FicWad

2012
“Jump Jenny, you can see the whole city!”
We jumped higher and higher, we really could see the whole city; the neighbourhoods, the town, the new BL/IND headquarters being built.
“Do you really think they can make all your problems go away, Johnny?” Jenny asked me, she’d stopped jumping on the trampoline now and had a serious look on her face.
“Of course they can, you’ve seen the adverts right? They’ll make everything perfect, Mousekat said so.” But could they really? How can they make everything perfect? One pill to make everything bad go away surely can’t exist. I’m reassuring myself more than I am Jenny, I don’t think it’ll work, no one will believe them. Better Living Industries will leave soon enough.

2015
It’s over. The war is finally over. We made it. BL/IND were right, everything’s perfect, they really do help us. Today they finally took control of our town, they run everything now, make everything. Battery City is 100% dependant on BL/IND, they’re building us new houses and shops too, I bet Jenny’s really excited, they’re giving everyone new clothes too. Those who fight against them must be stupid, who wouldn’t love Korse, all he wants to do is help us.

Present Day (2019)
Another day, another perfect day. I climbed out of bed and looked out of the window at the artificial sun, who would want the real thing when clouds could cover it? No, the Battery City sun was perfect, everything here is perfect. I took my pill and pulled on what I wore every day, what we all wore every day, white. The men wore trousers while the girls wore skirts, it was never cold, we never needed anything else. Jenny would be waiting for me outside as usual, I walked downstairs and grabbed my bag for school.
“Good morning, Jenny!” I waved as I shut the door and walked down the path to the picket fence where she was waiting for me. She smiled back, but not the usual smile we all have, it seemed… different.
“Good morning.” She replied. Something was off about her today, it’s been going on all week too.
“What’s wrong, Jenny? Do you need a pill? I have some upstairs if you do, I’ll go and get some now-“
“No, Johnny, I need to talk to you. I need to tell you something.” She looked me in the eye, she was definitely low on her meds, normal and bad feelings were coming back to her.
“We’ll be late for school, we’ll talk later ok?” I smiled to her and hoped she’d just return to normal, we’re not supposed to keep secrets. BL/IND know everything, that’s why Battery City is so perfect.
“Fine, Johnny…” She walked with her head downcast like she was deep in thought, she most likely needs her meds or the updates.
“Today, class, is social studies.”
This is the easiest subject ever, everyone knows the answers to this kinda stuff, we get told every day. We all sat attentively and looked at Miss. Sutton, but Jenny was doodling on her hand, unfocused, I nudged her with my elbow and caught her eye. Miss. Sutton seemed not to notice as she carried on with our lesson.
“Can anyone tell me who the so called ‘Fabulous Killjoys’ are?”
Jenny’s head suddenly snapped up at this, maybe she was just tired earlier.
“Jenny?”
“Yes miss, the Fabulous Killjoys are a dangerous rebel group that live in the zones. They are not to be trusted and we must alert a Draculoid or adult if we spot one.” It was the standard answer, it was the right answer.
“Very good, Jenny.” Miss. Sutton flashed her a big smile and moved on.
“And how can we recognise a ‘Fabulous Killjoy’, class?”
“They do not conform, they wear colours and carry ray guns. This makes them dangerous, they feel emotions like hate and sadness and want us to feel that too, they want to bring Better Living Industries down.” We said this in unison, it was played every day on the news along with the pictures of the killjoys; a man with red hair, a man with curly brown hair, a man with long black hair and a man with blonde hair. They disgust me.
I glanced over a Jenny again only to see that she was still drawing on her hand, I could just about read some of the writing – ‘Look alive sunshine’ ‘Louder than God’s revolver’ ‘Killjoys, make some noise!’
We were dead. We both were unless she got rid of those words fast.
“Jenny,” I nudged her but she kept on writing. “Jenny, you have to stop, they’ll come and get us unless-“
“Jonathan, what are you and Jennifer discussing?” came the cold, sharp voice of Miss. Sutton and suddenly every pair of eyes were on us. I heard Jenny’s pen hit the desk immediately and she hid her hands beneath the desk, it only made things worse.
“Jennifer please show me your hands.” Smiled Miss. Sutton. Not a movement, not a breath, Jenny just stared her in the face with her small pupils and kept a straight face.
“Now Jennifer.” Her voice was more stern now and she walked up in front of our desk, her perfectly shaped hair not moving one bit. Slowly, Jenny pulled her hands out from under the desk and placed them flat on her exercise book. A sharp intake of breath came from Miss. Sutton before she narrowed her eyes and said,
“I will be calling the draculoids at once, this is illegal and you know the consequences. Jonathan, did you know about this?”
I took one quick look at Jenny, who looked full of anger but she seemed to plea from her eyes. “No, ma’am, not at all.” I smiled.
Miss. Sutton walked over to her desk, her standard issue high heels click clacking as she went, and pressed what must have been an emergency button as the windows clicked shut and four draculoids arrived within seconds. She pointed one perfectly manicured finger at my best friend before they pulled her out of the room, laughing as she was dragged from our sight.