The desert sand was excruciatingly hot. I could feel the heat burning onto my face even though I was walking on the long black road that stretched from Battery City all the way through Zone 6 and beyond. Beyond the barriers of Zone 6 was nothing, just endless desert and from what we knew nothing until you reached the coast which was on the other side of the great country of America. I'm sure 50 years ago everyone knew about what the country looked like and undoubtedly people lived there but after the nuclear war and BLi took over all the maps had been taken down and replaced with the map of Battery City and surrounding zones. The zones started off quiet small the closer they were to Battery City them as they spread out became larger until Zone 6 was drawn off. Batter City itself was filled with tall grey building that always shone white as soon as the sun went down. There is an exact center which is the Better Living Tower. That tower holds all the workers that sit in front of the computer and run the city from turning on the street lights to switching the TV programs. it was 40 floors of bright white lights the shone obnoxiously for 24 hours 7 days a week. Two buildings over was the hospital which was filled with nurses who wore gas masks, just like they did in the nuclear war. I think that the reason they were their masks is because they had been affected by the radiation and their faces are permanently fucked up. There is no sympathy felt for those nurses. They strap you in the bed, jab you with needles then wheel you off into observation with a doctor who is always wearing a surgeons mask but from the crinkles on the sides of his face is smiling. The smile didn't seem like a happy smile, it seemed more menacing like an I'm-going-to-kill-you smile. God forbid, you got a cold because one little cough or sneeze and you were sent into quarantine for days, getting pumped with a drug called Acidlay, which killed anything unwanted in your body, until every blood cell had been turned into Acidlay, then and only then were you allowed to return home and throw up for 3 days straight until the drugs had been ejected from your body. Beneath the hospital is where they kept the people who were soon yet to be turned into Draculoids. Draculoids, more commonly known as Dracs were once ordinary people who had had their mind wiped and replaced with the mottos of Better Living Industries and sent out to patrol the streets, wearing all white with vampire masks and unruly black hair. they carried blaster guns and had the rights to search the homes and take away anyone they thought was going against the laws of Better Living. After Draculoids there were the Scarecrows, which were a step up in the ranks.
Although below the city was the slums and you only went down their when you needed something illegal.
A hot wind swept through the desert blowing up sand and dirt into my face making it hard to see, my hair also got caught up in that mess and was now in front of my face instead of behind. It must of been the late afternoon because the sun was starting to set behind the mountains that circled Zone 3. the small monitor on my GPS started flashing and beeping, alerting me to a passing car. Pulling up my combat boots, I started to run through the tumbleweeds and green shrubs, jumping over snake holes and small plants until I was far enough that when I ducked the people in the car wouldn't be able to see me but I could see them. Over the past 3 days I have been walking there have only been 6 cars to drive through and each time my GPS started flashing I just hoped that it would be the Killjoys. The Killjoys were a band of rebels who were obviously rebelling against BLi, wearing colours and blasting rock songs and just causing mayhem throughout the Zones. They even had their own radio station which was run by someone called Doctor Death Defying who always played the sickest tunes which a teenage boy down the road had accidentally picked it up one day, so all the neighborhood kids went round his place once a week to listen to the broadcast but after a couple of weeks someone of the kids started disappearing until one day, Draculoids came and picked up the boy and that was the end of him and the station. although I tired to pick up the station, I could never find it and gave up after a while.
The car started getting closer, the engine sound becoming more distinct until the sound of music started to overpower the rumbling. Draculoids wouldn't play that kind of music or even drive a car that noisy, so I stood up from my crouched position behind a slowly browning shrub. A car, covered in stickers and drawings was rapidly approaching until I could make out that there was little girl who was sticking out of the top with her arms screaming the words to something. That was the Killjoys! That was their car and they were playing one of the songs that I had heard on the radio. this was it, I could finally stop walking through the desert looking for somewhere to live. they could accept me and train me up to be a killjoy and I would help them fight and win against the draculoids. Possibly running faster than I had ever in my entire life, I started to move towards the road but wasn't fast enough as they sped past, music blaring. I shouted at them and waved but they just drove. I didn't realise how high my hopes had been but when they sped out of view, my heart seemed to feel as if it dropped out of my chest and to the floor. I had been so close and now that was probably never going to happen again and I would probably die here not from lack of food or water just because there are snakes, scorpions, spider, dangerous plants, coyotes,really hot days and freezing nights; so basically nature was going to kill me.
"no use crying about it" I muttered to myself and started walking again, Night was coming and I had to get somewhere safe.

