Killjoys 08: Traitors and Fate

Agent Alpaca ran ahead of Tiger Beatdown and Disco Bitch to make sure the way was clear of any who would harm them. He held his laser gun pointed toward the ground and led the way through the third zone. They could still hear the sounds of gunfire and chaos happening in the second zone behind them. The people who lived in the third zone had taken cover when the sirens had gone off; it was too much of a risk to stay out when so much was happening. The Dracs sent from Battery City didn't care if they were Killjoys, they didn't even care if they hadn't done anything wrong. If you got in the way during a raid, the Dracs would either shoot to kill or drag them away for reconditioning.

Disco Bitch covered them from behind, walking backwards, but turning every so often to check her footing. Tiger Beatdown was glancing between them both, making sure Disco Bitch didn't fall over with how she ran and making sure that Agent Alpaca wasn't leading them somewhere where they'd be in more danger. Sometimes it was easy to get turned around when the buildings were this close together. He didn't want them to end up back in the line of fire, especially with the Scarecrow running around.

Things grew silent all around them as they got further and further from the chaos. Korse hadn't been interested in them so that had helped with their escape. Tiger Beatdown was worrying if Party Poison had made it out of there alright, but the man had made his own decision to run off on his own. There was nothing he could do but hope that the skills he had back when they had worked together had only enhanced over the years, that Poison hadn't started to slack with his training as head of the eastern faction of Killjoys.

"This is your fault!" Agent Alpaca stopped walking and looked around, making sure the area was deserted before he rose his voice. He pointed an accusing finger at the man he'd blindly followed into the second zone. They had been friends for longer than he could recall, but this was not the first time that Tiger Beatdown's trusting nature had gotten them into some serious trouble.

"Oh, how is that?" Tiger was as calm as he could be, hunching over to catch his breath, his laser gun still in his hand. It didn't matter how in shape he was, running that far and that long would exhaust anyone.

"I had him! I had him pinned to the fucking ground with my gun and I would've killed him or gotten information from him if you hadn't interfered!" Alpaca was ranting angrily now, since he knew he had never actually had Party Poison pinned for more than a moment. He was growing tired of the games that were being played here. In his experience the obvious answer was almost always the right answer, searching any further would lead to disaster. "You're looking for conspiracies that aren't there! Why can't you just accept that Party Poison has turned traitor? It's not that hard of a concept to grasp! Those Killjoys were clearly under his control, they were going to kill us and they would've if the sirens hadn't gone off! And how do you think Better Living became alerted to the chaos happening there anyway? Poison must have notified them when he ran into me and realized he was in over his head!"

"Hey, back off! Party Poison is on the straight and narrow! He had some problems in the past with drugs… but he's been an amazing leader, regardless. He's never let any of that interfere with the cause and there's no way he'd go turncoat-"

"I wasn't talking to you!" Agent Alpaca cut Disco Bitch off in her defense of her leader. "I don't want to talk to you anyway, you work for him. As far as I'm concerned you're just as guilty as your boss is!"

"I work for the Killjoys, not for Party Poison!" Disco's face was turning red with frustration. Why did Tiger Beatdown trust this guy? He was clearly too hot headed to be on this mission, or any mission of any kind. She wanted to put him in his place. He had no right to go accusing people he had never met. This was all a mess, they were supposed to be on the same side and now every glance was laced with suspicion.

"Clearly the man is a lunatic." Agent Alpaca pled to his friend now, the anger lessening after having finally gotten to tell Disco Bitch what he thought of her. He wanted them to save what was left of their cause. He wanted them to be able to go back to the western faction, regroup, and try to save what they had all worked so hard over the years to create.

"What makes you say that?" Tiger asked, still feeling calm in the situation. He knew what had to be done. He wasn't willing to give up on the man he'd served with for so long against the cause. Agent Alpaca had good intentions, but he was too quick to break the bonds of trust amongst the Killjoys. He was grateful for this attribute at times, but right now was not one of those times. What was the point of starting a revolution if you couldn't trust the people who stood by you?

"Did you hear him ranting? The way he was talking about his own men? He was even insane enough to think that his own assassin he sent after you went turncoat! That's lunacy!"

"You idiot, of course he thinks I turned on him! I was with you guys and Tiger was clearly alive when he sent me on a mission to kill him! How thick can you be?" Disco couldn't hold back her rage anymore. The things that Alpaca was accusing her off, accusing her trusted friend of, it was all rubbing her the wrong way.

"How thick can you be? How stupid do you think we are? Tiger may believe you because you've got pretty blue eyes, but I'm not an idiot and I'm not falling for your tricks!" Agent Alpaca spat back at her in anger.

