But Long As There Are Stars Above You

The Zones had a funny way of showing love to its residents. Zone Six showed its love by sending rocks from the sky to the ground, creating huge craters in the ground. Two had weather. Actual fucking weather and things grew there! One had dozens of dead bodies from Battery City that the residents could steal from. Three and Five both had clean water. But Four? Four had mysteries…
Out of all of the Zones, Zone Four was the least friendly. People would go missing, rations would rot in a shorter time than usual, the cacti screamed at night, and the radio waves were always static. Zone Four was fucking awful. Perhaps that's why Fun Ghoul loved it.
Ghoul didn't believe in the horrors surrounding him, even when he saw them with his own eyes. Of course, nothing more could be expected from a City Rat. They never saw the magic in the desert until it finally affected them. It was a warm night when the magic finally hit Ghoul. He was just sitting in his room alone, fiddling with his radio when suddenly a song started playing through the static.

I may not always love you. But long as there are stars above you. You never need to doubt it. I'll make you so sure about it.
God only knows what I'd be without you.

And with those words, Ghoul was mesmerized. His soul floated through the air and into the radio. His mind swam with thoughts, no, dreams! Dreams about love and happiness and hope and a future! A future with him and Poi--
The song abruptly ended and static filled Ghoul's room. His mind returned to him. Returned to the Zones. “No,” he said quietly before going through every station possible. Not a single one had music. Most of them didn't even have noise.
A dark feeling started to come over him when he realized that the song was gone. It was the most beautiful song he had ever heard and now it was over. Lost to the static… He jumped up when it hit him. This was the radio. Other ‘joys might've heard it. Hell, his ‘joys might've heard it. Maybe even Party Poison. He ran to the front of the diner, knowing the others were in there, working on plans for the next raid. “Guys, did ya hear tha waves?”
A worried look came over Jet Star's face almost immediately. “Ya know that there's only static ou’ here, righ’?”
“No, shut up. You're wrong.”
Kobra Kid tried to hold back his laughter at Ghoul's quick and horrible retort. “Jet, hear ‘im out. Ain't tha furst time noise came through."
Poison nodded at his brother's statement. “Tha's righ’. I heard aliens once. Beep beep boop beep beep.”
They all stared at Poison for a moment before Ghoul continued. “Okay… An’ways, I heard a song! An’ it was tha most beaut'ful song I ‘ver heard! An’ it had mult'ple people singin’ over each other! An’ I felt love!”
Everyone but Poison laughed at the young desert pup. Songs never played in Zone Four. Especially songs about love.
“I think it's abou’ time ya sleep, Ghoulie…” Poison got up and walked over to the ‘joy. “Ya don’ sound too hawt…”
“Ya don't believe me…”
“No, of course I do. Now let's get ya in bed.”
Ghoul let Poison walk him to his room, trying to hide his heartbreak the whole time. He wasn't sure why Poison not believing him hurt so bad, but it did. As soon as his friend left, Ghoul went right back to fiddling with his radio. Hoping, no, praying that the song would play again. It didn't…
For days Ghoul tried to find that song on the radio again. He knew that wasn't how radios worked at all, but he still tried. He couldn't forget the sweet tune, dancing lightly in his ears at all times. It was driving him insane. His friends were now beyond worried. Poison had even started praying to the Phoenix Witch about Ghoul's health. His mind was going to mush and his body wouldn't be far behind.
After a week, Ghoul started actively searching for cassette tapes. He'd waste all his carbons on boxes full of them. He'd steal them from wrecked cars and dead bodies, not caring about bad juju. Hell, he even started sneaking them from his friends and from Doctor Death Defying’s radio station. The diner was full of them and the guys hated it. The only one who hated it more was Ghoul. He was listening to those fuckers constantly, going through every track and getting mad when none of them were the song he heard. He was going crazy just because of a stupid song. He wasn't eating or sleeping. He wouldn't talk to anyone unless it was about the damn song. It scared the guys. They were going to lose their friend over a song they didn't even think existed...
A month had gone by and Ghoul looked like shit. Dr. D had noticed and finally asked Ghoul why he wasn't eating, or sleeping, and why the fuck he was stealing cassette tapes from him. Shock hit him when Ghoul only stated “God only knows…”
“Boy, are you fuckin’ quotin’ the Beach Boys?” He laughed a bit and shook his head.
“Who're they?”
“An’ ol’ band. Kinda shitty, had one good album. Pet Sounds. A slice of harmonic cheese if there ever was one.” D pulled out the tape and handed it to Ghoul. “I'm warnin’ ya, this music ain't nothin’ like our music. It's nearly sixty years ol’ an’ doesn't hold up. Good luck, kid.” He smiled and sent the desert pup on his way.
When Ghoul got back to the diner, the first thing he did was play the cassette tape. Much to his shock, it sounded familiar. “This is it,” he whispered to himself while flipping through the tracks. When he hit track eight, he knew he was there. He yelled for the guys, sounding alive for the first time in weeks. They all ran in and heard the old song float through the air.

If you should ever leave me. Though life would still go on, believe me. The world could show nothing to me. So what good would living do me?
God only knows what I'd be without you.

Ghoul swayed to the music with his eyes closed while the others stared at him. Finally, Jet broke the illusion. “Ghoul, this song fuckin’ sucks.”
Almost comically, Ghoul's eyes snapped open to see the others nodding. “'m sorry, Ghoulie, bu’ Jet's righ’…” Party smiled sadly and sat next to Ghoul.
Ghoul stared at them for a moment before nodding as well. “Yeah, you're right… This song blows.” He broke into a grin and started laughing. “Man, I fuckin’ hate the Beach Boys.”

Notes

Hey, this is the first fanfic I've written in around five years! I hope y'all enjoy!