My Life in the Zones

Life in the Zones is harsh, between the weather, the Draculoids, S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S, and other Killjoys. I try to maintain my strength but it’s hard. I see the houses that were all burned down, the charred bodies lining the streets. The blazing, blistering heat of the sun, then I think about Better Living Industry. The world has gone to absolute shit but nothing will change if I don’t make the change. Sometimes I wonder if I should go back to Bat City but then I remember why I left. Life over there is not true peace, it’s just pulling a veil over your eyes showing peace and happiness. It’s not real. This life is for a greater purpose, I became a Killjoy to make a difference, Killjoys are strong, they don’t let this life affect them. If only I was.

I was wandering around aimlessly, not really caring about what was going on. I heard footsteps, wondering what was coming I looked over the hills. That’s when I saw a small group of Draculoids, maybe three. I panicked and hid behind a boulder. I don’t think they saw me, I thought to myself. I peered over the rock, watching them. They were looking for someone, maybe the one that ran away from Battery City. I grabbed my raygun and shot, killing one Drac. The rest of them turned their heads and all started shooting. I held my head down, regretting the fact that I shot and became involved in a firefight I stood up from behind the boulder and shot, dusting all the Draculoids. I breathed, then frowned. I just killed these innocent people. God, I fuckin’ hate this life.

My name is Tragic Tears and this is my story. I was born and raised in Bat City, in the hands of Better Living Industry. I lived a fairly normal childhood, I was brainwashed but I didn't know that, you know the phrase “ignorance is bliss,” it’s true, I was born in ignorance and I didn’t know anything that wasn’t supported by B.L.I. It wasn’t a life worth living once I learned the truth. I learned the truth by hacking a pair of Bl/ind headphones when I was thirteen. I changed the frequency to Dr. Death Defying’s Killjoy radio station, I listened to it in secret everytime we needed to put them on. At the age of sixteen, I escaped Battery City to become a Killjoy. I’ve made myself a mask and a decorated gun. The mask was a half-mask, I painted it green with four lines of yellow tears coming from the eyes. The gun was also green, it had small strips of yellow on it. I was ready. At about four o'clock in the morning, when the nightlife begins to die down and the morning workers have not awoken, I left my house, saying one last goodbye to my family. I bolted to the city line in full outfit, a green leather jacket, blue jeans, and combat boots. I dodged all patrols I saw. When I did make it, I shouted hello to my new life. I still miss my family, I’ll never forget them. Sometimes I wonder what they’re doing right now. After that, I started to just wander the Zones, after about a year I’ve met up with a group of Killjoys in Zone Four. I thought about hanging out with them, getting some company on my travels but they were complete jackasses so I ignored them. I didn’t want people to associate me with them. After that, I kinda just kept to myself. Now I’m here. My life hasn’t been too special, honestly, I’m losing sight of what the Killjoy ideology actually is. I have no idea what’s going on. I’m just lost in this shit storm of a world. Maybe I should go out and try to find other Killjoys, just so I can find out what being a Killjoy actually means again. I walked all over the desert to find something, anyone.

Eventually, I came across a neighborhood that wasn’t completely destroyed, sure there were some houses that were torn down but most of them stood up surprisingly. As I walked among the houses, I heard someone shout: “Stop!” I froze and held up my hands in surrender, not knowing who said it, and knowing that I was most likely going to get shot. “What are you doing here?” The voice said, it sounded familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on who it was. I turned around to see Party Poison pointing his gun at me. “What are you doing here?” He said again.

“I was just roaming around. I found this neighborhood and I was going to see if I could bunk down somewhere.” He narrowed his eyes, I could see the distrust in his eyes.

“Hey! Let him go!” Another voice said.

I looked behind Party and saw a girl, maybe fifteen, running up to us. She had a lime green shirt on, not a tee shirt though, more like a robe. A yellow cloth belt around her waist, her lip was pierced, she had these gold earrings on, and red fingerless leather gloves. The ends of her hair were dyed blue. She ran up right next to Party Poison and pushed his gun down.

“Don’t mind him he’s really suspicious of newcomers. Hi, my name is Rabbit Foot, what’s your name?”

“Tragic Tears,” I said as I lowered my hands.

“Nice to meet ya, come on, I’ll show you around.”

Rabbit Foot took my hand and started to lead me to a house. A man was standing in the doorway, he also had that same skeptic look that Party Poison had.

“This is Dead Cat! My brother,” she said.

The man was dressed in all black leather, like a biker. He was incredibly skinny, almost anorexic, he had green hair too; when I waved to him he just grunted, “I’m not your brother.”