That was enough, Disco couldn't contain herself any longer. She clenched her fist and made to punch Agent Alpaca in the face. Tiger Beatdown grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back and out of his friend's reach.

"Let me go! Let me go! I'll teach you to make assumptions about people you ass! You're as bad as the Dracs! You don't even bother getting to know people before you judge them! Let me go Tiger, I swear that I'll kick you if I have to!" Disco yelled, her eyes filled with rage. She kept her hands clenched into fists to keep them from visibly trembling with the rage she felt for this man right now. How were they ever going to get to the bottom of what was really happening when every time they found a lead, Agent Alpaca was just going to jump back to how she had been sent to kill Tiger Beatdown? "I'm not a zombie! I have my own mind! I saw Tiger wasn't what Poison claimed he was and made a decision! I hope you would've done the same if the tables were turned!"

"Calm down Disco, it's not worth it!" Tiger spoke soothingly. He didn't want these two getting into physical conflict. He had to know that they could work together or they'd never be able to make any progress. They had to put aside their differences and work for their cause. "I get it! I do! I know why you're angry with him but try to see this from his point of view! You came to kill me! Party Poison just tried very hard to kill him and he said a lot of things that aren't exactly lining up with what we thought we knew! Calm yourself! He's speaking harshly out of anger, just as you are!" He felt her calm down in his arms and let her go once he was sure that she wasn't going to lunge at Agent Alpaca the moment he did. Disco took a deep breath and turned so she didn't have to look at the man who had so enraged her. She needed a moment to calm down or she might go after him again.

"Fine! Fine…" A heavy sigh relieved the tightness in her chest. It had taken a few moments for her to stop seeing red. "We were all there today Alpaca. We all saw what happened. You may have run into Party Poison at the wrong time but he was defending himself. The traitor to our cause was not among us today… but I can understand why you don't trust me and why you don't trust him. But if I'm going to understand the things you're seeing, then you have to try and understand it from my point of view as well. It's only fair." Disco had to calm herself down. It was time to start taking what this man said with a grain of salt. Of course he wasn't going to trust her. It was sheer luck that Tiger Beatdown had seen what was going on for what it really was. If it had been Party Poison on the receiving end she knew he wouldn't have hesitated to kill an assassin sent for him.

If she hadn't been the one sent to him, then they would've never discovered the treason amongst them. For that she was grateful things had happened the way that they did. Tiger Beatdown was a merciful opposite of Party Poison and if he hadn't been, it would've been the end of the Killjoys and the end of her. She wondered partially if there was any credence to what Agent Alpaca had claimed. Did Tiger Beatdown trust her because of some kind of attraction, or was it that he really believed her story? She hoped it was the latter even though part of her wanted the prior to be true as well.

"You're wrong about a few things Alpaca." Tiger Beatdown continued on. Both his friends seemed to have calmed down a bit now that they had gotten the yelling out of their systems.

"Hmm?" Alpaca made a noise of irritation and curiosity. He didn't want to hear that he was wrong, but he also didn't want to ignore the facts and be made a fool of.

"The Killjoys weren't there on Poison's command. They were there to kill him. Couldn't you see he was a target? They clearly wanted to cause him some harm. They weren't there for us, and they weren't there for the Dracs. They were there for him."

"How do you figure?"

"They were yelling for him! And when Korse finally came with his men, they were blaming Party Poison as much as you were. You were too busy being angry to notice, but I did."

"But we let him know we were going to meet him there. We practically walked into a trap! How do you know it wasn't just another ploy to try to fool us?"

"Why would he try to fool us when we were outnumbered? If the Killjoys had been there under his command, we would be dead."

"He didn't know we were coming." Disco chimed in. She had forgotten all about the messenger they sent to the east the night before. Party Poison was supposed to go to the second zone to meet them, but he seemed to have no idea about it. "We sent someone to tell him to meet us but when I brought it up he had no idea. He even said he thought I had died, he called me a traitor. If he had received the message we sent, he wouldn't be saying that at all. Whatever message we sent for him must have been intercepted."

"Why was he in the second zone then? That can't just be a coincidence." Agent Alpaca turned these thoughts around in his mind. He hated to admit it, but the woman was right about that. Party Poison was shocked to see them there and now that he thought about it, the Killjoys didn't seem to be helping Poison at all. In fact, Poison had come from the roof as though he were trying to get away unnoticed. There was a slim chance that it hadn't been a trap sent for them and he had to explore the possibility to be fair. He didn't want to be like the Dracs, as Disco Bitch had accused him of.

