Shades of Grey

[redhavoc]

*I give Max a worried look, then stand up slowly and survey the desert. It's flat in all directions, with mountains in the distance, burnt orange under a blue that grows lighter and lighter with the sun. I don't know what Max wants from me, so I point down the road, away from the city, and look back at him to see if I've answered right*.

[Max Griffiths]

*I shrug* Sure. We can't just drive forever, though, so let me know when you see something interesting. *I get back in the car and turn on the air-conditioning; the sun's not high in the sky but it's already getting hot*

[redhavoc]

*We drive for another couple hours in silence. The whole time I'm wracking my brains for 'something interesting'. I find my mind wandering to my last true BLI mission, the release of the gas beetles and the fight with the killjoys. It was almost as if, in the zones, normal rules didn't apply...*

*Well, if Max is leaving this up to me, I at least know what to do, if not exactly how. I take the pad of paper and write: 'Can we meet some killjoys?' and hold it up for Max*

[Max Griffiths]

*I read the note and consider it* I'm assuming you mean under circumstances other than capturing them and tying them up somewhere?

[redhavoc]

*I nod and write: 'Just to talk. We'd make a deal with them or something. No fighting'*

[Max Griffiths]

*I tilt my head* Should be interesting, if nothing else. No guarantees, though. If they start shooting I might shoot back.

[redhavoc]

*I start to agree, but then stop and think for a second and write: 'but you have to SWEAR that you won't attack unless they shoot first'*

[Max Griffiths]

*I shrug* Like I said, no guarantees. But I won't unless I have a reason to.

[redhavoc]

*I sit back. I've never been the one to decide what to do before and it feels kinda... oh wait. I grab the paper again: 'Where do we find a killjoy/killjoys?'. There are so many things I have to learn about the zones*

[Max Griffiths]

I've been to a lot of safehouses in the Zones. Granted, I burned most of those down, but it shouldn't be too hard to find another one. We'll start in Zone 6, near the drop off spot - they might not have gone too far and there aren't many towns in the area. We shouldn't have too hard a time narrowing it down.

[redhavoc]

*I nod, the painkillers making me sleepy again. Safehouses...that means there will probably be more than one killjoy. I fall asleep with their faces, well, their masks, dancing in my head. I wonder if the one I 'saved' made it...*

[Max Griffiths]

*i drive for a while after Red falls asleep, then impulsively pull over and turn off the car. The silence is complete- there aren't many living things in the desert to make noise any more. I find myself watching Red, thinking about what I remembered after they gave me the old woman's serum back in the Tower. The girl sleeping in the seat next to me now is only a year or two older than my sister would have been, and although I can't feel sorrow or regret for my loss, I briefly wonder where I would be now if it weren't for Better Living Industries.*
*Then my radio crackles to life as one drac patrol checks in with another, and I switch it off, start the car, and pull back onto the highway, feeling strangely angry. I speed the rest of the way to the battle site, then get out of the car to start tracking the killjoys.*

[redhavoc]

*When I wake up the car is stopped and Max is gone. I sit up, see the hill, and realize we are at the site of our last BLI mission. I get out and see Max about one hundred feet off, looking at something on the ground. There are dusty, broken beetles everywhere and more than one large scorch mark. One of them was made by my grenade. To my left is the hill and a few abandoned beetle boxes*

*I go to the back and take out two waters and two packages of foodstuffs, tearing into one as I walk over to Max. Even the dry nutrients taste fantastic. I can't remember the last time I ate. I hold the other out to him*

[Max Griffiths]

*I accept the food and water without comment, and point to the marks in the dirt* These are BLI. Clear tire treads. These - *I point a short distance away* are killjoy. Hardly any tread, mostly bald tires. Offroading, fewer opportunities to trade them out. So we follow those.

[redhavoc]

*I nod, wolfing down the last of my food. The killjoy tracks all lead in one direction. I point to the strewn guns and other assorted weapons on the ground, wondering if I should pick them up. The motion makes me notice I'm bleeding through the bandage in my arm. I pull my sleeve over it. I'll change it a little later. Killjoy tracking is too interesting*