Rabbit brought me inside the house and showed me around some more.

“This is Kobra Kid, I’m sure you already know him,” she said.

Wow, two of the original Killjoys! This is amazing! I wonder if any of the other Killjoys are here? I thought to myself.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Same,” he said.

He walked away from me and sat on the couch next to us. Rabbit led me around the house more, I didn’t meet anyone else it was only the four of them. Now they have five ‘cause I joined them. We have been living together for a few months now, we all know each other pretty well now but, one sentence that was uttered and one thing that was found led us down a very deadly rabbit hole. This is that story, it all started when the group came back from wandering in the desert.

I was sitting in the house, reading Modern Exterminator when they pulled up.

“Hello Tragic,” Party said as he sat down on a chair.

“Where were you guys?” I asked as I threw the magazine on the ground next to my chair.

“Um, out in the desert I guess,” Rabbit Foot said.

Dead Cat walked in and scanned the room, he hovered over me for a few minutes before spinning on his heel and landing on a chair in the corner.

“We’re out, wasn’t much to do in here.” He said, wincing as he got up.

Rabbit sighed at Cat, “Oh my God, could be any less clumsy?”

I could hear Party chuckle a bit in the background.

“Fuck you,” Cat mutters while sitting down carefully, he looked at me and said, “we need to do a supply run, I think.”

“Yeah, I agree, what did we need?”

“Fuel, food, and water,” he said, “basically everything you can’t live without.”

“I guess so. Can I come?” Rabbit Foot asked.

“Yeah Rabbit, you can come,” I said.

“Alright cool. That’s for when then? Were we planning on going today or–”

“Hey Party, do you know how many carbons we have?” Dead Cat asked, cutting off Rabbit.

“I’m not sure, we can check,” Party said.

“Alright, let’s go,” I said as I got up.

Rabbit got up, stretched, and picked up her shoulder bag. “Okay Cat, are you ready?” She said.

“Need any help getting up?” I added.

Cat heaves himself to his feet and checked his cracked watch, “I would say we got until 7 pm, wouldn’t want to be back too late,” he grabs his raygun and scowls at Tragic, “I’m just fine, thanks,” he says eyes slightly narrowed.

“Geez, what’s up his ass?” I said to Rabbit.

“Hm, probably hates being teased. You know him,” she smirked a little.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he smiled back and continued walking.

Rabbit nodded at me and then skipped outside to the car sitting in the searing heat. Dead Cat passed us and headed to the car, he licked his thumb and wiped a mark off the car window. He was wearing his mask, it was a full face plastic cat mask, it looked kinda creepy, it wasn’t a cute looking mask.

“Get in or we’ll run out of time.”

I run up to the car and got in, Rabbit got into the back of the car and settled down. She was also wearing a full face plastic mask, this one in the shape of a bunny, it even has two giant bunny ears coming off of it. Party Poison got in next to her. Kid Kobra decided to stay home and take a nap.

“Alright Dead Cat, where are we going?” I asked while putting my mask on.

“Tommy’s, but if we come across a market, we can try that,” he said with a slightly lighter tone than before, “but if you know anywhere else, shoot.”

“I say go to Tommy’s first, but I do remember seeing a small store by the Getaway Mile, like high up on a hill.”

“If we got enough gas, we can try but Route Guano ain’t the safest right now,” his eyes were fixed on the road as he drove, “been a couple ghostings ‘round there, but if we go in there prepared…”

“Sounds like a plan!” Rabbit agreed.

“Alright, but I still think we should go to Tommy’s first, I’m not dying just because we’re unprepared.”

“Sure,” Dead Cat states, and pressed down on the accelerator a little, enjoying the speed. He reaches over and places a tape in the stereo. Realizing that we were done talking I looked out the window, the music playing in the background. What would we do if we went down the Getaway Mile? What if we ran into Dracs? I hate firefights! God, why did I even mention the shop, maybe they’ll just forget I even said it, I thought, maybe I should just forget about it all too, maybe I should just listen to the music. I did just that, I laid my head back and let the music wash over me, in that moment I forgot about everything that was wrong with the world. As I looked out the windshield I saw the old motel coming up.

“We’re going to get in there and snag what we need before Tommy decides to mark it up, especially for us,” Dead Cat said.

“Alright,” I said as I positioned myself to jump out.