"He said he'd been meeting someone… or looking for someone. It was something like that. He became angry and didn't finish saying why he was there. He just said he had no idea what we were talking about." Disco felt that this bit of evidence was the final proof that she needed to trust that someone in the east was clearly behind the treachery that was happening amongst the Killjoys.

"Someone is fooling all of us, including Party Poison. He's as much of a victim in this as the rest of us are."

"What about the Dracs? Why would they know we were rioting? Sure, there were some fires, but nothing that warranted their attention."

"Clearly the same person who sent the Killjoys after Party Poison alerted the forces in Better Living. It's not that hard to put together." Tiger was becoming less patient with his friend's objections. "I know you want to make sure we explore every avenue of this but I trust Disco Bitch's judgment on the matter. I trust that Party Poison had no idea we were there to meet him and you sent that messenger yourself. You know he should've known… unless it had been intercepted." Agent Alpaca went to open his mouth to object once more. "That's the end of it. It's not a discussion anymore. Between her judgment and my prior friendship with Poison, I don't think he's a traitor. He's still a good man until proven otherwise."

"You're making a foolish mistake…" Agent Alpaca drifted off as he heard something in the distance. Voices were approaching them, coming closer. They didn't seem friendly.

"We need to take cover." Disco whispered. Their arguments seemed petty. They could've given themselves away to rebel forces, or to the Dracs who were likely still patrolling in the dying sunlight with all the yelling that they had done.

"Over here, there's a ladder on the back of this building. We can hide behind the market sign." Tiger jogged over to the building across the dirt road. It was a worn looking food dispersion center. There were others like them all around the zone and they served the sole purpose of feeding those who lived in the zones. People who came to them required a pass given out by Better Living to receive food. Luckily a few Killjoys were working on the inside and would help those who couldn't manage a pass. Tiger kept a look out as Agent Alpaca climbed up onto the roof. It would provide them a lookout point to see who was coming for them. Disco Bitch followed reluctantly onto the roof, followed by Tiger himself. Disco wasn't sure they should just start running from Killjoys. Tiger Beatdown saw her distress and whispered, with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We shouldn't trust anyone until we're sure what's going on. We could be easily deceived by the wrong people. Right now we just need to lay low." Disco nodded to let him know she understood. It felt weird avoiding the very people she'd always been told were the ones to trust.

They hid behind the sign with the name of the store on it along with various pictures of food and watched. The sun was setting and darkness was starting to encompass them, so they wouldn't be easily seen there in the shadows of the sign. They watched as a group of wounded and bloody Killjoys headed toward them, guns drawn out and pointed in every which way. Despite their militant stance, they were speaking loudly about the situation that had just taken place.

"Did you see that fucking Drac bleed? Begged for mercy but I know better than to believe that bullshit. Those assholes don't have a soul." One of the women spat on the ground. She had a nasty looking wound on her shoulder but held her gun upright anyway. Tiger made a face of distress. They'd always fought against the Dracs, but he'd never been cruel to them. Who were these Killjoys? Who taught them to be this way?

"Did you see Party Poison run away? Did you see the look of panic on his face?"

"What a fucking pussy."

"Don't betray the Killjoys if you're not ready to take a bullet!"

"Damn right!" Disco was fuming once more. This wasn't the way things were done. Alpaca seemed just as angry. Even though he didn't think that Party Poison was on their side, there was just a code of honor that was unspoken amongst the Killjoys and these assholes were breaking it right now, just with the way they were talking.

A laser went off and Tiger stood, hunched over to get a better look at what they'd shot. A coyote that had been rummaging for food was lying on its side. It could've been a starving dog as well but from his vantage point it was hard to tell. The domestic animals were a dying breed, coyotes were nearly unheard of. To kill it like that, without any remorse, was an abomination.

"Dicks…" Disco whispered. She was peering from beneath Tiger's arm where he was leaning against the sign. It was hard to see what was going on, but they all got the basic idea of what was happening below.

"Fucking mutt!" One of the Killjoys spat on the body of the dog and kicked it in the stomach. It made no sounds, just a sick thud of meat hitting the ground. Agent Alpaca had turned away completely. This display was sickening and was changing everyone's opinion on the roof pretty quickly of the situation at hand.

"Oh come on, leave it alone." One of the others said from below. Maybe one of them had a heart and saw what they were doing wrong. "You're going to get us caught you ass. Leave the piece of shit in the dirt, we'll blame it on the Dracs."

The Killjoys started on their way, moving more quietly through the streets. They were obviously looking for stragglers. Likely they were supposed to be searching for Party Poison but instead they had decided to play with any Dracs that were on patrol, like this was some sick game.  The silence was thick and tense on the rooftop. They couldn't bring themselves to look at each other. The sick display that had gone on before them had shaken them to the core. There was so much they could say, and so much they could discuss but none of them had the heart. It was clear that they were all thinking the same thing.