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Four more fucking days wandered through the desert, just hoping to find somewhere and I was seriously about to give up. I've been away from civilisation for a whole week and I was fast running out of water, food had already gone but thankfully taps had been put at certain points to fill up my water bottles but for the last day there hadn't been any water and the bottle only had about 4 more sips left. I didn't get very far before my legs gave way and I collapsed on the floor in a sobbing heap of failure. this whole idea was a long shot and I should have stayed put in Battery City. The city of dead white dreams that never changed and never aged. The city of the living dead. Time managed to slip away, the sun started to set behind the mountains turning everything orange and casting big black shadows behind the cactuses and shrubs. it was beautiful; a sight that never got boring because there was always new shapes forming with the new plants. the once white clouds were now pink and red then slowly faded out to purple as the sky started to turn a deep blue. my GPS started to beep from inside my backpack and there was soon going to be a car speeding down the road, crushing me and ending my misery in the California Desert but didn't want to die. Mustering up what energy I had left, I was surprised I had any, and managed to crawl two or three feet from where I was lying only to fall once again, scraping my knees and forehead on the quickly cooling asphalt. The sound of an engine started to roar and before I knew it the high pitched sound of breaks screamed in my ear. the car had stopped and now multiple footsteps were running towards me, the gravel crunching under their feet which was once one of the best sounds in the world now one of the worst.
"please just don't hurt me. please" I begged as a pair of hands picked me up. my head was throbbing so much that their answer was muffled so when they laid me down on something soft. it was that something soft that put me to sleep.

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3rd Person's POV:
Kobra Kid carried that unconscious girl into the base we were staying at. lying her out on the couch in front of the tiny TV that was playing an old episode of Tom and Jerry. The girl was tiny, not even taking up half of the couch, her long brown hair a tangled mess around her sun burnt face, the white dress she wore was now more of a dirty brown with patches of blood here and there from the scrapes and cuts that littered her arms and legs. The dark brown worker man's boots were the only thing that was appropriate to wear in the desert.
"Kobra, take off her shoes would you. she must of be in them for days" Fun Ghoul popped his head around the door frame. Kobra nodded and cautiously walked over to the girl in case his movements would wake her up. he was careful with the way he untied the laces and slipped off the shoes. her socks were brown with dirt and he removed them as well, tossing them with the boots that were in the corner.Party Poison walked in carrying a black bag and tipped it upside down, all of her belongings crashing onto the table. GPS, wallet, small purse, empty packs of hydro bars and a map of Battery City and the surrounding zones.
"You think she's a runaway? Party asked Kobra and looked at the sleeping girl. Kobra nodded as he rummaged through her purse. absolutely no way of identifying her or indicating where she had exactly come from aside from the Battery City dollar notes that sat crunched up in her wallet. The girl hadn't even brought a jacket along with her which meant she roasted during the day and froze at night. Both Kobra and Party looked back at the girl as she started to stir. she was covered in scrapes and dirt that defiantly could not be achieved from just a single day in the desert; she had been out for a couple of days.
"she needs to eat and drink soon. we need to get her cleaned up" Party muttered under his breath. "good thing we found her too. Scarecrows just patrolled that place"
Kobra's eyes widened in surprise. they had just saved that girls life.

