FicWad

Chapter one: Written by my best friend Deming, with italics written by my sister Jennifer. Characters are not original. Aeon is the name we gave DJ Hot Chimp, the blonde girl driving the getaway van in the SING video. Amara is Missile Kid, the small child with bushy hair played by Grace Jeannette. Jenny is the girl mentioned in Bulletproof Heart.

She let her muscles relax as the train wobbled back and forth on the tracks. Her head did the same as her neck muscles became lax. Aeon alternated between watching the world race by and watching the people who were racing with her. She didn't know anyone there, but for some reason none of them felt like strangers. They were all headed in the same direction and that simple fact united them in some small way. The train slowed to a stop and some passengers got off and fresh new ones replaced them.

A group of three men were the last passengers to board. They were dressed in punk clothes, each with a distinctive style and taste. The first one had blond hair and was a tad skinner that the rest. He had the look of a short fuse. Aeon guessed he didn't like traveling much. The second had long, stringy black hair. He had an easy smile, but it was one that seemed to bespeak of some hidden and quite amusing secret. One with bright red hair and deep-set eyes was the third to board. This one was the most striking to Aeon. Perhaps it was the brightness of his hair, but Aeon thought it was because of his presence. The trio had a dark an ominous air around them and yet to Aeon they looked lost and a little tragic. Like homesick runaways, which for all she knew, they very well could have been. They filled the seats surrounding Aeon. The red-haired one approached her.

"May I sit here?" He asked quietly, indicating the seat next to her. His haunting eyes searched hers and Aeon felt as if they could see straight through her. Her voice became trapped within her throat. She was torn between her curiosity and her prudence. Her parents had warned her away from traveling with strangers. Particularly male strangers.
Before Aeon could respond one last passenger came thundering onto the train in a rush. He got on just as the train's doors were closing. His hair was a wild wall of curls around his head and he wore a dark pair of aviator sunglasses.

"Sorry guys," he said as he deposited his luggage in the storing area. He took a seat opposite of Aeon.

"You had to wait till the last minute to take a piss? You almost missed the train." The one with blond hair asked shortly. This made the one with the smirk snicker.

"Aw don't listen to Mikey, Ray. He was just worried we would leave you behind," The smirking one patted the wild haired one's shoulder. His name must have been Ray then.

"He always does this," The blond guy, whose name Aeon guessed was Mikey, shook his head. Ray shrugged Mikey's observation off.

"I may be late, but I never miss anything," he countered with a grin. This made the dark-haired one snicker again. Aeon did not hear the rest of the conversation as the one with the bright red hair spoke to her.

"About that chair. . ." He began, bringing her attention back to his request.

"Oh, yeah," Aeon replied, "Go right ahead." Aeon felt both relief and worry now that she had given into her curiosity. She adjusted her position to make room for him, for she had been sprawled out across both seats. "Where are you and your friends headed?" She inquired. The one seated in front of her, who she remember was named Mikey turned to answer.

"Mercer City," he said dryly. Aeon realized as she got her first good look at him he must be related to the red-haired one, because they looked a bit alike. Brothers perhaps, or maybe cousins, she decided. The blond one stuck his hand out to her.

"What's your name?" The smirky thrust his chin in her direction.

"Aeon," She replied shyly.

"I'm Frank," he said offering his hand to her.

"Pleasure to meet you Frank," Aeon half-spoke, half-chuckled. She was a little amused at his friendliness. "Mercer City, that's right next to where I'm headed."

"Oh yeah? You must be going to Battery City then," the one with wild hair said. "I'm Ray." He too shook hands with Aeon.

"Mikey," The blond one said, appearing, for the first since he boarded to be genuinely friendly.

"This is Mikey's big brother, Gee," Frank said reaching across the aisle to slap the red-haired on the shoulder.

He gave Frank a look that would have chilled Aeon to her soul if it was turned on her, but Frank seemed completely unfazed at the death glare. Mikey shook his head ruefully, acting as if this were typical of the two.

"My name is Gerard," the red-haired one said at last offering his gloved hand to Aeon. She smiled as she shook it.