The disgusting display they'd just witnessed had been the only thing they'd all agreed on since they'd met the day before. Was this some kind of bond that was forming between the now? Disco was sure if she brought that up to any of them, Alpaca would surely laugh in her face. Regardless, she could feel that there really was something strengthening. They all wanted the same thing, it was just going to take them time to realize it and even longer to admit it.

"I know I said a lot of things." Alpaca turned back to face them after he was sure the Killjoys were out of earshot, as long as he spoke quietly. He didn't look any of them in the eye. He didn't want to see what they were thinking. "I don't agree with what you guys think is happening here, but we're still Killjoys. I still believe in what we do and what we fight for so I'll come with you in whatever you decide to do." He looked at his best friend and confidant Tiger Beatdown this time. He didn't trust Disco Bitch and didn't want her to think that he did, so he spoke to his friend which was just easier for him.

"Besides, if you happen to be wrong about your assumptions with Party Poison then someone is going to have to be there to save you both. Someone who isn't quite as convinced about his innocence as you are."

"And who would be there to rub it in our faces if you didn't come?" Tiger added, knowing that his friend partially wanted the right to be able to tell them that he told them so. He was relieved to hear his friend wasn't going to give up on him. All of the fighting and yelling earlier had shaken him more than he had thought. It was hard to fight for so long and then take a break. Hiding here on this rooftop as the sun sank completely beneath the sign had given him time to think about that.

"Well yes… that too is important to me." Agent Alpaca smiled for the first time since yesterday when Tiger had first gotten back from his mission in the desert. It felt good to smile again. He even chuckled a little at the weight being lifted from his shoulders. The road ahead of them was long and arduous but it would be worth it if Tiger Beatdown was right. He was hoping that his friend was. It would be terrible to lose an entire faction of the Killjoys.

From what Disco could see as the Killjoys below disappeared from view, they'd already lost the cause. How could Agent Alpaca be laughing? How could Tiger Beatdown be joking with him when their comrades in arms were turning into monsters all around them? Where had the cause gone? Where had the loyalty and morality gone? They were all a bunch of animals now, and they deserved to be lower on the food chain than they were. The body of the dead dog on the road haunted her. She got up silently and headed down the ladder.

The two men watched her. Agent Alpaca pulled a homemade cigarette out from his pocket and lit it up. If they were going to lay low for a few hours it wouldn't hurt to smoke. "Where do you think she's going?"

"Just stay here and keep watch. Let me know if anyone's coming. Just whistle." Tiger told his friend who nodded to agree. He followed Disco down the ladder.

The dog deserved a proper resting place. It hadn't done anything wrong. The poor thing had probably been as terrified as they were of the Dracs that were hunting them. She knelt down near the body of the dog, oozing and bleeding onto the dirt. Its eyes weren't even closed and she could still see the fear in them. Disco got up and looked around, searching for something she could use to dig. She found an old trashcan lid and started digging near the corpse of the wounded dog.

It wouldn't be a very deep grave, but a grave nonetheless. Someone was going to miss this animal. It wasn't a stray or a coyote as they had thought from where they had sat on top of the store. It was a house pet, probably one that had come from generations of older dogs since it was rare to find strays of this caliber.

It even had a collar with a name carved into it. Vader had been the dog's name. Disco would make sure to carve it into the trashcan lid and leave it on top of the makeshift grave for the animal. Tiger stood a few feet behind her, watching her dig like that. It was tough to see her like this. He hadn't known her very long but he could tell that what she was thinking about had nothing to do with the dog. In a way, it was almost a beautiful metaphor for what was really happening, but she likely didn't even realize it.

"Could you use some help?" He asked after a few moments of watching her dig. She looked back at him and didn't respond, instead she started moving the loose dirt out of the way with her hands. She picked up the body of the dog and laid it down carefully in the hole. She closed its eyes and watched it just lay there in the shallow grave for a few moments.

"You know, the Party Poison I knew a few years back… the one who made me leader of the west faction of Killjoys? He would've never done the things he's accused of today." Disco still didn't respond, but just stared at the dog, clearly too upset to speak. "That's why we have to find out what's really going on."

"I know that." Disco said sadly. She didn't need anyone to tell her that Party Poison wasn't to blame. But now she was wondering if it was because of some lack of leadership skills that the Killjoys they'd just witnessed had acted the way that they did.