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My brains started to register what was going on just as light started to shine onto my face, of well I just realised it started to shine on my face. I didn't open my eyes afraid of what I would see. I could have been anywhere by now, in the back seat of the car that had picked me up, in a room getting ready to be sold or by some unfortunate situation still in the desert and that whole event had been a hallucination. My limbs felt heavy as I stretched them out with a sigh. The surface was I lying on defiantly wasn't the desert floor, so it happened.
"Ohh you're awake" a voice spoke from what sounded like across the room. My eyes shot open to see a man sitting on the corner of the table with a steaming cup of liquid in his hand. My eyes flicker from his face to his flaming red hair then back to his face. He was no questions asked a Killjoy. He had very angular feature, cheekbones that stood out as he smiled at me. The room around us was simple and wood with a large window on the wall behind me. The light that poured into the room was a bright yellow which would have once hurt my eyes so early in the morning but I had adjusted. the walls were all a pale brown coloured wood with a charcoal coloured door on the right wall.
"How are you feeling?" He asked and lifted himself off the seat.
"better than before" I spoke before suppressing the yawn that wanted to escape. Red head laughed and took another sip from the cup before walking towards me. As he got closer I noticed more about him. He wore light blue jeans that must of faded and dirtied over time with a gun holster strapped across his right thigh, a sleeveless black shirt and mid calf black boots.
"I'm Party Poison. We found on the on the road, almost dead so we picked you up and brought you here. You slept for almost 2 days" Party Poison had made his way over to the couch I was sleeping on and sat down next to me.
"What's your name?"
My mind spun searching for my name having lost it momentarily before answering. "Sky"
"Okay Sky. Where did you come from?"
"The outskirts of Battery City. I was out for about a week"
Party Poison's face dropped when I mentioned how long I had been out there.
"A whole week? And you're still alive!"
"Well yeah, I wasn't going to die out there. Wasn't going to let the static get me" I hinted at him, letting him know that I knew he was a killjoy.
"How do you know about that?" He titled his head and smiled with all his teeth.
"I have my ways" I teased.
Party Poison just sat there looking at me to a point where I started feel uncomfortable. His eyes were taking everything in and I could almost feel how fast his mind was racing. Finally what seemed like an eternity he snapped his head up and beamed at me. He started to explain what was about to happen.
"Well, we always need new Killjoys so welcome abroad Sky, but as of today you shall be called Atomic Acid. A man is now going to come in, well roll in on his wheelchair and assess you for anything that could hurt you. This means that you have to strip down because you do have injuries all along the left side of you but hopefully Crash came with him so she can do that. After that they will send you in to have a shower which is through that door" He pointed at a door that was next to the couch. "After that, call me in and ill help you with everything else okay"
"Everything else?" I squeaked.
"Sugar, have you seen how bad your face is cut up?" Party ran his thumb over my cheek. A sharp burning flared up when his finger passed. He noticed my reaction and frowned. The rumbling of an engine and gravel scraping sent two bodies running past the main door and straight outside.
"That Dr.D" Party smiled and stood up, the couch shifting from the removed weight. Without another word, he was out of the room and I was left to my own thoughts. I was finally hear. With the killjoys, in one of their bases and I actually had a conversation with one of them. From the stories, I have heard about them, they were just as nice well he was, I don't know about the others. He was Party Poison, the leader from what the stories said and if Party Poison was here then Jet Star, Fun Ghoul and Kobra Kid were here.

A man in a wheelchair rolled in through the door closely followed by a woman with short blonde hair. The man in the wheelchair must of been Dr. Death Defying. The clothes he wore just screamed I'm a bad ass rebel complete with black leather vest that looked very old on top of an army green button up shirt. His black jeans and boots were covered in dust from the sand outside. He wore a blue bandana rolled up in a thick band across his hair line then black aviators. The woman next to him was standing over the table, opening a case that had a pill sign on it. Her hair was cropped short and was a yellow that the sky turned in the morning. I couldn't see much of what she was wearing aside from the polka dotted red shirt but I could only imagine it was just a bright as the stories had told.
"So Sunshine, where did you come from?" Dr. Death Defying spoke up, distracting me from figuring out what the woman was wearing. I opened my mouth to answer but a heavily breathing Party Poison stopped in the doorway.
"Kobra and I were driving down the 05. we were about 6 miles off from here when we saw her. she has been out there for a week. she's from Batt City." he panted before walking off. so it was him and Kobra Kid that found me.Dr. Death Defying started mumbling something about 05 then Battery City. He counted off on his fingers then started drawing in the air before finally stopping and smiling at me.
"that's 65 miles you covered in a week. Someone was watching you out there kiddo"
"Maybe the Phoenix Witch" The woman spoke up and slammed the case shut. she walked around the table, heading straight for me with a tube in her hands. Her pants were simple black 3/4's with white tennis shoes.
"The Phoenix Witch is a sort of protector out here, like God to some others. She protects us and leads us into death" the woman spoke as she circled me then came to stop right in front of me. "okay, D time to get out. I'll take care of her"