"Mercer city is a ten-hour ride from here," she observed. "Why the long commute?" She wasn't normally this nosy. In fact, when it came to traveling, Aeon preferred to keep conversation with strangers to a minimum. But something about these four men piqued her curiosity, And the question was out of her mouth before she could sensor it.

"We're relocating," the one called Ray replied, making sound like a military strategy.
"Yeah our former home was a bit too . . . crowded," Mikey elaborated, pausing to search for the right word.

"We're looking for someplace quieter," Gerard put in just as the train started moving again.
"A little more remote," Frank added.

"You guys realize that Mercer City is right next to the country's largest metropolis, right?" Aeon said realizing too late how rude that sounded. What was wrong with her today? Why was her mouth running away from her like this? She was going to apologize when the four started laughing.

"Sometimes Mikey here can't live without Taco Bell," Ray chuckled. The others echoed his laughter but Aeon felt there was some inside joke she wasn't privy too. She joined in their mirth anyway.

"So why are you headed that way?" Frank asked, once their mirth had died down.
Aeon looked down. She didn't want to lay all her baggage on complete strangers, especially ones that were being so nice to her. So she simply said, "I'm relocating as well, for job purposes." It was only half of the truth. Were lies of omission still lies?

"Oh yeah? What do you do?" Mikey asked, seeming genuinely interested and not just asking out of politeness.

"I fix things," Aeon replied. "Cars, computers, plumbing, you name it. I'm you're girl. Machines speak and I listen."

"That quite a unique gift," Gerard commented, looking at her in that way that made Aeon feel as if his eyes laid bare her very soul. Could almost complete strangers do that?

"Thanks," she said avoiding eye contact with him, she wasn't sure if she liked the way his eyes bored into her.

"Aren't there things to fix where you're from?" Ray asked, looking a tad confused.

"Not enough to make a living from," Aeon replied with a smile.

"Ah and Blind capitol is swimming with aristocrats who have things that need fixing, right?" Frank asked with a wry grin.

"Precisely," Aeon laughed genuinely this time. Fank chuckled along with her.

*

After that Aeon got to talking with each of them. She felt more comfortable now that the ice was broken. It seemed that they were musicians, who were just looking for someplace a little more peaceful to clear their heads. But they also needed to be close to a big city in order to find gigs. Mercer City was the perfect place. It was a small, rundown city situated in the desert but it was only forty-five minutes away from Battery City, which was home to the corporation Better Living Industries. In fact the only reason anyone knew there was a Mercer City was because of its neighbor. As a big city, Battery City would provide the foursome with a lot of opportunities for gigs.

At one point during the train ride, one of the guys pulled out a large bag full of travel games. Checkers soon became everyone's game of choice and Aeon became the champion. After beating Mikey, Frank, and Ray multiple times, Aeon found herself locked in a battle with Gerard. The others watched intently as the game boiled down to four of Gerard's pieces against three of Aeon's. She stared at the board as she calculated her next move carefully. Gerard had one of her kings backed into a corner with two of his kings. His other two pieces blocked another of hers from being kinged. Aeon's last free piece was useless; moving it would neither help nor harm her.

"No way she can win this now, Gee," Ray said, his eyes darting from Aeon to the board and then back again.
"Yeah, you got this one," Frank echoed. Gerard simply smirked as he waited for Aeon to move. Finally she moved the almost-kinged piece away from his two blocking pieces.
"You're only delaying the inevitable," Mikey said with a warning tone in his voice.
"Ye of little faith," Aeon replied. "I did beat the lot of you, didn't I?" She indicated them with a thrust of her chin. They fell silent and Gerard stifled a snicker. He moved his piece to follow her retreating one.

"I see what you're doing," he said casting a glance at her from beneath his brow.

"Do you now?" She replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. It won't work."

"Enlighten me," she dared him, "what am I doing?" Gerard simply shook his head, a sly half-smile painted on his face.
The game of cat-and-mouse between their pieces continued for several turns until Aeon lost one of her pieces and Gerard lost two. Now they were down to the wire. Aeon was beginning to believe she would win when suddenly Gerard claimed her king. After that, the game came to close and Aeon lost.