The car screeches to a halt, Cat flings open the door, Rabbit jumps out and adjust her shoulder bag, I jumped out while the car was not fully stopped yet, my jacket fluttering a bit in the wind. Dead Cat looks at the both of us and starts to make his way to the store, heavy boots crushing the sand underneath them. His gaze was fixed on the floor. Both Rabbit and I follow him. The bell rings as we opened the door, the sharp sound penetrating the heavy atmosphere. There were a few other Killjoys dotted around but it was mostly quiet and empty. Rabbit made a loud cough that filled the room, she winced and looked down at the ground. I gave her a pat on the back, she smiled a little but continued to search for supplies. Party started coughing a bit too and put his scarf around his mouth and nose. I could see Dead Cat looking behind him, checking on us. He continued to move forward and heads down some shelves stocked with Power Pup. I started searching shelves too, not looking for anything in particular. I saw something in the very far back, I reached for it and found out it was a canteen, I screwed open the top and looked inside, there was still water in it. I noticed Rabbit walking around holding two big bottles of clear liquid. I decided to follow her, giving up looking for more supplies. I tucked the canteen into my jacket and started towards them. She stumbled into Dead Cat and said:

“Ah, I found these. Do we need them?” She lifted up the two bottles.

“If the bottles are sealed,” he said distractingly, “ask Tragic.”

“What?” I replied.

Rabbit sighed at Cat and turned around to me, “can we get these?” She asked while holding up the bottles of water. I grabbed one from her and inspected it in the light, “yeah, sure, I don’t see anything wrong with them,” I said to Rabbit, I looked behind Rabbit towards Cat and asked,

“How many C’s we got?”

Cat turns and looks at us, “If you have any leftover carbons feel free to get yourself something, we seem to have plenty but please use them sparingly.”

Rabbit heaved the bottles under her arms and looked around at what everyone had found. “Looks good to me.” She looked behind her and stared at something. She then turned back shaking her head.

“Now we just need gas,” Cat sighs, gesturing the three of us to the counter.

Rabbit went up to the counter and sat down the bottles of water. I thought for a minute and decided to do good, he pulled the canteen from his jacket and sat it on the counter. Party sets down some Power Pup. Cat spills the carbons onto the counter and looked at Tommy.

“This is the exact amount, don’t try bullshitting me now.”

Tommy just kinda glares at him. He slowly started counting the C’s and ringing up the items. We were there for five minutes just waiting for him to ring up the items. He finished up and pointed us to the door.

“Finally. I’m getting sick of being in here,” as we walked outside she breathed in the fresh air and sighed, “that’s better,” Rabbit said.

We all got in the car, the same places as before, Dead Cat checks to make sure we’re all in and started the car. He sped into the general direction of the house. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. It was night, Dracs were sure to be out and about, it easier for them to attack at night because everyone’s guard was down. I just looked out the window and watched the world go by. When we arrived at the house we all got out, Dead Cat was muttering under his breath about something, I think it was Tommy. When we entered the house we saw Kid Kobra sitting on a table holding his bass.

“Hi Kobra,” Party said.

“Hey,” he said as he started playing.

Dead Cat comes in and thumps the purchases onto a workbench, he muttered a greeting and sat down in the corner. We all sat down and relaxed.

Rabbit yawned, closed her eyes and said, “I’m beat.”

Party nodded. “We should all get some sleep.”

“I agree,” Cat voiced from the corner, “it might not be that late but rest is good.”

Cat tucked his knees in and started to fall asleep. Kobra just continued playing, staying quiet. Party smiled at Kobra as he played.

“Ya’ know Kobra, you play pretty good, how did you learn?”

“Oh, umm, one of my friends,” Kobra replied.

“Cool, well, I think we should all get some rest and be glad we didn’t get dusted today.”

Party fell asleep while he was sitting in his chair. Rabbit started to mumble, half asleep already. Dead Cat thank the Phoenix Witch, drowsiness-causing him to slur his words. Kobra stopped playing and curled into a ball. I couldn’t fall asleep so I stayed up for a little while. I decided to walk outside and stand guard outside, just for a little bit. I looked across the horizon, watching for any Dracs. I was there for a while because I fell asleep there. Party woke me up by strumming Kobra’s bass really loudly shouting: “Wake up!” Everyone shouted at Party to put down the guitar. Party laughed and gave Kobra his bass back.

“Hey, it still woke me up,” I said.

“You'd've never woken up without it,” Rabbit smirked, “knowing you.”

“Oh Rabbit, you know me all too well,” I remarked back lovingly.

“Party, whatever happened to Jet and Ghoul?” Kobra asked, his smile fading away as he slowly fell to his knees. “Eh,” Rabbit said at Kobra’s question. Cat turned his head at Kobra’s question, before rising to his feet and stepping over to Kobra. Kneeling next to him looking at Poison. We could hear Kobra sobbing. I just looked down at the ground, holding back tears, I didn’t know what to do.