"I don't think that it was an accident you were sent to me." Tiger crouched down next to where she sat, staring down at the dog's body. He watched her features curiously. He couldn't tell what was on her mind, she was obviously excellent at hiding her emotions due to the nature of her work.

"What do you mean?"

"I think that you were meant to come to me, because of the corruption happening here around us. You were sent to me."

"I don't believe in God." Disco turned her head to look at him, a ton of annoyance in her voice at the assumption. "Or fate for that matter. Life is what we make it, it has no predestined path."

"Well, I don't believe in luck." Tiger smiled a little bit at her. She looked away again. She didn't know how to respond to that. It was rare for anyone to believe in much of anything except for science these days. She hadn't heard of any Killjoy believing in a higher power and she thought it was pretty ludicrous. Fate was a ridiculous idea altogether, life wasn't plotted out on a course. It was an unpredictable roller coaster ride.

"Regardless of whether or not it was fate, because you came to me with this information and you decided not to kill me in the desert out there… because you had a change of heart and used your own judgment instead of doing blindly what you were told to do, we discovered all of this. We found out, because of you, that something was wrong with the Killjoys. Thanks to you, now we can find out who is really behind all of this and who is really pitting us against each other. I know it's a nasty situation and the future looks bleak. But if we hadn't discovered this corruption now then think of where we'd be in a week. Party Poison would be dead already, and so would I. With its leaders crippled the Killjoys wouldn't be able to go on. It'd be anarchy and Better Living would finally win."

"Maybe they should. Those Killjoys… did we teach them to act that way?"

"No, but we're not perfect either. It's impossible to be perfect. Look, it's a long road ahead but we're on the path to healing. Every organization has people in it who they aren't proud of, it doesn't mean we've failed."

"You really think that?"

"I do." Tiger said and then started to push the piled up dirt over the body of the dog. Disco watched and hung her head as the dead dog disappeared into the earth. Maybe something would someday grow from this soil, maybe whoever's dog this was would appreciate the gesture and see the kindness of what they had done for it. Maybe Tiger Beatdown was right. Even a terrible act, such as the one committed upon this dog, could be turned around. It was like a band-aid on a gushing wound, but eventually the bleeding would stop and clot and healing would begin.

"I hate to interrupt but I think we should head out now. Or at least we should go pretty soon. Night has set in and if we linger too long, it'll be sunrise." Alpaca could tell the two were having a moment and for the first time since he'd caught Disco Bitch pointing a rifle at his friend, he felt as though maybe she wasn't a traitor. "It's likely that the corruption started in the East. Not because of Party Poison being the leader there, but because they have more members and it'd be easier for a spy to hide amongst such a group."

"You're right." Disco nodded, getting up from the ground, dusting the dirt off of her knees. She felt renewed with the burial of the dog. Something inside of her felt as though it could go on. She wondered if this was what hope truly felt like. "We should head there first and do some investigating. Maybe after what happened today in the second zone with Party Poison, people are talking. We might be able to get some information."

"No." Tiger Beatdown stood up as well, placing the trash can lid down on the makeshift grave for the dog. "We're not going anywhere or doing any investigating without Party Poison. We're going to the bar in the fourth zone, like we promised."

"No offense, but don't you think that's a waste of time?" Alpaca made a face, not sure if he was okay with this plan. "I really don't think that Party Poison has any intention of actually meeting us there. I did attack him and he has no reason to trust us. Plus he wouldn't even come with us when we were trying to get away. For all we know, Korse could've gotten him."

"I know. And we'll only wait there through the night. If he doesn't show by morning then we'll go without him and take matters into our own hands." Tiger nodded resolutely. The others silently agreed and they turned away from the grave of the dog, starting their walk toward the fourth zone. It would be at least an hour or two walk. Disco kept repeating over and over again in her mind wishes that Party Poison would show up to meet them. She needed these men to see the man that she'd been trusting since they'd met so long ago.

"Wait." Disco stopped walking suddenly and jogged back to the spot where she and Tiger had buried the dog. She knelt down and pulled out a pocket knife. She carved "Here Lies Vader- a loyal pet" on the trashcan lid and let it rest down on top of the grave once more. She turned away from the grave and ran to meet the two men she'd left standing in confusion. She'd buried her fear with the dead dog. "Sorry. Even a dog deserves a proper grave." The men nodded in understanding. Tiger gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze then urged her on her way.

Agent Alpaca stood staring at the grave for a few moments as his comrades walked onward. He wondered what had transpired at the grave and what had really gone on between them all while they were on the roof. It shook him to the core. He wondered if he was the only one who had been as deeply affected. He looked at Tiger Beatdown and Disco Bitch as they walked away together. This was going to take some getting used to.