Resurrection

Gerard wiped his face clean with a sigh and fought down the feeling that he was being humiliated on purpose. He glanced up at the red light, glad to be off air and free for the night. He could go back to his apartment, sleep, dream….
“Great show Gerard, very entertaining.”
He managed a weak smile at the director of the show, aware that Lola was lurking and silently demanding his return to the centre of the city. Sometimes the creature steered him towards Korse’s office after shows, in case the boss wanted to talk to him or rather check up on him. The feeling of being trapped had been worse since the last vision, more than once he had thought he saw the women in the crowds and he had dreamt more than once of being a child and playing with a smaller child, a brother.
“Ratings are great and you’re booked with Lola at the school district on Monday.”
“Okay, anything else?”
The man blinked at the hint of irritation and mentally noted it to tell his superiors. He had orders to report anything approaching aggression and he had noticed how tired Gerard looked. There were rumours circulating that killjoys had been in the city although the authorities denied it and he wondered again about why they had resurrected a known criminal. Swallowing it all he plastered a smile on his face.
“Nope, have a good night now.”
Gerard grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and followed the pink form out into the corridor, his head rang with its tinny voice. Korse was concerned, he looked ill and had asked the doctors to come take a look in the morning. Inwardly Gerard winced and nervously ran his hand through his hair. He had avoided telling the shrink about the dreams and had explained away the incident in the bathroom as a side effect of the medication he had actually started flushing down the sink.
“Home now though Lola?”
“Why yes, you need to sleep and prepare for your singing slot on BLI news tomorrow.”
He nodded numbly, trying to remember why singing felt so good but also so wrong at the same time. Maybe Korse was right, he needed to change medications again maybe or take the vacation to the New Vegas resorts that he had been promised.
“I will need time to rehearse.”
The cat like creature nodded as they left the building and stepped out into the city proper. Even at nine at night it was kept pleasantly warm and crowds still walked the pristine streets. Through the dome he could see the glow of sunset in the distance, at high summer it seemed to blaze all day and he wanted to feel the heat on his skin even if it meant going outside.
Gerard allowed himself to daydream as they walked across to the metro station. It was a twenty minute ride back to the apartment but for once he was in the mood to linger and he silently informed Lola of his need to shop and maybe even have a meal out. The creature nodded, it was programmed to ensure that Gerard assimilated back into the population and that included leisure activities. It hovered at his shoulder as they entered the pankcake house and settled in.
“Black coffee and blueberry pancakes please.”
The waitress was a pretty blond and nodded with a shy smile. Gerard wondered idly whether she would go home with him before realising that he was actually more interested in staring at the dark haired guy with a good ass who was sitting at the bar. He instantly dismissed it, he liked girls and girls only. Anything else was a corruption and not to be considered. Blushing, he went back to staring out of the window.
The plaza was full, news reports relaying the BLI message from a set of huge television screens that dominated the open space. People looked at them as they returned hme, drugged minds accepting the sanitised and bland presenters that gave them news from all over the former state and further afield. He watched them, office workers in white, manual workers in grey, security and scarecrows in the familiar masks. It all seemed unreal, a state somewhere between reality and dreaming. Gerard was more than a little grateful when the waitress reappeared.
“There you go sir.”
He nodded his thanks and settled back, the familiar odour of good coffee going some way towards easing his mind. Thoughts of the week ahead crowded in until a loud noise caused him to look outside. Everyone had stopped at the sound echoing from the plaza speakers as the screens showed nothing but static. Gerard put down his cup, a frown crossing his features and he was on his feet and outside before he realised he had even stood up.
He knew that tune.
He had heard it before and it was important.
Lola was beside him, pushing the crowds away as everyone stopped moving and stared up at the huge screens. There was a sense of unease, even the dracs were not ushering people away and again Gerard knew why.
It’s the old National Anthem. They are programmed to stop for it.
But BLI had not played that tune in decades.
Someone else uses it.
His frown became a silent scream as the screen flickered, bright colours crossing it until the picture steadied and the crowd stepped back, almost moaning as they recognised the logo behind the man on the screen. Gerard stared, the man’s face was hidden by a grotesque mask, Frankenstein came into his brain. He wore a green vest, a yellow and black striped jersey and Gerard knew now that this was one of the men from his dream. From the hell that had been his other life. The man raised a tattooed hand and pushed the mask up, revealing a handsome face framed by tousled black hair. He fixed them all with a steady gaze and Gerard registered that his eyes were hazel.
“Greetings Battery City, you missed me? It’s Fun Ghoul returned from the dead to tell you that killjoys never die. You might think you wiped us out but noooooo. Your leaders lied to you. All four of us were revived and now walk among you. Sure they may have wiped memories and altered our looks but we are what we have always been. Your future, your past, a free life.”
There was a pause, detonations in the distance shook everyone and screaming broke out among the populace as sections of the city shook and exploded. Gerard couldn’t move, not even when Lola grabbed his arm and pulled hard. His eyes remained fixed on the screen as the man continued talking.
“So now we are coming for you all. We killed BLI once before and will do it again. This goes out to my brothers, Mikey, Ray and Gerard. We are going to bring you home. Kobra Kid, Jet Star and Party Poison will ride again.”
The man on the screen cracked into a cheeky grin.
“Oh and Party, Crimson is driving your car.”
The screen went blank, sirens wailing as the BLI broadcasts broke back in and showed the devastation in the commercial and security districts. They also flashed to checkpoints where brightly clad figures exchanged laser fire with dracs. The presenter spoke in calming tones, the scum were being wiped out, do not panic, all is well.
“We need to go to the boss.”
Gerard flinched as Lola’s silky voice echoed in his brain and he allowed himself to be steered through the crowds, two scarecrow officers falling in next to them. He couldn’t think, he could hear nothing in his head but the man’s voice and an irrational anger about someone touching his car. He didn’t have a car. He wasn’t even sure that had been addressed to him although it made sense somehow. They hurriedly entered the tall white spires of Scarecrow Headquarters and into the lift.
Silence continued up to the top floor, the sounds of the city lost although Gerard could see the glow of the distant fires and could smell the smoke. He had started to shake, fear mixed with something else as they stepped out into the main office. Korse looked around, a thin smile on his face.
“I’m glad to see you are safe Gerard.”
“What’s happening, what’s going on, who was that man?”
The android didn’t blink at the near panic in the pale man’s face. He had been anticipating this since Iero had escaped and his superiors had made the facts clear. The experiment was over, there was nothing left to do now except termination. Another door opened and Ray was pushed through, his white coat stained with red from where the drac had pushed his head into the lift door. He stared at the man in the blue suit uncertainly, both of them having vague feelings of kinship before another door opened. A scarecrow pushed forward another man, this one tall with glasses and a young face. He looked alert and suspicious, something flashing across his face as he looked at Gerard. There were now a room full of people, the dracs gone and replaced with scarecrows, weapons drawn.
Korse looked at the three men, none of them had expressed recognition and he knew that some of the elders favoured continuing the trial but had been overruled.
“I am sorry gentlemen. Your friends are attempting a rescue but all they will find is what they found before. Corpses.”
There was a sound of chambers being loaded and Gerard closed his eyes.

Notes