.

"Honey, I'm home!" Jet Star yells as we walk inside. I chuckle a little, and Fun Ghoul smiles.

"Did you bring any food?" someone calls from another room.

"Fuck no! We found something better!" Fun Ghoul shouts in response.

"Goddamnit! You two are fucking useless!" A lanky man with glasses walks into the room, laughing, but stops when he sees me. He must've been the one that asked about the food. He's not wearing a mask or anything, so I'm assuming I've caught him off guard. "What is this? Who is this?" he asks.

"This is Kobra Kid." Jet Star leans sideways and whispers to me.

"Kid, this is..." Fun Ghoul tries to introduce me, but he draws a blank. "Hey, what [i]is[/i] your name anyway?"

I shrug. I hadn't really thought of that. I'm sure as hell not giving them my real name either. They haven't given me theirs yet.

"Well, this is the girl Dr. Death was talking about in his transmission. The one that escaped from Battery City."

"Can you be sure about that?" Suddenly a new voice enters the conversation. Into the room steps a man slightly taller than me, with bright red hair that touches his shoulders. His eyes appear cold, but I can tell there's a hidden curiousity there as well. Like Kobra Kid, he's not wearing a mask. If I thought Fun Ghoul was attractive, now he's got nothing on this guy. I don't make that known, however.

"Party Poison." Jet leans over again and whispers.

"I assumed." I say to Jet. Then I turn my attention to Party Poison. "I know you can't trust me. I don't blame you. But if you want, I can give you every detail of my escape, down to the pop up pancakes I had for breakfast that morning." The pop up pancakes make the other three give each other confused looks and shrugs. I continue, my voice being heard clearly even from under my mask. I need to be confident in a situation like this. "Also, instead of leaving your two colleagues in the desert, I drove them back here in my car. They're here in one piece aren't they? Oh, and if Dr. Death Defying told you to look for me, I must not be all that dangerous. What was that he said in the transmission? I'm just like the rest of you, because I wanna be free? Well that's exactly it. I want freedom."

Party Poison raises his eyebrows at me, apparently surprised by my little rant.

"You've definitely got some spunk, standing up to a Killjoy, in a room full of 'em." he says. "Fun Ghoul and Jet Star might seem to trust you, but you and I have only been in each other's company for a few seconds. Let me ask you something, sugar. Which side are you on?"

"I'm on the side of freedom. I'm on the side of individuality. I make my own choices, and I won't stand down to that fucked up dictatorship Battery City calls Better Living Industries. Better living my ass! Whatever side likeminded people are on, that's the side I'm on as well." The mere idea of him asking me that question gets me fired up. I can feel my cheeks and ears turning pink from anger. After what that city has done to me and my family, and after the efforts it took for me to get out of that godforsaken place, I would never dream of alliance to them. The corners of Party Poison's lips form a smirk, and his eyes burn with an emotion I can only place as passion. He understands me, this I know. He won't put his guard down though, because he's the leader of this group, and he can't give them the impression to trust too easily.

"Seeing as you did take care of Fun and Jet, I suppose we could let you spend the night. Tomorrow we'll go see Dr. D." he says.

I smile, even though it can't be seen. This is what I expected. Killjoys need to stick together right?

"Anybody want a cigarette?"

Notes

Hope you enjoy this chapter. The guys are finally here! :D

Title:
Which Side Are You On by B. Dolan
This song was chosen because the singer (B. Dolan) is extremely passionate about what he believes in. He knows which side he's on, and he's not afraid to stand up for these things. Like Lilianna being passionate about freedom from Better Living Industries. It's basically Party Poison asking her which side she's on, and Lilianna responds. Listen to the song, and you'll understand completely. I absolutely love this song.