Dr. D laughed and wheeled himself out of the room before shutting the door with a slam.
"Okay, honey. I need you to take the dress off" She tugged on my dress and stepped back. I hesitantly slipped off the dress and dropped it to the floor in a puddle of white and brown. The woman's nose crinkled up then a frown spread across her face. the rest of the examination was silent as she spread some green cream on the injuries that covered nearly every inch of my skin. At first contact the cream burnt before cooling down. She sat me in a chair to inspect my vitals coming to the conclusion that the Phoenix Witch was defiantly watching over me because aside from dehydration, almost starvation and skin injuries I was completely healthy; the worse being the open gashes that need stitches. Even after 30 minutes of me being half naked in front of this woman she still hadn't told me her name and I doubted she would tell me soon ever after she pushed me into the bathroom that consisted of a white tiled shower that had streaks of pale reds and yellows, that she had assured me was just hair dye that never washed off. The sink that was next to the toilet was an ugly green and the mirror above it had a crack straight through the middle. there was a small window the was open which let in not enough light but enough smell on the desert. BLi shampoos and body washes lined the shower edge some half full others empty. They were just like the ones I had back home and smelt like cherries except these ones smelt like oranges, must be from a different BLi store, although I highly doubt they could just walk in and buy these things, there were draculoids and scarecrows everywhere. There was a knock on the door before the woman stuck her head through the small gap she made when opening the door.
"The guys picked these up for you from another base over. hopefully they will fit" She held out a plastic bag. inside the bag was a pair of pink underwear, black shorts and black shirt that had the word horror written on it in white and a orange towel. The shower was easy to operate, discarding my unwanted clothes in a pile under the sink, I almost started crying when I felt hot water. these were the luxury's I was going to miss but getting out of the city and joining a place where I could end up belonging was worth it. the shampoos made my hair smell like manufactured oranges and the body wash was a down played vanilla. I didn't take very long washing up, the cream almost healing all the scrapes aside from a few that required stitching.the clothes fit almost perfectly, the shirt a tad too big, kept slipping of one of my shoulders but aside from that it was good. There was another knock on the door while I was packing up my unwanted clothes.
"yep, I'm good" I called out and the door creaked open. Party Poison stood in the door way holding a small round cookie tin.
"All good?" he asked and gestured to the clothes I was wearing. I nodded and thanked him. he smiled back and opened the door wider for me to slip past him.
"So, you're not afraid of needles are you?" he chuckled and sat me down on the chairs that were around the table.
"Nope, are you the one who is gonna stitch me up?" my voice was shook at the obvious lie.
" you're lying. aren't you?" Party was staring at me but I shook my head, hopping I would lie myself into believe something.
"I hate them so don't worry if you are but I'm the only one who I man enough to do it"

And with that Party Poison started to stitch up the cuts on my upper arms. Apparently, when the woman was examining me she had applied something over it so that when the needle would go through my skin I wouldn't feel it but I could still feel my skin being pulled together; and it worked until he started to sew up the split in my eyebrow. I wasn't expecting to feel it so when I did I grabbed onto the nearest thing I could find and the nearest thing being his thigh.
"I am so sorry" I aplogised but didn't remove my grip.
"no, it's okay. it's just my leg" he just went along with it until he finished. I inspected the eyebrow stitch in the mirror and it wasn't so bad, Party made sure he had done it think enough that it could heal without a very noticeable scar.

"so, who did you leave running away" he asked.
"Mum, Dad, two brothers a sister, friends" I listed and followed him out of the room. Party turned on his heels to look at me.
"What no boyfriend? he quizzed. Shaking my head, I earned a laugh from him."Serious? you're really pretty"
"No. all the boys I know are pretty obsessed with porno droids so they how they get off" I stated straight out while staring at the wall in front of me.
"Porn- Porno Droids" Party stuttered. "how old are you?" I turned back to look at Party who had a shocked expression on his face.
"I'm 19. why?
Party's face changed then he nodded.
"ohh that explains a lot. I thought you were much younger" I laughed and walked up to the door that Dr. Death Defying and the woman had walked through. The door felt heavy when I pulled on it and good reason to, four people feel down at my feet when the door swung open. Three men and a little girl.
"Ohh hi" the one with black hair looked up at me a smiled.