Cheers sounded off from the other three and they raised Gerard's arm up in the air. Aeon leaned back in her seat with her arms folded across her chest. Her expression was that of amusement. She normally wasn't very competitive and so losing this game didn't really bother her. After receiving many hugs and slaps on the back, Gerard turned to Aeon and executed a flourishing bow. The gesture made her giggle.

"Well played, Miss Aeon," He said, his eyes reflecting mirth and triumph.

"And you too . . . Gee" Aeon replied, already knowing that pet name irked him. The other three boys made "ooh" noises as if she had just issued a verbal burn. Gerard grinned at her response. Aeon stood up and stretched her limbs out as the boys returned to their seats.

"That was one hell of a game," Mikey complimented. "Let's go get some food, I'm starving."

"Sounds like a good idea," Aeon replied and linked her arm with his. Mikey seemed like a nice guy, when he didn't loose his temper.

"Hey Mikey, buy me a sandwich, would ya?" Ray requested.

"Get your own food, man," Mikey scoffed as he left the seating area with Aeon in tow. They made their way through a few cars to the café.

"Thanks for warning me that your brother was a master checkers player," Aeon said in fake-indignation.

"To be honest, I had no idea he was hiding ninja checkers skills under his belt," Mikey responded while his eyes searched the menu. "I mean we played when we were kids and stuff . . ." he trailed off.

"Maybe his victory was just a fluke," Aeon suggested a she picked out what she wanted: a croissant and a cup of coffee. She was about to pay when Mikey stopped her.

"Ah ah ah, this one's on me," he grinned and then paid for both of their meals.

"Thank you very much," Aeon gave him a gracious hug and then they returned to their seats.
When they got there Ray had fallen asleep and Frank had pulled headphones over his ears. Gerard was nowhere to be seen. Mikey settled back in his seat a dug into his food. Aeon set her food on the table in front of her seat and asked Frank to guard it. She checked her phone to see what time it was and her heart started beating erratically. How had she lost track of time like this? Aeon tried to take deep, normal breaths as she dug into her bag for something. Drawing out a little case, Aeon slipped it in her pocket and head towards a bathroom. Her steps were hurried and shaky, still her heart pounded irregularly in her ears. Breaths were shallow and Aeon prayed she wouldn't collapse. Her head was down, pointed at her toes, and so she didn't notice Gerard until she collided with him. Aeon fell to her knees and her case was knocked out of her hand.

"Oh," he exclaimed as he helped her up to her feet. Aeon floundered for the case she dropped but Gerard had retrieved that as well. "I'm sorry, that was my fault." He regarded the little case before handing it back to her.

"That's alright," she dismissed and tried to move past him. But he caught her arm and peered at her face.

"Are you ok?" He asked, concern lacing his voice. His soul-searching eyes gazed into hers.

"I'm fine," she forced out a smile and willed her limbs to quit trembling. Gerard paused, considering her with doubt in his eyes. Finally he released her and nodded, seemly convinced in her act.

Aeon didn't look back as she hurried into the bathroom and locked the door. Her encounter with Gerard had sent her heart beating even more wildly. Aeon's fingers fumbled to open the little case. Concealed within it were little white and red capsules and Aeon extracted two of them. Popping them into her mouth, she swallowed the drugs dry and wait for them to take effect.
Slowly, Aeon's pulse normalized and her breath became easier. She refreshed her appearance, because this episode had left her sweaty and disheveled.

Absently, Aeon hoped Gerard hadn't seen the tiny Better Living Industries logo in the bottom left-hand corner on her case of pills.

*

Here, in the heart of the desert, a chilling scene lay before Jenny as Gee ran to catch up. He stopped in his tracks. "Is that-?"

"Yes." Jenny replied. They stared in silence. On the desert floor, the last bald eagle lay dying. Jenny dropped to her knees.

"It's gonna be all right."

"Don't you see? This, dying in front of us, this is America. She's dying and we can't do anything to stop it. The very last vestiges of all we once stood for is coughing blood onto the sand. So that leaves us, the widows and widowers of America. Like a widow I will beat my chest and cry for her. I will cry for Lady Liberty."

Gee stooped down and plucked a single feather from bird. "Here. Wear this, as a widow. Let this remind you, and give you strength to carry on."