“Honestly, I don’t know. Fun Ghoul ran off somewhere and I haven’t seen him since. As for Jet Star, someone kidnapped him; I don’t know where he is now. They could be dead but there is a chance that they’re still alive. I could see a tear rolling down his cheek. Dead Cat is still next to Kobra, gently rubbing his back.

“Alright, everyone, let’s just go out and hunt some Dracs or something. We don’t need to worry about the past,” I said.

Party and Kobra nodded. Kobra got up off the floor and walked outside, sitting on the ground. Party sat next to him. The rest of us walk out with him, I’m still trying to hold back tears, if I start crying now I’ll never stop. Dead Cat sits next to them but gives them a little space.

“I know it’s a big thing to deal with, but I think the best thing you can do now is accept they’re gone,” he said in a soft voice.

Kobra is calming down a little bit but he’s still sobbing. Dead Cat looks at me with a slightly unsure gaze.

“I’m gonna go f-for a w-walk.” He stands up, takes out his raygun and walks away from them.”

“Can I go with you?” Party says looking at his brother.

Kobra nodded, tears still streaming down his face. Party grabs out his ray gun and walked with Kobra. After walking for a little ways Kobra stops and tugs on Party’s shirt. Party looks down on the ground and recoils for a second then bends down to pick something up.

“What’s up?” I say, unsure of what was happening.

I could hear Cat sighing, walking into the house and lighting a lighter, I think he’s smoking. Party and Kobra start walking back, Kobra is holding something in his hands, hugging it to his chest, and smiling.

“What’s going on?” I say.

“We found Fun Ghoul’s mask,” Party says.

“Really? Does that mean he’s still around he’s somewhere?”

“Maybe, but this doesn’t mean anything, we just found his mask, we still have no idea where he his or how long this has been here for.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but that still doesn’t mean we can try,” I say, “what if Fun Ghoul and Jet Star are still out there? What if we find them and get the Fabulous Killjoys back together, with you guys and us together we could overtake BL/ind.”

“It would be cool to have the gang back together again, it would be awesome to take out B.L.I, but how can we?”

“Alright, here’s my plan, everyone get over here. What we could do is go after Dracs and Scarecrows, interrogate them, and have them tell us where Jet and Ghoul are.”

“I don’t want to sound like a pessimist here but that will never work, even if they knew where they were why would they tell us,” Dead Cat said.

“Doesn’t mean that we can’t try,” Rabbit said.

I was honestly thinking the exact same thing.

“Let’s just do it and find out, I would honestly love for the gang to get back together and if we have a chance to do so I’m going to take it,” Party said.

So, without hesitation we all went into the house and started grabbing our things, throwing them into the car and speeding off. We were on the hunt for any enemies we could find. We did find a group of Draculoids but they didn’t know anything. I did manage to convince everyone to take the masks off and let the people live.

“Our only hope is to find a group of Scarecrows, they’re the only ones who know anything,” Kobra said.

“Or Korse,” Party replied.

“Now, how are supposed to find Korse? He’s the Chief Exterminator. It’ll be impossible to find him.”

“In the immortal words of Walt Disney: “It’s fun to do the impossible,” I said with a grin, I tapped Dead Cat’s arm signaling him to hit the red line, “next stop, Battery City.”

“Woah, wait, we’re going to Battery City?” Dead Cat said as the car screeches to a halt.

“Well, where else are we supposed to find Korse?” I asked.

“Are we really prepared to go into Bat City?”

“I think so, I mean come on, this could put the Killjoys on the map. Imagine all the people talking about us, talking about the ones who took down Better Living. Even if we all die our names will still live on, we’ll still be talked about for generations; and who knows, maybe we’ll give inspiration for others to take B.L down too.”

“Alright, if you say so but I still think we need to get more supplies before we can.”

“Okay, we can do that. We’ll go to Tommy’s and see what he has, we can also see if we can find some other shops too.”

These ended up being my last words because on our way there some complications arose. We found this little girl hiding sleeping in a ditch, she was completely tattered and had a small black cat with her as well. We decided to let her tag along, showing her the ways of being a Killjoy. She learned quickly. We also found Fun Ghoul and Jet Star She was with us for a month, while teaching her we ran into Korse and a group of Dracs. This led to us having a firefight, me and my friends, Dead Cat and Rabbit Foot, dying. This was the last of my story but it was the beginning of the Fabulous Killjoys’ story. I’m glad I got to be a key part of the Killjoy revolution.